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Columns - Astrology

Persephone Enters the Underworld

Tuesday, 14 September 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
Persephone Enters the Underworld

Jupiter joins Uranus in Pisces, Saturday. These are the two major planets influencing the unfolding Aquarian Age. Jupiter is Love/Wisdom and Uranus revolution and new archetypes, foundations for the new culture and civilization and emerging through the collaboration of humanity (the world disciple) and the New Group of World Servers. Humanity, unknown to itself, is the World Disciple. Within humanity are men and women of Goodwill and the New Group of World Servers. Most of us do not yet realize that we belong to one of these groups. Identification is by aspiration and intention.

The Aquarian Age, through Jupiter & Uranus, is creating within humanity (moon, the masses) groups of aspirants seeking to understand present needs and thus serve all of Earth kingdoms (permaculture), create peace on earth, build intentional communities (like Findhorn) and cooperatives (like Mondragan in Spain), build everything that self sufficient and sustainable. This is the new culture & civilization.

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Columns - Astrology

L’Shana Tova – May You Have a Good Year

Thursday, 02 September 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
L’Shana Tova – May You Have a Good YearWe are in the last days of Mercury’s retrograde in Virgo. It’s been quite an interesting retrograde. The Iraq war came to an end; miners were trapped in an underground cave; under the brooding and watchful eyes of President Obama (Virgo Mars/Pluto), the major Mid-East leaders were called to the White House to re-ignite the peace process. We know the formula for peace esoterically—Intentions for Goodwill create Right Relations create the process of Peace. There is no other way. Mercury stations direct 4:09 p.m. (PST), Sunday, Sept. 12, moving slowly out of its retrograde shadow by Tuesday. Sept. 28. We move slowly forward also. The Jewish High Holy Days (10 days) begin this Thursday with Rosh Hashanah. On this day of rest, God judges us for the coming year. We gather with family, recite penitential prayers next to natural flowing water asking for forgiveness, we listen for the shofar (blowing of the ram’s horn trumpet), eat sweet- tasting foods, apples and honey, so the new year is sweet, and wish each other L’Shana Tova, May you have a good year.” It is important to understand all religious festivals. They form the foundation of the new world religion.
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Columns - Astrology

Virgo: In Service

Tuesday, 31 August 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
Virgo: In ServiceA friend from D.C. wrote last week: “If you want to know what's happening, go down to Glenn Beck’s (Aug. 28, Restoring Honor, Lincoln Memorial) rally. If you really want to know what’s happening, go to Burning Man" (through Sept. 6th). We’re in Virgo, sign of caring for and serving humanity. From Burning Man comes a service group, Burners Without Borders (BWB), providing volunteer opportunities after the Burning Man playas are cleaned and emptied, towns and communities dismantled, and everyone re-enters the regularly accepted world. “BWB is a manifestation of what can happen when we take our values off the playa and out into the rest of the world.” They are part of the NGWS. See” burnerswithoutborders.com.
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Columns - Astrology

Burning Man – Life in the City

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
Burning Man – Life in the City

During this Mercury in Virgo retrograde (Aug. 20-Sept. 12) the Black Rock Arts Festival, Burning Man, the yearly “desert art-piece on the playas,” begins, distilling all facets of community creation, living and sharing.

And so, through the retro, almost at summer’s end (Aug. 30-Sept. 6), the celebration develops, proceeds, burns, cleans up and then disappears without a trace. The theme this year is Metropolis, the Life of Cities. People worldwide are returning to the cities. Tent cities are now in major metropolitan cities everywhere, filled with both the migrating masses and those who have lost their homes.

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Columns - Astrology

Mercury Retro in Virgo

Tuesday, 17 August 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
Mercury Retro in VirgoMercury in Virgo turns retrograde Friday, Aug. 20 (12:59 p.m., west coast). The retrograde, till Sept. 12, lasts three weeks. Mercury retro joins five other starry retro big hitters—Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Chiron. Retros are linked with the prefix “re”. We redo, review, re-visit, re-think, re-examine, re-evaluate, etc. ideas, thoughts, plans, studies, agendas created since Mercury’s previous retro, (April/May).  We look back, assess, refine, rest and recuperate from a mind exhausted with facts. With so many retrogrades, especially the major transformers (outer planets), the entire world is critically rethinking everything. It’s an interesting time.
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Columns - Astrology

Awakening the Savior: Uranus Retros Back to Pisces

Monday, 09 August 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
Awakening the Savior: Uranus Retros Back to PiscesTo my readers: I am seeking a place to live with others in community by the end of August. Is there a community or community house (young and elderly, children, adults, teens, etc. with gardens) in Santa Cruz County? I’ve been looking and haven’t found it yet. Is it yet to be created? Please email me: [email protected]

The week: After intense planetary activity, including solar flares (Shamballa force) from the Sun and the magnetic field impacted Earth in previous weeks, the energies slowdown. Friday, Uranus (planet ruling the Aquarian Age, where community flourishes), retrogrades (till March 2011) back into Pisces (sign of saving the world). Uranus stimulates revolution, inventiveness, freedom, new archetypes.

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Columns - Astrology

Leo New Moon, Cardinal T-square, Nine Tests

Monday, 02 August 2010 00:00 Risa D’Angeles
Leo New Moon, Cardinal T-square, Nine Tests

Monday (8:00 pm, Pacific time) is Leo new moon. The personality-building seed thought is “I rule because I exist,” the words of the undeveloped and un-integrated personality, the “benevolent dictator”, learning (stumbling) toward true leadership. At a later time, when the integrated personality is directed by the Soul, the little will joins the greater Will (of God) and true leadership, combined with Love, comes forth. Friday Venus (money, values) enters Libra (Ray 3, equalizing economics). Sunday Venus/Saturn oppose Uranus, creating new structures (Saturn) with money (Venus). This opposition connects with Pluto in Capricorn (civilization transforms). A cardinal (signs) T-square appears in the heavens initiating new ideas/realities. Mars is also in Libra (Ray 3, economics). Mars presents humanity’s personality (physical, emotional, lower mental) with Nine Tests (3 x 3).

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    Free Angela

    Political activist and UC Santa Cruz Professor Emerita Angela Davis commands the spotlight in a riveting new documentary. PLUS:  UCSC’s Bettina Aptheker opens up about the political upheavals of the ’60s and ’70s—and today. Angela Davis is not a human being who can be easily summed up in several sentences or paragraphs—books maybe, but, even then, capturing the political activist, scholar and author in the most comprehensive light is downright complex. That’s because Davis is an undeniably unique political creature, one who should be seen and heard to be fully absorbed and downloaded. Which is what makes Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, the new documentary about Davis and the turbulent political upheavals she faced during the late-1960s and ’70s, so inviting. In it, filmmaker Shola Lynch marks the 40th anniversary of Davis’ acquittal on charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy with a historical vérité style of filmmaking to illuminate a side of Davis few may have seen (or can recall), and captures the events that thrust the woman into one of the most fascinating orbits of notoriety and political intrigue of the 20th century.

     

    No Big Surprises

    The highly anticipated draft Environmental Impact Report for desal is finally out. Will it change anything? When scwd2, the group pursuing the proposed joint desalination plant for the Santa Cruz Water Department and Soquel Creek Water District, set up a booth at the Santa Cruz Earth Day festival in 2012, its reception was less than warm. Signature gathering for Measure P, the “right to vote” on desal ballot measure, was in full swing, as were tensions over the controversial project, which would produce up to 2.5 million gallons per day of desalinated water and cost an estimated $100 million. What were representatives of an energy-intensive desal plant doing among the recycling and conservation booths? That was the attitude Melanie Mow Schumacher, public outreach coordinator for scwd2 (pronounced “squid squared”), remembers sensing.

     

    The Maya-Ixil Move Forward

    Local nonprofit works to educate and create opportunity for indigenous communities in Guatemala In an isolated region of the Guatemala mountains called Ixil, the indigenous Maya population was devastated by a civil war between the government and leftist guerrilla factions that spanned 1960 to 1996. During that 36-year war, the Guatemalan military eradicated entire Mayan communities. In what amounted to genocide, soldiers burned Mayan farmlands and homes, raped and tortured the people, and scattered families. By the end of the war, 200,000 Mayans had been killed, 7,000 of whom were Maya-Ixil.

     

    Public Thinking

    Watsonville teens host TEDx event Santa Cruz County is no stranger to the TED brand. TED—which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design—talks have come to the area through independently organized events 10 times since 2011. This month, the gathering returns to the county with a new twist, thanks to the Watsonville Youth City Council. TEDxYouth@Watsonville, which will take place Sunday, May 19 at the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts in Watsonville, will feature only speakers younger than 19 years old and will traverse topics from racial stereotypes and renewable energy to traditional Mexican dance.

     

    Transoceana

    Danny Moriarty’s musical influences have been known to impact his life beyond his local rock band, Transoceana. “I went through two periods,” confesses the singer, guitarist and songwriter. “I borrowed Bono’s mullet look from the ’80s for a while, and then I dressed like I was from the ’70s and had big hair like Jimmy Page.” Bono and Page are also symbolic of Transoceana’s evolution as a band during their three years together.

     

    Cruzin’ for Inspiration

    Former resident pays homage to Santa Cruz with locally shot thesis film When he left Santa Cruz for the University of Southern California’s graduate film program in 2010, Christopher Guerrero had completed the film major at UC Santa Cruz in 2008 and worked on campus in the film and digital media department. It wasn’t until he headed south, that Guerrero began to reminisce about the coastal town. “It was really really hard when I moved to L.A., to acclimate and find friends,” he says, adding that—counter to the philosophical, conversational culture of Santa Cruz—he found nowhere in his new town where he could simply sit and talk about life with someone. “I didn’t really realize why I love [Santa Cruz] so much until it was gone.”

     

    Beck to the Future

    In celebration of Beck’s solo acoustic show at The Rio, GT explores Song Reader, the alternative rock icon’s most ambitious interactive art piece yet. Here’s an odd little paradox of the digital revolution: The more sophisticated our technology gets, the more our musical milieu begins to resemble that of a bygone era, when song ideas were passed around from musician to musician, perpetually taking on new twists. Dozens of different YouTube users might try their hand at setting somebody’s rant about cats or double rainbows to music, or you might hear the Belgian musician Gotye turning the many and varied covers of his song “Somebody That I Used to Know” into a virtual orchestra (see below).

     

    Growing Berries Without Bromide

    Researchers test a new alternative to a controversial chemical The scarecrows perched in Santa Cruz strawberry fields do little to scare away the birds, much less the insects and fungi harbored in the soil. Everything likes to eat strawberries, which makes growing them a risky business. This predicament led UC Santa Cruz professor Carol Shennan to take an unconventional approach to pest management. Nine years ago, the fatal plant disease Verticillium wilt was wiping out strawberry plants at the university farm. Chemicals hardly phase the pathogen, and Shennan saw little improvement with crop rotation, which is typically used to treat infested fields. A visiting plant pathologist from the Netherlands recommended a little-known organic technique called anaerobic soil disinfestation, and, with so few other options, Shennan decided to give it a try. 

     

    Uniting All That Has Been Separated

     

    Legal Battles Drag On

    More than a year after the 75 River St. occupation, four defendants remain embroiled in ongoing case  More than a year and a half since a group occupied the former Wells Fargo building on River Street in an act of protest, felony charges linger on for four of the original defendants and a trial may be imminent. Gabriella Ripley-Phipps, Brent Adams, Cameron Laurendeau and Franklin Alcantara were scheduled to begin trial May 13 in connection with the late 2011 protest. That trial now has been pushed back to September due to scheduling conflicts. The four face a felony charge of vandalism and a misdemeanor for trespassing.
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    The Pleasure of Süda

    Süda is a happening place. As my friend Jan and I were enjoying dinner, every table in the restaurant filled up and nearly all the outdoor seating was occupied as well. Located in the Pleasure Point area, Süda is a magnet for just about everybody hanging out in that neck of the woods.

     

    The Power of Conversation

    Local author Cecile Andrews emphasizes importance of community engagement in newest book Cecile Andrews, author of the new book “Living Room Revolution: A Handbook for Conversation, Community and the Common Good,” probably wouldn’t get along too well with Larry David’s character from HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, known for hiding his face and avoiding communication with anyone he runs into on the street. Andrews is a longstanding part-time Santa Cruz (part-time Seattle) resident who says something that’s struck her about this town over the years is people's willingness to participate in a practice she’s dubbed the “Stop and Chat”—which is exactly what it sounds like.

     

    What do you know about Monsanto?

    Santa Cruz | Self Employed  

     

    Best of Santa Cruz County

    The 2013 Santa Cruz County Readers' Poll and Critics’ Picks It’s our biggest issue of the year, and in it, your votes—more than 6,500 of them—determined the winners of The Best of Santa Cruz County Readers’ Poll. New to the long list of local restaurants, shops and other notables that captured your interest: Best Beer Selection, Best Locally Owned Business, Best Customer Service and Best Marijuana Dispensary. In the meantime, many readers were ever so chatty online about potential new categories. Some of the suggestions that stood out: Best Teen Program and Best Web Design/Designer. But what about: Dog Park, Church, Hotel, Local Farm, Therapist (I second that!) or Sports Bar—not to be confused with Bra. Our favorite suggestion: Best Act of Kindness—one reader noted Café Gratitude and the free meals it offered to the Santa Cruz Police Department in the aftermath of recent crimes. Perhaps some of these can be woven into next year’s ballot, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the following pages and take note of our Critics’ Picks, too, beginning on page 91. A big thanks for voting—and for reading—and an even bigger congratulations to all of the winners. Enjoy.  -Greg Archer, EditorBest of Santa Cruz County Readers’ Poll INDEX | Shops | Food & Drink | Arts & Entertainment | Health & Fitness | Professionals | The Rest |

     

    Poetic Cellars

    Poetic Cellars makes the most romantic wines. With a verse or two of beautiful poetry on every label, mostly poems of love and romance, this is the perfect wine to open up over dinner with your sweetheart. I particularly love winemaker Katy Lovell’s Syrah ($28) with its voluptuous velvety textures and dark fruit flavors.

     

    The Gypsy

    French-born jazz vocalist Cyrille Aimée lives for musical freedom and improvisation Cyrille Aimée is a musical gypsy. Her sound incorporates elements of Latin American, American, Brazilian and other styles of jazz, she has recorded albums as a duet with Diego Figueiredo, she currently performs with the Surreal (same pronunciation as her first name) Band, and she is working on a new album with yet another band. As it happens, Aimée can actually blame gypsies for her love of jazz. “I grew up in Samois-sur-Seine, which is a little town in France where Django Reinhardt used to live,” she says. “Every year they have the Django Festival in his honor, and so gypsies from all parts of Europe come and honor him and play guitar. I started hanging out with the gypsies and became obsessed with their music, their way of living, their freedom. What drew me to jazz music was the freedom of it, all the improvisation, and the fact that it’s a style of music that is constantly changing.”

     

    May Day in the Alps

    When my daughter returns to Santa Cruz from her new home in Los Angeles, she comments on how quiet it is here. It was even more so during a trip to Ben Lomond, when we set out for a sample of her second favorite macaroni and cheese. Sitting at the front of the Tyrolean Inn restaurant, the green tarp with plastic windows kept out the chill as well as the noise of an occasional passing car. A new draft beer celebrating the German spring, Maibok ($6) was refreshing, served in a hefty glass stein, but specialty cocktails are unique as well.

     

    Exposed

    David Cay Johnston’s new book explains how big companies rob us blind In his late teens David Cay Johnston started to ask questions. “Why do we have these guys in uniforms with guns driving around in cars all day?” “Why is the Santa Cruz County Courthouse being built in such an unusual shape?” He wrote an article, while still living in his hometown of Santa Cruz, proving that the off-kilter courthouse building, which officials had promised would save money, actually cost more than a conventional building.

     

    What are you a total sucker for?

    A cold beer after a long bike ride, gossip, and fighting over politics. Kyle McKinley Santa Cruz | Lecturer