Santa Cruz Good Times

Tuesday
May 21st
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From the Editor

altI suppose there’s nothing wrong with tossing yourself a little nod of approval every now and then. That seems to be the case this week as the City of Santa Cruz gears up for its official Proclamation Day. For those of you who have attended events where a proclamation from the city’s mayor was in order, you already know much of the script features one word repeatedly—whereas. 

Keeping that in mind, GT’s ever-humorous scribe Kim Luke explores the deeper meaning of proclamations, offers insights—and oh, so much wit—into the upcoming P-day. She even guides us toward entering a contest to write our very own proclamation. Whereas Ms. Luke is clever and snappy with her words, and wheras we at GT like to keep our many fingers on the passionate pulse of Santa Cruz, and whereas this issue will feature more whereases than any other issue during the entire year ... we invite you to turn to page 12 and ... have at it.

 
Elsewhere ... while it may not have the official sizzle of a bona fide event filled with a gaggle of whereases (or is it a proclamation of whereases, it’s hard to keep track?), the buzz continues to grow on Grind Out Hunger, launched by Danny Keith. The local has suddenly captured the attention of reality TV show producers interested in spotlighting Grind Out Hunger in a new outing. Learn more about all that at grindouthunger.org, or on its Facebook page. It’s just another indication that as we keep venturing forth into the future, and as modern media stops at nothing in its quest to reach all corners of pop culture, Santa Cruz itself continues to capture the spotlight—from James Durbin and Chris Rene to Restaurant Impossible and now, Grind Out Hunger. Stay tuned for more updates.
In the meantime, what’s on your agenda this week? What are you 
committed to “grinding out?” Ponder on it ... and enjoy the issue.
 
 
Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief 

Letters to the Editor
 

I am all for banning the plastic bag. I have been using my own bags for years anyway. When I do happen to get plastic bags I use them to crochet diaper bag for young new mothers. They last for years. I make sure they do not end up some place where they could hurt the environment. Short of plastic bags I use bread bags and also make braided crocheted rugs from them. Very colorful. 
 
I grew up around Capitola and Santa Cruz. Although I am no longer a California resident, (sure wish I were) I dearly love Capitola.  I know full well the beach area has change drastically as I have a friend who sends me pictures every so often. Please keep up the great work with the banning of these awful bags. Too much damage has been done by them already. Not everyone has the time to crochet or be creative other ways with the bags. Most people just don't care one way or another what happens to the bag after their groceries are home. 
Thank you for all your hard work. I am sorry I cannot be there to help with 
the struggle.
Cindy McCaffrey
Santa Cruz
 
Regarding “Hatching a Lawsuit” (GT 3/22), push back and push hard. Don't let this slip out of the public eye view. While we are lucky to have a choice to eat free range meat or not at all, there are many places where that isn't the case. We need to set a precedent and not let this be swept under the rug. Otherwise animals continue to suffer.
R. Faith
Santa Cruz

Best Online Comments

 
Quit complaining you hippies. If you boycott California chicken soon you will have imported Chinese chicken with lots of chemicals and lack of taste and quality.
—I Love California Chicken

It's sad that livestock or animal operations in Santa Cruz would be able to get away with this level of cruelty. As for the other comment, I hardly find it to be a "hippie" thing to be against cruelty and torture to animals or, in that case, to be in support of utilizing the laws in place to prevent it. If by "quit complaining" you mean "get over it and be OK with blatantly cruel and illegal practices," you are one complacent, disempowered cog in the industrial machine, my friend.
—Think for Ourselves
 
"Quit complaining?" Someone has to complain because the ducks and chicks can't. If you don't want to, fine, but we should support (or at least not chastise) the people who do, because someone has got to do it. Animals don't deserve this treatment, yet it's the industry norm.
—Quit complaining?
 
Time to make a choice. Don't eat meat. Eat free-range, cruelty-free meat ... or eat crap! YOU are what you eat!
—Don't Accept it Anymore
 
Excellent article. The speculation then subsequent crashing of our system has hurt America's most valued assets, home and family. We must take back our children's future from the 1 percent. For those who have not woken up or do not understand, think of a home being crashed in value by the same men who told the American people they could re-finance their most valued asset. Instead, so many saw their home value fall so far below the bank-estimated value that they ended up losing it. "Underwater" would be more accurately described as purposefully flooded. The banks even sometimes "give away" the foreclosed homes for further government rewards after they have stolen them—FOR PR! Wake up. Thanks, Good Times. Let’s work so we can have them again.
—Denica De Foy

 

Comments (1)Add Comment
...
written by John P. McEnery III, March 30, 2012
SOME OUTRAGE, PLEASE! The headlines on Saturday said, “Gas prices hike - no outrage”. Why? George Bush isn’t President anymore and you can’t blame his friends in the oil business. Where is the outrage that unemployment is around thirty percent in some locales for African-American youth? Surveys show they favor Obama’s re-election by 95%! Now that’s some prejudice! You couldn’t get that percentage of any group to say the sky is blue. Where is the outrage for Obama’s terrible economy, this band of “economic No-Nothings” running this country – lawyers, academics and just plain old hacks. I know, I know, they got handed a tough economy, but did they have to make it worst?
And where is the outrage on the Afgan war he is still waging, the Congressional ‘earmarks, and the lobbyists in high places? Now we know the Republicans in Congress are venal and quite adept at sensing the divisive over the practical. Yet the President had control of White house, Congress and the Senate for two years – and he had the vast support of those who believed in his change mantra. The result was a Health Care Bill that gave much to many, but in a collapsing economy, promised only jobs for bureaucrats, not real people. This was a colossal wrong priority.

We need a President who is grounded in the real world, not the musty halls of Harvard or the pocket boroughs of Chicago; one who keeps his word, and will not stoop to international apologies in place of straight talk in foreign policy and a simple goodbye to Afghanistan, what he foolishly called the “good war.” Such casual naivety. His history and his judgment need a reset. How much more can we take from a man supremely unprepared for this weighty burden. Even though the Republicans cause concern with their unerring target on the childish and the hypocritical - from Gingrich to Santorum – we have to change direction from this political and confused Administration.

Simply put, we need some outrage ‘and’ a new President.

John P. McEnery III
Santa Cruz, Ca.

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    Bring Your Own Bag

    Single-use plastic bag bans are underway Shoppers in Capitola, Watsonville, the City of Santa Cruz, and the unincorporated parts of the county are, by now, becoming accustomed to the absence of plastic bags. On Sept. 20, 2011, Santa Cruz County became the first local jurisdiction to pass an ordinance that banned single-use plastic bags and implemented a fee for paper bags, which took effect last spring. Watsonville, Capitola, and Santa Cruz followed suit with similar actions: Watsonville’s ordinance went into effect last September, and, as of last month, the bans in Capitola and the City of Santa Cruz are now in place.

     

    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.

     

    The Tilt

    Although Jesse Malley, lead singer of the outlaw country, blues and rock ’n’ roll band The Tilt, no longer lives in Santa Cruz, she was born and raised here and this is where her love of music and performance began. “My dad worked at The Catalyst for 27 years, so I got to see a lot of music acts come through town,” she says. “Music always seemed to me to be such an incredible way to express yourself that I just stumbled upon my voice and jumped into it.” That jump eventually led to Malley heading down to San Diego to pursue a music career, and her band The Tilt has just released their full-length debut, Howlin’.

     

    Whole Lotta Blues

    The 11-piece, husband-and-wife-led Tedeschi Trucks Band headlines the Santa Cruz Blues Festival Guitarist Derek Trucks and vocalist/guitarist Susan Tedeschi, the husband-and-wife team at the helm of The Tedeschi Trucks Band, have learned that in a band as well as in a marriage, the best way to keep things running smoothly is sometimes to take a step back. That’s especially true when you’re dealing with an 11-piece group that, in addition to its namesakes, features two drummers, a keyboardist/flautist, a three-piece horn section and two harmony vocalists.

     

    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).

     

    Land of Lions

    New research provides foundation to look at protecting mountain lions, particularly when it comes to Highway 17 An adult male mountain lion called simply “Number 16” by the Santa Cruz Puma Project led a scientifically interesting life for the more than two-year period he was tracked by the UC Santa Cruz-based research project. According to Chris Wilmers, associate professor of environmental studies at UCSC and head of the Puma Project, the group initially caught and collared Number 16 in Loch Lomond. He then proceeded to cross Highway 17 several times, where he was eventually was hit, but survived. In an unusual move for an adult male, Number 16 then shifted his home range to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. Recently, the lion’s tracking collar went on “mortality mode.” The day before Wilmers spoke to Good Times, the researchers found his skeleton.

     

    So Sleep (Pralaya) Does Not Overtake Us

    Sunday is Pentecost, a festival of the Holy Spirit (Ray 3 of Divine Intelligence). Pentecost is the name given to the descent of the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire appearing above the heads of Christ’s (Piscean World Teacher) Disciples (students) in an upper room (plane of the Mind). Pentecost is not a simple bible story. It’s an actual experience for each individual as the Light of the Soul begins to direct the personality with spiritual gifts and virtues – wisdom, understanding (all ideas, all hearts), knowledge and Right Judgment (directing the intellect), wonder, fortitude/courage and respect/reverence (directing our willingness to serve).

     

    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.

     

    Bringing the Message Home

    Former mayor and UCSC student recap their experiences at the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women While traveling to New York for the 57th United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), seasoned local activist Jane Weed-Pomerantz had a notion of what to expect. But, with the vast scope of worldwide women’s rights violations presented at the commission, she knew she would still be taken aback at times. “I was worried because I had a feeling I would be finding out what I did find out about women and girls in the world,” says Weed-Pomerantz. “I was trying to brace myself for the knowledge of the reality, because we are really very protected in this country.”
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    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.

     

    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 are you a total sucker for?

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

     

    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 |

     

    Vine & Dine: Pine Ridge Vineyards

    Chenin Blanc + Viognier 2012 On a recent trip to Palm Springs, I came across Pine Ridge Vineyards’ Chenin Blanc + Viognier at a new downtown restaurant called Lulu. Superbly decorated in Hollywood-esque style and with a very hip vibe, this California bistro is one of the hottest new dining spots—and the Chenin Blanc was just the right wine to pair with some of Lulu’s Happy Hour tapas-style food. And eating outdoors in the desert’s warm night air makes a chilled white wine taste even better.

     

    Making Sense of Soul

    Allen Stone wants to give R&B back some of its depth Whether fairly or unfairly, R&B and soul music often get typecast. Much of the music is groove-inducing and has an overtly romantic, sensual or sexual side to it, and the suggestive lyrics only reinforce this mood. That is fine and well, but for R&B and soul singer Allen Stone, it is not enough. “I love music that’s about love, and I love R&B songs, but I also like songs that have influence on culture,” Stone says. "I believe that if you’re given a microphone you need to use it in a positive way, and I feel like pop culture, more often than not, doesn’t. I think that [pop stars] are very bad stewards of the microphone they’ve been given, and the voices they’ve been given, and they tend to talk about pretty futile and shallow things, rather than subjects which uplift the children in our culture, or the teenage culture, or the young adult generation. If you’re given a microphone, you should say something that’s deeper than, ‘I’m going to the club and I’m going to drink cognac.’”

     

    Step on up to the Bar

    Here in Santa Cruz County, we are privileged to have farm-fresh greens year-round. Making a nightly salad at home is a snap since the emergence of pre-washed greens, and vinaigrette dressing is made easily with your favorite vinegar and small spoon of Dijon mustard whisked with a bit of olive oil.

     

    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.

     

    Do you unplug often enough? Or do you need help?

    Santa Cruz | Caregiver