Santa Cruz Good Times

Wednesday
May 22nd
Text size
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

From the Editor

Wednesday, 18 July 2012 14:26 Greg Archer Columns - Editors Note
 E-mail

greg archerPlus Letters to the Editor

For those of you who were enjoying life in the ’80s, you may find this week’s cover story on Santa Cruzan Graeme Devine interesting. The Scotland-born computer game designer and programmer, who currently operates out of NextSpace, is at the helm of GRL Games, and a variety of his creations can now be found in the App Store. But Devine’s interest in developing games stems back 34 years and he actually got his start working for Atari when he was just a teenager. The evolution of his unique career, and the immense popularity of gaming today, is highlighted in the article, which you can find on. My first video game experience was Pong. Ms. PacMan, Space Invaders, and then other quirky outings followed. And you? Read on ...



In News this week take note of an article on an intriguing program created by a local that aims to guide people who live with a disability. UC Santa Cruz alumna Amy Sheppard, who lives with cerebral palsy and has used a wheelchair her entire life, launched AmysAccessReports.com. The website is similar to Yelp, but it reviews businesses based on their accessibility to those who have a disability. Think of it as the go-to list for learning which retail stores, restaurants and other businesses are accessible.

Also in News is a report on the Homeward Bound Project, which is slated to use funds offered by the Santa Cruz City Council to aid more than 300 homeless here in nabbing a bus ride home.

Meanwhile, catch up on all the theater events happening. Lisa Jensen reviews “A Chorus Line,” now playing at Cabrillo Stage —I think it’s one of the company’s best productions to date. There is also a preview of several Shakespeare Santa Cruz shows, opening this week, too.

Over in Music, locals may appreciate the return of the surf-rock musings of The Expendables, which take on The Catalyst this week. Also in town: The Mother Hips.

What’s left? Summer is full of too many festivities to list, but be sure to check out our Calendar this week, for a quick rundown. In the meantime, enjoy the days ahead.

Thanks for reading.

Have a great week.

Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief

Letters to the Editor

Money, ‘Boardwalk Empire’ and Fred Swanton
All to often we view the money that a man has made rather than his actual accomplishments. Fred generated accomplishments that will create Santa Cruz's history forever. When I am at the beach located at the end of 7th Avenue, the winter surf shows the relics of the Fred Swanton by-gone era, the old support beams of a train track that spanned the beachfront property from Santa Cruz to Capitola. Thank you, Fred Swanton.
William Horn
Santa Cruz

Online Comments

On ‘Speaking to the Voiceless’ ...
Is anyone else confused? Is Don Lane doing a flip-flop? Why aren't the three Council members named (Robinson, Bryant, Coonerty) who initiated these proposals while Lane gets the mention? Lane and Beiers (HSC board members) were noticeably very quiet on these same issues at the time, then spoke out against them as targeting the "homeless." Now, Lane is carrying the flag and waving it, including "bus tickets" home. It must re-election time.
—Don Honda

I began representing/advocating for about six severely disabled homeless people in June 2012. Many have severe emotional disabilities. Why has the City of Santa Cruz, even Mayor Don Lane, and the County of Santa Cruz been uncooperative in helping me advocate for these emotionally disabled chronically homeless people? Why have the City and County of Santa Cruz been frustrating my efforts while they increase funding for their own mental health outreach?
—John E. Colby

On the 180/180 Homeless campaign’ ...
What would make such a program really worthwhile would be if the residents have to work to get housing. Even something as simple as gardening, or picking up litter in our shared public spaces. Nothing restores self-esteem like working. Surely our parks & rec or public works departments could use the (traded) labor.
—Xanthippe

On ‘Pacific Avenue—One Way or Two Way’ ...
Pacific Avenue was two-way in the beginning. We changed it to one-way to make room for larger sidewalks. Being two-way, I think would make access to both ends of the mall easier but I’m not sure how we would go about going back from which we came? We would have to take back some sidewalk and I’m not sure how popular that would be. Being a pedestrain-only mall just doesnt seem realistic. The only cost-effective way to deal with this right now, I think, would be to leave it alone. How much would it cost to return Pacific to a two-way street? I don’t even want to think about it.
—Rich

On Burning Man/‘Beyond Black Rock City’ ...’
Expectations are dashed, consumerism is gone, creativity is abundant and child-like play is encouraged. What more could anyone ask for in a week away from the rat race. In a surreal city, who needs drugs?
—Guest

Correction

In a recent article on La Cigare Volant, GT incorrrectly listed the phone number, the correct phone number is 831-425-6771.


 

Comments (0)Add Comment

Write comment
smaller | bigger

busy
< Prev   Next >
 

Share this on your social networks

Bookmark and Share

Share this

Bookmark and Share

  • Search

    •  

    No Big Surprises

    The highly anticipated draft Environmental Impact Report for desal is finally out. Will it change anything? By Elizabeth Limbach 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.

     

    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.”
    GTemail_tileTomorow's GTW Today.
    Sign up for Tomorrow's Good Times Today
    Upcoming arts & events

    Latest Comments

     

    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