Santa Cruz Good Times

Thursday
Jun 20th
Text size
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

From The Editor

Wednesday, 14 November 2012 11:35 Greg Archer Columns - Editors Note
 E-mail

Greg 12Inevitably, there are times when we are void of inspiration. “What does it all mean?” we ask. “Where is it all headed?” Or ... “Is what I am doing really making a difference?” These are good questions to ask, and, sometimes, the answers are clear. Other times—not so much. Which is why the story of William Ow is so inspiring. Ow, a longtime local, is at the helm of the former Wrigley Building on the Westside of Santa Cruz. He’s the subject of this week’s cover story, which illuminates how far one man’s vision—or any clear vision, for that matter—can reach with the right amount of focus and determination. Perhaps Ow’s tale will inspire you with your own entrepreneurial ideas in the weeks to come. Read on ...

Also in this week’s issue, be sure to dive into our News story, which updates you on the current state of the county’s rail line. Things shifted recently when the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (SCRTC) purchased the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line from Union Pacific, which had owned the line since 1996. So, what’s at stake now that the line is once again under local control?  Also in News, take note of how one UC Santa Cruz instructor has been trying to mold young minds on better ways so that they can make a difference within their community—especially when it comes to homelessness.

Meanwhile, our entertainment pages are full this week, too. In A&E, take note of a local performance art piece that revolves around the idea of turf wars. There’s also a preview of Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s production of “Honk!”. Something else to keep on your radar: Cabrillo College jazz icon Ray Brown, who celebrates Stan Kenton’s centennial in a rare concert. And James Bond fans should read film critic Lisa Jensen’s review of the new 007 film Skyfall.

Something else to consider: The launch party of the Huichol Foundation, designed to support indigenous culture. It takes place at MAH (6:30-10:30 p.m.) Sunday, Nov. 18. See huicholfoundation.org for more details.

Enjoy this week’s issue.
    
Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief

Letters to the Editor

Learning More About Eating Disorders
Regarding your article on eating disorders and The Lotus Collaborative (GT 11/8), it was refreshing to be reminded, once again, of how brutal such a thing as anorexia can be. Thank you for reminding us that this disease does, indeed, have a significant  and very high premature mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. I appreciated learning about The Lotus Collaborative, too. If, as the article states, “13 million Americans binge eat, and another 10 million women (and 1 million men) struggle with anorexia or bulimia, according to the National Eating Disorder Association,” then this country is in desperate need of a shift.
This is a topic that should be addressed more often, and talked about. Thank you for bringing it to light.
Jessica Anderson
Soquel


Outraged by PG&E
In regards to your news coverage of PG&E, I am dismayed and outraged. First, PG&E poisons us humans with SmartMeters, trying to do us in with “Oh we are a corporation, guinea pigs.” Now, they are trying to kill the ocean family. They knew that when building Diablo Canyon reactor, that it was on a faultline, so why are they scratching their heads? Do they have a safety back-up plan?
Design another alternative energy source—I can think of several. OK, if they have to do this stupid experiment, can’t they do it when our whales are not migrating? You don’t need a psychic or scientist to predict what’s inevitable on the West Coast. We live in the ring of fire! Shut down the reactor and then slowly incorporate safer energy—our human species is definitely responsible or irresponsible, as in this case, for global warming.
Mary Falk
Santa Cruz


Online Comments
On ‘Good Egg’
This article is so well written, and Raquel, well she's always been so well spoken and really brilliant. Brilliant in a different, refreshing sort of way. I am uncharacteristically impressed!
—Guest

Clarification
In the music section of the Nov. 8 issue, we incorrectly stated that Jason Williams is the "former frontman" for Ribsy's Nickel. He is, in fact, still the frontman for that band. We regret the error.

opinionA local high schooler takes part in a practice drill at Grind Out Hunger Headquarters in Santa Cruz earlier this week. The event found Santa Cruz Warriors players on hand for an announcement of the NBA team’s partnership with Grind Out Hunger—the collaboration will help provide access to up to 80,000 meals per year for children and families in need. Grind Out Hunger, spearheaded by local Danny Keith, is a national youth-driven charity based in Santa Cruz. Since 2003, it has provided more than 1.5 million meals for families locally in partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County.

 

 

 

 


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

 

Silent Dilemma

An inside look at body image and eating disorders. PLUS: Why ‘fat’ is not a feeling. My earliest memory of “feeling fat” was when I was about 12 years old. Up until that time, I was not all that aware of having a body; I was pretty much just in my body, doing the things that kids do. I had not yet learned that I was supposed to look differently than I did. I had not yet downloaded the program that some foods were “good” and others were “bad.” I did not yet have exercise and movement linked up with calorie burning or self-worth.

 

Field to Vase

Open house provides opportunity for residents to meet their local flower growers Valentine’s Day is a high point of the year for those in the cut flower business. So when, one year in the late ’90s, the bouquet-riddled holiday failed to deliver for Kitayama Brothers Farms, the family behind the decades-old rose-growing business knew something was wrong.  “It was the writing on the wall,” recalls Stuart Kitayama, operations manager for the Watsonville-based company. “Those of us who had been hoping things would just get better finally said ‘it’s time to change.’”

 

The Price of Safety

The city's proposed budget addresses public safety needs The City of Santa Cruz’s pocketbook has come a long way since 2009, when an $8 million shortfall loomed. According to City Manager Martin Bernal, the proposed general fund budget for 2013-2014 is healthier than it has been since the beginning of The Great Recession in 2008. Armed with this returning stability, the proposal puts one of the community's top concerns—public safety—front and center.

 

Community Studies 2.0

After a controversial suspension, a new incarnation of the unique UC Santa Cruz major is reinstated The UC Santa Cruz community studies lounge is a great place to have a conversation.  Housed on the second floor of a faculty building in Oakes College, just down the hall from a whiteboard that reads “COMMUNITY STUDIES LIVES,” the room has a big round table, couches and chairs, and shelves stacked with past senior “capstone projects.”

 

North Pacific String Band

Jeff Wilson, who plays banjo for North Pacific String Band, loves being part of original music experiences. “What I like about the music we play is that it’s fairly unique and kind of hard to put your finger on,” Wilson says. “We’re not just trying to do bluegrass or country or folk. It’s a mixture of those things and we try to add in a lot of musicality to all of that.” Originality and musicality aren’t ideas which are limited to the band’s exploits either.

 

Peace in the Middle East

New dance-concert explores Palestinian-Israeli conflict Inspired by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, local choreographer Karl Schaffer’s “Mosaic” is a dance-concert featuring Jewish Diaspora and Arab music from the women’s choral group Zambra, singer Fattah Abbou and a troupe of local dancers. In between rehearsals for the show, which runs June 21-22 at Motion Pacific, Schaffer shared the story behind its creation.

 

Muscle-Bound

Valiant cast battles loud, ugly action for the soul of 'Man of Steel' Early in Man of Steel, fourth-grader Clark, the boy who will be Superman, is cowering in a broom closet at school, eyes screwed shut, hands clapped over his ears. He can't control his super powers: his X-ray vision shows him the skulls and skeletons under everyone's flesh; unfiltered noise—dogs, traffic, heartbeats—assault him from all sides. Rushing to school, his mom kneels outside the door and asks what's wrong.

 

CYNDI

On the eve of Cyndi Lauper’s Mountain Winery gig, we dissect the woman, the icon, the creative beast. Plus: Her thoughts on the music industry, equal rights and those sparkling ‘Kinky Boots’ Few performers possess the kind of fierce, she-bopping tenacity Cyndi Lauper has become famous for. Equal parts free spirit, civil rights activist and Grammy-winner, Lauper is one of the few creative artists able to successfully marry her cutting-edge verve with a heart-of-gold panache. It certainly has helped fuel the remarkable career resurgence she has been experiencing lately.

 

Making the Grade

The quest to identify sources of high levels of bacteria at Cowell Beach continues With straight As on Heal the Bay’s annual “beach report card” for 10 out of 13 Santa Cruz County beaches—Main Beach, Seabright, and even Cowell Beach at the Stairs, to name a few—it would seem that Santa Cruz boasts a high coastal GPA. But in recent years, one Santa Cruz beach just can’t seem to pass: Cowell Beach west of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.

 

Summer Solstice, Full Moon, Mercury Retros

Early morning Wednesday Mercury, star of communication and conflict, turns stationary retrograde (23 Cancer). We all know by now what not to do. And what to do—through July 19.
GTemail_tileTomorow's GTW Today.
Sign up for Tomorrow's Good Times Today
Upcoming arts & events

Latest Comments

 

A Sustainable Culture

The popularity of old world yogurt is surging, and it’s easy to make at home Yogurt is a product of the ages. With a name originating in Turkey and probiotic benefits touted by the health food industry. A fondness for Greek-style yogurt has taken the country by storm, resulting in a tripling of the number of yogurt factories in New York State, and a $2 billion a year industry. What sets this Mediterranean yogurt apart is straining. Other cultures refer to the product as “hung” yogurt. Stirred yogurt is placed in a fine mesh strainer which has been lined with cheesecloth and suspended over a deep container. Watery whey seeps out, resulting in a thicker, denser yogurt with more protein by volume. It makes a lovely base for a stiffer tzatziki cucumber-garlic dip and spread.

 

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.

 

Is Edward Snowden a patriot or a traitor?

He's a patriot. Anyone who stands up for the rights that we stand for as a country, that is real democracy. That would be in my book—somebody who is a patriot. Leah WeissSanta Cruz | Therapist

 

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 |

 

Serene Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

There’s always an upbeat vibe going at MJA’s tasting room on the Westside. On a recent visit, the very sociable owner Marin Artukovich was busy pouring for a roomful of oenophiles having a good time. With the help of staff members, Artukovich makes sure that nobody waits too long to sample his fine wines, while also keeping track of every person’s flight.

 

Paying it Forward

Pianist Benny Green wants jazz’s past to continue to inform its future I can honestly say I’m still learning.” Hearing such an admirable, humble statement from someone like Benny Green—a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and band leader whose 30-plus year career includes performances and recordings with jazz luminaries like Oscar Peterson, Art Blakey and Betty Carter—might be surprising at first. But Green’s insatiable desire to keep learning has served him well. That desire—and his deep love of jazz—is something he wants today’s younger musicians to feel, too.

 

Good Morning Maui

Goodness, righteousness, virtuousness and fairness are some of the four-score English words that attempt to describe the Hawaiian essence of pono, whose use in the state motto translates to “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

 

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’s your secret to avoiding the summer swarms?