It’s one thing to keep Santa Cruz weird, but my priority these days is to keep it politically involved and active.
We are in the darkest times, not a great thing to think about in a magazine called Good Times, but it’s almost unescapable. Things are happening around us, many of them cruel and thoughtless and it’s hard sometimes to think about what we can do to make a difference.
That’s why we’re celebrating the 14th year of the Watsonville Film Festival, which this year is focusing on resisting the bad, inhumane things going on around us.
Our cover story by Richard Stockton recommends some of the films you’ll want to check out, as the festival expands to Santa Cruz and Salinas.
Festival organizers have fought to keep it prospering after the pandemic reduced the number of movie-goers, but by finding important, relevant and unafraid film makers, they have made it a great success, one for which we should be proud.
Our story says it best:
“Following the news cycle can make you want to throw your phone into Monterey Bay and go live in the redwoods with coyotes. Every headline hits you like a punch in the gut. But from March 12 through March 25, the 14th Annual Watsonville Film Festival offers an antidote. As people of color are misrepresented and erased, the Latine community of Watsonville is using cinema to reclaim agency, tell their human stories and resist the powerful forces that prefer silence.”
On a more positive note, we’ve got lots of great music coming this week, including a tribute to Sly Stone and a jazz performance by guitarist Charlie Hunter (go to goodtimes.sc for that one). We’ve got a play about the fictionalized story behind how Matt Damon and Ben Affleck created their breakthrough movie, Good Will Hunting, which sounds like a topic way out of the box.
Our Foodie File focuses on a pair of sisters who inherited an organic coffee shop from their grandmother and it’s become a cool spot in the northest part of Santa Cruz (or is it the westest part?).
Our wine columnist Josie Cowden will take you somewhere you may not have been–trying a wine with Indian bouquet. Spicy!
Here’s a new race to know about: The Santa Cruz Mile starts Sunday with a run from the Santa Cruz Wharf, up Pacific Avenue and through the heart of Downtown. It’s geared toward a wide range of participants, from walkers to elite runners. INFO: SantaCruzMile.com
Have a great week and thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
YES, WE’RE NOW OPEN Peoples Coffee at Mission Street and Almar Avenue speaks Santa Cruz. Love it. Photograph by Ross Levoy
GOOD IDEA
To strengthen college access and affordability, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CPA, announced a coordinated initiative to help eligible community college students access their CalKIDS Scholarships.
State education leaders are leveraging existing student data systems to help community colleges pinpoint enrolled students who have CalKIDS Scholarships available to claim and use. The effort identified 40,000 community college students with approximately $20 million in scholarships available. Eligible California public school students automatically receive up to $1,500 in CalKIDS Scholarships. Info at Calkids.org.
GOOD WORK
After many years supporting the Capitola Library with a used bookstore at the Capitola Mall, the Capitola Library Friends bookstore is closing. The store opened in, 2018 and will close at the end of this month. Space for the shop was donated by the Mall.
“This support has enriched our programming and added to the long-term energy resilience of the library itself,” said Christopher Platt, Director of Libraries. The Capitola Library Friends initially focused on fundraising following the passage of Measure S to support the capital campaign for the Capitola Branch Library. With the completion of the library, the Capitola Friends set their next goal to fund the installation of solar panels and storage batteries.
