Plus Letters To the Editor
FOLLOW US
Giving and Giving, Then Giving Some More
2014 is almost over. Wednesday, Dec. 17, the Jewish Festival of Light, Hanukkah, begins. We are in our last week of Sag and last two weeks of December. Sunday, Dec. 21 is winter Solstice, as the sun enters Capricorn (3:30 p.m. for the west coast). Soon after, the Capricorn new moon occurs (5:36 p.m. for the west coast)—the last new moon of 2014. Sunday morning Uranus in Aries (revolution, revelation) is stationary direct (retro since July 22). Uranus/Aries create things new and needed to anchor the new culture and civilization (Aquarius). We will see revolutionary change in 2015. Capricorn new moon, building-the-personality seed thought, is, “Let ambition rule and let the door to initiation and freedom stand wide (open).” Capricorn is a gate—where matter returns to spirit. But the gate is unseen until the Ajna Center (third eye), Diamond Light of Direction, opens.
Winter solstice is the longest day of darkness of the year. The sun’s rays resting at the Tropic of Capricorn (southern hemisphere) symbolize the Christ (soul’s) light piercing the heart of the Earth, remaining there for three days, till Holy Night (midnight Thursday morning). Then the sun’s light begins to rise. It is the birth of the new light (holy child) for the world. A deep calm and stillness pervades the world.
The entire planet is revivified, re-spiritualized. All hearts beating reflect this Light. And so throughout the Earth there’s a radiant “impress” (impressions, pictures) given to humanity of the World Mother and her Child. The star Sirius (love/direction) and the constellation Virgo the mother shines above. For gift giving, give to those in need. Give and give and then give some more. This creates the new template of giving and sharing for the new world.
Film, Times & Events: Week of December 12
Films This Week
Check out the movies playing around town.
With: Reviews,
Movie Times click here.
Santa Cruz area movie theaters >
Be Our Guest: Dilated Peoples
After an eight-year hiatus, Dilated Peoples, one of the biggest names in underground hip-hop, is back.
Jewel in Town
Ann Wasserman crafts jewelry from gold, silver, freshly blown glass and stingray skin
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to celebrate the holidays?
I went up to a Santa and asked what he wanted for Christmas, and it turned out that he was a hired homeless man. It was really crazy, but really rewarding in the end.
Hani Esengio, Santa Cruz, Waitress
Briefs: Rain Gauge, Guard Changing
RAIN GAUGE
Freeze Frame
Frantic storytelling lessens the grandeur of ‘Antarctica’You almost can’t go wrong with a good nature documentary. Especially if the location is some wild, exotic place rarely captured on the big screen. A place that feels deeply foreign to our familiar everyday experience—like, say, Antarctica, the coldest and southernmost point on the planet, where the sun never quite sets for half the year, followed by four long months of night.
Good News Restaurant Supply
George Neel is a pot dealer. George Neel, a fast-talking Navy veteran, sells kitchen supplies to Café Mare, Lillian’s Italian Kitchen, the Red, and other restaurants around Santa Cruz. GT caught up with Neel early one morning at his family business, Good News Restaurant Supply, just as he was getting off the phone with a client.
GT: How long has this place been open?
GEORGE NEEL: Here in Santa Cruz? Maybe four years. We were in Ben Lomond. Then, we were in Felton—then, we came here.
So, why the move?
To open a store. Before, we were just a warehouse. Now, anyone can come, you know. Before, we didn’t have to put up with anyone. Excuse me, we didn’t have the pleasure.
Do you get much foot traffic?
Not a lot. Most of our sales are outside sales. So, I go out. (Pointing) My son Isaiah goes out. My son Tom goes out. My wife sits in here and does the books.
Were you always interested in kitchens?
No, I didn’t graduate high school. I went into the Navy. I got out of the Navy with no diploma, so I found a job in a restaurant supply business in Brisbane, California. That’s how I got into it. Now I’m 63. So, I worked for many companies before I became self-employed in ’79.
Do you like to cook?
No, that’s why I got married, man.
What’s a typical day for you?
Come in here and place orders. Get in my car, and drive over the hill, and sell in the Santa Clara Valley. (Pointing to Isaiah) This guy sells around here. (Pointing toward another worker.) This guy’s our excellent delivery guy who’s quittin’. Two more weeks, he’s out of here. Look at that smile—see? So … you want a job, delivery? Build your muscles.
I’ve got muscles—
I know. You could build it up, though, delivering stoves and refrigerators. So, you don’t want a job. What else do you want to know?
How do you keep things organized?
We don’t. Seriously. We try. To some degree. We just do everything half ass. Maybe I misnamed my business.
1211 Water St., Santa Cruz, 425-8744. PHOTO: Good News moved out of Felton four years ago to open a storefront. KEANA PARKER
String Theory
Guitar is the teacher, and Kaki King is a star student
From The Editor
Plus Letters To the Editor Ever since Robert Anton Wilson died, challenging the conventional notions of reality just doesn’t seem like as much fun as it used to around these parts. I’m pretty sure Wilson would love Maria Grusauskas’ cover story about lucid dreaming this week, explaining as it does not only the mind-bending...
Giving and Giving, Then Giving Some More
2014 is almost over. Wednesday, Dec. 17, the Jewish Festival of Light, Hanukkah, begins. We are in our last week of Sag and last two weeks of December. Sunday, Dec. 21 is winter Solstice, as the sun enters Capricorn (3:30 p.m. for the west coast). Soon after, the Capricorn new moon occurs (5:36 p.m. for the west coast)—the...
Film, Times & Events: Week of December 12
Films This WeekCheck out the movies playing around town.With: Reviews, Movie Times click here.Santa Cruz area movie theaters > ....... New This Week ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE Reviewed this issue. (PG) 92 minutes. (**1/2)—Lisa Jensen. Starts Friday. COMET The passionate love affair of a modern young couple is tracked over six years, a slew of...
Be Our Guest: Dilated Peoples
After an eight-year hiatus, Dilated Peoples, one of the biggest names in underground hip-hop, is back. Hailing from Los Angeles, this trio comprising Evidence, DJ Babu and Rakaa Iriscience helped pioneer West Coast independent hip-hop in the 1990s, and has remained a well-respected act in the genre despite never finding widespread commercial success. The group's re-emergence...
Jewel in Town
Ann Wasserman crafts jewelry from gold, silver, freshly blown glass and stingray skin Richly textured silver bracelets, smartly fashioned glass bead necklaces—the signature elements of Ann Wasserman’s handcrafted designs are unmistakable. From her tiny studio equipped with a digitally controlled kiln, tiny furnaces, and an arsenal of precision propane torches, Wasserman transforms glass and silver into...
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to celebrate the holidays?
I went up to a Santa and asked what he wanted for Christmas, and it turned out that he was a hired homeless man. It was really crazy, but really rewarding in the end. Hani Esengio, Santa Cruz, Waitress I did a scavenger hunt for my fully grown-up sisters,...
Briefs: Rain Gauge, Guard Changing
RAIN GAUGE The San Lorenzo River is flowing, and awnings dripped rainwater onto Pacific Avenue last week. While 55 percent of California is in exceptional drought, last week’s long-overdue showers were a welcome relief. Nearly every portion of the state is in some degree of water deprivation. So, did the recent rains quelch the drought? Not...
Freeze Frame
Frantic storytelling lessens the grandeur of ‘Antarctica’You almost can’t go wrong with a good nature documentary. Especially if the location is some wild, exotic place rarely captured on the big screen. A place that feels deeply foreign to our familiar everyday experience—like, say, Antarctica, the coldest and southernmost point on the planet, where the sun never quite sets for...
Good News Restaurant Supply
George Neel is a pot dealer. George Neel, a fast-talking Navy veteran, sells kitchen supplies to Café Mare, Lillian’s Italian Kitchen, the Red, and other restaurants around Santa Cruz. GT caught up with Neel early one morning at his family business, Good News Restaurant Supply, just as he was getting off the phone with a client.
GT: How long has...
String Theory
Guitar is the teacher, and Kaki King is a star student Recently on her Facebook page, singer-songwriter Kaki King asked fans in the greater Santa Cruz area to send her postcards so that they could be featured during her show at the Catalyst. “I had done a project with fans in the past where we exchanged...