After enjoying its contents, I couldn’t throw away the empty bottle of Picchetti Winery’s Red Table Wine. There is no label, just a beautiful gold peacock feather painted on the bottle, and the word pavone, Italian for peacock, written next to it. Elegant bottles such as this make attractive candle holders, especially when the wax has...

How surfing helped a local therapist improve his practice As a lifelong surfer who is also in private practice as a therapist here in Santa Cruz, I am often struck by the parallels between surfing and therapy. When I am surfing, I view waves as opportunities rolling through the sea, ever-changing as they interact with the...

Local surfboard company greens up the industry with an eco-conscious business model Those who are lucky enough to surf on a Ventana surfboard can look down and wonder if they’re surfing on an old redwood floor, a wine barrel, or part of the Giant Dipper roller coaster. The Santa Cruz company Ventana Surfboards and Supplies embraces...

The whims of Mother nature play a major role in whether or not Mavericks is called each year The Mavericks surf contest is not like the Super Bowl—even though it has been called “the Super Bowl of surfing.” The time, date and location of America’s beloved football championship is known years in advance. The Mavericks big...

Mavericks competition enters new partnership, shortens season It doesn’t look like much at first. The infamous wave at Mavericks builds slowly—then steepens. All of a sudden, a massive wall of water—sometimes over 50 feet in height—comes crashing down, and you’d better have gotten the heck out of the way. “It comes out of deep water,” big-wave...

Local nonprofit FleaHab hosted an open house last weekend to thank its sponsors for the donations that facilitated renting a six-bedroom Capitola house, the organization’s long-awaited dream. The house has served as a sober living environment for recovering addicts since February 2014. “I want to help people find the passion they had before drugs and alcohol...

I think it's macho-ness run wild … and probably the money could be spent more wisely. And I'm pro law enforcement. Dave Walter, Santa Clara, Purchasing Agent             It seems like it might be overkill. I'm not quite sure if they would need it. Charlie Wallace, Santa Cruz, Musician    ...

Ann Baldwin May’s quilts are like abstract paintings Adventurous and prolific, quilter Ann Baldwin May has never met a piece of fabric that didn’t excite her eye. The West Side resident first tried her hand at quilting in 2008. Several one-woman shows, many awards and 300 quilts later, May is still on a roll. Anyone who...

UCSC Theater Group Channels Tuskegee Airmen in ‘Black Eagles’ Halfway through the UCSC African American Theater Arts Troupe’s (AATAT) Thursday evening rehearsal, director Donald Williams steps onto the stage to address his students, and it takes me several minutes to realize this isn’t part of a scene in this year’s production “Black Eagles.” The seven actors...

Predicting this year's Academy Award winners Okay, it’s that time of year when I typically dazzle readers with my Sherlockian deductive powers and predict the upcoming Academy Award winners. But the cold, hard truth is that, by the time all the Hollywood craft guilds—directors (DGA), producers (PGA), writers (WGA), and screen actors (SAG)—have weighed in with...