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Excelsior! Local Retailers Stock Up for Free Comic Book Day
Up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a couple dozen boxes towering over a corner of Atlantis Fantasy World!
Normally, this inventory would already have been entered into the system and on the shelf ready for busy hands to flip through. However, this week’s haul is poised and ready for the comic shop’s busiest day of the year: Free Comic Book Day.
“In 2007 we ordered 4,800 comics to give away,” Atlantis Fantasy World owner Joe Ferrara explains.
“This year we have over 8,800. So it’s grown and grown and grown over the years.”
Since its inaugural launch in 2007, Free Comic Book Day is a staple in the industry. Held on the first Saturday of the month, the event gives readers a preview of publishers’ next big storylines and shows non-readers that comics aren’t just for kids. This year alone there are more than 2,300 retailers across the country giving away up to 48 different titles.
And it all started right here in the Bay Area with Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff in Concord.
“Joe went to work one day and there was a line around the block,” Ferrara states.
“He asked what was going on and they said it was the day Baskin Robbins gave away a free scoop of ice cream. So he said, ‘If they can do it, we can do it.’”
This year, just as it was in 2007, FCBD also falls on May the 4th, which—officially since 2011—has been recognized as International Star Wars Day.
“It only happens every few years,” Ferrara says. “And it’s going to be even more exciting because Downtown Santa Cruz is having their yearly Kids’ Day event on the same day.”
To celebrate, Atlantis Fantasy World is offering 40 percent off all Funko Pops and 10 percent off all Star Wars graphic novels in addition to free comics. Rebel Scum beware, because the 501st Golden Gate Garrison—a ragtag group of storm trooper cosplayers from the Star Wars universe—will be on site to keep things in an orderly fashion.
A couple blocks over, Comicopolis on Front Street is similarly surging with excitement.
“We’ve participated in every single one,” Comicopolis co-owner Johnnie Arnold says of FCBD.
“We usually have a little bit of a line in the morning but by the first hour we’re pretty packed. It’s usually one of our biggest non-holiday days of the year.”
As for the books that will be handed out, readers will have a smorgasbord of different titles from the familiar—like The Avengers, Star Wars and Pokémon—to the more obscure, like The World of James Tynion IV. Those looking for nostalgia need look no further than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover, Energon Universe.
Arnold says Comicopolis is busy going through the more than 1,000 free comic books they ordered, and customers should look out for upcoming sale announcements.
“We call it ‘Nerd Christmas,’ because there’s something for everyone. Everybody leaves happy, and it’s so festive,” Atlantis Fantasy World operations manager Trisha Wolfe exclaims.
This is Wolfe’s 18th Free Comic Book Day and she has watched it grow into the unofficial national holiday it’s become.
“Comic Book Day lets us fulfill our mission statement,” Ferrara says, turning to Wolfe before asking, “Which is what?”
“People will be happier when they leave than when they came in,” she says in earnest.
Her colleague, inventory manager Nate Brand—who will be marking his 14th Free Comic Book Day this year—has fond memories of past holidays.
“In 2019 it was another Free Comic Book Day, Star Wars Day lineup,” he recalls with a laugh.
“And this little kid came in dressed as a stormtrooper. He was so in awe of this entire rack of free comics and the other stormtroopers walking around that he dropped his helmet on the floor and said, ‘This is the coolest place ever!’”
Since the inception of comic books, there has always been a market for titles aimed at adults.
Early pre-code (before 1954) horror books contained themes of the macabre, while many Marvel comics of the 1960s and 1970s were aimed at college-age audiences. Despite that, comic books have historically been seen as either for kids, or as potentially profitable collectibles.
Today’s comic books, however, are finally getting the credit they’re due as viable sources of entertainment, often with philosophical and existential themes. Ferrara says it all changed in 1992 when D.C. published Superman #75, also known as “The Death of Superman.”
“That was the first time the media talked about the editorial content of a comic,” he remembers. “That was really a quantum leap for comics.”
That same year, Art Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for his graphic novel, Maus, an autobiographical story about being the child of Holocaust survivors and the generational trauma surrounding the horrors of war.
Since then, authors like Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Alan Moore, James Tynion IV and others have written content that continues to show the diversity of comics and graphic novels with award recognitions like the Hugo and Nebula.
“I’ve spoken to librarians who say, ‘I’m afraid [if they read graphic novels] they won’t read real books,’” Ferrara states. “And I have to say, ‘Excuse me, these are real books. Have you ever read Persepolis?’”
Michael Mitchell, a lifetime Atlantis customer turned employee, agrees.
“You’re reading a movie,” he says of today’s books. “It’s an escape from everything in the world and provides you the enjoyment of an awesome story.”
Thankfully for Santa Cruz’s young minds, Atlantis Fantasy World and the Santa Cruz Public Library have a long history of working together to get kids reading more. Through the library’s summer reading program, AFW has given away $92,000 in comics and graphic novels since 2008.
Back at Comicopolis, Arnold touts Free Comic Book Day as “a great way to get younger kids into the shop and get them reading.” He asserts, “Our biggest market right now is selling ‘Under Teen’ graphic novels to the younger kids.”
Today, comics have taken modern society by storm with the help of billion-dollar franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans of all ages can find virtually anything about their favorite comics from the books themselves to movies, television shows, podcasts, worldwide conventions, clothing lines and much, much more.
Heed this word of caution, however: It’s an incredibly addicting hobby for anyone who enjoys having complete sets of things, shiny art, or twisted tales of the good, the bad and the weird.
Brand sums it up nicely.
“There’s something for everyone. Comics are a medium like television or film. It’s a format and an accessible one at that. For people that tell me they aren’t into comics I say, ‘Give me five minutes and I’ll find something you’ll be into.’”
Following the Fall Creek Fish Ladder Trail
There’s a cartoon in the 9/9/22 New Yorker that shows salmon jumping upstream over rocks with leopards, pelicans, crocodiles, raccoons, lions, alligators and wolves catching them in mid-air. In the foreground one bear says to another bear, “You just had to Yelp this place, didn’t you?”
It is a short walk from where you park on Farmer Street to the bridge over the new $2.3 million rebuild of the Fall Creek Fish Ladder (see How to Get There below.) A ten-minute walk at most. I park along the road, observing where the No Parking signs start. Their Neighborhood Watch probably includes policing parked cars, but just a few blocks back, toward Felton, there are plenty of spaces. I walk up the residential street toward the fish ladder, and meet another hiker headed there too. Dark red hair, salted with white, middle-aged lanky guy. He looks and walks like a walker.
He looks at me and says, “Hey, you’re that guy.”
I’m not sure exactly what guy I am, but in the spirit of hiking brotherhood we fist bump.
He says, “You’re the hiking guy. Hey man, you’re not going to tell people about our cool trail here?”
“The trail is cool, but why do you say, ‘our’ cool trail?”
“It’s just the two of us.”
“I can go with calling it ours if you mean everybody. Everyone. The animals.”
“But you’re going to get more and more people to come out here.”
“Yes. That is exactly what I hope to do.”
“But it will be overrun by new hikers!”
“Wouldn’t that be great?”
“No! It’ll ruin it. I don’t want other people here. Why would you spoil this?”
“Because, OK. We are at war with ourselves, people are fractured, melting down, and I believe if we can get people to lace their boots up and get out in nature, maybe we’ll all get healthy enough to survive.”
“But, somewhere else. Not here!”
“The newbies could come here—you and I go deeper into the wild.”
“What?”
“We’re hikers, man. When it gets too crowded for us, we do what we do, we just keep walking.”
If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.” —Hippocrates, Father of Medicine
After the row of houses stop, it’s only another two hundred yards to the ladder.
We find a younger guy on the bridge, using a camera with an enormous lens. All three of us lean over the wooden bridge railing to look down on five workers in hard hats in the bottom weir working with a crane to move boulders.
Ladder Back Story
The upgraded ladder is a half-mile upstream from the San Lorenzo River on Fall Creek in the Henry Cowell Redwood State Park. The San Lorenzo Valley Water District has rebuilt six new weirs, or tanks, at the fish ladder, at the intake that serves water to Felton.
Carly Blanchard, the San Lorenzo Valley Water District’s environmental programs manager, tells me, “The previous fish ladder, built 30 years ago, had steps too tall to allow the fish to move up the creek, but the new design lowers the ladder steps from 18 to 12 inches. The new ladder is essential for steelhead and coho salmon to make the trip upstream where they spawn.”
Romeo went up a stone wall to Juliet and got in all kinds of trouble, but he had vines to climb.
I have an idea for a Felton Fish Ladder bumper sticker: Keep Santa Cruz Weir!
Am I trying too hard with the fish jokes? OK, I’ll scale back.
Climbing the Ladder of Love
The younger guy taking pictures on the bridge is a biology student at UCSC. He tells us how the salmon and steelhead do it.
“The adults leap their way upstairs, and then spawn. The babies stay in the lowest weir until they are big enough to make the leap. A smaller male will follow a female and start nudging her to release her eggs. [How cute it that? A little guy nuzzling big momma with his nose.] Then he will rush to get in line.
The female releases ova, unfertilized eggs, into the nests and gravel on the bottom of the stream, while the males release their milt, or sperm, into the water to fertilize the eggs. If a male and a female are hanging out together in a tank, they are mating.”
I think it’s only right that the design of the ladder keeps the little ones from getting all the way up to the top, so they don’t have to witness their elders having sex and become scarred for life. In the first grade my buddy Paul heard odd noises coming from upstairs and climbed the steps only to see his parents in the throes of passion. Paul has lived in one-story buildings his entire adult life (bathmophobia: fear of stairs). No telling what that would do to a youngster coho salmon.
Into the Forest
After the UCSC student finishes telling us how salmonids mate, the three of us turn toward the trail leading to the labyrinth of hiking possibilities in Fall Creek State Park.
I hear my new, red-haired hiking buddy’s concern about crowded trails; on weekends, there are way more people. But now the three of us go deeper into the forest, each taking our own path, our own speed, finding our own solitude. There is a lot of wild out there if you keep going.
Fall Creek State Park’s 4,650 acres contain 20 miles of trails, plus the skyscraping, old-growth redwoods that are accessible from the day-use side of the park, located off Highway 9 in Felton. And the park has grassland, river and sandhills as well. You can see banana slugs, black-tailed deer, coyotes, bobcats … and now, steelhead trout and coho salmon.
You can also see people running on the Fall Creek trails. But no dogs on the Old Growth Redwood Gove Loop Trail.
If you’re any kind of eco-nerd, hydrology-nerd, ichthyologist or someone who just likes to see cement in volume, the Fall Creek Fish Ladder near Felton might be the Disneyland ride for you. I love it.
How To Get There
The day-use area is located south of downtown Felton on Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
To the day-use entrance: From Highway 17, take the Mt. Hermon Road exit. Follow Mt. Hermon Road until it ends at Graham Hill Road. Turn right, and go to the next stop light (Highway 9). Turn left on Highway 9 and go through downtown Felton. Head up Empire Grade, turn right on Cooper, left on Farmer and park before the No Parking signs start.
Portraits Of The Unhoused
All eyes are on Porter Wayne Hoover. He’s sitting in the bright conference room at Housing Matters on Coral Street, across the way from his residential unit at Casa Azul. Hoover sports a trucker cap and a denim jacket as cameras and lights are set up across from him, ready to give him their undivided attention.
It’s February 2024 and Hoover, 53, is telling his story for Housing Matters’ Community Voices series. The interviews are meant to highlight the lives of formerly unhoused people in order for others to connect with them, and are posted to the Housing Matters website. During his interview, Hoover, feeling vulnerable, chokes up with emotion as he relates how he previously came to be homeless.
“I didn’t know how to get off the streets. I didn’t have a support group or a caseworker and nothing like that at first. I thought about taking my life a couple of times and they hospitalized me,” Hoover says.
Dealing with bipolar disorder, PTSD, depression and debilitating nerve pain, Hoover has now obtained housing at Casa Azul, which serves chronically homeless individuals who need long term assistance.
Hoover’s experiences and those of others dealing with housing insecurity is the focus of “Look Me in the Eyes,” a one-night-only multimedia art exhibition coming to the Museum of Art & History on May 3. The interviews and accompanying photographs were used by local artists as inspiration for original works.
The project was headed by Housing Matters Artist-In-Residence Abi Mustapha, a renowned local muralist and activist. Mustapha is also a co-founder of the Santa Cruz Equity Collab and was involved with the creation of the Black Lives Matter mural in downtown Santa Cruz.
“Coming in as an artist, I’m using my type of lens to highlight some of the inequity and problems that maybe could be addressed through art. So this is experimental, like all public art, and the point of this show, specifically, is to really highlight and humanize people who have experienced being houseless in Santa Cruz, which is a lot of people,” Mustapha says.
Mustapha reached out to various local artists for the project, including photographer Abram Katz, who took the portrait photos other artists used for reference.
Katz did 30-minute sessions with the participants, time, he says, that was spent getting to know them as people and listening to what was going on in their lives.
“The idea was to take photos that showed dignity, that showed pride, power, place and purpose in this world,” Katz, 46, explains in an interview.
While the participants were grateful to be in a secure housing situation, Katz says they all expressed concern over those that are still unhoused.
“I found that the most fascinating and the most heart-wrenching and impactful for me was that those with almost no resources were more concerned about other people than themselves,” Katz says.
“Look Me in the Eyes” has brought together artists and participants from different life experiences, and some of the artists can relate personally to being unhoused.
Harley Hudson always felt like an artist. Originally from Georgia, the 28-year-old wasn’t encouraged to pursue art as a child, however. Now, she is delving into photography, and armed with a used camera and rolls of film, she is capturing vibrant images of unhoused people in the Santa Cruz community.
“When I was experiencing homelessness one of the things that I noticed was feeling invisible. And I just don’t want anyone to feel invisible. So now that I am in a place where I can use my voice, I would like to use my voice to amplify the voices of others,” Hudson says in an interview.
The artists and participants behind “Look Me in the Eyes” will be in attendance at the MAH event, engaging in conversation about the works and their personal stories. Other artists include Melissa West. Karina Jade Neeley, Andrew Purchin, Marsa Greenspan and Kyle Sanders, to name a few.
Hudson says she feels honored to be included on the roster.
“It’s really unbelievable that a girl with Trailer Park Road stamped on her birth certificate—someone who grew up being told that she would never become an artist—can stand next to such legends in the Santa Cruz community. I’m in disbelief. I have to pinch myself every day,” Hudson says, overcome with emotion.
The exhibition is also meant as a primer for the upcoming March Against Homelessness on May 18. The march is in its second year and is put on by Housing Matters in order to bring “actionable solutions to homelessness through the advancement of public policy,” according to their website.
Mustapha hopes “Look Me in the Eyes” will build connections in the community amongst people who have more in common than they think.
“There’s such a stigma around what [homelessness] looks like or what people believe that it looks like. So, to have people that are very relatable, who have the capacity to come and speak to people and connect, I think will hopefully draw a crowd that could be influenced by the connection, similarities and overlap that everybody has in this,” Mustapha says.
“I mean, we’re all living in the same town.”
“Look Me In The Eyes” will exhibit at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History for one night only on May 3, 2024. The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. as a part of First Friday and is free to attend.
Surf City Kick-Off
When thinking of Santa Cruz, a pervasive soccer culture may not be the first association that comes to mind. But one family of soccer fanatics is trying to change that.
Father-son duo Germán and Rodrigo Plaza are launching Santa Cruz’s first-ever semi-professional men’s and women’s soccer teams to start playing in the fall. Their local youth soccer club, Eclipse Soccer Academy, is partnering with the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) to grow the sport’s competitive program locally by creating adult fourth division national teams.
“I am looking for players who are willing to dare to dream and journey together,” Germán says.
Germán, who is originally from Peru, has more than 60 years of soccer experience both as a player and coach. Over the last four decades, he has coached boys and girls youth teams, high school, college and professional teams from the east to the west coast, as well as internationally in South America.
Before co-founding Eclipse Soccer Academy in Santa Cruz, he coached recreational teams across the city for over a decade, including with Santa Cruz City Youth Soccer Club. As a result of Germán and Rodrigo branching out on their own, the Santa Cruz organization severed ties with them last May for allegedly violating league rules and bylaws.
But starting these competitive adult teams in his American hometown of Santa Cruz has been a dream Germán has been working toward. He says oftentimes soccer careers stop abruptly once a player turns 18, and there are few places for passionate players to turn to that aren’t college or professional—and not everyone is cut out for those paths.
What a local UPSL team provides is a pipeline for young and mature players to continue playing at a competitive level without the full-time commitment. And it can still act as a stepping stone for players who eventually want to go on to play in higher divisions, even major league teams.
“We want to create something here where you can keep chasing the dream but stay close to your community, to your family,” Germán says. “That’s what we don’t have right now.”
This is part of the rapid expansion of UPSL partnerships across the nation, which started in 2011 in Southern California with just 10 teams. Today the league has more than 400 teams, with a recent push to include more women’s teams in its growth plans. Santa Cruz teams will play opponents from in and around the Bay Area, including teams from Salinas, Oakland, San Jose and Napa.
Rodrigo, 31, has played soccer since he was 4 under his father’s tutelage. He says most people assume a high level of play only comes from big cities with unlimited amenities—but that’s not necessarily true.
“There are examples of individuals that have been able to reach very significant levels of play that are coming from our county,” he says. “There is a lot of talent in town that has yet to be given this opportunity.”
One aspiring player is Sadie Strout, 19, who has been participating on soccer teams in Santa Cruz since she was five years old. She graduated from Soquel High School last year and is currently playing for the Cabrillo College women’s team.
As a younger player she commuted to nearby cities like San Jose and Salinas to get exposure to more competitive leagues, but her hope was always for Santa Cruz to launch a program like the UPSL.
“I got really excited when I heard it was starting in Santa Cruz,” Strout says. “It will be nice to have a team here to represent my hometown.”
Playing center midfield, Strout says her role is to be a playmaker, looking for sneaky ways to pass a ball through difficult defensive lines so her teammates can get a break for the goal.
When considering the types of players he’s looking for, Germán says he wants to bring a group of people together who can collaborate without ego, regardless of their differences. The goal is for the culture of the club to reflect the city it’s serving, so Germán and Rodrigo are looking to Santa Cruzans for guidance on how best to represent the people through soccer. They are also taking note of established teams nearby like the Oakland Roots and Galaxy Silicon Valley to get inspiration—both clubs emphasize a strong culture of support from local fans.
“You can’t ever promise fans that you will win no matter what,” Germán says. “But what we can promise them, and do, is that it will be exciting and entertaining.”
Strout, who already registered for tryouts on April 27 and May 19, says she would be proud to play for the women’s team, especially as respect for female players has grown in recent years. If selected, she wants to do whatever it takes to contribute to the success of the team.
“When people usually look at Santa Cruz they think beach-town surfers, but there are a lot of athletes here, hidden talents,” Strout says. “Now that this team is coming, soccer will be more of an initial focus and everyone will be able to see the important talent.”
Free Will Astrology
ARIES March 21-April 19
The world’s record for jumping rope in six inches of mud is held by an Aries. Are you surprised? I’m not. So is the world’s record for consecutive wallops administered to a plastic inflatable punching doll. Other top accomplishments performed by Aries people: longest distance walking on one’s hands; number of curse words uttered in two minutes; and most push-ups with three bulldogs sitting on one’s back. As impressive as these feats are, I hope you will channel your drive for excellence in more constructive directions during the coming weeks. Astrologically speaking, you are primed to be a star wherever you focus your ambition on high-minded goals. Be as intense as you want to be while having maximum fun giving your best gifts.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
I don’t casually invoke the terms “marvels,” “splendors” and “miracles.” Though I am a mystic, I also place a high value on rational thinking and skeptical proof. If someone tells me a marvel, splendor or miracle has occurred, I will thoroughly analyze the evidence. Having said that, though, I want you to know that during the coming weeks, marvels, splendors and miracles are far more likely than usual to occur in your vicinity—even more so if you have faith that they will. I will make a similar prediction about magnificence, sublimity and resplendence. They are headed your way. Are you ready for blessed excess? For best results, welcome them all generously and share them lavishly.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
In accordance with astrological omens, I recommend you enjoy a celebratory purge sometime soon. You could call it a Cleansing Jubilee, or a Gleeful Festival of Purification, or a Jamboree of Cathartic Healing. This would be a fun holiday that lasted for at least a day and maybe as long as two weeks. During this liberating revel, you would discard anything associated with histories you want to stop repeating. You’d get rid of garbage and excess. You may even thrive by jettisoning perfectly good stuff that you no longer have any use for.
CANCER June 21-July 22
Graduation day will soon arrive. Congrats, Cancerian! You have mostly excelled in navigating through a labyrinthine system that once upon a time discombobulated you. With panache and skill, you have wrangled chaos into submission and gathered a useful set of resources. So are you ready to welcome your big rewards? Prepared to collect your graduation presents? I hope so. Don’t allow lingering fears of success to cheat you out of your well-deserved harvest. Don’t let shyness prevent you from beaming like a champion in the winner’s circle. PS: I encourage you to meditate on the likelihood that your new bounty will transform your life almost as much as did your struggle to earn it.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
Ritualist and author Sobonfu Somé was born in Burkina Faso but spent many years teaching around the world. According to her philosophy, we should periodically ask ourselves two questions: 1. “What masks have been imposed on us by our culture and loved ones?” 2. “What masks have we chosen for ourselves to wear?” According to my astrological projections, the coming months will be an excellent time for you to ruminate on these inquiries—and take action in response. Are you willing to remove your disguises to reveal the hidden or unappreciated beauty that lies beneath? Can you visualize how your life may change if you will intensify your devotion to expressing your deepest, most authentic self?
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
If human culture were organized according to my principles, there would be over eight billion religions—one for every person alive. Eight billion altars. Eight billion saviors. If anyone wanted to enlist priestesses, gurus and other spiritual intermediaries to help them out in their worship, they would be encouraged. And we would all borrow beliefs and rituals from each other. There would be an extensive trade of clues and tricks about the art of achieving ecstatic union with the Great Mystery. I bring this up, Virgo, because the coming weeks will be an ideal time for you to craft your own personalized and idiosyncratic religious path.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Hidden agendas and simmering secrets will soon leak into view. Intimate mysteries will become even more intimate and more mysterious. Questions that have been half-suppressed will become pressing and productive. Can you handle this much intrigue, Libra? Are you willing to wander through the amazing maze of emotional teases to gather clues about the provocative riddles? I think you will have the poise and grace to do these things. If I’m right, you can expect deep revelations to appear and long-lost connections to re-emerge. Intriguing new connections are also possible. Be on high alert for subtle revelations and nuanced intuitions.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
It’s fun and easy to love people for their magnificent qualities and the pleasure you feel when they’re nice to you. What’s more challenging is to love the way they disappoint you. Now pause a moment and make sure you register what I just said. I didn’t assert that you should love them even if they disappoint you. Rather, I invited you to love them BECAUSE they disappoint you. In other words, use your disappointment to expand your understanding of who they really are, and thereby develop a more inclusive and realistic love for them. Regard your disappointment as an opportunity to deepen your compassion—and as a motivation to become wiser and more patient. (PS: In general, now is a time when so-called “negative” feelings can lead to creative breakthroughs and a deepening of love.)
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
I assure you that you don’t need “allies” who encourage you to indulge in delusions or excesses. Nor do I recommend that you seek counsel from people who think you’re perfect. But you could benefit from colleagues who offer you judicious feedback. Do you know any respectful and perceptive observers who can provide advice about possible course corrections you could make? If not, I will fill the role as best as I can. Here’s one suggestion: Consider phasing out a mild pleasure and a small goal so you can better pursue an extra fine pleasure and a major goal.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
I invite you to take an inventory of what gives you pleasure, bliss and rapture. It’s an excellent time to identify the thrills that you love most. When you have made a master list of the fun and games that enhance your intelligence and drive you half-wild with joy, devise a master plan to ensure you will experience them as much as you need to—not just in the coming weeks, but forever. As you do, experiment with this theory: By stimulating delight and glee, you boost your physical, emotional and spiritual health.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Aquarian author Lewis Carroll said, “You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants some magical solution to their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.” In my astrological opinion, this won’t be an operative theme for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius. I suspect you will be inclined to believe fervently in magic, which will ensure that you attract and create a magical solution to at least one of your problems—and probably more.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Which would you prefer in the coming weeks: lots of itches, prickles, twitches and stings? Or, instead, lots of tingles, quivers, shimmers and soothings? To ensure the latter types of experiences predominate, all you need to do is cultivate moods of surrender, relaxation, welcome and forgiveness. You will be plagued with the aggravating sensations only if you resist, hinder, impede and engage in combat. Your assignment is to explore new frontiers of elegant and graceful receptivity.
Homework: Tell yourself the truth about something you have not been fully honest about. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
The Editor’s Desk
It looked like the new cannabis dispensary at the old Emily’s Bakery site on Mission Street was approved…but all of a sudden there’s been a fear campaign against it, with educators claiming it’s too close to schools.
It’s not. It fits within the legal requirement of more than 800 feet from a school. But for whatever reasons, people are using fear tactics to shut down not just any dispensary, but one started by WAMM, the people who fought hard and risked jail to provide cannabis to people who were terminally ill back before it was legal for everyone.
As anyone who has entered a dispensary knows, it’s virtually impossible to get in without solid legal credentials, such as a license. Kids have less chance of buying weed there than they would of buying alcohol in a liquor store. See the letter on this page about the quandary.
You have only one day to see an important pop-up display of art by homeless people May 3 at the Museum of Art & History. Read about it on the news page, the same place you will learn about a new semi-pro soccer league forming here.
Kids rock and they learn how to perform in front of crowds at the Be Natural Music School in Santa Cruz, our cover story. Writer John Louis Koenig follows them from rehearsal to show time. You can catch some of their bands for free 11:30am-2pm Saturday at Abbott Square during Kids Day, the day downtown devotes to things for kids. There will be booths, art projects, dancing, performances and music in the heart of downtown. It’s a great event.
When is a coffee shop more than a coffee shop? When it’s Norma Jeans in Aptos, which serves homemade and exotic pastries. Andrew Steingrube checks it out for you.
We have our first youth poet laureate, Dina Lusztig Noyes, and you can read about her and one of her poems in the arts section lead story, written by Josué Monroy.
Mushroom worship and education has grown from a small event downtown to a much bigger one at Roaring Camp this weekend. Check Elizabeth Borelli’s column on the event.
Local author and part-time Hawai‘i resident Leslie Karst has made a volcanic pivot from her popular Sally Solari series with a brand-new adventure mystery, Molten Death. Christina Waters investigates.
Thanks for reading and enjoy this issue.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
DAZZLING A stunning winter sunset from the Seabright Bluff above the San Lorenzo. PHOTO BY: Leighann Curci
GOOD IDEA
The County Office of Education is presenting a free, powerful movie about fentanyl made by student filmmaker Kyle Santoro, a senior at Los Gatos High, who produced an incredibly powerful, timely documentary about the impacts of fentanyl to students and families. It’s called Fentanyl High and scheduled for a sold-out show at the Rio Theatre on May 2. Let’s hope they show it again.
GOOD WORKS
Free phone? Yup. You can pick one up right by the downtown Santa Cruz bus station in front of CVS. There’s a booth giving out Stand Up Wireless phones free and tablets for $10. You need ID and proof that you are on Medicaid, SNAP, a veteran’s pension, SSI or some low-income program. They are out there M-F 8:30am-5:30pm or Sat. 11:30-4:30. Put this on the list of things I never thought I’d see in this life, along with legal cannabis.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The sheep spend their whole lives fearing the wolf, only to be eaten by the shepherd.” —Robert Mugabe
Letters
SAVE WAMM
Santa Cruz school superintendent Kris Munro sent a letter to parents warning of a catastrophe: a proposed cannabis dispensary, partly owned by a nonprofit that provides affordable medicine for patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, pediatric epilepsy and more — WAMM (Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana/WAMM Phytotherapies) — that would open on Mission Street at Laurel at the former site of Emily’s Bakery.
Though the City Planning Department and Planning Commission both authorized this project, the City Council will vote on May 14 to possibly reverse the decision. The public should be concerned over misinformation in the letter on two important points:
1. The letter claims the site is “a block…from Santa Cruz High…on a well-established walking route to and from- school and during breaks for both Santa Cruz High and Mission Hill students.“ This does not reflect reality. I taught Mock Trial for four years at Santa Cruz High, and know the site is several blocks from the schools, and that students overwhelmingly cross Mission at Walnut Street. They rarely walk or ride bikes on Mission to either school.
2. Those opposed to the dispensary are worried about youth abusing marijuana. I agree that we must protect our children. But there is no evidence that youth are accessing dispensaries.
There is research that indicates the location of a dispensary consistent with the Santa City ordinance is appropriate. Our City created conservative rules, mapped approved sites, and the proposed dispensary is in an approved location.
WAMM has benefited our community for 30 years. Vocal public support has come from health professionals such as Arnie Leff, MD, the County and the City’s Health Officer; law enforcement leaders such as former Police Chief Rudy Escalante; and beloved civic leaders including Senator John Laird, Mayor and Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt.
WAMM’s story was told nationwide after its Medical Marijuana Collective was raided by Federal Agents in 2002. Some of the best attorneys in the U.S. helped WAMM. The City of Santa Cruz and County of Santa Cruz joined WAMM in fighting the Feds because WAMM helped sick and poor patients. WAMM changed cannabis history when the federal government agreed to allow medical cannabis collectives to comply with local and state laws. Therapeutic cannabis has helped millions of people. Learn more at wammphytotherapies.org.
Val Corral and her former husband Michael founded WAMM. She put her life savings into meeting all requirements for this project. If the approval is overturned, WAMM will cease to exist, and citizens in need will lose a source of medicine. Before May 14, please let the City of Santa Cruz know you want them to vote in favor of WAMM. And please share this with friends.
Contact: ci*********@ci*************.com or 831-420-5020.
–Ben Rice, Santa Cruz
At home at Norma Jeans
Cathy DeLeon started working at Lipton in 1978, and says her many years spent in management there gave her the insight and momentum to go back to school and get a degree in business.
She also had a passion for baking she chose to nurture, taking classes at Cabrillo College to level up her pastry game. Her combined baking and business acumen made her the perfect candidate to found Norma Jeans in 2005.
DeLeon describes the ambiance as cozy with French accents, welcoming and relaxing—“like walking into your own house.” Local coffee and loose-leaf tea complement handcrafted pastries based on DeLeon’s own recipes, creations and inspirations. Morning buns with croissant dough and multiple layers of cinnamon/sugar flavor and almond-forward bear claws are favorites.
The kouign amann is a special offering, a Basque country pastry layered with butter and sugar that is flaky and like pudding inside. They also offer breakfast burritos with classic filling options and customizable breakfast sandwiches on either a croissant or bagel. Hours are Monday-Friday 5:30am-2pm, Saturday/Sunday 6:30am-4pm.
How do you think of Norma Jeans?
CATHY DELEON: I don’t feel like I own the coffee shop, it more belongs to the community. Most of the people that come here come every day, and we know their order as soon as they pull up outside in their car. My patrons also feel comfortable enough to help with the business and step in if needed. It’s like home in here; I feel like my customers are my family. During Covid was a great example: We had lines every day to keep us afloat, and I wouldn’t be here if not for that. I felt so grateful and humbled by the community support. I feel like we’re the heart of the community, there’s so much love here.
What makes a great pastry?
CD: The passion that goes into it, and the desire to give the best product possible. And it’s also about high quality ingredients. I want to give our customers the best that I can do, as if I was a customer myself. People work really hard for their money and I want to honor that by giving them pastries made with real love. I treat my customers like they’re special, because they are.
8043 Soquel Drive, Aptos, 831-685-1236; normajeanscoffee.square.site
Keep Trucking
Make no mistake. The Diablo sauce on the scariest chicken wings in greater Santa Cruz will burn themselves into your memory. (And win you six free wings if you eat four in 2 minutes.)
But there are plenty of other things—and more important things—about Evil Wings’ food truck that stick with me, particularly the dimensions of their comfort food and the amount of fun their core crew seems to be having, which are both sizable.
The big and bold offerings include over-the-top crepes, messy burgers, Philly cheesesteaks, fried chicken sandwiches, onion rings, hard shell tacos, tortas, tostadas, quesabirria and truly “crazy” fries with carne asada, bacon and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Plus a bunch of wings sauced with everything from garlic Parmesan to mango habanero.
The XL amount of fun happens because owner-operators Irene Lopez, her chef/boyfriend Gerardo Rojo and mom/BFF/dayshift chief Irma Tapia all live to make people happy, and dig hanging as a family.
“It’s what we love to do,” Lopez says. “It’s a family business and a family passion.”
Good Times first encountered EW on a late-night dining investigation last year, which revealed a void of independently owned options. In addition to its 9am-8pm Monday-Saturday presence at Cabrillo Liquors in Soquel (5380 Soquel Drive), it now dishes 9pm-4am Friday and Saturday near the Catalyst at 1003 Pacific Ave. in downtown Santa Cruz.
Yes, until 4am, a phrase rarely heard amid Surf City restaurant talk, with the munchie-leaning menu to match.
SHROOM BOOM
The inaugural Santa Cruz Mountain Mushroom Festival pops this weekend, May 4-5, at Roaring Camp in Felton (5401 Graham Hill Road). The spore superstars at Santa Cruz’s own Far West Fungi fairy ring-lead the affair, with a harvest of cooking demos by chefs (like Brad Briske and The Mushroom Hunter’s Kitchen author Chad Hyatt and presentations from luminous researchers, experts and alt-medicine minds (like herbalist/clinician/mycology authority Christopher Hobbs), plus mycelium-inspired food, beer, wine, craft vendors, live music, shroom-centric art, kid’s zone, nature walks and DIY workshops, scmmfest.com.
WELL GROUNDED
May 10 brings the debut installment of 2024’s “Taste of Terroir” dinners orchestrated by the Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The season opener happens at Wrights Station Winery, with food by chef Nick Sherman of Trestles and Cavalletta and SCM wines from the likes of David Bruce, Muns, Silver Mountain and Wrights Station, Big Basin, Charmant and Cooper-Garrod. Five more hot TOT events follow, with Storrs Vineyard and Winery up next on June 22. More info and the schedule are up at winesofthesantacruzmountains.com.
NEWSY NUGS
Venus Spirits hosts a Mestiza traveling pop-up party May 5 with agave flights of El Ladrón añejo, venusspirits.com…Homeless Garden Project CSA shares are still available, at least until they sell out, with the season running May 17-Dec. 13, homelessgardenproject.org/csa/…Earthy souls can now relive the magic of EcoFarm 2024 and its keynote presentations and workshops from visionaries like Nicole Masters, David Mas Masumoto, Greg Asbed and more, community.eco-farm.org…The cluster of wine tasting rooms, foodie hubs and breweries on the Westside votes on finalists for a neighborhood name designed to draw visitors a la the Funk Zone in Santa Barbara or Tin City in Paso Robles, with a public announcement and website coming as soon as June 1…A closing thought from George Carlin: “The mushroom is the elf of plants, at once magical and mysterious.”
Best of Santa Cruz 2024 Party Photos
View our online photo galleries from the Best of the Santa Cruz County 2024 Party, hosted by Cruz Kitchen & Taps.
View our party slideshow!
Excelsior! Local Retailers Stock Up for Free Comic Book Day
This year, Free Comic Book Day falls on May the 4th—recognized as International Star Wars Day—as well as on Kids’ Day in Santa Cruz.
Following the Fall Creek Fish Ladder Trail
There’s a cartoon in the 9/9/22 New Yorker that shows salmon jumping upstream over rocks with leopards, pelicans, crocodiles, raccoons, lions, alligators and wolves catching them in mid-air. In the foreground one bear says to another bear, “You just had to Yelp this place, didn’t you?”
It is a short walk from where you park on Farmer Street to the...
Free Will Astrology
ARIES March 21-April 19
The world’s record for jumping rope in six inches of mud is held by an Aries. Are you surprised? I’m not. So is the world’s record for consecutive wallops administered to a plastic inflatable punching doll. Other top accomplishments performed by Aries people: longest distance walking on one’s hands; number of curse words uttered in two...
The Editor’s Desk
It looked like the new cannabis dispensary at the old Emily’s Bakery site on Mission Street was approved…but all of a sudden there’s been a fear campaign
At home at Norma Jeans
DeLeon describes the ambiance as cozy with French accents, welcoming and relaxing—“like walking into your own house.” Local coffee and loose-leaf tea complement handcrafted pastries
Keep Trucking
Make no mistake. The Diablo sauce on the scariest chicken wings in greater Santa Cruz will burn themselves into your memory. (And win you six free wings if you eat four in 2 minutes.)