Booka breathes new life into Aptos Village
When a new restaurant opens, word quickly spreads on its performance—with food, ambiance, warmth, courtesy and service all taken into account. From my first bite of food at Booka, which opened in the historic Bayview Hotel in Aptos, I detected unusual flavors with a different twist. Everything seems to come together here, and servers look the part dressed all in black with crisp white aprons and white folded napkins in their waistbands. It’s good to see this beautifully decorated restaurant doing well and the parking lot full.
Artesana Winery is famous for its production of Tannat, Uruguay’s signature varietal. Although Uruguay does not always spring to mind when one thinks of wine-producing places, thanks to the country’s coastal Atlantic climate, which is often compared to that of Bordeaux, some very impressive wines are coming our way.
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies battle identity crisis and pigeonholing and come out on top
For Nate Lieby, the lead vocalist and ukulele player for Coffee Zombie Collective, being in a cover band is a nice change of pace for him, creatively. “I’d been writing original material for bands for about 15 years, so I’m enjoying having a different kind of challenge,” Lieby says. “You have to exercise a different kind of mind muscle when you’re rewriting existing tunes.
Dance, diversity shine in Cabrillo’s fizzy ‘La Cage Aux Folles’
I think that it would be better to have more leniency on the permits for small businesses in the city. I think the city would be able to get more revenue if small businesses were able to move through the whole process quicker. I think that would be helpful.
Veterans wait years for compensation benefits due to backlogged claims at the VA
What was your reaction to the Supreme Court’s Proposition 8 decision late last month?
Thursday is Nelson Mandela Day (b. July 18, 1918, South Africa). He has Sun, Jupiter and Pluto in Cancer (sign of liberation for the masses) with Uranus in Aquarius (freedom for humanity). We honor this man of courage, a cultural icon of freedom and equality imprisoned for 27 years. After his release (1990), Mandela created policies of reconciliation and negotiation. Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. As of this writing, Mandela’s health is in a critical state. Let us pray for him. 
