Fun and Sober

A&E

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October 2, 2024

Denny’s Restaurant is the comedian’s home away from home, the place where comics spend millions of hours. So how does a comedian get 1.4 million views on TikTok while drinking coffee at Denny’s?

Sam Miller sends a stranger sitting at the counter an egg. As the waiter serves the egg, the surprised man spins around, pumps his fist in celebration of Sam’s gift and shouts, “Fuck yeah!” The comedian’s eyes twinkle, and we’re oddly touched by this gentle giant’s quirky community outreach. His random act of generosity becomes viral history.

Santa Cruz Comedy Festival producer DNA describes the 360-pound, six-foot-six-inch comic as “a sweet man, with a beautiful family, whose only goal in life is to make strangers laugh and turn them into friends.”

Clean and sober for 16 years, Miller, 42, makes jokes about what it’s like to be a sober parent, what jails are like in Yakima, and what it’s like to be homeless. When people ask him what it was like when he was drinking and doing drugs, he lifts his shirt and shows a tattoo on his belly that says, “Let’s Dance.”

Watch Sam Miller’s stand-up on his TikTok and Instagram posts, and you’ll see him radiate positivity; his eyes sparkle as he relives the hardest days of his life. “Whether it’s folks I was on the streets with, whether it’s folks I was locked up with, whether it’s folks I got sober with, we laugh at very hard stuff and that’s the best thing we can do.” Miller says a lot of his fans are in recovery, a lot are not, but it doesn’t matter because “I’m really funny.”

His material presents the unvarnished truth of his early tumultuous life, but along with his blunt self-assessment comes how he deals with it, and we start feeling we could cut ourselves some slack for our own mistakes as well.

“What’s great is, a lot of my stand-up is me talking about parts of myself that I don’t like, or things that happened that I didn’t like, whether it’s incarceration or homelessness.”

Beyond his likability, Miller has the most valuable quality a comic can have: We trust him. “It’s hard doing comedy and being fat because people eat in front of you. I like big women, man. Skinny women are fine unless it’s, like, windy. Big women got more room for tattoos.”

For a comic, if you can make your audience cry, then make something come out of their nose, and then make them pee their pants, that is called the comedian’s hat trick. Sam proudly says, “When I talk about how I used to live under a tarp, that can be the funniest shit. Once I made a cop shoot a piece of French fry out of his nose.”

Miller has worked with Santa Cruz Comedy Festival producer DNA for six years. “Honestly, we kind of hit it off,” Miller says. “He is very fucking genuine, and I love that shit, you know? He just doesn’t mince words. He says what he intends to say, and I have no issues with that, because I don’t have any skeletons no more. I sleep good these days.”

Miller says he feels at home in Santa Cruz because he finds it similar to his hometown of Olympia, Washington. “Olympia has big liberal arts schools, like Santa Cruz, and the people are real, just like here.”

Comedians travel thousands of miles to make rooms of drunk people laugh. Their shows may be called monologues, but the standup comic’s real job is to connect with the room, to bring comic and crowd together for a call-and-response dialogue. Connecting with the crowd is what Sam Miller has in mind when he comes to the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival: “I like sitting in front of coffee shops and staring at people. I’m good at that. Santa Cruz is a great town for that.”

Sam Miller is part of “Invasion of the Headliners,” taking place at 8pm on Oct. 4 at the Rio Theatre. He also appears Oct. 5: 11:30am at the Homeless Garden Project farm as well as in the evening Abbey Coffee Lounge and Woodhouse Blending and Brewing. More information at santacruzcomedyfestival.com.

Psychedelic Soul

Music

Bill Kopp

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October 2, 2024

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When one thinks of a ghost, there’s an understanding that the figure represents a being that was once living but now continues to exist in the ether, on another plane.

Seth Applebaum’s Ghost Funk Orchestra switches that script: when the “group” began, it wasn’t a group at all; it was a solo recording project.

But New York-based Applebaum brought that project into the three-dimensional world, and today Ghost Funk Orchestra is a live psychedelic soul juggernaut. GFO comes to Moe’s Alley on Oct. 6.

Seth Applebaum spent most of his twenties fronting and playing guitar in punk and garage rock bands. “I got my feet wet playing live and touring,” he says.

But years of intense gigging left him feeling burnt out, so he decided to launch a project that would take him back to his roots.

“I grew up as a jazz and funk nerd,” he explains with a chuckle. “So I wanted to take some time and make recordings that got me back to that.”

The brief Applebaum gave himself was simple enough: “I wanted to make recordings of stuff that would have no business in the bands I was playing with,” he says. “It was really an outlet for me to keep [that music] alive.” His aims for the music extended no further than that kind of modest-scale self expression. “It was purely meant to be [just] me screwing around with tape machines.”

Those initial home studio recordings still had elements of his more recent past. “They were rough and guitar-forward,” Applebaum says, “but they were exploring the jazz-funk side of things.”

He made a few EPs of his original music, handling songwriting, arrangement, production and playing nearly all of the instruments. “I did have a few collaborators, mostly on vocals,” he says.

Shared with friends, those recordings got a positive reaction. Eventually, Applebaum recalls, he “threw them up on Bandcamp and didn’t do much else with them.” That could have been the end of the story, but in short order he began receiving messages. More and more people heard his home recordings and asked when he was going to put a band together and bring this music to live performance.

Applebaum’s music as Ghost Funk Orchestra was informed by a heady mix of ’70s funk, psychedelic rock, soul jazz and more. A live project would require highly skilled musicians who could realize his carefully developed arrangements while bringing the interactive energy that can only come from live performance.

Tentatively at first, Applebaum attempted to create a living, breathing version of the music he had been making at home. “It took a lot of trial and error to figure out what the live band was supposed to look and sound like,” he admits.

But once he got the mix right, Ghost Funk Orchestra was born as a live, performing unit, with a lineup ranging from eight to 12 musicians. And while it had been something of an afterthought, the live band yielded an unexpected dividend. “The momentum from playing live shows kept the recording-project side moving forward,” Applebaum says. “It became a cycle, and a kind of all-consuming creative monster.”

Live onstage, Ghost Funk Orchestra does more than re-create the studio recordings, now numbering eight albums, four EPs and a string of singles. And that’s by design, Applebaum says. “I arrange the music differently; the live version of the band is a more energetic, amped-up experience than the recordings.”

On record, GFO can explore the subtleties within a sultry and cinematic track like “Achluo” from 2024’s A Trip to the Moon. “I like to provide a lot of ‘ear candy’ for the headphone listener,” Applebaum says. “Some songs that I’ve recorded, I have no real intention of ever playing live.” But some of those cuts have found their way onto film soundtracks. “Our instrumental songs often get licensed for use in surf and snowboard movies, and in extreme sports documentaries,” he says. And despite its title, GFO’s slinky and hypnotic 2018 track, “Walk Like a Motherfucker,” has found its way into several films.

In front of an audience, the sassy and kinetic ’60s rave jazz found on cuts like Ghost Funk Orchestra’s “Where To?” is the preferred approach. Since becoming a live act, GFO has played major festivals—Montreal Jazz, Telluride Jazz, Idaho’s indie-rock Treefort and others—and secured high-profile spots on bills with fellow groundbreaking yet hard-to-classify acts like Brazil’s Os Mutantes, Marco Benevento and The Nude Party. The band’s current tour itinerary takes it back and forth across the North American continent.

Applebaum feels that with Ghost Funk Orchestra, he has (perhaps unintentionally) struck upon a perfect balance. The albums, EPs and singles give him the creative space to express his musical ideas, and the live band brings those ideas to the stage in a thrilling context. Ultimately, though, it’s all about one thing: “I’m just trying to make music that I would want to listen to,” he says.

Ghost Funk Orchestra with opening act The Silvertones
8pm on Oct. 6 at Moe’s Alley
1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz.
Tickets $25/adv, $25/door.
moesalley.com

Swing Shift

Music

Richard Stockton

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October 2, 2024

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Cellist Pablo Casals is arguably one the greatest musicians the world has ever known. At the age of 80 he was asked why he continued to practice five hours a day. Casals answered, “Because I think I am making progress.” Coming to Moe’s Alley on Tuesday, Oct. 8 is a guitar player with that kind of ethos.

Grammy winner and guitar-playing legend Redd Volkaert is renowned for being one of the greatest Telecaster players in history. A true giant of country music, Redd won a Grammy for his own work in 2009, after making an international name for himself as lead guitarist for Merle Haggard. His interpretation of the classic Roy Nichols guitar style led to a quote in Guitar Player magazine by Haggard: “When I close my eyes, I sometimes hear Roy Nichols playing over there, and that has never happened before.”

Go to “Redd Volkaert at The Floyd Country Store” to watch a video of the smoothest intonations of gliding swing guitar you’ve ever heard. I asked Redd how one takes guitar mastery to this level and he said, “Practice. It’s muscle memory.”

Volkaert says he would practice 10 hours a day and then play five hours a night: “I did that for over 30 years.” Volkaert is from Vancouver, Canada, and began performing at 16, playing clubs six nights a week until the mid 1980s. He moved to Los Angeles in 1986, did three gigs a day, and still practiced just as much. He moved to Nashville for 11 years and did the same thing there.

“I would play three shifts a day, like a ten to two in the morning, then until two in the afternoon. I’d do a duo with somebody. I did that three or four days a week. And then I would do a two to six with a band, maybe four days a week. When I wasn’t doing that, I would practice from six to ten. I would do seven nights a week with different bands and then ten to a quarter of three. I did that the whole time I was there. Then I moved to Austin, Texas for twenty years. There I played seven nights a week. I’ve just been a whore on a guitar for forty years.”

Volkaert will be joining the powerhouse western swing trio the Western Flyers, reminiscent of a Texas-style, Bob Wills sound. The all-star lineup is led by western swing master Joey McKenzie on guitar and vocals, fiddle champion Ridge Roberts, and acclaimed upright jazz bassist Matthew Mefford.

Volkaert says Ridge Roberts is probably the best fiddle player you’ll ever hear. “He’s won the world championship, twice. And every other fiddle thing in the States you could possibly win. And here’s the deal. He is 19 years old. I love playing with these guys.”

Redd Volkaert is considered such an icon on the Telecaster that several guitar models are named after him. He emerged as a solo artist with the celebrated release of Telewacker (1998) and No Stranger to a Tele (2001), showcasing a diverse mix of country and swing in the Bakersfield honky-tonk tradition. Show producer Ginny Mitchell says Redd is hilarious as well. Indeed, in 2009 he received a Grammy for best country instrumental performance for “Cluster Pluck.”

Redd spent more than a decade in Nashville, playing with Ray Price, the Statler Brothers and eventually Merle Haggard. In 2000, Volkaert moved to Austin, where he played at the Continental Club for 20 years with his own band on Saturday and Sunday. Redd now lives in Galax, Virginia, and performs internationally in addition to a residency at the Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Virginia. He says Galax is a quiet town of 7,000 people, and he believes he may have the only Telecasters in town.

Ginny Mitchell’s Posse will open, a rootsy mix of Americana, folk and country. She will be joined by Redd Volkaert and Santa Cruz lap steel icon Patti Maxine.

The Western Flyers with Redd Volkaert play at 8pm on Oct. 8 at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25 adv/$30 door. ticketweb.com

Free Will Astrology

Astrology

Rob Brezsny

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October 2, 2024

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ARIES March 21-April 19

During some Wiccan rituals, participants are asked, “What binds you? And what will you do to free yourself from what binds you?” I recommend this exercise to you right now, Aries. Here’s a third question: Will you replace your shackles with a weaving that inspires and empowers you? In other words, will you shed what binds you and, in its stead, create a bond that links you to an influence you treasure?

TAURUS April 20-May 20

If I had to name the zodiac sign that other signs are most likely to underestimate, I would say Taurus. Why? Well, many of you Bulls are rather modest and humble. You prefer to let your practical actions speak louder than fine words. Your well-grounded strength is diligent and poised, not flashy. People may misread your resilience and dependability as signs of passivity. But here’s good news, dear Taurus: In the coming weeks, you will be less likely to be undervalued and overlooked. Even those who have been ignorant of your appeal may tune in to the fullness of your tender power and earthy wisdom.

GEMINI May 21-June 20

In the coming days, I invite you to work on writing an essay called “People and Things I Never Knew I Liked and Loved Until Now.” To get the project started, visit places that have previously been off your radar. Wander around in uncharted territory, inviting life to surprise you. Call on every trick you know to stimulate your imagination and break out of habitual ruts of thinking. A key practice will be to experiment and improvise as you open your heart and your eyes wide. Here’s my prophecy: In the frontiers, you will encounter unruly delights that inspire you to grow wiser.

CANCER June 21-July 22

Now is an excellent time to search for new teachers, mentors and role models. Please cooperate with life’s intention to connect you with people and animals who can inspire your journey for the months and years ahead. A good way to prepare yourself for this onslaught of grace is to contemplate the history of your educational experiences. Who are the heroes, helpers and villains who have taught you crucial lessons? Another strategy to get ready is to think about what’s most vital for you to learn right now. What are the gaps in your understanding that need to be filled?

LEO July 23-Aug. 22

The English language has more synonyms than any other language. That’s in part because it’s like a magpie. It steals words from many tongues, including German, French, Old Norse, Latin and Greek, as well as from Algonquin, Chinese, Hindi, Basque and Tagalog. Japanese may be the next most magpie-like language. It borrows from English, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, French and German. In accordance with astrological possibilities, I invite you to adopt the spirit of the English and Japanese languages in the coming weeks. Freely borrow and steal influences. Be a collector of sundry inspirations, a scavenger of fun ideas, a gatherer of rich cultural diversity.

VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22

Here are my bold decrees: You are entitled to extra bonuses and special privileges in the coming weeks. The biggest piece of every cake and pie should go to you, as should the freshest wonders, the most provocative revelations and the wildest breakthroughs. I invite you to give and take extravagant amounts of everything you regard as sweet, rich and nourishing. I hope you will begin cultivating a skill you are destined to master. I trust you will receive clear and direct answers to at least two nagging questions.

LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22

On those infrequent occasions when I buy a new gadget, I never read the instructions. I drop the booklet in the recycling bin immediately, despite the fact that I may not know all the fine points of using my new vacuum cleaner, air purifier or hairdryer. Research reveals that I am typical. Ninety-two percent of all instructions get thrown away. I don’t recommend this approach to you in the coming weeks, however, whether you’re dealing with gadgets or more intangible things. You really should call on guidance to help you navigate your way through introductory phases and new experiences.

SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21

I knew a Scorpio performance artist who did a splashy public show about private matters. She stationed herself on the rooftop of an apartment building and for 12 hours loudly described everything she felt guilty about. (She was an ex-Catholic who had been raised to regard some normal behavior as sinful.) If you, dear Scorpio, have ever felt an urge to engage in a purge of remorse, now would be an excellent time. I suggest an alternate approach, though. Spend a half hour writing your regrets on paper, then burn the paper in the kitchen sink as you chant something like the following: “With love and compassion for myself, I apologize for my shortcomings and frailties. I declare myself free of shame and guilt. I forgive myself forever.”

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21

Be HEARTY, POTENT and DYNAMIC, Sagittarius. Don’t worry about decorum and propriety. Be in quest of lively twists that excite the adventurer in you. Avoid anyone who seems to like you best when you are anxious or tightly controlled. Don’t proceed as if you have nothing to lose; instead, act as if you have everything to win. Finally, my dear, ask life to bring you a steady stream of marvels that make you overjoyed to be alive. If you’re feeling extra bold (and I believe you will), request the delivery of a miracle or two.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22–Jan. 19

Nineteenth-century Capricorn author Anne Brontë wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which many critics regard as the first feminist novel. It challenged contemporary social customs. The main character, Helen, leaves her husband because he’s a bad influence on their son. She goes into hiding, becoming a single mother who supports her family by creating art. Unfortunately, after the author’s death at a young age, her older sister Charlotte suppressed the publication of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It’s not well-known today. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, so as to inspire you to action. I believe the coming months will be a favorable time to get the attention and recognition you’ve been denied but thoroughly deserve. Start now! Liberate, express and disseminate whatever has been suppressed.

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18

What is the most important question you want to find an answer for during the next year? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to formulate that inquiry clearly and concisely. I urge you to write it out in longhand and place it in a prominent place in your home. Ponder it lightly and lovingly for two minutes every morning upon awakening and each night before sleep. (Key descriptors: “lightly and lovingly.”) As new insights float into your awareness, jot them down. One further suggestion: Create or acquire a symbolic representation of the primal question.

PISCES Feb. 19-March 20

Scientific research suggests that some foods are more addictive than cocaine. They include pizza, chocolate, potato chips and ice cream. The good news is that they are not as problematic for long-term health as cocaine. The bad news is that they are not exactly healthy. (The sugar in chocolate neutralizes its modest health benefits.) With these facts in mind, Pisces, I invite you to reorder your priorities about addictive things. Now is a favorable time to figure out what substances and activities might be tonifying, invigorating addictions—and then retrain yourself to focus your addictive energy on them. Maybe you could encourage an addiction to juices that blend spinach, cucumber, kale, celery and apple. Perhaps you could cultivate an addiction to doing a pleasurable form of exercise or reading books that thrill your imagination.

Homework: Interested in my inside thoughts about astrology? Read my book “Astrology Is Real.” Free excerpts: tinyurl.com/BraveBliss

The Editor’s Desk

Brad Kava

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October 2, 2024

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Santa Cruz California editor of good times news media print and web — **Brad Kava | Good Times Editor**

When people connect with the earth, there can be transformation.

That’s the basis of our cover story on the Homeless Garden Project, which has helped transform lives since 1990.

“There is sort of a real spiritual level to what’s happening here in terms of supporting people, making them feel (perhaps for the first time in their lives) that they belong to a community,” says Darrie Ganzhorn, executive director of the project. “We call it the Homeless Garden Project, but our mission is people. We help people find the tools they need to thrive.”

The article by writer DNA (yes, that’s his legal name) brings to life the success stories of people who benefit from one of the most glorious charitable efforts in our community—a pathway toward escaping poverty and learning skills to better their lives.

It’s something we can all easily support by buying goods in the downtown store created by those in need.

The results have been phenomenal, with 91% of the project’s trainees finding jobs and 83% finding shelter. At a time when it can be difficult to find positive things in a complicated world, here’s a story that will bring hope and a smile.

More good news: Watsonville Hospital was on the verge of going under. Not only would South County lose its only medical facility, but the loss would also have backed up services at Dominican Hospital.

In March, voters agreed to a $116 million bond to get the hospital back on its feet and it worked. Todd Guild has the details in this issue. With an election coming up in a month, it’s a reminder that yes, your vote matters.

No, they haven’t made Pumpkin Spice motor oil, but this time of year it seems like the fall seasoning is in almost everything else. Wellness columnist Elizabeth Borelli goes in search of the cheapest, healthiest and most flavorful PSL, what cool people call Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

Musically, Bill Kopp brings us a psychedelic soul band you won’t want to miss. That almost sounds like the definition of the best of Santa Cruz…psychedelic soul. Isn’t that why I moved here?

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Brad Kava | Editor

PHOTO CONTEST

MIRROR IMAGE Looking out my patio in Rio Del Mar and seeing this dog posing just like the sticker on the window. He was waiting patiently for his mama to put on her sweatshirt. Photograph by Linda Barmann

GOOD IDEA

The county’s transportation commission is looking for advisors for the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee. Speak up about the transportation needs of seniors and disabled individuals. Support transportation services to help seniors and disabled individuals to be independent, involved and connected.

Guide and review planning, policy and funding for transportation programs.

They are looking for seniors over 60 or those living with a disability who ride public transportation or paratransit or who represent services for seniors or disabled individuals.

For information on membership positions, view the membership application at sccrtc.org/edtac-app or contact the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission at in**@****tc.org.

GOOD WORK

Local developer Workbench’s Casa Azul project has received a Citation Award at the 2024 AIA California Design Awards, celebrating its approach to addressing homelessness through architectural design and reuse.

The project was done in collaboration with Envision Housing and Housing Matters. Instead of using state tax credits, the project used local funders such as Common Spirit, Kaiser Permanente, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, and Santa Cruz County Bank with the State’s HomeKey grant program, and New Way Homes’ Impact Investment fund.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.”

—Stephen Richards

LETTERS

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

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October 2, 2024

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WELCOME ABOARD

On behalf of the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network, I would like to express our gratitude to the Good Times Santa Cruz and to Josué Monroy for excellent journalism! He took the time to really understand the stories of the people he interviewed, making the Aug. 8 cover story personal and inspiring. This is much needed in a time when our new neighbors and other refugees are under assault.

We also appreciate the depth in which Mr. Monroy explored the Welcoming Network, with our unique all-volunteer structure of self-organized welcoming teams. Because of your publication our numbers have grown…and one of our new neighbors now has a safe, temporary, studio apartment to live in while she continues to create a new life here in Santa Cruz! We’re celebrating our community!

Paul Johnston

RATE MY PROFESSOR

This is a letter to the editor, responding to Ms Schembari’s 9/25 article “Is Rate My Professor Fair?”

I was interviewed and Ms. Schembari’s article left out key facts and gave a wrongly slanted impression of my thoughts and teaching at Cabrillo College. I, in fact, DO care very much what students think about my teaching, but I cannot control what is written on RMP. And it was a past student (who liked my teaching), who, contrary to the article, told me it was not worth my frustration to read what’s in RMP.

Also, I asked Ms Schembari what were the RMP commenters unhappy about. She said “mostly on religion.” I’m a scientist, teaching science to GE students, and it is vital they learn intellectual self-confidence, and how damaging it is when authoritarians in Western religion demand you give up reason, evidence, and the light bulb of knowledge.

The history of most religions’ treatment of scientists has, we know, been bloody and appalling. I invite you to my “Chapter 0,” linked on my Cabrillo website. It’s tragic that some religious students show great intolerance to open minded exposition of how to respect the human mind and human nature, and save their feelings for RMP rather than classroom discussion. We profs are evaluated by peers and by all of our classroom’s students every ~3 years, where my evals have been weighted praiseworthy by the large majority of my students; true for my 38 years at Cabrillo.

Richard Nolthenius

Autumn Spice

Wellness

Elizabeth Borelli

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October 2, 2024

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You know it’s fall when every food includes pumpkin. And nothing says autumn like a PSL—Starbucks’ infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte. Whether it popped up in your Instagram feed or slipped into your hand at the drive-thru, chances are you haven’t escaped the allure of this enduring trend. But this is Santa Cruz, where the Starbucks on Pacific Avenue is now a vegan donut shop. And our local coffee culture has its own take on the pumpkin spice craze.

Sure, Starbucks may have put the PSL on the map, but that doesn’t mean Santa Cruz coffee shops have to follow suit. After all, Santa Cruz had been named “the best coffee city in America.” With the most independent shops per capita and the highest score for coffee fanatic factors.

But is ignoring the PSL trend altogether the best choice for local coffee shops and the customers who love them? It depends on who you ask.

On one hand, the pumpkin spice craze is here for a reason. Comfort food makes us happy. So why let the big chains corner the market for hitting the sweet spot? On the other hand, does anyone need the extra 50 grams or 7½ teaspoons of added sugar in their Starbucks Grande?

Curious, I turned to our local experts, starting with a visit to Pacific Coffee Roasters, where I met the resident barista. Since Tom and wife Dena have been running their Aptos café for 36 years, they’ve seen many a trend come and go. He looked skeptical when I asked whether he had a PSL plan in place and then explained he has a unique take on the drink. PCR’s contains pumpkin puree and a blend of secret spices that sounded delicious. You can look for it on the menu later this fall.

It was a sunny 75 degrees when I walked into Cat and Cloud, where the bright and bubbly atmosphere, including the menu, said anything but fall. The barista looked at me in surprise when I asked about a PSL. I’m sure I imagined the slight smirk that came with the news of no pumpkin drinks on the near horizon. He did make an offer to get the manager, which I politely declined.

Two weeks passed before I made my way down to Santa Cruz. My first stop was 11th Hour on Center Street, a spot known for serving up a mean oat milk turmeric latte. With their remodel still underway, it took circling the building to the back patio for that first PSL sighting.

**TOUCH OF FALL** 11th Hour blends espresso with organic pumpkin spice syrup. PHOTO: Elizabeth Borelli

I asked the friendly barista for a description: two ounces of espresso blended with specialty organic pumpkin spice syrup with a dash of cinnamon on top. Enticed, I broke my afternoon coffee drink rule and ordered it. It was then I realized I’m not sure I’ve ever had a PSL. This one was rich, spicy and not too sweet. Guessing it’s nothing like Starbucks.

My next stop on the PSL tour was close by: Verve on Mission. Even at 1:30pm the line was going strong, and between the freshly roasted coffee and baked treats, the store smelled amazing. With no version of pumpkin coffee listed on the hand-printed menu board, I stepped up to the counter for the PSL news. The guy behind the register lit up at the question but turned to the manager for the answer. It was short and sweet: not yet; come back in October.

They were too busy to say more, but judging by the quality overall, I’d call it a safe bet for a satisfying PSL experience. I walked across the street to Lulu Carpenter’s, where it took 2 seconds to learn there is no PSL, no version, no option, just no.

Moving on. In a town of too many great coffee shops to put a dent in, I made one final stop at Java Junction. The barrister there assured me that yes, they do make a seasonal pumpkin latte. He pointed to the Torani pumpkin syrup, which is blended with espresso and your choice of milk for a tried-and-true flavored coffee drink. Since Torani has been making flavored syrup since 1925, I’m pretty sure this recipe was in place before the PSL trend took off.

So, what’s the verdict on the PSL Santa Cruz? Well, it’s a mixed bag of tradition, rebellion and maybe just a little too cool for school. Some shops are embracing it with their own twist, while others are saying ‘pumpkin spice, what?’ But hey, that’s what makes Santa Cruz unique. Whether you’re sipping on a turmeric latte or indulging in a low-key PSL that doesn’t taste like a sugar bomb, you’re getting a true local experience—because around here, we like to do things our own way, one hot, spicy cup at a time.

Closed Loop

Cannabis

Dan Mitchell

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October 2, 2024

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In 2018, a loophole in federal law created a market for potentially problematic or even dangerous hemp products that can get you high. Kids can easily buy them, and often do. The market exists in a netherworld governed neither by laws prohibiting pot nor by laws governing how legal weed can be bought and sold.

Six years later, it looks like lawmakers at the state level, including in California, are finally getting around to addressing this problem.

When Republican Senate Majority Leader and staunch pot prohibitionist Mitch McConnell was promoting the ultimately successful measure to legalize hemp in 2018, it might not have occurred to him that, soon, teenagers (and adults) across the land would be ordering cannabis products online, made from hemp, that could get them high, and that this would be widely interpreted as perfectly legal. More likely, he was thinking almost entirely about the support and largesse of the sizable hemp industry in his home state of Kentucky.

But it was known well before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill to which the hemp measure was attached that THC could be extracted from hemp to produce intoxicating products, so maybe McConnell did know, and just didn’t care, which would be less than surprising.

To be fair, though, most people’s knowledge of hemp didn’t extend much beyond the fact that hemp is related to the marijuana plant (both are cannabis) and the fact that it has a bunch of practical and industrial uses. Some people knew it contained a bit of THC, the main psychoactive component of the pot plant, but that in its natural state, hemp could not get a person high. Almost nobody outside the nerdy confines of pot research knew that delta-8 THC and other psychoactive elements found in all cannabis plants could be extracted from hemp and concentrated in products that have effects similar to those of what we usually think of as pot.

The ignorance of these facts on the part of regulators and lawmakers led to the gaping legal loophole that allowed the market for intoxicating hemp to flourish. The Farm Bill specified a maximum THC level of the delta-9 type allowed in hemp, but no other THC type (like delta-8) is even mentioned in the law. So technically, any hemp-derived product with enough psychoactive ingredients to get you high was widely considered legal unless it contained enough delta-9 to put it over the Farm Bill’s limit.

Tons of peddlers emerged, many of them downright skeevy. The intoxicating hemp products are now available online to anyone, even in states where weed is still illegal. Some of those products are potentially harmful (especially vapes) and are produced without any oversight or inspection at all. This sub-industry continued to grow even as lawmakers and others were making noises about banning the products.

Those noises are now turning into action. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently proposed a set of “emergency regulations” that some observers say would be among the strictest in the country. The proposal would require that hemp products contain no amount of detectable THC. Oddly, given that provision, the regulation would require that sales of all hemp products be limited to people 21 and over.

Noting that the hemp industry has fought hard against restrictions, Newsom said at a press conference this month that “in the industry, there’s full responsibility for not policing itself for the proliferation of these intoxicating products that are hurting our children.” He noted that some grocery stores and other shops carry them, and often will sell them to kids. His proposal comes after the Legislature failed to pass a proposed bill this summer. He called it an “interim” solution to give time to lawmakers at the state and federal levels to finally take action.

The problem won’t be totally solved, though, until the Farm Bill loophole is closed. Unfortunately, as is common in recent years, the new Farm Bill keeps getting delayed while various special interests wrangle for goodies. Meanwhile, the Senate under Mitch McConnell is still refusing to take up a measure that would help some: legalizing (and thus regulating) pot.

Watsonville Community Hospital to be bought by PVHD

Todd Guild

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October 1, 2024

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Watsonville Community Hospital to be bought by PVHD

Watsonville Community Hospital could soon be owned by the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District. PVHD announced a plan to purchase the building and surrounding property, a major milestone in a years-long endeavor to return the facility to public ownership.

The unanimous decision was announced Sept. 27 after a closed-session discussion. The $40 million purchase came thanks to Measure N—the $116 million general obligation bond passed in March by voters in the district, which includes Monterey and Santa Cruz counties and stretches from Aptos to northern Monterey County.

It will also pay for upgrades to the emergency department and heating and cooling systems, among other things.

The purchase will save the hospital $3 million in annual rental payments.

“It’s a watershed moment for our community,” Board Chair Tony Nuñez said. “This was the will of the voters; this is what they approved back in March.

“When this goes through, it is going to be a huge moment for our community and everyone who depends on Watsonville Community Hospital for health care,” he said.

The purchase from Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust will be finalized before the end of the calendar year.

The hospital was locally owned from its founding in 1895. That changed in 1998, when an out-of-town corporation called Community Health Systems bought it, and later created a spinoff company called Quorum Health Corporation in 2016. That company sold the hospital to Los Angeles-based Halsen Healthcare in 2019.

Halsen sold the building and grounds to Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust, and leased it from them in a sale/leaseback arrangement.

A Privates Beach Hike at High Tide

Take a Hike with Richard Stockton

Richard Stockton

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September 25, 2024

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I drive toward the ocean on 41st Avenue and pass Betty Burgers. Why did I drive past Betty Burgers? What was I thinking? Imagine taking a beach hike and in the middle of it you get to eat a mesquite burger.

Betty says she originally learned the recipe in the Texas panhandle from the man who raised her, named Dutch. Dutch reportedly had two talents: his burger recipe and the ability to ride a Harley “like a greased hog.” At 16, Betty headed to the California coast in a vain attempt to find her mother. She did find surfer boys; one called her “Bridget Gone Bad.” She arrived here with nothing but Dutch’s recipe and now we have three Betty Burgers in Santa Cruz and one in Aptos.

I could be taking one to Privates Beach, where I know the salt air will make me hungry. What was I thinking?

I drive down 41st Avenue toward Pleasure Point, turn left on Opal Cliff Drive and park near Opal Cliffs Park.

For years I was amused by the name Privates Beach, thinking that I alone was thinking of a genital exposure meaning. Then I learned that what it says is exactly what it is; it got its name because the beach is considered clothing optional and frequented by local naturalists. Santa Cruz never ceases to test my prudish upbringing.

Considered a local secret, this odd little secluded beach is now open to the general public because the battle over public access at Privates Beach in Santa Cruz is over.

Aye, me laddies, down at the Opal Cliffs Recreation District, ye built a nine-foot gate and made people pay $100 for the key. Ye should have used the clothing-optional feature of the beach to show people you’re nuts…your ban on jockstraps had no support.

Privates under lock and key is how you describe a chastity belt. That is how the Victorian ruling class would keep their mistresses “pristine” until they wanted to use them. The California Coastal Commission had an ultimatum for the Opal Cliffs Recreation District: take off the chastity belt. The new Coastal Development Permit for Privates Beach includes a retractable gate with a 6-foot-wide open entry space into the park. The gate is open during the day, sunrise to sundown, and is free to the public year-round. You can even bring your dog.

It’s a great beach for surfers and dogs, I hear there is a great surf break here, but for hikers it is about timing the low tide. At low tide you can get around the breaks and hike the shoreline, but even then, you may have to search for working stable staircases. There are several damaged staircases that are not in use, and you must pay attention to the tide. If you’re walking the beach and the tide comes in, your final option to get back to Privates Beach might turn out to be a swim.

I walk down the steep stairway, with steps that are scary even using the handrail. This is not wheelchair access. From the platform at the bottom of the stairs I carefully crawl down the rocky ledge to more rocks leading to the cement slab where families sunbathe. My photos today show it at high tide and the only person I meet at Privates who did not use the stairs is Wendy Tryde, whom I meet just as she finishes her one-mile swim from Rockview County Park at Pleasure Point. She tells me she does this every day, and trains to one day make it all the way to the Capitola Wharf, over a mile and a half.

Wendy Tryde upon completing her daily one-mile swim, sans wetsuit, from Pleasure Point to Privates Beach. Devoted husband Chris looks tired.

This is a great place to reflect on rising sea levels and the future of our beaches in Santa Cruz. Says Dr. David Revell, a local coastal geomorphologist with more than 25 years of experience working to integrate science and management of climate change, “We’re not going to lose beaches unless people do something stupid to stop beaches from existing.”

Dr. Revell remembers 20 years ago walking down the 26th Avenue Beach and says he could walk to Moran Lake no matter the height of the tide. Today he says he can barely do that at low tide. “We have buried that beach under rocks, which has changed the way we can be as humans. That’s the kind of choices we must struggle with when we choose how to adapt. For a beach to exist, you have to have passive erosion. Passive.”

Privates Beach south at high tide. If you like to sunbathe in the nude there is a small beach off to the left side that is hidden. Observe the houses hanging ten over the edge of the cliff. Zillow may value these houses in the millions, but seawall and all, their days are numbered. PHOTO: Richard Stockton

The Santa Cruz Climate Action Network predicts 6 feet rise in sea level for Santa Cruz sometime this century that could flood Santa Cruz at high tide. Santa Cruz historian Ross Gibson says that in 1905 there was a plan to turn Santa Cruz into a version of Venice, canals and all. In the 21st century, rising sea levels coupled with an angry Pacific Ocean could bring that plan home and give jobs to hundreds of our ukulele players performing on the backs of gondolas that pole through the canals of Santa Cruz.

How high’s the water, Mama?
Two feet high and risin’
How high’s the water, Papa?
She said it’s two feet high and risin’

We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That’s the only thing we got left that’ll float
It’s already over all the wheat and the oats
Two feet high and risin’.

—Five Feet High and Rising, Johnny Cash

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Failure to File

Music to Save Humanities

Secret Projections

Mind-altering Music

Below the Surface

Street Talk

Going Big

Italian I Scream

Fun and Sober

Psychedelic Soul

Swing Shift

Free Will Astrology

The Editor’s Desk

PHOTO CONTEST

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

LETTERS

Autumn Spice

Closed Loop

Watsonville Community Hospital to be bought by PVHD

A Privates Beach Hike at High Tide

Fun and Sober

Psychedelic Soul

Swing Shift

Free Will Astrology

The Editor’s Desk

LETTERS

Autumn Spice

Closed Loop

Watsonville Community Hospital to be bought by PVHD

A Privates Beach Hike at High Tide