Last Year it was protests over health care and overflowing town halls. What’s the feeling on the street NOW? What issues are pressing on the Central Coast?
This has been an exciting year, there’s no question about that. Health care topped the agenda, but it wasn’t the only thing that caught the public’s attention.

The year got started with a continuation of new projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, designed to inject much-needed capital into our struggling economy.

I just got back from an eight-day journey to Yreka and back, getting to meet and interview many incredible people.  One thing that stands out as unusual, but fascinating was the program at Whiskeytown, National Recreation Area.  It is the National Parks Artists-In-Residence Program at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area that offers established visual artists the opportunity to pursue their particular art form while being surrounded by the inspiring landscape of the park. The park provides a rustic cabin to participants for up to a four-week period.

I have used the dark backdrop for my portraits, especially the yoga portraits, creating a dreamy and dramatic effect, working so well for many years.  These moody shadows have apparently reflected my temperamental state of mind.  Now after an inspiring two-week Cabrillo Photography Workshop, my inspiration flipped.  Lightness and brightness is now my norm.  I wonder how my taste can change so suddenly. Looking at life with light I am seeing differently as I see my subjects in light and possibility as opposed to darker tendencies.  Both are viable, of course, but with the light on the subject directly, somehow clarity evolves.   Stay tuned for more light as the season changes.

Its been a long time coming for comic readers waiting to see Bruce Wayne make his way back into the tights as Batman. After fighting his way through the centuries in Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne and back into the present day, he’s all set to reclaim his mantle. But just what would become of Dick Grayson (who’s donned the cape and cowl in his absence) has been the big question mark the entire time. Tim Drake has moved on from Robin to Red Robin, so that job’s taken. Ditto for his old Nightwing gig (currently occupied) and there was never any chance he’d hop back into his original red and green duds. Well, it turns out the answer’s a lot simpler than I would have guessed…they’ll both be Batman of course!

There’s nothing quite like sliding on the perfect T-shirt. And that’s where Manuka Sanyal and her line of T-shirts, pajamas, lingerie, slips, camisoles, robes and panties come in. The local designer behind the line, Manu, has been gaining quite a following in Santa Cruz and beyond with her soft, exquisite, perfectly fitted garments.

Youth sucked into crime family in grim, forceful ‘Animal Kingdom’
ll teenagers go through a period of trying to find themselves and figure out their place in the larger world. But most of them don’t have to launch their search from the depths of a family of career criminals, like the young protagonist in the bleak, yet forceful Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom. Tossed without ceremony into a metaphorical pit of vipers, this 17-year-old boy has more than the usual obstacles to contend with, maneuvering constantly toward survival while the adults around him teach him the law of the jungle.

But that’s not a good thing for ‘Centurion’
In an old Monty Python routine, a maniacal barber about to shave an unwary customer and stropping his razor, starts muttering, “Blood, spurt, artery, psycho!” That about sums up the plot in Centurion, a budget bloodfest from Neil Marshall (The Descent) about Roman Legionnaires trapped behind enemy lines in the far north of Britain. It has the same molten pewter look (and shiny red blood) of Zach Snyder’s 300, and aspires to the same level of epic classical tragedy, but Centurion lacks even the minimal dramatic resonance of Snyder’s pulpy take on the Spartans.

GTv takes one for the team at the Young Farmers and Ranchers Testicle Festival. (Special thanks to all the males who gave up their beastly bits. For without them … this could not be possible.)

If you don’t yet know, oxfords are going to be everywhere this season—in all shapes and styles. Grey, black, two-tone spectators, wedges, cut outs, leopard print, granny style, and so on. And frankly, you really can’t go wrong with them. They’re a classic style that’s been updated for 2010 (and beyond). Pair them with baggy boyfriend jeans (no socks, please); create a slick silhouette by using them to complement a pair of skinny jeans; wear them with a short skirt and tights; try the streamlined spectator version, or even the bootie take on oxfords.

While having sushi dinner at Mobo recently, I mentioned San Narciso, to which my friend pondered aloud, “Why have I heard of them?” The reason is because a new 4-song EP, Friend Prices, confirms what many local show-goers have already discovered: San Narciso, the year-old local indie rock band, is fantastic.