Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros spread the good word

If it’s the job of a messiah to convert the unbelievers, then Edward Sharpe—aka Alex Ebert—has some work in front of him. Stumbling upon the former Ima Robot frontman’s band at this past October’s Treasure Island Music Festival, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are the kind of act that immediately invited my skeptical inquiry. Not since The Polyphonic Spree had I seen a band with such a definitive “shtick.”

For those who have never seen them live (or their appearance on David Letterman), the group is a dozen-or-so-strong baroque ensemble with a singular and undeniable hippie aesthetic that it will bring to the Rio Theatre on Monday, March 1. Ebert usually dances around shirtless and shoeless, nappy hair tied in a crown, while the rest of the band easily could have taken its wardrobe from the set of Little House on the Prairie. Still, Ebert denies collusion, stating that “it’s just us being who we are. If we coordinated it’d be obvious. We’d be wearing all black, or all white or something.”

Violinist Laura Albers uses her superpowers to rekindle the spirit

Laura Albers is a veritable Wonder Woman with a violin: She works as the Associate Concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera orchestra, holds bachelor and master of music degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music and Juilliard, races as a triathlete and also happens to be double-take beautiful. Oh, and did we mention that she started playing the violin at age 2?

No, that isn’t a misprint. Albers, who will perform at Cabrillo College Distinguished Artists Concert & Lecture Series’ “Rekindling the Spirit of the Age of Enlightenment” (an all-Mozart program taking place at Cabrillo Music Recital Hall on Saturday, Feb. 27 and Sunday, Feb. 28), took up music as a 2-year-old with the help of her mother, violin teacher Ellie LeRoux. “I wanted a violin because that’s what she had,” Albers explains.

Localism is about having pride in your community and being proud of where you live. When we were young we tended to take it a little too far with the Westside vs. Eastside vs. Valleys … but most of us grew out of that. Santa Cruz is a great town. Now I’m committed to improving my neighborhood and making Santa Cruz cleaner and safer.
Jeremy Matthews
Santa Cruz | Sales Operations

Sudents, faculty, and staff are banding together: On March 1 and 4, tens of thousands of students and workers from the University of California, California State University, and community college systems will take action against budget cuts and more. Some will march on their own campuses while others will head straight for the state capitol. Plans for the 4th have evolved from a statewide strike in California into a national day of protest in support of higher education. Organizers at UCSC also have big plans. Check GT’s March 11 issue for more information and event coverage.

Methane digesters are shutting down due to new environmental regulations. How will the controversy impact clean fuel projects in Santa Cruz?

Despite the 1,700 cows roaming the Fiscalini Farms barn, things are surprisingly quiet.

“Happy cows don’t moo too often, and these cows live in the lap of luxury,” says Nettie Drake, an agricultural engineer who helps dairies install renewable biogas systems.

New start offers immediate and interim psychiatric care

For the past 27 years Dominican Hospital has been the go-to place in Santa Cruz for acute psychiatric services, or immediate, short-term care. However, when the county’s contract with Dominican’s Behavioral Health Unit is up in 2013, it will seek a new place to house many of those in need of psychiatric care. In the coming years the county plans to build a separate Psychiatric Health Facility [PHF] that will include 16 more beds than are currently available.

“It became clearer and clearer to Dominican and to their parent corporation, Catholic Healthcare West, that operating the psychiatric unit really didn’t work for them financially and in business terms,” says Leslie Tremaine, director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. “And that is not unique to Catholic Healthcare West. That’s happening all over the country to general hospitals that have had psych units.”

You are currently serving your first year on the California Coastal Commission. What has your experience been like, and what can we expect from the commission in the near future?

I was very honored last August, when Assembly Speaker Karen Bass appointed me to serve on the California Coastal Commission.  It is an amazing responsibility to represent the Central Coast on a body—with the stated mission to “Protect, conserve, restore, and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the California coast.”

The Coastal Commission was established by Proposition 20 in 1972 and made permanent by the legislative adoption of the California Coastal Act of 1976.  Since that time the commission has had a primary function to protect the coastal environment for future generations. I am particularly pleased the commission will soon meet here in Santa Cruz for the first time since 1986.  We will meet from March 10 to 12 in the County Board of Supervisors chambers, giving local people a great chance to observe and participate.

“Let’s say what we mean; mean what we say and let’s get it done.” —Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman

We the electorate have been attacked by Silicon Valley business-speak. The above quote has been tacked on to former eBay CEO Meg Whitman’s many television commercials as she gears up for a run for governor.

I feel like hiding. Both the business world and the political world have been overtaken by soundbites and messaging.

It used to be in the business world that the damage stopped with vacuous but inoffensive mission statements like “We (fill in the organization) are the leading providers of (fill in the product) as we provide our customers with the best products and services on the market.”

What was good about mission statements is that they went into the drawer and nobody ever saw them again, except for maybe on the bulletin board where you can also find the phone number for OSHA.

Talk about a huge week for DC fans. The house that Superman built blew the minds of nerds everywhere a few days back with the announcement of some re-shuffling at the top of the creative chain. Editor Dan Didio has positioned legendary artist Jim Lee as co-publisher of the company while writing hot-shot Geoff Johns moves up to the brand new position of chief creative officer (I wonder if that comes with a uniform). His task is to create a consistency in the DC universe across all forms of entertainment. Television, movies, direct to DVD specials, you name it. Every decision goes through this guy first. In Johns’ own words:

“My goal is nothing less than to have the DC Universe be the most popular mythology in and outside of comics in the world.”

Yep, mind blown and if anyone can pull it off it’s this guy.

Local man has donated 43 gallons of blood

Eighty-six-year-old Felton resident Daniel Cunha has given a lot of himself to the American Red Cross over the years—in more ways than one. As a volunteer for over 50 years, he once helped transport bone marrow across the country. But in addition to the time he has given, he has given something even more personal: his blood. Forty-three gallons of his blood, to be exact.

A small ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 19 at the Red Cross blood drive in Felton to commemorate Cunha’s enormous contribution. He was presented with a plaque before getting in the donor chair to give his unit of blood. Afterward, he and his wife, Sybil, enjoyed slices of cake brought for the occasion.