Page 166 | Good Times

Autumn Spice

Wellness

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October 2, 2024

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

UCSC Enacts New Policies Due To Pro-Palestine Protests

Josué Monroy

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September 25, 2024

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UCSC Enacts New Policies Due To Pro-Palestine Protests

As the fall quarter begins this week at UC Santa Cruz and other UC campuses, students will face tightened measures in response to pro-Palestine protests earlier this year. The 2024 spring quarter ended with dramatic clashes between hundreds of protestors and multiple law enforcement agencies at the base of the UCSC campus, resulting in over 122 arrests. Now, new university policies are tamping down on direct actions that block access to campus and on alleged antisemitic harassment at protests.

The new policies were required by state lawmakers as part of the Budget Act of 2024, which was approved in June, and allocated over $4.8 billion for the UC system.

“To safeguard everyone’s right to expression and right to engage fully in their learning, teaching, work, and research, UC Santa Cruz, under the umbrella of the University of California system, must also take action to protect our community from harassment or threats, impediments to access to campus, classrooms and university facilities, and from violence of any kind,” read an internal UCSC communication dated Sept. 11.

“UC Santa Cruz and the system as a whole must also comply with system, state, and federal policies that protect the rights of expressive activity, provide safeguards for state and federally protected identities, and ensure safe and timely and full access to our campuses for all.”

The state senate bill calls for all UC campuses to address the range of consequences under state and federal laws for discrimination based on shared ancestry under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It also requires campuses to notify students of how the university “intends to ensure students can safely access buildings and activities on campus.”

On Aug. 19, UC President Michael V. Drake sent out a letter to all administrators requiring them to make public the new policies regarding “expressive activities.”

The new policies ban any form of encampment on university property; the erection of any structures on university property; the blocking or obstructing of roadways, walkways, buildings, parking structures, fire lanes, windows, doors or other passageways to university property; and also bans the use of masks to conceal identity while requiring all individuals on campus to identify themselves to authorities.

Other college campuses, such as USC, have heightened security and installed screening stations at all main entrances. UCSC spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason told Good Times in an email that due to being a public university, the campus will remain freely accessible.

While UCSC will not restrict access to campus, the new policies can be seen as a direct response to protest actions last May.

After demonstrations against the Israel-Gaza War overtook colleges nationwide earlier this year, protestors moved to erect encampments on dozens of campuses. UCSC students set up their own at the Quarry Plaza at the beginning of May, occupying the hub of campus.

The action was led by Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Santa Cruz, an offshoot of the national SJP organization founded at UC Berkeley in 1993. UCSC organizers demanded that the school divest from companies tied to Israel and US weapons manufacturers.

Jewish groups nationwide began denouncing the encampment protesters as antisemitic, and Chabad on Campus at UCSC, a Jewish cultural organization, publically lambasted the Quarry action.

UCSC officials were slow to respond to the encampment, generally leaving them alone for the better part of a month. But in late May, graduate students represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) local 4811 held a protest at the base of campus condemning the treatment of colleagues at the hands of authorities at UCLA. The Southern California encampment was aggressively dismantled by UCPD and LAPD after mobs of counter protesters attacked the encampment, leaving dozens wounded.

UAW members and other protestors blocked the main entrance to UCSC, culminating in a raid by multiple law enforcement agencies in the early hours of May 31. Students detained at the protest were barred from campus for 14 days just as commencement ceremonies were slated to take place.

In early June, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the University of California, which had called the UAW strike illegal. The ruling barred the union from striking, and talks between the university and UAW are ongoing.

Rebecca Gross, head steward with 4811, told GT that some members that were arrested in May have yet to be arraigned, and that the looming charges are being used as intimidation by UC administration.

“I think that does create sort of a chilling effect, or it’s intended to create an effect and intimidate or manipulate people into not engaging in protest activity, which we all know is protected by folks’ First Amendment rights,” Gross said.

On Sept. 9, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a suit in Santa Cruz County Superior Court against the University, saying the bans were “unconstitutional and overbroad, depriving students and faculty of their due process rights.”

Under California law, university administrators can “withdraw consent” from letting arrested students on campus for 14 days. According to the ACLU, the university was required to hold hearings before the campus bans unless a person was deemed a threat to people or property, which the group says was not proven by the administrators.

Gross said that union members were also concerned about the no-mask policy, which she says also applies to personal protective masks like N-95s.

“The idea that you can’t wear a mask […], which was part of that new policy that was unrolled, is really troubling, especially as we’re in a Covid surge,” Gross said.

While the new policies do ban masks, it is only if individuals are trying to conceal their identity with the intent of intimidating people or groups, or if they are evading authorities after violating laws or university policy, according to the directive’s language. The use of personal protective masks was not addressed in the guidelines.

The fall quarter will begin just weeks away from the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, and taking nearly 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel has sustained an unprecedented bombing campaign, leveling most of the Gaza Strip and inflicting a death toll nearing 40,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. However that number may be higher, with some estimates marking deaths as high as 186,000.

University police may be preparing for potential unrest as the term begins. At the recent UC Board of Regents meeting held from Sept. 19-21 at UCLA, the UCPD made its annual request for military-grade weaponry.

UCSC police requested to purchase two drones and a report stated that in the past year the department had used Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) or “crowd management.” By comparison, UCLA requested 3,000 pepper ball rounds and 400 flash bang rounds.

Jimmy Dutra Liable for $1.1M In Sexual Assault Case

Todd Guild

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September 25, 2024

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Jimmy Dutra Liable for $1.1M In Sexual Assault Case

A jury on Sept. 17 found that Watsonville City Councilman Jimmy Dutra committed sexual battery and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor in his Los Angeles apartment 19 years ago.

The jury also found that Dutra is liable for damages from the emotional and mental suffering stemming from the abuse.

In making that finding, the jury awarded Stephen Siefke more than $1 million in damages for emotional and mental suffering and economic losses, among other things.

The jury did not, however, determine that Dutra acted with malice, and so could not award punitive damages.

Only one juror dissented.

No criminal charges were filed, and the verdict was not a criminal conviction.

The verdict came after roughly three days of deliberation, which followed a weeklong civil trial.

Siefke says that he was 12 when and his family were staying with Dutra in 2005 in Los Angeles while they visited Disneyland. During one night, Siefke says, Dutra returned home and climbed onto the couch where Siefke was sleeping, reached into his pants and fondled him.

In a prepared statement, Siefke said that the verdict was a “momentous occasion.”

“After a long and arduous journey, I have received validation for my story—a story that has been cloaked in fear, shame, and secrecy for far too long,” he stated. “The victory in this case is not just mine, but a testament to the bravery of all survivors who have faced the daunting task of coming forward.”

Dutra was not in court when the verdict was read. He declined on Tuesday to comment on his absence.

He vehemently denied Siefke’s allegations, saying during the trial that he hardly knew Siefke.

The allegations, he said, stemmed from a dispute over his late father’s estate with his father’s girlfriend.

Dutra doubled down on the story and the denial in an email Tuesday.

“I have said and will maintain that this allegation is false and never happened,” he stated. “This case was about revenge and money.”

Dutra also points to the timing of the lawsuit, since it came just before people began voting in the 2022 primary election, where he was running for Santa Cruz County supervisor.

Siefke says he was inspired to file the suit when he moved to Santa Cruz County and saw Dutra’s election posters, and learned that he was also teaching in a middle school.

“The person who caused me so much pain was not just a perpetrator but someone who was allowed to work within our schools, putting countless other children at risk,” Siefke said. “Knowing that my story has played a role in protecting future generations from such harm brings me a profound sense of relief and justice.”

Dutra’s attorney said that he is seeking options for an appeal.

Siefke’s attorney, Dana Scruggs, said that grounds for such an appeal would come from a legal mistake or a judicial error.

“Which I don’t see in this case,” he said.

Street Talk

Street Talk

John Koenig

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September 25, 2024

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What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

“Be like water.” It’s the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do. It’s adapting to your surroundings, and don’t try to move the mountain, go around the mountain. It’s no good to be upset about things in your way, you must pivot and keep going. Slowly the water will erode the mountain and carve its own path.

Wes Pannell, 50, Co-owner GAME Santa Cruz on Cedar St

In art, everything has already been done, so just do whatever it is that you want. As I’m getting older, I’m realizing style is just the things that you can’t help but do. Your style is basically the things that you can’t change about yourself.

Laurel Meissener, 37, Artist

It’s an oldie, but “Treat people the way you would want to be treated.” I was probably at around 7 or 8, growing up on the upper west side when my mom gave me that advice.

Dave Cowan, 59, Co-owner GAME Santa Cruz on Cedar St

My Dad told me, “Don’t ever worry about what anybody else thinks, just be you and don’t be nervous about anything.”

Nikki Frediani, 44, Graphic designer

Well, I was divorced, and I had met Melissa my current wife. That was kinda difficult for me, and one of my daughters said, “Dad, she’s great, we love her. Make sure you don’t mess up.”

Chris Coleman, 56

I don’t know, I always go back to the foundation of what my parents taught, “Treat people how you want to be treated.”

Melissa Coleman, 38, Teacher

Free Will Astrology

Astrology

Rob Brezsny

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September 25, 2024

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ARIES March 21-April 19

Here comes the Hating and Mating Season. I want to help you minimize the “hating” part and maximize the “mating” part, so I will offer useful suggestions. 1. To the degree that you can, dissolve grudges and declare amnesty for intimate allies who have bugged you. 2. Ask your partners to help you manage your fears; do the same for them. 3. Propose to your collaborators that you come up with partial solutions to complicated dilemmas. 4. Do a ritual in which you and a beloved cohort praise each other for five minutes. 5. Let go of wishes that your companions would be more like how you want them to be.

TAURUS April 20-May 20

Many fairy tales tell of protagonists who are assigned seemingly impossible missions. Perhaps they must carry water in a sieve or find “fire wrapped in paper” or sort a heap of wheat, barley, poppyseed, chickpeas and lentils into five separate piles. Invariably, the star of the story succeeds, usually because they exploit some loophole, get unexpected help, or find a solution simply because they didn’t realize the task was supposedly impossible. I bring this up, Taurus, because I suspect you will soon be like one of those fairy-tale champions. Here’s a tip: They often get unexpected help because they have previously displayed kindness toward strangers or low-status characters. Their unselfishness attracts acts of grace into their lives.

GEMINI May 21-June 20

You are in a phase with great potential for complex, unforeseen fun. To celebrate, I’m offering descriptions of your possible superpowers. 1. The best haggler ever. 2. Smoother of wrinkles and closer of gaps. 3. Laugher in overly solemn moments. 4. Unpredictability expert. 5. Resourceful summoner of allies. 6. Crafty truth-teller who sometimes bends the truth to enrich sterile facts. 7. Riddle wrestler and conundrum connoisseur. 8. Lubricant for those who are stuck. 9. Creative destroyer of useless nonsense. 10. Master of good trickery. 11. Healer of unrecognized and unacknowledged illnesses.

CANCER June 21-July 22

Tanzanite is a rare blue and violet gemstone that is available in just one place on earth: a five-square-mile region of Tanzania. It was discovered in 1967 and mined intensively for a few years. Geologists believed it was all tapped out. But in 2020, a self-employed digger named Saniniu Lazier located two huge new pieces of tanzanite worth $3.4 million. Later, he uncovered another chunk valued at $2 million. I see you as having resemblances to Saniniu Lazier in the coming weeks. In my visions of your destiny, you will tap into resources that others have not been able to unearth. Or you will find treasure that has been invisible to everyone else.

LEO July 23-Aug. 22

Marathon foot races are regularly held worldwide. Their official length is 26.2 miles. Even fast runners with great stamina can’t finish in less than two hours. There’s a downside to engaging in this herculean effort: Runners lose up to 6% of their brain volume during a race, and their valuable gray matter isn’t fully reconstituted for eight months. Now here’s my radical prophecy for you, Leo. Unless you run in a marathon sometime soon, your brain may gain in volume during the coming weeks. At the very least, your intelligence will be operating at peak levels. It will be a good time to make key decisions.

VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22

Is there a greater waste of land than golf courses? They are typically over 150 acres in size and require huge amounts of water to maintain. Their construction may destroy precious wetlands, and their vast tracts of grass are doused with chemical pesticides. Yet there are only 67 million golfers in the world. Less than 1% of the population plays the sport. Let’s use the metaphor of the golf course as we analyze your life. Are there equivalents of this questionable use of resources and space? Now is a favorable time to downsize irrelevant, misused and unproductive elements. Re-evaluate how you use your space and resources.

LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22

On the morning of Jan. 27, 1970, Libran songwriter John Lennon woke up with an idea for a new song. He spent an hour perfecting the lyrics and composing the music on a piano. Then he phoned his producer and several musicians, including George Harrison, and arranged for them to meet him at a recording studio later that day. By Feb. 6, the song “Instant Karma” was playing on the radio. It soon sold over a million copies. Was it the fastest time ever for a song to go from a seed idea to a successful release? Probably. I envision a similar process in your life, Libra. You are in a prime position to manifest your good ideas quickly, efficiently and effectively.

SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21

You have passed the test of the First Threshold. Congratulations, Scorpio! Give yourself a kiss. Fling yourself a compliment. Then begin your preparations for the riddles you will encounter at the Second Threshold. To succeed, you must be extra tender and ingenious. You can do it! There will be one more challenge, as well: the Third Threshold. I’m confident you will glide through that trial not just unscathed but also healed. Here’s a tip from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “Those who do not expect the unexpected will not find it.”

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21

What development are you so ready for that you’re almost too ready? What transformation have you been preparing for so earnestly that you’re on the verge of being overprepared? What lesson are you so ripe and eager to learn that you may be anxiously interfering with its full arrival? If any of the situations I just described are applicable to you, Sagittarius, I have good news. There will be no further postponements. The time has finally arrived to embrace what you have been anticipating.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19

Capricorn screenwriter and TV producer Shonda Rhimes has had a spectacular career. Her company Shondaland has produced 11 prime-time TV shows, including Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton. She’s in the Television Hall of Fame, is one of the wealthiest women in America, and has won a Golden Globe award. As you enter into a phase when your ambitions are likely to shine extra brightly, I offer you two of her quotes. 1. “I realized a simple truth: that success, fame and having all my dreams come true would not fix or improve me. It wasn’t an instant potion for personal growth.” 2. “Happiness comes from living as your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18

I have performed in many poetry readings. Some have been in libraries, auditoriums, cafes and bookstores, but others have been in unexpected places: a laundromat, a bus station, a Walmart, a grocery store and an alley behind a thrift store. Both types of locations have been enjoyable. But the latter kind often brings the most raucous and engaging audiences, which I love. According to my analysis, you might generate luck and fun for yourself in the coming weeks by experimenting with non-typical scenarios—akin to me declaiming an epic poem on a street corner or parking lot. Brainstorm about doing what you do best in novel situations.

PISCES Feb. 19-March 20

I have two related oracles for you. 1. During the unfoldment of your mysterious destiny, you have had several homecomings that have moved you and galvanized you beyond what you imagined possible. Are you ready for another homecoming that’s as moving and galvanizing as those that have come before? 2. During your long life, you have gathered amazing wisdom by dealing with your pain. Are you now prepared to gather a fresh batch of wisdom by dealing with pleasure and joy?

Homework: Maybe it’s time to fix a seemingly unfixable discomfort. Do it!

Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Next-Gen Blues

Music

Bill Kopp

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September 25, 2024

0

By Bill Kopp

Ally Venable is not your typical blues guitarist. At 25, she’s a seasoned veteran, having released a debut EP, Wise Man, in 2014, and following up with five albums. Venable is also a hard-working touring musician, having played hundreds of dates in the U.S. and across Europe. Her most recent album, 2023’s Real Gone, featured guest turns from Joe Bonamassa and Buddy Guy; the latter has been a longtime supporter and mentor of Venable’s artistry.

On Buddy Guy’s 2021 tour, the legendary bluesman gave the opening spot to Venable. And the young guitarist has a deep appreciation for what that meant to her career. “Just seeing him live is amazing,” Venable says. “But having the opportunity to play with him onstage every night was an experience I’ll never, ever forget.”

That was just the beginning. Venable recalls an October 2021 concert date at the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, Florida. An amateur video of a six-minute jam featuring the two trading fiery guitar licks is on YouTube, but the evening’s most important exchange took place backstage.

After the show was over, Guy invited producer Tom Hambridge, Venable and several others back to his dressing room. “We were just talking about music,” Venable says, and then Buddy said, ‘We should help Ally with her next record.’ And that’s how it started.” Guy would guest on “Texas Louisiana,” one of Real Gone’s hardest and heaviest numbers; like that concert clip, the track features plenty of good-natured back-and-forth between the blues icon and his protégé.

Venable’s rock sensibility adds a modern quality to her blues outings; the influence of artists like ZZ Top, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix finds expression in her fretwork and muscular arrangements. And her years on the road—including an extended, 60-date run as part of the international Ruf Records Blues Caravan—has given Venable more than the average 25-year-old’s lifetime worth of experiences.

The guitarist—who writes and/or co-writes her own material—says that she draws upon those experiences for her songs. Looking back at the music she made a decade ago, she says that she has matured as an artist and musician. “When I wrote my first songs, I went off what I thought was ‘correct,’” she admits. “But we all go through things, and that’s what I base my material on now. I build off my life and what I think other people can relate to.”

Venable is still enjoying the success of Real Gone, with a tour that features several songs from the album. But work on an as-yet-untitled follow-up album, set for release in spring 2025, is well underway.

She provides some hints as to where that album will take her: “I’m being a little more vulnerable with what I say and how I say it,” she says. “And I’m being more bold with what I’m trying in the studio, with sounds, harmonies and my vocal range.” Though she has a solid body of work behind her, Ally Venable is clearly just getting started.

Ally Venable plays at 8pm on Sept. 26 with Preacher Boy Trio. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. Tickets: $20 adv/$25 door. moesalley.com

Worldly Rhythms

Music

Bianca Sieraski

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September 25, 2024

8

The experience of watching a group of artists get together and create something raw and heartfelt is like no other. Some may go so far as to say people are attracted to places like Santa Cruz for its openness to such endeavors.

Such is the case for Elie Mabanza, 42, a musician born and raised in Congo Brazzaville who became smitten by the town’s ocean, forests and people.

Mabanza’s first home in America was in Cary, North Carolina, where he worked as a dishwasher at an Olive Garden, which he says was a new adventure. After three years, Mabanza came to visit a friend in Santa Cruz. He says he fell in love with the town and decided to move closer in 2017.

“Music brought me here. I don’t like to talk about my past life,” Mabanza said when asked why he left Congo. “Sometimes you don’t want to go back, to just close the door and walk away. … I can create something that takes me to the past.”

Almost a decade after leaving his hometown, Mabanza is the frontman in many bands, such as Afro Hi Life and Mokili Wa (which means “World Listen” in Mabanza’s native languages of Lingala and Lari). He lures people in with a sweet voice and a band of skilled musicians.

Mabanza regularly plays with Ryan Price (bass), Spencer Peterson (keyboards), Joe Rayhbuck (drums), Anne Stafford (sax), Drew Pieros (percussion) and Jaime Sanchez.

At each gig, Mabanza and his colleagues improvise a unique set—one that he says “has never been played before and probably won’t ever be played again.”

Mabanza insists that everyone has rhythm within them. “Any person in this world … is like a musician because our body, it’s music. It’s like a clock. Your heart is beating, your clock is moving, everything is in rhythm.”

That is why he says that every musician should learn percussion: “That’s our rhythm, our heart.”

Mabanza says he started playing music in his mother’s womb, his first instrument being his heartbeat. His family was musical, and Mabanza is undoubtedly a gifted singer, songwriter and instrumentalist himself. He allows that his mother was not the one to pass down the singing genes. His father, a pastor, would play the guitar to his mother while she was pregnant, foreshadowing Mabanza’s passion for playing the guitar, in which he is almost entirely self-taught.

Mabanza says he was always the troublemaker growing up.

“I have to say I was really stubborn, I cannot ignore that,” he recalls. “With seven siblings you’re sure to have someone who is the ‘good crazy.’ … I was the good crazy.”

His father was a disciplinarian who kept him “in the loop.” Mabanza remembers many instances in his childhood where his father confiscated his guitar as a punishment and put him in a room with nothing to do for hours.

Mabanza remembers his father as a good leader who supported his community. He has taken on that role himself, both as a father and by being there for others through his musical performances.

“It’s hard to see a lot of people dying and fighting, it’s really hard,” Mabanza says. “No one belongs to this Earth; one day we’re gonna die. Why not put our ego away and be there for everybody?”

Elie Mabanza plays in Santa Cruz on Sept 27 at Chaminade and Sept. 28 at Abbott Square. For details on these shows and others in the future, visit eliemabanza.com.

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Next-Gen Blues

Worldly Rhythms