Page 196 | Good Times

Santa Cruz Pride’s 49th Weekend!

Cover Stories

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May 29, 2024

The Santa Cruz Pride festivities occurring on June 1 and 2 celebrate the diverse LGBTQ+ community across Santa Cruz County. Attend Queerlantis on June 1 at the Cocoanut Grove and then watch the parade at 11am in downtown Santa Cruz followed by the festival with live entertainment and a family art activity at the MAH.

Queerlantis, a sea oddity carnival extravaganza drag and dance party, is set to kick off Santa Cruz Pride weekend on June 1 in the historic Cocoanut Grove. This immersive event promises an unforgettable experience for all attendees. This one-of-a-kind experience will feature mesmerizing performances, a diverse lineup of drag artists, burlesque dancers, contortionists, and a vibrant energy that will have attendees up on their feet, dancing the night away.

“We are thrilled to kick off Santa Cruz Pride weekend with Queerlantis,” says Christian Rivera, marketing director of Queerlantis.

“This event is a celebration of diversity and pride, and we can’t wait to immerse our attendees in an enchanting and inclusive experience.”

The annual parade and festival will follow on June 2. It will be one of the largest in recent years and will take place in downtown Santa Cruz. Spectators will be able to view the rainbow colored floats and contingents that will be traveling along Pacific from Cathcart to Front Street. The festival, including over 60 booths from local organizations and vendors and a photo booth, will take place following the parade on Pacific and Cooper Streets from noon to 4pm.

The festival entertainment will take place on two stages and will highlight some of the best drag, dancing and musical talent in the area. The Abbott Square stage will feature the annual recognition of our Grand Marshals with our local electeds, followed by drag performers and singers. The Locust Street Stage will feature Cheer SF and Angeles Danzantes, a local folklorico dance group, along with singers and dancing.

The Santa Cruz MAH, a partner in the event, will have free admission for all where attendees can browse the many art and history exhibits including the queer history exhibit on the second floor. Young people will enjoy the family day art activity at the MAH that will include a scavenger hunt and slime making. In addition, a pop up exhibit on June 1 and June 2 called “Is Gender Working for You?” will take place in the Garden Room. Artist Shani Fable will be present on Sunday, June 2 to greet attendees.

This year’s theme is “Beacon of Pride” and the logo features the Walton Lighthouse at the end of the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, and a kaleidoscope circle with all the colors of the many pride flags. The kaleidoscope, with its everchanging and endless possibilities, mirrors the diverse and multifaceted nature of our community. Each turn reflects the unique patterns and characteristics that define us including the spectrum of genders and sexual orientations that exist across Santa Cruz County. This theme invites attendees to see the beauty in diversity and the strength in unity where everyone is valued and belongs. Everyone across our county is a beacon of pride and we invite everyone to join us at our events the weekend of June 1 and 2, 2024.

Santa Cruz Pride began in 1975, one of the first smaller city prides, preceded in California only by San Francisco and Los Angeles. The first Santa Cruz Pride included weeklong events that featured a concert by musician and composer Lou Harrison, workshops at Cabrillo College, and a picnic at San Lorenzo Park where there was a tug-of-war across the river. Every year since then, volunteers have organized an annual event that celebrates the rich LGBTQ+ culture and history across Santa Cruz County.

Find all the information about Santa Cruz Pride at SantaCruzPride.org.

**BEACH BLANKET BINGO** The Pride Celebration moves to Santa Cruz’s premier place for fun the night before the parade. Photo: Rob Darrow

Queerlantis at the Beach

Queer entertainment has evolved in Santa Cruz County

By Rob Darrow and Zak Keith

History was made in May 2023 as Santa Cruz Pride and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk joined forces to launch the first Queerlantis—a drag and dance party that highlighted more than 10 drag performers, aerialists and performers. The Boardwalk sunroom was decorated with hanging sea creatures, walls of wave-themed shapes, and a fabulous ocean-themed stage. Over 250 people donned their festive attire to dance the night away. The overwhelming success of Queerlantis sparked a tradition that continues to flourish, and planning for a second Queerlantis commenced with unparalleled flair.

The second annual Queerlantis will take place on June 1 in the Cocoanut Grove as part of the Santa Cruz Pride weekend. The entire community is invited to step into Queerlantis, A Sea Oddity Carnival Extravaganza, and experience the enchantment. Tickets may be purchased at: queerlantis.eventbrite.com.

The Santa Cruz County LGBTQ+ culture became more visible in the 1970s and an important part of that visibility was the entertainment scene. From backyards to bars to stages, coffee houses, bookstores and auditoriums, queer performers have provided various forms of artistic expression across the county.

Franco’s Norma Jean’s in Castroville, under the ownership of Ernie Sanchez, became a destination for drag performers in the late 1980s. Despite being in Monterey County, it was a short drive from Watsonville or Santa Cruz to view a variety of song and dance shows on the weekends.

In the same decade, Tracye Lee Lawson began Lee Lawson Productions and brought a variety of performers to Santa Cruz including lesbian singers Holly Near, Cris Williamson and others. Entertainers played at Kuumbwa and also in the Civic Auditorium. In the mid-1980s, the annual event known as “A Gay Evening in May” became a fundraiser for the Santa Cruz AIDS project and ran for nearly 10 years at the Civic Auditorium as a variety show with musical, dramatic and dance numbers.

Entertainment could also be found at one of the four queer bars in Santa Cruz County, including the Dragon Moon on Soquel Avenue (now the Crepe Place) or at Mona’s Gorilla Lounge near Dominican Hospital (now Moe’s Alley), until the 1990s.

All entertainment thrived through the 1990s and early 2000s and then changed as venue ownership and interest changed. In addition, the annual Santa Cruz Pride parade and festival that began in 1975 has provided live entertainment including music, dancing and drag performances the first Sunday in June each year.

One of the many performers at the first Pride event was Patti Maxine, who still dazzles crowds today with her steel guitar and vocals. The pandemic paused all entertainment venues and many entertainers refined their musical and performance skills through various online venues, and this included Virtual Santa Cruz Pride that took place in June 2020 and featured performers speaking and singing from their homes, including Patti Maxine.

Also during this time, due to the popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race, artists across the county began exploring their drag personas. Drag traces its artistic roots back to the Harlem Renaissance and was primarily popularized by Black and Latino performers.

Drag has emerged across the Central Coast as a vibrant art form with adoring fans populating bars, coffee shops, bookstores, libraries, story times and at Pride events. In addition, Motion Pacific developed “Majesty: A Queer Dance and Variety Show” in 2017, and continues to produce the event every other month with new drag acts being celebrated by sold-out crowds raining dollar bills on the performers.

Following the pandemic, entertainment spaces and queer entertainment in the county evolved in new ways. Santa Cruz Pride re-emerged with a live parade and festival in 2022 that included drag performers on the Abbott Square stage. In the fall of that year, Santa Cruz Pride wanted to expand and celebrate the rich LGBTQ+ culture of the county, and reached out to representatives of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to explore possibilities. This conversation resulted in an offer of a venue to develop some type of evening event.

Several names were offered including Aqueerious, Waves of Pride, Queertopia, Evening of Drag, Boardwalk Boogaloo, Deep Diving Divas, Emerging from the Ocean, Under the Sea, and Mermaid Beach Party. The name that emerged was: Queerlantis.

Rob Darrow (he, him, his) is chair of Santa Cruz Pride and has researched the rich LGBTQ+ history that exists across Santa Cruz County.

Zak Keith (they, them) is a UCSC Grad student who is researching youth queer identity, a program facilitator at the Diversity Center, and a drag artist who produces many drag shows including Roulette Hour, a drag, burlesque and variety show once a month in Monterey.

Santa Cruz Pride Grand Marshals

Making our community stronger

By Rob Darrow

One grand marshal is described as an “organizer, activist and historian” and the other is a “beacon of hope for queer people of color committed to doing community service.” Both are out lesbians who were born and raised in New York, found their way to Santa Cruz in the 1970s and 2000s, and have improved the culture of Santa Cruz County because of their service and work tackling complex issues such as housing, transportation, race, restorative justice and the court system, and archiving our history.

Pat Dellin and Elaine Johnson were recently named as the Santa Cruz Pride 2024 Grand Marshals. Naming the grand marshals for Santa Cruz Pride is an annual tradition that began in 1991. Every year since then, the community has put forth names of people deserving of the grand marshal honor that may be an individual, organization or a group who have given extraordinary service to the Santa Cruz Queer community, and then lead the Pride Parade.

Regarding her selection as a grand marshal, Pat responded, “I’m thrilled to be a grand marshal because Pride means so much to our community. I’ve seen that clearly in my work documenting our local LGBTQ+ history. From our first gathering of 200 in San Lorenzo Park in 1975 to today’s festival that takes over downtown Santa Cruz, Pride is about being visible, building community, and supporting each other.”

Elaine also reflected about what being the grand marshal means to her: “My grandmother and ‘Aunt’ Elaine would have been so proud; they were partners for 40 years and had to hide so much when they were together. I am honored to continue to carry on their legacy of what they taught me about love, acceptance, and kindness to everyone, and I get to celebrate that with everybody on June 2. I’m going to bring them with me; we’ve come a mighty long way.”

Pat Dellin remembers the first Santa Cruz Pride in 1975, attended one of the first Amazon Women’s Music Festivals in the Santa Cruz Mountains and helped publish the Lavender Readher, the first newsletter for lesbians in Santa Cruz. As a Diversity Center Board member in 2010, she became aware of boxes of artifacts that were housed in the dusty attic of the Diversity Center.

After digging through and organizing the artifacts, she put out a call to the LGBTQ+ community to donate items so that the local LGBTQ+ history could be archived and protected. At the same time she realized how many people had impacted and improved LGBTQ+ life across Santa Cruz County and implemented the Diversity Center Trailblazers program that celebrated the contributions of local LGBTQ+ people.

Dellin forged an ongoing relationship between the Museum of Art and History (MAH) and the Santa Cruz LGBTQ+ queer community that resulted in archiving the artifacts and the virtual and physical Queer History exhibit at the MAH. This success then paved the way for a state archives grant by the MAH in 2022 to digitize the LGBTQ+ collection that continues today.

Community and building community has been Elaine Johnson’s life work. Since the age of 14 she knew she wanted to be a lawyer, and a little later in life she fulfilled that dream in 2015 when she earned her law degree at the Monterey College of Law. She has applied her law degree in many ways to advance a variety of programs across Santa Cruz County including a restorative justice program for youth in the criminal justice system, advancing affordable housing and promoting racial healing and advancing social justice initiatives.

As the executive director of Housing Santa Cruz, Elaine has successfully advocated for policies to make housing more affordable for everyone in our county. As the president of the NAACP, she has brought diverse and compassionate leadership to empower local black community members and continues to engage the community in ongoing conversations about race to eliminate race prejudice.

Adam Spickler, a Cabrillo College trustee, further describes Elaine: “As an out lesbian, African American leader in our community, she is a role model for all of us of what it looks like to be a leader doing work that uplifts the greater good of others.”

In addition, Elaine has served on the boards of Monarch Services and Encompass Community Services, the Juvenile Justice Delinquent Prevention Commission, Community Action Board (CAB), and Rise Together Santa Cruz County.

Queerlantis hosts Khloe Quarterpounder and Rogue Roulette.

What does Pride mean to me?

Members of the SC Pride Board of Directors recently met up on KSQD for a radio interview with Christine Barrington for Talk of the Bay. Among many things, they talked about what Santa Cruz Pride means to them.

By Rob Darrow

Ethan Quaranta: Pride is about allowing others to live happy and proud lives. As I was growing up, I was aware of microaggressions others would say about LGBTQ+ people. Being in the parade and wearing a flower crown and glitter on my face in the parade was the ultimate coming out for me as well as a feeling of home and welcome for all. Being in the parade, it is fun to watch younger kids smile and wave as we walk by and that is all very meaningful to me.

Kate McGrath: Pride means celebration of myself, my identity, my friends and who they love. The annual pride parade and festival is an annual homecoming celebrating joy and love of my community. Pride is the first place that many people can be out and themselves.

Brian Howard: Pride for me is the ability to be my true self without shame and embarrassment. Pride allows me to be open and honest with those I love. I get to feel connected to others and a larger community. Pride also gives me the ability to support others in their differences and struggles, which only encourages them to be their true selves with me. Pride is home and being around people that I love. Santa Cruz is one of the most welcoming places I have lived so Pride celebrates our loving community.

Rob Darrow: Pride is about celebrating who we are, reminding ourselves of the rich and sometimes painful history of standing up for ourselves, and advocating for equal rights for all. For many people, attending Pride events is their first time to publicly come out and to celebrate that with their friends and others who are doing the same. Attending Pride is a celebration for everyone, where everyone is included and belongs.

Curt Keyer: In the seventies, Pride was my way of asserting my identity as a gay man. I was aware that I was helping create a better world for myself and the generations who would follow by being visible; out and proud. In the past, Pride was a time to celebrate who we were at a time when we were neither supported nor celebrated by our families or society in general. Today, Pride is a time to come together with friends to support and celebrate ourselves and each other.

Outside of her advocacy work, Elaine finds joy in watching football, particularly cheering on her beloved NY Giants, and enjoys singing and spending quality time with her wife. Join the Santa Cruz Community in celebrating the Santa Cruz grand marshals at the 49th Annual Pride Parade on Sunday, June 2 in downtown Santa Cruz at 11am

Street Talk

Street Talk

John Koenig

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May 29, 2024

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How do you maintain meaningful relationships and social connections?

This week’s Street Talk question was inspired by May being Older Americans Month. This year’s theme is Powered by Connection, recognizing “the profound impact that meaningful relationships and social connections have on our health and well-being.”

I’m with my as-if-married girlfriend; that’s a huge connection. Every week I juggle with the juggling club and I do salsa rueda dancing. I go to a Spanish conversation group. And I’m a friendly guy, I talk to a lot of people.
—Ken Martin, Magician, Juggler, Entertainer

I’m the wrong person to ask. I live up in Boulder Creek on ten acres; I really don’t see anyone. But I do meet a very good friend for coffee every week.
—Marcy Cayton, 54, Retired

I phone, text and email, and I travel. I’m going to San Clemente to play golf with an old friend, to San Diego for a film school reunion, and to Bakersfield for charity functions. And my generation uses Facebook.
—Dave Cole, Real Estate Attorney, Filmmaker

Connections are very important. We meet friends at restaurants and celebrate birthdays in our homes, and we play golf together. We travel here from Germany to see our daughter. —Peter Quabach, 66, Retired

I do church groups and Bible studies, and I visit my daughter in Santa Cruz once a year, sometimes twice, summer and winter.
—Peggy Lister, 76, Retired

A lot of my friends are dead, and making new friends is more difficult than it used to be. I did use social media, but it’s too confrontational. I know all the people at the Walnut Cafe, it’s how older people make their new acquaintances.
—Kim Joslin, 78, Retired

UCSC Grad Students Continue Strike

William S. Woodhams

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May 23, 2024

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This story was updated on May 24 at 5:00 p.m.

UC Santa Cruz graduate students and researchers went on strike on Monday May 20 to protest the treatment of fellow union members during pro-Palestinian protests at two other universities.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) 4811 at UCSC are the first to go on strike in the University of California system. Approximately 1,200 to 1,400 of the 2,000 members at UCSC have gone on strike according to Rebecca Gross, third-year doctoral student in literature at UCSC and unit chair of UAW 4811.

They say the move is in solidarity with fellow members at UCLA and UC San Diego, and started striking the same day the International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders.

Throughout the week, hundreds of graduate, undergraduate students and some professors took to the intersection of High Street and Coolidge Drive to protest at the main entrance to the university, blocking it on the first day.

Classes went online for the entire week because of continued disruption to campus, according to UC Santa Cruz. It’s unclear when classes will resume in-person.

The union alleges that the UC system discriminated against fellow members who were engaged in protected protest activity by calling in a “forceful police intervention” at UCLA on May 1.

The University Responds

In response, the University of California said in a statement on May 21 that the strike at UCSC is unlawful. They filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the state Public Labor Relations Board asking the union to “cease and desist from strike activity.”

In a filing to the Public Labor Relations Board, UC said that the strike violates its collective bargaining agreement and that if the strike is allowed to stand, “the University — and every other public agency in California — would face constant strikes advancing political and/or social viewpoints.”

The labor board declined to issue an injunction against the strike on May 23 but brought a new labor complaint against the UAW for going out on strike in violation of the “no strike clause” in its bargaining agreement.

The union announced workers at UCLA and UC Davis would join the strike on Tuesday as part of the UAW’s stand-up strike strategy pioneered in auto factories to create bottlenecks in the supply chain.

In total around 11,000-12,000 more workers will be on strike, according to Gross.

“We are not surprised that the UC was seeking out an injunction,” said Gross. “We were pretty confident in our legal case for being out here on strike and obviously the Public Labor Relations Board agreed with us about that so there is a widespread feeling of renewed morale and excitement that there is not going to be any barriers to us continuing to strike.”

Legal experts say the UAW 8411 has a strong case because the UC system likely violated labor law by unilaterally changing the terms of the contract with the union breaking any “no strike clause.”

Ultimately, these alleged violations will be settled in court.

“The university has tried a lot of strike breaking tactics here. Our Chancellor has been sending out emails saying that the strike is illegal,” Gross said. “After this injunction more workers might work off the job.”

Gross said the strike is about “health and safety violations” at UCLA and UC San Diego and not about what is happening in Gaza directly.

“We are not officially striking for Gaza. We’re in solidarity with our co-workers that were striking [protesting] in solidarity for the encampments,” Gross said. “There’s a lot of solidarity.”

A History of Strikes

This is not the first time UCSC and the wider UC system has endured strikes.

The union was founded in March after the merging of the UC graduate student and postdoc worker’s unions. It now represents 48,000 researchers and teaching assistants in the UC system.

Graduate students part of UAW went on strike in 2019 at UCCS over a cost-of-living adjustment. Years later in 2022, graduate students went on strike again, with members striking for six weeks over better pay and benefits and affecting the entire UC system.

After talking to fellow union members and friends at UCLA and San Diego, many of whom were bailing each other out of jail, Gross said she realized they had the best opportunity to go on strike locally.

“We didn’t have any of those crackdowns so we were able to organize during the period because of that,” Gross said. “We had a very strong strike authorization vote. We were able to get multiple mass meetings together and smaller departmental meetings to check in with folks. We were very strike ready.”

Because of UCSC’s experience with months-long strikes, she said they’ve already shown they can go the distance over causes they care about. UCSC’s commencement will be June 17. The strike has been authorized until June 30. That means grades could be held until graduation making it a graduation in name only for some students.

On the topic of graduation Gross says it is up to the UC system to meet their demands but the UAW will not interfere with commencement activities.

“Graduation is up to the UC. If the UC wants to continue to graduation by all means. I don’t know if the student protestors have plans for that,” said Gross.

Some at the picket line Friday disagreed with the UAW’s tactics.

“The union bureaucracy is in the pocket of the democratic party which is a wing of the ruling class,” said Will West, a Trotskyist from Berkeley City College selling newspapers.

These disagreements were on display on the first days of the strike when protesters blocked the road up to campus. According to Gross these were the undergraduates in “the encampment” who moved their tents down to the picket line. On Friday the road up to campus was open.

“It’s the same struggle and the same fight,” said Jaguar, a second year biology student. “Even though we are going to have our disagreements about tactics and stuff, overall we are all in this together.”

The UAW supports the undergraduate protestors and after the strike began on Monday released a page on the UAW 4811’s website titled, “How UC can Engage with the Broader Protest Movement.”

These demands are separate from the labor complaints and call for the UC system to negotiate with the protesters, and to divest from arms manufacturers and companies “profiting from Israel’s war in Gaza.”

“These demands might not seem related directly to the unfair labor practices but they are all related to the same issue,” said Gross.

People who participated in the 2019 and 2022 actions are still involved today, but Gross said new people are starting to join the effort.

“The idea that you could be brutalized by defending your undergrads really galvanized people and makes them really upset,” Gross said.

Land of Medicine Buddha Hike

Take a Hike with Richard Stockton

Richard Stockton

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May 22, 2024

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As a student at UCSC I got into reincarnation. The most fun I had with reincarnation is when I gave a cop someone else’s license.

He goes, “Hey, this isn’t you.”

I said, “Well, not now.”

What a moron.

Sunday morning, I drive to Land of Medicine Buddha, too full of national news. I am in a preoccupied stew that life has become a tapestry of conforming submission, of clenched teeth, exhausted sleep. I cannot listen to one more story about Santa Cruzans leaving town because of housing. I turn up Prescott Road for one mile and park down the hill from Land of Medicine Buddha. I want some Buddha medicine right now.

Walking with Buddha

Land of Medicine Buddha is a 108-acre redwood Buddhist refuge adjacent to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park up Glen Haven Road, and it is all about spiritual development and renewal. The place pops—they have Buddhist and innovative secular education, retreats, sacred sites, wellness programs, a primary school, end-of-life care—and the reason I’m here: nature trails that climb the mountain and circle back into the larger loop through Nisene Marks State Park.

There is no hyperbole when describing the stunning beauty of the coastal redwoods. And on the refuge’s hiking paths there are Buddhist paintings, sculptures and wooden benches with prayer flags hung between the trees. Today’s Buddha-walk is perfect, I get to straddle the difference between human self-hood, and the vast, sublime, expanse of nature.

The parked cars on the right stop inches before a cliff drops off to Bates Creek far below. It is Sunday morning and the retreat’s private lot up the hill to the left is packed with cars.

The Body Knows

I pull into a parking space in front of the sharp drop-off into Bates Creek. I’m here at the Land of Medicine Buddha seeking “deep inner joy and a kind heart,” but for now just grateful I didn’t go over the edge. Out of my car, I’m stiff and cold, my feet hurt. My balance wobbles.

Overcoming physical challenges is integral to the practice of hiking. Hikers have blisters, blackened toenails, stressed menisci around their knees, sciatica pain—it goes with the territory. The value of hiking comes from its challenges. Physical exertion eventually suspends the incessant brain chatter that keeps me from letting my body tell me what I need to know.

When I’m pulling hard up a long hill, I reach the point of no-mind, and my nervous system gives me an audible sound. I can hear my brain go “clunk” and turn off. And then I can ask my body what I need to know, be it about the direction of this article, how to respond to loved one or how to deal with adversity, the veil of thoughts have been lifted that keep me from knowing myself. My body knows what I need to know and is eager to tell me. I hike to be able to hear it.

I’ve got a leg up on Buddha. This morning I’m walking on three.

The Three-Legged Way

Twenty steps from my car I can tell that it’s climbing uphill that lights up my left knee. The paved driveway up to Land of Medicine Buddha is very steep. I did 45 minutes of yoga last night, got seven hours of sleep—this is about as up as I get, so I am perturbed that walking is suddenly difficult. Necessity is a mother and I grab the hiking stick I’ve been carrying in my car.

I haven’t had the stick long. I was playing music at a Sacramento farmer’s market and a crusty Vietnam veteran says he makes walking sticks for vets. I tell him I’m not a vet, but he wants me to have it anyway. The pole is light and strong, with a rubber foot on the bottom. He said, “You can use it to fight a dog, a person, a coyote or a mountain lion, but don’t use it to fight a bear.”

As I lift my left foot forward, I push the staff into the ground to my right. My left hand pushes down on the top of the staff and my right hand grips the staff about two feet down. This low pole-vault takes a lot of weight off my left knee.

I may scrabble up a steep incline like a three-legged crab, but I make it to the top of the hill and my left knee feels OK. Not on fire. Not inflamed. I’m sure you would be amused by my rowing motion with my staff; it feels like my staff is a paddle and I am rowing through earth.

I make it up the hill, then the next one and the next. The path climbs 1,200 feet in the first half mile. Hiking the steep paths of Land of Medicine Buddha, my staff feels like the medicine.

The retreat’s central area has attractions like a huge bell you ring to relieve the suffering of loved ones.

They want you to spin everything clockwise, they want you to move clockwise. The Land of Kid-Friendly-Buddhism.

There are many paths to choose from and I am quickly lost. Henry Thoreau said, “The relinquishing of the physical map allows your brain to build new mental models. It can give you a newfound trust that you can locate in your body.”

There are signs everywhere that say, “Shhhh. People are meditating, please be quiet.” It makes me want to sing the Meditating Buddhist Monk Blues,

“I ain’t doing nothing,

I ain’t doing nothing,

And I ain’t done yet.”

There are small Buddha sculptures in the trees and small signs with messages about releasing attachment. I ask myself, “Is my backpack attached to me? Or am I attached to my backpack?”

Keep Walking

Buddhists have a walking meditation. That beats a cursing meditation by a mile.

Siddartha was asked, “And what is it now that you’ve got to give? What is it that you have learned?”

“I can think. I can wait. I can walk.” —Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse

Walking is an important form of Buddhist meditation, a deep spiritual practice. Walking meditation is integral to the continuous development of mindfulness. Signs carved into wood planks describe how the Buddha “walked to develop mindfullness,” and is the most respected and loved creature “who walked on two feet.” OK, so Buddha walks on two feet. Yeah? I’m walking on three feet.

Q: How much “ego” do you need?
A: Just enough so you don’t step in front of a bus.
—Shunryu Suzuki

It’s a steep climb to the temple, and the path stays steep up the ridge of the mountain. It rained yesterday and you can see where people have slid in the mud. It’s easy to tell when you’re onto the state park land, no Buddha sculptures. Once near the top, the loop I take is fairly level and goes all the way around the mountain before it descends back down to the Land of Medicine Buddha.

Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Keep walking, and at some point in the repetition, the pilgrim becomes the prayer, or the prayer becomes him. What he is worshipping, something distant and otherworldly, somehow comes home in mid-stride.”

A student called out to his master on the other side of the river,

“Master, how do I get on the other side?”

“You are on the other side!”

How To Get There

This trailhead and several miles of this trail are on the private property of the Land of Medicine Buddha Retreat Center. Visitors to the retreat center may have to park outside as parking priority is reserved for those participating in courses, programs, or retreats. For more information, visit stay.landofmedicinebuddha.org

Get off on the Porter exit from Highway 1. Take Main Street north and continue on Glen Haven Road. Turn right on Prescott Road, continue for one mile, and then park below the Land of Buddha Medicine’s driveway. Their parking lot onsite is for guests of the retreat.

Righting Rights

Josué Monroy

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May 22, 2024

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In November 2023, Maria Hernandez was looking forward to the upcoming holiday season and spending time with loved ones. But her world was turned upside down when she received a notice to vacate from the property manager of her apartment complex in Santa Cruz. After 14 years of renting her Campbell Street apartment, the notice gave her only 60 days to move.

“It was very shocking for me,” Hernandez says in Spanish, her voice cracking with emotion. “I didn’t know what to do and Christmas was coming up.”

Wilder Associates, the management company of the Campbell Street property, gave Hernandez a “Notice of Termination of Tenancy” on Nov. 20. Despite being a model tenant, she was given until Jan. 20, 2024 to vacate—less than 90 days—with the stated reason for the eviction being the owner’s intent to “demolish or substantially remodel the Premises.”

Hernandez, a single mother of two, consulted with her English teacher and also leaders of her church, who are part of Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA), a group that promotes community advocacy. They all directed her toward Tenant Sanctuary, a tenants rights education service in Santa Cruz County. After connecting with the organization, she was assigned a lawyer for just $50. Hernandez, who is on disability insurance for debilitating arthritis and is unable to work, is still living in her apartment while her legal counsel mediates with Wilder Associates.

Tenant Sanctuary is part of the Eviction Defense Collaborative, or EDC—a larger, countywide organization founded in 2020. The EDC is a collaborative effort between Community Bridges, Senior Legal Services and the Conflict Resolution Center. To date, the EDC has helped nearly 300 households involved in disputes with landlords. Each of the county-based organizations mediates at different stages of tenant-landlord disputes, seeking to resolve them without going to court.

In Santa Cruz County, where the rental market is one of the highest in the nation, an eviction can prove catastrophic for families and individuals. Despite the success that EDC has had in keeping tenants in their homes, its leaders are concerned about the future of the collaborative with funding on track to run out by summer.

Evading Evictions

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to stop in mid-March of 2020, many people who did not have the option of remote work lost their jobs.

The federal government signed into law the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in response to the shutdown of the national economy, which included a federal eviction moratorium for homeowners with mortgages backed by the federal government and those on government-assisted housing. The federal moratorium ended in July 2020, after which the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued its own moratorium. The CDC granted numerous extensions rolling into 2021, and the final extension ended in July of that year.

In California, a statewide moratorium on evictions extended into 2022, well after federal rent and mortgage assistance programs ended. But many tenants who had already fallen behind on rent before the March 2020 lockdowns were not protected and less than six months into the pandemic, about 1,600 people had already been evicted in the state. Eviction cases after the state moratorium ended in June 2022 rose back to pre-pandemic levels.

The Eviction Defense Collaborative intervened at the peak of the pandemic to help tenants facing eviction locally. Ray Cancino, CEO of Community Bridges, says that at the outset of the lockdowns and subsequent job losses, his organization feared the oncoming wave of evictions.

“We were prepping for a concerning situation where we were going to see mass evictions,” Cancino says.

Community Bridges secured a $100,000 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to kickstart the project in 2020, but had trouble hiring lawyers to serve as mediators. Then, Senior Legal Services answered the call. The firm provides legal aid to seniors in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.

“Community Bridges first approached us […] asking if we’d be willing to serve all ages for this program and, looking at what (was) going in the world, we said ‘yes’,” recalls Senior Legal Services Executive Director Tanya Ridino.

In addition to eviction mediation and defense services, SLS also works to address tenants’ concerns over the safety and habitability of their rentals by working directly with landlords.

“This is for landlords as well. It’s really better for landlords […] to have mediation services where someone’s going to help them talk to their tenant about these issues,” Ridino says.

Tenants seeking assistance can drop into one of the family resource centers run by Community Bridges, where representatives from Senior Legal Services, the Conflict Resolution Center and Tenant Sanctuary all hold walk-in hours throughout the week.

Ridino’s team typically steps in at the point in a tenant-landlord dispute when discussions mediated by the Conflict Resolution Center or Tenant Sanctuary fail and enters the county civil court system.

Now, the collaborative itself is in need of assistance. The initial grant money to start the project was supplemented by the Covid-era relief funding that the county was able to allocate for the project for a two-year cycle. Senior Legal Services was then able to get a $500,000 grant from the California Bar Association for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The EDC is facing a dire financial situation – starting in July, it will have no grant funding.

“We were able to take over the primary funding for it […], but that funding was only for a year and that is coming to an end June 30, and it’s pretty devastating,” Ridino says.

Finding Funding

While the county has previously found ways to keep funding the EDC, the upcoming fiscal year’s budget is not looking promising.

“It’s a very difficult time right now to get new funding—from the county, anyway—for any of these programs that are losing state funds or other grants,” says County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios. “We have tremendous pressure on our budget, trying to respond to all of the natural disasters caused by climate change.”

The 2023 winter storms that wreaked havoc in the region strained the county budget with the cost of response and repairs. The county spent $122 million in 2022-23 in road repairs alone, and these numbers are set against deep cuts proposed for the public health sector and other services.

“We’re barely trying to keep programs alive, so that it’s going to be a very difficult decision and the board […] will be weighing (this) during the budget hearings,” Palacios says.

The state, another potential source of funding for programs like EDC, is also in bad shape financially. Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $30 billion in cuts to education and climate change initiatives to stabilize a $56 billion deficit.

Despite the bleak financial projections, the collaborative’s leaders say that elected officials should continue finding ways to invest in a program that prevents homelessness in a county struggling with a housing crisis. Cancino says that the EDC’s work prevents homelessness and that elected officials should get behind their efforts.

“The biggest (challenge) has been having local electeds actually do what they say they want to do, which is prevent homelessness and evictions, and actually having that backed up with support and financial plans that are not predicated on grant funding, or one-time-only funding,” Cancino says.

Dispensary Approved with Conditions

William S. Woodhams

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May 22, 2024

4

The contentious debate over whether city leaders should approve a dispensary operating near Santa Cruz High School has come to a close. The Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-1 on May 13 to greenlight The Hook Outlet, a dispensary at the former site of Emily’s Bakery on the corner of Mission and Laurel Streets.

The Hook is required to file a quarterly fake ID report, ban anyone under 21 from buying cannabis, and pass an annual review of their permit under conditions of approval brought by Councilmembers Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Martine Watkins.

The seemingly innocuous proposal became embroiled in controversy after the Santa Cruz City Schools came out against it earlier this year due to its proximity to the local high school. During numerous meetings leading up to the final vote, fears centered on students possibly using fake IDs to purchase cannabinoid products.

The dispensary was approved by the Planning Commission on March 7 after it agreed the dispensary met all city zoning requirements. However, the decision was appealed to the city council by a group of concerned parents.

The intervention of the school and parents spurred support from customers of The Hook and Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), which is selling one of five cannabis licenses in the city to The Hook as part of the approval.

Although WAMM is not on the application for the dispensary, many community members who have benefitted from WAMM over the years came out to speak in favor of approving the dispensary as a means of continuing WAMM’s mission.

WAMM is selling their license because of “massive debt” they have accrued selling marijuana at a discount to those with disabilities and medical conditions, according to Valerie Corral, founder of WAMM.

Political heavyweights State Senator John Laird and State Assemblymember Gail Pellerin also wrote letters in support of approving the dispensary based on their history with WAMM going back to Corral’s work in decriminalizing marijuana and the 2002 DEA raid on WAMM facilities.

In a prior meeting Emily Reilly, ex-mayor and owner of Emily’s Bakery, also spoke favorably of Bryce Berryessa, co-founder of the Hook, whom she sold her lease to.

In proposing the motion to deny the appeal, Councilmember Sandy Brown said, “This is an incredibly responsible business and partner. It is not about WAMM but it is too.”

Vice Mayor Renee Golder was unapologetic in her reasons for not supporting the approval for the dispensary. She was the sole ‘no’ vote during the council meeting.

“I also saw the letters of some of my esteemed political colleagues. None of them are raising young adults or high school students,” Golder said.. “I’ve seen kids go to the ER completely throwing up, having to get IVs over and over again because of the level of potency, and yes it is on the parents, but not all kids have parents that are there to educate them and teach them and that is unfortunately that is the responsibility of the schools and that is why I think the schools feel so passionate about this.”

Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson took a middle position, but still ultimately voted in favor of the dispensary.

“I feel that as a parent, a prevention advocate, an ally and a friend to the cannabis industry, it is not the right location, ” Kalantari-Johnson said. “But having said that, the rules on the books are the rules on the book. I have heard what people are saying. It is unfair to change the rules.”

As a member of the city council’s cannabis subcommittee, Kalantari-Johnson said they would be proposing changes to the city’s cannabis laws in the future, including increasing the distance from schools that dispensaries would have to follow in the future from 600 feet to 800 feet.

With the issue of The Hook finally settled, the city council turns its attention across the street, where the council will take up the appeal of the Food Bin housing project on May 28, stay tuned.

Street Talk

Street Talk

John Koenig

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May 22, 2024

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What are your memories of your first Giant Dipper ride?

The ride seemed so much bigger and more terrifying the first time. I rode with my mom and I was really excited because I’d been too small to ride for a long time. I felt like one of the big kids. It’s definitely rattly, but I feel safe on it, secure.

Mystery Epreuer, 19, Student

I was really nervous to get on, the whole time. It was my first roller coaster. After I went on, I just wanted to go on it so many more times. I thought it was the best ride. I was like, “I don’t want to go on any other ones, just this one again.” It’s fast, exciting, but fun, definitely worth it.

Shea Weber, 20, Student

I must have been 6 or 7. I always wanted to ride it, but I wasn’t tall enough. That first big drop is exhilarating! Maybe the most satisfying part was being able to prove that I was tall enough to ride. My two older siblings were with me, so I couldn’t be too scared, because then I’m not cool.

Ryan Kolderup, 19, Student

In sixth grade I did Boardwalk Summer Camp. My sister loved roller coasters, but I did not, I was terrified. It took a lot of effort to convince me to ride with her, but when I finally gave in, I loved it. I rode multiple times in a row to make faces at the camera.

Zack Stack, 20, Student

My only time, my schoolmate got us passes. I was terrified going up the first big hill. I closed my eyes, held on tight and tried to get under the bar and hide. Afterward, I thought, “I’ll never do that again!” For a half-second I thought about doing the 100^th anniversary—but no.

Sarah Lee, 40,-seventeen, Gig worker

I was nine, and my brother made me sit in front. You hear the tick, tick, tick, going to the top, and it feels like you stop for an eternity—then sheer panic lifting out of your seat, down the first dive. Squeals of excitement, and boom it’s over. At 49, the thrill is still there, but is waiting in line worth the 30 seconds?

Briana Mosbacher, 49, Office Manager at Bed and Biscuits

Big Maverick Energy

DNA

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May 22, 2024

6

Aptos resident Robert Seals, often called Bobby Seals, with no relation to the famous Black Panther, is a maverick of the highest degree. One timeline has a teenage Seals contemplating the life of becoming a professional skier, and then quickly becoming immersed in the world of the arts, and the tumultuous 1960s.

A passion for metallurgy (Seals is a self-proclaimed “metal wizard”) led to the invention of the Cool Tool (the first multi-tool for mountain bikes), as well as the retrotech bicycle frame (a cruiser bike with modern geometry), plus folding stages and some of the first solar sound stages.

Which led to the invention of the first modern-age, portable, stainless steel drinking container, called the Kleen Kanteen. Which has become a billion dollar industry. But that timeline leaves out the music, the spirituality, the devotion to making the world a better place and, well, the maverickness.

You need a maverick energy to be an inventor. From the Wright Brothers to Thomas Alva Edison, you can find yarns of gruff, prickly and outrageous behavior, and Seals is no different. There are stories about Seals, up in Northern California, that have become legend. Seals challenged a police officer and his horse to a grueling 20-mile run. Seals won. Twice. Or, how about when Seals moved to Santa Cruz in 2012, and built a frightening 14-foot tall sculpture that glared down into his neighbors windows with malevolence? Seals dismembered the structure after dealing with the Santa Cruz Planning Department and other squares. A maverick move.

As far as inventors go, Seals is talked about in the same manner as John Henry. Is he a real human being or just part of the new American folklore? Or both? Recently, Seals has invented a new, safer, drinking container, as well as teaching the youth about the magic of nature. He contains mavericktudes.

Hey, Hey! It’s the 1960s

Growing up in the very tiny Northern California town of Chester, Seals was skiing down Stover Mountain at three years old. By the time he was a teenager, he was the most accomplished skier in the region. “I was noticed by Sierra College, who at that time had the best ski team in the US,” Seals says. The year is 1966 and a random class in ceramics planted a seed in the young man’s mind. “I fell in love with sculpture. After two years and two national championships, I received a ski scholarship to Utah State. I changed my major to art. After a year, I relocated to Chico and dove into ceramic and welding art,” Seals recalls.

There’s no denying the sheer vital force that Seals harbors in his wiry frame of almost eight decades. Like all good metal, he’s been tempered, time and time again. Back in the later part of the 1960s, there was a divisive war, multiple civil rights movements, and social movements dominating the front page of every paper in America. An extraordinary number of young people, at that time, had a burning desire to do something, anything. “We were always doing interesting protests against the war. We’d hang on crosses that were covered in money, have sex on the administration’s steps, anything to be a general nuisance,” Seals says.

**NEXT BIG THING** Beverage Safe hits stores in Santa Cruz this summer. Photo: Kathy Staychock

It’s a Tool That’s Cool

You’ve got to remember, Seals was not your average hippie. “During the summers at Chico State, I would fall burning timber. I would actually jump out of helicopters with a running chainsaw, and five gallons of gasoline. Right into the forest fire,” he recounts. This is not a random story. The money Seals earned from that job allowed him to buy some property in the Sierra Nevada hills where he held epic bike trail races. Which led to his first invention. the Cool Tool.

In the early 1980s, there were little cliques of mountain bikers pedaling around Chico, California. Seals built several miles of trails on his property and held races. One day, a little black pouch, full of tools, that sits under every mountain biker’s seat, fell off and was left unclaimed. “Mountain bikes were always in need of repair,” says Seals. “I emptied the bag on my desk. Out fell a crescent wrench with a six-inch iron handle and a chain breaker, with another long handle. And I just started putting the tools through my mini grinder. I cut off everything unneeded. I braised all the parts and put them back together, and that was the birth of the Cool Tool.”

“I received my Cool Tool as a gift in ‘95 or ‘96. It was the perfect multi-tool for the time and such an important part of my tao of teenaged mountain biking that all these years later my mom still remembers it. These days a multi-tool is just something I use on the trail, but back then if I didn’t fix it with my Cool Tool, it meant my bike was heading into the shop.” – bike enthusiast Andrew Major

Seals sold the Cool Tool to Gerber (the maker of the Leatherman tool, not the baby food), and with that money was set up for what came next.

Time to Change the World

There used to be a time, not that long ago, where if you were thirsty, you would have to find a water fountain or a garden hose. But here in 2024, most people reading this can’t imagine not having their portable stainless steel water container with them. You can thank Seals for that.

“I had gone to see Julia Butterfly Hill speak. She was lamenting about the hormone-disrupting chemical BPA that was inside every plastic water bottle. She was full of passion about how plastic bottles were poisoning humans and the Earth,” Seals recalls. Rushing back to his welding shop/laboratory, Seals began to work on what quickly became the Kleen Kanteen.

It was more than an idea; it was a revolution. Reusable stainless steel water bottles, imitated by numerous companies, became and still are the rage. But according to Seals, it was not exactly the product he wanted to make.

“I worked in the dairy industry back in my early days. All containers had to be mirror finished on the inside. I owned a big water truck I took to disasters, whose interior also had to be FDA approved, and mirror finished,” he recollects.

But he’s not quite satisfied. “Water in a mirror-polished interior seals in the metallic taste. And it’s the only way to get bacteria off,” Seals continues.

“My broker convinced me that if we just electropolish the interior, much cheaper at the time, it would serve the same purpose. It didn’t, it doesn’t and the current world of stainless steel water bottles are very problematic,” he explains. “If you put orange juice in your container, or a smoothie, the liquid is exposed to nickel, the outgasses and the metallic taste,” Seals explains.

Enter Beverage Safe

Seals has recently invented and patented Beverage Safe, a new type of stainless steel water container that doesn’t leach out heavy metals, or hold on to bacteria. While not on the shelves yet, Beverage Safe is doing a slow roll out over the next few months. There’s still product testing to be done and a million other details before the first Beverage Safe hits the stores in Santa Cruz, during this summer. Also, Beverage Safe is a female-owned business.

Beverage Safe owner Kathy Staychock, who did her undergraduate work at UCSC, has been working with Seals since Kleen Kanteen. “I had just gotten back from six months in Colorado, working as a backcountry ranger. I was hearing about how BPA was linked to breast cancer, and all summer long, my plastic water bottle was attached to my hip” Staychock says.

“As soon as I heard the work Bobby was doing, I left graduate school (at CSU) to join him. He would call me every morning before 7am to tell me we need to get Kleen Kanteen on Oprah,” Staychock remembers. After some years passed, Staychock reconnected with Seals in Santa Cruz.

“Bobby never gave up trying to create the original vision that he had of a safe drinking container. Did you know every single tin can or aluminum can that you have, even organic tomatoes, has BPA as a liner? Aluminum is corrosive with acidic content, so it has BPA or, what they call now, a regrettable substitute, which is as bad, if not worse,” Staychock explains.

Staychock has aligned herself, again with a maverick, and the future of Beverage Safe looks good. “I find it appropriate that we reunited in Santa Cruz. We have the best product and Santa Cruz, with its healthy lifestyle, is the best place to launch it,” Staychock says.

And to come full circle, you can see environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill’s endorsement of Seals, and Beverage Safe, on Seals’ YouTube channel.

The Old Man and the Sea

If you feel like a new stainless steel water bottle isn’t mavericky enough, hold tight. Staychock will be donating part of the profits from Beverage Safe to the nonprofit arm of Seals’ world, Mother Nature’s Temple. And the nonprofit’s current work, and Seals’ newest passion, is helping kids who would never get a chance to get out in the ocean and hang out next to a whale.

Every week, weather permitting, Seals and crew have up to 30 children on Ocean Spirit, a 40-foot long rigid hull inflatable. “It’s the kind the military and the Coast Guard use,” Seals says. And each voyage is accompanied by Maureen Gilbert, who supplies much of the educational component of the voyages. “I’m a marine educator and naturalist,” Gilbert says. “I led trips on the Monterey Bay for 20 years. I volunteered for a long time at the Marine Mammal Center and I also volunteered at the sea lion facility at Cal State.”

Gilbert has a great appreciation of the work that Mother Nature’s Temple does, with Seals at the helm. “To bring underserved individuals out to see the whales and Monterey Bay is incredibly satisfying. We work with one particular agency that specifically puts together outdoor adventures for both adults and children with special needs. Earlier this year we took out a group of children who are hard of hearing. And to watch their faces light up as we headed out of the harbor? Made me cry,” Gilbert says.

So? Is this what big maverick energy looks like in 2024? Making people smile and teaching them about nature? “That’s the reward,” Seal confirms. “We’re just always looking for ways to keep it going. You know, we’re always looking for grants and hope Beverage Safe can keep us afloat.”

Find out more at mothernaturestemple.org and beveragesafe.com.

Southern Visions

Art

Tarmo Hannula

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May 22, 2024

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In addition to its productive agricultural fields, Watsonville is also fertile ground for public art, from the murals of historic produce labels to the annual outdoor sculpture exhibits at Sierra Azul Nursery & Gardens.

Last week, a new mural sprouted up downtown and an exhibit of work by Watsonville teens opened at Pajaro Valley Arts.

Dozens of people gathered in downtown Watsonville on May 17 to celebrate the completion of a new large outdoor mural at Community Bridges at the corner of Main Street and East Lake Avenue.

Titled “Wisdom of Our Elders,” the colorful 225-foot-by-32-foot mural represents a collaboration between Community Bridges, Elderday and California-based Chicano muralists Augie WK and Jessica Carmen, known as The Jams.

Community Bridges spokesman Tony Nunez said the mural reflects “the depth of knowledge accumulated over a lifetime, the importance of history and the strength of our community.”

He added that numerous local groups came together to ensure that the mural reflects the diverse and vibrant voices of the community.

“This mural is more than just artwork; it’s a celebration of life’s beauty and the many joys of aging. It stands as a testament to the invaluable contributions of our older adults and the wisdom that they impart on all of us.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony coincided with Older Americans Month.

Lois Sones, program director for Elderday, described the mural ceremony as a milestone: “Two years ago today we were standing right here breaking ground for this building, changing it from a discount mall to a state of art facility for older adults.”

She highlighted how Elderday moved from Santa Cruz to Watsonville “with absolutely no interruption in service.”

Describing the mural as “one of the largest canvases we’ve ever created on,” Jessica Carmen says that she and Augie WK did a great deal of community outreach to draw out memories and stories to incorporate into the mural.

Community Bridges CEO Ray Cancino says the mural is a “wonderful representation of the work that we do” and he points out that Central Coast Alliance for Health and other groups played big roles in funding the project.

According to a press release, Community Bridges intends to use compelling imagery to celebrate seniors and “illuminate their indispensable role in our daily lives, while also emphasizing our shared commitment to providing them with the care, support, and dignity they rightfully deserve.”

The mural showcases various elements honoring older adults, including a cheerful man and a dignified woman known as “El Don y La Doña.” The figures are a composite of numerous grandparents from the community and former Elderday participants. In between the portraits are several “memory bubbles,” capturing moments shared between elders and younger generations.

On the other end of the generational spectrum, a new exhibit by local high school students in the Teen Artes program opened the same day in the Pajaro Valley Arts Porter Building.

The show features mixed media, paintings, collage, ceramic sculpture and other mediums by four students from Watsonville, Aptos and St. Francis High schools as well as alumni, and teaching artists.

The show was curated by Teen Artes participants in 2023-2024 with the help of local artist Josefina Rocha.

Teen artist Yasmín Salas shared her thoughts on participating in the exhibit. “I’ve always been shy and art was my main way to express myself, ideas, and creativity. What inspires me to create is my love for nature and my Mexican culture. I enjoy walking around Watsonville admiring the murals by local artists,” Salas said. “I especially enjoy working with fellow teen artists from Watsonville. Teen Artes has been a supportive and creative hub for me and I loved meeting fellow young artists in Watsonville. I have learned so much from being a part of Teen Artes, such as marketing techniques, how to wire paintings, and how to curate a gallery. This is an experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

The Teen Artes show runs through June 30 at the Porter Building at 280 Main St. in Watsonville, Wednesday through Sunday 11am–4pm.

Things to do in Santa Cruz

Things To Do This Week

GT Staff

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May 22, 2024

0

THURSDAY

CUMBIA

SONIDO GALLO NEGRO

One of Mexico City’s top bands, Sonido Gallo Negro (Black Rooster Sound), is a nine-piece instrumental combo drawing on the mystical sound of ’60s Peruvian cumbia (a subgenre of chicha). The band also integrates styles like huayno, cumbia sonidera and boogaloo, with trippy electric guitars, Farfisa organ, theremin, flute and plenty of driving Latin percussion. Among their other influences are spaghetti Western soundtracks, psychedelia and surf music, as heard in their five albums. Their live shows also add a visual element, with real-time illustrations by Mexican designer Dr. Alderete. DAN EMERSON

INFO: 8pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door. 479-1854.

FRIDAY

METAL

WEEDEATER

Weedeater is a perfectly named sludge metal outfit from Cape Fear, a North Carolina headland that juts into the Atlantic Ocean. Their vibe is stoner-dom meets punk nihilism meets acid rock meets southern Gothic doom. Fans of Black Sabbath, Pentagram and Blue Cheer will find much to love here. Also of note is the fact that the band worked with the late producer Steve Albini, who surely lives on through their sound and shows. ADDIE MAHMASSANI

INFO: 8pm, Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton. $24/adv, $28/door. 704-7113.

COUNTRY

ERIC PASLAY

Rising star singer-songwriter Eric Paslay comes by his sagebrush twang honestly; he’s a native of dusty Abilene, Texas. A platinum-selling Grammy, CMA and ACM-nominated artist, he has released one album for EMI Nashville, which contains the hit singles “Friday Night,” “Song About a Girl” and “She Don’t Love You.” He’s also written several hit songs for other artists, including Amy Grant. Last December, he released a new six-song EP, Perfect Stranger. His local appearance is part of the resort’s Nashville Nights concert series. DE

INFO: 8pm, Chaminade Resort & Spa, 1 Chaminade Lane, Santa Cruz. $65-$75. 475-5600.

EXHIBITION

OF LOVE AND REVELATION

Six Californian photographers (Ansel Adams, Norman Locks, Karolina Karlic, Shelby Graham, Binh Danh and Edgar Cruz) encompass Of Love and Revelation: Learning Photography from the Land, an exhibition highlighting how each artist combines various styles and methods in their landscape photography with different outcomes. Each artist brings their personal story, relationship to photography, relationship to each other and relationship to the land, confronting difficult and complex themes such as social injustice, settler colonialism, climate change and economic inequality. Their results ask the audience to consider how they relate to “California as a place and as an idea.” Runs May through September. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE

INFO: Noon, Museum of Art & History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-1964.

SATURDAY

SOFT ROCK

ADVANCE BASE

Who could forget the band Casiotone for the Painfully Alone? The name was a bit of a prediction, for better or for worse, for Owen Ashworth, who has since struck out on his own with a keyboard and a dream, calling his new project Advance Base. Ashworth combines poetic, stripped-down vocals with effect pedals, drum sounds and an electronic piano. His voice carries shades of Bon Iver; his lyrics are closer to the National. If those references aren’t enough to clarify, Advance Base’s songs are full of melancholy feelings about the cost and privilege of being alive. JESSICA IRISH

INFO: 8pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $12. 429-6994.

SUNDAY

INDIE

TRESTLES

Most people tend to prefer music from their teenage years—that’s why the older people get, the more they think current music, to put it bluntly, sucks. However, the kids are alright; it only takes looking at Santa Cruz’s scene to see why. Trestles has quickly grown audiences with indie music that connects classic rock ‘n’ roll with modern songwriting, earning them Band of the Year at this year’s NEXTies. Then there’s Plum Skin, an all-woman group with a Vaselines-style dream pop sound that’s so catchy even the most curmudgeonly will tap their feet. Joining them is Career Woman, an LA-based project from Melody Caudill, who’s been recording for the past seven years—since the age of 13. MAT WEIR

INFO: 8pm, Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $16.50/adv, $20/door. 713-5492.

TUESDAY

AUTHOR EVENT

MADELINE PENDLETON

A quick Google search of Madeline Pendleton will lead to many pages, most notably, a TikTok profile with 1.8 million followers and the site of her employee-centered clothing business, Tunnel Vision. Pendleton’s latest venture is her book I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt, which details her life as an erstwhile unhoused, now-CEO, anti-girlboss hero. For anyone skeptical of the late-stage capitalism that seems to run the world, Madeline Pendleton offers another possibility, one that she seems to live by: her company splits profits equally among all staff. Socialism, irl? Crazier things have happened. JI

INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.

JAZZ

TAMMY L. HALL

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and halted all touring, venues across the country had to come up with creative ways to keep the lights on. For the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, one of those ways was to offer an online master class. This free-to-stream show gave viewers an intimate look into the minds of some of jazz’s best and brightest living musicians, directors and composers. Once society reopened, Kuumbwa’s master class continued, and this Tuesday features Grammy-winning pianist, composer, arranger and music director Tammy L. Hall. For those musicians who like to jam, this class is for you, as Hall will give her unique insight into musical improvisation. MW

INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz. Free. 427-2227.

WEDNESDAY

AUTHOR EVENT

PHIL YEH

Ever since he was a kid, Yeh wanted to be a cartoonist and even convinced his dad to drive him to the very first San Diego Comic-Con (aka THE Comic-Con) in 1970, where he met Jack Kirby (X-Men, Captain America) and Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451). Seven years later, he wrote the first all-original American graphic novel, Even Cazco Gets the Blues, and hasn’t looked back since. Yeh is also the founder of Cartoonists Across America & the World, an organization promoting literacy since 1985. This Wednesday, meet the man and get one (or several!) of the over 80 books Yeh has written and illustrated, like Dinosaurs Across America and The Winged Tiger. MW

INFO: 11am, Atlantis Fantasyworld, 1020 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. Free. 426-0158.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Another Moss Landing Fire

Driving Hope

World Wide Waves

Guitar Greats Gather Saturday

Street Talk

The Editor’s Desk

Heirloom Tortillas

Oracles Unleashed

Santa Cruz Pride’s 49th Weekend!

Street Talk

UCSC Grad Students Continue Strike

The University Responds

A History of Strikes

Land of Medicine Buddha Hike

Walking with Buddha

The Body Knows

The Three-Legged Way

Keep Walking

How To Get There

Righting Rights

Evading Evictions

Finding Funding

Dispensary Approved with Conditions

Street Talk

Big Maverick Energy

Southern Visions

Things to do in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz Pride’s 49th Weekend!

Street Talk

UCSC Grad Students Continue Strike

Land of Medicine Buddha Hike

Righting Rights

Dispensary Approved with Conditions

Street Talk

Big Maverick Energy

Southern Visions

Things to do in Santa Cruz