Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: Feb. 5-11

Rob Brezsny

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February 4, 2020

Free will astrology for the week of Feb. 5, 2020

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You now have the power to make connections that have not previously been possible. You can tap into an enhanced capacity to forge new alliances and strengthen your support system. I urge you to be on the lookout for a dynamic group effort you could join or a higher purpose you might align yourself with. If you’re sufficiently alert, you may even find an opportunity to weave your fortunes together with a dynamic group effort that’s in service to a higher purpose.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Victory won’t come to me unless I go to it,” wrote the poet Marianne Moore. In other words, you must track down each victory you’re interested in. You must study its unique nature. And then you must adjust yourself to its specifications. You can’t remain just the way you are, but must transform yourself so as to be in alignment with the responsibilities it demands of you. Can you pass these tests, Taurus? I believe you can. It’s time to prove it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): While at the peak of his powers as an author, Gemini-born Nobel Prize-winner Jean Paul Sartre consumed an array of mood-shifters every day. He quaffed at least a quart of alcohol, smoked two packs of cigarettes, and drank copious amounts of coffee and tea. His intake of pills included 200 milligrams of amphetamines, 15 grams of aspirin, and a handful of barbiturates. I propose that we make Sartre your anti-role model during the next four weeks, dear Gemini. According to my analysis of your astrological indicators, your ability to discover, attract, and benefit from wonders and marvels will thrive to the degree that you forswear drugs and alcohol and artificial enhancements. And I’m pleased to inform you that there could be a flood of wonders and marvels.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I don’t think I’m boring. How could I be? I have an abundant curiosity and I love to learn new things. I’ve worked at many different jobs, have read widely, and enjoy interacting with a broad range of humans. Yet now and then I’ve had temporary relationships with people who regarded me as uninteresting. They didn’t see much value in me. I tend to believe it was mostly their fault—they couldn’t see me for who I really am—but it may have also been the case that I lived down to their expectations. Their inclination to see me as unimportant influenced me to be dull. I bring this up, my fellow Cancerian, because now is an excellent time to remove yourself from situations where you have trouble being and feeling your true self.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Soprano Helen Traubel and tenor Lauritz Melchior performed together in many productions of Wagnerian operas, often at the Metropolitan in New York City. Friends and colleagues but not lovers, they had a playful relationship with each other. A favorite pastime was figuring out tricks they could try that would cause the other to break into inappropriate laughter while performing. According to my quirky reading of the astrological omens, Leo, the coming weeks will be a propitious time for you to engage in similar hijinx with your allies. You have a poetic license and a spiritual mandate to enjoy amusing collaborative experiments, playful intimate escapades, and adventures in buoyant togetherness.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Eighteenth-century author Samuel Johnson singlehandedly compiled the influential A Dictionary of the English Language, which remained the definitive British dictionary for 170 years. We shouldn’t be surprised that it was a Virgo who accomplished such an intricate and exhaustive feat. As a high-minded Virgo, Johnson also had a talent for exposing hypocrisy. In commenting on the Americans’ War of Independence against his country, he noted that some of the “loudest yelps for liberty” came from slave-owners. I propose that we make him one of your role models in 2020. May he inspire you to produce rigorous work that’s useful to many. May he also empower you to be a candid purveyor of freedom.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Is there a project or situation you’d love to create but have lacked the confidence to try? Now is a time when you can finally summon the necessary courage. Is there a long-running dilemma that has always seemed too confusing and overwhelming to even understand, let alone solve? Now is a favorable time to ask your higher self for the clear vision that will instigate an unforeseen healing. Is there a labor of love that seems to have stalled or a dream that got sidetracked? Now is a time when you could revive its luminosity and get it back in a sweet groove.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Was there a more influential 20th-century artist than Scorpio-born Pablo Picasso? He was a revolutionary innovator who got rich from his creations. Once, while visiting a gallery showing of art made by children, he said, “When I was their age I could draw like Raphael [the great Renaissance artist]. But it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like they do.” In accordance with your current astrological omens, Scorpio, I suggest you seek inspiration from Picasso’s aspiration. Set an intention to develop expertise in seeing your world and your work through a child’s eyes.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I know a Sagittarius man who has seen the film Avengers: Endgame 17 times. Another Sagittarian acquaintance estimates she has listened all the way through to Billie Eilish’s album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? 135 times. And then there’s my scholarly Sagittarian friend who has read the ancient Greek epic poem The Iliad 37 times. I have no problem with this behavior. I admire your tribe’s ability to keep finding new inspiration in sources you already know well. But in my astrological opinion, you shouldn’t do much of this kind of thing in the coming weeks. It’s high time for you to experiment with experiences you know little about. Be fresh, innocent, and curious.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Athens was one of the great cities of the ancient world. Its vigorous art, theater, philosophy, architecture, and experiments in democracy are today regarded as foundational to Western culture. And yet at its height, Athens’ population was a mere 275,000—equal to modern Fort Wayne, Indiana or Windsor, Ontario. How could such a relatively small source breed such intensity and potency? That’s a long story. In any case, I foresee you having the potential to be like Athens yourself in the coming weeks and months, Capricorn: a highly concentrated fount of value. For best results, focus on doing what you do best.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to my analysis, the year 2020 will be a time when you can have dramatic success as you re-evaluate and re-vision and revamp your understandings of your life purpose. Why were you born? What’s the nature of your unique genius? What are the best gifts you have to offer the world? Of the many wonderful feats you could accomplish, which are the most important? The next few weeks will be a potent time to get this fun and energizing investigation fully underway.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Physicist Niels Bohr won a Nobel Prize for his insights about quantum mechanics. But he was humble about the complexity of the subject. “If you think you understand it, that only shows you don’t know the first thing about it,” he mused. I’m tempted to make a similar statement about the mysteries and riddles that are making your life so interesting. If you think you understand those mysteries and riddles, you probably don’t. But if you’re willing to acknowledge how perplexing they are, and you can accept the fact that your comprehension of them is partial and fuzzy, then you might enjoy a glimmer of the truth that’s worth building on.

Homework: You can fling imaginary lightning bolts from your fingers any time you want. Prove it! FreeWillAstrology.com

Unfolding a Petal in the Heart Lotus: Risa’s Stars Feb. 5-11

Risa D’Angeles

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February 4, 2020

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Unfolding a Petal in the Heart Lotus: Risa’s Stars Feb. 5-11

Recently, the student asked the teacher, “What part is the virus playing in our world today, and what part do I play?” The teacher responded, “The virus plays an important role in transforming the immune system of humanity. It will modify all of humanity’s living systems. The virus attacks humanity’s limited consciousness, allowing it to expand into the reality of what matters most.” We will see more men and women of goodwill working to help humanity during this time. Service, health, and healing is one of the 12 petals of the heart lotus. This petal will unfold during this time.

Neptune is in Pisces (activating viruses and bacteria) and it is the Kali Yuga Age of Darkness. Humanity must go through this dark time, together, cleansing for the new era. There is much work occurring in the heart of the Ashram at this time, bringing knowledge and wisdom for healing into the world. Synthesis is at work—all the frequencies of consciousness within humanity must be brought forward at the same time.

When a crisis occurs, we find our place and establish our relationship in the Ashram with co-workers and disciples. We learn who we are and who we can serve (activating the petal of healing). We recognize who we turn to for love, care and support. This is our Ashramic Group.

ARIES: Great opportunities, prospects and advantages begin to appear in your life, and your aspiration for success spirals upward. Progress is assured if you pace yourself and are eager for others’ success along with your own. But most important to determine your effectiveness will be completing all jobs and fulfilling all promises. So be careful what you initiate and what is promised.

TAURUS: You have energy, ambition, desires and aspirations to achieve a high level of leadership, helping people understand how to create a group mind, work together and build true community. At the center of all of this is the template of the new sharing society. People, certain ones, learn by watching you. Therefore, it’s not good to constantly hide away behind the scenes. Calling all angels now for the new era to begin.

GEMINI: You want to break away from your regular life. This is so strong within you I don’t know how you’re coping with it anymore. There are possibly very deep belief systems keeping you from making a change, even temporarily. Would you know what these are? Perhaps a bit of pondering upon this would help. The reality is you’re free. And the call is clarion clear. The group already exists, and it’s waiting for you.

CANCER: Are there difficulties and tensions being experienced within certain relationships? Are there conflicts arising either externally or internally with those close to you or perhaps with friends? If this continues for too much longer, the roots of the difficulty will either get lost or become concretized and hurts will not be healed. Something’s off balance. You need (to see, hear) the whole truth. Then you need to accept it. You can.

LEO: Are you in touch with family? Are you entertaining a bit here and there? Are you called to be creative while tending to a segment of society many do not consider important? Are you gathering slowly around yourself a group of like-minded people to help in this task? Something with a wise one, something cultural catches your attention. You will think back into the past for a while. About relationships. And certain trees, snow, fires and waterways.

VIRGO: You seek practical solutions to a creative problem. To do this you step into the future, find ways to work that are unusual, innovative, original, modern and novel. Be careful with health. There’s a vulnerability that can create inflammation. Turmeric, curries, East Indian spices and foods—dahls, kitcheree–are beneficial for your well-being now. Make all working conditions easy for everyone.

LIBRA: If someone were to observe closely in order to write a story about you, they would see that you have created a strong ethic around the principles of justice, equality and cooperation. However, they will also see that there are areas in your life still waiting for you to incorporate these virtues. Libras want peacefulness in their lives. Do you know how to create it? It begins with the intentions for Goodwill, everywhere, with everyone. Someday…yes?

SCORPIO: How does your home feel to you these days? How does it look? Home is your foundation, as a child and later as an adult. It is your refuge, a place to leave, a destination to come back to. Is your home providing these? Do you sense the need for a new home, one that encompasses community (living)? What duties keep you away from home? What new foundations, based on future trends, do you need for you to feel home? Where is home?

SAGITTARIUS: Sagittarians begin to ponder and gestate a new state of awareness; thoughts and ideas expanding as each week unfolds. This state concerns creativity, children, romance. Things happen this year unexpectedly, without warning, popping up here and there out of the blue. Perhaps new artwork or a new book (to be painted, written, published, contemplated). Something’s coming!

CAPRICORN: Wherever you find yourself, this is where you are called to serve. In whatever area or capacity you are able, this is your area of service and serving. At first, we are servants, then servers, then “of service to the world.” Recognize while serving others your own self is also being served. You learn more and more about your gifts, talents and abilities. Gifts good, noble and beautiful.

AQUARIUS: You possess an extraordinary amount of knowledge and artistic endeavor. This coming year even more will arrive. You will be busy learning how to organize and classify, discriminate and categorize what data is needed for the future, and what to eliminate. It may feel like chaos. Know that chaos is the first step toward a new harmony. Connections with others will increase. Love will, too.

PISCES: Perhaps for the first time as a Pisces you are beginning to be in touch with the cycles of the seasons. You are beginning to feel the different levels of light within the energies of the signs each month. You are becoming aware of the wisdom of the earth, the kingdoms, the interconnectedness between earth and heaven. Not intuitively, but in your body. Your values change and expand; so does your self-worth. A star above you shines bright.

Hawktail’s Instrumental Bluegrass Soars

Jacob Pierce

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February 4, 2020

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Paul Kowert stood in the kitchen of his Nashville home, his upright bass in front of him.

Sitting nearby, guitarist Jordan Tice, Kowert’s bandmate from the bluegrass group Hawktail, placed a capo on the fifth fret of his six-string to give it a high-pitched key change. He began noodling out a slow, meditative picking pattern in F.

Kowert says his kitchen’s many hard surfaces add a resonance to each jam session. “Certain picked notes of the guitar can ring with particular clarity and volume in a room like a kitchen,” Kowert explains. Moved by what he heard, Kowert began playing a simple, smooth melody over Tice’s riffing.

Fiddler Brittany Haas—who was also at the kitchen table—chimed in, and they wrote about 95% of the resulting song in the next half hour. The last 5% took months.

The final four-minute tune, “In the Kitchen,” has three verses to it. Kowert carries the melody in the first, with Haas’ fiddle taking over in the second. The third verse starts off with Tice, the guitarist, playing lead, before the tune gets slowly absorbed into complementary, harmonizing string parts—carried primarily by Kowert and Haas.

The song served as my own introduction to Hawktail.

While working at GT’s office, I often listen to instrumental music, preferably songs light on percussion, to help me focus. The calming sounds prevent me from feeling either distracted or anxious while I stare at my laptop screen. One morning his past fall, I was listening to a Spotify playlist called “Soft Focus,” and Hawktail’s “In the Kitchen” was the third track, immediately following “Night After Sidewalk” by Kaki King.

Kowert says a lot of Hawktail’s listeners have found the band the same way I did. “I have to hand it to Spotify,” he tells me.

Hawktail is something of a bluegrass super group, particularly given the background and contributions of Kowert, the bassist for the Punch Brothers, and Haas, known for her work with Crooked Still, Dave Rawlings Machine and NPR’s “Live From Here with Chris Thile.” The quartet’s name plays off the last names of its four members—Haas, Kowert, Tice and mandolinist Dominic Leslie.

Many of the band members’ other musical projects write lyrically driven songs, but Kowert says the band is committed to keeping its music all-instrumental. “We can sing, but there’s something special about an act onstage presenting a cohesive set of instrumental music—that, as a listener, you journey away from the human voice,” he says.

Kowert knows full well that, for many listeners, instrumental music will always be something going on in the background, no matter how good it is. He says he’s just happy people are getting something out of the music. And there’s more than one way to listen, he says.

“I’ll put on a Bach cantata while I do the dishes. It’s beautiful music, and it fills the room with lovely sounds, but I could also spend a week looking at it, at the score,” he says, quietly chuckling at his own intensively studious habits.

In crafting songs, Hawktail’s members stray from the typical tropes of bluegrass—like a bassist hammering away at the one and the five notes, while a steadily predictable rhythm guitar pattern pushes songs quickly forward.

The group’s initial release came out in 2014, under the band name Haas-Kowert-Tice (this was before mandolinist Leslie joined the band). That album comes across as a powerful collection of intriguing motifs stitched together. The music in its 2018 follow-up Unless—the collection featuring “In the Kitchen”—is woven into contemplative performances, the sum of which add up to something more artful and more powerful. The band recorded Unless in a Lutheran church, inviting in Chris Eldridge, Kowert’s Punch Brothers bandmate, to produce.

Hawktail’s latest album Formations came out last month. The songs reverberate with more inventive techniques and an adventurous spirit.

“It’s just so cool that people give some patience to artists as they work on what they do,” he says. “There’s a back and forth there. There’s gratitude to the listeners that they go with you and hear you, no matter where you’re at.”

Hawktail plays at 8pm on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $20. 479-9777

Update 2/6/20,10:20am: A previous version of this story misreported the day of week of Hawktail’s show at Michael’s on Main.

Be Our Guest: Romantic Italian Date at Tramonti

GT Staff

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February 4, 2020

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Be Our Guest: Romantic Italian Date at Tramonti

Have you ever tried Tramonti’s exquisite hand-made Margherita pizza?

Or how about their mouth-watering meatballs and polenta, or their delectable Eggplant Parmigiana? A better question is, have you ever taken a date to Tramonti and shown them truly authentic Italian cuisine? Opened in 2012 in Santa Cruz’s Seabright district by Luca and Matteo, Tramonti is as close to the real deal as you’re going to get on this side of Summit Road. The food and ambience is so delectable, romance will likely be in the air before you make it past the appetizers.

Tramonti, 528 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz. $100 voucher. Information: tramontisantacruz.com.

WANT TO GO?

Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11am. on Monday, Feb. 17 to find out how you could win a voucher to the restaurant.

Music Picks: Feb. 5-11

Aaron Carnes

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February 4, 2020

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Santa Cruz County live entertainment picks for the week of Feb. 5

THURSDAY 2/6

ROCK

SPOOKY MANSION

Get those dancing shoes ready because indie-poppers Spooky Mansion are coming back to Santa Cruz, and they’re bringing the funky help of local “breakfast music” creator Andy Pankakes and his pals in Monkeyhands. It might seem like a clash of the artists—Spooky Mansion’s feelgood disco beats versus the syrupy hilarity of Pankakes and Monkeyhands. However, with a low-fi, codeine-dripped song like “I Just Rage,” or a peppy dance tune like “Torture,” Spooky Mansion clearly know a thing or two about having a goofy good time. MAT WEIR

8:30pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10/adv, $12/door. 479-1854.

JAZZ

JEFF DENSON, ROMAIN PILON & BRIAN BLADE

It’s easy to see why people describe bassist Jeff Denson, French guitarist Romain Pilon and drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade’s recently launched collective combo as a power trio. The band bristles with talent. But rather than displaying its bulging musical muscles, the triumvirate traffics in sublime restraint. The group’s debut album Between Two Worlds is marked by subtle, almost telepathic interplay and quietly lustrous melodies. Blade, an often uproarious bandstand presence who’s toured and recorded with everyone from Joni Mitchell to Bob Dylan, is at his most sensitive, shaping pieces with the caress of his brushes. It’s a power trio all right, speaking softly and carrying a bodacious sense of beauty. ANDREW GILBERT

7pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $26.25 /adv, $31.50/door. 427-2227.

FRIDAY 2/7

CELTIC

WAKE THE DEAD

Local ensemble Wake The Dead has been playing Celtic renditions of Grateful Dead tunes for two decades. That may sound like a strange notion; people casually interested in the Dead probably view them as a crazy, psychedelic, acid-fueled jam band. That’s a part of their musical lexicon, but the Dead were massive fans of folk music of all shapes and variances, and it heavily informed their songwriting. So, big shocker, the Dead tunes sound amazing as Irish jigs. Even the members of the Dead were impressed, and have been big supporters of Wake the Dead. AC

8:30pm. Michaels on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $15/adv, $18/door. 479-9777.

REGGAE

THE MIGHTY DIAMONDS

Lots of legendary reggae bands are still playing today, but few feature their original lineups like the Mighty Diamonds. Since 1969, the Trenchtown trio of Tabby, Bunny, and Judge, have fused Motown harmonies with rocksteady rhythms and Rastafarian theology to create a uniquely soulful roots reggae style. Early singles “Hey Girl” and “Shame and Pride” are bona fide classics of that hip-hugging, tender reggae known as Lovers Rock. Before the Musical Youth had the world left-handedly passing dutchies around, it was the Mighty Diamonds who sang “Pass the Kutchie.” MIKE HUGUENOR

9pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Dr., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.

SATURDAY 2/8

INDIE

TAY AND THE JANGLAHDAHS

Someone once gave Tay Gersbach bad advice about how to deal with the nagging pulse of guilt. “Shove it aside; bury it in the ground.” This misguided insight became the impetus for the group’s 2019 single “Wise Words.” Gersbach has a particular interest in plundering the realm of advice for lyrical inspiration. It creates an almost meditative backdrop as she sings in trance-like fashion over a clash of traditional European folk styles, meshed with hippie rock and soulful proto-punk. It could be the music of aliens as they try to enslave mankind by lulling us into a false safe space as they whisper bad advice into our ears. AC

9pm. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.

ROCK

BENEFIT FOR FRED THOMPSON

In October 2019, Aptos native Fred Thompson lost everything in the Tick Fire as it ravaged the Canyon Country in Santa Clarita. Fortunately, he and his family are all safe, but they are still recovering from the tragedy. Thompson and his friends (in their group Pet Roxx) will be coming to Michaels to play hard rock tunage by groups like Zeppelin and Humble Pie, raise some money and lift everyone’s spirits. They’ll be joined by local rockers Monkey Boys, as well as special appearances by Bob von Elgg of Special Fun, Aurora Borealis and Brent Pierce. AC

8:30pm. Michaels on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $15. 479-9777.

COMEDY

GEOFF TATE

If Geoff Tate looks like he might smoke weed, let me just say, he is friends with Doug Benson, so you do the math. A regular on both the Doug Loves Movies podcast and Getting Doug With High, the Cincinnati-based comedian is charmingly unpolished, smiling sheepishly at his own jokes about friending his dad on Facebook and being marginally employed. “I live in Cincinnati because there are parts of this country where I’m a catch,” he says, from within his ill-fitting sweater. He points out that you only need to be good-looking enough for the room you’re in, “and Ohio has a lot of rooms.” MH

7 & 9:30pm. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S River St, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door. 900-5123.

SUNDAY 2/9

JAZZ

POSTMODERN JUKEBOX

Do you know what 2020 needs? New tunes performed in old-timey ’20s style! Everything old is new again, or is everything new old again? Who cares, as long as we join Postmodern Jukebox as they usher in the 2020s with plenty of 1920s flair, all-out jazzy numbers, flamboyant costumes, big band sets and ravishing divas singing their hearts out. It’s the best of modern-day music done so old-fashioned, it’s hip again, like your great grandma’s macramé flapper dress and your great grand-daddy’s straw boater. AMY BEE

6:30pm. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $40. 423-8209.

INDIE

CHASTITY BELT

Chastity Belt harkens back to the moody guitar rock of the ’90s from dreary places like Seattle and Portland, where the rain was so pervasive, all the music seemed to be accompanied by perpetual drizzles. It was a good time for music, if not weather. Chastity Belt has all the same gleanings from that grungy era, but with extra emphasis on the dreamy, tranquil pitter-patter of never-ending rain, and the lush musings borne from a green world perpetually covered in gray. AB

9pm. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $18/door. 423-1338.

TUESDAY 2/11

COUNTRY WESTERN

RIDERS IN THE SKY

For 43 years, the singing cowboy quartet Riders in the Sky have serenaded their way into the heart of America. Whether it’s their early years playing western swing at the Grand Ole Opry or their later work for Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc., Americans of all ages have enjoyed their harmonious tunes about life on the trail, home on the range and cookin’ anything that fits in a frying pan. MW

7:30pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30. 427-2227.

Bad Animal Adds Wine School to its Offerings

Christina Waters

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February 4, 2020

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Bad Animal Adds Wine School to its Offerings

Bad Animal is fast turning into the go-to spot for the hip, the culturally inquisitive, and retro foodies of every persuasion.

The wine list at this cool bookstore is even avant garde, with long listings of Orange Wine (an ancient oeno-technique involving skin macerated white wine) and varietals made in Eastern Europe. My insanely sophisticated friend from the city met me for glasses of Sicilian Sikele Bianco, a delicious slab of paté, and a bowl of something wonderful called Cauliflower a la Polonaise that involved micro cubes of cauliflower, romanesco, egg, infant croutons, and yellowfoot mushrooms in a pool of brown butter (each item $12). The dish boasted organic farmers market ingredients and a luscious purée of caramelized cauliflower stems in brown butter.

Not content simply to offer a deep bench of pre-owned books of poetry, literature, plays, philosophy, etc., Bad Animal has now begun Wine School on Friday nights from 6-7pm. The emerging trend of boho multimedia retail continues with these one hour seminars on various wine-related topics. Classes are led by in-house grape guide Sarah Shields with a focus on four selected wines. With glass in hand, participants will learn more about various corners of the wine world and each other. Stretch your palate—knowledge is power. Seminars will cover intriguing topics and wine styles each Friday, I’m assured by Bad Animal co-owner Jess Mackay. Check their website for specifics. Better yet, join their email list so you won’t risk missing something you know you’ll love. All classes are one-off, so there is no need to attend them as a series. There are a dozen seats per session, plus four tastes of wine (totally roughly two glasses of wine) for $30. No food is provided in the class, the better to focus on the main attraction. Space is limited.

Bad Animal, 1011 Cedar St., 10am-10pm Wed-Sun. Tickets available at exploretock.com/badanimal.

Anti-product of the Week

Forget about the utterly unappetizing Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pancake Mix from Sticky Fingers Bakeries. The word “ugh!” comes to mind. For some reason I was tempted to try this label, even though I love Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pancake Mix. The Sticky Fingers version, which relies on sorghum flour plus assorted other gluten-free starches, looked exactly like viscous Play-Doh when poured into the hot skillet. An extraterrestrial texture actually. It took for-ev-er to brown and when it did it required an acreage of butter and maple syrup to be even close to palatable. Terrible stuff. I’m back with the reliable Pamela’s which relies on almond flour. Pro tip: Add a hefty spoonful of plain yogurt to your gluten-free pancake batter and more liquid than called for (using water not milk for the most tender pancakes). Your breakfast partner will be enchanted, and that’s never a bad thing.

A Soif Valentine

The perfect moment for enjoying the food of love (with apologies to Shakespeare, who was actually referring to music) is Valentine’s Day, and Soif Chef Tom McNary has risen to the occasion. Be swift in making reservations for McNary’s special three course, prix-fixe menu for $75 (wine pairings add $35). Guests will have two options per course (tax and tip not included). Consider an amuse of either crab and avocado toast or an oyster shooter salmon caviar ponzu. The first course is lobster ravioli with uni, or Little Gem salad with fennel, citrus and hazelnuts. Your main course could be either seared sea scallops or red wine-braised short ribs, followed by a dessert of tangerine oeufs à la neige (eggs in the snow, in case you missed high school French) or chocolate bombe with pistachio and raspberry coulis. If you’re not salivating at this point, you’re not breathing. For reservations call 831.423.2020 or visit soifwine.com.

Love Your Local Band: Echoes and Artifacts

Aaron Carnes

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February 4, 2020

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Love Your Local Band: Echoes and Artifacts

Allyson Makuch has always immersed herself in art. She’s a fifth-generation oil painter, was professionally trained in Italian opera, and played in several bluegrass bands. But her songwriting, which began 15 years ago when she first picked up a guitar, was a private part of her life.

That is, until she met multi-instrumentalist Rory Cloud, who comes from a family of musicians, and has been playing guitar for 26 years, specializing in everything from jazz to Americana to hip-hop. He encouraged Makuch to get her songs out, and to not feel constrained by pre-defined genre lines.

“He showed me that even though I’m playing an acoustic guitar, I can be free on the instrument and make the songs I want to make without feeling like I have to prescribe to any particular style,” Makuch says.

The two started working together as Echoes and Artifacts a few years ago, playing Makuch’s songs with Cloud providing musical accompaniment. It’s a clear collaboration, as the communication between them has molded the songs into the deeply intimate acoustic expressions they are today, with elements of blues, jazz, folk and country intermingling and tearing through the deepest, most vulnerable emotions that bubble up into their gorgeous vocal harmony work.

The project continues to evolve, with this show (and many more like it to come) being a multimedia event with artwork by Makuch up on the wall (oil paintings, prints of illustrations, block prints, fiber arts, garments, prose), and with them discussing—even singing about—the works during the show.

“It’s like one tangle. This exhibition is a representation of how we understand art. The exhibition is sort of about childhood, growing up and grappling with the arts, the world and the environment,” Makuch says.

The twosome are recording their debut album, which they hope to release later in the year.

8pm. Saturday, Feb. 8, Lille Aeske, 13160 Hwy 9, Boulder Creek. $20/adv, $25/door. 703-4183.

And the Oscars Will Probably Go To …

Lisa Jensen

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February 4, 2020

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You want Oscar predictions? How’s this: when the Academy Awards are handed out this Sunday, winners in the top categories—excluding actress nominees—will be white men.

Sure, some random female co-producers might swarm up in the production team accepting the Best Picture award. But (aside from Amy Pascal, solo producer of Little Women) you have to rappel down to the screenplay categories before you even find another female nominee. And if not for this year’s Korean phenom Parasite, there would be few top nominees at all of any ethnicity other than Caucasian males.

Movies are being made from more diverse viewpoints—Us, Harriet, The Farewell, Hustlers, Waves—but the Academy has still hasn’t gotten the memo, making this another year of #OscarsSoWhiteMale.

Of the movies that are anointed with Oscar nominations this year, the most hotly contested races are in the top two categories, Best Picture and Best Director. By contrast, all four acting winners are pretty much locked-in, after unanimous victories at all the other awards galas, so let’s start with those.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS Laura Dern, Marriage Story. Dern has a lifetime of sterling film and TV credits. She plays a tough LA divorce lawyer (a character familiar to most Academy members), and is likely to score her first win with this, her third Oscar nomination.

SUPPORTING ACTOR Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time . . . In Hollywood. Who doesn’t want to see Pitt deliver another one of the droll acceptance speeches he’s already given for this performance this awards season?

BEST ACTRESS Renee Zellweger, Judy. Her gutsy performance is so close to the truth of Judy Garland’s persona—wry wit, nervous mannerisms, and all—and Garland’s effect on her fans, that we can forgive Zellweger doing her own singing. (Not bad, just not Judy.)

BEST ACTOR Joaquin Phoenix, Joker. He’s already won everything else. It’s chilling that Phoenix has tapped into some kind of grim cultural zeitgeist in this origin story of the pathetic failed comic fueled by psychosis to become the creepiest supervillain in the DC Comics universe. (Talk about art imitating life.) In a just, less traumatized world, the gold would go to Antonio Banderas in Pain And Glory, the performance of the year.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon A Time . . . In Hollywood. Of the four nominees also contending for Best Picture, Hollywood has the snappiest dialogue, coupled with a typically nervy Tarantino wish-fulfillment plot. But don’t rule out Parasite, whose savage satire on wealth and class makes it the likeliest spoiler of the evening.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Greta Gerwig, Little Women. In this notably guy-oriented field (The Irishman, The Two Popes, Joker, Jojo Rabbit), the Academy might offer Gerwig an olive branch after failing to nominate her for Best Director.

BEST DIRECTOR/BEST PICTURE These two categories used to be joined at the hip. But there have been recent upsets, now that there are so many more nominated films (nine, this year, each of which

Academy voters are required to rate in order of preference), diffusing the likelihood of a clear front-runner. There are still only five directing nominees, however, encouraging more focused voting. (That’s how Alfonso Cuaron won for directing Roma, last year, but the affable Green Book got more likes for Best Picture.)

So, narrowing down the movies to the five with nominated directors, Todd Phillips’ Joker is perceived as more of an actor’s showcase, Hollywood will pick up its awards in other categories, and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman has lost its pre-season buzz. That leaves Sam Mendes’ visually daring WWI epic, 1917 (constructed to look like it was shot in one, long take), and the upstart Parasite.

1917 is sure to win in the Best Cinematography category for veteran lensman Roger Deakins. Just as certainly, Parasite will clinch the prize for Best International (formerly Foreign Language) Feature. But my prediction is that Best Picture goes to 1917, and Bong Joon Ho walks away with Best Director for Parasite.

The 92nd Academy Awards will be broadcast live, Sunday, Feb. 9, 5pm, on ABC.

The Layered Integrity Wines 2017 Old Vine Zin

Josie Cowden

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January 29, 2020

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The Layered Integrity Wines 2017 Old Vine Zin

I guarantee you will love Integrity’s 2017 Old Vine Zin from Lodi. It’s jam-packed with mouthwatering flavors of honeyed blackberry, ripe black cherry, juicy plum, boysenberry pie, and black pepper.

Winemaker and co-owner Mark Hoover says this lush Zinfandel ($24) is “thick and glass-coating” and “rich and bold on the nose.” The juicy black fruit and layered notes of sweet spice, vanilla and graphite make this an ideal wine to pair with many kinds of food, especially pizza and pasta dishes.

Integrity’s tasting room is at Watsonville Municipal Airport, now evolving into a happening place. Along with the well-established Ella’s at the Airport restaurant, Beer Mule—known for its kickass beer—has recently opened up, along with Mr. Z’s Crepes & Teas. The popular Zameen Mediterranean Cuisine has also taken root there as well. When you visit Integrity’s tasting room, you won’t be short of nearby places to eat.

Integrity Wines, 135 Aviation Way, Watsonville. 322-4200. Integrity.wine.

Santa Cruz Salmon Jerky

Casey Cowden (no relation to me) started Santa Cruz Salmon Jerky several years ago. His tasty jerky has now gone into many Safeway stores, and is available in four flavors and different-sized packs. Cowden’s mother is Sharon Hadley, aka The Fish Lady, so he grew up in the pescatarian business. And Cowden’s sound words of advice are: Surf all day. Smoke fish all night.

Santacruzsalmonjerky.com.

La Vie–Wellness in a Bottle

Now that the festive season is well over, it’s time to gravitate to a healthy diet. Local company La Vie promotes a hale and hearty lifestyle through its probiotic drinks and tonics. La Vie also makes power meals such as a green smoothie with sprouted almond milk, kale, banana, and vanilla bean powder—totally delicious and nourishing. To check out the full line of La Vie drinks, shots, superfoods and more, visit their store or try samples at the Santa Cruz downtown farmers market every Wednesday.

La Vie, 101 Kennedy Drive, Capitola. 316-0875. Drinklavie.com.

Opinion: Jan. 29, 2020

Steve Palopoli

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January 29, 2020

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Usually when we do a Health and Fitness Issue like this one, we do a health story and we do a fitness story. It always seemed to make sense—I certainly can’t focus on health and fitness at the same time in my actual life. I’m lucky if I can pay attention to one!

I am rethinking this whole thing, though, after reading Denize Gallardo’s story this week about Watsonville native Mackenzie Vojvoda. The yoga instructor and Raiderette is definitely all about fitness, but she brings a holistic approach that is equally about health (both mind and body).

Further south, in Corralitos, Maria Grusauskas revisits the biodynamic Blossom’s Farm, which has opened a café to further the owners’ belief that “food is medicine, and medicine is food.” This kind of brings them full circle, in a way, since Blossom’s first products (which they still make today) were digestive tonics and bitters. It’s another interesting chapter for a Santa Cruz County innovator.

From the That Reminds Me Department: This is the last week for Best of Santa Cruz County voting! All ballots must be submitted by Friday, Jan. 31! So go there now! To goodtimes.sc! To vote! Thank you!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Historic Moment for Amah Mutsun

Re: “Sands of Dime”(GT, 1/1): On Wednesday, Jan. 15, a historic moment occurred in the Monterey Bay Area. A legislative body unanimously passed a resolution in favor of protecting an open space, with the explicit reason being (among others) to preserve the spiritual integrity of that land for the area’s Indigenous community whose family has been here for 15,000 years. This parcel of land, known by the Amah Mutsun as Juristac, is the tribe’s most sacred ceremonial village site. However, the current owners of the land aim to dig an irreversibly destructive 320-acre sand hole there.

Although the Morgan Hill City Council has no legislative power over Juristac, their resolution sends a powerful message to the legislators of Santa Clara County who do: the cultural and spiritual rights of the original caretakers of the Bay Area ought to be given the highest level of respect. I believe that the Morgan Hill City Council’s resolution and the thousands of supportive community members mark a pivotal step for our community towards a more ethical relationship with the Indigenous people whose territory we are in. I hope that many other legislating bodies in the area will follow the extraordinary leadership of the City of Morgan Hill.

Benny Drescher | Santa Cruz

Ban the Plastics

“Today we use plastic — a material designed to last forever — for products designed to last minutes.”

This quote can be found on the web page for Upstream, a nonprofit whose aim is to reduce single-use plastics at the source of the problem, and I like the quote because it conveys the crux of the issue in our collective subscription to a single-use mindset.

When plastic was first made, it was a wonderful invention because it was so resistant and long-lasting, now that same durable nature of plastic has become the enemy of ocean wildlife.

For sea turtles, dolphins, whales and other favorites of the sea, our waste is ruining their home. They become entangled in or ingest plastic debris, causing suffocation, starvation, and drowning. Nothing we use for five minutes should wreak havoc on marine ecosystems for millennia.

Individual lifestyle changes like reusing and reducing will never be enough. They just won’t. We need systemic change. We need to create laws that stop single-use plastic production at its source. We need to pass SB-54/AB-1080 as soon as we possibly can and make California the first state to implement an all-of-the-above strategy on plastic pollution. If any state can do it, it’s us.

Sophie Kelly | Santa Cruz

Re: Ocean St. Extension

More reporting please? Not only does the article not mention that the City violated its own ordinance in approving a permit on that property, but interesting that there is nothing at all about the fact that the particular slope in question holds up Graham Hill Road, a major artery into town!

Major slides have occurred in that area, even in the last couple years. You should publish the photos of the huge mudslide onto Graham Hill Road right above this property which took out a white pickup and closed the road. Not to mention a slide down a nearby slope that nearly wiped out the townhomes at Jewell Court. Where was the engineer in those cases? Hardly a “needless complication” as stated by the developers…

— Julie

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

Sea lions at Wilder Ranch. Photograph by Cristy Norian.

Submit to ph****@go*******.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.

GOOD IDEA

Honoring Volunteers

The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter has opened a Little Free Library commemorating the lives of Diana Adamic, Tia Salika and Berenice Felipe, who dedicated themselves to promoting humane education. The volunteers died in the tragic Conception Boat Fire that occurred on Sept. 2, 2019, near Santa Barbara, Calif. The Little Free Library is located near the entrance of the Animal Shelter on Rodriguez Street in Santa Cruz, and is open to members of the public to exchange books with their community.

GOOD WORK

WHALE, DON’T YOU KNOW

A new UCSC study has connected a marine heat wave with West Coast whale entanglements. Entanglements of humpback whales in fishing gear increased dramatically during the record-breaking marine heat wave from 2014 to 2016 known as the “warm blob.” Jarrod Santora, a researcher in applied mathematics at UC Santa Cruz, served as first author of the study, which was published Jan. 27 in Nature Communications. The warming caused an ecological shift in humpback feeding behavior, leading to greater overlap between the whales and crab fishing gear, he found.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
-Etty Hittlesum

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FRIDAY 2/7

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SATURDAY 2/8

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Anti-product of the Week

A Soif Valentine

Integrity Wines, 135 Aviation Way, Watsonville. 322-4200. Integrity.wine.

Santa Cruz Salmon Jerky

Santacruzsalmonjerky.com.

La Vie–Wellness in a Bottle

La Vie, 101 Kennedy Drive, Capitola. 316-0875. Drinklavie.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK