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Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Sept. 18-24

Rob Brezsny

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September 17, 2019

Free will astrology for the week of Sept. 18, 2019

ARIES (March 21-April 19): We’re in the equinoctial season. During this pregnant pause, the sun seems to hover directly over the equator; the lengths of night and day are equal. For all of us, but especially for you, it’s a favorable phase to conjure and cultivate more sweet symmetry, calming balance and healing harmony. In that spirit, I encourage you to temporarily suspend any rough, tough approaches you might have in regard to those themes. Resist the temptation to slam two opposites together simply to see what happens. Avoid engaging in the pseudo-fun of purging by day and bingeing by night. And don’t you dare get swept up in hating what you love or loving what you hate.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “I tell you what freedom is to me: no fear.” So said singer and activist Nina Simone. But it’s doubtful there ever came a time when she reached the perfect embodiment of that idyllic state. How can any of us empty out our anxiety so completely as to be utterly emancipated? It’s not possible. That’s the bad news, Taurus. The good news is that in the coming weeks, you will have the potential to be as unafraid as you have ever been. For best results, try to ensure that love is your primary motivation in everything you do and say and think.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Some things don’t change much. The beautiful marine animal species known as the pearly nautilus, which lives in the South Pacific, is mostly the same as it was 150 million years ago. Then there’s Fuggerei, a walled enclave within the German city of Augsburg. The rent is cheap, about $1 per year, and that fee hasn’t increased in almost 500 years. While I am in awe of these bastions of stability, and wish we had more such symbolic anchors, I advise you to head in a different direction. During the coming weeks, you’ll be wise to be a maestro of mutability, a connoisseur of transformation, an adept of novelty.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Granny Smith apples are widely available. But before 1868, the tart, crispy, juicy fruit never existed on planet Earth. Around that time, an Australian mother of eight named Maria Ann Smith threw the cores of French crab apples out her window while she was cooking. The seeds were fertilized by the pollen from a different, unknown variety of apple, and a new type was born: Granny Smith. I foresee the possibility of a metaphorically comparable event in your future—a lucky accident that enables you to weave together two interesting threads into a fascinating third thread.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Every masterpiece is just dirt and ash put together in some perfect way,” writes storyteller Chuck Palahniuk, who has completed several novelistic masterpieces. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you Leos have assembled much of the dirt and ash necessary to create your next masterpiece, and are now ready to move on to the next phase. And what is that phase? Identifying the help and support you’ll need for the rest of the process.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In 1959, scandal erupted among Americans who loved to eat peanut butter. Studies revealed that manufacturers had added so much hydrogenated vegetable oil and glycerin to their product that only 75% of it could truly be called peanut butter. So began a long legal process to restore high standards. Finally there was a new law specifying that no company could sell a product called “peanut butter” unless it contained at least 90% peanuts. I hope this fight for purity inspires you to conduct a metaphorically comparable campaign. It’s time to ensure that all the important resources and influences in your life are at peak intensity and efficiency. Say no to dilution and adulteration.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In 1936, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, staged the Great Lakes Exposition, a 135-acre fair with thrill rides, art galleries, gardens, and sideshows. One of its fun features was The Golden Book of Cleveland, a 2.5-ton, 6,000-page text the size of a mattress. After the expo closed down, the “biggest book in the world” went missing. If it still exists today, no one knows where it is. I’m going to speculate that there’s a metaphorical version of The Golden Book of Cleveland in your life. You, too, have lost track of a major Something that would seem hard to misplace. Here’s the good news: If you intensify your search now, I bet you’ll find it before the end of 2019.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1990, the New Zealand government appointed educator, magician and comedian Ian Brackenbury Channell to be the official Wizard of New Zealand. His jobs include protecting the government, blessing new enterprises, casting out evil spirits, upsetting fanatics and cheering people up. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to find your personal equivalents of an inspirational force like that. There’s really no need to scrimp. According to my reading of the cosmic energies, you have license to be extravagant in getting what you need to thrive.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Do silly things,” advised playwright Anton Chekhov. “Foolishness is a great deal more vital and healthy than our straining and striving after a meaningful life.” I think that’s a perspective worth adopting now and then. Most of us go through phases when we take things too seriously and too personally and too literally. Bouts of fun absurdity can be healing agents for that affliction. But now is not one of those times for you, in my opinion. Just the reverse is true, in fact. I encourage you to cultivate majestic moods and seek out awe-inspiring experiences and induce sublime perspectives. Your serious and noble quest for a meaningful life can be especially rewarding in the coming weeks.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Before comedian Jack Benny died in 1974, he arranged to have a florist deliver a single red rose to his wife every day for the rest of her life. She lived another nine years, and received more than 3,000 of these gifts. Even though you’ll be around on this Earth for a long time, I think the coming weeks would be an excellent time to establish a comparable custom: a commitment to providing regular blessings to a person or persons for whom you care deeply. This bold decision would be in alignment with astrological omens, which suggest that you can generate substantial benefits for yourself by being creative with your generosity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Actress and author Ruby Dee formulated an unusual prayer. “God,” she wrote, “Make me so uncomfortable that I will do the very thing I fear.” As you might imagine, she was a brave activist who risked her reputation and career working for the Civil Rights Movement and other idealistic causes. I think her exceptional request to a Higher Power makes good sense for you right now. You’re in a phase when you can generate practical blessings by doing the very things that intimidate you or make you nervous. And maybe the best way to motivate and mobilize yourself is by getting at least a bit flustered or unsettled.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Syndicated cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes appeared for 10 years in 2,400 newspapers in 50 countries. It wielded a sizable cultural influence. For example, in 1992, six-year-old Calvin decided “The Big Bang” was a boring term for how the universe began, and instead proposed we call it the “Horrendous Space Kablooie.” A number of real scientists subsequently adopted Calvin’s innovation, and it has been invoked playfully but seriously in university courses and textbooks. In that spirit, I encourage you to give fun new names to anything and everything you feel like spicing up. You now have substantial power to reshape and revamp the components of your world. It’s identify-shifting time.

Homework: Say these words in front of a mirror: “It’s bad luck to be superstitious.” freewillastrology.com.

Saturn–Lord of Karma: Risa’s Stars Sept. 18-24

Risa D’Angeles

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September 17, 2019

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Saturn–Lord of Karma: Risa’s Stars Sept. 18-24

On Wednesday, Saturn (dweller, teacher, disciplinarian), after four months of being retrograde, turns stationary direct. Saturn offers us lesson after lesson concerning the “rules of the road” governing the cosmos as well as Earth (a Mystery school, our classroom).

Saturn is Ray 3 of Divine Intelligence. Earth is also Ray 3. Which means that humanity, living on the Earth, is to develop intelligence and the ability to think, discern and discriminate. Saturn brings us lessons in daily life so that we integrate the rules, live by them and become responsible citizens.

Saturn retrograded April 29 in Capricorn. Saturn is at home in Capricorn. Both teach responsibility, discipline and hard work, ensuring that we understand the Rule of Law. When a planet is retrograde, we return to the past, assessing and integrating what we have learned. When a planet turns direct, we begin a new cycle, and a new order of things comes forth.

Let us consider the past four-and-a-half months. What hard work, achievements and responsibilities did we assume? What did we create? What direction did we take? What were the strains, stresses and conflicts encountered? Most of all, what did we learn? Did we feel restrained and limited these past months? Has the past been present?

Next week, Saturn joins the South Node (our past presenting itself to us). For two weeks, and then until Jan. 12, our Dweller on the Threshold seeks the Angel of the Presence. And Karma seeks release.

ARIES: The dweller is at the top of your astrology chart—teaching you limitations, knowing that at times everyone is limited and restricted is a freedom. Knowledge frees us. There has been an assessment and analysis of personal achievements, abilities, success, and standing in the world, creating a set of questions. What are my ambitions? What do I want to achieve in the world? Am I working hard enough? Do I have adequate discipline? How am I rewarded? Do I have Divine Discontent?

TAURUS: Deep learning and study have taken place, and now integration will occur. Perhaps you traveled to a mountain, over hill and dale to places far away. At first this didn’t make sense. In coming months, the purpose of the travel will be clear. You begin to know where you are headed, where the arrow of life is pointing, and once again life is an adventure, a stage upon which one courageously “plays their part.” There’s more to come.

GEMINI: What are you seeking, and what are you sensitive to? These questions are posed by Saturn, helping us to know and realize our deepest needs. What isn’t working these days with relationships, finances and resources? Are frustration and power issues building? And do you feel a sense of mortality? It’s wise to write down all that is needed. And then visualize that it all comes true. This isn’t superstition. It’s creativity. Especially for a Gemini.

CANCER: Cancers may feel quite withdrawn, unable to compromise, be flexible or adaptable. This will pass. Is there a sense of lonesomeness, solitude, as if in seclusion? Only real relationships that offer truth and friendship will weather these times. You define and then redefine the differences between casual, superficial, real, and unsatisfying relationships. And make choices. Only a few golden ones remain.

LEO: Everyday realities—work, habits, health, tending to the self—are most important. Assessing your values, you carefully bring them into practical use in and around the home and the environments you work in. Small animals and gardens, health and well-being, exercise, organization, and your productive use of time are to be the focus. It’s vital that everything is simple, uncomplicated and manageable. Let nothing be neglected.

VIRGO: For many months perhaps, there’s been a sense that the fire within was extinguished. There has been less and less get up and go. You now seek a new sense of purpose, a stronger sense of self-identity and creativity. When we create something, our self-identity is strengthened and brought to light. You seek to express yourself in useful ways and eventually a deep and essential recognition and love of self begins to dawn. It’s subtle. Watch for it.

LIBRA: This is a time of inner re-working of what family means to you; past, present and future. You will recognize the critical stage in which you made a life decision which created certain psychological events in your life and that of the family. Now you are to rework this decision. Differentiate yourself from childhood difficulties; re-organize mind and heart so that the feeling of being unsupported shifts to a sense of understanding, seeing your childhood through the lens of kindness and compassion.

SCORPIO: It’s important to network with those around you, gathering and sharing intelligence information, which allows everyone to feel more useful and effective in the world. Perhaps it’s time to gather a group of friends, create a seminar, a study group, or even a garden. It’s good to include siblings. Let any doubts fall away as to your communication skills. Often, Scorpios don’t feel able to communicate. However, when their heart is touched, their golden expertise in all things emerges.

SAGITTARIUS: Saturn calls you to assess your personal values and standards and determine what constitutes ease, pleasure and well-being. You will want to put down real roots. There’s a drive and willingness to sacrifice and to persevere. You seek to know what is of real importance, especially in terms of land and real estate. Investing in land at this time is suggested. Wanting real substance, you become, for the first time, the true architect and designer of your life. You thus accomplish much.

CAPRICORN: Have you felt sober and serious these past months? Have you experienced insecurities, rejection, criticisms, and disappointment concerning certain people’s actions and words towards you? Has this created a deep introspection? You always attempt to rise above difficulties, focusing on your own dreams and visions and guarding your emotions and expressions so as not to feel judged. Saturn says to see yourself as a jewel in the lotus. A rich inner life develops along with wisdom.

AQUARIUS: The changes you have experienced these past years will continue. Change often brings about states of insecurity, sometimes depression. Do not let change affect you in this way. Know that change helps us adapt, forcing us to seek a new state of comfort, security and well-being. Remove yourself immediately from any dangerous “ordeals.” Do not resist or fight; simply face a new direction. Eliminate all things no longer used or needed. Release seven times seven times seven. Then you are free.

PISCES: You are both a private and a public person. You are both out in the world, yet a hermit. You have visions of community and each day through consistent effort and authentic power you create foundations for the new world order. This is at times quite a challenge. You are a scout for the future, a messenger leading humanity to a new home again. You are alone amidst society, sometimes looking out, sometimes looking in. Nothing eclipses your vision, no matter how many lifetimes it takes.

Titus Andronicus Watches the World Burn

Mike Huguenor

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September 17, 2019

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Punk music doesn’t get much more high concept than Titus Andronicus. By the time the New Jersey upstart released its second record in 2010, there were already album-length metaphors, recordings of abolitionist speeches and 14-plus-minute odes to naval warfare—all to chart the tumultuous interior of the soul.

The band’s career has been defined by unexpected choices that few else would dare (or want) to make. In 2015, there was a double-album about manic depression, which was meant to be listened to out of order. Last year came a cover of “Like a Rolling Stone” (by, you know, Bob Dylan), with key lyrics replaced: “I know what it’s like to be a rolling stone,” and: “I’m feeling like Mick Jagger!”

But with the release of An Obelisk, the group’s sixth album, Titus’ boldest move is grammatical.

“I used to be very fond of using the definite article ‘the,’” says lead singer Patrick Stickles, from his home in Queens. “We have albums called The Monitor, The Most Lamentable Tragedy. But as I got older, I started to think, ‘Gee, I got a lot of nerve. Here I am using this definite article. Maybe people are taking that as me trying to present my experiences as somehow definitive.’”

Stickles says he’s a normal guy, someone whose career just so happens to involve music.

“The only real difference between me and the common person is that I’m externalizing my experiences by way of art,” he says.

Taking his own indefiniteness a step further, throughout An Obelisk, Stickles sings from the perspective of a vague narrator, an angry loner called Troubleman who “used to be a problem child” and now rages against society, insincere rock music, and (Stickles’s most constant target) himself.

“The narrator is a singular individual,” he says. “Very average. He is a dude, rather than the dude. Even though he’s not special, he has his own understanding of the conflict between the individual and society, which is the central conflict of the narrative.”

Narrator Troubleman tells us, “I’m not sick, it’s the world that is” on (aptly-named) single “(I Blame) Society.” “They think that we are spineless, I think they are all cheats/It seems the Earth is speeding swiftly towards a grave catastrophe.”

If that sounds like Stickles himself, he says that’s intentional.

“All the feelings expressed by my character, those are my real feelings,” he admits. “I’m presenting them in an exaggerated way. I like to create art that exists in a heightened reality.”

Musically, An Obelisk definitely feels heightened. From the opening chord to the final drum fill, it is a white-knuckle ride. Stickles and company keep the energy high as Troubleman relentlessly spits and stumbles towards his awakening on the Clash-like finale “Tumult Around the World.” The opening trio of “Just Like Ringing a Bell,” “Troubleman Unlimited,” and “(I Blame) Society” fly off with particularly thrilling ease—the best possible ravings of a madman.

And while reviewers have roundly declared it a more concise record than the band’s previous gargantuan statements, An Obelisk still finds plenty of room to spread out. On shuffling pub rocker “Hey Ma,” the band vamps on chords for a solid minute and a half, building pressure until the whole thing explodes into bagpipes (another Titus favorite). On emotional eye-of-the-storm “Within the Gravitron,” they take a lengthy side quest through a sludgy passage of minor chords, queasily toiling in the muck until the narrator finally catches a clear glimpse of himself, declaring once and for all: “If you’re looking for Troubleman, nothing can show you like a mirror can.”

Once again, if that sounds like Stickles himself, so be it.

“Even if I tried to put a certain amount of distance between myself and my art, I still recognize that I’m only equipped to speak about my own experiences,” he says. “To try and create a whole new narrator that has a wholly different perspective would be disingenuous and probably foolish. Furthermore, I contend that objective reality is illusory.”

Titus Andronicus performs at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, at Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15 adv/$18 door. 335-2800, feltonmusichall.com.

Music Picks: Sept. 18-24

Andrew Gilbert

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September 17, 2019

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Santa Cruz live entertainment picks for the week of Sept. 18

WEDNESDAY 9/18

CELTIC

THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS

When Scottish group the Tannahill Weavers formed in the late ’60s, the idea of playing traditional music was uncool. The band not only paved a path for hundreds of other Scottish bands wanting to embrace their roots, it was also the first to take the sounds of the highlands bagpipe and put it in the context of a popular ensemble. In sustaining a healthy career with 18 albums and plenty of tours all over the world, the group has watched as the rest of the world realized that playing traditional Scottish music was a very cool thing. AARON CARNES

7:30 p.m. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $18 adv/$20 door. 479-9777.

THURSDAY 9/19

PUNK

MIKE WATT

Even if you’ve never heard of Mike Watt, you’ve probably heard the beginning of the song “Corona,” which was used as the theme for Jackass. As bassist and unofficial leader of the Minutemen, Watt and crew wrote some of the most influential punk music of the early ’80s by straying from the “short/fast/loud” model and incorporating elements of funk and jazz into the mix. For the past 13 years, he has been on-and-off touring with the Missingmen, with indie veterans Tom Watson and Raul Morales, a return to his punk-rock-trio roots. MAT WEIR

8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25 adv/$30 door. 479-1854.

FRIDAY 9/20

COMEDY

SHENG WANG

Sheng Wang has great delivery. Even as he talks about the time he “probably” pissed his pants (he was drunk), or when he might have accidentally started a new racial stereotype (“Everybody put that online and tag … Asia”) he is consistently understated, his face weirdly stern as he slowly shuffles around the stage. A writer on ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, Wang recently appeared on HBO’s 2 Dope Queens, where he riffed on the stresses of avocados and his passion for not getting hurt. MIKE HUGUENOR

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

INDIE

MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS

Matthew and the Atlas is known to dabble in all types of music, from soft, acoustic contemplations to synth-driven rock dramas. The band has a slight eccentric edge to it, like if Sufjan Stevens, Tracy Chapman and Beirut started a super band, and Neil Young wrote all the lyrics. Founder Matt Hegarty is often dubbed the “British Bon Iver.” I don’t really see it, but Hegarty does have quite a unique voice, somehow low and throaty yet high and birdlike at the same time. It’s those peculiar vocals that tie it together, creating a sound full of dark, preening vitality. AMY BEE

9 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $12 adv/$14 door. 704-7113.

SATURDAY 9/21

HIP-HOP

BLACKALICIOUS

It’s hard to think of another rapper with the verbal dexterity, wit and emotional vulnerability of Gift Of Gab. But he doesn’t deserve sole credit for his group Blackalicious’ rabid cult fanbase. He and DJ Chief Xcel have a unique relationship, where they riff off of each other like jazz musicians or a two-piece White Stripes-style rock duo. It creates a flexible, vibrant dynamic. In 20 years, the group has only released four albums. They’re all meticulously crafted, vibrant hip-hop masterpieces. The group comes to Moe’s to celebrate 20 years of top-notch underground hip-hop with zero compromises. AC

9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 479-1854.

INDUSTRIAL

THIEF

Thief is the brainchild of D. Neal, dulcimer player for black metal outfit Botanist. It’s a nightmare of industrial sounds mixed with surprisingly danceable beats—for fans of Sisters of Mercy, early NIN, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, or basically anything fierce, electronic and spooky. They will be joined in the dungeons of the Blue Lagoon by local, heavy space surf rockers Cosmic Reef Temple and Oakland’s surreal post-punk group Silence in the Snow (featuring members of Wolves in the Throne Room and Lycus!) MW

8:30 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.

SUNDAY 9/22

PUNK

LILACS

The three members in art-punk project Lilacs seem to be inhabiting their own spheres. They pluck and pound on their instruments, eliciting high-pitched growls and guttural roars in three separate microphones, vocals jumbling over each other and fusing into dissonant white noise. Emotive on a gut level like the Slits, but stripped down to the nitty-gritty, Lilac’s lyrics are indecipherable—except to the lizard brain, which completely understands. AB

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

MONDAY 9/23

JAZZ

BOBBY McFERRIN

Bobby McFerrin is back. The vocalist extraordinaire cancelled a slew of concerts in 2016 with his management, citing ill health. As several years passed, worries grew about his condition. But the crisis seems to have passed, and he’s on the road with more than two dozen dates booked through the winter. McFerrin returns to Santa Cruz with some of his most trusty vocal companions, including Joey Blake, David Worm and Rhiannon, who were all founding members of his innovative Voicestra. With later Voicestra addition Judi Vinar, McFerrin is performing with a lineup similar to his recent a cappella group Gimme 5 Circlesongs. ANDREW GILBERT

7:30 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $52.50. 427-2227.

TUESDAY 9/24

SYNTH-POP

HOT CHIP

Hot Chip has never sounded as smooth as it does on this year’s A Bath Full of Ecstacy. Sure, the group has been fusing indie rock with big, dancey, synth-pop hooks for decades now, but this time around, it seems to have fully embraced the dance and left almost all the angularity of indie rock behind. Lead single “Hungry Child” channels ’90s New Order with a pulsing dance beat, swirling synths and those oh-so-sensitive vocals. The heavily autotuned title track is likewise smooth as velvet as it promises “the cure, the pure remedy.” MH

9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $35. 429-4135.

Avanti’s New Look and New Menu

Christina Waters

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September 17, 2019

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With a robust California-Mediterranean menu and buffed interior, Avanti is settling into its 21st-century identity.

New owners Jonathan and Tatiana Glass have made some attractive decisions. The side patio is now fully enclosed, lined with ferns and holds its own as a separate party room. An emerald moss sculpture stretches across the far back wall, overlooking curved wood seating, grey upholstery and white walls free of artwork. Slight-but-significant changes give the new Avanti (note, no more “Ristorante” in the name) a breezy, coastal-modern feel. And, as we discovered at lunch last week, the food has never been better,

We started with one of the special drink options, a Cucumber Cooler ($8), utterly refreshing with cucumber, elderflower and lime muddled with Seedlip n/a gin and soda. A mocktail for late summer sophisticates. With it, we shared an appetizer special of plump salmon fritters, a crunchy trio perched on house marinara with a freshly made mayonnaise dipping sauce and a wedge of lime ($13). My companion was busy taking in the details of the stonework around the windows and alcoves that give the interior distinction. Skylights keep the room suffused with soft light.

Our entrees were excellent. I always have loved one of the house classics, the confit of Liberty Duck ($19), served with roasted potatoes and a sauté of baby carrots, onions and fresh green beans, the market vegetables of the day. This dish has it all, with the sensory contrasts I expect of a classic: the intensity of duck fat and crisp, salty skin; the earthiness of potatoes; the sweetness of the beans and carrots. Terrifically satisfying.

Jack went for a gorgeous plate of lamb meatballs with red pepper-laced marinara arranged atop a trio of grilled polenta cakes ($13). A generous grating of parmigiano reggiano and chopped parsley dusted every item on the long, rectangular stoneware plate. Trying not to grin while he ate, my companion inhaled a third of this dish before he came up for air. My fork reached over and gave it a try. I started grinning, too. The sensitivity to design of the new interior was echoed by the sensitivity to textures and design of the food. The marinara sauce, pungent with fresh herbs and the depth of slow-cooked tomatoes, was almost addictive. The kind of thing you might happily put on corn flakes.

Jack approved. This is the perfect place to meet for lunch, he agreed. There are still plenty of Italianate entrées—lasagne, ravioli, pappardelle, gnocchi, even clams and linguine—to keep the old-school regulars content. Appetizers are getting creative. Lots of calamari specials and market garden salads. Checking out the dessert menu, I noted with pleasure that the insanely decadent butterscotch budino with salted caramel sauce was still available. No matter how full you are, once you’ve had a single bite of this semi-legal dessert, you cannot stop eating. So I made sure to try something new. I almost caved at the very idea of mascarpone mousse cake with nectarine glaze, or (upon the high approval rating by savvy hostess Christi Caviglia) the chocolate olive oil cake. But I decided on homemade peach pie with almond crumble and vanilla gelato ($10). Two spoons. A luxurious, pampering pie, it was plump with fresh peaches and festooned with almondy bits of crumbled butter, brown sugar and more almonds. At the side, providing contrast, was an austere, barely sweet scoop of vanilla gelato. I kicked myself that I hadn’t ordered an espresso to pair with this lavish made-for-two dessert. But of course, there’s next time…

Avanti Restaurant, 1917 Mission St., Santa Cruz. Lunch Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner nightly from 5 p.m. 427-0135, avantisantacruz.squarespace.com.

Love Your Local Band: Alwa Gordon

Aaron Carnes

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September 17, 2019

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In 2016, local rapper Alwa Gordon was working on his song “Motown.” He found himself singing over the beat.

“It wasn’t a conscious decision,” says Gordon. “I started to play beats, and it wasn’t rap that was coming to my mind.”

He had been rapping for over a decade but suddenly found himself wanting to take his music career more seriously. “Motown” landed on 16 Summers, which was released on May 15. The whole EP reflects his newfound diversity, and stretches beyond strictly hip-hop.

“It’s very hard to put 16 Summers in a category,” Gordon says. “It’s hip-hop. It’s pop. It’s got soul. There’s some surf guitar, Santa Cruz vibes in there.”

He explores himself deeper than before, as a person and an artist, but also as a product of Santa Cruz, something full of contradictions. On “Before I Go,” he talks about seeing success on the horizon, but also acknowledges issues in Santa Cruz that contradict the town’s reputation for positivity, like racism, homelessness and drug addiction.

“It’s kind of a love-hate dynamic,” says Gordon.

A major struggle here is the lack of a hip-hop scene. Big acts come through town and headline the Catalyst, but there’s not much space for up-and-coming artists. Local emcee Khan has been doing his part by throwing quarterly events at the Crepe Place called “Diggin’ In The Crepe,” and Gordon has played most of them.

But that’s part of his duality. As a rapper in a town that has no rap scene, he’s been able to stretch and grow in unexpected ways.

“I’ve done shows with bass artists, DJs. I’ve made music with [folk-hip-hop group] Driftr. I’ve done acoustic stuff with just a guitar. It’s made it so I’ve had to get out of this whole thinking that it’s just hip-hop, so I had a space to share my gift,” Gordon says. “Now I love it, because I can exist in so many different worlds.”

9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 479-1854.

Film Review: ‘Ad Astra’

Richard von Busack

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September 17, 2019

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Director James Grey tries out a Terence Malick style in Ad Astra to crack the enigmatic calm of a Neil Armstrong type.

Brad Pitt, bewitchingly cool and handsome in a space suit, plays near-future astronaut Major Roy McBride. He is a famous man and a stranger to himself. In voice over, he muses over the lack of emotion that’s caused his wife (Liv Tyler) to leave him. He’s honored at Space Command for a resting pulse that never breaks 80. Roy is cool under pressure, even when he plummets from a stratosphere-piercing antenna, nearly blacking out before his parachute opens … and then the chute is pierced by falling debris.

Roy has one nerve, and the story twists it. Roy’s father Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones) was a renowned astronaut who abandoned his family on a mission. Though he never came back, Clifford may still be alive, living in Neptunian orbit; inexplicable pulses from that direction are zapping the earth, killing tens of thousands. Perhaps it’s from the anti-matter generator Clifford took with him into deep space. Has he succumbed to space madness? In one last gamble, the Command sends Roy to Mars to deliver a secret personal message to Clifford. They’ve pre-written it for him.

Heart of Darkness parallels increase as Roy approaches. As we hear in the endless and mostly redundant first-person narration, the moon has been turned into a tourist destination, complete with an Applebee’s and alien-masked buskers. Towering over the moon base is a replica of the cowboy Vegas Vick neon sign, the Las Vegas landmark. This is scolding stuff, compared to the fun Paul Verhoeven had with Mars as a carnival planet in Total Recall. A lunar dune buggy chase through the moon’s unpacified zones is interesting enough, but Gray’s not an action director. You know how Roy feels: it doesn’t raise the pulse.

In Mars’ underground tunnels, Roy meets an executive born and raised on the red planet; she’s played by Ruth Negga, togged out in a handsome set of black pajamas. Like Donald Sutherland, who turned up earlier as a wary Space Command officer, Negga gets dropped from the movie, perhaps for the crime of being too distracting from Grey’s fathers-and-sons thesis.

In the Belt, Ad Astra has a passage illustrating the matter of whether our species belongs off-world, through a fatal encounter with a floating lab doing experiments on animals. It’s similar to the business of the abandoned ship of feral dogs in Claire Denis’ High Life, where the fate of poor Laika the Soviet space dog was multiplied to a thousand. Ad Astra frets over the problem of human contagion of the pristine emptiness, of sending us apes where we don’t belong.

And like the bloody encounter with an ape in the abandoned ship, the most exciting moments are the most traditional science fiction movie incidents. It’s Roy breaking into a rocket from the outside just as the countdown from T-minus-10 has begun. Later, in a haunted space station, some deceased crewman left the TV on, and it’s playing something strange and eerily beautiful: the Nicholas Brothers’ dance to “I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” from Orchestra Wives (1942).

Gray endeavors to give this drama the sweep and detail of TV’s The Expanse. The over-explaining desiccates Ad Astra, despite both its 2-billion-mile scope, and Hoyte van Hoytema’s glowing photography. There may be a reasonable explanation for the constant comments, even at their most redundant. Roy sees a frightened fellow officer and thinks aloud, “He’s scared”—is Roy, then, like a man with Asperger’s, always having to read other people’s emotions?

Pitt’s humanity, so evident in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, keeps one hooked through this. The lost-father drama can be tedious in the deftest hands. But this time, the celestial backdrop adds some allegorical freshness to the subject of fathers so obsessed with their business, so closed off from their families that they might as well be in ice-cold orbit around one of the outer planets. Jones is terrific at demonstrating that lack of regret, the inner deadness of one of these technical geniuses. But he also demonstrates flashes of the weakness and willfulness of a father on the edge of senility. Still, in the end, just like High Life, all Ad Astra can do is helplessly endorse the beauty and preciousness of Earth.

AD ASTRA

Directed by James Grey. Starring Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler and Tommy Lee Jones. (PG-13) 122 minutes.

Is Santa Cruz Ready For Fire Season?

Wallace Baine

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September 16, 2019

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From Shasta to San Diego, Yosemite to Santa Cruz, there is a sense of foreboding, maybe even dread, as summer turns to fall.

Fire season is here.

The last couple of years have seen some of the most devastating wildfires in the state’s history. Taken as a whole, the fires of 2017 and 2018 are unprecedented, as measured by damage and death. The Camp Fire, which all but destroyed the foothill town of Paradise in 2018, is now classified as the deadliest blaze in California history, and the most lethal fire in the U.S. in a hundred years.

Several months before that, the Mendocino Complex fires became the largest wildfire event by acreage in California history. Add to that the almost-as-tragic Carr Fire in Shasta County, the Tubbs Fire which devoured large parts of Santa Rosa, the Wine Country Fires which killed 44 people across Northern California, and the Thomas Fire which laid waste to huge chunks of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and it’s clear that the past two fire seasons could one day be remembered a particularly terrifying period in state history.

That is, if we’re lucky.

Although this year’s wildfires have not come close to the impact of 2017 and 2018, that’s thanks in part to significant rainfall, and it’s also still quite early. Most of the deadly fires of the last two years took place in October and November. The 2017 Thomas Fire in Southern California didn’t begin until December.

This could be the ideal moment for an event like “California On Fire: The Past, Present and Future of Fire Ecology in the Golden State,” sponsored by the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. The lecture/panel discussion comes to the Rio Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 19. San Francisco State University biologist and plant ecologist Thomas Parker will give the keynote presentation. Following Parker’s lecture will be a panel discussion featuring the county’s Emergency Services Manager Rosemary Anderson, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Valentin Lopez, and former Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott.

Pimlott retired at the end of last year, after eight years leading the state agency. He says that the nightmarish recent years were the culmination of an almost decades-long period in which fires were made increasingly deadly because of the years-long drought in California. He remembers the devastating but “almost forgotten” Valley Fire of 2015 that consumed much of the small town of Middletown in Lake County in less than 24 hours.

“That was in 2015,” he says, “and I remember we were all asking ourselves, how could it possibly get worse? But it did.”

While most of the media coverage and public conversation surrounding catastrophic wildfires comes from the context of the human cost, keynote speaker Parker focuses on the California landscape. From his perspective, fire ecology is about the role fire plays in various landforms—forests, oak grasslands, chaparral, etc.—and how native and non-native vegetation adapts to the threat of fire.

Fire, Parker says, has been a part of the local landscape for millions of years. But human intervention and changes in climate have altered the nature and the severity of fires in recent years. Rainfall, or the lack of it, obviously plays a big role in fire season, but there are other factors.

He says that recent California autumns that have seen more frequent high-pressure systems coming from the east, the kind that drive high-wind events. “And when there’s an ignition during those high-wind events, like what happened in Santa Rosa two years ago and Paradise last year, that’s when you get the devastating fires,” he says.

If there’s good news here, it’s that, in the aftermath of the historic fire seasons, Californians may be paying more attention to fire preparation, says former Cal Fire Chief Pimlott. “In 2017, we issued red-flag warnings about critical fire conditions. But, by that time, it had become like white noise to the public,” he says. Pimlott now lives in the fire-prone Sierra foothills where, he says, “people are now hyper-aware about fire. They’re scared, and they’re listening to what other people are saying. It really has improved, as long as people maintain their attention.”

Santa Cruz County is, of course, far from immune from fire devastation. As the county’s Emergency Services Manager, Rosemary Anderson has a wide-ranging purview that includes earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, fire, and other potential disasters. Anderson says that, when the unthinkable strikes, local residents should take action instead of waiting for an authority to tell them what to do.

She notes that many local communities already have plans in place through the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. Through CERT trainings, Anderson is trying to build a culture of self-reliance—about preparedness and how neighbors can take care of one other.

“In lots of neighborhoods, people don’t even know each other, because they’re not home most of the time,” she says. “How do you get these people engaged in some kind of response post-incident? The people who you are going to rely on the most are the people who live right next door to you. That’s been the case in every post-disaster we’ve had in Santa Cruz County.”

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History presents California On Fire on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $5 Museum members; $10 general; $25 Gold Circle. santacruzmuseum.org/california-on-fire.

A Taste of Uruguay in Artesana Tannat 2015

Josie Cowden

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September 11, 2019

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A Taste of Uruguay in Artesana Tannat 2015

Every time I taste an interesting Tannat wine from Uruguay, I am so glad it’s available locally at Soif.

The Santa Cruz restaurant and wine bar is not just about good food and enjoying a glass of wine to go with your dinner. This well-stocked establishment also carries a select inventory of wines from all over the world, including the Tannat 2015 ($24) from Uruguay. Blended with 30% Merlot and 15% Zinfandel, these two robust wines add an abundance of flavor and depth.

Considered the “national grape” of Uruguay, Tannat is less familiar in the U.S., and many people haven’t even heard of it. Grown historically in southwest France, it is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay. Deeply aromatic, this delicious Tannat blend is suffused with black raspberry, cedar and spice—coalescing in a velvety mouthfeel. It is handcrafted by award-winning women winemakers.

Artesana is a small-production estate winery in the acclaimed Canelones region of Uruguay specializing in Tannat, Tannat blends and Zinfandel (the only Zinfandel produced in Uruguay). It is imported by Leslie Fellows (one of the owners), who has family at the winery. Although she lives locally, she heads to Uruguay often. Artesana is just outside the capital city of Montevideo and well worth a visit.

Available at Soif Wine Bar & Merchants, 105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz. artesanawinery.com.

Farmhouse Culture

Kathryn Lukas is the guru of sauerkraut. Her Central Coast company Farmhouse Culture is extremely successful, and her products sell far and wide. The organic “gut shot” health drinks are superb. I especially love the Classic Caraway and the Ginger Beet.

Lukas has now co-authored a book with her son, master fermenter Shane Peterson, titled The Farmhouse Culture Guide to Fermenting: Crafting Live-Cultured Foods and Drinks with 100 Recipes from Kimchi to Kombucha. Lukas and Peterson will be presenting their new book at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, at Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. 423-0900, bookshopsantacruz.com.

Copper Moon Apothecary Adapts to Changing Climate

Wellness

Georgia Johnson

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September 11, 2019

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Copper Moon Apothecary Adapts to Changing Climate

It’s been a year of unpredictable weather. We saw record levels of snow in the Sierras—nearly double the annual average in some places—while peaches in Georgia froze and tornadoes touched down in Massachusetts.

Climate change and this year’s unusual weather are making things a bit more unpredictable for growers everywhere, including those in south Santa Cruz County.

“Everything this year is late,” says Katy Thompson, owner of Copper Moon Apothecary. “I’m seeing a lot of green growth, but not a lot of fruit or blooms. Things are really taking their time. I’m seeing some changes with the herbs this year. Everything is a little smaller.”

Since starting Copper Moon more than 10 years ago, Thompson has grown most of the herbs she needs, including comfrey, calendula, plantain, and elder, on her 9-acre property in the Larkin Valley. She makes lotions, soaps, bath soaks, cleansers, and live face masks and scrubs by hand using homegrown herbs and locally sourced products.

“At first, I tested everything on my poor friends. I remember selling my first bar of soap at the farmers market. I was so excited,” Thompson says. “The business grew, and that’s all I wanted to talk about and do. I was collecting seeds and growing herbs and wildcrafting, and I created this big, beautiful monster.”

As we move into citrus season, Thompson says she will start looking to fall’s citrus to make fresh products, like bath and shower scrub. Because she sources everything from her fields and nearby areas, Thompson says the late bloom will affect how she operates this year. “I’m fine for now, but it’s really going to hit me in December and January when I may not have the backstock of dried herbs.”

Other community members have expressed similar concerns about weird weather patterns this year. “We are all buzzing around and talking about it in the ag community,” Thompson says. In her case, she may need to buy herbs from other suppliers.

Depending on the farmers market, website and wholesale orders, Thompson will figure out how much to make per week. This week, she’s making all of the products for markets and incorporating herbs that are prime for use, like calendula.

“If you buy a bar of soap from me this weekend at the farmers market, you are going to have big, green flecks of lemongrass because it’s in season right now,” she says. “So fresh lemongrass will go into the soap. But come December or January, there is no fresh lemongrass, so I’ll have to rely on everything I have harvested and dried months ago. The appearance will change dramatically.”

Thompson already ships in sandalwood oil and ylang ylang (a tropical flower), since they don’t grow here, and she tries to use them sparingly.

Lately, Thompson has been weighing the prospect of getting extra help. She doesn’t want to outsource anything. “If I do that, it’s no longer handcrafted by me, and I don’t necessarily know what’s going into the product,” she says. “I want to keep it small and keep it crunchy.”

Copper Moon Apothecary currently sells to markets all over Santa Cruz, including Staff of Life and The Herb Room, and runs weekly Santa Cruz Farmers Market booths. She’s also working on a “skin salvation” face serum and wants to experiment with frankincense and a new oil, called Kuss, originating from India. Between managing orders, saving up stock for the winter months and experimenting with new products, Thompson has her hands full.

“There are limitations. People want their product to smell like bubblegum, but it doesn’t,” Thompson says. “People are so used to the bubbles of Dove and other commercial products. This stuff isn’t that. It’s made to order for them. It’s natural and homegrown and good for you, good for the planet.”

coppermoon.net

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HOT CHIP

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History presents California On Fire on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $5 Museum members; $10 general; $25 Gold Circle. santacruzmuseum.org/california-on-fire.

Farmhouse Culture