Bearers of Truth—Jupiter Direct: Risa’s Stars August 14-20

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August 13, 2019

Bearers of Truth—Jupiter Direct: Risa’s Stars August 14-20

Astrology is a science of constant change—always new, fresh and illuminating, following specific rhythms, cadences, pulses, and patterns. Last Sunday, as Uranus began to retrograde, Jupiter moved forward in its own sign of Sagittarius.

Jupiter is happy in Sagittarius, feeling lucky, limitless and joyful to be home again. Jupiter, retrograde since April, stationed (still in the sky) direct at 14.30 degrees Sag. On Dec. 2, Jupiter will enter Capricorn. Another change for humanity.

Jupiter is a fast-moving planet, remaining in each sign for a year. As the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter offers humanity “big” things—abundance and expansion. Jupiter is good to us. However, if we overdo (especially with food or drink, as Sag is the hidden gourmet of the zodiac), we enter into the shadow side of Jupiter and lose our way in over-abundance.

On the higher levels of awareness, Jupiter makes us contemplative, our heart filled with compassion. We seek higher truths and are dedicated to goals and aspirations that help others.

Joy couples with philosophy, love and wisdom. We become bearers of truth. We want to travel, join the world, see new places, cultures and people. Some of us will open a publishing or music company or gallery, write a book, take a long journey, learn archery, find a white horse and ride it somewhere, become teachers, professors, mentors. Some will begin schools, become professors, enter convents, journey to Jerusalem, Rome, Lourdes, or Fatima. And some will begin the slow-walking pilgrimage of the “Milky Way,” also called the El Camino.

ARIS: Are you considering a journey far away, or perhaps something legal or educational, religious or psychological? You seek the truth of all that matters, and need it quickly and comprehensively. Life feels larger, greater, bigger than ever before. There’s freedom and honesty to be found, curiosity and open-mindedness to remember. Your inner compass is realigning, your faith is growing. The spirit of peace guides you.

TAURUS: There are mysteries you’re researching, filled with hidden dreams and values. You want to share them with others but are careful to not be made fun of, ignored or vilified. You must trust others before revealing yourself. There’s a sense that next year you may move, as changes unfold financially. But you want to make sure you have all the facts before making a life-changing decision. You know life is a drama, filled with actors, everyone playing their part.

GEMINI: Gemini’s other half is Sagittarius. Gemini and Sag are the “brothers/sisters” of the zodiac. When Jupiter moves forward in Sagittarius, as it is doing now, you have the opportunity to expand your world with new spiritual influences. Information that you have been seeking comes forth, causing a reevaluation of all belief systems. Honesty and will are required. There is love all around you. You rethink what love is.

CANCER: Daily life, routines, order, organization, and health are the important spiritual avenues to be tended to. You are often giving to others. People see you as living a life of service. But I want to ask you if you are happy. Does giving offer you joy? You may be living a hidden life with secret fears and ambitions no one knows about. Cancers cover themselves up with a shell of protection. Jupiter asks you: what brings you joy?

LEO: Leo is always about self-discovery, one’s creativity and the ability to see the self in one’s artform. Now with Jupiter in Sag (another fire sign), a deeper sense of self-discovery comes forth. It’s a journey right to the heart of freedom. It’s important to create a journal of self and creativity—in it, list all talents, gifts and abilities, along with desires yet to be fulfilled. Are there children in your life? Children teach Leos how to be playful. The greatest creative act is having faith in your life. Each day is an adventure.

VIRGO: What is the situation at home these days? How is your garden? What attention does your home need? Does home offer you a state of security and foundation? How was your childhood, and what good things did you learn then? Who were your parents, and what did you learn from them? Are there patterns, sadnesses, burdens you want release from? Deep within is a new reality you have been gestating. Soon it will be birthed. And you will be free.

LIBRA: Jupiter and Uranus bring us new, revelatory information so that we may begin to question all that we believe and assess those beliefs to see if they bring goodness and goodwill to our lives. A deep truth about your childhood and upbringing begins to unfold for you. And honesty and the true nature of things become known. In all communication offer kindness, compassion and truth. Listen more. Deep listening is a mindful spiritual practice.

SCORPIO: Your new journey is one of deep re-discovery of what you truly value. Out and about in the world of others, we can lose our sense of value—even that we are of value, and how much. During the next year, your true sense of worth, what makes for security and self-esteem, will subtly emerge. You must look for it to see it. And I must ask, how are you handling your money and resources, and what is most precious to you in your life?

SAGITTARIUS: The past seven years have been years of growth in self-awareness and wisdom. Now a new phase begins for you. At first, you may feel divided on a major choice recently made. However, your life is protected, there are no mistakes, and your next step is the synthesizing of all your gifts and abilities. This will occur through your work, and by the new people you meet. Know that all that you need are at your feet.

CAPRICORN: Do you have a dream journal? It would be good to have one, to jot down dreams, visions, intuitions, hopes, wishes, and more dreams in the coming months. Dreams are ways the subconscious synthesizes experiences in daily life. Dreams are sometimes visionary—offering answers to questions. At times, family members who have died appear in our dreams to tell us they are doing well. Dreams tell us what we’re capable of, and sometimes say, “Let’s do this again … more wisely this time.” Dreams take us underwater, where healing happens.

AQUARIUS: Jupiter brings you good things, friends, networks, community, and wishes that come true. You are a friend to many, perhaps to an entire town. This brings happiness to your heart. Something you’ve needed and longed for has come to fruition. After many years of a certain important need, it was fulfilled. Now you can set your sights on new desires and aspirations. As the days unfold, old ways and limitations fall away. A whole new life emerges.

PISCES: It’s important to be prepared, because Jupiter is affecting your public life, career, profession, and work in the world. New opportunities will be sensed, along with a feeling that you must do more, offer more, step forward more. There may be some fear. However, it’s for the best to reconnect with a previous aspiration. You are safe. Pisces is about faith that solutions will come. Cherish all the challenges, dream bigger, and always try your best.

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology August 14-20

Rob Brezsny

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August 13, 2019

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Free will astrology for the week of Aug. 14, 2019

ARIES (March 21-April 19): How did sound technicians create the signature roar of the fictional monster Godzilla? They slathered pine-tar resin on a leather glove and stroked it against the strings of a double bass. How about the famous howl of the fictional character Tarzan? Sonic artists blended a hyena’s screech played backwards, a dog’s growl, a soprano singer’s fluttered intonation slowed down, and an actor’s yell. Karen O, lead singer of band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, periodically unleashes very long screams that may make the hair stand up on the back of her listeners’ necks. In accordance with astrological omens, I’d love to see you experiment with creating your own personal yowl or laugh or whisper of power in the coming weeks: a unique sound that would boost your wild confidence and help give you full access to your primal lust for life.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough,” said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ex-President of Liberia. In accordance with astrological imperatives, I propose that we make that your watchword for the foreseeable future. From what I can tell, you’re due to upgrade your long-term goals. You have the courage and vision necessary to dare yourself toward an even more fulfilling destiny than you’ve been willing or ready to imagine up until now.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): How did our ancestors ever figure out that the calendula flower can be used as healing medicine for irritated and inflamed skin? It must have been a very long process of trial and error. (Or did the plant somehow “communicate” to indigenous herbalists, informing them of its use?) In any case, this curative herb is only one of hundreds of plants that people somehow came to adjudge as having healing properties. “Miraculous” is not too strong a word to describe such discoveries. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Gemini, you now have the patience and perspicacity to engage in a comparable process: to find useful resources through experiment and close observation—with a hardy assist from your intuition.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Today the city of Timbuktu in Mali is poor and in the throes of desertification. But from the 14th to 17th centuries, it was one of the great cultural centers of the world. Its libraries filled up with thousands of influential books, which remained intact until fairly recently. In 2012, Al-Qaeda jihadists conceived a plan to destroy the vast trove of learning and scholarship. One man foiled them. Abba al-Hadi, an illiterate guard who had worked at one of the libraries, smuggled out many of the books in empty rice sacks. By the time the jihadists started burning, most of the treasure had been relocated. I don’t think the problem in your sphere is anywhere near as dire as this, Cancerian. But I do hope you will be proactive about saving and preserving valuable resources before they’re at risk of being diluted, compromised, or neglected.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Moray eels have two sets of jaws. The front set does their chewing. The second set, normally located behind the first, can be launched forward to snag prey they want to eat. In invoking this aggressive strategy to serve as a metaphor for you in the coming weeks, I want to suggest that you be very dynamic and enterprising as you go after what you want and need. Don’t be rude and invasive, of course, but consider the possibility of being audacious and zealous.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s relatively rare, but now and then people receive money or gifts from donors they don’t know. Relatives they’ve never met may bequeath them diamond tiaras or alpaca farms or bundles of cash. I don’t think that’s exactly what will occur for you in the coming weeks, but I do suspect that you’ll garner blessings or help from unexpected sources. To help ensure the best possible versions of these acts of grace, I suggest that you be as generous as possible in the kindness and attention you offer. Remember this verse from the Bible: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra-born Ronald McNair was an African-American man who grew up in a racist town in South Carolina in the 1950s. The bigotry cramped his freedom, but he rebelled. When he was 9 years old, he refused to leave a segregated library, which prompted authorities to summon the police. Years later, McNair earned a PhD in Physics from MIT and became renowned for his research on laser physics. Eventually, NASA chose him to be an astronaut from a pool of 10,000 candidates. That library in South Carolina? It’s now named after him. I suspect that you, too, will soon receive some vindication, Libra—a reward or blessing or consecration that will reconfigure your past.

SCORPIO (Oct. 3-Nov. 21): Scorpio author Zadie Smith wrote, “In the end, your past is not my past and your truth is not my truth and your solution—is not my solution.” I think it will be perfectly fine if sometime soon you speak those words to a person you care about. In delivering such a message, you won’t be angry or dismissive. Rather, you will be establishing good boundaries between you and your ally; you will be acknowledging the fact that the two of you are different people with different approaches to life. And I bet that will ultimately make you closer.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Nothing fruitful ever comes when plants are forced to flower in the wrong season,” wrote author and activist Bette Lord. That’s not entirely true. For example, skilled and meticulous gardeners can compel tulip and hyacinth bulbs to flower before they would naturally be able to. But as a metaphor, Lord’s insight is largely accurate. And I think you’ll be wise to keep it in mind during the coming weeks. So my advice is: Don’t try to make people and processes ripen before they are ready. But here’s a caveat: You might have modest success working to render them a bit more ready.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “For though we often need to be restored to the small, concrete, limited, and certain, we as often need to be reminded of the large, vague, unlimited, unknown.” Poet A. R. Ammons formulated that shiny burst of wisdom, and now I’m passing it on to you. As I think you know, you tend to have more skill at and a greater inclination toward the small, concrete, limited, and certain. That’s why, in my opinion, it’s rejuvenating for you to periodically exult in and explore what’s large, vague, unlimited, unknown. Now is one of those times.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Look into my eyes. Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.” Poet Sylvia Plath wrote that, and now, in accordance with astrological omens, I’m authorizing you to say something similar to anyone who is interested in you but would benefit from gazing more deeply into your soul and entering into a more profound relationship with your mysteries. In other words, you have cosmic permission to be more forthcoming in showing people your beauty and value.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In his Anti-Memoirs, author André Malraux quotes a tough-minded priest who served in the French Resistance during World War II. He spent his adult life hearing his parishioners’ confessions. “The fundamental fact is that there’s no such thing as a grown-up person,” the priest declared. Even if that’s mostly true, Pisces, my sense is that it is less true about you right now than it has ever been. In the past months, you have been doing good work to become more of a fully realized version of yourself. I expect that the deepening and maturation process is reaching a culmination. Don’t underestimate your success! Celebrate it!

Homework: The Japanese poet Ikkyu said, “To all I care about, here’s a friendly tip: enlightenment is gaffe upon error upon blooper.” Do you agree? freewillastrology.com

Theater Review: Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s ‘Winter’s Tale’

Christina Waters

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August 13, 2019

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Theater Review: Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s ‘Winter’s Tale’

Continuing its voyage of playful experimentation, Santa Cruz Shakespeare has launched its final repertory offering for 2019, The Winter’s Tale. One of the playwright’s final works, The Winter’s Tale fascinates in its multi-dimensionality.

Opening as a penetrating study of tragic jealousy, the play turns on its axis halfway through and becomes a robust pastoral comedy. And the fairy-tale ending is one of the rarest of closures in all of Shakespeare.

In the hands of director Raelle Myrick-Hodges and costume designer Ulises Alcal, Winter’s Tale pushes postmodernism to the breaking point. Time periods, vocal rhythms and fashions slip in and out of clarity—costumes begin in a Hollywoodish Rita Hayworth heyday, then bounce into ’60s dance parties and scatter toward hip-hop. With the collaged visuals come diverse accents—only some of which skillfully serve the plot.

The play’s driving theme echoes Othello. King Leontes of Sicily (Ian Merrill Peakes) and his old childhood friend King Polixenes of Bohemia (Lindsay Smiling) have been enjoying a long overdue visit together in Leontes’ court. As the play opens, Polixenes is bidding his friend farewell, having stayed nine months away from his own court in Bohemia. Leontes begs him to stay longer, to no avail. But when Leontes’ wife Hermione (Karen Peakes) asks, Polixenes relents. And herein lies the rub. Leontes suddenly finds himself consumed with jealousy and suspects that his pregnant wife Hermione might just be carrying the child of Polixenes, “he that wears her like a medal hanging about his neck.” Jealousy, spewed forth in Peakes’ spellbinding asides to the audience, turns to obsession, and soon Hermione is banished, Polixenes flees for his life, and Hermione’s newborn baby daughter is abandoned to the fates.

In a dramatic time shift used nowhere else in Shakespeare, 16 years has gone by when the second half of the play begins. (Mega-kudos to Patty Gallagher, whose panache gives clarity throughout.) We’re now in the company of shepherds in Bohemia, where a 16-year-old beauty is about to be engaged to the king’s son. You can see where this is going. In Bohemia, things are as jolly as Sicily has been tragic. And played in repertory, the cast has some real fun with their double roles, moving from the noble court to the countryside with relish.

The jarring eruption of a DJ dance party, however, does little to advance any understanding of the comedic plot twist, no matter how much light entertainment there is in the original text. Reviving audience focus with tall tales and song is the insanely talented Allen Gilmore as the trickster pickpocket Autolycas. His rollicking scenes crafted the dissonant shadings Shakespeare suggests. Gilmore’s Mr. Bennett also created the calm center of Pride and Prejudice, and it was a pleasure to watch him let loose and captivate the entire opening night house of Winter’s Tale. His punning repartee with the Shepherd (Tommy A. Gomez) and his son Clown (a winning Adrian Zamora) helped move the play toward its resolution.

Kudos to scenic designer Dipu Gupta, whose large circular opening on the back wall allowed glimpses of an enormous, scenic moon, whose movements and color changes helped to tell us the passing of day to night, and winter to summer. The Winter’s Tale is given added charm by the presence of a trio of actors all named Peakes, who are in fact husband, wife and son, Owen—playing husband Leontes, wife Hermione, and their son Mamillius. Ian Merrill Peakes, who steals this season’s Pride and Prejudice, is stylish, resourceful and fierce as Leontes’ inferno of paranoid jealousy. Directorial re-tuning might help infuse the ending with the rich, ironic power the play’s text demands. Contemporary costuming may update the look of a classic play, but it can’t help us understand the text, or heart of the play if the actors don’t believe (or comprehend) what they’re saying.

Still, The Winter’s Tale brims with eloquence, high tragedy and easy comedy—which is a lot for any night’s entertainment under moonlight. You owe it to yourself to take in this rare chance to see one of the Bard’s most unusual and controversial works.

‘The Winter’s Tale’ runs through Sept. 1 at the Grove in Delaveaga Park, 501 Upper Park Rd., Santa Cruz. santacruzshakespeare.org.

Music Picks: August 14-20

Aaron Carnes

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August 13, 2019

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Santa Cruz County live entertainment picks for the week of Aug. 14

WEDNESDAY 8/14

COUNTRY

PHIL MARSH

Cats may have nine lives, but Phil Marsh has 10. A founding member of freaky Berkeley folk outfit the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, Marsh spent the ’60s at the bleeding edge of the hippie movement. At the end of the decade, he took part in one of the music industry’s most infamous pranks, when CGSB recorded and released The Masked Marauders, a hoax Dylan/Jagger/Beatles collab album based on a joke review in Rolling Stone. Since then, the Bay native has been a guitarist for Country Joe McDonald and a documentary soundtrack composer. MIKE HUGUENOR

7:30 p.m. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777

THURSDAY 8/15

FUNK

DIGGIN DIRT

Is polyester the funkiest kind of clothing on Earth? If you answered yes, then Humboldt County seven-piece Diggin’ Dirt is precisely the kind of funk band you’ve been waiting for. Not a single member is wearing the exact same wacky, ’70s-pattern shirts at any given show. We’re talking about a revolution in color! Oh, and they also play pretty spectacular psych-infused, high-energy, deep-funk jams, punctuated with horns and Zach Alder’s squealing, soulful voice as the band’s charismatic front man. AC

8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 479-1854.

COMEDY

CAITLIN GILL

Caitlin Gill wants you to know she thinks you’re beautiful. Don’t believe us? Check out the preview single from her latest album release, Major, which dropped on Aug. 2. “We Are Beautiful” was recorded at the iconic Punch Line in San Francisco, and is packed with raw, outrageous, self-affirming fun. On Aug. 15, she kicks off a six-date West Coast CD release tour starting at DNA’s Comedy Lab. MAT WEIR

8 p.m. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 900-5123.

FRIDAY 8/16

ELECTRO-FUNK

PLANET BOOTY

Dance music should have a sense of humor. You’re on the dance floor, getting sweaty and making a fool of yourself—why not laugh, too? Oakland trio Planet Booty gets this. The group has some seriously booty-shaking electro-funk grooves, but also some funny lyrics about booty shaking. “Your booty is evidence of a higher power,” goes one line in “Junk in The Trunk.” In the song’s video, the band turns a funeral into a sermon on the power of booty, which transforms into a twerking dance party. AC

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 429-6994.

SATURDAY 8/17

GARAGE-ROCK

THE NUDE PARTY

The Nude Party is a band of six lovable dudes who spent their college years in North Carolina playing ’60s-drenched rock at frat parties, often butt-naked. They grew up and put on some clothes but still bust out catchy, twangy garage-rock for crowds—infectious and fun, with some serious chops, and an undeniable affinity for the time when brown-leather-fringe vests were a thing. It’s classy party music: rowdy callbacks, tambourines and spooky organ riffs, but so well polished you’d think they’d never rolled into a frat party nude. AMY BEE

9 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $10. 704-7113.

SUNDAY 8/18

CABARET

DEVOTCHKA

There was a time when everyone’s Winamp playlist included soundtrack items like “Requiem for a Dream Song” and “Theme from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” In those days, DeVotchKa often snuck in, Trojan-horse style, infiltrating playlists via pivotal songs on heartstring-tugging soundtracks, like the delicate harmonium-and-piano anthem “How It Ends” from Everything is Illuminated. Known for writing tunes with wordly flair and a bit of sass (it started as a backing band for burlesque shows), singer Nick Urata is known to break out a Greek bouzouki now and again. MH

8 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $20 adv/$24 door. 335-2800.

MONDAY 8/19

JOHN PIZZARELLI TRIO

John Pizzarelli didn’t wait until Nat “King” Cole’s 100th birthday to celebrate the hugely influential jazz pianist and supremely suave pop star. A dexterously swinging guitarist and accomplished rhythm singer with a light, pleasing tone, Pizzarelli has spent much of his career exploring the Cole songbook, starting with his breakthrough 1994 album Dear Mr. Cole. His latest release, 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole, is a beautifully measured take on a set of songs indelibly associated with the peerless Cole. He’s joined by bassist Mike Karnon and the brilliant Australian pianist Konrad Paszkudzki. ANDREW GILBERT

7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $42 adv/$47.25 door. 427-2227.

TUESDAY 8/20

INDIE

THE PALMS

Nights are balmy in L.A., and the air thrums with unmistakable energy. That could be the sheer number of cars rumbling along the mazes of asphalt, or maybe it’s the result of throngs of people ready for anything to happen at any moment. L.A. has a touch of dreamscape magic, like a good pop song that comes alive with the windows open, even if you have to smell the dump truck in front of you. The Palms has a similar flavor in its indie-pop tunes; the joy of drifting along, full of potential, weightless above the refuse, briefly oblivious to the encroaching blight. AB

9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $12. 423-1338.

Love Your Local Band: Lauren June

Aaron Carnes

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August 13, 2019

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Lauren June was struck by something a customer told her when she was waiting tables and dropped some glasses: “Gravity’s been heavier this week.”

“I looked up at him and said, ‘That’s a really interesting perspective.’” June says. “It’s comical, but there’s something sweet and sincere about it. I just loved that.”

For a while, she tried to write a song with that brilliant line but didn’t get anywhere. Finally, she realized that to do the line justice, she needed a song about her interaction with the customer.

“There is an overall kindness to him that drew me in, and knowing so little about someone, but also that feeling of human connection even in those small encounters,” June says.

The song, still untitled, is one of a handful that the local singer-songwriter is working on for her debut indie-folk EP, which she hopes will be out in late 2019 or early 2020. Some songs will have drums and bass. Others will be acoustic.

June has been playing music her entire life, but it’s mostly been a hobby. About three years ago, she recorded a handful of songs and uploaded them to SoundCloud—haunting folk songs, mostly personal expressions of her internal world.

“I always tended to write sad, depressing music,” June says. “I’m a fairly private person except for that one outlet.”

She also finds herself observing people, something that’s coming out more in her songs this time around.

“I’ve always been rather perplexed by the whole social construct of humanity. The uniqueness of every life and person that you encounter, what makes someone who they are,” June says. “I think the more you write, the more I exercise that muscle, the more I find different perspectives to write from.”

9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.

Film Review: ‘Mike Wallace Is Here’

Lisa Jensen

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August 13, 2019

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Bill O’Reilly calls him “the master of nailing.” Barbra Streisand is more succinct—“You’re a son of a bitch,” she purrs.

So it’s hard to imagine someone less likely to be caught selling peanut butter in TV commercials than Mike Wallace. The intrepid TV journalist and co-host of 60 Minutes is best known for dogged, on-air interviews that struck terror into the hearts of his subjects. But Kinescope flashbacks of the youthful Wallace pitching the sponsor’s products are among the more surprising moments in Avi Belkin’s documentary Mike Wallace Is Here.

Belkin cobbles together this backstory about a footloose youth who finds himself entranced by the new mid-century medium of television. Footage of Wallace and TV growing up together as he eventually pioneers the art and craft of the live televised interview have historical and pop-cultural value, as do the many excerpts from his decades of interviewing the rich and infamous: Salvador Dali, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bette Davis, Ayatollah Khomeni, Vladimir Putin, and a puffy, young Donald Trump.

But for all the vagaries in Wallace’s career, and the variety of his interview subjects, the movie never establishes its own viewpoint. It remains a random collection of clips, many fascinating in their own right, that are never quite shaped into a larger picture or more cohesive theme. I wish Belkin had dug a little deeper to get the full story.

Hailing from Brookline, Massachusetts, and so badly acne-scarred in his teens that he figured he had “a great face for radio,” Wallace started out in that medium as a staff announcer and pitchman. But with the advent of television, he switched allegiance; he sold everything from soap to cigarettes to cosmetics on the air, hosted game shows, and was routinely thrust into minor acting roles (as documented in a treasure trove of those vintage Kinescopes).

In 1956, he came up with the idea for Night Beat, a late-night interview show featuring subjects like the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (fulminating in his full pointy-headed satin Klan robes), gangster Mickey Cohen, and Rod Serling. This eventually morphed into The Mike Wallace Interview, a program that engendered so many libel lawsuits the network finally had to shut it down.

But while the show was dead, it gave birth to a new TV icon in allowing its host to “become” Mike Wallace. Although he went briefly back to pitching Revlon lipstick, he decided he wanted to be a serious reporter, traveling the world in search of stories, until he landed at CBS—in the august company of Walter Cronkite, Eric Severeid and Edward R. Murrow. After a few years at the network, Wallace and producer Don Hewitt co-created the concept of TV news magazine 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968.

Concerned that he didn’t have the same hard news credentials as his new colleagues, Wallace was determined to ask the hard questions instead. We see tantalizing bits of Wallace coaxing an eyewitness account of the My Lai massacre from a Vietnam soldier, making cold-fish John Erlichman visibly sweat, and sparring with Richard Nixon and Manuel Noriega in between showbiz celebs like Johnny Carson and Shirley MacLaine.

Meanwhile, attempts by 60 Minutes cohort Morley Safer and others to interview Wallace himself are largely futile, as he rebuffs questions he doesn’t like—“Why would you ask me that?” “That’s a stupid question”— or simply does not respond.

Belkin never really discovers the man behind the public persona. Nor does he find (in what must have been hundreds of hours of footage) any particular “aha!” moment with an interview subject that would cap Wallace’s legacy.

But his take on the evolution of modern journalism fascinates. Oriana Fallaci tells Wallace she’s not a reporter but a historian, as “a journalist who writes history as it happens.” And a montage of news-bashing from Spiro Agnew to Trump reminds us to never, ever take for granted the privilege of a free press.

MIKE WALLACE IS HERE

**1/2 (out of four)

With Mike Wallace and Morley Safer. A film by Avi Belkin. A Magnolia release. Rated PG-13. 90 minutes.

Persephone’s Recipe for Pairing Local Food and Wine

Christina Waters

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August 13, 2019

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Persephone’s Recipe for Pairing Local Food and Wine

In the gorgeous Aptos dining room of Persephone, Chef Cori Gouge-Ayer will prepare a multi-course meal to pair with five distinctive bottlings from Windy Oaks Estates at an Aug. 22 winemaker dinner.

Those new to the concept owe themselves a chance to sample a series of wines from the steady hand of winemaker Jim Schultze, which will be coupled with foods especially created to harmonize with selected varietals. The sequence of flavors and often-spectacular tuning of sensory ideas that join the recipes and the wines make for a delicious learning experience. Those who are veterans—and fans—of the winemaker dinner format won’t want to miss this one. Here’s why.

Dinner begins with Watermelon Gazpacho paired with a Windy Oaks Bastide La Combe 2017 Rosé, before continuing on with a linguine created of tender abalone, pancetta and smoked paprika. With this course, Jim Schultze will pour the 2016 Estate Chardonnay. Then comes a duck confit with candy cap mushrooms joined by Windy Oaks’ “Diane’s Block” Estate Pinot Noir 2017. (I can practically taste that duck/Pinot combination right now.)

The second entrée is a pork loin roulade stuffed with rosemary-roasted figs and served with caramelized onion-fennel farro and balsamic glaze. This tour de force will be paired with a special release barrel-fermented Estate Pinot Noir 2016. Dessert of a floating island with saffron meringue and pomegranate creme Anglaise comes with a festive Windy Oaks Sparkling Albariño 2015. That’s an adventurous tasting journey starting at 6 p.m., priced at $150 per person, all inclusive.

The chef is a Santa Cruz native who, along with her sommelier brother Alex Potter, orchestrates the restaurant’s winemaker dinner series. Windy Oaks wines are well known locally and nationally, and proprietors Jim and Judy Schultze are savvy participants in these customized events. “Jim and I both feel that winemaker dinners provide the opportunity for the general public to meet the winemaker in an intimate setting,” says Judy Schultze. They can also “show how the right wine paired with the right food enhances both.”

In putting this event together, Gouge-Ayer and Potter bring team members for a trip to the vineyard to taste the wines, tour the operation and get to know the winemakers. “This is our second dinner with Windy Oaks,” says Potter, “and we have a great working relationship, as well as an excellent understanding of their wine and winemaking philosophy.”

Potter explains that in putting together these labor-intensive events, “We like to taste through most of a winery’s offerings and then narrow it down to five choices. We keep in mind that we want to put together a comprehensive meal with a certain flow and progression for our guests to follow. Once we have decided which wines to use, we will often re-taste the wines the next day and discuss more ideas for dishes we think will accentuate the qualities of the wine we have decided to highlight. From there, it usually takes another week or so of ironing out details and checking to make sure we can locally source the ingredients we need.”

Potter says that what’s available locally, and seasonally, “has a huge influence on each menu. Often during our process, someone will have an idea for a dish we all think would be a great pairing, but a key ingredient is not in season or is unavailable locally.” The farmers market also supplies plenty of food for inspiration for the chef and sommelier. An ambitious multi-course menu paired with wines from one of our very top winemaking estates—plus the presence of the winemaker—make this dinner one not to be missed.

Persephone Restaurant, 7945 Soquel Drive, Aptos. 612-6511, persephonerestaurant.com/specialevents.

Be Our Guest: Protoje

A&E
Music

GT Staff

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August 13, 2019

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Jamaican reggae artist Protoje was destined to be a reggae star.

His mother Lorna Bennett topped the Jamaican charts twice in the early ’70s; her biggest hit was the chilled out “Breakfast in Bed.” Protoje’s father was a calypso star in Saint Vincent.

Fast forward to 2005, when their son—the appropriately named Protoje—entered the world of reggae with one foot in the classic roots tradition, and the other in the more contemporary dancehall sound. He’s got several albums and hit singles under his name, but what’s most important is the infectious shows he puts on.

9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20. Information: catalystclub.com.

WANT TO GO?

Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.

Santa Cruz Challenged Over Voting Inequality

Jacob Pierce

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August 12, 2019

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Santa Cruz Challenged Over Voting Inequality

Last year, Keshav Kumar was a junior policy analyst at the Santa Cruz County Business Council researching city issues and scouring California news outlets for topics affecting the state’s communities.

Kumar spotted a troubling trend. A spate of legal challenges were cropping up against local governments over their election systems. The threats took aim at cities with at-large elections, in which voters may support multiple candidates on their ballots in local city council races.

The plaintiffs behind these notices of violation were claiming that such elections diluted the votes of Latino voters and reduced Latino representation, in violation of the California Voting Rights Act. Law firms were challenging cities to implement district elections, which means dividing up a city into geographical voting blocks with one city councilmember per district.

Kumar quickly realized that no city had ever prevailed in a legal challenge under the California Voting Rights Act—and when cities fight the lawsuits, instead of settling, they can end up paying fees totaling more than $30,000. Dozens of California cities, including Watsonville, have made the switch either as a result of legal action or under the threat of it.

That’s why Kumar applied to join the Charter Amendment Committee, which the Santa Cruz City Council established last year to look at possible changes to the city’s election set-up. One idea for the committee to study: switching to election districts.

The Charter Amendment Committee, which had just two meetings, has now essentially landed in government purgatory. The council never officially killed the committee, but the group hasn’t met since November of last year, before Santa Cruz’s new city councilmembers took office. Now, a Santa Barbara-based law firm has hit the city of Santa Cruz with a notice of violation over its at-large elections, alleging that they haven’t adequately represented the town’s Latino community, which makes up 20.6% of the population.

The threat leaves Santa Cruz with a potentially difficult decision. The already fiscally strained city can settle, pay the fee and decide on a plan to implement district elections. Or it can get ready to go to court—which could result in a lengthy, expensive legal battle—and attempt to be the first city to win such a case. If Santa Cruz were to lose, a judge could demand that Santa Cruz make whatever electoral changes he or she chooses.

“I feel like the boy who cried wolf, except that, every time, I really did see a wolf,” says Kumar, who now works as the public affairs coordinator for the California Apartment Association. “And now other people are seeing the wolf, too.”

City Attorney Tony Condotti’s office won’t comment on the pending legal matter. As of press time, the City Council was expected to discuss the item in closed session on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

One question going forward is whether district elections would actually improve representation for the Latino community.

Pedro Hernandez, senior policy coordinator for nonpartisan voting rights group Fair Vote, says his San Francisco-based organization has studied the demographics of Santa Cruz’s Census tracts. Because the town’s Latino population is spread across various neighborhoods, he says, it would be impossible to draw the boundaries of any district with a significant Latino electorate.

Instead of switching to election districts, Hernandez thinks changing to another system, like ranked-choice voting, might have a bigger impact on improving elections and representation. He hopes that the city of Santa Cruz explores changing to a format like that as part of its settlement. But it wouldn’t only be the City Council’s call to make.

Part of a possible decision would be up to a legal team that includes UC Santa Barbara economics lecturer Lanny Ebenstein. Ebenstein is president of the California Voting Rights Project, which is involved with the notice of violation against the city. The Voting Rights Project already issued a legal challenge to Santa Cruz City Schools that prompted the school district to switch to district elections earlier this year.

Ebenstein has a tough time imagining the team would settle for ranked-choice voting, or anything less than an agreement that includes district elections.

“I don’t think so. I should never say never about the possibility of any other approach, but the California Voting Rights Act is pretty specific about districts as the remedy,” he says.

The deadline for the city to issue its first response to the plaintiff would have come up in about a week, after a 45-day window closed. But because many city employees were on vacation last month, Ebenstein says the legal team has granted an extension, giving Santa Cruz until Sept. 30 to respond.

Part of what frustrates Kumar about the fiasco is that the City Council has left the Charter Amendment Committee in limbo.

In January, four councilmembers—Chris Krohn, Sandy Brown, Drew Glover, and Vice Mayor Justin Cummings—expressed interest in adding new members to the committee. When their colleagues and some committee members, like Kumar, pushed back against that idea, the council put a stay on any future committee meetings and tabled the item, signaling that it would revisit the concept after a more in-depth discussion about adding new members.

The item never came back. Kumar met with both Cummings and Krohn, asking them to reinstate the committee. He didn’t even care anymore if the council added new members, he says. If the body had remained active, Kumar argues that the committee might have already finished important legwork of working through possible election changes—work that City Council and staff may now be forced to rush through on a shortened timeline.

If nothing else, Kumar hopes that the council considers officially killing the committee, so that its members can meet again on an informal basis.

Hernandez, of FairVote, says it’s “unfortunate” that the committee did not move forward. At this point, the city may not have time to look back.

“It’s really up to the City Council right now to decide how it wants to move forward, because it seems like there is a ticking clock,” he says. “That doesn’t mean that all the options are off the table, but it does mean they are going to have to make a decision about their next step soon.”

‘Lost Boys’ Icon Tim Capello Returns to Santa Cruz

Aaron Carnes

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August 12, 2019

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‘Lost Boys’ Icon Tim Capello Returns to Santa Cruz

In 1987, saxophonist Tim Cappello was in Santa Cruz for two days to film what would become one of the most famous scenes in the cult classic Lost Boys.

He played the shirtless, oiled-up sexy sax man who soulfully sang “I Still Believe” while rocking his instrument hard at the Boardwalk, surrounded by flames and mystified teenagers. As Cappello walked around town during his down time, it struck him how fitting Santa Cruz was for the film.

“It’s a hippie slacker town. Everybody was tie-dyed out and stoned. People are just coming up to me and chatting,” Cappello says. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m walking around in the script.’”

That was the last time he set foot in Santa Cruz. The shoot was a brief vacation for him in his otherwise-rigorous touring schedule playing sax in Tina Turner’s band. It was a fun two days, he says, and he deliberately made his character kitsch.

“Purple and pink tie-dyed pants that are as tight as yoga pants. Big Doc Martens, lots of chains, and all greased up. That’s not what you do when you want to be Guns N’ Roses,” Cappello says. “It was definitely not my intention to be sexy.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 14, Cappello returns to Santa Cruz, this time to play the Blue Lagoon. It’s part of his first-ever solo tour, and he’s literally alone, with not even a crew member to help haul gear.

“I was on tour with Tina for 15 years. Now I’m in my little Corolla stopping at every Motel 6 from New York to L.A.,” Cappello says. “This tour is the most fun I’ve ever had with music. I’m not a big fan of glitz and glamour.”

Cappello has been playing to rooms of 150 to 200 people. He plays sax and sings over a backing track, in front of TV screens with custom-made video collages designed to entertain his rabid cult fanbase. He’s playing music off his debut solo album Blood On The Reed, which he released last year. It’s made up of fun dance songs that capture the era he came from, when sax was an important component to bands of all genres.

“Bruce Springsteen. Huey Lewis. They all had one,” Cappello says. “I thought it was dead forever. I’m really shocked I’m starting to get calls for session work again.”

Cappello has been in the spotlight again the last few years. Last year, he made a guest appearance on Michelle Wolf’s Netflix show The Break for a bit called “Saxophone Apologies.” He also played saxophone on synthwave band Gunship’s 2018 single “Dark All Day,” which has nearly garnered 3 million views on YouTube.

In the ’80s and ’90s, Cappello existed on the fringe of pop culture, never able to break out as a star. At one point, Warner Bros. gave him a publishing deal to write songs, but it didn’t go anywhere.

“As I got better, the people at the company liked it less and less,” Cappello says.

But the cult around Lost Boys only grew as the years passed, especially in the age of the internet. Love for the sexy sax man scene skyrocketed. Saturday Night Live made a digital short in 2010 where John Hamm played a Tim Cappello character named Sergio. Cappello was honored to be the obvious inspiration for the sketch.

Then, in 2015, the Mad Monster Party horror convention asked Cappello to make an appearance. He accepted, and was shocked to see the overwhelming fandom that existed for him. That got him plugged into the convention circuit, and gave him the confidence to do something he always wanted to do: record a solo album.

As the center of attention, he could be as flamboyant as he wanted to be—his solo show is a lot of fun. With Turner, it was a tug of war. She wanted her band to be over the top, but Cappello was often too far over the top for her. He could never predict when she’d ask him to tone down his outfits.

“She bought me my first codpiece,” he says. “She said, ‘This would be a fun thing for you to wear.”

Now he can dress how he wants and play his songs.

“I cannot get over how much people love it. There’s a roar that comes at me that just physically knocks me back,” Cappello says. “The smiles on people’s faces are those enormously wide, ugly smiles. I’ve never experienced it before.”

Tim Capello performs at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 14, at Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $7. 423-7117.

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‘The Winter’s Tale’ runs through Sept. 1 at the Grove in Delaveaga Park, 501 Upper Park Rd., Santa Cruz. santacruzshakespeare.org.

WEDNESDAY 8/14

COUNTRY

PHIL MARSH

7:30 p.m. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777

THURSDAY 8/15

FUNK

DIGGIN DIRT

8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 479-1854.

COMEDY

CAITLIN GILL

8 p.m. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 900-5123.

FRIDAY 8/16

ELECTRO-FUNK

PLANET BOOTY

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 429-6994.

SATURDAY 8/17

GARAGE-ROCK

THE NUDE PARTY

9 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $10. 704-7113.

SUNDAY 8/18

CABARET

DEVOTCHKA

8 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $20 adv/$24 door. 335-2800.

MONDAY 8/19

JOHN PIZZARELLI TRIO

7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $42 adv/$47.25 door. 427-2227.

TUESDAY 8/20

INDIE

THE PALMS

9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $12. 423-1338.

9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.

WANT TO GO?