You know those friends you’ve had forever? Maybe you don’t see them as often as you’d like, but you’ve shared so many adventures that whenever you get together, you pick up right where you left off, your conversation as full of vivid memories, tart observations, and raucous laughter as if you’d never been apart.
That’s kind of what it’s like going to see Tea With the Dames—a chatty and witty conversation with beloved old friends. It features four of our most acclaimed British actresses—Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Eileen Atkins—in the most challenging roles of their careers: themselves. In this irresistible documentary from veteran feature director Roger Michell, these four great ladies of stage, screen, and television (each of them honored with the title of Dame), and longtime friends in real life, get together for an afternoon of tea and conversation—always, trenchant, often hilarious—about life, love, friendship, and the craft of acting.
When the Dames get together for one of their semi-regular rendezvous, Michell and his crew tag along. They meet in the garden of the country house Plowright shared for decades with her late husband, Lord Laurence Olivier (“Larry,” to one and all). They enjoy bantering with the crew members who take an interminable time setting up each shot. (“Hurry up,” advises Smith, “we’re taking root here.”)
But soon the conversation is in full swing. The Dames discuss companies, directors, producers, and fellow players they have worked with over the years, at venues from London’s prestigious National Theater at the Old Vic, to Smith’s turn as Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, to an outdoor Mystery Play performed at York Cathedral in the medieval tradition, in which a very young Dench had a small role. A few random silent video clips from this production are fascinating (to us, and the Dames), showing how judiciously Michell uses vintage footage from the actresses’ illustrious careers to illustrate their stories.
(Smith recounts being a young actress playing Desdemona to Olivier’s Othello in a stage production videotaped for TV. When she huffs that Larry hit her, Michell shows us the resounding slap Olivier fetched his co-star in the heat of the moment. “That was the only time I saw stars at the National Theater,” Smith declares.)
Besides shop talk (discussing how to do Shakespeare “as poetry . . . but also be naturalistic”), the women field topics suggested by Michell—from husbands and children, to the 1960s (“We didn’t need the ’60s,” says Smith; they “behaved badly” enough). When asked if they might have any advice for their younger selves, Dench offers, “When in doubt—don’t.” The delicate question of getting old is especially poignant for Plowright, whose gradual loss of vision has now curtailed her acting career, but who still has plenty of sharp observations to contribute.
Fans of Downton Abbey will be pleased to see that Smith is as deliciously acerbic in real life as her alter-ego onscreen, Dowager Countess Violet Crawley. Although they may be shocked to learn that, while gifted with a box set of the entire series on DVD, she has never actually seen the show. But she does recall having to wear an uncomfortable period hat that was “huge—like the Albert Hall!” Meanwhile, Dench, best known these days for playing regal queens, tells of an encounter with a young male doctor whose tone was so patronizing, she was moved to issue a blistering, scatological retort.
Tea With the Dames is a welcome timeout between the season of men in tights and testosterone action thrillers and the more serious, Oscar-bait movies to come. Grab a crumpet, pull up a chair, and refresh yourself!
TEA WITH THE DAMES
***1/2 (out of four)
With Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Eileen Atkins. A film by Roger Michell. (Not rated) 84 minutes.
Live music highlights for the week of Oct.24, 2018.
WEDNESDAY 10/24
FOLK
THE WEATHER STATION
Somewhere between Steve Gunn and Johanna Warren is Tamara Lindemann, the Toronto songwriter known as the Weather Station. With an ear for crystalline melodies, Lindemann brings quiet strength and stunning lyrical clarity to her lived-in folk songs. In “Thirty,” the second track from last year’s acclaimed self-titled album, she describes a moment of self-realization at a culturally perilous age: “I could see it so simple, unsubtle/Impossible, clearly/And strange/Far and as close as a mountain range/On the horizon driving all day.” In Lindemann’s hands, the familiar becomes strange, and the strange familiar again. MIKE HUGUENOR
INFO: 9 p.m. The Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $14/door. 429-6994.
HIP-HOP
NNAMDI OGBONNAYA
Armed with hyper-animated synth riffs and rubber band-like vocals, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya’s eclectic brand of Chicago DIY hip-hop is clever, nuanced, and catchy AF. His arsenal of oddball yet genuine lyrics competes for center stage with rhythms so dynamic they might be cartoonish, except they utterly capture and transcend those lyrics from the zeitgeist of Ogbonnaya’s brain into a universal experience of which even the coldest, smallest-aorta grinch relates. Part fun and all killer instinct, Ogbonnaya is the champion mixed martial artist of the music world. AMY BEE
The great thing about being in a jam band is that you are in a great position to join other jam bands, as being in tune with the spontaneity of the moment is basically your job. California Kind, which bills itself as a “jam veteran” band, will send you on an incredible psychedelic, funky possibly mind-altering journey, with eons of experience to back up all the far out jams. We’re talking about people who’ve played with David Nelson Band, the Dead, Jefferson Starship, Bruce Hornsby, Chris Robinson, and Moonalice. Just make sure you toss your calendar in the trash, because you won’t need that where you’re heading. AARON CARNES
As a drummer who thrives deep in the pocket, Brooklyn-based Allison Miller is a trap set marvel who keeps company with jazz’s greatest improvisers. Her latest album, Science Fair, evolved out of the Stanford Jazz Workshop. Co-led by pianist Carmen Staaf, the album features the horn tandem of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens. She concludes a Western tour with her long-running band Boom Tic Boom, which is offering a sneak peak at a stellar new album Glitter Wolf. Miller is a savvy composer who continually finds new ways to showcase her ostentatiously talent-packed combo featuring violinist Jenny Scheinman, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, cornetist Kirk Knuffke, bassist Tony Scherr, and pianist Dawn Clement. ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $26.25/adv, $31.50/door. 427-2227.
FRIDAY 10/26
COUNTRY
MISS LONELY HEARTS
Miss Lonely Hearts is one of those distinctly Santa Cruz-y country-ish bands leading the local roots music surge. There’s a bit of outlaw grit and honkytonk groove, mixed in with coastal mountain hippie peace and love. You might even see them sporting cowboy hats, which is making an odd sort of sense here in Santa Cruz in 2018. AC
There aren’t many musicians performing today who have had their finger on the pop culture pulse for as long as Jesse Colin Young. He had already cut two solo albums before forming the Youngbloods, who would release the iconic Summer of Love anthem, “Get Together.” By the time Nirvana re-used the lyrics in the ’90’s (“Come on people, smile on your brother”), Young already had another two decades of solo recording under his belt. MAT WEIR
INFO: 8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $35/gen, $48/gold. 423-8209.
SATURDAY 10/27
ROCK
CHRIS BARRON
It’s been 27 years since the Spin Doctors released Pocket Full of Kryptonite, an album that ushered in an era of coffee-shop rock and acoustic jams. Since then, the world has changed immeasurably, but songs like “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” have remained firmly lodged in the public consciousness, thanks to the catchy melodicism of singer Chris Barron. Barron’s solo work retains the lighthearted playfulness of his Doctoral days, and at Michael’s on Main he promises to bring a mix of new tunes and Spin Doctors classics—so get ready for the scat-along of the century in “Two Princes.” MH
INFO: 2 p.m. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $17 adv/$20 door. 479-9777.
PSYCH ROCK
LOFI SATELLITES
Formed on the shores of Pacifica, LoFi Satellites launched their Soundcloud in 2016 with a few demo tracks. Today, the psyche-pop quartet have played all over the Bay Area, taking listeners on a spaced-out journey through the inner mind. Yet, unlike more experimental rock, LoFi Satellites stay within an orbit of dusty daydreams, much like the Black Angels or Queens of the Stone Age. They’ll be joined on stage by local heavy hitters Homebrew, local funkers Light the Band, and the eclectic sounds of Davis’ the Big Poppies. MW
INFO: 9 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, $5. 423-7117.
SUNDAY 10/28
FUNK
LUCKY CHOPS
Santa Cruz is in for a fiery, funky and fun night as Lucky Chops brassify your favorite songs into something better than you ever imagined. The six-piece group of happy horns blat and squeal their way through an arrangement of popular tunes worthy of their internet-viral fame, putting their signature spin on songs that other musicians may mistakenly leave for the dusty three-ring tomes of Karaoke bars. Dedicated to inspiring and educating through music, Lucky Chops are working hard on their first full-length studio album for 2019. AB
The two songs on Getaway Dogs’ new 7″ single are not new—they were previously released on the band’s Lost in the Ebb LP. But since the lineup has basically completely changed, leader Kai Killion thought it would be fun to have the current version of the band do some recordings of the songs.
It’s just a taste of what’s to come. The group is hard at work on its long-awaited follow-up full length, which has been in the works since January of this year and is expected to be released in the Spring of 2019.
“There’s a more honed-in sound,” Killion says. “It feels like a progressive step forward for the songwriting. It feels like it’ll be the best body of work that we’ve released yet, and we’re really excited for everyone to hear what we have in store.”
Originally a solo project for Killion, Getaway Dogs became a proper band after he released the album Mermaid Legs and Getaway Dogs in late 2013, and was looking for a way to do the songs justice in a live setting. Now he’s able to incorporate elements like psychedelic soundscapes and Brazilian rhythms. A friend even coined a genre name for it: “cushy bedroom psychedelic bossa nova.”
“It’s nice to have some kind of term to give it. It’s definitely a mix of so many things, and has the coastal element of Santa Cruz as a big part of it—surf rock and reverb and stuff. Also there’s soul and Brazilian music and psychedelic rock heavily in there as well,” Killion says.
Electronic music, traditional Middle Eastern music, and Afrobeat might seem like worlds that would never normally collide.
As it turns out, Beats Antique formed a shade over a decade ago with the express purpose of blending these seemingly unblendable sounds into something resembling a cohesive vision. And it works splendidly.
The East Bay band takes the hypnotic, tribal-trance-like elements of these genres to find common ground on a spiritual level. There’s even a strong component of dance performance to really transport you to an otherworldly place.
Winter is just around the corner, and Warren Miller Entertainment is ready to kick off the season with its 69th installment ski and snowboard film, Face of Winter, presented by Volkswagen. The late, great Warren Miller built his legacy capturing the essence of winter magic, and today that legacy launches the start of the ski and snowboard season every year. In the 69th feature film, celebrate the man who became known as the face of winter throughout the industry, and the places and people he influenced along the way.
This year, new and veteran athletes come together to pay tribute to the man who started it all, including Jonny Moseley, Marcus Caston, Seth Wescott, Forrest Jillson, Kaylin Richardson, Dash Longe, Anna Segal, Michael “Bird” Shaffer, and featured athletes of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, including gold medalist, Jessie Diggins. Watch as they visit some of Warren’s favorite places from Engleberg to Chamonix, British Columbia to Alaska, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand and more.
“The film is for anyone whose life (whether they realize it or not) was impacted by Warren Miller,” says WME Managing Director Andy Hawk. “We are all the face of winter—from the athletes to the audience to the locals in far-off destinations or even at our home mountain. Warren recognized this, and this year’s film celebrates that.”
All fans, young and old, are invited to come together and carry on the tradition of the official kickoff to winter during the 2018 national tour. Film attendees will enjoy lift ticket and gear savings from Warren Miller resort, retail, and other brand partners. And, all moviegoers will be entered to win nightly prizes like swag and ski vacations.
Sponsors of the 2018 Warren Miller Tour
Volkswagen, Mount Gay Rum, L.L. Bean, Helly Hansen, Marmot, Switzerland Tourism, Ski Portillo, K2, Black Crows, Marker Dalbello Völkl USA, Blizzard Tecnica, and SKI Magazine.
Featured Athletes
Dash Longe | Jim Ryan | Forrest Jillson | Jess McMillan | Simon Hillis | Kaylin Richardson
Dennis Risvoll | Michael “Bird” Shaffer | Camille Jaccoux | Bruno Compagnet
Brennan Metzler | Francesca Pavillard-Cain | Amie Engerbretson | Jonny Moseley
Anna Segal | Kevin Bolger Paddy Caldwell | Sophie Caldwell | Jessie Diggins
Simi Hamilton | Ida Sargent | Marcus Caston Johan Jonsson | Rob Kingwill | Seth Wescott
Film Destinations
Alaska | British Columbia | Chamonix | Chile | Iceland
New Zealand | Switzerland | Washington
Santa Cruz Shows
Tues, Nov. 20 7:30pm – Rio Theatre. $15pp. Buy Tickets
EVERYONE ATTENDING RECEIVES A FREE LIFT TICKET TO MOUNT SHASTA SKI PARK, PLUS TWO FOR ONE OFFERS FROM SQUAW VALLEY-ALPINE MEADOWS AND JACKSONHOLE! TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE AT SPORTS BASEMENT.
Editor’s note: This story was first published in ‘Dilated Pupil,’ an annual magazine about student culture in Santa Cruz.
There are two types of cookie eaters in this world. Those who, like me, prefer the thin and crispy snap of a chocolate chip cookie, and those like Cookie Cruz owner Matt O’Brien, who prefer their cookies thick, cakey and chewy.
Before tasting Cookie Cruz, I would have said that O’Brien keep his cookies on his side of the court. But alas, after ordering the Nutella and Cookies ’n’ Cream, the chewy cookie has infiltrated my home, heart and long held opinions of what a cookie should be like.
Matthew O’Brien knows how to keep a good thing going. Not only will he deliver cookies to your front door during the late hours of the night, but he makes sure they are warm, gooey, and coupled with Marianne’s ice cream and/or cold milk. It’s Santa Cruz, so he also provides for the gluten-free and vegans. Cookie Cruz (formerly All-Nighter Cookies) boasts eight cookie flavors, including (in order of my personal favorites) Nutella, cookies ’n’ cream, chocolate chip and chocolate mint chip.
“A lot of people are surprised that there is no weed in the cookies,” O’Brien laughs. “Seriously, most people think that they are weed cookies, especially when I first tell them what my business is.”
It’s not a surprise, really, since Cookie Cruz is particularly well-known among college students. O’Brien says they sometimes will tip with weed or acid.
O’Brien uses his dad’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, which uses oatmeal flour to give it a more substantial, wholesome bite. Most of the other cookie flavors are based off of the chocolate chip recipe, as well. He says he’s also experimented with a Cheetos cookie and a peanut butter and jelly cookie, which I continue to hope he brings back so that I have an excuse to order another dozen. But he’s got a lot of requests lined up already.
“I get requests for the white chocolate macadamia a lot. I haven’t done that one yet,” O’Brien says. “The Cheeto one is really good. I’m telling you, it’s sweet and salty—it’s so good. I’ve also done a double peanut butter one that was peanut butter and stuffed with peanut butter. Before summer is over, I want to do an orange creamsicle cookie.”
Cookie Cruz has regulars who order cookies every week, or even every day. Beyond satisfying the late-night munchies of students around UCSC, they serves families, middle and high schoolers schoolers, the 911 call center, police dispatch and hospitals. O’Brien says nurses, in particular, love them.
“We’ve got them hooked,” O’Brien says. “I tell my delivery people that if they are delivering to a hospital, they have to call the nurse who ordered it, because if they just leave the cookies there they always get stolen and eaten. It happens all the time.”
A UCSC alumnus, O’Brien has been running his cookie delivery business for three years since he started it in his apartment in 2015. He ran it all himself at first, baking cookies and delivering them from UCSC to Aptos almost nightly for a year. Eventually it got to the point where it was too busy for him to run the company alone. Now he has eight employees to do the driving for him, though he still makes deliveries.
“I just really liked cookies, and ate them a lot, plus I wanted to start a business, so I just made this happen,” O’Brien says. “I only started off with chocolate chip cookies, then I added snickerdoodle and mint. Now there is a bunch of milks, ice creams and vegan cookies.”
O’Brien says that they will spend one day mixing one type of cookie for the entire week, then they will scoop and freeze it for quick and easy baking. This continues throughout the week for all of the types of cookies. They are open nightly seven days a week.
“My whole life, I’ve only worked for private businesses, and I wanted to make my own schedule and be my own boss,” he says. “I just really like sleeping in and surfing, and I wanted to start a business that I could do all of that. So, here we are.”
The first time I met David Brissenden, I only knew him by reputation. And that reputation was the Man Who Had Gotten Me Way, Way Too High. So I think I said something like, “Hey man! You got me way, way too high!”
This was sometime last year, after I had eaten admittedly too much of a big, delicious chocolate made by Cosmo D’s Outrageous Edibles. About six hours later, while completely unable to figure out how to reach a glass of water sitting on a desk three feet away from me, I started to understand what was so outrageous about them. But surprisingly, when I ran into Brissenden, he took some of the blame, saying he was still experimenting with his recipes. His stories about the wild road that got him where he is today are strange and hilarious, and you’ll find a lot of them in Lauren Hepler’s interview with him.
Matt O’Brien, the UCSC alumnus who founded the brilliant late-night delivery service Cookie Cruz, has some out-there stories, too, which Georgia Johnson details in her profile. Also in this issue, Christina Waters explains why Cabrillo’s culinary programs are an aspiring chef’s best friend, and Maria Grusauskas explores the retro open road of Santa Cruz’s Westphalia rental fleet. All that, and more student guiding than you can fiat lux at in our student guide!
On Thursday night at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, the sedate, all-wood decor cut a stark contrast to a blur of activity inside. Several dozen students, labor organizers and landlords buzzed around folding tables stacked with campaign buttons, renters’ rights guides and ever-present voter registration forms, stopping occasionally to pile paper plates with tamales, chips and salsa.
There were the community standbys, like the Homeless Garden Project, SEIU Local 521 and Food Not Bombs. There were also more niche groups: Landlords and Homeowners for Rent Control, Students United with Renters, the Santa Cruz Tenants Organizing Committee, and campaigners for both the $100 million Measure H county housing bond and the Measure M Santa Cruz rent control initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Evelyn Tapia, a 20-year-old sociology student at UCSC, had never been to a housing rally before. She’d secured on-campus housing as a transfer student but was attracted to the “No Place Like Home Event”—named for a new UCSC Center for Labor Studies survey and housing website—after witnessing the strain on Santa Cruz renters that reminded her of growing up in a crowded Salinas apartment with her family of five, often struggling to get by with wages from work in the local ag sector.
“I’ve lived around this. It’s just something that I’m really tired of seeing,” said Tapia, who has heard more recently about families doubling and tripling up to deal with rising costs, sometimes sleeping in closets. “I wanted to get resources that I could share with people.”
The event coincided with a planned Affordable Housing Week and was organized by the Santa Cruz County Housing Advocacy Network, a coalition of groups like the SEIU, Community Bridges, California Rural Legal Assistance and many others. It doubled as an illustration of a growing renters’ rights coalition in Santa Cruz, bringing together students and activists, labor unions, affordable housing developers and property owners potentially willing to risk future financial gains—many for what they say will be a fight well beyond election day to build new housing, preserve existing affordable units and add more legal protections for renters.
“There’s also campaigns going on across the state,” said Dean Preston, head of Bay Area-based renter advocacy group Tenants Together, including National City, Sacramento, El Cerrito and LA County. “We’re going to see a wave of these ordinances moving forward.”
RENTERS RALLY Attendees at an Oct. 18 “No Place Like Home” affordable housing event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.
There will be a combined total of five city, county and state housing measures on the ballot for Santa Cruz voters on Nov. 6. In addition to Measures M and H, there are two state housing funding measures (Propositions 1 and 2) and a proposed expansion of the types of units cities may be able to regulate under local rent control programs (Proposition 10).
On a stage flanked by a banner with a black and white silhouette of the Monopoly man and the phrase “THIS IS A CRISIS/PICK A SIDE,” speakers on Thursday covered a wide range of factors contributing to a severe lack of area affordable housing: global trends toward buying up once-accessible units as investment vehicles; long-evaporated state and federal funding streams; the unique economics of Santa Cruz as both a vacation rental destination and a relatively small city home to a fast-growing university.
“Scholars compare the housing crisis to climate change,” said UCSC Sociology Professor Miriam Greenberg, who co-organized the “No Place Like Home” study. “There is no silver bullet.”
UCSC students like 21-year-old Los Angeles County native Jocelyne Alvarez, a senior studying sociology who worked on the “No Place Like Home” project since last spring, presented results of the multi-year survey. They included hundreds of people working in Santa Cruz. Among those surveyed, about 45 percent who worked in the city live in the city, they found. While 60 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of income on rent, the survey also found that 48 percent of homeowners are similarly burdened by high mortgages. Researchers talked to city and county employees, as well as workers from Community Bridges and Salud Para la Gente. Two-thirds of respondents struggled to pay for basics like food or health care.
For Alvarez, the numbers are personal. To keep up with record-breaking rents in Santa Cruz—currently hovering around an average $2,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to online rental listing services like RentCafe—she augmented her summer research job with work as a home health aide six days a week, up to 12 hours a day, to pay her roughly $800 share for a three-bedroom apartment split with four other students near the Denny’s on Ocean Street.
“This is another home for me, and I want it to be a home for everyone,” says Alvarez, who changed her voter registration from LA to Santa Cruz in part to vote for Measure M.
SEIU member Cheryl Williams spoke about how even her stable job as a senior clerk for the county’s assessment appeals board hasn’t insulated her from rising costs. Though she’s lived in Santa Cruz since 1979, Williams said she’s had to move four times in the last two years. That includes a recent month-and-a-half in limbo staying with a friend, all her belongings in storage and her adult son with no place to go.
“Cost burden is a big damn deal in Santa Cruz. It has affected me greatly,” Williams said. “There’s trouble in paradise.”
Rent Control
Just as renter advocacy group have coalesced around rent control and new affordable housing funding measures, landlords, realtors, homeowners and, yes, some renters, have also united in recently formed rent control opposition groups led by Santa Cruz Together.
They frame the version of rent control proposed under Measure M as too extreme, since it allows for renters to move in specified family members unlike similar measures in other cities. Anti-rent control groups also contend that new “just cause” eviction protections modeled after those in Richmond and other cities would make it too difficult to remove problem tenants.
Still, campaign rhetoric at the event on Thursday about insidious real estate industry forces profiting off of high housing costs didn’t sit well with all attendees. One woman who said that she is is currently sleeping in a shed while seeking more permanent housing told speakers that, “I don’t think it’s fair to throw the realtors under the bus.”
CHOOSING SIDES A banner at the Oct. 18 “No Place Like Home” affordable housing event.
One landlord who spoke, Jack Jacobson, a board member of Community Bridges, said he supports Measure M after operating buildings in rent-controlled jurisdictions like West Hollywood without issue. He also has personal motivations.
“The most interesting people in Santa Cruz can’t live in Santa Cruz anymore,” he said, noting that many friends, especially artists, have been forced to move to cheaper cities.
Speakers discussed several potential political, social and economic models to add to local housing inventory and curb displacement of current residents. Aside from rent control, funding and stronger legal protections for renters, there was talk of more building on public land and whether UCSC might sign a memorandum in the mold of UC Davis, which in September committed to adding housing for all new students and employees in Yolo County.
For now, Diana Alfaro, a project manager with affordable housing developer MidPen Housing, said that capacity has already been far exceeded for the few new income-restricted units that have been built in recent years.
“We received 2,500 applications for 46 units,” Alfaro said of the most recent of the developer’s 13 projects in Santa Cruz County. “Things are not getting easier. They’re getting worse.”
If you love Rosé, you will be very happy with the Wrights Station Rosé of Pinot Noir 2017, a delicious pink libation that’s fit for a king’s table.
“We doubled our production this year,” says Carol (aka CJ) Martin, who’s in charge of promotions, events and sales at Wrights Station. “This Rosé is no simple sipper,” Martin says. “It’s primarily 777 clone—our most earthy Pinot—and is complex with its tri-fruit component followed by a little dust of the earth. Though not simple, it’s still soft and easy like Sunday morning … or afternoon!”
Martin says their 2016 Rosé of Pinot Noir was equally popular and sold out almost as fast as it hit the tasting room, so don’t expect the 2017 Rosé to linger around very long. With its strawberry, plum and peach notes, it comes with an abundance of flavor—and it’s reasonably priced at $30. Here’s hoping that Wrights Station owner and winemaker Dan Lokteff produces much more of this very drinkable Rosé of Pinot Noir.
Wrights Station, 24250 Loma Prieta Ave., Los Gatos, 408-560-9343. wrightsstation.com. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Sunday.
An Evening of Wine & Roses
Pajaro Valley Health Trust is celebrating its 20th anniversary of putting on An Evening of Wine & Roses—raising funds for health promotion programs for Pajaro Valley residents. This year, around 20 wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains will be pouring their wines—accompanied by many tastes from area restaurants and brewers. The event is from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2 at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds’ Crosetti Hall. Tickets are $75.
If you love Cabernet Sauvignon, then head to House Family Vineyards in Saratoga for Premier Cruz, a very special dinner paired with Cabs from a dozen different wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Farm-to-table cuisine will be prepared by Rodney Baca, executive chef at House Family vineyards. The event is 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3 and tickets are $140.
Visit the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association website at scmwa.com.
Janet Croteau loves writing songs. She sees it as a form of therapy that is healing to both the people expressing themselves and those listening. She is currently in the process of becoming a licensed psychotherapist after all.
“I really feel like art is a great way to connect with the self and it’s super therapeutic. I think people hunger to be more real. Songwriting is such a cool way for the individual to self-express,” Croteau says. “It’s mesmerizing to hear somebody exposing the essence of who they are through a song.”
She’s been finding different ways to express herself for years (poetry, comedy, performance art) and discovered songwriting about six years ago. At first, she assumed it would be too hard for her, but once she attended a songwriting workshop at Esalen in Big Sur, the songs started flowing out of her by the second day. She’s since written more than 100 songs and just recently released her full-length album Wild Heart this past July.
“I really believe that everybody is an artist, and that songwriting isn’t some exclusive thing that you can only do if you play the guitar for 20 years,” Croteau says. Her passion for getting people to experience songwriting is driving her new bi-monthly songwriting salon that is premiering at Michael’s on Main on Oct. 24. This particular show is called “Women Who (Folking) Rock,” and it showcases women songwriters who can write a mean song on their acoustic guitars. Every other month, the theme will change, though she’ll likely come back to this one again.
“Songwriting is a lost art form,” she says. “I think people are missing out on this incredible vehicle for self-expression that we have in our community.”
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, Michael’s on Main, 2591 S. Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777.
Winter is just around the corner, and Warren Miller Entertainment is ready to kick off the season with its 69th installment ski and snowboard film, Face of Winter, presented by Volkswagen. The late, great Warren Miller built his legacy capturing the essence of winter magic, and today that legacy launches the start of the ski and snowboard season every...
The first time I met David Brissenden, I only knew him by reputation. And that reputation was the Man Who Had Gotten Me Way, Way Too High. So I think I said something like, “Hey man! You got me way, way too high!”
This was sometime last year, after I had eaten admittedly too much of a big, delicious...
