Rob Brezsnyโ€™s Astrology June 19-25

Free will astrology for the week of June 19, 2019

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Orfield Laboratories is an architectural company that designs rooms for ultimate comfort. They sculpt the acoustic environment so that sounds are soft, clear and pleasant to the human ear. They ensure that the temperature is just right and the air quality is always fresh. At night the artificial light is gentle on the eyes, and by day the sunlight is rejuvenating. In the coming weeks, Iโ€™d love for you to be in places like this on a regular basis. According to my analysis of the astrological rhythms, itโ€™s recharging time for you. You need and deserve an abundance of cozy relaxation.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I hope that during the next four weeks, you will make plans to expedite and deepen your education. Youโ€™ll be able to make dramatic progress in figuring out what will be most important for you to learn in the next three years. We all have pockets of ignorance about how we understand reality, and now is an excellent time for you to identify what your pockets are and to begin illuminating them. Every one of us lacks some key training or knowledge that could help us fulfill our noblest dreams, and now is a favorable time for you to address that issue.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In the next four weeks, youโ€™re not likely to win the biggest prize or tame the fiercest monster or wield the greatest power. However, you could very well earn a second- or third-best honor. I wonโ€™t be surprised if you claim a decent prize or outsmart a somewhat menacing dragon or gain an interesting new kind of clout. Oddly enough, this less-than-supreme accomplishment may be exactly right for you. The lower levels of pressure and responsibility will keep you sane and healthy. The stress of your moderate success will be very manageable. So give thanks for this just-right blessing!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Some traditional astrologers believe solar eclipses are sour omens. They theorize that when the moon perfectly covers the sun, as it will on July 2, a metaphorical shadow will pass across some part of our lives, perhaps triggering crises. I donโ€™t agree with that gloomy assessment. I consider a solar eclipse to be a harbinger of grace and slack and freedom. In my view, the time before and after this cosmic event might resemble what the workplace is like when the boss is out of town. Or it may be a sign that your inner critic is going to shut up and leave you alone for a while. Or you could suddenly find that you can access the willpower and ingenuity you need so as to change something about your life that youโ€™ve been wanting to change. So I advise you to start planning now to take advantage of the upcoming blessings of the eclipse.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): What are you doing with the fertility and creativity that have been sweeping through your life during the first six months of 2019? Are you witheringly idealistic, caught up in perfectionistic detail as you cautiously follow outmoded rules about how to make best use of that fertility and creativity? Or are you being expansively pragmatic, wielding your lively imagination to harness that fertility and creativity to generate transformations that will improve your life forever?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Mythologist Joseph Campbell said that heroes are those who give their lives to something bigger than themselves. Thatโ€™s never an easy assignment for anyone, but right now itโ€™s less difficult for you than ever before. As you prepare for the joyous ordeal, I urge you to shed the expectation that it will require you to make a burdensome sacrifice. Instead, picture the process as involving the loss of a small pleasure that paves the way for a greater pleasure. Imagine you will finally be able to give a giant gift youโ€™ve been bursting to express.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In 1903, the Wright Brothers put wings on a heavy machine and got the contraption to fly up off the ground for 59 seconds. No one had ever done such a thing. Sixty-six years later, American astronauts succeeded at an equally momentous feat. They piloted a craft that departed from the Earth and landed on the surface of the moon. The first motorcycle was another quantum leap in humansโ€™ ability to travel. Two German inventors created the first one in 1885. But it took 120 years before any person did a backflip while riding a motorcycle. If I had to compare your next potential breakthrough to one or the other marvelous invention, I’d say it’ll be more metaphorically similar to a motorcycle flip than the moon landing. It may not be crucial to the evolution of the human race, but itโ€™ll be impressiveโ€”and a testament to your hard work.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the year 37 A.D., Saul of Tarsus was traveling by foot from Jerusalem to Damascus, Syria. He was on a mission to find and arrest devotees of Jesus, then bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished. Saulโ€™s plans got waylaid, howeverโ€”or so the story goes. A โ€œlight from heavenโ€ knocked him down, turned him blind, and spoke to him in the voice of Jesus. Three days later, Saulโ€™s blindness was healed and he pledged himself to forevermore be one of those devotees of Jesus he previously persecuted. I donโ€™t expect a transformation quite so spectacular for you in the coming weeks, Scorpio. But I do suspect you will change your mind about an important issue, and consider making a fundamental edit of your belief system.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You could be a disorienting or even disruptive influence to some people. You may also have healing and inspirational effects. And yes, both of those statements are true. You should probably warn your allies that you might be almost unbearably interesting. Let them know you could change their minds and disprove their theories. But also tell them that if they remain open to your rowdy grace and boisterous poise, you might provide them with curative stimulation they didnโ€™t even know they needed.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Some children are repelled by the taste of broccoli. Food researchers at the McDonaldโ€™s restaurant chain decided to address the problem. In an effort to render this ultra-healthy vegetable more palatable, they concocted a version that tasted like bubble gum. Kids didnโ€™t like it, though. It confused them. But you have to give credit to the food researchers for thinking inventively. I encourage you to get equally creative, even a bit wacky or odd, in your efforts to solve a knotty dilemma. Allow your brainstorms to be playful and experimental.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Spank yourself for me, please. Ten sound swats ought to do it. According to my astrological assessments, that will be sufficient to rein yourself in from the possibility of committing excesses and extravagance. By enacting this humorous yet serious ritual, you will set in motion corrective forces that tweak your unconscious mind in just the right way so as to prevent you from getting too much of a good thing; you will avoid asking for too much or venturing too far. Instead, you will be content with and grateful for the exact bounty you have gathered in recent weeks.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your inspiration for the coming weeks is a poem by Piscean poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It begins like this: โ€œThe holiest of all holidays are those / Kept by ourselves in silence and apart; / The secret anniversaries of the heart, / When the full river of feeling overflows.โ€ In accordance with astrological omens, Pisces, I invite you to create your own secret holiday of the heart, which you will celebrate at this time of year for the rest of your long life. Be imaginative and full of deep feelings as you dream up the marvelous reasons why you will observe this sacred anniversary. Design special rituals you will perform to rouse your gratitude for the miracle of your destiny.

Homework: Itโ€™s my birthday. If you feel moved, send me love and blessings! Info about how to do that at freewillastrology.com.

 

Anthkrna Brings โ€˜Chaotic Blissโ€™ to Santa Cruz

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Drummer Ryan Scott Long has a hard time describing his two-piece band Anthkrna. Thereโ€™s a lot of Indian musical influence. Thereโ€™s a jazz aesthetic. Itโ€™s got elements of trance and pumped up breakbeats. Itโ€™s 100% improvised. With all that going on, the best description he can give is โ€œchaotic bliss.โ€

Itโ€™s a sound that can inspire a lot of different reactions, he says. ย ย 

โ€œYou can be on the other side of the room meditating peacefully, engaging with the performance, or you can be that crazy festival person, dancing your ass off the entire night. It really depends on how the listener is feeling,โ€ says Long.

The project, which comes to the Crepe Place on June 21, isnโ€™t Longโ€™s primary musical outlet. Itโ€™s just something that he and VoidTripper (aka Jared Warren) do on occasion. The two are longtime friends who used to play in an Oakland punk band together, until Warren dove deep into studying Indian classical music and learning how to read Sanskrit.

โ€œItโ€™s way different than anything Iโ€™ve ever tried to do with anyone before,โ€ Long says of Anthkrna. โ€œFrom an artistic standpoint, it challenges me to be more creative and just see what we can get away with. Itโ€™s a lot of fun.โ€

His primary focus is the relatively new group And Then Came Humans, another duo for which he plays drums, with Mike Sopko on guitar. Currently Sopko lives in Cleveland, Long lives in New Orleans, and they play 200-250 shows a year.

The group isnโ€™t as out there as Anthkrna, but itโ€™s still very experimental, and an opportunity for them to flex their musical chops and think creatively. The band released its debut album In Heat Wave last year; itโ€™s quirky, catchy and has a solid groove. The title track is a weird, funny song with jokey vocals, cartoonish synthesizers, jazzy guitars, and a funky drumbeat. Some of the songs are just downright bizarre musical experiments that barely have a melody.

Even as a two-piece, Anthkrna manages to get a real fullness to its sound. The duo also wants to add more instruments to the group, specifically Long playing the keyboards, singing and drumming at the same time.

โ€œWe worked really hard in the music trying to find a sound that works, and to just continue to expand on creative ideas,โ€ Long says. โ€œAs simple and silly as that might sound, it really does come down to that.โ€

Longโ€™s love for the duo setup explains why heโ€™s playing in Anthrkna whenever he gets a break from the full-time schedule of And Then Came Humans.

โ€œTwo people is the way to go. Itโ€™s forced me to completely change the way I play. And to understand how to sound fuller without necessarily having to add more notes or to be busy,โ€ Scott says. โ€œI have to find ways to be able to stand alone, like Iโ€™m just playing a groove. Iโ€™m not even playing a fill. And just having that be everything that needs to be there. And being okay with that.โ€

But the two projects allow him to show off completely different artistic sides, Long says.

โ€œWhat I do with Jared, Iโ€™m not doing anything near that ballpark with Mike. Theyโ€™re so different from each other,โ€ Scotts says. โ€œAnthkrna is more like the Picasso. Itโ€™s still groove-oriented, and people get into it. But we donโ€™t know whatโ€™s going to happen next at any point in time.โ€

Anthkrna performs at 9 p.m. on Friday, June 21, at the Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 429-6994.

Savor Summer Harvest at UCSC Farm Cart, PopUp Picnics

Summer in this neck of the woods always means that farmers markets are bursting at the seams with vibrant visuals, texture, aromas, and the sheer buzzing, blooming diversity of flavors.

While I like to graze around the county at our various outdoor markets, one of the ones dearest to my heart is the UCSC Farm & Garden Market Cart now open on Fridays from noon-6 p.m. at the base of the UCSC campus at the corner of Bay and High streets.

Under the canvas awning, the shaded tables are ablaze with colorful berries, flowers, aromatic onions, and other special treats grown and picked by apprentices at UCSCโ€™s agroecology program. Early-season offerings from the farm include strawberries, blueberries and an array of tender lettuces, arugulas and other greens. As the growing season progresses, we can look forward to sweet corn, the famous dry-farmed tomatoes, plums, potatoes, oodles of sweet and hot peppers, heirloom variety apples, basil, and much more.

Flower bouquetsโ€”some romantically old world, others clearly created with free-form artistryโ€”are also sold at the cart every week. I find it almost impossible to pass up the bouquets loaded with dahlias, sweet peas, sunflowers, nigelia, roses, and delphinia. And this will go on into late October, maybe early November. See you there!

PopUp in the Park

Itโ€™s official! Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks has unveiled PopUp Picnics in the Park, returning to Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park in downtown Santa Cruz for the fourth summer in a row. This yearโ€™s picnics will happen every Thursday through Aug. 15 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30pm. Picnickers can purchase lunch or bring their own. Savor the view of downtown from the Missionโ€™s plaza, or enjoy lunch under the shade of avocado and redwood trees.

Many people we know swear by this Thursday al fresco event, where Taquitos Gabrielโ€™s, a favorite from past summers and a popular Mole & Mariachi Festival competitor and food vendor, will be serving each week. The menu includes tacos, plates, burritos, quesadillas, and drinks with occasional specials, such as the wildly popular mole, and items priced from $2-10. Taquitos Gabrielโ€™s plans to donate a portion of proceeds back to Friends on behalf of the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park to fund education and restoration projects at the park. So order generously!

Factoid: the Santa Cruz mission is home to the oldest building in the entire county. The parkโ€™s signature adobe was built in the early 1820s by Ohlone and Yokut Indians, and is the only structure remaining from the Mission Santa Cruz founded in 1791. Many visitors and residents make the mistake of thinking that the small replica mission chapel is the oldest adobe on Mission Hill. But they would be wrong. So after you finish up your quesadillas, do take a look at the old 18th-century adobe preserved within the state park.

Toasting the Avocado

Avocado toast with bacon and tomatoes, accented with cilantro and lime juice, might just be the best open-face variation on the old BLT extant. It is done smartly at Cafe Iveta on Delaware and runs a mere $8.50. Pair it with the refreshing house lemonade and remember why you live here. And the owners of the almost-open Barceloneta at 1541 Pacific Ave. (the site of the former Benten) assure me that that they are โ€œgetting close!โ€ Weโ€™re waiting with open mouths to welcome the new tapas eatery and owners Brett and Elan Emerson to Santa Cruz.

Love Your Local Band: Burning Pictures

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In late May, local four-piece Burning Pictures released its first single โ€œSeaglass,โ€ a dreamy Americana tune that could easily accompany a drive up the California coast.

On lead vocals is singer-songwriter Joe Kaplow, an artist already beloved in town, but this isnโ€™t his band, per se. Heโ€™s one of four equal membersโ€”with Bobcat Rob Armenti, Michael Whalen and Elliot Kayโ€”who take turns writing and singing songs. Itโ€™s a local all-star Americana supergroup.

โ€œJoe will write a song thatโ€™s a very intimate, heartfelt thing. And then Mikey will bring in something thatโ€™s got a much more danceable, up-tempo, funky vibe to it,โ€ Kays says. โ€œCertain people in the band contribute different elements that are all important to the music.โ€

The group plans to showcase this diverse talent by releasing three more singles this year (and eventually, a full-length record). Each song will be written by a different member of the band, who will also sing lead, with the exception of Kay, who writes but doesnโ€™t sing lead.

โ€œWe idolize a lot of bands from back in the day that were great being a sum of their parts,โ€ Kay says, like The Band and the Beatles. โ€œItโ€™s really difficult to keep multiple people together in the same place long enough to really build something together.โ€

The group played its first official show in April, but the members have played together for over a year. They used to be the backing band in Kaplowโ€™s solo project.

Eventually, Kay says, the group decided, โ€œLetโ€™s just give it a band name and all write and contribute our material and have it be more of a democratic thing.โ€™โ€ย 

9 p.m. Friday, June 21, Moeโ€™s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $12 adv/$15 door. 479-1854.

Music Picks: June 19-25

Santa Cruz County live music picks for the week of June 19

WEDNESDAY 6/19

ROCK

SUMMER CANNIBALS

Summer Cannibals ditched its work in progressโ€”nearly an entire albumโ€™s worth of materialโ€”when bandleader Jessica Boudreaux fought her way out of a toxic relationship. Using the ensuing complicated feelings and sense of freedom Boudreaux experienced, Summer Cannibals started a new super-charged project, Canโ€™t Tell Me No (which comes out June 28). It has the same raw energy of their other two albums, but a new level of social confrontation stands front and center, unapologetic. Short and fierce rock anthems proudly rail against those who explicitly or tacitly try to silence women. AMY BEE

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$12 door. 429-6994 ย ย 

 

THURSDAY 6/20

AMERICANA

THE REAL SARAHS

In 2017, the Real Sarahs released sophomore record Afternoon with the Dirty Birds. It was an unusual album for the acoustic trio, as it showcases the groupโ€™s folksy songs backed by the roots-rock stylings of the Dirty Birds. The band followed the record with 2018โ€™s Headed For The Hills, a return to doing what it does best: strumming acoustic instruments and singing lush, hooky harmonies. These are gorgeous, emotive songs thatโ€™ll make you feel like youโ€™re lost in a daydream. AARON CARNES

7:30 p.m. Michaelโ€™s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777.

COMEDY

BETHANY VAN DELFT

Some comedians tell jokes; others tell stories. Bethany Van Delft is somewhere in the middle. This Bostonian stand-up veteran is never afraid to dig into her life and bare it all: being a mother to a child with Downs Syndrome, balancing her comedy career with a life at home while raising kids โ€œwho donโ€™t need therapy,โ€ and her hatred for โ€œdiversityโ€ comedy showcases. She also currates a weekly showcase in Boston called โ€œArtisanal Comedyโ€ that highlights out-of-the-box comedians who might not fit into a normal stand-up night. Sheโ€™s also been featured on Comedy Central, SF Sketchfest and the 2 Dope Queens podcast. MAT WEIR

8 p.m. DNAโ€™s Comedy Lab, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. (530) 592-5250.

 

FRIDAY 6/21

JAZZ

CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT & SULLIVAN FORTNER

A once-in-a-generation talent, Cรฉcile McLorin Salvant has surpassed the oversized expectations that greeted her triumph at the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. In February, she earned her third consecutive Grammy Award for best jazz vocal album, a highly interactive duo project with New Orleans pianist Sullivan Fortner, The Window. Brimming with divergent musical ideas, Salvant is an expanding creative universe. Sardonic, ironic and open-hearted, her music embraces folk-song simplicity and art-song sophistication, singer-songwriter revelation and bebop exultation. ANDREW GILBERT

7 and 9 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $31.50-$47.25. 427-2227.

SATURDAY 6/22

COMEDY

ADAM CONOVER

Adam Conover from the TruTV show Adam Ruins Everything calls himself an investigative comedian, which sounds like the set up for a raunchy joke, but itโ€™s really just a label for those who research the wackier and weirder aspects of human knowledge and then crack jokes about what they find. On his podcast and show, Adam uses his nerdy visage and endearing charm to disarm our natural tendency to shut down when someone is trying to teach us facts, and then brings out an expert once we are defenseless. Itโ€™s a good tactic. But the question is: how good is his stand up? Only one way to find out! AB

7 p.m. DNAโ€™s Comedy Lab, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. (530) 592-5250.

METAL

SUPER MADNES

Naoki Kodaka penned the soundtrack for the NES Batman game, and wrote the tunes for Blaster Master, Spy Hunter, Festerโ€™s Quest, and about 20 other classic-era titles. In the pantheon of video game music, Batman often gets lost in the shuffle of bona fide jams like Duck Tales and Mega Man 2, but Super MadNES hasnโ€™t forgotten. At the Blue Lagoon this Saturday, the live-video-game-music metal band pay tribute to Kodaka with a full version of the Batman soundtrack, along with other period classics. If you got a utility belt, bring it: the bat signal waits for no one. MIKE HUGUENOR

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

FOLK

GHOSTS OF PAUL REVERE

Ghosts of Paul Revere isnโ€™t so much a bluegrass group as a rock band that just happened to only have country instruments when it started. Listen past the surface and a whole world opens up, heavily influenced by the Beatles, Radiohead and others outside of so-called traditional music. MW

9 p.m. Moeโ€™s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15 adv/$20 door. 479-1854.

 

MONDAY 6/24

INDIE

ZOE BOEKBINDER

While some of the music on Zoe Boekbinderโ€™s Shadow could be described as delicate, Boekbinder herself is anything but. Described as โ€œageless, beautiful, heartbreaking, and wiseโ€ by Neil Gaiman, Boekbinderโ€™s voice is a powerful thing. Throughout Shadow, the New Orleans singer-songwriter looks straight into the darkness that follows her and pierces it, finding something like light on the other side. Boekbinder throws a bit of Amanda Palmer into a songwriting style reminiscent of Songs: Ohia, with a bit of the olโ€™ Big Easy for good measure. MH

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

TUESDAY 6/25

INDIE

MATTHEW LOGAN VASQUEZ

Matthew Logan Vasquezโ€™ latest single โ€œTrailer Parkโ€ is a refreshing celebration of the diversity of rural Texas, where over a high-energy rock tune, he sings about the neighborly mix of โ€œrednecks, hippies, Latinos, liberals and conservatives.โ€ The song is one of the few upbeat tunes on his third record Lightโ€™n Up, where he devotes most of his time detailing a dark period in his life where he was caring for his ailing father. Better known as a member of Delta Spirit and Glorietta, Vasquez seems increasingly at home in the solo format, going into more introspective waters. AC

9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $13 adv/$15 door. 423-1338.

Film Review: โ€˜The Dead Donโ€™t Dieโ€™

In some circles, the words Jim Jarmusch zombie comedy would be all the PR youโ€™d need to sell a movie. Itโ€™s irresistible: the hipster auteur of Stranger Than Paradise, Coffee And Cigarettes, Ghost Dog, and Only Lovers Left Alive making a meal of the flesh-eating dead horror apocalypse genre. Especially when you learn the cast includes such longtime Jarmusch stock company stalwarts as Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Iggy Pop, and Tom Waits. But while it looks so promising on paper, the onscreen result needs a little more meat on its bones.

It would be shameless punning to employ words like โ€œstiltedโ€ and โ€œcatatonicโ€ to describe a movie about reanimated dead people. Certainly, everybody involved seems to be having a swell time, from actors playing both the living and the dead (often getting to segue from one to the other), and Jarmusch himself, so tickled that he lingers over every shot; you can almost hear him chuckling off-camera. But the audience, not so muchโ€”weโ€™re forced to endure long stretches of ennui between unsubtle moments that drive home the message, and name-that-zombie celebrity-spotting.

Centerville is a sleepy little burg that boasts a diner, a gas station/mini-mart, and a motel. Thereโ€™s not much for sheriff Cliff (Murray) and his deputies Ronnie (Adam Driver) and Mindy (Chloe Sevigny) to do besides an occasional trip to the woods at the edge of town to scold Hermit Bob (Waits, in an enormous salt-and-pepper Rasta wig) for stealing a neighborโ€™s chicken.

But something weird is going on. Itโ€™s staying light too late. Watches stop. Radio contact fizzes out. Cell phones no longer work. Next morning, the town wakes up to a grisly crime scene. Cops and onlookers ask each other if it a wild animal, or perhaps several wild animals. Itโ€™s up to Ronnie to deliver the only explanation that appears to fit the evidence: โ€œI’m thinking zombies.โ€

The deadpan (sorry) byplay between Murray and Driver in this interlude would be humorous, if Jarmusch werenโ€™t guilty of overkill (sorry, again). Three different characters enter the crime scene, get an eyeful of the corpses (along with the viewer), and emerge with the exact same verbal response. Twice would be funny; by the third time, weโ€™re wondering if they mistakenly slipped in a reel from Groundhog Day. Anyway, itโ€™s all just prelude, because the next nightโ€”which begins way too earlyโ€”every grave in the cemetery is shoved open as the dead take to the streets to chow down on the flesh of their living neighbors.

Thatโ€™s it for plot, although Jarmusch comes up with some droll stuff long the way. Itโ€™s said that the undead flock to the things they loved in life (Iggy Pop is the one jonesing for coffee), so we hear various zombies moaning for Snickers, Xanax, Wi-Fi, and Chardonnay. (That last from Carol Kane, as the recently deceased town drunk.) Buscemi plays an angry racist in a red โ€œMake America White Againโ€ baseball cap. Swinton is a sword-wielding Scottish ninja. And nifty homages abound to Night Of the Living Dead, the granddaddy of the modern genre, from a trio of traveling teens in their โ€œGeorge Romero carโ€ (a โ€™68 Pontiac) to a recreation of the iconic wall of two-by-fours hammered up to keep out the zombie menace.

The oft-repeated explanation is that โ€œpolar frackingโ€ by stupid humans has knocked the Earth out of whack and opened the floodgates for the zombie apocalypseโ€”one way for Mother Nature to get even. (Or, as Hermit Bob puts it so succinctly, โ€œWhat a fucked-up world.โ€) Point taken. But a bit more honed outrage (or at least funnier satire) might have served better.

THE DEAD DON’T DIE

**1/2 (out of four)

With Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloรซ Sevigny, Steve Buscemi and Danny Glover. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. A Focus Features release. Rated R. 104 minutes.

Review: The Bash

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In its first year, NorCalโ€™s newest punk rock party the Bash seemed impressively packed.ย Last weekendโ€™s upstart festival at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds created a vibe that was not unlike late-โ€™90s Warped Tour, when it actually had punk bands whose legacy could draw crowds across generations of fans.

There was legacy to spare in this line-up, for sure. Headliner Rancid turned the clock back to the days when โ€œTime Bombโ€ and โ€œRuby Sohoโ€ were fresh additions to the radio playlists. But more importantly, they got back to why โ€™90s punk continues to resonate. When frontman Tim Armstrong first took the stage, by himself, he walked up to the edge and sang the words of set opener โ€œRadioโ€โ€” โ€œWhen I got the music, I got a place to go.โ€ Iโ€™ve always felt those lyrics described my relationship with punk rock, and Iโ€™m sure Iโ€™m not alone. He was then joined by the rest of the band, which blasted through old favorites from โ€ฆAnd Out Came the Wolves and Letโ€™s Go, as well as the bandโ€™s most recent album, 2017โ€™s Trouble Maker. Along the way, the local legends gave a shout out to pretty much every city in the Bay Area, including Santa Cruz.

Hermosa Beach legends Pennywise have always been a crowd favorite, and they did not disappoint. Frontman Jim Lindbergย is a relatable figure that reminds us to question authority and not to care what others think. Middle fingers were waving, pits were raging, and there was even a brief course in punk history when Lindberg guided the band through short snippets of songs by Descendents, Minor Threat and Dead Kennedys, plus a full version of Circle Jerksโ€™ โ€œWild in the Streets.โ€

Suicidal Tendencies got the crowd moving with songs like โ€œYou Canโ€™t Bring Me Down,โ€ โ€œSubliminalโ€ and โ€œInstitutionalized.โ€ New members Ben Weinman (ex-Dillinger Escape Plan) and Dave Lombardo (ex-Slayer) gave the bandโ€™s classic songs a brand new dimension. O.G. front man Mike Muir never lacked for something to say.

L7 and Sharp Shock opened the show while early arrivers sampled a large selection of craft beers. Hereโ€™s hoping the Bash returns, so area punkers know we have a place to go.

MJAโ€™s โ€˜Complicatedโ€™ Rosรฉ

Marin Artukovich is an ace at producing wineโ€”and he loves the challenge. He makes 46 different kinds! And Artukovich says he very seldom duplicates a wine.

On a recent visit to his tasting room at MJA Vineyards, I was spoilt for choice, but Artukovich is always ready to step in with a few suggestions. Heโ€™s a wealth of information about everything to do with the grape, so allow plenty of time to try his fabulous elixirs and soak everything in.

Artukovich is the owner of MJA, where David Middleton is the winemaker. The winery has two labels under this umbrella, DaVine Cellars and Serene Cellars. Iโ€™m nuts about good Rosรฉs, and Artukovich has a great one. All his wines are given a name, and the Rosรฉ ($30) is called โ€œComplicated.โ€

Labelled NV (non-vintage, meaning the wine is made from grapes from more than one harvest), this earthy wine has delicious stewed fruit and herb flavors. And the almost-ruby color is an indication of the full-on fruit that lies within.

One of Artukovichโ€™s goals is to โ€œbuild a big wine club that stays with me.โ€ And when youโ€™re a wine club member at MJA, youโ€™ll be in for lots of treats. Wine club members get 30% off their wine. โ€œI donโ€™t have a middleman, so wine club members get the benefit,โ€ Artukovich says.

Music is a regular feature at the tasting room, along with food trucks offering good grub. Quarterly movie nights take place in the abundant space in the facility, which is also available to rent out for events.

The talented Artukovich also grows Kona coffee in Hawaii, and his coffee is for sale in the tasting room. Heโ€™s proud of his Croatian background, the coffee he grows and all the gold medals his wines have won. He credits his son John Artukovich, who also works at the busy tasting room, for entering the winery in competitions.

As Artukovich says about his eventful voyage of making wine and growing coffee on the islands, โ€œWe swear you can feel the journey and taste the aloha.โ€

MJA Vineyards, 328 Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 421-9380; 24900 Highland Way, Los Gatos, 408-353-6000. mjavineyards.com.

5 Things To Do in Santa Cruz: June 12-18

A weekly guide to what’s happening

Green Fix

Build Your Own Compost Bin

Organic waste like food and yard debris makes up anywhere from 25-50% of what people throw away. Considering all of that waste is biodegradable, and beneficial for the soil and plants, sending it to a landfill is not only silly, itโ€™s pretty backwards. Anyone can learn to build a simple, versatile, stacking compost bin to throw away food scraps and organics. This hands-on compost bin demonstration uses wood from an old deck, saving it from the landfill by repurposing it into a handsome container suitable for composting. All are welcome, no experience necessary.

INFO: 10 a.m.-noon. Saturday, June 15. Common Roots Farm, 335 Golf Club Drive, Santa Cruz. mbmg.org. Free.

Art Seen

โ€˜Oceans Flamenco en Vivoโ€™

On her 24th tour stop, renowned Seattle-based Flamenco artist Savannah Fuentes is bringing her latest work, Oceans Flamenco en Vivo, to Santa Cruz. The water-themed presentation will feature singer/percussionist Jose Moreno and guitarist Pedro Cortes, both of whom are third-generation Spanish Flamenco artists from New York City.

INFO: 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 18. Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Ave., Live Oak. brownpapertickets.com. $22. Photo: Stephen Rusk.

Thursday 6/13

Pop-Up Picnics in the Park

What better way to ring in summer and celebrate the warm, albeit delayed, weather than an outdoor picnic? Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Mission, these community picnics run every Thursday (not including the Fourth of July) until Aug. 15. Picnickers can purchase lunch or bring their own. Take in the view of downtown from the Missionโ€™s plaza or enjoy lunch under the shade of avocado and redwood trees, and maybe even meet some new picnickers along the way. Taquitos Gabriel, a Mole and Mariachi Festival favorite and competitor, will serve food at each of the picnics. The menu includes tacos, plates, burritos, quesadillas, and drinks, with occasional specials like mole.

INFO: 11:30-1:30 p.m. Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, 144 School St., Santa Cruz. thatsmypark.org. Free, items for purchase range from $2-10.

 

Thursday 6/13

Marshmallows and Apples (Plus Skulls and Pelts)

Ok, so marshmallows and skulls and pelts arenโ€™t really things that go hand-in-hand, except for maybe on Halloween. Even then, itโ€™s questionable. Join the Big Basin park rangers in their weekly campfire, complete with marshmallows and roasted apples for the healthier types. The rangers are experts on all of Big Basinโ€™s native animal pelts and skulls, so fuel your inner child and creepy curiosities all at the same event. There will be crafts and games, too. Hopefully not with the skulls and pelts.

INFO: 3:30-5:30 p.m. Big Basin Redwoods State Park. 21600 Big Basin Way, Boulder Creek. 338-8883. Free, daily parking $10.

 

Wednesday 6/14 and Friday 6/19

Bands and Movies on the Beach

Aside from rising temperatures, an increase in beachgoers and a preference for outdoor dining, the return of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalkโ€™s free screenings and concerts is a welcome summer ritual. Itโ€™s one thing about Santa Cruz summers that has never really changedโ€”think the Lost Boysโ€™ Corey Feldman and his band of Angels in the late โ€™80s. Speaking of the Lost Boys, itโ€™s also the screening that kicks off the summer movie series on Wednesday, June 19. Grab a blanket, cooler and chair and get there extra early for a good seat to an old tradition. Performances and movies listed in advance online.

INFO: Friday concerts begin at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. June 14 through Aug. 30. Wednesday night movies begin at 9 p.m. June 19 through Aug. 14. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. 400 Beach St, Santa Cruz. 423-5590. beachboardwalk.com/events. Free.

 

Opinion: June 12, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTE

The last time I interviewed Patrick Simmons of the Doobie Brothers, he told me he was a little fed up with everyone assuming that Bay Area music began and ended in San Francisco around the Summer of Love. Most of the longtime Doobies, for instance, got their start in San Jose or Santa Cruz. And even the San Francisco bands drew on talent from around the Bay Areaโ€”as did the biggest bands from around the country and beyond. John McFee, the current guitarist and multi-instrumentalist who has been with the Doobie Brothers for the better part of 40 years, was born and raised in Santa Cruz, and has played on everything from the Grateful Deadโ€™s From the Mars Hotel to Van Morrisonโ€™s Tupelo Honey to Elvis Costelloโ€™s My Aim in True.

Simmons goes so far back with Carlos Santana at this point that he told me didnโ€™t even remember exactly when they first met, or even when the Doobies started playing shows with his band Santana. But thereโ€™s so much history with these two bandsโ€”including Santa Cruz historyโ€”that itโ€™s great to still see them playing together more than four decades later. Theyโ€™re doing a huge show at Mountain Viewโ€™s Shoreline on Wednesday, June 26, and in this issue both Simmons and Santana himself talk about the history and legacy of their careers. Rock on!


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Creating Communities

Experts can agree that people are forced to live on the streets due to lack of affordable housing and stagnant wages. Increased rent prices have to lead to the rise of the homelessness population, especially in Californiaโ€™s expensive areas (Zillow, 2017). Federal housing vouchers, which are considered to be a solution, are not sufficient enough because only a quarter of homeless individuals receive it nationwide. $20 billion worth of vouchers are available per year, but only $1 billion vouchers are utilized (Zillow, 2017). It costs taxpayers a tremendous amount of money to leave people on the street. The homeless crisis could improve with the implementation of tiny home communities. Six states in the U.S. have had success stories (2018, Washington Post). In Austin, Texas, a program was implemented called Community First! Village. This program initiated a 51-acre development. It provides affordable, permanent housing as well as a supportive community for the chronically disabled homeless in central Texas. Community First! Village has become the largest community-based model in the country and exists to help and serve homeless neighbors who have been living on the streets (Mobile Loaves and Fishes, 2015). Other states that are using tiny houses to help the homeless include Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit, Nashville, Newfield, New York, and Seattle.

Tiny homes of 200-400 square feet could rent for $1 per foot per month, which is a much more affordable option for homeless individuals, with or without housing authority assistance. Permanent residences for the homeless is the first step to helping this population live healthier, quality lives.

Ashlyn Vargas, Khushboo Asija and Samantha Wildman
Santa Cruz

Poor Priorities

We spend millions on fruitless Russia probes and research on climate change, and billions have been spent subduing the cannabis industry. To what end? Are our lives any better? Of course not, and all the while the most vulnerable, the addicted and homeless suffer because of ineffective policies and poor financial planning. Why is it when citizens owe money to the government or you fail to show up for court, immediate action is employed and consequences ensue, yet when our very own suffer opioid addiction or homelessness the timeline to resolution is so prolonged?

Public schools should be beautiful, the weak, aged and disabled should be protected and have basic human needs, and no person should ever, ever be left sleeping on the street.

If we canโ€™t at least shelter our own citizens (because no one in their right mind would choose this), then what good is government really? If government works with the people we can achieve great things. We need serious people to run on these issues and then we can indulge our relative curiosities via research.

A. Anderson
Santa Cruz

Re: Recall Effort

Right-wingers? Really, Nuz? Your accommodating arrogance puts you firmly in the running for Krohnโ€™s next candidate recruitment, since Justin Cummings turned out to be so disappointingly independent. And to think just yesterday I was telling someone that GTโ€™s journalism was superior to the Sentinel (a low bar, I know). I guess we all have our blind spots.

8,000 signatures will be a snap.

โ€” Mark

Re: Microfibers

GT pointed out that the microfiber filter is a good solution โ€œfor those that can afford them.โ€ Why doesnโ€™t the County (and for that matter the City) of Santa Cruz and/or the water agencies offer a rebate on the filters, like for compost bins? This is a super important issue, especially for our seaside region. The filters will probably also save money in terms of wastewater filtration in the long run (since they appear to filter out other things as well).

โ€” Julie


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GOOD IDEA

A new report that says Santa Cruzans see the City Councilโ€™s antics as โ€œdysfunctional,โ€ โ€œtheatrical,โ€ โ€œchildish,โ€ โ€œdisrespectful,โ€ and โ€œembarrassing.โ€ The study comes from a collaborative and consensus-oriented California State University Sacramento program, which was studying how to proceed with a possible taskforce on rental housing. The consultantโ€™s recommendation? Donโ€™t bother; the discourse is too toxic right now. The report could provide a needed wake up call for city councilmembers. Chances are theyโ€™ll sleep through it.


GOOD WORK

Immediately after GT covered the environmental microplastic disaster last week (โ€œWorld Piece,โ€ 6/2/2019), two new studies detailed findings about just how prevalent these ocean contaminants are. A study from Monterey Bay Aquarium researchers laid out frightening levels of microplastics swirling through our region, sometimes in concentrations greater than the surface of the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch. A separate study published in Environmental Science and Technology found that humans may be consuming anywhere from 39,000-52,000 microplastic particles per year.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK

โ€œIf someone thinks that peace and love are just a clichรฉ that must have been left behind in the โ€™60s, thatโ€™s a problem. Peace and love are eternal.โ€

-John Lennon

Rob Brezsnyโ€™s Astrology June 19-25

Astrology, Horoscope, Stars, Zodiac Signs
Free will astrology for the week of June 19, 2019

Anthkrna Brings โ€˜Chaotic Blissโ€™ to Santa Cruz

Anthkrna
The duo plays the Crepe Place on Friday, June 21

Savor Summer Harvest at UCSC Farm Cart, PopUp Picnics

PopUp Picnics
Seasonal food events return with fresh local ingredients

Love Your Local Band: Burning Pictures

Burning Pictures
Burning Pictures plays Moe's Alley on Friday, June 21

Music Picks: June 19-25

Summer Cannibals
Santa Cruz County live music picks for the week of June 19

Film Review: โ€˜The Dead Donโ€™t Dieโ€™

Dead Donโ€™t Die
Jim Jarmusch zombie comedy could use more brains

Review: The Bash

In its first year, NorCalโ€™s newest punk rock party the Bash seemed impressively packed.ย Last weekendโ€™s upstart festival at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds created a vibe that was not unlike late-โ€™90s Warped Tour, when it actually had punk bands whose legacy could draw crowds across generations of fans. There was legacy to spare in this line-up, for sure. Headliner Rancid turned...

MJAโ€™s โ€˜Complicatedโ€™ Rosรฉ

MJA Vineyards
Westside Santa Cruz winery harnesses the aloha vibe

5 Things To Do in Santa Cruz: June 12-18

pop-up picnics
A new slate of Boardwalk bands, pop-up picnics and more

Opinion: June 12, 2019

Plus letters to the editor
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