Love Your Local Band: Grand Larson

Thereโ€™s a lot going on in Grand Larsonโ€™s debut EP released last year, simply titled E.P. Itโ€™s got dingy funk, bluesy grooves, jazzy licks, and rock โ€™nโ€™ roll attitude. But what sticks amid all this genre overload is a band clearly interested in older music, and smashing it all together into something new.

โ€œThe stuff I like predates 1978. I grew up on the Allman Brothers, Cream, Hendrix, Pink Floydโ€”a lot of the British Invasion blues bands,โ€ says guitarist/singer Tyler Larson.

The grit and soul of the group has a distinctly rustic โ€™70s rock sound, which seems the most natural. But all six songs on the E.P. have an easy, laid-back groove that holds together nicely.

The idea behind the group was experimental. When Larson and bassist Duncan Shipton started working on songs, they were aiming to mix hip-hop beats with folk instrumentation.

โ€œThe hip-hop drumming style is super, super tight,โ€ Larson explains. โ€œThen this more loosey ethereal guitar part that you can overlay over the drums.โ€ย 

The band had a different drummer at the time these songs were recorded, who was pretty focused on the hip-hop beat. Now sitting in is Rowan Decosse-Graves, a diverse player who brings a distinctly jazz element to his beats. Itโ€™s a subtle difference, but one thatโ€™s noticeable on Grand Larsonโ€™s new material.

8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27. Moeโ€™s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $8 adv/$12 door. 479-1854.

Rob Brezsnyโ€™s Astrology June 26-July 2

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Discipline your inner flame. Use your radiance constructively. Your theme is controlled fire. August: Release yourself from dwelling on whatโ€™s amiss or off-kilter. Find the inspiration to focus on whatโ€™s right and good. September: Pay your dues with joy and gratitude. Work hard in service to your beautiful dreams. October: You can undo your attractions to โ€œgratificationsโ€ that arenโ€™t really very gratifying. November: Your allies can become even better allies. Ask them for more. December: Be alert for unrecognized value and hidden resources.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: If you choose to play one of lifeโ€™s trickier games, you must get trickier yourself. August: Shedding irrelevant theories and unlearning old approaches will pave the way for creative breakthroughs. September: Begin working on a new product or project that will last a long time. October: Maybe you donโ€™t need that emotional crutch as much as you thought. November: Explore the intense, perplexing, interesting feelings until youโ€™re cleansed and healed. December: Join forces with a new ally or deepen an existing alliance.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Itโ€™s time to take fuller advantage of a resource youโ€™ve been neglecting or underestimating. August: For a limited time only, two plus two equals five. Capitalize on that fact by temporarily becoming a two-plus-two-equals-five-type of person. September: Itโ€™s time and youโ€™re ready to discover new keys to fostering interesting intimacy and robust collaboration. October: The boundaries are shifting on the map of the heart. That will ultimately be a good thing. November: If you do what you fear, youโ€™ll gain unprecedented power over the fear. December: Whatโ€™s the one thing you canโ€™t live without? Refine and deepen your relationship to it.ย 

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Acquire a new personal symbol that thrills your mind and mobilizes your soul. August: Reconfigure the way you deal with money. Get smarter about your finances. September: Itโ€™s time to expedite your learning. But streetwise education is more useful than formal education. Study the book of life. October: Ask for more help than you normally do. Aggressively build your support. November: Creativity is your superpower. Reinvent any part of your life that needs a bolt of imaginative ingenuity. December: Love and care for what you imagine to be your flaws and liabilities.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Transform something thatโ€™s semi-ugly into something thatโ€™s useful and winsome. August: Go to the top of the world and seek a big vision of who you must become. September: Your instinct for worthy and constructive adventures is impeccable. Trust it. October: Be alert for a new teacher with a capacity to teach you precisely what you need to learn. November: Your mind might not guide you perfectly, but your body and soul will. December: Fresh hungers and budding fascinations should alert you to the fact that deep in the genius part of your soul, your master plan is changing.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Iโ€™d love to see you phase out wishy-washy wishes that keep you distracted from your burning, churning desires. August: A story that began years ago begins again. Be proactive about changing the themes youโ€™d rather not repeat. September: Get seriously and daringly creative about living in a more expansive world. October: Acquire a new tool or skill that will enable you to carry out your mission more effectively. November: Unanticipated plot twists can help heal old dilemmas about intimacy. December: Come up with savvy plans to eliminate bad stress and welcome good stress.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Say this every morning: โ€œThe less I have to prove and the fewer people I have to impress, the smarter Iโ€™ll be.โ€ August: Escape an unnecessary limitation. Break an obsolete rule. Override a faded tradition. September: What kind of โ€œbadnessโ€ might give your goodness more power? October: Youโ€™re stronger and freer than you thought you were. Call on your untapped power. November: Narrowing your focus and paring down your options will serve you beautifully. December: Replace whatโ€™s fake with the Real Thing.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Stretch yourself. Freelance, moonlight, diversify, and expand. August: Having power over other people is less important than having power over yourself. Manage your passions like a wizard! September: Ask the big question. And be ready to act expeditiously when you get the big answer. October: I think you can arrange for the surge to arrive in manageable installments. Seriously. November: Dare to break barren customs and habits that are obstructing small miracles and cathartic breakthroughs. December: Donโ€™t wait around hoping to be given what you need. Instead, go after it. Create it yourself, if necessary.ย 

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Can you infuse dark places with your intense light without dimming your intense light? Yes! August: Itโ€™s time for an archetypal Sagittarian jaunt, quest or pilgrimage. September: The world around you needs your practical idealism. Be a role model who catalyzes good changes. October: Seek out new allies and connections that can help you with your future goals. November: Be open to new and unexpected ideas so as to get the emotional healing you long for. December: Shed old, worn-out self-images. Reinvent yourself. Get to know your depths better.ย 

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: You have an enhanced capacity to feel at peace with your body, to not wish it were different from what it naturally is. August: You can finally solve a riddle youโ€™ve been trying to solve for a long time. September: Make your imagination work and play twice as hard. Crack open seemingly closed possibilities. October: Move up at least one rung on the ladder of success. November: Make yourself more receptive to blessings and help that you have overlooked or ignored. December: Youโ€™ll learn most from what you leave behindโ€”so leave behind as much as possible.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Iโ€™ll cry one tear for you, then Iโ€™ll cheer. August: Plant seeds in places that hadnโ€™t previously been on your radar. September: You may seem to take a wrong turn, but itโ€™ll take you where you need to go. October: Open your mind and heart as wide as you can. Be receptive to the unexpected. November: I bet youโ€™ll gain a new power, higher rank or greater privilege. December: Send out feelers to new arrivals who may be potential helpers.ย 

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here are your fortune cookie-style horoscopes for the months ahead. July: Your creative powers are at a peak. Use them with flair. August: Wean yourself from pretend feelings and artificial motivations and inauthentic communications. September: If you want to have greater impact and more influence, you can. Make it happen! October: Love is weird but good. Trust the odd journey it takes you on. November: If you cultivate an appreciation for paradox, your paradoxical goals will succeed. December: Set firm deadlines. Have fun disciplining yourself.

Homework: What were the circumstances in which you were most vigorously alive? freewillastrology.com.

Bad Sleepโ€™s Punk Awakening

Lily Richeson didnโ€™t find punk. Punk found her.

โ€œSomeone handed me a weird flyer at the mall in the suburbs, and here I am,โ€ says the singer of Olympia punk band Bad Sleep.

This week, the band plays Santa Cruzโ€™s anarchist bookstore SubRosa on a tour supporting its debut album. The self-titled record plays like the Thermals gone riot grrl, filled with scrappy, vulnerable pop-punk anthems about life, love and science fiction. Barely clocking in at 20 minutes, Bad Sleep is a testament to the enduring power of good, raw, honest punk.

โ€œSo much of my adolescent joy was from discovering DIY punk and being like, โ€˜What is in this room? What is happening?โ€™โ€ says Richeson.

Richeson is now an active part of that world, connected to her fellow musicians through a DIY network of community spaces, fanzines and small labels.

โ€œItโ€™s totally an access point,โ€ she says. โ€œYou just kind of stay in it if youโ€™re committed to it, and the community. I want to play music and create art, but also want to be connecting with other people who are doing like-minded things and have like-minded politics.โ€

Before starting Bad Sleep, Richeson was living in Boston. She had toured the country in the band Parasol and got a taste for the national underground scene. After visiting Olympia on tour, she decided she liked its scene enough to move.

โ€œI kinda knew Cailey, the drummer, through punk,โ€ she says. โ€œI had just moved to town and was without a project, but I was like, โ€˜I have these songs. Theyโ€™re cheesy pop songs. Do you want to hear them?โ€™ I was super nervous. But she was like, โ€˜Totally!โ€™โ€

In 2016, Bad Sleep emerged out of Olympiaโ€™s vibrant underground scene with a five-song 7 inch. Jammed with concise power-pop nuggets like โ€œBad Repโ€ (which squeezes three choruses and two guitar solos into less than two minutes), the 7 inch was the first sound of a promising new band. The next year, they followed it with the No Fun cassette. More punk than its predecessor, No Fun signaled a step away from power-pop, and a step toward the riot grrl roots of their hometown.

โ€œIโ€™m kind of a nerd about bands from Olympia,โ€ Richeson says. โ€œEven though Iโ€™ve only lived here for four years, the music that I love and grew up listening to is from here.โ€

After a European tour in 2017, the band hooked up with UK label Specialist Subject, and began planning an album. In the summer of 2018, the group took to the studio. Then, life got in the way.

โ€œOur bass player moved away literally a week after we got done recording,โ€ says Richeson.

The timing was unfortunate, as it came on the tails of Bad Sleepโ€™s strongest release so far.

The album kicks off in high gear, opening on a riff that recalls the Exploding Heartsโ€™ โ€œIโ€™m a Pretender.โ€ On album highlight โ€œDonโ€™t Have To,โ€ Richeson turns on the spigot, letting flow all the anger building from years of interactions with menโ€™s rights activists, incels and otherwise terrible dudes: โ€œI donโ€™t wanna tell you my name, thereโ€™s nothing wrong with my personality/ Itโ€™s you that sees me and the world around you like something is owed, like I have no value,โ€ she sings, her words coming to a froth and pouring over into the chorus of โ€œOoo, I donโ€™t have to.โ€

Itโ€™s a powerful, confrontational moment, exhilarating in its honesty. While punk has changed a lot in the last 40 years, there is still something to be said for an honest statement delivered with volume and passion.

โ€œI feel a little like Iโ€™m aging outโ€”which is ridiculous because Iโ€™m only 31,โ€ she says now. โ€œA lot of my friends have been doing this for 10 years longer than me, and theyโ€™re still doing it. Theyโ€™re like, โ€˜Shut up, wait till youโ€™re 40.โ€™โ€

Bad Sleep performs at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 29, at SubRosa, 703 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $7. 426-5242.

Cancer, Sign of the Teacher: Risaโ€™s Stars June 26 – July 2

The energies of the planets circling the Sun, from the moon to Pluto, have a deep and lasting effect on humanity. The present Pluto/Saturn/South Node configuration in Capricorn is reorienting humanity from the past to the present and presenting humanity (individually, nationally and globally) with a bare-bones reality. There is a feeling of no comfort. Experiences are harsh, difficult and challenging. This will continue for the next year.

A good mantra to recite during these times of change is, โ€œMay all hindrances be removed, and may I integrate all that is new.โ€ Pluto transforms us. Saturn restructures us. The South Node brings the past to the present. Changes are coming. Using the mantra helps us to prepare for the changes with calmness, equanimity and poise.

Opposite the South Node is the North Node (presently in Cancer), where the new realities come forth. It is our new pathway. Cancer provides us with nurturance and a new birth. Chiron is in Aries. Humanity is newly identifying as Souls. Asking what is our real and true identity? Note in the media the words โ€œidentity politics.โ€ The media always reflects inner realities. The U.S. sun is in Cancer, with a birthday soon (July 4).

The sign of Cancer is reflective, fluid, preparing us for self-knowledge in Leo. Cancer is the moonโ€™s house. The month of Cancer is dedicated to teachers of wisdom. The Teacher, like the moon, reflects the rays of the sun. Cancer distributes Rays 3 (divine intelligence) and 7 (anchoring the teachings upon the Earth).

The month of Cancer (sign) is thus dedicated to the teacher (soul, guru, God the father, Christ, the teachings, etc.) Students are called to rededicate themselves to the teacher (whomever one learns from) or the wisdom teachings, because Jupiter (higher expanded learning) is exalted in Cancer.

ARIES: A revelatory idea, dream or vision held long in your heart and mind, perhaps for years, is emerging more and more into form and matter, about to manifest. The next seven years, which seems like a long time but is only a blink in the eye of God/Buddha, will forth what youโ€™ve longed for, hoped would occur, envisioned. It emerges due to your persistence, belief, faith, and love. Be sure all of it is shared.

TAURUS: You never lose sight of your vision or of tasks you are to perform. No matter what occursโ€”surprising events, losses, people, ideas, and hopes falling awayโ€”you know that love underlies all happenings of the times. This love isnโ€™t from a person, but from greater realities guiding and directing our lives. You are to focus now only on whatโ€™s in front of you. Also, choices (and events) made during this time may reverse. Mercury retro is soon.

GEMINI: Your thoughts, ideas and communications return somewhat, though not fully. This last month just about everything mental deserted your ability to understand and be understood. Mercury is retro soon remaining behind the scenes. Misinterpretations slowly may turn around and long lost friends may call (again). Actions for the next month remain obscure in order that you plan and choose to externalize all actions. Notice you keep a lot to yourself.

CANCER: You think about, ponder upon and consider goals for the coming months. They are bound up with expectations you have about life and your ideals. Up to this point, the goals and expectations of the past have served you. However, life has changed so radically that newer and freer points of view are forming. This is also due to influences of friends, colleagues, family, community, and nature all around.

LEO: Bringing forth your creativity is most important now. What you create constitutes your real professional life. They are closest to your heart, they define the qualities and gifts that best assist others and Earthโ€™s kingdoms, and if you continue, your creativity (and you) will improve more and more. What studies have you put off that you know must be initiated soon? Greater mastery is yours should you pursue it.

VIRGO: You are thinking deeply so you can have better perspective. Mortality (the idea of death, what death means, the reality of life after death) is something you will think about in the coming months. This is a healthy response to the changes occurring on our planet at this time. There is an underground river of communication occurring between you and others. Itโ€™s not verbal or externalized. Fill that river with love.

LIBRA: This is a special time of communication for you, wherein you can begin to explain to intimates (family, friends, etc.) choices you have made and what has concerned you deeply. Do not go into anything new without consulting loved ones. Itโ€™s best to have anotherโ€™s input providing perspective. This helps you clarify, choose and accomplish more than you would alone. Discuss everything. You need love and care. This comes from open communication.

SCORPIO: Most of us think we have free will. We do, to an extent. We can choose what we do each day, somewhat. We can choose how we behave, sometimes. We can think about who we want to live with and where we live, sometimes. But really, itโ€™s best to be more fluid, to know we have very little free choice, and to discover what that greater reality is that hovers, surrounds and penetrates our little lives. Make its acquaintance.

SAGITTARIUS: Great opportunities seem to appear in your life in their own time and place. Be aware of this; however, donโ€™t expect anything specific. Thatโ€™s a paradox, but itโ€™s true and real and practical. Listen to all communications, from yourself and others, assessing carefully. Messages could wound, uplift, destroy, deny, or be a refuge (sangha). The latter is greatly needed by everyone at this time. Which will (can) you choose? Which do you need?

CAPRICORN: In your daily (successful, ambitious) life, you might find yourself in two places at once. Your mind is here and your body over there somewhere. This is the Gemini experience in the daily life of everyone. You will attempt to bring a synthesis to this duality. Amidst the constant changing events, amidst the vicissitudes and instability of our present times, you will find poise, balance and harmony. This is the soul. Call upon it each moment.

AQUARIUS: Itโ€™s best to be among the young and playful, the innocent and childlike, the romantic and creative. Then you will become all of these, too, and discover new outlets of art and creativity and interests. Youโ€™ll see things in a newer, more golden light, and your imagination will flow outward making your entire life a place of happiness and joy. Often youโ€™re toiling among daily home needs. At this time, just be the artist and futurist youโ€™re called to be.

PISCES: Know that everyone and everything in your environments supports you. Show that you trust them, and give them gratitude for being in your life at this very moment and all the moments to come. Somethingโ€™s coming to an end. A new life will be built from the ashes of the old โ€“ a new community that creates the foundation for newer and greater achievements. Bid the old farewell. It served its purpose well. Now you have new promises to keep.

New Indexical Residency Backs Experimental Music

Sometimes an artistic subculture emerges in a particular time and place spontaneously, like a patch of weeds. Other times, it needs cultivation.

When it comes to Santa Cruz and its long relationship with avant-garde and experimental music, the newest cultivator is a nonprofit called Indexical, which began in Brooklyn but relocated to Santa Cruz in 2015.ย 

Indexical is planning to make noise in town this summer with an intriguing concert at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, a vocal workshop at Henry Cowell State Park and an ambitious collaborative project to take place outside on West Cliff Drive.

โ€œOur basic goal with Indexical,โ€ explains Andrew Smith, the organizationโ€™s executive director, โ€œis to create an experimental music scene here and to be a resource to help it grow. We also want to connect musicians in Santa Cruz with people in other cities, and bring people from other cities to Santa Cruz to give them a chance to experience this town.โ€

One of those people is Indexicalโ€™s first artist in residence, Mexico-born experimental vocalist Carmina Escobar, who leads a Mexico City ensemble and is on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). On June 29, Escobar kicks off her residency with a workshop and performance outdoors at Henry Cowell called The Voices from Within Into the World. The all-day workshop (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) will explore the dimension of the human voice in space through games, exercises and improv activitIes.

Escobar will then turn her attention to the creation of a site-specific work called Feast of Beams: Keeper of Light in collaboration with local artists and Indexical curators Madison Heying and Laura Steenberge, to take place at Lighthouse Point on West Cliff Drive on Saturday, Aug. 10.ย 

โ€œThere will be multiple things happening,โ€ says Smith, around the lighthouse, the field, along West Cliff and on the beach as well. Carminaโ€™s vision is to basically pull everyone together. Sheโ€™s been using the word โ€˜converge.โ€™ All of these works are to converge at the end of this piece to create some kind of communal experience at the lighthouse.โ€

On July 27, Indexical will present a concert by vocalist and composer Amirtha Kidambi and her group Elder Ones at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Of Kidambi, Smith says, โ€œHer idea is to fuse black protest music as it came out of the free jazz tradition with Hindustani and Carnatic music, which were influential in her development.โ€

From the Cabrillo Music Festival to New Music Works to the UC Santa Cruz music department, Santa Cruz has engaged with various styles of avant-garde and contemporary-classical music for decades. Indexical began in New York in 2011. Smith, a composer in his own right, said that he and Indexicalโ€™s operations director David Kant relocated to Santa Cruz to work with UCSC composer and musician Larry Polansky. Smith and Kant found potential for building a musical community in Santa Cruz.

โ€œWe saw that people in Santa Cruz have some context for experimental music and for contemporary-classical music, but we felt we could expand it a little bit,โ€ says Smith. โ€œSanta Cruz has this context and this community of artists, but didnโ€™t necessarily have the producing organizations to allow people to try out new ideas throughout the year.โ€

Since its relocation, Indexical has produced several events with a variety of artists, mostly in small venues like the Radius Gallery at the Tannery and Wind River studios in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The aim, says Smith, is to give artists the room to experiment without having to worry about the commercial implications of high-profile concerts.

โ€œYou need more things happening on a smaller scale. You get some energy built up and you do a lot of things that might not work,โ€ Smith says. โ€œBut the things that do work end up being bigger projects.โ€

He says that Santa Cruz audiences have responded well to Indexicalโ€™s plans, and that the organizationโ€™s budget, drawn from local donations, has quadrupled in size. He also said that Indexical is considering the idea of opening its own venue.ย 

โ€œThe last year has been incredible. Weโ€™re now at the point where weโ€™re hiring three full- or part-time staff members to really increase the capacity of the organization to take on some significantly more ambitious projects.โ€

For more information on Indexical, its concerts or the June 29 workshop with artist-in-residence Carmina Escobar, go to indexical.org.

Primal Santa Cruz Reopens as Vida

Spun slightly, Primal Santa Cruz has re-awakened as Vida, with a new brunch menu that expands its appeal.

This menu is all gluten-free, and now comes with table serviceโ€”what a treat for diners trained to ask whether a dish is GF or not. They can now order at will from a short but creative listing of brunch items loaded with intriguing spices, fresh veggies and intelligent design. Vida looks goodโ€”plants, pale wood banquettes and tables, polished concrete floors, bold artworkโ€”but itโ€™s not overdone.ย 

The evolving brainchild of Jason Morgan, who opened Primal late last year, this restaurant is closing in on its true identityโ€”one that reflects how we live and eat right now on the Central Coast. Bread-free breakfasts filled with flavor and visual appeal are no longer just a fantasy.ย 

A breakfast โ€œsaladโ€ involved colorful arugula, avocado, red and golden beets, all tossed in a delicious seed-and-macadamia-nut dressing with a perfect fried egg for $12 (though it might be nice to stack all those items instead of forming a ring of veggies around the egg). My companionโ€™s very large plate with a grass-fed burger on a GF sesame seed bunโ€”nice brioche-like texture, topped with local cheddar and wonderful caramelized onionsโ€”arrived alongside seriously addictive plantain chips, green salad and an acreage of delicious fresh pickles ($18). A pot of fukamushi green tea ($4) and a bracing Americano ($3) made it our major meal of the day.ย 

The Vida menu offers tons of creative platesโ€”breakfast tacos, fried chicken and waffles, cast iron hash, sweet potato pancakesโ€”priced from $10-18. It would help build a larger fanbase to include a few simple morning favorites like eggs and bacon; or even, yes, an avocado toast. I love watching this place evolve to match the time and the place. Kudos to Morgan and team.

Vida, 1203 Mission St., Santa Cruz. Open daily 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Vintage Harmony

Food by India Jozseph Schultz filled the long, long picnic table at the recent New Music Works Avant Garden Party. And to join itโ€”on one of the hottest afternoons of the monthโ€”were two wines that pleased the partiers. One was the chilled, dry, crisp La Playita Estate Gruner Veltliner 2015 from Alfaro Family Vineyards. The other was a lovely pink Vin Gris Rosรฉ 2016 from Birichino. Like pale strawberries, lime and chalk, itโ€™s quite refreshing. You can taste the compelling GV from Alfaro at the upcoming July Winemaker Dinner at Persephone in Aptos, with the winemaker in residence fresh from a recent trip to Italy.

Field Flavors

The atmospheric al fresco dinner to support the Homeless Garden Project was gorgeous as always with the fields, the folks, the food. But my taste buds told me that I was experiencing something rather special at the recent Sustain Supper with appetizers by Peter Henry from the Cremer House, especially the BBQ smoked brisket on corn johnny cakes with collard greens. Big flavors and sensuous textures made this my top app, paired with a well-balanced Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir from Hallcrest Vineyards.

I also loved a tangy salad of farm greens with strawberries, snap peas, radishes, and feta in a tart lemon vinaigrette by Monique Plossl from The Glass Jar empire. The sweet, the crunch and the salty feta all made for true bites of summer. Desserts from chef Laci Sandoval of Wind & Rye were beautiful; nothing topped her densely creamy chocolate espresso tart inflected with candied orange zest and sea salt. Easily one of the most sophisticated desserts this side of the macaron from Alderwood.

Film Review: โ€˜The Last Black Man In San Franciscoโ€™

The vintage hippie anthem โ€œSan Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair),โ€ keeps popping up throughout The Last Black Man In San Francisco. Its use is ironic, referencing the mythology of the cityโ€™s fabled past while its charactersโ€”two young black men born and raised in the cityโ€”reckon with the uncertainty of its present.

The most apropos lyric from the song, however, is never actually sung in the movie: the recurring refrain โ€œPeople in motion.โ€ Everything is on the move hereโ€”the protagonist on his skateboard, navigating the cityโ€™s steep hills and ramshackle neighborhoods; passers-by in the streets; chattering Muni bus passengers; platoons of sanitation workers in neon vests marching out to clean up the toxic waterfront. And yet, despite all the activity around them, the protagonists seem rooted in place, unable to move forward as time marches on, struggling to imagine viable new lives for themselves in the rapidly evolving city they love.

This is the first feature from rookie director Joe Talbot, who wrote the script with Rob Richert, based on a story Talbot concocted with his longtime friend and fellow San Francisco native Jimmie Fails. In the movie, Fails stars as a semi-autobiographical character named Jimmie Fails, who spends most days with his best bud Montgomery Allen (Jonathan Majors). Soft-spoken, kind-hearted Jimmie works as a caregiver in a nursing home. Mont sells fish on the waterfront but devotes every spare minute to drawing in his sketchpad and trying to write a play.

Jimmieโ€™s passion is the stately, Victorian-style home in the Fillmore district that his grandfather built in the postwar 1940s, after entire communities of Japanese-Americans had been removed to internment camps. Itโ€™s long since fallen out of his familyโ€™s possession, but Jimmie is so fixated on the house that he drops by often to repaint the window trims and spruce up the yardโ€”to the ire of the current owners.

The idea of home is important to Jimmie, who has lived for a time in both a group home and a car. His affectionate auntie (Tichina Arnold) lives in the suburbs across the bay. He rarely sees his small-time scammer father (Rob Morgan). His businesswoman mother is almost entirely absent. At present, Jimmie is crashing at the house where Mont lives with his blind but still feisty grandpa (Danny Glover)โ€”until the owners of Jimmieโ€™s family home move out, leaving โ€œhisโ€ house tantalizingly unoccupied.

The story is based in part on the experiences of the real-life Fails, who once lived with his family in a gingerbread San Francisco Victorian. It may seem a bit thin, plot-wise, but the storytelling is everything in this splendidly atmospheric mood piece. Themes of displacement, gentrification and cultural identity are there to be pondered in every dreamy, thoughtfully composed shot, without Talbot beating us over the head with them.

In a moment of hypnotic eeriness, characters step out of a bus into a drifting white haze that might be fog or smoke as a briefly glimpsed candlelight vigil parades by. A gang of street-corner youths outside Montโ€™s grandpaโ€™s house posture aggressively while a cover of Joni Mitchellโ€™s melancholy โ€œBlueโ€ swells on the soundtrack. A cable car full of drunken tourists comes searching for that long-lost โ€™60s vibe, โ€œSomebody To Loveโ€ blaring over the loudspeaker.

That Fails and Majors are in their late 20s feels odd at times, when plot elements like skateboarding and the absence of any romantic relationships suggest teenagers. Mont seems almost childlike in his social wariness and compulsive creativity, yet he is savvy enough to de-escalate a scary trash-talking incident. (Majors also delivers a moment of electrifying poignancy as Mont acts out a scene from his play.)

Majors and Fails establish a vein of friendship and loyalty that goes far deeper than the usual buddy-bonding movie. They couldnโ€™t be any better at conveying their charactersโ€™ yearning to stitch together random fragments of experience into a life.

THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

***1/2 (out of four)

With Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Rob Morgan, Tichina Arnold, and Danny Glover. Written by Joe Talbot and Rob Richert. Directed by Joe Talbot. (R) 120 minutes.

Lucia Highlandsโ€™ Lush Coastal Chardonnay

Located in the prime grape-growing region of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation of Monterey County, Lucia Highlands Vineyard produces high-quality wines.

Cool maritime influences of the Monterey Bay allow the fruit to ripen slowly, producing a luscious Chardonnay with intense tropical fruit flavors.

Vintners Carol and Bret Sisney, who also grow grapes in their vineyards for other wineries, carefully harvest their fruit, gently press and barrel ferment it in tight-grain French oak, softening the acidity and creating a round, buttery character. The golden-yellow 2016 Chardonnay ($25) is rich and elegant with concentrated layers of apple, ripe pear and pineappleโ€”plus a hint of caramel from oak aging.

Lucia Highlands Vineyard does not have a tasting room, but a tasting of its wines will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 21, at Seascape Sports Club for $20. A plentiful selection of hors dโ€™oeuvres is included in the price.

Seascape Sports Club, 1505 Seascape Blvd., Aptos. 688-1993. Visit luciahighlands.com for more info.

Soif Cocktail Hour

One of the more exciting cocktails I have enjoyed recently was concocted at Soif. Head barman and mixologist Matt Barron blended an outrageously delicious elixir called Rubidus & Rye containing candy cap mushrooms, of all things! Itโ€™s a candy cap-infused rye whiskey with demerara, orange and a candy cap โ€œglass,โ€ a concoction almost like toffee brittle. How innovative to use the highly aromatic candy cap in a cocktail. But its intense maple flavor lends itself to exotica, and Barron is an adventurous barman. Next time, Iโ€™m going to try the 105 Marie with the splendid locally made Venus Spirits aquavit and added Fresno pepper, lime, tomato, and celery.

Soifโ€™s inviting bar is ideal for a bite to eat, and my friend and I shared a wonderful dinner of local king salmon with a fresh salad and some French wine. Executive Chef Tom McNary executes his magic in every dish, so we indulged in dessert, of courseโ€”a perfectly prepared fruit galette with rhubarb, blueberry and fresh strawberry ice cream.

Soif, 105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz. soifwine.com

An Olive Oil to Combat Chronic Allergies

There is an irony to me handling food interviews like this one, and thatโ€™s that I can hardly eat anything.

In the fall of 2017, I started having allergic reactions to nearly every food as a result of persistent and mysterious health problems that have dogged me for more than four years now. Out of necessity, I went on a low-histamine diet and kept cutting out ingredients as more foods began giving me problems. Iโ€™ve been working on healing, but in the meantime, I find it difficult to find good fats that wonโ€™t give me stomach aches, headaches, brain fog, swelling in my face, or a runny nose. Luckily, one oil that I can always tolerate is True Olive Connectionโ€™s California Mission Oil. I talked to Susan Pappas, co-owner of the shop with her husband Mike, to find out why.

What can you tell me about the Mission Oil?

SUSAN PAPPAS: Itโ€™s organic, and itโ€™s from San Joaquin Valley. Itโ€™s a wonderful family of four Polish men whoโ€™ve had this farm for 30 years. They do five olive oils. Itโ€™s a fantastic product, but the reason it works so well for you is itโ€™s low-alkaline, which helps if you have an imbalance in your stomach, or if you have high allergies. It has a green and grassy finesse to it, but not so much that it dominates the food, and itโ€™s a great everyday extra virgin olive oil.

Whatโ€™s in other olive oils that donโ€™t sit well with me?

It could be that theyโ€™re not as fresh. Fresh chlorophyll, low-alkaline, high-polyphenol olive oil is super fresh. They sit under nitrogen until we pour them. Youโ€™re getting all of the fresh antioxidants and nutrients that your body needs, and itโ€™s very difficult to duplicate that in a pre-bottled product that sits on the shelf for however long.

I remember coming here on the Santa Cruz Food Tour and learning that I should put balsamic vinegar on ice cream. Have you tried that?

We do that all the time at home. Because Iโ€™m the owner, I have a little bit of everything. But one of my favorite ice cream treats is the fresh basil olive oil and a really, really nice, crunchy sea salt. And it makes the best vanilla ice cream accouterment. The basil comes across, and people think, โ€œWow, I wouldnโ€™t have expected basil.โ€ I want to encourage people to go one step further. Macerate strawberries. Blend them into your favorite vanilla ice cream, and then drizzle basil olive oil with a little crunchy sea salt. The fat in the olive oil just picks up the fat in the ice cream, and itโ€™s so decedent and so easy. Thatโ€™s my summer treat.

106 Lincoln St, Santa Cruz. 458-6457; 7960 Soquel Drive C, Aptos. 612-6932, trueoliveconnection.com.

Opinion: June 19, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTE

Les Gardner is a fascinating guy who knows a lot about the history of politics in Santa Cruzโ€”not because he heard about it or read about it, but because he has been in the middle of it for years. You may not know his name, but if you live in Santa Cruz County, you definitely have been impacted by some of the decisions heโ€™s been part of here.

Hell, if you live in El Salvador, youโ€™ve been impacted by some of the decisions heโ€™s been part of here, as Jacob Pierce reports in this weekโ€™s cover story.

When Jake first started talking to Les about this story, we were all in a bit of disbelief in the newsroom. It couldnโ€™t really be true that Santa Cruz influenced elections in El Salvador, could it? Surely there must be some misunderstanding about what actually went down, we thought. But as youโ€™ll read, there wasnโ€™t at all. I wonโ€™t spoil any of the details here, but this is definitely quite a bit different than anything else weโ€™ve covered about this areaโ€™s well-known passion for international affairs. What does the future hold for bizarre political stories with a Santa Cruz link? Only Les Gardner knows for sure.


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Over the Line

In the article โ€œPoor Conductor,โ€ allegedly about the resignation of the City Parks Director, you used this opportunity to assail Councilmembers Krohn and Glover. Instead of floating a picture of Mr. Garcia, now resigned, which would have been journalistically factual, you had a half-page picture of the two councilmembers, still under investigation and unresolved. ย 

Presumably you had the information from the councilโ€™s consultant, describing recent City Council behavior as โ€œdysfunctional,โ€ โ€œtheatrical,โ€ โ€œchildish,โ€ โ€œdisrespectfulโ€ and โ€œembarrassing.โ€ You could have included that factual statement, which is a direct comment on the councilโ€™s leadership. ย 

In my opinion, you stepped over a line that many publications like the National Enquirer do.

I believe that you are better than this.

M. Lee Brokaw
Santa Cruz

Re: Looker

All this means for Santa Cruz is a bunch of high-end tech jobs, mainly for people that live outside of this area, more traffic and more Google buses, more million-dollar housing to support the really, really rich. But in the long run the people that actually have lived here their entire lives are the ones that get screwed, as alwaysโ€”unless of course they work for Google.

โ€” Ron

Re: Nina Simon

Doesnโ€™t that go to show the ones that didnโ€™t believe in Simonโ€™s work. Had I not just come on board recently with the volunteers for the MAH, I would have never known any differently on the truth and what a role she took on for our communityโ€”not just the Museum. When I see the variety of faces and all ages, ethnicities, colors, shapes and sizes of humans come to visit, I see equality. Coming from a true local from birth to present and still residing here, yet downtown now, this is the message my father (Peter Demma, Hip Pocket Bookstore, 1964โ€“1968) and many others that moved here in the โ€™60s wanted for Santa Cruz. This is my core upbringingโ€”along with all of my peers that grew up here, tooโ€”and how we all would like Santa Cruz to be in the eyes of the rest of the world.

I would like to say โ€œNina for President,โ€ but I wouldnโ€™t want to lay that one on her, and sounds like sheโ€™s got her work cut out for her internationally. Bon voyage, Nina Simon, may we continue what you started and may you share the same light on as many communities your lifetime can handle! I know I speak on behalf of many.

โ€” Melyssa Demma

Re: Recall Effort

Right wingers are being identified by Good Times as being the ones who are behind the recall of Krohn and Glover? Thatโ€™s ridiculous, and you know it, GT. Iโ€™m a left-wing Democrat, longtime resident of Santa Cruz, and I have my pen ready to sign the petition. These council members have to realize that they represent the entire populace of Santa Cruz, not a few. They need to understand that they pledged to be responsible for taking care of the cityโ€™s business, not walking out as some protest. These council members need to pay attention to the health of the community instead of catering to a lawless few who have no regard for the communityโ€™s health, including their own. Glover lied when he sided with the homeless activists when attempting to sue Santa Cruz in federal court. He claimed there was no drug use at Ross Camp. Really?

โ€” Kevin


PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

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


GOOD IDEA

The Santa Cruz County Sheriffโ€™s Office is giving some advice to anyone who calls 911 to report illegal fireworks on or around July 4. In a media release, Sgt. Dee Baldwin suggests callers be prepared to describe the specific location where fireworks are being lit, the individuals setting them off and any specific dangers to property or people. Typically, callers only offer vague information, which clogs up the system, according to the release.


GOOD WORK

Anyone who wants an informative, Santa Cruz-oriented view into the confusing world of recycling is in for a treat. The city of Santa Cruz is offering free summer tours of its recycling center, the Resource Recovery Facility at 605 Dimeo Lane, on upcoming Thursdays and Fridaysโ€”June 27 and 28, July 18 and 19, and August 22 and 23. The 90-minute tours are at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. To make a reservation, email lo******@*************uz.com.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK

โ€œHalf of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.โ€

-Gore Vidal

Love Your Local Band: Grand Larson

Grand Larson
Grand Larson plays Moe's Alley on Thursday, June 27

Rob Brezsnyโ€™s Astrology June 26-July 2

Astrology, Horoscope, Stars, Zodiac Signs
Free will astrology for the week of June 26, 2019

Bad Sleepโ€™s Punk Awakening

Bad Sleep
Olympia band plays SubRosa on Saturday, June 29

Cancer, Sign of the Teacher: Risaโ€™s Stars June 26 – July 2

risa's stars
Esoteric Astrology as news for week of June 26, 2019

New Indexical Residency Backs Experimental Music

Indexical residency
Brooklyn-to-Santa Cruz nonprofit welcomes first artist in residence

Primal Santa Cruz Reopens as Vida

Vida
Westside restaurant gets an all-gluten-free makeover

Film Review: โ€˜The Last Black Man In San Franciscoโ€™

Last Black Man
Displacement fuels poignant, dreamy Bay Area portrait

Lucia Highlandsโ€™ Lush Coastal Chardonnay

ilver Mountain Vineyards
Big Surโ€™s maritime climate shapes the wine of Lucia Highlands Vineyard

An Olive Oil to Combat Chronic Allergies

True Olive Connection - California Mission Oil
Susan Pappas, of the True Olive Connection, breaks down whatโ€™s so special about her California Mission Oil

Opinion: June 19, 2019

Les Gardner
Plus letters to the editor
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