Page 729 | Good Times

Lulu’s Micro-Sizes New Westside Coffee Outpost

Christina Waters

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October 9, 2018

Lulu’s Micro-Sizes New Westside Coffee Outpost

Trust the ever-ingenious Manthri Sinath to convert a vintage 8 x 4 foot Fotomat into a sleek, state-of-the-art coffee depot. Lulu’s Westside is a bright, shiny, six-week-old wraparound, drive-by godsend to those in need of breakfast, pastry, and caffeine.

Holding down the very tip of Almar & Mission (in the U-Save parking lot) the latest jewel in the Lulu’s tiara makes custom espresso drinks and serves up house-baked pastries to a host of grateful Westside neighbors—as well as tourists, bicycle clubs, yoga aficionados, telemarketers, students, and realtors.

After the success of Lulu’s Midtown, “we learned how valuable the drive-thru feature was,” Sinath explains, while whipping up a macchiato at the gleaming espresso machine that fills one-third of the little kiosk. At the opposite wall is a prep area with refrigerator, counter, microwave, and tiny toaster oven. Glass windows fold out to create an open-air ambiance as patrons—in cars, on bikes or on foot—watch their favorite coffee drink being finessed.

A true wraparound coffee kitchen, the newest Lulu’s is a tribute to streamlined space management. Explaining that the former photo dispensary turned coffee kiosk had to be refurbished and custom-appointed, Sinath offers me a delectable little Sous Vide Egg Bite ($4) to try, while he whips up coffee for a patron in a gigantic Hummer.

“I like doing interesting things,” the entrepreneur confesses. “And usually at a slight angle to the universe.”

The original metal building is still there, under the Lulu’s chartreuse graphics. “These things are like art projects,” he says. In fact, this ingenious little facility is practically a landmark restoration, and many patrons under the age of 40 will be fascinated to discover a relic from the photographic Time Before Instagram. The compact coffeehouse-in-a-box is truly a sparkling addition to the Westside.

The menu outside offers patrons a quick glimpse of possibilities, even a pumpkin spice latté for six bucks. A stack of fresh pastries offers further temptation. “We make them in-house at the downtown Lulu’s,” says Sinath. But I have to say that creamy egg bite was a revelation. The one I sampled was laced with cheddar, tarragon, and red pepper. There’s another version with bacon. Morning protein for $4! A brilliant advance on the monotonous “breakfast sandwich” concept. Ditto the house egg and Applewood-smoked bacon on a biscuit, with sriracha aioli. All your favorite coffee drinks—and more—are here in this small, well-designed emporium.

930 Almar, Santa Cruz. Open 5 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. lulucarpenters.com/westside.

Fat Babies at HOM Korean Kitchen

Here’s the perfect excuse to try out some of the menu items at HOM, housed in the former Hoffman’s at 1102 Pacific Ave.: the energizing and sassy “Santa Cruz Fatbabies” exhibition of paintings by Ashley Yujin Roberts. Painted with loads of style, confidence, and bright colors on wood, the artworks feature plump and highly athletic babies with haircuts very reminiscent of those worn by a certain Korean head of state. These playful characters are shown jumping and surfing on stylized waves, among fish, chrysanthemums, leaping bunnies, and lots of other outrageously imaginative scenarios, many drawn from Korean folklore. If you don’t fall in love with these fatbabies by Ashley Yujin Roberts, AKA Ashley Yeo, you might not be breathing. Her show is up at HOM Korean Kitchen until Halloween.

Products of the Week:

At Shopper’s Corner, where we regularly pick up our weekly quota of Fernet Branca and salty crunchy bar mix, we’ve fallen for dried cherries—chewy and intense—as well as the organic Honeycrisp apples that have appeared lately in the produce array. Mmmmm.

Preview: Screaming Females at the Crepe Place

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October 9, 2018

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Preview: Screaming Females at the Crepe Place

New Jersey alt-rock trio Screaming Females spent a decade refining their sound to a near-perfect punch on 2015’s Rose Mountain. They took elements of metal, punk, alternative rock and pop and melded them together into increasingly more concise songwriting.

Then the band took a surprise left turn with 2018’s All at Once, a wandering, unfocused, ambitious, and kind of long-winded heavy-rock record. And it’s their best album to date.

“I think we definitely did a lot of self-editing with Rose Mountain. We were working toward cutting the fat out of our songs,” says singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster.

The group had gotten a lot of positive feedback for Rose Mountain, and were busy touring on it for a majority of the past three and a half years, so they didn’t have a lot of uninterrupted time to focus on making its follow-up. They tend to not write on the road, so it was a song here, a song there when they were at home. This gave them a chance to do a lot of demos and experiments.

Rather than continue to refine the sound that has proven to work for the group, they expanded every aspect of it. Some of the poppiest moments of the group’s career emerge on this record, as well as some of the angriest, and certainly some of the longest songs they’ve ever written.

“We don’t really usually have any kind of list of rules that we need to adhere to when we start writing, we just try and do whatever feels natural—but also try and do things that are new and challenging for us,” says Paternoster.

Songs like “Agnes Martin” have an almost hair-metal vibe. “Dirt” draws from late ’70s art rock. “Soft Domination” channels the groove-rock of Fugazi (in fact, Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty adds a second drum part to the recording).

This is the first record the band really thought about in terms of being a single work of art. The title All at Once refers to a concept the members had early in the process; that one can focus in on all of the smaller parts of a piece of art, while simultaneously considering the whole.

“There are some albums that you can get a vibe when you think about the record. It makes you think about a certain time or a place, how the weather was outside when you first heard it. We wanted to make records that can be a part of people’s personal lives,” Paternoster says. “Before, we’ve always wanted to make records that people enjoy listening to, and there’s not much else to it, I suppose.”

The album jumps around lyrically, but a theme that seems to pop up frequently is the changing nature of connection. On opener “Glass House,” Paternoster talks about how hard it is to create a meaningful online relationship. On “Step Outside,” she tells people to leave their house even though “you won’t be safe.”

“There’s no way any of us really knew how quickly the way we interact with each other in the world would change in such a small period of time,” Paternoster says. “So I think if it’s not something that’s on your mind, that’s kind of crazy, especially if you’re my age.”

Despite it being a departure for the band, the reviews and responses for All at Once have been quite positive, maybe the best they’ve ever received.

“We have been lucky that every record we’ve done has gotten incrementally received a little bit better than the last one,” Paternoster says. “Our ultimate goal is to engage with as many people as possible, and hopefully make their lives feel a little more fulfilled and happy—and go out on tour and have cool experiences and make new friends.”

Screaming Females play at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 11 at the Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $15/door. 429-6994.

Second Story: Mental Health Home Gets a Second Chance

Hugh McCormick

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October 9, 2018

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Second Story: Mental Health Home Gets a Second Chance

Encompass Community Services CEO Monica Martinez thrilled mental health advocates when she announced in an Oct. 3 press release that the Second Story peer-run respite house would remain open after all, and for the foreseeable future. The flagship program is Santa Cruz County’s only alternative to inpatient psychiatric hospitalization.

Less than a month earlier, Martinez and Santa Cruz County health professionals had reluctantly decided to close the home after weighing financial and bureaucratic hurdles facing the program, as reported by Good Times at the time. After reading GT’s story, private donors came together to make an anonymous contribution totaling more than $1.1 million—the largest in Encompass history—and enough to pay off a state loan on Second Story’s Aptos property. Encompass will own the six-bed mental health facility and be able to keep offering comprehensive services for years to come. A portion of the donation will finance the cost of the program’s operations while Encompass and the county draft a long-term sustainability plan.

Second Story’s expected closure came as a shock to the program’s staff last month. Erik Riera said at the time that a complicated funding situation made the program—a model for almost a dozen respite houses across the nation—unsustainable. After eight years, Second Story was set to close its doors at the end of November.

Yana Jacobs, who helped establish Second Story almost a decade ago, was looking to save the program, searching for ways to reconfigure the house or move funding around to sustain services. That responsibility has been lifted off her shoulders. “I’m exuberant and relieved and have a joyous, renewed faith in humanity,” Jacobs tells GT via email. “Our work resonates with a call to social justice in the mental health arena.”

At Second Story, staffers are taking a deep breath. Excited voices are bouncing off the walls of the living room as piano music plays in the background. “It’s really starting to set in,” says Program Manager Adrian Camp. “The magnitude of the gift—to give us the house. I’m awed by it. It’s unbelievable.”

Film Review: Monsters and Men

Lisa Jensen

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October 9, 2018

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Filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green knows how to get your attention. In the first moments of his contemporary drama, Monsters and Men, a black man is driving down a city street, punching absently at his car radio. When Al Green’s dreamy, “Let’s Stay Together” comes up, the driver grins, relaxes and starts singing along (as do most of us in the audience—in our heads, anyway). We’re with this guy 100 percent.

But the mood alters drastically when a police cruiser shows up out the rear window. The driver braces himself, but while he remains courteous and cool as he’s pulled over, the audience goes into panic mode. Nothing suggests the driver is some kind of criminal. Is this guy we already identify with going to become another tragic statistic in the ongoing war between law enforcement and people of color—whose casualties we read about in the paper almost every day?

Fortunately, this encounter has a peaceful resolution, the surprise of which won’t be revealed here. But it sets up the edgy tone of Green’s urban drama, where something horrible might happen to anyone at any moment, for no good reason. Green’s skill is involving us deeply in the lives of three bystanders caught in the metaphorical crossfire. The more we care about them, the more we agonize over their fates in Green’s compelling tale of choices and consequences in the Black Lives Matter era.

Set in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, the movie introduces Manny Ortega (an excellent Anthony Ramos), who lives with his girlfriend and their toddler daughter in his mom’s apartment. Motivated to better himself to support his family, Manny has just started a new job at the reception desk of a large corporation. But one night, he and his friends stumble upon a tense encounter between police and an unarmed man; Manny switches his phone to video mode just as things turn violent.

What should he do? Put himself and his family at risk by making the video public, or deal with the guilt of staying silent? Meanwhile, a black police officer named Dennis (John David Washington from BlacKkKlansman, in a performance of guarded restraint), also a devoted husband with a young child, has to decide how to respond during an internal police investigation into the nature of the officer who did the shooting—whose reputation within the department is already dubious.

The third principal observer is Zyric (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a high school baseball phenom on the brink of being signed to the majors. His proud single dad is also a cop, who urgently wants his son to grasp his opportunity to get out of the neighborhood. But Zyric must weigh the option of getting involved in his community—the trials of living as a person of color—even if it jeopardizes his ticket out.

When Zyric is first introduced—a young man in a hoodie walking home from practice, pulled over by the cops—viewers think at first that it’s Manny, who we have seen pulled over by the police in much the same way in an earlier scene. This is the essence of racial profiling, in which the viewer is invited to participate—do young men of color in hoodies all look alike to the cops? Yet we also see Dennis, his white female partner and two other beat cops join a friendly, impromptu game on a neighborhood basketball court with local youths—putting tribal antagonisms on hold for a few minutes.

The brilliant Blindspotting, from earlier this year, also featured the shooting of a black man by police as a key plot element. That movie, set in Oakland, also added hip-hop poetry, blistering dark humor, and unresolved racial tensions between its two protagonists into its volatile mix. While not quite as complex as its predecessor, Green’s movie urges us to delve beneath the headlines and slogans and face the nature of injustice in our dysfunctional society.

MONSTERS AND MEN

*** (out of four)

With John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Written and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green. A Neon release. Rated R. 95 minutes.

Vape Wars: Are We Missing the Bigger Picture?

Hugh McCormick

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October 3, 2018

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Vape Wars: Are We Missing the Bigger Picture?

A little over six years ago, Michael Wright walked into Beyond Vape in Capitola—one of the area’s first e-cigarette shops—with a few crumpled $20 bills, a half a pack of smokes, and a big dream: to end his smoking habit once and for all.

Wright started smoking what he calls “analog” cigarettes at age 14—two to three packs of Camel Reds a day for almost 12 years. Big Tobacco hooked him early. “When I was smoking cigarettes, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t exercise, and I smelled really bad,” he says. “My whole life changed when I started vaping.”

Wright says he had tried every other product on the market designed to beat smoking, numerous times. The gum and the patch made him physically sick. The pills gave him terrible nightmares. When he tried to go cold turkey and eliminate nicotine entirely, he was miserable and angry. “No one wanted to hang out with me,” he says.

Wright, 27, is one of the millions of people around the globe who has managed to quit smoking cigarettes using vaping devices. He calls electronic cigarettes, which were invented by a Chinese pharmacist whose father died from smoking in 2003, the “ultimate smoking cessation device.”

Vaping, however, receives its fair share of scorn. Scary stories about exploding devices, toxic chemicals, and grade schoolers getting hooked on e-cigarettes are hitting social and mass media outlets with more frequency. And there’s one question Wright hears a lot these days: “Is vaping safe?”

In the United States, e-cigs have developed a menacing reputation. Powerful campaigns from anti-smoking groups have created the perception that e-cigs are just as dangerous as their tobacco counterparts. Vaping devices contain no tobacco, but they are deemed tobacco products and placed under similar restrictions.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been a vocal critic of electronic cigarettes for years, consistently warning the public about the potential dangers of e-cigarettes. Recently though, things at the agency may have begun to change. Although not recommending vaping outright, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has repeatedly discussed vaping as a valuable, yet unproven, tool to wean adult smokers off cigarettes.

Most experts agree that conventional cigarettes are the true menace, significantly more damaging than their electronic counterparts. Groups like the American Cancer Society highly recommend electronic nicotine delivery systems to smokers trying to quit.

The ACS contends that members of the general public are being misled by anti-vaping campaigns on social media and the mainstream media. “Over one-third of the population is under the mistaken impression that vaping is just as dangerous to one’s health as smoking,“ estimates the ACS.

Studies documenting “toxic chemicals” found in e-cigs make regular headlines in American news outlets. One highly publicized study done by Harvard University found that diacetyl, known to cause damage to the lungs’ smallest airways, was found in 75 percent of flavored e-cigs. Tobacco cigarettes contain at least 100 times the amount of diacetyl found in vaping products.

While teenage vaping is frequently being called an “epidemic,” what isn’t mentioned is that since the advent of e-cigs teen smoking rates have plummeted to historic lows.

In Great Britain, health agencies, the government and the public are more welcoming of e-cigs, as millions of Brits are using them to ditch “the stinkies.”

The U.K.’s National Health Service reports that “an estimated 2.9 million adults in Great Britain currently use e-cigarettes, and of these, 1.5 million people have completely stopped smoking cigarettes.”

In the U.S, the decades-long war on smoking has become, in effect, a war on nicotine. But nicotine has arguably never been the deadly villain in cigarettes. British scientists and politicians contend the harm from smoking doesn’t come from nicotine, which is already an over-the-counter component in gum, the patch, and pills. Experts agree the true harm comes from the thousands of other chemicals contained in tobacco smoke, including tar and carbon monoxide.

The British Parliament recently concluded that e-cigs are 95 less harmful than traditional cigarettes. An August 2018 report rejects claims that e-cigs can be a gateway to smoking, and that taxes on vaping should be cut significantly. Just last month, the U.K’s House of Commons and Technology Committee recommended that e-cigarettes be made available on a prescription basis as a smoking cessation tool.

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard’s Graciano 2012

Josie Cowden

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October 3, 2018

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Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard’s Graciano 2012

“Graciano is a Spanish grape that is grown primarily in Rioja and is very rare in the New World,” says Jeff Emery, owner of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard.

“It is a low-yielding, aromatic and intensely flavored variety that typically provides a deep core of fruit and structure to blends. Our Graciano exhibits tremendous blueberry fruit surrounded by a zesty spiciness.”

Made under his Quinta Cruz label, which Emery created to showcase wines from the Iberian Peninsula, this CCOF organically grown 100 percent Graciano 2012 ($28) is a delightful red wine treat. Emery says that even in Spain, Graciano is rarely bottled as a single varietal, so it’s fortunate we have winemakers like Emery who always go the extra mile to capture the essence of a certain grape in a bottle.

The Graciano grapes came from Bokisch Vineyard in the Sacramento Valley, where Markus Bokisch, who has Spanish ancestors, grows climate-appropriate fruit. Crammed with intense black fruits, red cherries and red plums, you’ll think you’re in Madrid on your first sip. So, take the bull by the horns, as the Spanish do, and try some of this delicioso dry wine.

Emery will be at the annual Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group’s fundraiser Gourmet Grazing on the Green on Oct. 6 in Aptos Village Park with his Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard wine—kudos to him for supporting this worthy cause.

Emery’s wines can be found all over, including at New Leaf, Deer Park Wine & Spirits and other local markets.

Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard and Quinta Cruz, 334 Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 426-6209. santacruzmountainvineyard.com.

Info About Corks from Pelican Ranch

Did you know that up to 10 percent of wines closed with a cork can suffer from a defect called “cork taint?”

These unpleasant aromas, often described as moldy, musty and more, will ruin the character of a well-made wine, says Pelican Ranch Winery in Capitola, which often hosts educational gatherings—usually served up with their excellent wines and some delicious treats. You can find out about upcoming events by going to their website and signing up.

Visit pelicanranch.com.

Opinion: October 3, 2018

Steve Palopoli

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October 3, 2018

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Looking over the program for the Santa Cruz Film Festival, I was shocked at how many films this year are about subjects that have also been GT cover stories over the last few years, including Santa Cruz’s housing crisis and homeless encampments (At Capacity), the history of Mt. Umunhum (Umunhum), major shifts in cannabis culture (The End of Weed) and Ursula K. Le Guin (Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin).

But what surprised me the most was one that wasn’t ever on our cover: the story of Santa Cruz native William McCarthy, frontman for the Brooklyn indie rock band Augustines and the subject of Todd Howe’s film Rise, which gets its U.S. premiere at SCFF this week. The story of McCarthy’s life—growing up in a heartbreaking situation in Santa Cruz and eventually finding some catharsis for his family tragedies in his songwriting—is so compelling, and I can’t recommend the film highly enough. I also got the chance to put McCarthy on the cover this week, after speaking to him and Howe about the film and the story behind it.

The thing is, there are two big festivals in Santa Cruz this week, so Wallace Baine and I tag-teamed them, with Wallace writing about the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival. I particularly like his “must see” picks for SCCF, and the story of how a very big development may be in store for the local comedy scene. Check it all out and see you at this week’s festivals!

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Corporate Arrogance

Your story last week (GT, 9/26) regarding “Blowback” should alarm anyone who ventures forth where crops are being sprayed. Of course there is the right to farm. That is settled law, long ago. I support our ag business for the great, healthy products it produces, and the huge tax receipts it provides for Santa Cruz County. Our county depends on them.

But how you control mites and other insects that eat or destroy these crops is just as important.

Is every company to blame? No. But I wish to point out one offender: E Berry of Hollister. They farm the raspberries behind Bronte Avenue where I live. They give notice to just one of our neighbors, and expect her to warn all of us. She does not work for E Berry. She warns us because she believes in the philosophy of Fred Rogers: will you be my neighbor? My carcinogen-free neighbor?

Sadly, E Berry does not. They don’t answer the phone. They don’t list a CEO for their company. Just a P.O. box in Hollister.

They use Acramite 50WS, which contains four proven carcinogens: bifenazate, kaolin, silica gel and sodium 2 sulfonate. These ingredients are toxic to bees, birds, fish, pets and people. It can’t be used within 25 feet of a fresh water source. You must wear hazmat gear to apply the spray. The neighbors don’t get hazmat gear to live in their yards or patios. And the dust goes everywhere.

E Berry gives us less than 72 hours to prepare. They say they will spray on a Sunday, and then spray Monday, after we have let our pets out and opened our windows or doors for “fresh” air.

This issue is more important than my candidacy for city council. And I am proud to have the Sierra Club endorsement.

This corporate arrogance must stop!

Steve Trujillo
Watsonville

Short-Term Limits

Like many longtime Santa Cruz residents, I’ve been following the discussion about Measure M and lack of long-term rentals in Santa Cruz County; it’s an important discussion for our community to have. I find it troubling, however, that nowhere do I see a conversation which includes any mention of the impact of short-term vacation rentals on the availability of our long-term rentals. Have I somehow missed this? Short-term rentals such as Airbnb are a huge reason rents have gone up in our community. There is nothing mysterious here. It’s supply and demand. Conversely, if our community puts more limits on vacation rentals, then long-term rental availability will go up. In turn, rental costs should go down or at least stabilize.

Of course there are other reasons for lack of housing, but this particular reason seems to be conspicuously absent from the discussion. Why is that? I have read that the city of Santa Cruz is going to limit vacation rental units to 450, but why even allow that? And what about the rest of the county?

Airbnb and the like are forever changing resort communities all over the world. Just ask my good friend who has lived for the past 25 years on the island of Santorini, Greece. She and most of her friends (all working service jobs) are being kicked out of their apartments because the local owners want to rent to the tourists. Sound familiar? Difficult to see a favorable outcome for locals. Will this be us, too?

Marty Mueller
Santa Cruz

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

Santa Cruz’s own Elias Lammam, a microtonal accordionist beloved by Arabic music fans, will help locals see frightening international conflict through a cultural lens. Lammam will perform at “What’s Happening in Syria?,” which is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6 at the Resource Center for Nonviolence on Ocean Street. The evening will also feature a powerful scene from a play about the journey of desperate refugees. For information, email es*******@*****on.com.

GOOD WORK

UCSC has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs designed to support beginning farmers. The problem? The average age of farmers in this country is approaching 60. The solution? That’s what this three-year, $600,000 grant will help determine, as the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) uses it to create webinars, teleconferencing, and digital tools that will improve the support network for ag upstarts.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The greatness of a culture can be found in its festivals.”
-Siddharth Katragadda

5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz Oct. 3-9

Things To Do This Week

GT Staff

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October 3, 2018

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A weekly guide to what’s happening.

Green Fix

Plastic Water

This two-day event starts with the bad and ends with the good. Day one lays out the “new normal” of just how polluted and poisoned our oceans have become, and looks at the problem through the lens of art. Day two is more hopeful, with a family fair and consortium about how to help prevent further pollution to the oceans. The event is dedicated to Assemblyman Mark Stone, for his efforts to help turn the tide on plastic pollution.

INFO: 6-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5 and 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. The 418 Project. 418 Front St., Santa Cruz. the418project.com. Free.

Art Seen

Tahitian Dance and Hula Class for Beginners

Plane tickets to Hawaii are expensive, so why not bring a little aloha to Santa Cruz?

Learn sacred Hula and Tahitian dances with Lorraine Kalei Kinnamon of the Te Hau Nui School of Hula and Tahitian Dance. Participants will learn the foundations of these traditional dances that help preserve culture and celebrate nature’s elements. The class is open to anyone age 12 and up, regardless of gender or experience level. Pa’u skirts are provided. If you can’t make this one, they host beginning classes every Thursday and do five-week series. Call or check online for more details.

INFO: 5:45 p.m. Thursdays beginning Oct. 4. Te Hau Nui Dance Studio, 924 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. tehaunuidance.com. 345-3628. $20 single class drop-in.

Friday 10/5

FishWise Anniversary Celebration

FishWise began in 2003 as a pilot seafood sustainability and training program with New Leaf Community Markets, and is today acknowledged as one of the world’s most effective nonprofit organizations in empowering seafood companies to protect not only seafood sustainability, but also the oceans. FishWise turns 15 this year, and in celebration of their years of pioneering work they are hosting a First Friday event with live music, food and drinks and ocean-themed work by local artists. FishWise staff will be there to answer any questions about the next 15 years.

INFO: 5-8 p.m. FishWise Headquarters. 500 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz. fishwise.org. Free.

Wednesday 10/3

Free Skin Cancer Screening

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, and there are many people who don’t even know they have it. This is the 25th year of O’Neill Surf Shop’s free skin cancer screenings with Dr. James Beckett and Santa Cruz Dermatologists, and it will unfortunately be Dr. Beckett’s last year. As he hands the torch of to his new replacement, Dr. Beckett will be saying farewell to this event and attendees.

INFO: 5:30-7:30 p.m. O’Neill Surf Shop. 1115 41st Ave., Capitola. 475-4151. Free.

Sunday 10/7

Open Farm Tours

With fall in full swing, there is no better time to pick apples and get to know your farmer than now. They come out to the farmers market every week, we can get it together to go visit them at least once, right? There will be 14 farms participating, including Alladin nursery, which will be hosting the Marketplace, featuring live music, food preservation demonstrations and kids activities. Check online for a full list of events at all of the farms.

INFO: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Locations vary, Alladin Nursery Marketplace located at 2905 Freedom Blvd., Watsonville. openfarmtours.com. Free.

Music Picks: Oct. 3-9

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October 3, 2018

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Live music highlights for the week of Oct. 3, 2018.

WEDNESDAY, 10/3

FOLK

ELIZA GILKYSON

“Dark comes down like a bird in flight.” So begins Secularia, the 23rd studio album by Austin-based folk musician Eliza Gilkyson. In her nearly 50 years of work, Gilkyson has twice been nominated for a Grammy Award, been covered by Joan Baez, and been inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame. And yet Secularia (which just came out this July) still sounds fresh—marked by soft tendrils of reverb, subtle orchestration and her effortlessly clarion voice. When dark comes down, Gilkyson is here to say she’s with you. MIKE HUGUENOR

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $30 adv/$33 door. 479-9777

WEDNESDAY 10/3

JAZZ

CHICK COREA

When Chick Corea released his breakthrough 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, he was joined by Czech bass virtuoso Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes. Almost exactly 50 years later, Corea, 77, is the ageless master presenting one of his recent ensembles, Vigilette. Corea has always thrived in a trio setting, and this one ranks among his best. Distilled from the Latin Grammy Award-winning 2013 project The Vigil, the extraordinary combo features Cuban bassist Carlitos Del Puerto and drummer Marcus Gilmore, a standout talent on a scene overflowing with insuperable drummers. ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $57.75/adv, $65/door. 423-8209.

THURSDAY 10/4

SKA

REEL BIG FISH

Orange County ska band Reel Big Fish has been around so long that even its origin story seems dated. The group got heavy rotation on MTV with an ironic song about “selling out” to the evil major record labels. Does that sentence even make sense to someone currently under 30? Regardless, the band’s high-energy, goofy-meets-depressing ska-punk sound has served it well for the past 20+ years. Reel Big Fish has stayed on the road full-time since their initial “Sell Out” moment and have packed clubs every year, no matter what the experts say about the state of ska in this beautiful nation. AARON CARNES

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $22. 423-1338.

FRIDAY, 10/5

ROCK/FOLK

CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND

Like a modern reincarnation of the Band, the Mystic Valley Band are a group of Americana mining tunesmiths whose playing feels near-symbiotically connected. They formed in 2008 to backup Conor Oberst on his solo debut album. On 2009’s Outer South, the members even managed to wrest the spotlight away from Oberst, who by then had already been drawing comparisons to Bob Dylan. Shows with the Mystic Valley Band have been rare this decade, so this is a don’t miss show. MH

INFO: 8:00 p.m. Cocoanut Grove Historic Ballroom, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. $33. 423-5590

FRIDAY 10/5

ROCK

THELMA AND THE SLEAZE

After a night with hell-raising southern rock sludge-trio Thelma and the Sleaze, you’re gonna feel a little scared, and a little excited. You’re also gonna wanna be just like them. Frontwoman LG feels like that’s what a great live band should do to a person. They definitely deliver with rowdy biker-dude-gone-feminist tunes that sometimes sound like Janis Joplin joined Le Tigre. So go ahead and dust off those daisy dukes, faux mustaches and pearl necklaces, because you ’bout to have a night. AMY BEE

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

SATURDAY 10/6

ROCK

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

It’s a Beautiful Day has been performing since the infamous 1967 Summer of Love, and are most famous for their hippie anthem “White Bird.” Amazingly, four of the six current members have been playing since the original days and show no signs of slowing down. Last year they joined other Summer of Love alumni at Golden Gate Park for the 50th anniversary show, alongside contemporary legends like Big Brother and the Holding Company. MAT WEIR

INFO: 9 p.m. Flynn’s Cabaret, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15/adv, $18/door. 335-2800.

SATURDAY 10/6

HIP HOP

DUCKWRTH

South Central Los Angelino Duckwrth hit the music scene with such savagery he became an instant success virtually overnight. His debut album, 2016’s I’m Uugly, earned him love from critics and audiences with a style stuck in between the mainstream and underground worlds. He spits over traditional boom-bap beats, whacked-out funk and even rock music. MW

INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $14/adv, $16/door. 423-1338.

SUNDAY

ROCK

THE RED ELVISES

Everyone’s favorite Russian surf band is heading to Santa Cruz to invite one and all to get on the dance floor and “Smell the bacon/smell the bacon/ I’m on fire.” Somehow surf, funk rock, disco and all forms of party music resonate way better imbued with a healthy dose of Soviet sensibility. A giant red triangle bass and a sequined horn section help, too. It’s kitschy, but not corny; fun, but not sloppy. AB

INFO: 8:30 p.m., Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. 479-1854.

MONDAY 10/8

ALTERNATIVE

JARVIS COCKER

Back in 1998, underrated brit-pop band Pulp released one of the bleakest rock albums ever. On This is Hardcore, lead singer Jarvis Cocker pondered the meaningless of life, the inevitability of death, and the inner lives of porno stars. In other words, it’s a dark masterpiece. Since going solo in 2006, his outlook hasn’t grown any brighter, but there is a certain whimsy to his solo career. You could almost call it a “fun” quality that to his fans might seem a few steps removed from the musically dense days of Pulp. Somehow it just makes the darkness all the more glaring. AC

INFO: 8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $26/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.

Gordo Gustavo’s Cooks Up BBQ Expansion Plan

Georgia Johnson

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October 2, 2018

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Gordo Gustavo’s Cooks Up BBQ Expansion Plan

Gordo Gustavo’s just upgraded from a market stall to a food truck a year ago, and now the team is ready to make things more permanent. Owner Austin Towne says he’s looking for locations to open a restaurant, a Tex-Mex joint with a full bar, if everything goes his way.

This will come as welcome news for Gordo’s die-hards, who patiently wait in line at the farmers market every week for their smokey barbecue fix. Someone on Yelp summarized it beautifully: “I stopped going to church and just started going to Gordo Gustavo’s, because that’s all the church I ever need.” Cue brisket sando with homemade pickles and pork breakfast sandwich with bacon and an egg … preach.

But good barbecue isn’t easy, and Towne is no stranger to working 90-hour weeks. He and his staff make everything but the bread and tortillas—all local, organic and super fresh. He casually lists off menu ideas like blue corn tortillas and tamales with brisket drippings instead of lard (*wipes drool off chin*). Someone please get this guy a non-mobile place to cook already.

A lot has changed since the Gordo’s market stall a few years ago, huh?

AUSTIN TOWNE: Now it’s turned into something where people count on me to cure their hangover on Sundays. Last weekend we were gone, and people hit me up like “hey really needed you this morning.” It’s funny, it’s such a silly path, and was so unexpected. We really enjoy it, that’s my biggest thing—even when we have rough days, we are still laughing and having fun. We have two flat-tops now with the truck, and much more space, which makes a big difference.

Even with that space it’s still not enough; we are constantly moving forward. A new place is the appropriate move, but I’ve gotten used to being told no in Santa Cruz, so I’m being optimistic and have a few other projects going on.

You’ve got lots of veggie options, way more than you used to.

In Santa Cruz you have to cover all of the bases to make things work. If it were up to me, I’d do true farm-to-bowl, and break down one whole animal where everything gets used. What’s cool is the farmers market is its own community; I can see what’s coming into season and work with the farmers around.

If I get to open my dream spot and do Tex-Mex, I know whole hogs won’t be for everyone, we’ll still have separate vegetarian options, because that’s important here.

Gordo Gustavo’s is at most farmers markets. gordogustavos.com.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Fat Babies at HOM Korean Kitchen

Products of the Week:

MONSTERS AND MEN

Info About Corks from Pelican Ranch

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Green Fix

Plastic Water

Art Seen

Tahitian Dance and Hula Class for Beginners

Friday 10/5

FishWise Anniversary Celebration

Wednesday 10/3

Free Skin Cancer Screening

Sunday 10/7

Open Farm Tours

ELIZA GILKYSON

CHICK COREA

REEL BIG FISH

CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND

THELMA AND THE SLEAZE

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY

DUCKWRTH

THE RED ELVISES

JARVIS COCKER