Page 736 | Good Times

Rob Brezny’s Astrology Sept 12-18

Rob Brezsny

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September 11, 2018

Free will astrology for the week of Sept. 12, 2018.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Author Anne Carson describes part of her creative process in this way: “Sometimes I dream a sentence and write it down. It’s usually nonsense, but sometimes it seems a key to another world.” I suspect you might be able to benefit from using a comparable trick in the coming days. That’s why you should monitor any odd dreams, seemingly irrational impulses, or weird fantasies that arise in you. Although they may not be of any practical value in themselves, they could spur a train of thought that leads you to interesting breakthroughs.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “The idea of liberation through the suppression of desire is the greatest foolishness ever conceived by the human mind,” wrote philosopher E. M. Cioran. I agree that trying to deny or stifle or ignore our desires can’t emancipate us. In fact, I’m inclined to believe that freedom is only possible if we celebrate and honor our desires, marvel at their enigmas, and respect their power. Only then can we hope to refine them. Only then can we craft them into beautiful, useful forces that serve us rather than confuse and undermine us. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to engage in this spiritual practice, Taurus.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck,” says the Dalai Lama. Ain’t that the truth! When I was 22 years old, there were two different women I desperately yearned for as if they were the Muse Queens of Heaven who would transform me into a great artist and quench my infinite passion. Fortunately, they both rejected me. They decisively set me free of my bondage to them. Later, when I was older and wiser, I realized that blending my fortunes with either of them would have led me away from my true destiny. I got lucky! In a similar but less melodramatic way, Gemini, I suspect you will also get lucky sometime soon.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’ts for Boys or Errors of Conduct Corrected was an advice book for boys published in 1902. Among many other strictures and warnings, it offered this advice: “Don’t giggle. For the love of decency, never giggle.” There was additional counsel in the same vein: “Don’t be noisy. The guffaw evinces less enjoyment than the quiet smile.” Another exhortation: “Don’t tease. Be witty, but impersonal.” In accordance with astrological omens, I hereby proclaim that all of those instructions are utterly wrong for you right now. To sweetly align yourself with cosmic rhythms, you should giggle and guffaw and tease freely. If you’re witty—and I hope you will be—it’ll serve you well to be affectionate and personable.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful,” writes designer John Maeda. “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak up,” says artist Hans Hofmann. “Simplicity strips away the superfluous to reveal the essence,” declares a blogger named Cheo. I hope these quotes provide you with helpful pointers, Leo. You now have the opportunity to cultivate a masterful version of simplicity.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your keynote is the Japanese word shizuka. According to photographer Masao Yamamoto, it means “cleansed, pure, clear, and untainted.” One of his artistic practices is to wander around forests looking in the soil for “treasures” that emanate shizuka. So in his definition, the term isn’t about being scrubbed or sanitized. Rather, he’s interested in pristine natural phenomena that are unspoiled by civilization. He regards them as food for his soul. I mention this, Virgo, because now is an excellent time for you to get big doses of people and places and things that are cleansed, pure, clear, and untainted.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra blogger Ana-Sofia Cardelle writes candidly about her relationship with herself. She keeps us up to date with the ever-shifting self-images that float through her awareness. Here’s one of her bulletins: “Stage 1. me: I’m the cutest thing in the world. Stage 2. me, two seconds later: no, I’m a freaking goblin. Stage 3. me, two seconds after that: I’m the cutest goblin in the world.” I’m guessing that many of you Libras have reached the end of your own personal version of Stage 2. You’ve either already slipped into Stage 3, or soon will. No later than Oct. 1, you’ll be preparing to glide back into Stage 1 again.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “There’s no such thing as love,” said Scorpio painter Pablo Picasso, “there are only proofs of love.” I’m tempted to believe that’s true, especially as I contemplate the current chapter of your life story. The evidence seems clear: you will thrive by engaging in practical demonstrations of how much you care. You’ll be wise to tangibly help and support and encourage and inspire everyone and everything you love. To do so will make you eligible for blessings that are, as of this moment, still hidden or unavailable.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): According to a Pew Research Study, nearly 75 percent of Americans say they talk to God, but only 30 percent get a reply. I’m guessing the latter figure will rise dramatically for Sagittarias Americans in the next three weeks, however. Why? Because the astrological indicators suggest that authorities of all kinds will be more responsive than usual to Sagittarians of all nationalities. Help from higher powers is likely to be both more palpable and more forthcoming. Any communications you initiate with honchos, directors, and leaders have a better-than-normal chance of being well-received.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): One day in October 1926, author Virginia Woolf inscribed in her diary, “I am the usual battlefield of emotions.” It was a complaint, but also a brag. In fact, she drew on this constant turmoil to fuel her substantial output of creative writing. But the fact is that not all of us thrive on such ongoing uproar. As perversely glamorous and appealing as it may seem to certain people, many of us can do fine without it. According to my analysis, that will be true for you in the coming weeks. If you have a diary, you might justifiably write, “Hallelujah! I am not a battlefield of emotions right now!”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Anthropologist Margaret Mead had definite ideas about “the ways to get insight.” She named them as follows: “to study infants; to study animals; to study indigenous people; to be psychoanalyzed; to have a religious conversion and get over it; to have a psychotic episode and get over it.” I have my own list of ways to spur insight and inspiration, which includes: to do walking meditations in the woods on a regular basis, no matter what the weather; to engage in long, slow sex with a person you love; to spend a few hours reviewing in detail your entire life history; to dance to music you adore for as long as you can before you collapse from delighted exhaustion. What about you, Aquarius? What are your reliable ways to get insight? I suggest you engage in some of them, and also discover a new one. You’re in the Flood of Radical Fresh Insights Phase of your astrological cycle.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Stanley Kubrick made masterful films, but most of them bore me. I regard John Ashbery as a clever and innovative poet, but I’ve never been excited by his work. As for painter Mark Rothko, I recognize his talent and intelligence, but his art leaves me empty. The music of Norah Jones is pretty and technically impeccable, but it doesn’t move me. In the coming weeks, Pisces, I invite you to make the kinds of fine distinctions I’m describing here. It will be important for you to be faithful to your subjective responses to things, even as you maintain an objective perspective about them and treat them with respect.

Homework: Make two fresh promises to yourself: one that’s easy to keep and one that’s at the edge of your capacity to live up to.

40 Years Later, the B-52s Get Their Due

Steve Palopoli

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September 11, 2018

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“Boys in bikinis, girls with surfboards,” snarled Fred Schneider on the B-52s’ first single, “Rock Lobster.” It’s a line that’s easy to miss in the band’s incredible five-minute beach-party fever dream about crustaceans, tanning butter, matching towels and whatever the hell a bikini whale is.

But to me, it’s a lyric that represents everything that makes the B-52s great. Think about what it meant in 1978, when the song was released as the band’s first single. It was a time when surf culture was approaching its peak levels of macho toxicity, and the wahini revolution of women’s surfing was still years away. But the B-52s used this simple gender flip to undermine conventional notions of sexual identity—in the middle of one of the greatest party songs in rock ’n’ roll history.

With a debut like this, the world should have known what was coming. But somehow, as the band celebrates the 40th anniversary of their first hit, pop culture is still coming around to what the B-52s have been sneaking into their party mix for the last four decades. Between songs at the band’s show in Saratoga last summer, Schneider quipped, “an article just came out calling us the most subversive band ever, or something like that. Looks like somebody finally noticed.” That article, a salon.com piece by Annie Zaleski titled “No Novelty, the B-52s May Be the Most Subversive Band America Ever Gave Us,” brilliantly gave the B-52s the long-overdue credit they deserve as cultural vanguards.

A few months later, when I saw the band at the Growlers’ annual music festival in L.A., there were so many kids moshing, crowd-surfing and stage-diving to “Rock Lobster,” “Private Idaho,” “Planet Claire” and other songs from their career-spanning set that you would have thought you were at a punk show. They played like a band possessed, with an intensity that more than one person close to them told me they haven’t seen at this level in years. The B-52s are having a cultural moment, for sure.

Founding member Kate Pierson says she remembers the first time something like this happened, when the group stunned the music industry with their megahit 1989 album Cosmic Thing, which went four times platinum and produced the top 10 singles “Love Shack” and “Roam.”

“We’ve gone through various stages, I guess,” Pierson said in a phone interview earlier this year. “From the beginning, when people were like, ‘What is this?’—because there were aliens and it was something startling and different—to this sort of, ‘Well, they’re just kind of silly,’ focusing very much on our look and the wigs and everything. Then Cosmic Thing came along, and there was this sense of recognition. So I guess the memo-to-self there is ‘Don’t listen to whatever people say.’”

But this time around, it’s a different kind of acknowledgement. It’s about legacy, not commercial success—although the band never thought much about the latter even in their pop heyday, Pierson says. That helps explain why their hits were some of the strangest things on the radio, and why their body of work is getting a critical reappraisal now.

“To be called ‘subversive’ is really interesting,” says Pierson. “In a lot of ways we were, because we were never really commercial, but somehow we became popular. We have a lot of messages—we’ve always tried to not hit you over the head with them too much in our songs, although we do have political songs. And, of course, we’re a mostly gay band, too. And having a sense of humor, which made us very different. Our sensibility was different. It’s hard to have a band that’s both taken seriously and also has a sense of humor and a sense of irony and a sense of fun.”

All of those things are part of what makes their music a lot of fun to re-discover, and the likelihood that more people will do that is arguably the best thing to come out of this new wave of love for the B-52s. While most rock fans probably know their biggest hits, there are so many great songs that kind of fell through the cracks in their career—from the shimmering “Summer of Love” to the mystical “Mesopotamia” to the hard-hitting “Give Me Back My Man” (the best lead vocal from the B-52s other female vocalist, Cindy Wilson)—and the band has cycled several of them back into their set.

The question is: what took everybody so long to catch on? Pierson is neither begrudging nor particularly surprised.

“I think it was subtle,” she says of the band’s subversive streak. “I guess a lot of times people were overwhelmed by the wigs and the sense of humor and the look of things.”

The B-52s perform at Mountain Winery on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Wednesday, Sept. 19, sharing a bill with Culture Club. The Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey opens. More info at mountainwinery.com.

Why Zoccoli’s is Still Santa Cruz’s Favorite Deli

Christina Waters

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September 11, 2018

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Why Zoccoli’s is Still Santa Cruz’s Favorite Deli

The mighty Mediterranean still delivers the East Coast/Italian goods, on a huge fresh sourdough roll. Prosciutto, mortadella, salami, provolone and finely diced olive relish, plus chopped pickled peppers—all nicely drenched in a spicy vinaigrette. That’s a lot of flavor excitement for $8.25.

But then, that’s Zoccoli’s Italian Delicatessen for you. A place where you can walk from one street to another through a clean, well-lit deli filled with custom-made sandwiches, relishes, chips, crackers, chocolate, wine, beer and more. The old hardwood floors have been scrubbed to a soft worn sheen over the 70 years that Zoccoli’s has filled this family-run space with the aromas of another time and place. But the consistency remains.

The Mediterranean is still a wonder of old-school hoagie, and side dishes compete for attention. Those deviled eggs! The faintly sweet grated carrot salad! Dolmas so juicy and drenched with olive oil, you’ll think you’re in Genoa. Speaking of which, Zoccoli’s is lined with authenticity. Long salami hang from the rafters along one wall, while woven baskets stack high above the wall of buns, breads, and rolls for sandwich-making. Lasagne and ravioli, sausage and meatball sandwiches await those who like it hot. And for those who crave cool, the refrigerator case is loaded with beautiful salads all ready to carry out with your favorite dressing. You take a number. You place your order. Consider your dessert options at the checkout counter—I always love the spice-laden homemade carrot cake ($3.50 per slab)— pay, and wait for your number to be called.

If you work nearby, you might take a table outside on Pacific Avenue. Or, if you’re like the Italian couple I saw there last week, you might grab a bottle of wine and one of the little inside tables. A perennial favorite with tourists who seem to know they’re in the presence of Santa Cruz history, Zoccoli’s has won every single local heart over the years, for three generations. Go, order, eat, and give thanks that some establishments still have what it takes. Zoccoli’s, 1534 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz—next to Verve near the top of Pacific and Front streets. Open daily from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., from 10 a.m. on Sunday.

A Better Benefit

Santa Cruz Chef’s Dinner 2018 pulls out all of the gourmet stops to help raise funds for the righteous work of the Second Harvest Food Bank. On Sept. 12, at 6 p.m., the event begins with a six-course meal—paired with top local wines—prepared by featured chefs Anthony Kresge, Steve Wilson (Cafe Cruz), Peter Henry (Cremer House), Ella King (Ella’s at the Airport), Scott Cater (Paradise Beach Grille) and Geoffrey Hargrave (West End Tap and Kitchen).

INFO: $275/person. At the Holy Cross Church Annex, 126 High St., Santa Cruz.

Wine of the Week

The 2016 Chenin Blanc from Birichino. More sensuous than its 2015 sibling, this is an unpretentious 12.5 percent alcohol creation from Alex Krause and John Locke. Loaded with delicate moving parts, lychee, geranium, stone fruit, it loves to accompany pretzels, tamales, and green olives, but not all at the same time.

INFO: $22. Available at the postmodern Birichino tasting room on Church Street.

Of Further Benefit

The Fall Sustain Supper at the Homeless Garden Project features organic farmer/speaker Nikiko Masumoto, the al fresco entrees by Marci Carl of Suda, and an oyster bar by Jeffrey Wall of the soon-to-open Alderwood. Andrea Mollenauer of Lifestyle Culinary Arts does salad, Justin Williams and Danny Mendoza of Kickin’ Chicken make additional appetizers, and Anna Bartolini of Carmel’s La Balena does dessert. A wonderful event.

INFO: $150, including farm tour. Sept. 15, 3:30-7 p.m. HomelessGardenProject.org.

Review: ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’

Christina Waters

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September 11, 2018

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The mercurial voice of Karel K. Wright croons, teases, bellows, and begs to epic effect in Jewel Theatre’s lurid sitcom production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane. If only Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh had given her part as the controlling matriarch more inspiring lines to explore.

McDonagh (recently famous as the writer/director of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) earned his rock star reputation with theatrical trilogies set in the brooding backwaters of an Emerald Isle that may or may not have existed somewhere in the 1930s. Set in the perpetual rain and gloom of Ireland’s west coast, Beauty Queen portrays the richly toxic bond of demanding mother Mag (Wright) and her spinster daughter Maureen (Julie James), trapped in a ceili dance of codependency. The emotional pressure cooker finds some release through Pato Dooley (Andrew Davids), a handsome neighbor who meets Maureen at a party and affords her one night of escape from matriarchal hell. Pato’s slacker brother Ray (a hilarious Travis Rynders) stops by the cottage from time to time out of sheer boredom. The quartet pushes against numbing isolation with results the playwright hopes will shock and amuse.

And the play does both—sometimes to deliciously malevolent effect. A cartoon of a frumpy manipulating hag, Wright commands the stage. She weedles, whines, and pouts as she pushes her careworn daughter to fetch her tea, fix her porridge, turn up the radio, and stoke the fire of their drab lives. Wright’s timing is as razor-sharp as her vocal range, and when the director allows, she can raise the rafters, as well as cajole with teatime sweetness.

Mother Mag is a major pain in the ass, and no one feels it as sharply as her daughter. The light went out long ago in Maureen’s dreams for a future of her own, as her mother continuously reminds her. So when Pato comes home with her after a party, we know how much just one night of romance can mean.

Darkening the ray of hope represented by Pato, and the occasional jolt of youthful energy represented by Ray, is the relentless tide of the harrowing mother/daughter struggle. It is a game, or a dance, or a prizefight they’ve waged for decades. And from the very start, we can see where it will all lead. For some viewers, that will make Queen too predictable and obvious, the work of an inexperienced playwright in his mid-twenties. I didn’t mind seeing where it was going. I just wished for tighter scenes, filled with enough dynamic tension to inspire an agonizing climax. And it’s hard to tell whether this was the fault of the play, the empty spaces of which eroded too much emotional energy, or the pacing of director Susan Myer Silton.

Opening night audience had difficulty with some of the dialogue, thanks to the use of broad Irish accents throughout the performance. The chilling exchanges between Wright and James never landed with quite the raw, emotional fireworks that the set-up—and finale—required. It might have been otherwise with different casting. McDonagh has given us two endings to this play, and while that might work in Pinter, Albee, and Caryl Churchill, here it neutralized the climax.

But the sight of hyperactive Travis Rynders going ballistic over the loss of a favorite childhood ball was worth the entire evening. And pacing will surely quicken as the show fine tunes its coming performances. Choice little moments, the unsentimental portrait of an Ireland down on its luck, and the ambidextrous artistry of Wright’s vocal timing, still manage to make The Beauty Queen of Leenane a rewarding evening of theater.

‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ by Martin McDonagh runs at the Colligan Theater through Sept. 30. jeweltheatre.net.

New Anthology Celebrates ‘Santa Cruz Weird’

Christina Waters

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September 11, 2018

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New Anthology Celebrates ‘Santa Cruz Weird’

On Sunday, Sept. 16, the authors of stories collected in the new Santa Cruz Weird anthology will gather at the Santa Cruz Art Center to launch the newest literary snapshot of our endlessly weird city.

“We have the Food Lounge from 6:30 to 8:30 [p.m.],” explains the editor, Nancy Lynn Jarvis, “so there will be plenty of time for attendees to listen to a little introductory talk, hear authors read from their stories, have a question and answer session, and then book signings.”

Jarvis explains that Santa Cruz Weird is a follow-up response to the recently published Santa Cruz Noir short story collection. She’s a firm believer that the true vibe of our region is a weird one.

“We have those bumper stickers, after all,” she notes wryly. So Jarvis put out the call for submissions last year to selected local writers. “The ground rules were pretty broad,” she admits. “I told people their stories needed to entertain me and not be too dark.”

Jarvis also met with writers she knew, and “a number of writers’ groups, to scout submissions.” The collected results range from Ed Sams’ tale about the Harmonic Convergence to Vinnie Hansen’s mystery tour of local tourist destinations, and Nancy Wood’s saga of the Great Santa Cruz Treasure Hunt.

Hansen herself relishes writing short stories. “They’re great. There’s a single conflict and an arc I can see in its entirety from the start,” she says. “I can rough out the shape of a short story in a day, and then spend time endlessly fussing over word choices and nuances.”

The launch party for ‘Santa Cruz Weird’ will be at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16, at the Santa Cruz Art Center, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz. More info at misteriopress.com.

Film Review: ‘Juliet, Naked’

Lisa Jensen

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September 11, 2018

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Once, on a TV talk show interview, Janis Joplin scoffed at critics who pounce on rock music for hidden, deeper meanings, when (as she put it), “it’s just some guy going ‘shoobie-doobie.’”

Janis might have been describing the middle-aged music fan whose obsession with an obscure, has-been rocker fuels the plot in Juliet, Naked. It’s a wry divertimento for three voices: the obsessed fan, his neglected, fed-up girlfriend, and the reclusive rocker himself, the fantasy figure whose unexpected appearance in the others’ lives throws all of their worlds into comic turmoil.

The movie is based on a novel by Nick Hornby, that droll English scribe so adept at probing those tricky places where pop-culture fantasy and messy reality collide, especially in his first novel, High Fidelity. This movie adaptation, directed by TV comedy veteran Jesse Peretz, is not quite as successful as that one, story-wise, but it has enough acute comedy moments to keep viewers chuckling.

Adapted by screenwriters Evgenia Peretz and husband-and-wife Jim Taylor and Tamara Jenkins, the story is set in a fading seaside village on the English coast. Annie (a chipper and charming Rose Byrne) runs the local history museum inherited from her father. Approaching 40 herself, she’s spent years in a relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd), a transplanted Irishman who teaches literature courses at the local college.

But Duncan spends most of his time in the basement, administering his website devoted to all things Tucker Crowe, an American singer-songwriter who was on his way to cult status among a chosen few fans before he disappeared from the music scene 25 years earlier. In private, Annie calls Duncan’s online audience “a community of 250 middle-aged men who deconstruct Crowe’s music,” discuss every minute detail of his career, and speculate wildly on what might have become of him.

When a previously lost demo tape of what would become Crowe’s most famous album, Juliet (the demo tape is called Juliet, Naked), surfaces in Duncan’s mailbox, he’s almost too overcome with emotion to boot it up. Annie, exasperated, posts a scathing review of the tape on Duncan’s website, which starts to fracture their already stale relationship. (When Duncan learns that Annie listened to the tape before he did, he feels “betrayed.”)

But Annie’s online review does garner one fan—Tucker Crowe himself (a frisky Ethan Hawke, rebounding from the gloom of First Reformed). He agrees that the work-in-progress tape should never have been made public, and the two strike up an unlikely email correspondence. After a lifetime of romantic liaisons producing multiple offspring, Tucker is long out of the music business, living in a garage on the property of his last girlfriend in upstate New York, raising their young son, Jackson (Azhy Robertson). But his and Annie’s separate worlds collide when Tucker and Jackson are called to London, where his teenage daughter is about to give birth.

Although Duncan has moved out of Annie’s house by the time Tucker comes calling (“I’d rather spend my time (online) with people who get Tucker Crowe,” he huffs), an uneasy triangle between the three of them is inevitable, or there’d be no story. Duncan’s awestruck disbelief at meeting his hero in the flesh (a very funny scene, largely improvised), is matched only by the pomposity with which Duncan tries to prove he knows more about Tucker than Tucker does himself.

The story itself is predictable at times, unresolved at others (a looming family crisis for Tucker is left hanging when the plot suddenly fast-forwards by a year). But the handling of the material is everything. The dialogue is sharp and witty. (When Tucker stumbles upon the shrine Duncan erected to him in Annie’s basement, he cries, “This is that syndrome where you fall in love with your captor!”) And the character relationships are well thought-out, especially the gradually-evolving friendship between Annie and Tucker. This isn’t a weighty film, but its pleasures are consistently entertaining.

JULIET, NAKED

*** (out of four)

With Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris O’Dowd. Written by Evgenia Peretz and Jim Taylor & Tamara Jenkins. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby. Directed by Jesse Peretz. A Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions release. Rated R. 98 minutes.

Santa Cruz Indivisible Sets Sights on Unseating Nunes

Local News

Jacob Pierce

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September 10, 2018

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Santa Cruz Indivisible Sets Sights on Unseating Nunes

Local Democrats with two years worth of pent-up energy are eager to make a difference this November. And one way to do that, they’ve decided, is to look outside the county.

Santa Cruz Indivisible has set its sights on two districts, California’s 21st Congressional District, home to Republican Congressmember David Valadao and its 22nd, home to Congressmember Devin Nunes.

The forecasting website FiveThirtyEight gives Democrats the edge to take back the House, and it gives the Democratic Party anywhere from a 26-71 percent chance of unseating Valadao. The same experts give Democrats between a 3 and 13 percent chance of unseating Nunes, who has earned special ire from liberals over his acrobatic contortions, bending over backwards to defend President Donald Trump.

Winning Nunes’ seat may sound like a long shot for challenger Andrew Janz, but Communications Director Amanda Harris Altice says that Indivisible has picked its districts based mostly on geography, and, given Democratic feelings about Nunes, the challenge of taking him on might be more of a blessing than a curse. Altice, who has already started canvassing the Central Valley district, says that Nunes doesn’t talk to his constituents, and that the voters she’s talked to—including Republicans—have been listening.

“If you reach people that way, who knows? We ended up with Trump. We didn’t think that would happen,” says Harris Altice, who helped organize a volunteer recruitment event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on Saturday, Sept. 8. The summit included canvassing workshops, and it got about 150 people through the door, but there’s still plenty of time to sign up and help.

Chris Bowman, who manages merchandise for Santa Cruz Indivisible, says, that by pooling the zeal of its various teams, Indivisible can fill areas that may not fall into purview of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

“A lot of people are putting in their free energy, and nobody’s getting paid or anything like that, just working hard and smart,” Bowman says, lugging a box of shirts to her car after Saturday’s event. “A lot of people are ready to go because we need to fix things and save our country, basically.”

For more information, including upcoming events, visit santacruzindivisible.org.

Digital NEST’s New Plan to Link Watsonville, Silicon Valley

Local News

Alisha Green

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September 7, 2018

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Digital NEST’s New Plan to Link Watsonville, Silicon Valley

If Silicon Valley wants to keep arguing that its lack of diversity is due to a talent pipeline problem, it’s going to have to answer to Jacob Martinez.

Martinez, founder and executive director of Watsonville-based nonprofit Digital NEST, is expanding on the vision of the NEST’s free tech training program for youth with the launch of a new conference this fall bringing top local talent together with companies looking to hire.

He’s gathering 300 high school seniors and college students from the region to attend workshops and panels. The students will also meet with recruiters on Oct. 13 in Watsonville at the inaugural NEST Flight conference. Martinez is looking to prove wrong any and all Silicon Valley tech executives who say they can’t find a diverse pool of talent to draw from. And he has a similar message for local companies saying they can’t find talented workers without looking to places like Stanford University or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“I look around here and see tons of people with tons of talent, and they’re diverse,” he says.

To those companies that haven’t changed their recruiting practices, Martinez says: “I’m doing the work for you.”

He’s landed big corporate and tech-world names on the list of conference sponsors, including Adobe, Comcast, Kaiser Permanente, Plantronics, SurveyMonkey, and GitHub.

Martinez wants to get the word out to other companies interested in recruiting now, as well as to high-school students who might want to sign up. His goal is to stem the brain drain of young talent in South County.

“Ultimately, what we are trying to do is get the young people in our community the skills, network and connections to get the better-paying jobs in their community,” he says.

If they stay local and land good jobs, Martinez says, it will “spark economic development from within” as they buy homes and push back on the gentrification that’s been spiraling out into rural areas.

Upgrading Local Training

Martinez has been focused on this mission for years. Before starting Digital NEST, he worked for nearly a decade on diversifying the tech workforce. When he paused in 2013 to reflect on his efforts, he realized that not enough had changed nationally or locally when it came to adding more women and people of color in tech—and, in some cases, the numbers were actually getting worse.

Martinez used to take students on field trips, via Watsonville TEC, to be face-to-face with the newest tech at companies like Google, Facebook and Apple. Then, he then had to bring them back to schools that too often had outdated machines.

“The tech industry was creating these environments to spark innovation and drive creativity, but the educational system was doing the complete opposite,” Martinez says.

In 2014, he raised more than $300,000 in four months to open Digital NEST in Watsonville. A second location opened in Salinas in April 2017. In total, the program has had more than 2,000 youth, from high school students to twentysomethings, sign up for its programs.

The 4,500-square-foot space in Watsonville is bathed in all the allure of a Silicon Valley tech office, with neon lights, music, and some 120 machines loaded with software from Adobe and connected to Plantronics headsets, Logitech gear and more. There’s also a range of free, organic, locally grown food and snacks in the kitchen. Upstairs, there’s a recording studio, cameras, music equipment and large-format printers.

“The biggest feedback we get is they vote with their feet,” Martinez says, counting at least 30 students at the NEST on a recent Friday afternoon. “Nobody has to be here.”

Taking Flight

Marcus Cisneros, a graphic design student at San Jose State University, says being part of Digital NEST makes him feel like he’s ahead of his college peers, because he gets to put what he’s learning into practice. As part of Digital NEST’s youth consultant group bizzNEST, he’s been able to put his video editing and graphic design skills to work for clients. BizzNEST clients have included UCSC, American Express and Martinelli’s.

These days, when Cisneros visits tech companies or conferences, it feels like a bigger version of what he’s already experienced through Digital NEST.

“At its core, the energy and atmosphere is the same,” he says. The experience is not only technical, says Cisneros, but also collaborative, playful, nurturing, exciting, and inspirational.

When he goes to NEST Flight in October, he’s most interested in talking with recruiters to learn what they’re looking for and what he needs to improve on, he says.

Companies like Watsonville-based California Giant Berry Farms are eager to meet with local tech talent like Cisneros. As soon as the berry company’s managers heard about Martinez’s idea for the conference, they were on board with the goal of keeping tech talent in the community, says Cindy Jewell, the company’s vice president of marketing. The world of agriculture is becoming more tech-focused, after all, and it needs to draw on the next generation for those skills.

“We don’t want them going to Silicon Valley, either,” Jewell says. But to many youth, “the money and the prestige is all up in the Bay Area. That is where kids want to go.”

Masha Chernyak, vice president of programs and policy at the San Francisco-based Latino Community Foundation, which is a lead sponsor of NEST Flight, sees the conference as a win-win for employers and local talent.

Since Latino youth make up the majority of California’s young people, Chernyak says, their future is the future of the state, and they’re full of brilliant ideas.

“We have never tapped into their true potential,” Chernyak says. “And once we do, we are all going to benefit from it.”

For more information, visit nestflight.org.

Opinion: September 5, 2018

Steve Palopoli

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September 5, 2018

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EDITOR’S NOTE

The first time I really noticed the Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band popping up in one of Aaron Carnes’ stories was back in March when he wrote about the instrumental duo Hermano—which was one of my favorite GT music stories of the year because of how it started with an anecdote about how the group once had their entire audience lying on the floor to better absorb its cosmic, meditative soundscapes. By sheer coincidence, I was guest-hosting KPIG’s live music show Please Stand By that week, and Hermano was one of the bands that performed. Not only did I get to ask (and tease them a little bit) about lulling their audience into a horizontal state, but the show’s engineer Geoff Childers actually did get down and lie on the floor during their set.

I was pretty blown away by their music, and so was Carnes. Not long after, he told me that not only had one of Hermano’s members, Dillon Baiocchi, gone through the Kuumbwa Honor Band program, but that Baiocchi was also only one of several interesting musicians he’d been tracking who had been in the Honor Band. That’s when he first pitched the idea for the cover story in this issue.

Since we had already run the story about Hermano, we agreed that he wouldn’t profile Baiocchi again—but as you’ll see, there turned out to be no shortage of intriguing Honor Band alumni to write about. I’m excited that we get to give this small, mostly under-the-radar program the credit it deserves for its impact on music culture, and on the lives of young local musicians.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

A recent letter to the editor (GT, 8/29) attacked Greenway by falsely smearing those who support it. Greenway is supported by over 10,000 county residents and scores of individual donors and community volunteers, and is growing by the day because it advocates for a doable, commonsense plan with equitable and effective public transit value. This type of attack is a classic act of desperation, resorting to name-calling rather than facts.

The bizarre conspiracy theory proposed by the letter writer could have been easily dismissed if she had done a simple Google search to understand who supports Greenway. The specific supporters she attempts to smear have a long track record of community service in the arts, education, the environment, public policy, increased access for the underserved, sustainable economic development, and affordable housing.

Greenway encourages opponents to put validated facts forward and engage in a constructive civic discussion about what is best for our community.

Will Mayall | Board Member, Santa Cruz County Greenway

Good job on the library/parking structure idea in your Aug. 29 issue (GT, “Levels in the Details”). Have discussed with other merchants in the neighborhood, including Patrice Boyle of Soif. There are three structures now on the north end of downtown, and even though the city has allowed our prosperous new tech workers to fill them up at the ridiculously low price of $35 a month (we pay $90 per month for spaces in our lot), parking is rarely an issue mentioned by our customers. Uber and rental bikes are also reducing parking, as would an attractive electric shuttle like other coast towns have.

A smaller-footprint library/community center with space left for much needed plaza-type events would be my recommendation. As noted local architect Matthew Thompson told me, it would be immoral to tear down the old library, and I am sure the city could find a good use for it. A friend teaches at Hartnell College, which is built under a parking structure and he says you can hear the cars moving through. Librarians are known to dislike noise.

PAUL COCKING | GABRIELLA CAFE

Re: “Trestle Mania/Rent Seeking” (GT, 8/22):

Common arguments against rent control say it will lower “turnover.” Turnover is when one tenant moves out of a rental and another tenant moves in. Opponents say turnover is good because it means newcomers can find a place to live. What they don’t mention is that it is very bad for the tenants who are forced to move out! Rent control can limit turnover by preventing unjustified evictions or unpayable rent increases. That’s not a bad thing—that means tenants aren’t forced into leaving their homes.

That we should encourage turnover implies that renters should not stay put. We should not grow roots, we should not establish ourselves as long-term community members, we should not develop close relationships with our neighbors. This approach is not good for the community. It’s not good for students who should have the stability of attending the same school until they graduate. It’s not good for workers who should have the choice of staying in jobs that are familiar to them and where they have relationships with their co-workers. It’s not good for community members who cannot get comfortable in a home, who must always prepare themselves for the next time we’ll be moved along out of our homes.

Our community should be encouraging working people and families to stay in the homes they currently occupy unless they choose to leave and providing the ability to actually make that choice. The proposed rent-control ballot initiative can do that for us.

Zav Hershfield | 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

The high-end bicycle company Cervélo announced earlier this summer that it would start assembling its American bikes at the Wrigley building, the same facility where Santa Cruz Bicycles does its bike assembly. Cervélo will be in good company there alongside not just Santa Cruz Bikes, but also the innovative Onewheel electric skateboard company. The Wrigley building additionally houses marketing, sales and customer service operations for bike brands in the Pon Ownership group—including Santa Cruz, Juliana and Gazelle.

GOOD WORK

The National Stewardship Action Council has awarded its 2018 Legislative Leadership Award to Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) for co-authoring AB 1158, a bill that promotes carpet stewardship. The bill, signed into law last year, creates an advisory committee to make recommendations on reducing harmful waste and greenhouse gas emissions in the carpet industry. The new law requires the state to recycle a minimum of 24 percent of used carpet by 2020. Stone’s co-author Kansen Chu (D-San Jose) also received the award.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I can not imagine my life if I didn’t have a music program in my school.”
-Beyoncé

5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz September 5-11

GT Staff

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September 5, 2018

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5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz September 5-11

A weekly guide to what’s happening.

Green Fix

National Drive Electric Week

For seven years, National Drive Electric Week has inspired people to ditch the gas pumps and go electric. It includes more than 250 events across the nation; in Santa Cruz, there will be opportunities to gain first-hand experience in electric-vehicle test drive areas, along with the chance to talk with local electric vehicle owners and experts. There will also be electric bike displays, just in case you haven’t tried out the Jump bikes yet.

INFO: 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8. Cooper St., Santa Cruz. mbeva.org. Free.

Art Seen

‘The Beauty Queen Of Leenane’

Fortysomething spinster Maureen Folan lives with her manipulative aging mother Mag in the provincial Irish town of Leenane. When a romantic encounter finally sparks Maureen’s hopes for an escape from her dreary existence, Mag’s interference sets in motion a chain of events that is as tragically funny as it is terrifying. Written in 1996, Beauty Queen is one part of a trilogy and was the first play from screenwriter Martin McDonagh, who’s best known for In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

INFO: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Runs Wednesday, Sept. 5 through Sunday, Sept. 30. The Colligan Theater at the Tannery Arts Center. 1010 River St., Santa Cruz. 425-7506. jeweltheatre.net. $27-$50.

Saturday 9/8

Apple a Day Festival

Don’t be fooled by the date—according to the gloomy, cold and dry weather we’ve begun to see here, it’s pretty much fall. Of course that means pumpkin spice everything, while the apple gets overlooked this time of year. But at the Scotts Valley Farmers Market, apples will be the star of the show, with an apple scavenger hunt. The best apples of the year are ripe from September through October, and to preserve their tart, juicy taste, now is the time to make applesauce. Nothing quite says or smells like fall more than homemade applesauce, so join in the Scotts Valley Farmers Market demonstration on how to make it at home. Can’t make this one? Felton Farmers market will host the festival on Sept. 18.

INFO: 10 a.m. Applesauce Workshop. Scotts Valley Farmers Market. King’s Village Drive, Scotts Valley Community Center, Scotts Valley. santacruzfarmersmarket.org. Free.

Thursday 9/6

‘To Brahms with Love from the Cello of Pablo Casals’

To mark the 100th anniversary of renowned cellist Pablo Casals’ U.S. debut, Grammy-nominated cellist and conductor Amit Peled will use Casals’ own cello to perform To Brahms with Love. Peled maintains a growing conducting schedule while continuing a thriving solo career performing on the historic 1733 Gofriller Pablo Casals cello. Along with performing in some of the world’s best concert halls, Peled is passionate about making classical music more accessible for people of all ages, and has recently published a children’s book A Cello Named Pablo. This is the biggest event in the history of the Distinguished Artists Concert series, and is sure to see a large turnout, so get tickets early.

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Peace United Church, 900 High St., Santa Cruz. General admission, $35, senior $30, student: $12.50

Saturday 9/8 and Sunday 9/9

San Francisco Mime Troupe ‘Seeing Red’

The San Francisco Mime Troupe is premiering its 59th season with Seeing Red: A Time Traveling Musical. Bob, a former Obama voter, takes a chance on Donald J. Trump, the new guy promising change—an attractive candidate for her since she’s had nothing but misfortunes in the Obama era. But two years into Trump’s presidency, Bob’s still waiting to start winning. Then she travels back to a time when the Socialist Party was winning millions of American votes, and discovers that perhaps her views and those of the pesky progressive aren’t all that different.

INFO: 3 p.m. San Lorenzo Park. 137 Dakota Ave., Santa Cruz. (415) 285-1717. sfmt.org. Free, donations gladly accepted.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

A Better Benefit

Wine of the Week

Of Further Benefit

JULIET, NAKED

Upgrading Local Training

Taking Flight

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Green Fix

National Drive Electric Week

Art Seen

‘The Beauty Queen Of Leenane’

Saturday 9/8

Apple a Day Festival

Thursday 9/6

‘To Brahms with Love from the Cello of Pablo Casals’

Saturday 9/8 and Sunday 9/9

San Francisco Mime Troupe ‘Seeing Red’