Every summer, I spend at least one evening at the Boardwalk—usually on a Monday or Tuesday when all of the rides and treats are discounted to $1.50 and the crowds of tourists are thinner. The frenetic lights and sounds and the tempo of thrilled screams mixed with the muted hush of nearby surf nevers fails to make me feel like a kid again—as does giving into a caloric splurge in the form of kettle corn and a corn dog.
But it was the adult me that did a double take as I made my way from the Cave Train to the Giant Dipper and passed a craft beer bar, of all things, by the Log Ride.
I was delighted to recognize cans from some of my favorite local breweries. Whiting’s Foods, a local company that has served concessions at the Boardwalk since 1953, opened Bay Brews in May. Jeff Whiting, associate vice president of operations and fourth generation in the biz, says that more and more people are opting away from mass-produced beer, and they’re excited to be able to work with local breweries and expose their products to thousands of guests. “We’re also training knowledgeable beer masters so they can educate customers about the product.”
Bay Brews offers 13 different craft beers from six local breweries—including the “Giant DIPA” Double IPA by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, from its Boardwalk-inspired series—craft cider from Santa Cruz and local wine from Monterey. Beer and cider comes in 12-ounce and 16-ounce cans, or as a tasting flight. They also offer Stubborn Soda, a craft soda made from natural ingredients, Fair Trade cane sugar and without additives or preservatives. The special craft soda machine at Bay Brews is one of only a hundred currently available in the country, says Whiting.
Aside from being far more palatable than a Budweiser, I love being able to sip a local product while enjoying Santa Cruz’s most quintessential attraction. According to Whiting, I’m not the only one: “The other day a guy walked by with a Modelo or some other mass-produced beer that he had just purchased, and stopped in his tracks when he saw this place. He said, ‘You mean to tell me that I bought this when I could be drinking that?’ He gave his beer away to his friend, came in and bought a local beer.”
Although the American-owned Artesana Winery is in Uruguay, the export director for her family’s business, Leslie Fellows, lives locally.
Artesana is a small-production winery specializing in single-vineyard, terroir-driven Tannat and Tannat blends. The 2015 Tannat-Merlot-Zinfandel blend is particularly interesting as Artesana is the only Zinfandel producer in Uruguay. And Fellows says that Uruguay is one of the greenest countries in the world and has the purest vineyard environment on the continent.
“Our 20-acre vineyard is completely hand-farmed using sustainable practices—and our wines are handcrafted with minimal intervention,” says Fellows. “And Tannat has been found to be the healthiest of red wines with three-to-four times more antioxidants,” she adds.
If you have never tried Tannat, then I’m sure you’ll love this rich, full-bodied wine with ripe fruit flavors and exotic spiciness. It’s traditionally paired with beef and grilled meat, but it goes well with a variety of foods. The good news is that Artesana wines can be found downtown Santa Cruz at Soif for only $20, so it would be an opportunity to dine on Soif’s delicious cuisine and pair it with some Tannat.
Uruguayan wines are attracting the attention of both sommeliers and consumers in the U.S., and Artesana’s wines have received accolades from numerous publications, including the Washington Post, and Wine Enthusiast.
Visit artesanawinery.com for more information, or head to Soif and choose some Tannat from their excellent selection of wines from all over the world. I think you’ll exit this wonderful wine store with more than one bottle. Visit soifwine.com for more info.
Summer Craftbar Marini’s chocolate-dipped strawberries will be paired with the wines of Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard at the next Annieglass Craftbar. The event is noon to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, July 29 at the Annieglass Studio, 310 Harvest Drive, Watsonville, 761-2041 ext. 21. Visit annieglass.com for more info. And mark your calendars for another wine tasting with Idle Hour Winery from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6 with winemaker Anne Marie dos Remedios. A small wine-tasting fee is refundable when purchasing wine.
Three of the creative minds behind this year’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music—new music director and conductor Cristian Măcelaru, composer Karim Al-Zand, and percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie—reveal what the festival will sound like (and why!) in its first year of the post-Alsop era
Cristian Măcelaru
music director and conductor
No one can figure out where all of those years went, but suddenly last year it was time for Marin Alsop to bid adieu to the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music she’d shaped for 25 years. Now a new maestro steps up to the podium to lead the acclaimed orchestra into a new landscape at the edge of contemporary music. On Sunday, July 30—the start of a season bristling with world premieres, commissioned works, composers in residence, and tributes—all eyes will be on a young Romanian-born conductor named Cristian Măcelaru. An ascending star on the international musical scene, Măcelaru (pronounced muh-cha-lay-roo) brings astonishing energy and ambition to his new role.
Born into a large and robustly musical family, Cristian Măcelaru started making music as a child. Already an accomplished violinist when he came from Romania to the United States for advanced studies, he took a Masters in Composition and Violin Performance at the University of Miami, and quickly began attracting a growing network of orchestral assignments. This year alone, he will conduct in Vancouver, Dallas, San Diego, Glasgow, Munich, Seattle, Berlin, Montreal and Denmark, among other venues. Just finishing up his tenure as conductor-in-residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra, maestro Măcelaru takes the Cabrillo Festival podium this week as the new music director and conductor.
At what point did you choose music as a career?
Cristian Măcelaru: I can’t take credit for choosing the career—nothing else was an option! [Laughs.] You grow up feeling that all families played music together. There was never anything else.
I came to the U.S. to study at the University of Miami. For a while, I became interested in physics, and went on a binge reading physics. I was surprised that I could be passionate about anything else. But music—my biggest passion—won out.
How did you go from violin to conducting?
It was really a transition from playing violin to conducting, a gradual merging from one to the other. I was always interested in conducting, and I just started studying it. Soon I was conducting more concerts than performing violin. I first came for the summer to Interlochen Center for the Arts in the frozen north of Michigan. It was a secluded, wonderful place with no distractions. Everyone there was passionate about their art. When I arrived, there was no period of adjustment—it felt like home, surrounded by music.
Is your career where you would like it to be?
I started late for a conductor, at 30 [he’s 37 now]. I feel comfortable with where I am, career-wise. With humility, I have to say that things have moved very quickly. I’ve been very successful. I’m very grateful.Your work is never validated unless someone else endorses it. And that means having an orchestra. I believe that being entrusted with a festival endorses who I am. And this festival has a huge international reach. When Marin announced her departure, all eyes were on Cabrillo—it was a very important venue.
How do the festival’s goals reflect your own?
The Festival has always prioritized discovery, innovation, creativity and exploration.
This is aligned with my own vision. I am always more interested in performing a new piece than in doing the same thing again. Well, I like both, but they involve different kinds of enjoyment. Working with a festival involves problem-solving, requires a very quick response. I find that very exciting. Cabrillo was not a career move on my part, it was simply the perfect fit.
Does your programming favor political themes?
I wouldn’t say political. I’d say that I’m very interested in relevant art. I think a society needs to have a mirror, and art can help provide a mirror that leads to answers. I look for composers that want to create a mirror to our society, and that includes things we should celebrate and not simply negative aspects. It’s very important to me that art remains relevant to the 21st century, and to the community it lives in. So I’d say my programming strives for a balance between the question mark and the smile.
Was most of the season programmed before your appointment?
No, actually I pretty much chose everything on the season schedule. We had to work very quickly. Only the percussion piece was programmed earlier, because you don’t ask Dame Glennie at the last minute! In my mind I had the thought of what I wanted, and then I reached out. Yet it’s an ongoing thing. I began programming the next two seasons, as well. I want to see the trajectory across several seasons, not simply an arrival. Programming this season was informed by the next and the next. It’s a fluid process.
What is your biggest strength?
I like that I constantly search to deepen my relationship with the meaning behind the music. My curiosity! Here’s an example: even though I was in the midst of learning music for several festival engagements, last month someone gave me Lukas Foss’ First Symphony, and here I was with 30 hours of music I should be studying, yet I stopped everything to listen. My curiosity is such a driving force. Learning and discovering excites me more than anything. That curiosity is my best feature. Whether it helps me as a conductor, we’ll see.
Favorite music, favorite composers?
I get crushes on music. When I was a student, I had a three-year crush on Shostakovich. Now I’m all over the spectrum. Sometimes I will get a two- or three-day obsession. Quick crushes. I recently conducted Richard Strauss, and a few days later a Mahler symphony. Can I really choose?
Do you consider yourself to have a specialty as a conductor?
I don’t actually specialize in anything, except learning or performing music. I conduct everything. I’m an omnivore. What keeps me becoming a better musician is this love of all of it—and a refusal to specialize in only one area or another.
Karim Al-Zand
Composer
Born in Tunisia, raised in Canada, and for the past 17 years on the faculty of Rice University in Texas, Karim Al-Zand found inspiration in the shocking and poignant letters of a young Yemeni Adnan Latif, whose incarceration and death in Guantanemo Prison remain shrouded in mystery. The result is The Prisoner, featuring New Zealand bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu, which receives its world premiere in the festival’s closing program. Grammy-winner Al-Zand’s powerful new work sets Latif’s words to dramatic musical exploration, showcasing the celebrated voice of Lemalu.
How did ‘The Prisoner’ come about?
KARIM AL-ZAND: When Cristi asked me to do a piece for this festival I knew where I would look. Like many composers, I keep a notebook of ideas, and I had kept Latif’s letters for some future piece. Cristi gave me free rein and this was it!
Did you have Jonathan Lemalu in mind for the vocal parts?
The singer came during the process of writing it. Cristi has worked with Jonathan before, and since he’s in London, I met him via Skype. We corresponded through email and Skype.
How did you craft the text?
I used Latif’s letters, and then I inserted some other poems to enhance and amplify the emotions, words from Rumi and Rilke. Jonathan and I discussed how the voice would fit in. I created a vocal score first, even before I had finished writing for the orchestra, so that he could begin working on it.
How does the scale of this work compare with your previous pieces?
I’ve done voice with chamber instruments, but this is the biggest thing I’ve done! The finished work is for full orchestra and voice. It was fun, but also a real challenge. There are so many colors at your disposal with full orchestra. And you have to balance the solo voice with the sonic power of the orchestra.
What inspired you?
The letters were first. They’re moving and sad, but also very lyrical. So they seemed somehow perfect for a vocal work.
What do you hope will be the impact of ‘The Prisoner’?
My hope is that it gets people thinking. It’s a bit accusation and a bit lament. Maybe a little of both, and the emotional arch moves between those. This is a fictionalized work, not a documentary, since there’s so much we don’t know about what really happened, what his life was like. It’s the story of a real person. The piece alternates between these letters and the poems, which I feel makes the letters more atmospheric. Narrative and poetry.
Given the richness of the subject, might you consider expanding this into an opera?
Well, it’s still a very fresh piece, but it is very operatic in possibility. Opera is very difficult to mount—it’s the most expensive musical art form by far. But to do it as a full opera … that would be a dream!
Dame Evelyn Glennie
percussionist
Charismatic in approach, wildly disarming in performance, Dame Evelyn Glennie brings both rapture and a rare sensibility to her eclectic approach to percussion. The virtuoso abilities of the Scottish musician have been written for by composers the world over. She comes to Cabrillo next week to premiere Ad Infinitum, a piece created for her by Brazilian singer/composer Clarice Assad (also in residence this season). The collaboration between the two musicians has resulted in a concerto exploring childhood and imaginary worlds, and allows for ample improvisation by the renowned percussionist, who lost her hearing at the age of 12.
When did you realize you’d chosen percussion as a life profession?
DAME EVELYN GLENNIE: Age 15 was when I decided to pursue a career as a professional musician, and made the aim of becoming a solo percussionist.
Was there a youthful epiphany?
No, not really. I had participated in music-making during all of my school days from the age of five to 16. Music was an important part of our school curriculum for all youngsters. A high percentage of people participated in music, so it wasn’t unusual for me to also participate. At 15, I gave serious thought about becoming a professional and tried to weigh up the difference between doing something as a hobby as opposed to a profession.
What instruments did you start with?
I started timpani and percussion from the age of 12. The percussion teacher at school did not allow any of his pupils to specialize, thankfully. Therefore I started with what the school had available: snare drum, two hand-tuned timpani, drum kit, xylophone and small auxiliary instruments.
Percussion can be so intimate or social, it can be sophisticated, complicated, simple, delicate, raw, organic, powerful, fragile—whatever the piece of music requires. — Dame Eveyln Glennie
Do you have a favorite instrument? Your go-to sound?
A: No. Whichever instrument is in front of me is my favorite.
How did you and Clarice go about collaborating on this upcoming percussion concerto?
I saw Clarice perform one of her pieces with the Albany Symphony Orchestra a few years ago, and I loved her work. I then asked if she would mind writing something for me. Email exchanges happened, and here we are. Clarice has a wonderful imagination, yet she writes for the performer by leaving a great deal of room for creativity. She is so very talented.
Is the shamanic element of percussion in your consciousness as you perform?
Sometimes it is, but not always. Percussion can be so intimate or social, it can be sophisticated, complicated, simple, delicate, raw, organic, powerful, fragile—whatever the piece of music requires.
What brings you the most pleasure in performing?
Walking on that tightrope with an audience between stress and relief. Performing always gives you an opportunity to ask questions of yourself and your audience.
About the Festival
The 2017 season of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music runs Sunday, July 30 through Saturday, Aug. 12, and features seven world premieres; 11 composers in residence; a guest appearance by Dame Evelyn Glennie; tributes honoring Lou Harrison’s centenary and John Adams’ 70th birthday; the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom’s Ninth Symphony; a U.S. premiere of Gerald Barry’s “Piano Concerto; Jörg Widmann’s Con Brio”; Cindy McTee’s “Symphony No. 1: Ballet for Orchestra”; and more. Most events are at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. For more details, go to cabillomusic.org.
When Patrick McGrath was 13 years old and living in a group home for foster youth, another kid charged at one of his friends, swinging a skateboard overhead.
McGrath, who was larger than others his age, tried to shield his friend, he says, and ended up taking serious blows to the head, neck, and shoulder, before managing to calm the angry boy and restrain him.
“If I ignored him, he was going to attack my friend using a skateboard like it was a baseball bat, and probably was going to kill him,” he says.
Seven years later, McGrath is an intern for the Museum of Art and History, helping to assemble Lost Childhoods, an exhibit on life inside the California foster care system. The ramifications of that skateboard attack and the group home’s handling of it impacted McGrath greatly, he says, and he worries the conditions that stem from it will leave him with an uncertain future when he graduates from the system at age 21, in a couple of months.
That feeling of being left in the lurch is common among current and former foster youth. Estimates vary,but some studies show that more than a quarter of foster youth experience homelessness within the first few years of leaving the system. According to the recently released Santa Cruz County 2017 Homeless Census and Survey, 27 percent of the homeless population had been through the foster care system at some point. Some try to get out before they are pushed out.
“It’s not uncommon for children to run away from the foster care system, and it isn’t hard to understand why,” says recent UCSC grad Jess Prudent at the MAH exhibit, beside a black-and-white photograph of a foster youth sleeping in a sleeping bag on a park bench. Though she never went through the system, she identifies with some of the exhibit’s troubling themes because she remembers growing up in an abusive home herself.
Cynthia Druley, executive director of the local chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), says that she often knows the foster youth who come through the nonprofit “on a high level”—sometimes in a court docket or piles of paperwork. But the MAH’s exhibit, which will be on display through the end of the year, immerses people in the world of foster care more deeply.
“There was this level of detail and personal information that was so moving for me,” Druley says. “I had two people with me that didn’t know much about children in foster care. We were all in tears. To know what it’s like to not have security. With seven day’s notice, they can tell you they don’t want you in their home, and then you move onto a different home.”
She says foster youth often struggle because they lack the connections that many young people have, which can plague them even after they graduate from the system.
“If the rent goes up,” she says, “they can’t call mom or dad as my son did, and say, ‘Can I come back home?’ Those people become homeless.”
As McGrath nears his 21st birthday, the search for work grows more daunting, as he feels he doesn’t have those networks many people his age do.
He had plans to be a mechanic, and he graduated from Santa Cruz High School with a certification through the Regional Occupation Program to become a general service and Valvoline lube technician, after moving in with his grandma at age 16. He moved away to Sacramento, enrolling at Universal Technical Institute, where he excelled. But once the curriculum got into transmission work, he had to leave because he could not lift the equipment due to issues stemming from his injuries as a teenager at the group home. Eventually, he moved in with his grandmother, Roberta.
Along the way, he’s had several surgeries, in both his right arm and his shoulder, after his old group home had initially tried to cover up the incident for years, brushing it off as scoliosis. Eventually, McGrath’s grandmother and his court advocate managed to track down the hospital records and start getting him care. Since then, he’s had two reconstructive surgeries on his arm and two more on his shoulder.
“I found out in high school there was a chance I could become permanently disabled for my whole life, which there still is,” he says. “I’m trying hard to fix my arm, but it’s a little harder than it seemed at first.”
Part of the problem, Roberta says, is that he hasn’t been able to get any physical therapy through the state’s insurance. “The system covered it up, and the system has kept him from having physical therapy that was needed for him to regain his strength,” says Roberta, who spent her retirement fighting for custody of her grandson.
Meanwhile, legislative reforms are ushering in changes, hopefully for the better. A 2015 law written by Assemblymember Mark Stone aims to phase out group homes, and created a thorough vetting process for resource families—formerly called foster families—that went into effect in January.
McGrath has been taking Cabrillo College business courses, and hopes to someday own a car shop. Still, he worries that if he doesn’t get approved for disability benefits or find work by the time he graduates, he’ll end up homeless. Roberta says because she lives in government housing, he should be able to seek assistance through other avenues.
“I have a core belief that God gives us no more than we can handle. There is some reason all of this is happening to him,” says Roberta. “I do say, ‘All of this will be behind you someday. You’ll understand.’ But right now, he’s feeling like he’s next to nothing.”
Director Tyne Rafaeli has talked about how she wanted Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s new production of Measure for Measure to be an allegory for contemporary politics. I’m not ashamed to admit I was ready to roll my eyes, as many a great playwright—Shakespeare, let’s face it, first and foremost among them—has had his or her classic works butchered in the name of creating a shallow “modern political parable” that either twists the intended meaning into knots trying to make a point, or goes for shallow, broad satire that can make even a timeless work of art feel like a dated hack job.
With that in mind, I have two remarkable things to report about Rafaeli’s production: 1) she doesn’t turn Angelo, the play’s villain, into Donald Trump; and 2) it’s one of the best SCS productions I’ve ever seen—and I’m counting the last couple of decades before the company was forced to switch the order of “Shakespeare” and “Santa Cruz” in its name.
Last year’s inspired production of Hamlet proved SCS is thriving creatively under artistic director Mike Ryan, but Measure for Measure is on a whole other level than that, even. Or perhaps it’s the level of difficulty involved that makes it seem that way; I’ve always found Shakespeare’s tragedies innately weightier and more watchable than his comedies. And don’t get me started on the “problem plays,” which usually play very … er, problematically.
Measure for Measure is one of those, but the typical question of “what’s all this melodrama doing in a supposed comedy” is deftly sidestepped thanks to the incredibly nimble skills of the cast. They can draw you in with an intense build up, nail an out-of-left-field comic moment, and then swing back into the dramatic scene in a way that makes your head spin. It’s a rush, especially watching Rowan Vickers as the Duke, and David Graham Jones as Angelo. Because she has to play it straight the whole way through, Lindsey Rico’s performance as Isabella is more of a slow burn that pays off in the end. But her character’s line that “truth is truth” is the key to Rafaeli’s poignant modernization of the play and its message.
See, I have to think that in 1603 (or possibly 1604) when it was written, Measure for Measure would have been considered, despite its happy ending, a fairly cynical play. After all, when the Duke leaves him in charge of his kingdom, the sanctimonious Angelo, who is willing to have Claudio (played by Kevin Matthew Reyes, who is also fantastic as Pompey) executed for supposed “fornication” (which is really more or less a paperwork glitch), himself attempts to blackmail Claudio’s sister Isabella—a nun, mind you—into sex by offering to spare him if she consents. And yes, Angelo, long a controversial Shakespeare character, can be portrayed as a sadistic fascist, or soulless buffoon, or both.
But you have to see Jones in the scene where Angelo lays out his offer to Isabella. It is a shockingly real and contemporary vision of a man losing his way right in front of his own eyes, and to his own shame. This tragic reading of the character is the only one that makes the reconciliatory ending of the play work, and it’s the only one that would match with the message of Rafaeli’s production. Though its contemporary accessories—black military dress uniforms and jackboots against an effectively stark set and a brilliant mash-up of 20th century decades—give it the air of a dystopian reading, it’s actually the opposite. This is a production about hope, and about bureaucrats, and about hope for bureaucrats. It’s about a system that isn’t broken—even when its leader goes astray. All of the government officials want to do good, especially the cool-nerd Duke (whose disguised movements through his kingdom to try to figure out how to better govern is a political fantasy that is likely to set hearts aflutter in Santa Cruz right about now). Patty Gallagher as the Provost is the government middle manager we all dream of—earnest, steadfast and true. And Tristan Cunningham as Escalus, Angelo’s second-in-command, is convincingly frustrated as she tries to push her boss in the right direction at every opportunity. The state is not the enemy here; it is a blank slate that requires good people to keep it in check and in balance. For the two-and-a-half hours of this play, it has them, and all of the bad decisions of a poor leader are nullified, all mistakes corrected. (I’m not going to say Annie Worden as the comic-relief constable Elbow necessarily represents good government, but god is she hilarious).
Even when Angelo gives in to the lure of “fake news,” layering on ludicrous aspersions of conspiracy to try to save himself upon the Duke’s return, he soon sees the error of his ways. Truth is truth, the play assures us. For everyone. It may not be the Shakespeare play we deserve right now, but it’s the one we need.
‘Measure for Measure’ runs through Sept. 2 at the Grove, 501 Upper Park Road, Santa Cruz. For more details and to purchase tickets, go to santacruzshakespeare.org.
Whether it’s a marriage, job or loan repayment, 40 years is a long time for anything to last—and even more so when it’s a punk band. While most punks celebrate lasting long enough to record their first EP, the Dickies have been knocking out fast, tongue-in-cheek tunes since their humble beginnings in the San Fernando Valley.
Along with bands like the Buzzcocks, the Dickies are considered to be the godfathers of pop-punk, with their catchy melodies and clear vocals light years away from the screams and hardcore sonics of the L.A. punk scene that was to evolve. The Dickies are heavily influenced by bands like the Damned and the Ramones, who were known for not taking anything too seriously, especially themselves.
From songs like “I’ve Got a Splitting Headachi” and the theme to Killer Klowns From Outer Space—the 1988 cult classic filmed in Santa Cruz and Watsonville—to onstage antics like a singing penis puppet and banana outfits, the band is a jester in the court of punk rock. (But, just to clarify, “the penis puppet wasn’t there from the start, it came later,” writes guitarist Stan Lee in an email to GT).
But fans of the Dickies know they’ve always been more than a joke. A friend of mine theorizes that they never became as huge as they could have in the punk scene for the simple fact that they could actually play. Formed by Leonard Graves Phillips on vocals; Lee on guitar; Chuck Wagon on keys, sax and guitar; Billy Club on bass; and Karlos Kaballero on drums, they were one of the first L.A. punk bands to appear on American television, and the first signed to a major label (A&M in 1978), where they recorded a slew of punk classics like their first two albums The Incredible Shrinking Dickies and Dawn of the Dickies. The Dickies also tapped into pop culture, recording covers of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” The Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin,” and even cartoon themes like “Gigantor.”
“Dawn of the Dickies is the best,” says Lee of their output. “[My] fave song would be ‘Nights in White Satin.’ I really like our take on that. If I could have two more, maybe ‘Gigantor’ and ‘Mole Men.’”
Aside from their sophomoric humor, the Dickies have remained relatively uncontroversial. That is, until June, when Phillips was filmed at the Vans Warped Tour unleashing a verbal assault on a female member of the crowd. Rumors circulated that the band was promptly kicked off the tour, splitting the punk scene between defenders of the old-school mindset that punk is about controversy and saying whatever you want and social activist punks who believe the scene should be a safe place for all. As time passed, evidence was revealed that the woman heckling the band was planted there by a nonprofit organization called Safe Spaces touring with Warped. Two days after the incident, Phillips issued a statement that fell short of apologizing, while Warped owner and founder Kevin Lyman confirmed that the band had not been kicked off the tour—the episode took place on their last scheduled day to play.
The question remains after the controversy: Can punk audiences still laugh at crass things if they’re not meant to be taken seriously?
Lee answers in true Dickies fashion. “Ask Henry Rollins. What do I know?”
Other than having their July 4 U.K. gig cancelled by the promoter, the controversy doesn’t seem to have affected the band, Lee says.
“Europe has been great so far,” he writes. “Full rooms and much excitement that we have returned.”
To celebrate the big 4-0, the Dickies decided to take a trip down memory lane, and spent several dates in Europe blasting through their first two albums in their entireties, much to fans’ delight—and their own.
“[I] forgot how good they are,” Lee admits. “‘Where Did His Eye Go,’ ‘Mental Ward,’ ‘Infidel Zombie,’ ‘Attack of the Mole Men.’ Good stuff, and fun to get a sax involved in the early songs that had sax.”
So after 40 years, do the Dickies still have it in them to record a new album, which would be their first since 2001’s All This and Puppet Stew?
“At some point there could be one last effort. We got a few songs kickin’ around,” Lee speculates. “How are the kids doin’ it these days? I’ve heard of something called iTunes. Is that the way? Maybe I should ask Henry?”
INFO: 8 p.m., Friday, July 28. The Catalyst Club, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $18adv/$23door. 429-4135.
Burrata with basil? Meatballs and polenta? Or perhaps one of those lavishly-proportioned Santa Croce salads loaded with various greens, fennel, feta, hazelnuts and shaved Parmigiano? These are items that continue to tempt me, thanks to the savvy cooks at Tramonti on Seabright. Now I can succumb to that temptation in the open air, thanks to the charming outdoor deck that has recently been created next to the front entrance.
New outdoor seating at the authentic trattoria looks like just the place to spend some summer afternoons (and evenings) over pizza, pasta, and a glass of Chianti.
Sleek metal chairs and tables perch under colorful red canvas umbrellas, while a long wooden communal table is equipped with its own outdoor heaters. Fog is no game changer at this new al fresco dining scene. There are even plexiglass side enclosures to protect diners from any unwanted breezes. Tramonti folks call this new feature “a little Italian garden,” with 24 seats and a central table for private parties.
I’m told that in September Tramonti will be adding a wine and beer bar inside, as well as expanded pizza bar seating.
Tramonti and its new dining patio—located at 526 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz—is open everyday from 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. (10 p.m. Friday and Saturday). Tuesday night’s neighborhood night special features an appetizer, entree and glass of house wine for $17. Dog friendly. Stop by and just say “Ciao!”
Some Like it Not
Clausthaler has come up with something that is very convincing in the way of a nonalcoholic beer (OK, 0.50 percent.) It’s called “Dry Hopped Ale” (hops are added after the fermentation process, for you beer geeks) and the result is delicious (at least in the world of NA beers), with a lovely dark amber hue and the reliably welcoming bitterness of seriously hopped beer. A note of citrus fills the malty center of this latest addition to the fairly limited field of beers senza di alcool. It joins the team that includes St. Pauli Girl and Kalibur, as decent brews that won’t fuzz your brain. Just in case that’s what you’re looking for. You know, hot day, need ice cold beer but still have work to do. Clausthaler Dry Hopped—claims to be the first dry-hopped NA beer in the world—might be your new best friend. At all the usual spots. $6ish.
Wines of Summer: The White and the Red
OK, in the expanding division of summer whites, we found a new favorite Vinho Verde from Muralhas ($18/Soif) loaded with tones of apricot, nuts and citrus. I love these light, salty, very low alcohol wines—12 percent!), and this one comes in a beautiful tall amber glass bottle. Go root around the well-proportioned shelves of Soif retail—the blush Txakolina from the Basque house of Ameztoi is also dreamy. A serious picnic wine for around $25. … And in the key of Rioja, we are mad for the Burgo Viejo ($13.99/Shopper’s) that has become our new house vin ordinaire. Weighing in at a refreshing 13.5-percent alcohol, this creation of 95 percent Tempranillo and 5 percent Graciano grapes is incredibly versatile. We find some complexity including tones of red licorice, cola, mint, and dark berries, all strung along a necklace of firm tannins. I better go out and grab a case of this lovely wine before it’s gone!
Mountain Changes
Don Quixote’s becomes Flynn’s Cabaret and Steakhouse next week, to be owned and operated by SLV resident Bradd Barkan. No more Mexican food, but there will be plenty of live music. Plans also include a menu of fresh seafoods, grass-fed meats, plus organic and gluten-free dishes. When I was a little girl, and the Felton landmark was Costello’s Chalet, I remember my grandparents dancing to live music at this durable watering hole wrapped around a restaurant. Hope it works out well!
Leo is the sign of children, friendship, fun and games and most important, self-identity through what one creates. Leo’s hair is a lion’s mane, rising up from a high royal forehead. Leos always look royal. The symbol of the lion appears in the logo of many royal houses. Richard the Lionhearted re-captured the Holy Land. The heart, center of our life force, is overseen by Leo.
The opposite of Leo is Aquarius, the circulatory system. Leo is the center (the heart) where all energy flows and life-force (blood) emanates. Leo is courageous, the lord of the jungle. Leo, fifth sign, fifth gate and fifth labor, is fixed fire. Like a flame, Leo’s fire burns bright for a while, then it burns low, displaying the ebb and flow of life energy.
In the Old Testament, Leo is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In the New Testament, the Christians were thrown to the lions (symbol of power in Rome). The fish (Pisces Age of love) later subdued and caged the lions. It’s written “the Sun rose in Leo at the world’s creation.” Egyptians worshiped the Leo Sun when Sirius, the blue star where love originates and Masonry comes from, appeared in the sky and the Nile rose. Egyptian temples were decorated with lions and cats.
In China, the Leo constellation is the Yellow Dragon with the royal star Regulus. The Buddha loved the lion and often rested on his right side. In the esoteric book Labors of Hercules, we read of the Nemean Lion, divine and from the moon (humanity’s past to be left behind). Hercules’s Fifth Labor was (is) to destroy that past (the moon), capture the lion (power) and keep the lion’s hide (spiritual protection) as shield and armor (used for the remaining seven labors).
The lion and Hercules, now heavenly stars, signify the individual personality coming into contact with the Soul. Everyone has Leo in their astrology charts. Everyone is royal.
ARIES: Do you feel divided between four ways, standing in the middle wondering which paths to pursue? There are several past issues to tend to and complete before you will know how to proceed. Your work is to observe, assess, ponder, pray, forgive and have the intention to carefully and kindly complete all things unfinished. Then the next page turns.
TAURUS: Maintain the focus into the future even though pressures and people pull you back. The new realities (new age) must be brought forth and each sign has the responsibility for a facet of that diamond. Taurus has the illumination needed to build the new era. There is land to buy, a model to construct, a community to build, expansions to bring forth so that humanity and its children will be saved.
GEMINI: You experience confusion when you don’t stand directly in the center of all realities. You must do this to observe both sides in order to create a triangle of synthesis, with you at the apex. There are two paths outlined for you. Knowledge creates thought which creates symbols that reveal revelations so that Right Choice can occur. Ponder upon, draw and visualize the seven-pointed, six-pointed, five-pointed stars and a triangle and the Cross. Again.
CANCER: A fusion and synthesis are occurring between what you were taught and what you now know and seek. Money seems always a concern. Know it will always be available. Never be impatient with the many who don’t understand. If anxiety erupts, the homeopath Aconite neutralizes anxiety and impatience (an excess of electrical energy). At times, you may feel like a rainstorm.
LEO: It’s possible that thoughts and feelings from previous relationships are being remembered. It’s possible there’s anger concerning your childhood which influences your present behavior in adult relationships. It’s good to ask what you learned in each relationship. And to ask, “Did I give enough?” There’s still time. Everyone is learning from everyone else, all the time. Your self-identity changes.
VIRGO: Tend to finances; ask for assistance if puzzled, embrace the future by investing money in supplies to sustain you and others. Your organization will save you. Invest also in gold and silver. When self-critical beliefs arise, heartache results. It’s important to know the difference between good and evil, dispassion and intrusion. Always use words of praise with others. They neutralize mental and emotional distortions.
LIBRA: Thoughts and ideas have been occurring, transformative and new, and affecting the beliefs held in your life. By autumn you’ll know more. Good things are coming about in your professional life. Are you missing family? Are you thinking about and able to travel? Tend with care and kindness to all relationships. Your group sustains, nourishes and fortifies you. But someone’s left out.
SCORPIO: It may feel that you need to structure your surroundings so that nothing is left to chance. Also, you want to nurture and build an ever-growing participation in a social sphere. You wonder what to do with your money as you are offered two choices. One grows, one dims. How do you decide which to choose? Which is more sustainable? Which shares more?
SAGITTARIUS: It’s time for something new in terms of friends and relationships. It is also time to travel somewhere you’ve been before to assess it with new eyes. Do be aware of how much work you’ve done, how hard it’s been and where you are today. In the next 18 months, your usual ways of thinking and interpreting will change. Creativity will change, too. Some of this is already occurring. Is life topsy-turvy and tumbling about? Enjoy it.
CAPRICORN: You asked for a playful column. I see why. Pluto is in your first house of self-identity. Everything about your life is deep and profound and you need someone else to make the jokes, make you laugh, free you from the dark depths of Pluto. Let’s not talk about money. You have enough or you don’t have enough. You actually have everything. Creating an altar in your home turns your home into a shrine.
AQUARIUS: Old realities are tumbling about and the thought of money and what’s of value keep appearing. Perhaps you grew up with too little or too much money. This gave you a certain lens concerning money. And here we are today, the monetary world out of control. Don’t be fearful. From ashes emerge great opportunities. Ponder upon what you want in your future. Visualize, imagine, draw, paint, write down all that you seek to have. Create a journal of hopes, wishes and dreams. They will all come true.
PISCES: Things feel very complex. In your state of seeming solitude, what you do each day is very important. Create a schedule with ritual and rhythm. Stand in and greet the sun upon arising. Much of the past sorrows must be forgotten. Disappointments, sadness and unrealized hopes, too. They are of no use in our present world. If ill, consult a holistic, integrative, functional doctor who knows astrology and homeopathy. Deep, deeper to deepest layers will be uncovered. In safety.
Free will astrology for the week of July 26, 2017.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Are you feeling as daring about romance as I suspect? If so, I’ve composed a provocative note for you to give to anyone you have good reason to believe will be glad to receive it. Feel free to copy it word-for-word or edit it to suit your needs. Here it is: “I want to be your open-hearted explorer. Want to be mine? We can be in foolishly cool drooling devotion to each other’s mighty love power. We can be in elegant solid-gold allegiance to each other’s genius. Wouldn’t it be fun to see how much liberation we can whip up together? We can play off our mutual respect as we banish the fearful shticks in our bags of tricks. We can inspire each other to reach unexpected heights of brazen intelligence.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You still have a wound that never formed a proper scar. (We’re speaking metaphorically here.) It’s chronically irritated. Never quite right. Always stealing bits of your attention. Would you like to do something to reduce the distracting power of that annoying affliction? The next 25 days will be a favorable time to seek such a miracle. All the forces of nature and spirit will conspire in your behalf if you formulate a clear intention to get the healing you need and deserve.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In his poem “The Initiate,” Charles Simic speaks of “someone who solved life’s riddles in a voice of an ancient Sumerian queen.” I hope you’re not focused on seeking help and revelations from noble and grandiose sources like that, Gemini. If you are, you may miss the useful cues and clues that come your way via more modest informants. So please be alert for the blessings of the ordinary. As you work on solving your quandaries, give special attention to serendipitous interventions and accidental luck.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): For many years, the Tobe Zoological Park in China housed a “praying panther” named Ato. The large black feline periodically rose up on her hind legs and put her paws together as if petitioning a higher power for blessings. I suggest we make her your spirit ally in the coming weeks. I hope she’ll inspire you to get your restless mind out of the way as you seek to quench your primal needs. With the praying panther as your muse, you should be able to summon previously untapped reserves of your animal intelligence and cultivate an instinctual knack for knowing where to find raw, pristine satisfaction.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do you really have to be the flashy king or charismatic queen of all you survey? Must all your subjects put on kneepads and prostrate themselves as they bask in your glory? Isn’t it enough for you to simply be the master of your own emotions, and the boss of your own time, and the lord of your own destiny? I’m not trying to stifle your ambition or cramp your enthusiasm; I just want to make sure you don’t dilute your willpower by trying to wield command over too wide a swath. The most important task, after all, is to manage your own life with panache and ingenuity. But I will concede this: The coming weeks will be a time when you can also probably get away with being extra worshiped and adored.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Dear Hard Worker: Our records indicate that you have been neglecting to allot yourself sufficient time to rest and recharge. In case you had forgotten, you are expected to take regular extended breaks, during which time it is mandatory to treat yourself with meticulous care and extreme tenderness. Please grant yourself an immediate dispensation. Expose yourself to intensely relaxing encounters with play, fun, and pleasure—or else! No excuses will be accepted.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If extraterrestrial beings land their spaceship on my street and say they want to meet the creatures who best represent our planet, I will volunteer you Libras. Right now, at least, you’re nobler than the rest of us, and more sparkly, too. You’re dealing smartly with your personal share of the world’s suffering, and your day-to-day decisions are based more on love than fear. You’re not taking things too personally or too seriously, and you seem better equipped than everyone else to laugh at the craziness that surrounds us. And even if aliens don’t appear, I bet you will serve as an inspiring influence for more human beings than you realize. Does being a role model sound boring? I hope not. if you regard it as an interesting gift, it will empower you to wield more clout than you’re used to.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): During the four years he worked on painting the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo never took a bath. Was he too preoccupied with his masterpiece? Modern artist Pae White has a different relationship with obsession. To create her fabric art pieces, she has spent years collecting more than 3,500 scarves designed by her favorite scarf-maker. Then there’s filmmaker James Cameron, who hired an expert in linguistics to create an entire new language from scratch for the aliens in his movie Avatar. In accordance with the astrological omens, Scorpio, I approve of you summoning this level of devotion—as long as it’s not in service to a transitory desire, but rather to a labor of love that has the potential to change your life for the better for a long time.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers,” wrote author James Baldwin. Even if you’re not an artist, I encourage you to make that your purpose in the coming weeks. Definitive answers will at best be irrelevant and at worst useless. Vigorous doubt and inquiry, on the other hand, will be exciting and invigorating. They will mobilize you to rebel against any status quos that have been tempting you to settle for mediocrity.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’re in a phase of your cycle when the most useful prophecies are more lyrical than logical. So here you go: three enigmatic predictions to help stir up the creative ingenuity you’ll need to excel on your upcoming tests. 1. A darling but stale old hope must shrivel and wane so that a spiky, electric new hope can be born. 2. An openness to the potential value of a metaphorical death will be one of your sweetest assets. 3. The best way to cross a border is not to sneak across bearing secrets but to stride across in full glory with nothing to hide.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian novelist James Joyce had a pessimistic view about intimate connection. Here’s what he said: “Love (understood as the desire of good for another) is in fact so unnatural a phenomenon that it can scarcely repeat itself, the soul being unable to become virgin again and not having energy enough to cast itself out again into the ocean of another’s soul.” My challenge to you, Aquarius—in accordance with the astrological omens—is to prove Joyce wrong. Figure out how to make your soul virgin again so it can cast itself out into the ocean of another’s soul. The next eight weeks will be prime time to achieve that glorious feat.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Years after he had begun his work as a poet, Rainer Maria Rilke confessed that he was still finding out what it took to do his job. “I am learning to see,” he wrote. “I don’t know why it is, but everything enters me more deeply and doesn’t stop where it once used to.” Given the current astrological omens, you have a similar opportunity, Pisces: to learn more about how to see. It won’t happen like magic. You can’t just sit back passively and wait for the universe to accomplish it for you. But if you decide you really would like to be more perceptive—if you resolve to receive and register more of the raw life data that’s flowing towards you—you will expand and deepen your ability to see.
Homework: Make a prediction about where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing on January 1, 2020. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
Gah, Logos! The news that the used-book-and-records fixture is closing down has me all sentimental and weirdly anxious. When I first arrived in Santa Cruz, Logos was in its crazy earthquake-recovery location off of Laurel Street, in a structure that I remember looking a lot like one of those creepy warehouses the bad guys always meet at before a heist in the movies. I spent roughly 32,947 hours rifling through everything there over the next few years, looking for some obscure Patti Smith bootleg or Re/Search book or whatever. When it moved to its “new” location on Pacific, sweeping through for a quick or extended browse was just part of what one did when one was downtown on a Friday night. Now, with it being right next door to the GT office, I swing by at lunch sometimes, usually to see if there are any new children’s poetry books my kid will like. I feel in every way like I’ve grown up with that place, and I’ll miss it. Check out Jacob Pierce’s story in our news section for the full story.
Otherwise, this week is all about burgers, because it’s … wait for it … Burger Week! Our staff has been eating stacks and stacks of them, and now you can, too. Check out some of our favorites in the cover story—we have meatless options, too, of course—and a full list of the debut participants with details about their featured burgers this week!
Re: “2030 vision” (GT, 5/24): I agree we need more places for rent, but I am concerned that much of the proposed housing is not appropriate for couples or families, let alone companion animals. Humans are social creatures, driven to have relationships and build families. Without accommodation, it ostracizes and pushes out the next generation. We need kids, and they need to be healthy and secure, not more isolated and sick.
Santa Cruz could make great leaps ecologically and socially by having each new housing development host a complete rooftop garden for its residents’ enjoyment and health. Effects of the green space would carry over to the neighbors by reducing heating and cooling costs, raising oxygen levels, reducing airborne toxins, and providing a place for nature—and residents—to thrive.
Rowan Lindenfeld
Corralitos
Keep the Tracks
So what’s up with this misnamed “greenway” plan to rip out all of the railroad tracks? Somehow we can’t have both? I certainly can’t see why that would be true. Why not have tracks, and eventually a transit system and bike and pedestrian trails as well?
If the tracks were removed it would permanently eliminate any possibility of future rail transit systems due to the huge cost. Also, it would be a huge waste of money to take out tracks unnecessarily.
My suspicion is that wealthy homeowners in Aptos and other trackside locations are trying to eliminate the use of the tracks to enhance their property values. Sort of like people who buy homes at a reduced price due to proximity to an airport and then want to stop the airplanes! I live on a busy street—maybe we can just get it closed off so it would be quieter? Right!
Let’s use this valuable resource for the greater good of the overall community!
Fred J. Geiger
Santa Cruz
A Better Budget
While members of the Republican majority are competing to see who can make the deepest cuts, there is a budget proposal before Congress that would boost the economy for all of us while cutting the number of people in poverty in half. It’s the People’s Budget, proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The People’s Budget invests in safe and productive infrastructure, education, affordable housing, healthcare and nutrition, childcare and working family tax credits. It calls for increasing the minimum wage.
These investments will create 3.6 million jobs, and set us on a path to cut poverty in half in 10 years. The People’s Budget invests $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, expanding rural broadband, universal Pre-K and free college tuition at state and community colleges.
Every year, without fail, our elected representatives give more than half of the discretionary budget to the Pentagon, leaving less than half to be divided up to fund education, healthcare, environmental spending, infrastructure, and everything else.
Richard Gallo
Santa Cruz
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
Submit to ph****@go*******.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
CREDIT CART
Santa Cruz’s Homeless Services Center is a part of the Macy’s Shop for a Cause campaign this year. Anyone who gives $5 receives a 25-percent-off savings pass while supporting the cause. The charity that raises the most money receives an additional $100,000. The effort runs through Aug. 9. To donate, visit crowdrise.com/homeless-services-center.
GOOD WORK
CURE THING
Janus of Santa Cruz is receiving two major grants to expand treatment for opioid use disorder. The funding comes to the nonprofit via the Department of Health Care Services to create a Central Coast Hub & Spoke System and also expand Medication Assisted Treatment for opioid use disorder in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. The programs aim to prevent overdoses and fight addiction.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Man who invented the hamburger was smart; man who invented the cheeseburger was a genius.â€
Born in Tunisia, raised in Canada, and for the past 17 years on the faculty of Rice University in Texas, Karim Al-Zand found inspiration in the shocking and poignant letters of a young Yemeni Adnan Latif, whose incarceration and death in Guantanemo Prison remain shrouded in mystery. The result is 
Charismatic in approach, wildly disarming in performance, Dame Evelyn Glennie brings both rapture and a rare sensibility to her eclectic approach to percussion. The virtuoso abilities of the Scottish musician have been written for by composers the world over. She comes to Cabrillo next week to premiere 
