Page 843 | Good Times

Two Local Wines For the Holiday Table

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December 19, 2017

We’ve fallen hard for Birichino’s 2014 Pinot Noir Antle Vineyard.

The vineyard’s volcanic soil, granite and limestone nestled high up near the Pinnacles National Park help coax intrigue into these lovely Chalone AVA grapes. Made of organic grapes transformed into a 13-percent-alcohol bouquet of black cherries, earth, cola and mystery herbs, this is one distinctive wine. The tannins rein everything into a well-formed harmony. Birichino’s stylistic trend toward mineral-driven, low-alcohol creations is upheld by this muscular creature, more living organism than artifact. Every moment of its tasting, from aroma to finish, feels complete and balanced. Not a weak moment in the entire experience. This baby cries out for a special occasion. Even a special moment will do just fine. Like an upcoming holiday? It can partner with seafoods as well as roast turkey, carnitas, runny cheese, and toasted almonds. Kudos to winemakers Alex Krause and John Locke. Available at the Birichino Tasting Room. $40. birichino.com.

Action at Soif

While sampling some of the apps at Soif conceptualized by new chef Marshall Bishop, we discovered the secret weapon at the popular downtown destination. Bread. Housemade bread. Bread that is so good it overshadowed even an intricate creation like a slender float of foie gras layered with huckleberries, pistachio streusel and lightly whipped cream. With this came a generous portion of wonderful grilled bread that we inhaled along with some terrific Rhône wine. Crisp, abundant and delicious. A small portion of Skuna Bay salmon tartare, inflected with Meyer lemon and cucumber, arrived with an even more delectable suite of slices. These were of a darker hue studded with raisins and could have been a meal unto themselves. Another welcoming new feature of Soif’s current cuisine is the splendid offering of house marinated olives, gorgeously nestled in the center of an oversized white bowl. Tossed with lemon zest, garlic, and various herbs, the olives were our companions almost from the moment we sat down. A vibrant gesture that set up our taste buds for other dishes. The mid-week crowd at Soif prophecies a robust new year!

Alfaro Family Fun

If it’s fun, trust the Alfaros to know all about it. Mary Kay Alfaro and her highly energized winemaker husband Richard Alfaro know how to welcome guests for the holidays. If you haven’t been to their well-sited tasting room, with its decks overlooking a sprawling panorama of vineyards, then you have a treat in store. In fact, why not visit either on Dec. 23 (in time for Christmas wine purchases) or Dec. 30 (in time to stock up for New Year’s Eve)? As Richard reminds us, magnums and double magnums are on sale. How cool would an oversized bottle of fine locally-made wine be as a gift? Or how about a half-bottle stocking stuffer? The Alfaro Tasting Room will be open on the next two Saturdays, and of course you can sample the house seven-wine flight while you browse. The Tasting Room is child- and pet-friendly, so you can take your time and enjoy the multi-sensory possibilities. Alfaro Family Vineyards sits at scenic 420 Hames Road in Corralitos. alfarowine.com.

Appetizer of the Week

The Dungeness crab and avocado creation at Oswald—full, rich, and generously packed with fresh crab meat, sided by the most pungent and alive-tasting watercress imaginable. Served with stellar sourdough and a fistful of butter. Don’t miss it! oswaldrestaurant.com.

Shadowbrook Christmas

Traditional holidays are perfect excuses to visit our favorite dining landmarks, and that would include (at the top!) Shadowbrook Restaurant. Yes, they are open with a special Holiday Menu on both Christmas Eve from 2-9:30 p.m. and Christmas Day from 11 a.m.-8:45 p.m. shadowbrook-capitola.com.

Rob Brezsny Astrology Dec 20-26

Rob Brezsny

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December 19, 2017

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Free Will astrology for the week of December 20, 2017

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your life in the first half of 2018 will be like a psychological boot camp that’s designed to beef up your emotional intelligence. Here’s another way to visualize your oncoming adventures: They will constitute a friendly nudge from the cosmos, pushing you to be energetic and ingenious in creating the kind of partnerships you want for the rest of your long life. As you go through your interesting tests and riddles, be on the lookout for glimpses of what your daily experience could be like in five years if you begin now to deepen your commitment to love and collaboration.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’ll soon have a chance to glide out into the frontier. I suggest you pack your bag of tricks. Bring gifts with you, too, just in case you must curry favor in the frontiers where the rules are a bit loose. How are your improvisational instincts? Be sure they’re in top shape. How willing are you to summon spontaneity and deal with unpredictability and try impromptu experiments? I hope you’re very willing. This may sound like a lot of work, but I swear it’ll be in a good cause. If you’re well-prepared as you wander in the borderlands, you’ll score sweet secrets and magic cookies. Here’s more good news: Your explorations will position you well to take advantage of the opportunities that’ll become available throughout 2018.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): These days it’s not unusual to see male celebrities who shave their heads. Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson, Seal, Tyrese Gibson, and Vin Diesel are among them. But in the 20th century, the bare-headed style was rare. One famous case was actor Yul Brynner. By age 30, he’d begun to go bald. In 1951, for his role as the King of Siam in the Broadway play The King and I, he decided to shave off all his hair. From then on, the naked-headed look became his trademark as he plied a successful acting career. So he capitalized on what many in his profession considered a liability. He built his power and success by embracing an apparent disadvantage. I recommend you practice your own version of this strategy in 2018. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to begin.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In the Northern Hemisphere, where 88 percent of the world’s population resides, this is a quiescent time for the natural world. Less sunlight is available, and plants’ metabolisms slow down as photosynthesis diminishes. Deciduous trees lose their leaves, and even many evergreens approach dormancy. And yet in the midst of this stasis, Cancerian, you are beginning to flourish. Gradually at first, but with increasing urgency, you’re embarking on an unprecedented phase of growth. I foresee that 2018 will be your Year of Blossoming.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you’ve had an unfulfilled curiosity about genealogy or your ancestors or the riddles of your past, 2018 will be a favorable time to investigate. Out-of-touch relatives will be easier to locate than usual. Lost heirlooms, too. You may be able to track down and make use of a neglected legacy. Even family secrets could leak into view—both the awkward and the charming kinds. If you think you have everything figured out about the people you grew up with and the history of where you came from, you’re in for surprises.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Most of us regard our ring fingers as the least important of our digits. What are they good for? Is there any activity for which they’re useful? But our ancestors had a stronger relationship with their fourth fingers. There was a folk belief that a special vein connected the fourth finger on the left hand directly to the heart. That’s why a tradition arose around the wedding ring being worn there. It may have also been a reason why pharmacists regarded their fourth fingers as having an aptitude for discerning useful blends of herbs. I bring this up, Virgo, because I think it’s an apt metaphor for one of 2018’s important themes: A resource you have underestimated or neglected will be especially valuable—and may even redefine your understanding of what’s truly valuable.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In fairy tales, characters are often rewarded for their acts of kindness. They may be given magical objects that serve as protection, like cloaks of invisibility or shoes that enable them to flee trouble. Or the blessings they receive may be life-enhancing, like enchanted cauldrons that provide a never-ending supply of delicious food or musical instruments that have the power to summon delightful playmates. I bring this up, Libra, because I suspect that a similar principle will be very active in your life during 2018. You’ll find it easier and more natural than usual to express kindness, empathy, and compassion. If you consistently capitalize on this predilection, life will readily provide you with the resources you need.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Like all of us, you go through mediocre phases when you’re not functioning at peak efficiency. But I suspect that in 2018 you will experience fewer of these blah times. We will see a lot of you at your best. Even more than usual, you’ll be an interesting catalyst who energizes and ripens collaborative projects. You’ll demonstrate why the sweet bracing brightness needs the deep dark depths, and vice versa. You’ll help allies open doors that they can’t open by themselves. The rest of us thank you in advance!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The blunt fact is that you can’t be delivered from the old demoralizing pattern that has repeated and repeated itself—until you forgive yourself completely. For that matter, you probably can’t move on to the next chapter of your life story until you compensate yourself for at least some of the unnecessary torment you’ve inflicted on yourself. Now here’s the good news: 2018 will be an excellent time to accomplish these healings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In 2018, one of your primary missions will be to practice what you preach; to walk your talk; to be ambitious and masterful in all the ways a soulful human can and should be ambitious and masterful. Live up to your hype in the coming months, Capricorn! Do what you have promised! Stop postponing your dreams! Fulfill the noble expectations you have for yourself! Don’t be shy about using exclamation points to express your visions of what’s right and good and just!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Years ago, when I started my career as a horoscope writer, my editor counseled me, “Always give priority to the Big Three. Romance, money, and power are what people care about most.” After a few months, he was disgruntled to realize that I wrote about how to cultivate psychological health and nourish spiritual aspirations as much as his Big Three. He would have replaced me if he could have found another astrology writer whose spelling and grammar were as good as mine. But his edict traumatized me a bit. Even today, I worry that I don’t provide you with enough help concerning the Big Three. Fortunately, that’s not relevant now, since I can sincerely declare that 2018 will bring you chances to become more powerful by working hard on your psychological health . . . and to grow wealthier by cultivating your spiritual aspirations . . . and to generate more love by being wise and ethical in your quest for money and power.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): What binds you? What keeps you closed down and locked up? I urge you to ponder those questions, Pisces. Once you get useful answers, the next step will be to meditate on how you can undo the binds. Fantasize and brainstorm about the specific actions you can take to unlock and unclose yourself. This project will be excellent preparation for the opportunities that the coming months will make available to you. I’m happy to announce that 2018 will be your personal Year of Liberation.

Homework: Write a parable or fairy tale that captures what your life has been like in 2017. Freewillastrology.com

Antonio Villaraigosa: Bring Back Redevelopment, Build More Housing

Local News

Jacob Pierce

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December 15, 2017

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Antonio Villaraigosa: Bring Back Redevelopment, Build More Housing

Standing in front of an 11-foot-tall Christmas tree, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa laid out a vision for housing and redevelopment in California, surrounded by a living room crowd of mayors, city councilmembers, county supervisors, former politicians and Democratic heavyweights.

Villaraigosa, a frontrunner in the 2018 California governor’s race, came to Santa Cruz for a meet-and-greet at the home of former County Treasurer Fred Keeley, a friend of Villaraigosa going back to their days in the state assembly together. Villaraigosa preached an “all-of-the-above strategy” to bring down housing costs.

“If you don’t have a strategy of all of the above, we’re really not going to deal with this crisis,” Villaraigosa told GT in a brief interview, after speaking and answering questions from the crowd. “Everybody talks about homelessness, everybody talks about the housing crisis, and we’re not treating it like it is a crisis, like it’s an emergency.”

Villaraigosa is currently in advance of the June 5 primary election. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two candidates will go to a runoff in November.

Villaraigosa, 65, said he remembers buying his first home in a far different housing market at age 24, just by saving up—something he knows is impossible for most young people in 2017.

He has big ideas for how to make housing affordable once again. Some are hotly contested topics already being discussed in Santa Cruz, like increased housing density and building along major transit corridors.

He broke that plan into four steps:

Put together a housing trust fund. Create a statewide revenue source to fund affordable projects.

Bring back redevelopment in what Villaraigosa calls “Redevelopment 2.0.” Even though the original decision to ax redevelopment programs was a controversial one, Villaraigosa knows that bringing it back won’t be easy because legislators have already gotten used to having the nearly $2 billion a year that came from local property tax increments. Still, he hopes to restore those tax increments—some of which used to go to affordable housing—to local governments. If elected, Villaraigosa hopes to restore the program, with the support of mayors from around the state, while eliminating the excesses that Gov. Jerry Brown had criticized while unveiling a plan to gut the redevelopment in 2011.

Encourage cities to plan “smart growth” housing construction. Cities that want to access state money would need a plan for affordable housing. That would include building for a variety of lower incomes, adding density and building along major transportation corridors. “Every mayor here, every councilmember here knows part of why we have a crisis,” Villaraigosa said. “Because the more affluent communities, with single-family dwellings, constantly complain about the lack of housing, homelessness and then push back every time you try to build. And the fact of the matter is you’ve gotta build.”

Introduce regulatory reform. Require that local governments quicken permitting for proposed projects. Villaraigosa said the state also needs to look at reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), without weakening environmental requirements.

Make everyone pitch in. Under his plan, Villaraigosa said he would not give a pass to the affluent communities that don’t want to build “smart growth” and affordable housing. Villaraigosa said they will “have put money in a kitty for the region so they can build that housing.”

Just hours earlier that same day, the Los Angeles City Council approved a linkage fee for new development that will charge developers between $1 and $15 per square foot, depending on the type of project and location. Villaraigosa supports that approach, as he does inclusionary zoning, which is in place here in Santa Cruz and which the City Council has considered revising.

Villaraigosa says these tools are important, even though they could get in the way of housing construction if they’re too cumbersome.

“You gotta find the balance,” he said. “Obviously if it’s overly bureaucratic—that’s the argument that a lot of developers make. New York has inclusionary zoning. Probably 100 cities in the state have inclusionary zoning. Let’s look at the best practices, let’s look at the places that are doing it well. I agree there is no question that some of these things could have the effect of delaying and raising the cost of housing. But in a crisis like this, we can’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.”

The idea of building may not go over well in all corners of Santa Cruz, but Villaraigosa’s fellow candidate Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has also called for a housing boom. Newsom, the only person currently leading Villaraigosa in the polls, says California needs to nearly quadruple housing construction.

The race also includes state Treasurer John Chiang, former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, attorney John Cox, and Assemblymember Travis Allen.

Villaraigosa on other issues:

On support for the state’s public universities:

“I’m a product of UCLA. I was going to UCLA when our tuition was $275 a quarter. Even with that, we had Cal Grants. I think we’re going to have to really figure that out. One of the ways is our priorities.”

On pension reform:

“If you talk to College Futures, and you ask, ‘What are some of the biggest driving costs for higher education?’ It’s pensions. When I was mayor, we were looking at a bankruptcy. At the time, I said ‘Not on my watch. I was going to have to layoff 5,000 employees out of 37,000 folks. I worked with our unions, and I said, ‘Look I don’t want to lay off people, but we’re going to have to do something.’ Under our constitution, you can’t take away someone’s pension. It’s an earned right, so you have to give them something of like value, so what I gave them was early retirement, and they went from six percent to 11 percent. Not everyone’s going to agree with it, but the fact of the matter is a progressive is going also to have to balance budgets. And we’re going to have to acknowledge that she [pointing to a young woman] has a right to a decent pension [too].”

High-speed rail:

“I’m the guy who said ‘We’ll build a subway.’ In the middle of the recession, we put a half-penny sales tax, generating $40 billion, built four light rails, lined one busway. We’re in construction on two more. I’m the infrastructure candidate. Having said that, we have to drive down the costs in value engineering. I think we have to look at a public-private partnership. … I do think we’re going to have to think out of the box, in terms of cost.”

On the race:

“When I go to faith leaders, and they say, ‘I want to pray for you to win,’ I say, ‘No, pray for wisdom.’ Pray for that. I’d love your vote, but you know what I want you to do? I want you to pay attention. I’m a used car, not a used car salesman.”

Volunteers Voice Concerns Over New Liability Waiver at Jail

Local News

Mat Weir

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December 13, 2017

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Volunteers Voice Concerns Over New Liability Waiver at Jail

Several months after the county jails changed their procedure on dealing with liability, some volunteers haven’t returned.

Every week for the last nine years, Rick Longinotti had brought the skills from his organization, Nonviolent Communication Santa Cruz, to the Santa Cruz Main Jail. Through group sessions, he taught inmates not only how to express themselves, but also how to listen to the needs of others and understand how not to take offense when someone doesn’t know how to properly communicate. Inmates told him he was making a difference.

“I got a lot of appreciation for visiting the jail,” says Longinotti, better known as an activist on issues like transportation and water.

Then in February, a volunteer dropped a table on her foot, and although the volunteer never filed charges, jail administrators decided to examine their liability clauses.

“We realized nobody had really, clearly, expressed those boundaries,” says Chief Deputy Steve Carney of the sheriff’s department. “There was a very blurry line as to who was responsible for people’s actions when they came into our jails.”

There was no procedure for who would be responsible if a medical emergency happened, Carney says. Following a little research, jail officials introduced a new, mandatory liability waiver for volunteers entering their facilities in the spring. It states that volunteers are knowingly entering a dangerous area and they are responsible for their own actions.

Carney says most volunteers signed the waiver, but Longinotti decided to end his program, and he wasn’t the only one. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey quickly ordered their volunteers not to sign, ending Catholic programs in county jails, although the local Catholic volunteer coordinator for the jails has declined to comment.

Longinotti says he and a few other volunteers initially signed the waiver, then retracted their participation after giving it a closer look.

When the waiver first came out, Longinotti admits that he didn’t carefully read it and signed quickly. It wasn’t until someone else pointed out some of the specific wording that Longinotti decided to take a second glance, before revoking his signature in September.

The reason Longinotti has such a problem with? It reads:

“I further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend the County, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers from any and all claims, demands, actions, judgments, costs, attorney’s fees and damages of any kind for liability which the County may incur arising out of or in any manner related to the performance of voluntary services.”

Longinotti believes that section could be used to take away all liability from the county, and could potentially open volunteers to lawsuits from outside families if an inmate were to be injured during a program. “Why would they have that if they didn’t intend on using it?” he asks.

Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez, founder and executive director of Barrios Unidos, sometimes visits the jail through his 40-year-old community outreach organization. He signed the waiver, but believes organizations need to collaborate with the county on fleshing out more details on the document, which he says needs “a second look.”

Still, Carney claims the waiver was only written in case a volunteer is the instigator of an incident, intentionally or not.

“We want people to understand they are putting themselves at some level of risk when entering,” he says. “We’re not absolving ourselves from liability in areas that people expect security.”

Opinion December 13, 2017

Steve Palopoli

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December 13, 2017

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Alt-weekly newspapers have always had a complicated relationship with the concept of “breaking news.” It’s different now, of course, in the social media era, where we can put up an important breaking story online, Facebook it and tweet it between issues. As for print, though, our loyal readers know exactly when to expect their GT every week, and no matter how hard I try, I haven’t yet been able to will newsmakers to only make news on days that are convenient for our printing schedule.

But because we tend to develop and report our cover stories over weeks, if not months, and get far deeper into them than, for instance, daily-newspaper schedules allow, we deal with a different kind of breaking news: when a developing story changes radically over the course of a single investigation. A perfect example is Maria Grusauskas’ cover story this week, the first part of her series on the changes coming to the cannabis industry on Jan. 1. The story was in constant flux as she was reporting it, with members of the industry scrambling to comply with new regulations that hadn’t even been set in stone just weeks before they were set to kick in. At one point, she was at the KindPeoples dispensary for a scheduled interview less than an hour after they got their first glimpse at the new rules, and were basically processing them as they discussed them with her. It’s not easy to manage and analyze data on the bleeding-edge of a story like this, but as you’ll discover in this and the subsequent stories in this series, she did an incredible job.

Also, an announcement: the voting for our 2018 Best of Santa Cruz County awards begins this week. Click here to vote for your favorite local people, places and things!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Take a Page

I am reading the latest edition and need to point out the irony of the first three letters to the editor. First: another opinion on the tent campground the city established to deal with the homeless population. Second: the concerns about the Board of Supervisors ordinance on short-term rentals, and third, commentary on the new dense housing developments being considered as a way to allow “all who want to live in Santa Cruz should be able to.”

Who does the leadership of our city think they are kidding? Are you reading and listening to your constituents? Based on this one page of commentary, it is obvious the leadership wants to get rid of the lower-income residents, retired and homeless, and want to cater to the high-wage earners who pay high property taxes and sales taxes, and keep real estate values increasing at an absurd rate.

Isn’t it ironic the slogan they use to attract the infrastructure and development for new residents, “All who want to live in Santa Cruz should be able to,” seems to only apply to those who can afford to buy in. Those who have lived here for a long time and/or may be lower-wage earners, and struggling, well, not so much. Really? Where is the help for the other 98 percent in the city’s planning? Many residents don’t seem to know where to find it. Oh, because there isn’t any.

Heidi Harris | Ben Lomond

ONLINE COMMENTS

Re: Self-Defense Cuts

This is so unfortunate to hear. My work colleagues were just talking about taking a self-defense class and we found nothing in Santa Cruz! Nothing! There are a ton of women who work and we need training to be more aware of our surroundings. Having the money yet not offering classes because of low enrollment is absurd. Market and advertise these courses to workplaces such as UCSC, Cabrillo, anywhere women work and have to walk in dark areas back to their cars, etc. Training boys to become better men? OMG, are you kidding me? Sure, sounds great in theory; but realistically? Fat chance! We all need to be better educated for our own safety throughout our lives.

— Sandy

Re: Housing Crisis

Portland, Seattle and Vancouver have not been able to build their way to lower housing costs. Land values and construction costs keep making development more expensive. “Affordable” apartments do not exist in Seattle, a city I visit often because I have family there. What does exist, increasingly, are massive “stack and pack” units, including “pod apartments” designed for dorm-like living. People cycle through fairly quickly because they tire of living in tiny studios where they have to go down the hall to the no-frills kitchen to make a meal. I support the ideas of a higher inclusionary rate, and of asking developers to go beyond just paying a fee to help solve this problem. We can increase our stock of below-market-rate housing if there is a will to do so. But let’s not destroy our beautiful town in the process. People will always want to live here. What we need is intelligent and creative decision-making, not just doing what developers say they need to achieve their profit margins.

— Alison Russell

CORRECTIONS

Last week’s cover story “Watt Just Happened” reported that KZSC reaches one million listeners daily. It should have said that the station has the potential to reach one million listeners daily; they do not know the exact number of daily listeners. Also, the story “Vote Ahead” misreported Councilmember Cynthia Chase’s plans for the upcoming election. She has made no announcement about running. We regret the error.

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

SWEET MYSTERY
The Mystery Spot is hosting special holiday tours on Friday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 16, from 6 to 7:15 p.m. Christmas lights and festive stylings will decorate the garden for guests to enjoy, while sipping on hot cocoa, cider or coffee and listening to singing carolers. Each guest will receive a candy cane at the end of the visit, in addition to the iconic Mystery Spot bumper sticker. Visit mysteryspot.com for more information.

GOOD WORK

BUILT TO LAST
The Santa Cruz City Council last week approved a detailed report on the housing crisis. The findings, a culmination of former Mayor Cynthia Chase’s fall listening tour, covered community members’ anxieties around escalating costs, as well as their ideas for solutions. In approving the report, the council also voted to create an ad-hoc committee with three city councilmembers to study solutions, although officials haven’t yet ironed out details like who will serve in the group.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
-Dalai Lama

What’s your favorite winter holiday food?

Columns

Matt Harding

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December 13, 2017

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What’s your favorite winter holiday food?

“I would have said my chocolate-ginger cookies, but I just made a big fattoush—a Middle Eastern salad—and it eclipsed my cookies.”

Sally Whitman

Santa Cruz

Writer/Illustrator

“Roasted turkey, because I like brining and roasting a turkey myself, and I love serving lots of people dinner.”

Phoenix DeLeon

Santa Cruz

Rolfing

“My favorite holiday winter food [tradition] is tamales. My whole family has been doing it since before I was born.”

Magdelena Munoz

Santa Cruz

Student

“Crab. Especially now, because it’s in season and you only get it for a limited time.”

Hillary Redding

Santa Cruz

Homemaker

“Eggnog, because it’s delicious and it gets you drunk when you’re with your family for the holidays.”

Brooke Baich

Santa Cruz

Assistant Manager

Giveaway: China Cats New Year’s Eve Bash

A&E
Music

Cat Johnson

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December 13, 2017

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Any mention of famous rock ’n’ roll New Year’s Eve performances would have to include the Grateful Dead. The legendary Bay Area band made a practice of celebrating the dawn of the new year in high style, including a six-hour set at the Winterland Ballroom in 1978. Now the Dead tribute band China Cats keeps the tradition alive with an end-of-year performance at Don Quixote’s. Comprising lead guitarist Matt Hartle, rhythm guitarist Scott Cooper, bassist Roger Sideman, keyboardist Steve Sofranko and drummer Michael Owens, China Cats is an all-star group of music veterans and a favorite of local deadheads.

INFO: 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $35/gen, $99/dinner. 335-2800. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21 to find out how you could win a pair of dinner packages.

Love Your Local Band: Jacob & The Ghost Train

A&E

Aaron Carnes

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December 13, 2017

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Love Your Local Band: Jacob & The Ghost Train

Jacob Martin studied acting in school, and lived for a while in Los Angeles, where he gave his dream of being a professional a shot. He did get some work, but something unexpected happened that was much more magical: he discovered his passion for music.

“I always enjoyed writing little ditties,” Martin says. “I felt a lack of creativity. Songwriting came in and filled that void. Songwriting was a way for me to stay connected to myself.”

He ended up in Loma Mar, outside of Pescadero, where he worked as a naturalist. While rehearsing for an open mic up there, friend/co-worker Joshua “Bobcat” Stacy overheard him and offered to play with him. Quickly, other friends in the area like Maranda Duval (vocals, percussion) and Emilie Lygren (piano) joined the ensemble.

“The songs became something I never expected. They felt a lot more artsy,” Martin says. “Before, it felt kind of country, like straight-up folksy. Now it feels like something pretty unique and special.”

Now a resident of Bonny Doon, Martin is drawing from personal experience as well as memories of his childhood home in West Virginia in his songwriting—and his acting experience, too.

“Acting is all about storytelling. I use songwriting as another way to explore that,” Martin says.

INFO: 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.

Film Review: ‘The Disaster Artist’

A&E
Film

Lisa Jensen

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December 13, 2017

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The most delirious scriptwriter could never invent a character like Tommy Wiseau. With his eccentric speech and long, dyed-black hair; of indeterminate age, means or national origin; and pretty much devoid of any actual talent, he became one of the most renowned filmmakers of the new millennium in 2003, as writer, producer, director, and star of The Room, considered by many to be the worst movie ever made. Move over, Ed Wood.

With that single act of abomination against the annals of cinema history, Wiseau has become the international poster boy for pursuing one’s artistic vision—however crackpot it may be—in the face of all obstacles. Since The Room became an instant midnight movie favorite, Wiseau is now such a legendary cult figure that a movie has been made about him: The Disaster Artist, a giddy, lightly fictionalized adaptation of a nonfiction book about the making of The Room.

The book was co-written by Greg Sestero, Wiseau’s friend and real-life co-star of The Room, who was there every step of the way. The Disaster Artist is directed by James Franco, who also stars as Wiseau in a performance of fascinating weirdness. If the real Wiseau wasn’t up there in the spotlight for all to see, Franco might be accused of excessive eccentricity, swanning around with a lazy, affected drawl of some sort, looking like a cross between Tiny Tim and Vlad the Impaler. But Franco also manages to expose the occasional raw nerve of a lost soul yearning to fit in.

In a San Francisco acting class, 1998, the teacher urges shy young student Greg Sesteros (nicely played by the director’s brother, Dave Franco) to put more emotion in his readings. Next up, fellow student Tommy Wiseau does the “Stella!” scene from A Streetcar Named Desire—shrieking, rolling around on the floor, and literally climbing the walls. The rest of the class is stunned into horrified silence, but Greg has found a mentor.

Tommy is older (he won’t say by how much) and coy about his personal history, and he embarrasses Greg, making him act out a dramatic scene in the middle of a coffee shop. But Greg is mesmerized by Tommy’s chutzpah. When Tommy suggests they move together to L. A. to break into Hollywood, Greg is thrilled.

They get headshots made and go to auditions. But while Greg picks up an agent (a funny cameo by Sharon Stone)—whom he rarely hears from again—they get no work. Tommy is criticized for his “malevolent presence,” and is told by a producer he interrupts at dinner that “Just because you want it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen for you.” So they decide to make their own movie instead, Tommy hammering out a bunch of loosely connected melodramatic crescendos disguised as a script.

Foreknowledge of The Room is not essential, but viewers interested in backstage Hollywood will get the most out of this one. Not everything makes sense (like why, exactly, no water is available for the crew on set), but things build to a nifty conclusion: at the premiere, when the audience goes berserk with laughter, Greg pep-talks the crestfallen Tommy into accepting credit for the way he has entertained them—credit the real-life Wiseau has been embracing ever since.

Over the closing credits, when we long to see a couple of clips of the real Wiseau in action, director Franco instead plays snippets from the original movie in split-screen with the same scenes he’s recreated; with actors speaking the same lines at the same time, it’s garbled and confusing. But otherwise, this is an affectionate look at outsiders amok in the Hollywood dream factory.

THE DISASTER ARTIST

*** (out of four)

With James Franco, Dave Franco, and Seth Rogen. Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. From the book by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Directed by James Franco. An A24 release. Rated R. 103 minutes.

Mediterranean Flavors Make Happy Hour at Mozaic a Must

Food & Drink

Lily Stoicheff

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December 13, 2017

0

Mediterranean Flavors Make Happy Hour at Mozaic a Must

Sitting at the bar at Mozaic, I was a bit alarmed when I didn’t see the warm pesto that I’d heard so much about on the list of starters. But when I asked the bartender, he nonchalantly replied that the reason I didn’t see it on the menu is that it comes complimentary with every meal. Well, OK then!

Returning to the starters, I thought the grilled octopus might make a nice complement to the pesto—and I can never resist ordering it when I see it. A meatier cousin to calamari, it’s a common ingredient in other parts of the world, but isn’t often seen on American menus. Octopus can stand up to assertive flavors, and when prepared correctly, the extremely lean meat is both tender and slightly rubbery—in a good way.

My grilled octopus arrived sizzling and scorched from the grill, swimming in a generous amount of briny capers, the tips of the wine-colored tentacles curled and black. The aroma of oregano, olive oil and lemon filled my nose with each crispy, tender bite. It was delicious, although the subtle flavor of the octopus was slightly overshadowed by a few too many capers.

Comparatively, the small, shallow dish of pesto that arrived with a side of bread was fairly unassuming, until I took a bite. The clean, summer-y flavor and fragrance of basil was buoyed by peppery arugula and plenty of garlic. I alternatively dragged pieces of bread through the bright green sauce and the tangy olive oil from the octopus, enjoying the distinct Mediterranean flavors.

Two of Mozaic’s pastas are also pesto-centric, but since I didn’t want to be loaded down with a big meal, this small serving was just right for me (in fact, I could’ve eaten it with a spoon, and would’ve loved it on a mezze platter. Heck, it would’ve been delicious on the octopus!).

What started as an exploratory mission evolved into a very pleasant solo date, aided by a totally decent $4 glass of house Merlot on happy hour special, the pesto that lived up to the hype, and the exciting flavors and textures of the octopus. I need to take myself out more often.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

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PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

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THE DISASTER ARTIST