In 2005, Damian Marley released his debut album, Welcome to Jamrock, and immediately became a reggae sensation. The youngest child of the legendary Bob Marley, Damian continues—and furthers—his father’s legacy with songs of justice, rebellion and humanity. His latest record, this year’s Stony Hill, is a return to the spirituality of reggae music, and a reference to the uptown Kingston, Jamaica neighborhood he was raised in. “Coming from uptown doesn’t mean you can’t care about people who don’t live where you live,” Marley has said. “Jamaica is so small that nowhere is far.”
INFO: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $38. 423-1338. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.
What do you get when you mix five seasoned musicians into one cover band? All-star group the Nagging Doubts. Comprising Chas Crowder (Shotgun Suitor), Ted Welty (Locomotive Breath), Spencer Ellison (Tom & Dave Show), Ryan “Darnell” Partington (Sometimes Jones), and Scott Polland (Shotgun Suitor), the Nagging Doubts are a whirlwind of energy and fun. Not only do they have their own bands, but each member also guest performs throughout the Bay Area with multiple musicians, resulting in jam-packed schedules that put most 20-something musicians to shame.
“Sometimes playing with other bands is more fun,” Ellison says. “When you play with your own band, it’s a lot of responsibility. But when you play with someone else’s band, it’s cool just to be the drummer.”
That’s how the Nagging Doubts formed last April, in a sense. Crowder and Polland already had a history of playing music together, jamming at gigs together and with Shotgun Suitor, when Crowder had an idea.
“One night I told Scott I was bringing in another guy who plays guitar,” he remembers “And when [Welty] came in, those two began playing the same notes.”
“It was one of those weird things where chemistry either happens or it doesn’t,” Polland agrees. “With Ted, it happens.”
Since then the band has grown to include Partington on bass and Ellison on drums, playing a number of gigs throughout Santa Cruz. Armed with an arsenal of tunes from Johnny Cash to Oasis, the Nagging Doubts know how to get the beer flowing, the feet dancing and the ladies laughing. However, keep in mind these guys are not just your average cover band, adding their own sense of style to the hits audiences love.
“One of the coolest compliments we’ve gotten is how well we draw and play off one another,” Welty says. “A lot of bands are so structured if someone messes up, it trainwrecks the whole group. I haven’t seen that with us.”
“We’re not just playing the songs,” Ellison agrees. “We’re playing together.”
Whether they’re jamming at Zelda’s, rocking out at the Crow’s Nest, or picking up the pace at Severino’s—as they will be this Saturday—it’s safe to say that one should expect the unexpected, even if the songs are all too familiar. And if you have any requests, feel free to make them, just don’t forget to tip.
“Scott and I played ‘Freebird’ one night and someone actually gave us 100 dollars,” Crowder laughs. “We felt that was worth it.”
We all know how the story ends. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., crusader of the Civil Rights Movement, tireless advocate for social justice and racial equality through peaceful protest, inspiration to millions, was shot to death outside his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.
Those are the facts. But what may or may not have occurred on the night of April 3, Dr. King’s last night on earth, is a matter of pure conjecture. That’s the challenge taken up in The Mountaintop, the award-winning 2009 drama from Memphis-born playwright Katori Hall receiving its local premiere in an intriguing new Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre production at Center Stage.
A Columbia grad who received her MFA from Harvard, then graduated from the playwriting program at Juilliard, Hall has the audacity to imagine King’s final hours as a dialogue between the road-weary civil rights leader and a pretty young motel maid on her first day on the job. Hall surprises the audience with a portrait of King that dares to be both laudatory and iconoclastic, viewing him as more human than saint, while celebrating his profound effect on the fight for freedom and justice for which he finally gave his life.
The play takes its title from the words of King’s last speech, delivered the day before he died. Beset by death threats, in words now both famous and eerily prophetic, King said, in part, “I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But . . . we as a people will get to the Promised Land.” Taking her cue from these words, Hall builds her play slowly but steadily to its satisfying conclusion.
The SCAT production, well-directed by local stage veteran Erik Gandolfi, begins with the civil rights leader returning to his motel room after delivering this speech to the striking sanitation workers he’s come to town to support. King (played with energetic presence by Avondina Wills), eager to get out of his shoes and get to work on the next speech he’s writing, has sent his roommate, Ralph Abernathy, out to the corner store to buy a pack of the Pall Malls he’s trying to quit smoking.
When he calls room service for a cup of coffee, it’s delivered by a starstruck young maid named Camae (Sarah Cruse). As luck would have it, she has a couple of Pall Malls in her pocket; he persuades her to have a smoke with him, and they bring out the flirt in each other—even though she has to keep apologizing for swearing in front of a preacher whenever her salty street vocabulary slips out. But he finds her charming; when he asks why she became a maid, she says, “I’m better at cleaning up other folks’ messes than my own.”
The stage seems to be set for debate along gender, class, and political lines. And for awhile, that’s how it goes, especially when they discuss the violence of the Black Panthers vs. King’s allegiance to peaceful protest. But there’s a seismic shift when Camae’s true nature and her purpose are suddenly revealed. It’s too good a plot twist to give away here, but it gives Hall’s play its slyly subversive edge as it ramps up toward its moving conclusion.
Wills endows King’s solid, steady persona with very human grace notes of both anxiety and acceptance. Cruse plays Camae sassy at first, making the most of Hall’s often hilarious dialogue—especially when she puts on King’s jacket and shoes to deliver her own speech on “how to deal with the white man.” But she effectively deepens the character to anchor the play. (A slideshow projection toward the end of the play was a little glitchy on opening night, but Cruse’s delivery of Camae’s commentary was vivid enough to carry the moment until the visuals kicked in.)
Hall’s play is a refreshing take on a story we think we already know. Kudos to SCAT for bringing it to town.
The Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre production of ‘The Mountaintop’ plays weekends through Oct. 15 at Center Stage, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz. Visit sccat.org.
As grudge matches go, the stakes could not have been higher. At 29, Billie Jean King was the top-ranked woman tennis player in the world, making waves on the pro circuit by demanding promoters offer women players the same prize money as male players.
Bobby Riggs was a 55-year-old former tennis champ, gambling addict, and shameless self-promoting media hustler. When he challenged her to a duel on the tennis court in 1973, the whole world was watching.
It was billed as the “Battle of the Sexes,” a symbolic milestone in the then-burgeoning women’s movement. And now, their match-up comes to the big screen in Battle of the Sexes, a thoughtful and entertaining movie about gender, identity, politics, and celebrity at a pivotal cultural moment in American history. Written by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), it was directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton—whose first film, Little Miss Sunshine, demonstrated their skill at developing sympathetic characters and tuning into the subtle absurdities of life.
In 1973, women were burning their bras, and the word “feminism” was entering the lexicon—although uppity women who were advocating for radical things like equal rights and equal pay were more often referred to by the derogatory epithet “women’s libbers.” Billie Jean (a terrific Emma Stone) drops out of a United States Lawn Tennis Association tour when smug promoter and ex-champ Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) refuses to pay the women players as much as their male counterparts. (Men are “more exciting,” he says, with families to support.)
Billie Jean starts her own tour with eight other female champions, in cahoots with World Tennis magazine founder Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman), who finds them a sponsor: Virginia Slims cigarettes. (Of the infamous slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby.”) The publicity generated by the tour attracts gadfly Bobby (Steve Carell), who, since his heyday in the late 1940s, has been living off high-profile exhibition matches—and the inherited income of his wealthy wife, Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue).
Billie Jean rejects Bobby’s first offer. Long-married to her college sweetheart, she’s too busy coping with her sudden, intense attraction to Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough), here portrayed as a hairdresser who comes on tour with the female pros. (Introduced in a montage of slyly erotic close-ups and sidelong glances in the mirror as Marilyn cuts her hair.) But when Bobby defeats Billie Jean’s rival, Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee) in an exhibition match, and talks a lot of trash about the male being “the superior animal,” Billie Jean instructs her manager-husband, “Call the bozo. Tell him it’s on.”
Indeed it is. Bobby thrives on the media frenzy he creates, parading across TV screens with a squad of nubile cheerleaders, and declaring himself the defender of “male chauvinist pig” values. Carell plays him with gusto, in all his gross excess, and yet there’s unexpected charm in his brash exuberance, vowing to “put the show back in chauvinism!” or exhorting his fellow Gambler Anonymous inmates that they wouldn’t have a gambling “problem” if they learned how to win.
But despite the hi-jinks, the subject of gender inequality remains serious throughout. (Look at the paternalistic way Howard Cosell—his image from the actual broadcast, inserted via CGI—clutches tennis pro and co-commentator Rosie Casals (Natalie Morales) in a kind of hammerlock while calling the match for a worldwide TV audience. He wouldn’t try that trick if his “color man” were, say, John McEnroe.)
A vintage soundtrack keeps the action bubbling along, as the filmmakers remind us (in dozens of little onscreen asides) of the culture of the day, when women were chided for wearing shorts instead of fluffy little tennis dresses, and dismissed as biologically unable to handle the pressure of professional sports. But while it all seems sort of quaint now, wage disparity and piggy paternalism are still very much alive. Trailblazers like Billie Jean King deserve our thanks, and the tribute she receives in this movie. But maybe we haven’t yet come such a long way, baby, after all.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES
***1/2 (out of four)
With Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, and Sarah Silverman. Written by Simon Beaufoy. Directed by Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton. A Fox Searchlight release. Rated PG-13. 121 minutes.
Until I had lunch at La Perla del Pacifico in Watsonville, I had forgotten that seafood could be exciting.
It’s not that I think fish and shellfish are boring, but despite living on the edge of the water, it’s been awhile since I’ve had seafood prepared in a way that feels vibrant and stimulating. Usually, I’ll reach out to a local fishmonger like H&H Fish Co. or head over to Naka for sashimi to satisfy a craving.
But La Perla del Pacifico has reignited my fire for the flavors of the sea—although that might be the chilis. A casual restaurant on Main Street, located a block and a half from the beautiful Watsonville Civic Plaza, the dining room is cozy and relaxing, with oceanic decorations swimming along the walls.
On my first visit, I ordered a house speciality, the comal de mariscos, a showstopper of a dish that arrived sizzling. Chunks of octopus, white fish, scallops, shrimp and mussels were tossed with dried chilis until everything was a deep, glossy burgundy. It was a breathtaking sight that invited me to breathe in deeply the spicy scent of land and sea. This exciting main dish was served simply with fresh corn tortillas, beans and rice. As a single diner, I was not prepared for the generous portions. I wisely brought a guest on my second visit so I could order more food.
I almost didn’t recognize the seafood cocktail when it was delivered to the table—I was expecting something drenched in cocktail sauce, but what arrived was a deep bowl filled with a light broth of fresh tomatoes, cilantro and cucumber. Below the surface were just-cooked scallops, purple octopus and camarones swimming with diced cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion and slices of avocado. A generous squeeze of lime buoyed the clean flavors. Just that, piled high on a tostada, could qualify as one of the best lunches I’ve had in 2017.
But if I had stopped there, I wouldn’t have tasted the shrimp and octopus el diablo. That el diablo sauce, dark red and almost meaty, was intensely flavored with adobo and had a savory, smoky heat that rose slowly through my sinuses and made the backs of my eyes burn. In a good way.
Peggy and Jim Alberti love to grow Pinot Noir grapes on their property in the Santa Cruz Mountains—and they strive to produce the finest fruit possible.
My husband and I were invited to their bucolic retreat for a tour of the vineyard, and for several tastings of different vintages of their Pinot, all well-made and impressive. I especially loved the 2015 estate-grown-and-bottled Pinot. Every aspect, from the growing of the grapes to the finished product, is done completely by the Albertis—and only those who grow grapes and till the land know how difficult it is to get everything right.
“It’s got a monster aroma when you first open it,” says Peggy Alberti of their 2015 prime Pinot. “And it’s better for decanting.” Dark, intense and full-bodied, it’s brimming with delicious red fruit and earthy flavors of spice and caramel.
This 2015 Pinot Noir (around $30) can be found at Deer Park Wine & Spirits and restaurants such as Michael’s on Main and the Hollins House. Also, Deluxe Foods in Aptos carries Alberti Pinot. albertivineyard.com.
Farewell to Au Midi
Au Midi, the lovely French bistro in Aptos which has always served the most outstanding food, will be closing on Oct. 28 after 10 years. The good news is that their new and much larger location is a short drive away at 476 Tyler St., Monterey. In the meantime, owners Muriel and Michel Loubiere will have “numerous special dinners to thank everyone who made us so welcome.” aumidi.com.
Pinot Paradise
A Reserve Tasting with premium Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from 20 winemakers of the Santa Cruz Mountains will take place from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13 at the Hollins House. Enjoy a strolling dinner and bid on magnum bottles. Tickets are $80 and include admission to Pathway to Pinot Paradise Wine Trail. Other Pinot Paradise events include a technical session at the Scotts Valley Hilton from 9 a.m. to noon on Oct. 14; a Pinot Picnic in the Park at Quail Hollow Ranch, also on Oct. 14; and Pathway to Pinot Paradise on Oct. 15. For more information, visit the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association at scmwa.com.
Federal immigration agents arrested 27 people from Santa Clara and San Francisco counties last week as part of a national four-day operation targeting so-called “sanctuary cities,” according to theU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Operation Safe City,” which wrapped on Wednesday, Sept. 27, focused on cities and regions with policies that prevent local police from being deputized to enforce immigration laws. In Santa Clara County, the Sheriff’s Office refuses to detain inmates for ICE and several cities prohibit their police from coordinating with immigration officials. Meanwhile, a bill that would make California the first “sanctuary state” isa signature away from becoming law.
The heavy-handed enforcement campaign was similar in scope to those in years past, says Northern California ICE spokesman James Schwab, but it was unprecedented in that the agency has never launched operations in response to city and regional policies.
More than a cautionary reminder of the federal government’s enormous resources and hard immigration stance, the operation was a clear shot at communities that don’t fall into line with ICE’s policies or the campaign promises made last year by President Donald Trump.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration,” acting ICE Director Tom Homan said in a press release, ignoring the fact that courts have repeatedly ruled it unconstitutional for local police to comply with ICE detainer requests without probable cause. “As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”
Nationwide, the operation swept up 498 people from 42 countries for suspected immigration violations, ICE officials announced. As with past raids, immigration authorities framed the action as an effort to protect the public, saying they zeroed in on immigrants with criminal records. However, many of the detainees’ crimes were nonviolent and a quarter of them were for driving under the influence. About a third of those arrested had no criminal record at all.
None of last week’s raids happened in Santa Cruz County, which was shaken by an ICE operation in February, when local officers, including those from the Santa Cruz Police Department (SCPD), participated in an anti-gang operation that was later revealed to additionally target undocumented immigrants. Then-SCPD Chief Kevin Vogel claimed the department had been blindsided by the revelation. Santa Cruz is also a sanctuary city. Congressmember Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) requested a report from ICE director Thomas Homan. Panetta’s press secretary was unable to confirm by deadline if the freshman congressmember has received the report.
Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Chase admits that it’s now an open question whether or not declaring sanctuary status makes a community any safer for immigrants, seeing as the feds are willing to go out of their way to target certain areas. “But from a philosophical standpoint, it’s vital that communities like us—and soon to be California—stand up for our values,” she explains. Chase adds that local law enforcement shouldn’t have trusted ICE and cooperated with the agency earlier this year and that SCPD won’t work with agents in the future.
Santa Clara County accounted for 21 of the detainees in last week’s raids, with arrests made in Mountain View, San Jose and Morgan Hill. All but a few had prior criminal convictions and four had been previously deported, Schwab says. The agency declined to identify the Northern California detainees by name.
According to ICE, the agency’s operation relied on help from its National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center and its Pacific Enforcement Response Center, which was founded in 2015 to find undocumented immigrants who end up in local jails. However, the ICE data centers rely on a fingerprint database that the American Civil Liberties Union calls antiquated and erroneous 30 percent of the time.
Some of the people arrested during the operation will face prosecution in federal court for illegal entry and reentry, according to ICE. Others will be processed administratively for deportation, but will still be held on bail.
No recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program were targeted, Schwab says.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo says he’s “extremely concerned” that ICE cast too wide a net with its arrests. He also assures that San Jose police played no part in the raids.
“This longstanding policy keeps us safer by focusing our limited police resources on preventing and responding to serious crimes, and ensuring that no resident will hesitate from calling 9-1-1 or otherwise assisting the police due to fear of deportation,” he says.
Rosa De Leon, an organizer for the nonprofit Sacred Heart Community Service, says ICE pushes a message about the criminality of immigrants to justify its actions and to sow fear and mistrust in the community.But studies show that immigrants—undocumented or otherwise—are far less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens, she adds. Studies have also shown that sanctuary jurisdictions tend to be safer and enjoy stronger economies than non-sanctuary counterparts.
“The narrative that ICE has created about immigrants is hurting our community, and they often misrepresent information,” says De Leon, who works with families affected by the crackdown.
She points out that ICE routinely violates people’s constitutional rights, uses deceptive tactics such as posing as local cops, and disseminates propaganda to turn public sentiment against immigrants. She says it’s important to keep in mind that ICE and related enforcement agencies tear families apart, separate parents from children and remove people from their communities.
In light of the recent raids, local activists and immigrant advocates are raising awareness about a hotline for people to report suspected ICE presence.
De Leon says the South Bay hotline was activated nine times this past Sunday through Wednesday. Yazdan Panah, an attorney coordinator for the Northern California Rapid Response Network, says such hotlines could prevent deportations.
“It is critical for community members to report ICE activity as soon as it takes place in order for local networks and attorneys to respond effectively,” Panah says. “Time is of the essence in these cases and early reporting can potentially mean the difference between deportation and due process.”
Autumn (known as “midnight” in esoteric sciences; winter solstice is the “dawn”) is a season of transition, between summer’s golden green and winter’s bare darkness. In trees and shrubs, we see a subtle shift of color, from greens to oranges, reds and browns—the browning of the Earth. This is the very thing that shocked Ceres after her daughter, Persephone, was captured and taken to the underworld. The color, hues, shades and position of the light hints at new seasons unfolding, from autumn’s crispness to winter’s shadows. There is a simultaneous feeling of loss and also of hope. We sense the possibilities of light appearing in the darkness.
During autumn, we seek simplicity and warmth with a hint of the festive. Autumn soon becomes dry, windy, rainy, erratic, subtle, cool and clear. The element air predominates, the subtle prana (breath), the essential life principle. Following Ayurvedic principles, we learn that autumn is a Vata (one of the Doshas—basic energies in nature, of which there are three, Vata, Pitta, Katha).
Vata is air, the etheric subtle unseen. Vata governs movement and communication; it is light, cold, dry, rough, mobile, subtle, and clear. The focus here is the seasons. Within the four seasons there is a rhythm to be followed. When we follow the seasonal rhythms, our body becomes balanced and harmonized, the tasks of Libra.
Libra begins the autumn season each year. Seasonal living, following the circadian rhythms, rhythms of the Sun and Moon, the new and full moons, the light at dawn, noon, dusk and midnight—all of these astrology follows, too. (To be continued next week.)
ARIES: You burn yourself often in the fire of risk taking. Then you feel a drop of rain and the fire is extinguished. You rise up from the flames, creating always a new self within. This is due to Mars, the life-giving energies propelling you in new directions, often unknown. There are snakes like jewels around your neck. They protect you. Think of these as your spiritual talisman and amulets.
TAURUS: Often you battle with the serpent of time. Always having the sense there isn’t enough time. Feeling so often pressured by time, it’s good to have a talk with Saturn, god of time. He enters into our lives when we need to learn patience and right timing. Saturn in Sagittarius takes us on an adventure and journey into Time. Saturn invites you to walk with him. Converse with him on time, in time.
GEMINI: Venus expresses its essence in your life through beauty and harmony. Venus removes hindrances that keep you from knowing the truth. Venus then offers you the understanding concerning all life experiences. The great Vedic seers tell us of vanquishing the dragon of ignorance. We do this by lifting up the lower to the higher, to the realms of Soul light. You then gain the wisdom you seek. Then you help others.
CANCER: It is good to build an enclosure around your garden, construct an indoor altar of stones, icons, water and prayers and construct an outside fire altar. All of these focus the mind and heart. At each new and full moon standing at our altars, reflecting upon the days, weeks and months, we sense the rhythm of essential beingness. Constructing enclosures with altars for ritual creates a new well-lit house to live within.
LEO: It’s important to polish your personality into a gem of light. Then the angularities and irregularities within your personality become a perfect diamond. You are to work on yourself so the Master Builders (Hierarchy) can use you to build the template of Goodness in everyone. When your necessary work has been completed you will be called to the Temple of Beauty and Usefulness.
VIRGO: Consecrate the lands around you to the Angel of Rituals. This is an ancient activity that alchemists performed. They tended and tilled the land with sanctifying mantras: invoking the Angel of the Plough and the Angel of the Earth. Invoking the Sun, moon and stars to fertilize the land with magnetic energies. Allow your place (home) to be attuned and aligned with the Spirit. Then pure Goodness expresses itself through you.
LIBRA: Creation occurs according to Law. Libras know intuitively about the laws of life. Use mantras each day to invoke the Spirit of the Day so that on inner and outer levels you are aided and nourished in all ways. You are to clear the thistles (harshness, unforgiveness, anger, hatred) from your life so that equality, balance and beauty can come forth. Otherwise you will remain in the Kurukshetra (Sanskrit for “great and ancient battle”).
SCORPIO: In Wisdom teachings, “the body (personality) is called the field of cultivation.” It is also seeking “level ground” (the Soul). Link the inner (Soul) and outer (personality) selves so they become one. See yourself as a Great Ritualistic Bird, the Great Eagle. Stand on two triangles, arms outstretched, forming a cross. Then you work with heaven (north) and earth (south), and side to side (east/west). You become centered on the Tree of Life in the world of men (thinking ones).
SAGITTARIUS: In the Masonic Lodges, the Centaur (half animal/half man) represents the dual nature of all of us. Sagittarius is given the gifts of high nobility, generosity and a self-control that leads to freedom. There is often a restlessness with Sag, seeking, at times, high worldly positions. At other times hiding away in the woods as hunter and archer. You fight for the rights of others. Removing the blindfold from Lady Justice.
CAPRICORN: So often you are thoughtful, reserved, serious, prudent and cautious—the born diplomat. You understand authority. You also understand negotiation and peace-keeping. Goodwill propels you to the top of the mountain very quickly. Careful when climbing (and running), with thighs, and later, with knees. After a long arduous climb to the top of the mountain, you become the unicorn. The Light meets you there.
AQUARIUS: You are an interesting character. And with Uranus ruling you, quite a character you are! You are also a humanitarian (a giver) while also needing scientific verification of all things. You are intelligent beyond your years (and beyond most others). You are the “man/woman” of the zodiac. You are the “waters of life” in many cases “for thirsty humanity.” You are the friend to everyone. You are the wavy lines of the Aquarius glyph. The lines of electricity!
PISCES: Greatly influenced by all environments you find yourself in, it’s most important that they be beautiful, harmonious, filled with color, subtle hues and the sound of flowing waters. Deep within your heart longs for peace on earth. Sometimes you’re dreamy and romantic. Mysteries call to you. Sometimes you’re sad, restless and discontented. You are the two fishes united by a silken cord. You want to break that cord at times. And be free. Pray for this.
Free Will astrology for the week of October 4, 2017.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You wouldn’t expect a five-year-old child to paint a facsimile of Picasso’s Guernica or sing Puccini’s opera, La Boheme. Similarly, you shouldn’t fault your companions and you for not being perfect masters of the art of intimate relationships. In fact, most of us are amateurs. We may have taken countless classes in math, science, literature, and history, but have never had a single lesson from teachers whose area of expertise is the hard work required to create a healthy partnership. I mention this, Aries, because the next seven weeks will be an excellent time for you to remedy this deficiency. Homework assignments: What can you do to build your emotional intelligence? How can you learn more about the art of creating vigorous togetherness?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to slow down and create a wealth of spacious serenity. Use an unhurried, step-by-step approach to soothe yourself. With a glint in your eye and a lilt in your voice, say sweet things to yourself. In a spirit of play and amusement, pet and pamper yourself as you would a beloved animal. Can you handle that much self-love, Taurus? I think you can. It’s high time for you to be a genius of relaxation, attending tenderly to all the little details that make you feel at ease and in love with the world.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “If an angel were to tell us something of his philosophies, I do believe some of his propositions would sound like 2 x 2 = 13.” So said the German scientist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799). Now maybe you don’t believe in the existence of angels, and so you imagine his idea doesn’t apply to you. But I’m here to tell you that an influence equivalent to an angel will soon appear in your vicinity. Maybe it’ll be a numinous figure in your dreams, or a charismatic person you admire, or a vivid memory resurrected in an unexpected form, or a bright fantasy springing to life. And that “angel” will present a proposition that sounds like 2 x 2 = 13.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Unless you have an off-road vehicle, you can’t drive directly from North America to South America. The Pan-American Highway stretches from Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina—a distance of about 19,000 miles—except for a 100-mile patch of swampy rainforest in Panama. I’d like to call your attention to a comparable break in continuity that affects your own inner terrain, Cancerian—a grey area where two important areas of your life remain unlinked. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to close the gap.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Based in Korea, Samsung is a world leader in selling smartphones and other information technology. But it didn’t start out that way. In its original form, back in 1938, it primarily sold noodles and dried fish. By 1954, it had expanded into wool manufacturing. More than three decades after its launch as a company, it further diversified, adding electronics to its repertoire. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the next ten months should be an excellent time for you to do the equivalent of branching out from noodles and dried fish to electronics. And the coming six weeks will be quite favorable for formulating your plans and planting your seeds.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In my opinion, you’re not quite ready to launch full-tilt into the rebuilding phase. You still have a bit more work to do on tearing down the old stuff that’s in the way of where the new stuff will go. So I recommend that you put an “Under Construction” sign outside your door, preferably with flashing yellow lights. This should provide you with protection from those who don’t understand the complexity of the process you’re engaged in.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You’re a good candidate for the following roles: 1. a skeptical optimist who is both discerning and open-minded; 2. a robust truth-teller who specializes in interesting truths; 3. a charming extremist who’s capable of solving stubborn riddles; 4. a smooth operator who keeps everyone calm even as you initiate big changes; 5. an enlightened game-player who reforms or avoids games that abuse beauty’s power.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Actress and author Carrie Fisher wrote three autobiographies. Speed skating Olympics star Apolo Anton Ohno published his autobiography at age 20. The rascal occultist Aleister Crowley produced an “autohagiography.” To understand that odd term, keep in mind that “hagiography” is an account of the life of a saint, so adding “auto” means it’s the biography of a saint penned by the saint himself. I’m bringing up these fun facts in hope of encouraging you to ruminate at length on your life story. If you don’t have time to write a whole book, please take a few hours to remember in detail the gloriously twisty path you have trod from birth until now. According to my reading of the astrological omens, the best way to heal what needs to be healed is to steep yourself in a detailed meditation on the history of your mysterious destiny.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you go to the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Germany, you will see a jug of wine that was bottled in 1687. In accordance with astrological omens, Sagittarius, I suggest that you find a metaphorical version of this vintage beverage—and then metaphorically drink it! In my opinion, it’s time for you to partake of a pleasure that has been patiently waiting for you to enjoy it. The moment is ripe for you to try an experience you’ve postponed, to call in favors that have been owed to you, to finally do fun things you’ve been saving for the right occasion.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): If a late-night TV talk show called and asked me to be a guest, I’d say no. If People magazine wanted to do a story on me, I’d decline. What good is fame like that? It might briefly puff up my ego, but it wouldn’t enhance my ability to create useful oracles for you. The notoriety that would come my way might even distract me from doing what I love to do. So I prefer to remain an anonymous celebrity, as I am now, addressing your deep self with my deep self. My messages are more valuable to you if I remain an enigmatic ally instead of just another cartoony media personality. By the way, I suspect you’ll soon face a comparable question. Your choice will be between what’s flashy and what’s authentic; between feeding your ego and feeding your soul.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A Canadian guy named Harold Hackett likes to put messages in bottles that he throws out into the Atlantic Ocean from his home on Prince Edward island. Since he started in 1996, he has dispatched over 5,000 missives into the unknown, asking the strangers who might find them to write back to him. To his delight, he has received more than 3,000 responses from as far away as Russia, Scotland, and West Africa. I suspect that if you launch a comparable mission sometime soon, Aquarius, your success rate wouldn’t be quite that high, but still good. What long-range inquiries or invitations might you send out in the direction of the frontier?
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Intensify” is one of your words of power these days. So are “fortify,” “reinforce,” and “buttress.” Anything you do to intensify your devotion and focus will be rewarded by an intensification of life’s gifts to you. As you take steps to fortify your sense of security and stability, you will activate dormant reserves of resilience. If you reinforce your connections with reliable allies, you will set in motion forces that will ultimately bring you help you didn’t even know you needed. If you buttress the bridge that links your past and future, you will ensure that your old way of making magic will energize your new way.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now is widely considered to be one of the best films of all time. An epic adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness disguised as a sprawling, surreal Vietnam War movie, its filming went millions of dollars over budget and six weeks behind schedule—driving its director to the brink of bankruptcy and landing its star Martin Sheen in the hospital after a heart attack—before it came out in 1979.
Subsequently, the director’s wife, Eleanor Coppola, released the behind-the-scenes documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse. Produced at a microscopic fraction of Apocalypse Now’s budget, it came about simply because she realized she ought to pick up a camera and capture what turned out to be one of the most insane shoots in movie history.
Today, there are people who consider Hearts of Darkness to be a more compelling film than Apocalypse Now. Both made it into Steven Schneider’s film-canon bible, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.
“It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror … Horror has a face … and you must make a friend of horror.”
— Marlon Brando, ‘Apocalypse Now’
“I swallowed a bug.”
– Marlon Brando, ‘Hearts of Darkness’
That a guerilla-style, behind-the-scenes documentary could equal and even eclipse the blockbuster film it set out to document shows the potential power of making films about films. There are dozens of other outstanding examples, both documentary and narrative: 1994’s Ed Wood and 2013’s Saving Mr. Banks fictionalized the quirky stories of filmmakers beating the odds; the rescued histories of 2002’s Lost in La Mancha and 2013’s Jodorowsky’s Dune showed what happens when filmmakers can’t beat the odds; 2009’s Best Worst Movie revealed how Troll 2 developed a passionate cult following despite being terrible in every way; 2002’s Adaptation was both the film version of a book and a brilliant study of just how hard it is to create a film version of a book; and 1982’s Burden of Dreams told the story of how Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo got made, with the end result managing—like Hearts of Darkness—to be arguably as fascinating and original as the movie it celebrates.
What all of these very different films have in common is that, when broken down to their most elemental level, they’re all asking the same question: why are films worth making?
This year’s Santa Cruz Film Festival, which returns to the Tannery Arts Center for a second year Oct. 11-15, is spotlighting two movies that go about answering that question in very different ways. One is the opening night film on Wednesday, Oct. 11, the Cannes-award-winning documentary from India The Cinema Travellers, about the world’s last traveling movie shows that bring cinema to remote villages.
The other is a film that flips the approach of in-the-moment making-of movies like Hearts of Darkness and Burden of Dreams, and chases the legacy of a culture-shifting blockbuster 25 years after its release.
“I don’t remember ever feeling this awake.”
– Susan Sarandon, ‘Thelma and Louise’
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he documentary Catching Sight of Thelma and Louise had its origins back in 1991, when director Jennifer Townsend saw the then-newly-released Thelma and Louise, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, a complete badass who wrote the script in longhand while working a production assistant job, won an Oscar for it, and reportedly responded to critics of the film’s feminist messages by telling them to “kiss my ass.”
Townsend was deeply affected by the film. “It blew me away,” she told me in a phone interview last week. “The very next morning after I saw Thelma and Louise, I woke up and decided to change my name.”
‘Legacy: Tom Scribner and the Santa Cruz Saw Festival’ is a new documentary short about the legendary Santa Cruz musician and activist.
Up until then, Townsend had been holding on to her married name, Pierce, despite the fact that she had been divorced for many years. Inspired by the film, “I just picked a name out of the air,” she says.
She also started to wonder if other people were being inspired by Thelma and Louise in such a profound way. So she planned a research project, though she had absolutely no background in doing so.
“I wanted to find out ‘Are other people having this kind of reaction?’” remembers Townsend. “So I made up the name of a company and I put out a press release.”
She sent the release to a number of newspapers and film-themed magazines. It explained that she was seeking respondents for a research project about Thelma and Louise, and that interested readers could write her to receive a questionnaire, which contained five simple questions about their reactions to it, like “Who did you identify with in the film?” Some of the publications she sent the press release to did run something about her project, and printed her address.
“I got all these postcards saying, ‘Please send me a questionnaire,’” she says. “Some people just answered the questions, but some people sent me two, three, five page letters.’”
All of this took a while, however, in the pre-internet era, and by the time she had received all of these submissions, Thelma and Louise’s moment in the spotlight had come and gone. She boxed up the responses, with the intent of writing an article about the whole thing one day.
But years later, when she finally took the submissions out of their boxes, she felt like only a film could really convey the feelings so many had expressed.
“I realized, ‘I have to find these people,’” she says. Of course, that was easier said than done, but when she tracked down 20 of the people who had responded back then, and had interesting reflections on how the movie had affected them, she knew she had enough material to make a film that could coincide with Thelma and Louise’s 25th anniversary in 2016. She didn’t realize that she would end up being a central voice in her own movie, as well.
‘Song of Granite’ find an innovative way to tell the story of Irish folk singer Joe Heane.
“I had no intention of being in the movie,” she says. “But then I realized it’s my story, it grew out of something I did, I would have to explain where the original letters had come from.”
Catching Sight of Thelma and Louise takes a unique approach to filmmaking about filmmaking, with the subjects in the film reflecting 25 years later on their reactions to the film when it came out. It also features a couple of the male actors from the film talking about the misguided masculinity of the roles they played. Townsend, who will be at the festival screening to talk about her documentary, hopes it answers that question of “why are films worth making?” in a way that captures a cultural moment.
“I think [the audience] will discover why there was such a phenomenal reaction to Thelma and Louise when it came out,” she says. “Why it created such a stir.”
One of the purposes of film festivals in general and the SCFF in particular is to take a closer look at our love of cinema in this way, says the festival’s director Catherine Segurson. These questions about the nature of movies and why we watch them are questions she is always asking herself when she’s considering films for the festival.
“So maybe I’m a little more biased toward those types of films that are exploring that,” she admits. “But I think other people will find it fascinating also, because sometimes we don’t even realize why we’re watching movies or attracted to watching movies. I like the films that are kind of meta in a way, exploring the whole purpose behind creating films—it’s the art, but it’s also what it does to the people watching films. That’s what the Catching Sight film explores, and that’s what Cinema Travellers explores.”
“The realization that we are all related is truly profound,”
— Frans Lanting, ‘Frans Lanting: The Evolution of Life’
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat’s interesting, says festival programmer Logan Walker, is that the SCFF does an open call for films, but themes invariably do pop up.
“We did notice that we were seeing some really great films that were self-reflective, that were about filmmaking, and I think more broadly were about the arts,” says Walker. “On Thursday especially, we have a lot of those films lined up that are about artists, their struggles and their vulnerabilities, and the creation of works.”
A lecturer in San Jose State University’s Film and Theatre Department, Walker says these themes are of special interest to him, too.
“If nothing else, I’m a film lover, and then the next stage is kind of reflecting on that. Once you see the story, you want to know what and who is behind that story,” he says. “And being at the Tannery, we’re surrounded by art studios and artists. So it kind of feels natural to have films that are about the creation of art.”
Also among those films this year are:
Between Worlds, a documentary about the collaboration between a beach artist who prides himself on the fleeting nature of his work with sand, and a photographer who attempts to give it permanency;
Frans Lanting: The Evolution of Life, a documentary short showing with Between Worlds that captured acclaimed Santa Cruz nature photographer Frans Lanting’s ambitious ‘Life’ exhibit—Lanting, his wife and professional partner Christine Eckstrom and the film’s director Steven Kochones will all be in attendance;
Bigly Yellow, which follows the ups and downs in the life of Australian jazz musician Simon Kent over 15 years, and is one of Walker’s favorites this year—“the entire film has this sort of abstract quality where you feel like you’re in the music and you’re in his head. It’s absolutely beautiful and has this amazing jazz music. It made me love jazz anew,” he says;
Legacy: Tom Scribner and the Santa Cruz Saw Festival, a documentary short about the legendary saw player immortalized in bronze on Pacific Avenue, narrated by Bruce Bratton;
Rain the Color Blue With a Little Red in It, a Nigerian remake of Purple Rain featuring Mdou Moctar in the role originated by Prince. It is the first feature film shot entirely in the Tuareg language, and as the translation of the title makes clear, they don’t have a word for purple;
Song of Granite, an unusual biopic about Irish folk singer Joe Heaney that mixes documentary footage with a dramatized recreation of his life’s path, to poetic effect;
Bobbi Jean, a documentary about an American dancer who gives up a successful career in Israel to return to the U.S. and pursue her dream of creating truly experimental dance;
Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall, a portrait of the eponymous artist, who turns his life story of growing up black and gay in a small Texas town into the big-time musical Straight Outta Oz.
This month also brings the Watsonville Film Festival, which is Oct. 5-8 at the Mello Center and other Watsonville locations. Interestingly enough, the WFF is also featuring some films about the arts. One with particular local interest is War of the Limelight, produced by young people in Monterey County’s after-school film program. The film follows high schools comprised of Latino students and white students as they compete in a filmmaking competition—bringing questions around race and power into the discussion of why and how films get made.
“It talks about issues that are very relevant right now,” says Consuelo Alba, the festival’s director and cofounder.
Another film in the WFF that examines the nature of art is Mele Murals, about the power of modern graffiti art. And Chavela examines the life of the mysterious and sometime controversial Mexican singer Chavela Vargas.
“A lot of people might not know her, but she’s an iconic Mexican singer,” says Alba. “She broke all the rules and was a true artist in the deepest sense of the word. She was as incredibly gifted as Billie Holiday, and her story is incredible.
“Can we talk about something other than Hollywood for a change? We’re educated people.”
— Tim Robbins, ‘The Player’
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the context of the two film festivals coming up this month, the question of why we make films invites yet another layer of examination: why do we make film festivals?
Since taking over SCFF last year, Segurson, who also edits the literary journal Catamaran, has learned a lot about the answer to that question.
“It really opened my eyes doing the Q&As with directors at the films,” she says. “I started to learn how hard they work, and how difficult it is to get discovered. Because you watch this beautiful movie and they get up and say ‘yeah, we’ve been working on this 10 years.’ And it’s these film festivals that are on the front line—just like the literary magazines, where that’s the first channel they ever get to show their work to the public. It’s a validation of their work, and it brings attention to their work, and it’s really important.”
For Alba, it is also about the festival’s role in the community. “It’s about creating that space where people can see themselves reflected in the stories they’re seeing on the big screen,” she says. “That creates an energy that is very hard to describe.”
And who knows, one of these movies at the SCFF or WFF could have a movie made about it someday.
“There are many stories of films being discovered in these independent film festivals. Moonlight won Best Picture, and it was an independent film screening at film festivals,” says Segurson. “You never know what you’re going to discover. So it’s important for these festivals to exist and keep going and be providing this.”
