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Dennis Banks Leads Walk to Standing Rock, D.C.

Local News

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February 15, 2017

Dennis Banks Leads Walk to Standing Rock, D.C.

Dennis Banks, the 79-year-old Anishinaabe man who once faced down armed FBI agents and helped found the American Indian Movement (AIM), is wearing an apron and waving a spatula in the bustling kitchen of the Oakland Intertribal Friendship House.

“We don’t need any help back here,” he insists. He returns his attention and his spatula to the massive skillet filled with frying rice, onions, garlic and jalapeños. “It’s the women’s day off in the kitchen!”

Banks helped found AIM in 1968. Ten years later, he helped organize the Longest Walk, a journey from the West Coast to Washington D.C. to protest legislation that would have abrogated native treaties. ‪Sunday evening, he led the kitchen crew in a traditional chant as they whipped up a meal at the end of the first day of the 39th annual Longest Walk.

“This walk is a prayer. It’s an honor,” explains organizer Ray St. Claire, an Eagle Clan Ojibwa. “This walk is serious stuff. If you believe in us, if you want to come with us, we welcome you.”

Taking a Stand

The Longest Walk will take a significant detour this year to visit the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, where Banks has worked hard to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). One of President Barack Obama’s final acts was to instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to deny an easement where the pipeline would cross the Missouri River just upstream from the Standing Rock Reservation until a full environmental impact report was completed. One of President Donald Trump’s first acts was to reverse that decision. Construction of the final segment began on Monday, though the flow of oil may be halted with a court injunction.

Roy Murphy, a Muckleshoot native, says he was at Standing Rock for six months, but left to participate in this walk. “I’m walking for my people that have been hurt at Standing Rock, whose voices still aren’t being heard,” says the 23-year-old. He’s never undertaken a feat like this, but plans to go all the way to D.C., which will involve walking more than 20 miles a day, every day, for about five months.

Each year, the Longest Walk chooses an issue that highlights challenges faced by natives. In 2017 they are tackling the twin issues of opiate addiction and domestic violence.

Less than a year and a half ago, Banks’ granddaughter Rose was brutally murdered by the father of her child. Her body was buried in a shallow grave, covered with 3,000 styrofoam plates, doused in five gallons of gasoline and torched, in a failed attempt to destroy the evidence. That sense of loss isn’t unique to Banks’ experience.

“My girlfriend’s best friend was murdered last year by her boyfriend,” says St. Claire, shaking his head. “Every native person I know has a relative or a friend who’s suffered from domestic violence.”

In response to the brutal tragedies in their own lives, St. Claire and Banks visited 52 treatment centers and women’s shelters during 2016. They were stunned by what they discovered. “Native women aren’t just getting beaten, they’re getting annihilated,” explains St. Claire. “Domestic violence knows no color, no borders, no race. It doesn’t discriminate.” He exhales and falls silent for a moment. “Just like heroin.”

“One out of two babies on my reservation is born addicted to heroin,” St. Claire continues. “Opiates are the biggest threat to natives since smallpox. Our cemeteries are littered with people under the age of 21.”

Meal Life

Quite a few people under the age of 21 are gathered in Oakland on Sunday, Feb. 12, to celebrate and prepare for the long months of walking ahead. Before dinner, 80 people bow their heads in prayer. The group spans three generations. Young people bring meals to the elderly. Laughter and conversation buzzes around the room. The atmosphere is part mess hall and part reunion. Many have traveled far to see their old friend Dennis Banks.

“Dennis is an icon,” says Wounded Knee, an elder from the Me-Wuk tribe. “He stands with Chief Joseph, Crazy Horse, Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK. He’s of that same stature.”

Everyone present knows his history; how he participated in armed occupations at Alcatraz and Wounded Knee, spent 10 years fleeing federal charges and appeared in Hollywood movies like ‪The Last of the Mohicans and ‪Thunderheart. A charismatic but quiet man, Banks is best known for his thoughtful and sober leadership with AIM.

In its first year, AIM’s priorities were jobs, housing and protection from police brutality for the thousands of bewildered natives forcibly relocated to urban centers. Its purpose and achievements quickly expanded.

“AIM was a movement to let the world and other Indians know we still existed,” says a young Oglala Lakota woman named Olowan Martinez. “It woke up indigenous people in this country. Old people tell us that after AIM showed up they started seeing people in long braids again.”

Banks was highly visible in that movement to reclaim native ways. “Dennis is a warrior, he’s always making history. But he’s also a peacemaker,” explains Banks’ friend, Santa Cruz artist Daniel Owen Stolpe. “Russ Means liked to mix things up, but Dennis would come in and sweep the floor, make things right, calm things down.”

Though the 39th annual Longest Walk won’t come to Santa Cruz, Banks has a long history here. “I’ve been friends with Dennis for over 40 years,” says Stolpe, who has devoted his life to exploring traditional Native American culture through art. In 1974, Stolpe started the Santa Cruz-based studio Native Images to teach printmaking to native youth. “Dennis used to come stay at my apartment all the time, bringing freedoms runners and AIM supporters. He wrote the foreword for my book, Images and Myths.”

“Dennis raised the money for the first ambulance and fire truck on the Pine Ridge Reservation right here in Santa Cruz,” adds another old friend David Lommen. “Me, Daniel and Dennis drove those vehicles all the way from Santa Cruz to Pine Ridge.”

Lommen and Stolpe haven’t seen Banks in years, and they listen with rapt attention as their old friend addresses the crowd of walkers, runners and supporters after the meal at the Intertribal Friendship House.

“I will still be a principal elder on this walk,” says Banks. “But my main job will be to work until I see Leonard Peltier free.” In 1977, after an extremely controversial trial, Peltier was convicted of the murder of two FBI agents. He has spent 40 of his 71 years behind bars.

“Remember, after the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, the government gave 16 medals of honor to soldiers who murdered unarmed women and children. Our strategy is not to grovel before them,” says Banks. “I want to file punitive damages for all those years of keeping Peltier away from his children and grandchildren.”

Banks yields the floor to younger speakers and musicians. He seems ready to abdicate his leadership role, but not his tireless service. As the passionate voice of a young warrior from Standing Rock fills the room, Banks circulates through the audience, offering cleansing sage smoke to each individual before he sits quietly. His eyes twinkle as he silently surveys the room from the sidelines.

Preview: The Santa Cruz Music Festival is Back

A&E
Music

Anne-Marie Harrison

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February 15, 2017

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Preview: The Santa Cruz Music Festival is Back

The Santa Cruz Music Festival has come a long way since the days of being organized in co-founder Brian Crabtree’s living room. Crabtree and Thomas Dawson, as well as a small and vigorously dedicated team, have their own office overlooking Pacific Avenue, and the lineup has swelled from 130 artists in 2015 to well over 250 across two days this year. Headliners for the latest festival, which will be held Feb. 18 and 19 at venues around Santa Cruz include Louis the Child, Troyboi, G Jones, and the Brothers Comatose. That’s how you build a music festival.

They’re staying true to the promise of representing local talent, says Dawson, with 65 to 70 percent of the bands being local. And they’ve got a little bit of everything. “Electro, a little jazz—we don’t have any classical—but rock, metal, hip-hop, reggae, indie rock, acoustic singer/songwriters, Americana, rockabilly stuff, some funk, some goth,” says Dawson. “We’re trying to get as many genres in here as we can.”

There’ll be hip-hopping, dancing, speaking events, food, vendors, a bike party, an app (coming soon), and for those who can’t make the festival in person, KZSC will be broadcasting interviews throughout the weekend. SCMF is stuffed to the gills with something for everyone (and it’s constantly being updated, so check the website for full details). Here are some top picks:

Santa Cruz Speaks: An art, comedy, music and lecture series combo featuring local leaders and professionals discussing the music industry, local community, sustainability, and cannabis science. Speakers include Drew Glover of Project Pollinate, Laurie Egan from Coastal Watershed Council, Santa Cruz Tunes founder Jeffrey Ferrel and so many more. Oh, and it’s free.

2-10 p.m., Saturday & Sunday. Santa Cruz Food Lounge.

Catalyst Main Stage: There are far too many acts to highlight here for this year’s event, but the Catalyst Main Stage has some stellar acts to keep an eye on. They’ll be hosting big names across genres, like future bass duo Louis the Child, house producer Monolink, Americana group the Brothers Comatose, trap music Londoner Troyboi, and local rock ’n’ roll darlings the Coffis Brothers.

Saturday & Sunday, The Catalyst.

Comedy Tour: Got an hour to kill in between sets? Take a chair, grab a beer and get ready for some belly laughs (beware: belly laughs and beer can prove messy). Stand Up Santa Cruz is bringing Comedy Central’s Brendan Lynch (“Notorious for dealing with hecklers … That should be fun,” says Dawson), Chad Opitz of Punchline, Sam Weber, DNA and Emily Catalano—don’t miss her boyfriend jokes and deadpan delivery, it’ll split your sides right open.

Saturday & Sunday at Poet & the Patriot, Rosie McCann’s, Food Lounge, 99 Bottles.

Bike Party: It’s a party for the people and the party, people, don’t stop. There’s something for the kids, the comedy lovers, the boogie-downers and the festivalites, so what about bike folks? Oh yeah, there’s an event for that. Slip into your best salty gear for the pirate-themed costume paaaarrrty (pst … the best-dressed will win two free SCMF tickets) and grab your favorite two-wheeled contraption for Santa Cruz Bike Party ride from downtown to the Westside and back up to San Lorenzo park.

2-4 p.m., Saturday, Depot Park.

Mammatus & Sunday at the Blue: Their newest evolution has been called both proggy and kind of metal, but they aren’t what you’d normally call prog metal. What they’ve deemed “Post Wizard New Mage Far Out Casual” is very, very weird—but in a surprising way that keeps listeners coming back to the psychedelic Santa Cruz natives. Following their set, goth night will take over with The Box for a “very dark and very black” Sunday evening.

8 p.m., Sunday, The Blue Lagoon.

Acoustic at 99 Bottles & Woodstock’s Pizza: While rock group the Bad Light will be holding court at the Poet & the Patriot on Saturday and electro duo M Machine blows up Motiv on Sunday, smoother sounds are taking to 99 Bottles and Woodstock’s Pizza. This year, the beer bastion will be home to all things acoustic with Henry Chadwick from the Coffis Brothers, Hidden Still, and Ruby, My Dear. “The Wild Iris show at 99 Bottles is going to be huge,” says Dawson.

Saturday & Sunday, 99 Bottles.

Info: santacruzmusicfestival.com

Preview: The Legendary Shack Shakers at the Catalyst

Music

Mat Weir

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February 14, 2017

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Preview: The Legendary Shack Shakers at the Catalyst

A lot of today’s Americana music sounds slick and formulaic, but throw on an album by the Legendary Shack Shakers (LSS) and the speakers will blast with true hillbilly music fueled by hellfire and whiskey. How many other Americana musicians can say their fans include horror master Stephen King and Dead Kennedy’s founding member Jello Biafra?

Just don’t call them rockabilly.

“That’s just what journalists, critics and people end up calling us because I have sideburns and there’s an upright bass,” says LSS singer and songwriter J.D. Wilkes in his Kentucky drawl. “The [original rockabilly musicians] don’t even sound like one another. They were playing country, hillbilly music and the blues. Just mashin’ it up.”

Mashing together different Midwestern influences is what the Legendary Shack Shakers have been doing for more than two decades. Wilkes’ lyrics are legendary tales that often draw upon Biblical themes, and stories of sorrow mixed with ideas as old as the mountains themselves. This Thursday, Feb. 16, LSS will rain their country-fried sound down on the Catalyst Atrium—and they’re no strangers to Santa Cruz.

“I love your artsy community and beautiful scenery,” Wilkes says. “I should learn more about your history while I’m there, too.”

Founded in 1995 in Kentucky, the band started out as more of a hobby between college friends, playing biker bars, juke joints and frat parties wherever they could.

“We ended up playing these shitty joints, making some money, which ended up paying for college,” says Wilkes.

The band quickly parted ways after moving to Nashville, but Wilkes was restless. He reformed the Legendary Shack Shakers with a different lineup, and in 2000 they hit the dirt-soaked roads of America and Europe. Bloodshot Records signed the band and released their label debut, a greasy, blues-filled 12-track album called Cockadoodle Don’t. To LLS’a surprise, their peers were listening.

“We got onto Bloodshot Records and toured with Hank III, the Reverend Horton Heat and all this kind of happened,” he says. “But it really took six or seven years before it was more than a hobby.”

Since then, LSS has become known throughout the country and rock worlds for its phenomenal playing and abrasive stage presence. The band has toured with everybody from the Black Keys and Robert Plant to punkers the Damned, and Rancid, with lots of lineup changes along the way.

“I’d say about 1,000 different changes,” says Wilkes with a laugh. “I’m kind of like John Mayall, I guess … but this lineup is my favorite of any of them, for real.”

In 2015, the Shakers released their eighth studio album, The Southern Surreal, on Alternative Records, but already have a new record cooking for release in April, called After You’ve Gone. Wilkes says they will be touring on the record’s new material “basically all year.”

Wilkes can be described as an American Renaissance man for modern times. Along with the Shakers, he also had a side project, the Dirt Daubers—later to become J.D. Wilkes and the Dirt Daubers—which released three albums between 2009 and 2013. More than just a musician, Wilkes is also a cartoonist, filmmaker, and—more recently—novelist. Later this March, his debut novel, The Vine That Ate The South, will be published.

Named after the kudzu vine, Wilkes describes the novel as an “epic like Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey” for modern times. Its characters find themselves wandering into an enchanted forest in search of a legendary house covered in the plant, supposedly hiding the bodies of victims inside. As the protagonists wander deeper into the tree, Wilkes sews colloquial folklore with modern times, bringing to life regional tales from his neck of the woods.

“There’s a lot of rhythm in the language,” he says. “It came naturally. Even though I’ve never written a novel before, every one of my songs are short stories anyway.”

Info: 8:30 p.m. Feb. 16, Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $15adv/$18door. 429-4135.

Gluten-Free Report, Gayle’s Pastries and Wine of the Week

Christina Waters

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February 14, 2017

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Gluten-Free Report, Gayle’s Pastries and Wine of the Week

One way to work our way through the obvious limitations of winter activity is to do food research. You know—sampling wines, making friends with gluten-free specialties, applying Sriracha sauce to everything.

So in the interest of culinary field work I have recently compared gluten-free products that can be loosely assembled under the heading: “toastable.” Bagels, bread, English muffins, that sort of thing. News flash! I have found a good gluten-free bagel! As always, the folks at Canyon Bakehouse lead the way. Armed with their incredibly persuasive version of bagels, we are able to partner eggs and Canadian bacon with worthy carbs. Now, nothing will ever provide that combination of chewy and tender that characterizes a True Bagel, but the Canyon Bakehouse ($4.99) version is shockingly satisfying, and makes a terrific delivery system for our house favorite Somerset English butter (at Shopper’s) and our current reigning jam, the Peach Amaretto from Stockwell Cellars. Breakfast is always a joy, but especially when the days are both short and grey (like a few of my friends). Gluten-free bagels makes it even better.

Now, for the bad news. I got excited when I saw a package of gluten-free English muffins ($4.99) made by Food for Life. Filled with organic brown rice flour, plus a bit of tapioca flour and potato starch, these muffins looked very convincing. But, no. They had all the flavor appeal of damp cardboard—that’s after toasting—and the dense, jaw-breaking texture of partially set cement. I have an old Webster’s dictionary that weighs less than one of these grim objects, and at 110 calories per half muffin, they are not exactly diet-friendly. No flavor, almost unchewable—sorry, but these are simply not worth attempting. What a shame. Happily, Canyon Bakehouse gluten-free products are available just about everywhere!

Pastry of the Week

In the interests of giving equal time to the joys of gluten, I joined my writer buddy Lisa for our monthly dose of quality caffeine with something on the side (careful there …). Heading out to Gayle’s, we braved the challenge of finding a parking spot and aimed for the espresso counter and colorful tables in the back. Lisa immediately zeroed in on a croissant stuffed with chocolate. Lisa can spot chocolate with her eyes closed. But I was interested in the wilder side of the croissant experience, and found exactly what I needed (and much more) in the full-figured form of an almond croissant ($4), or more correctly, le croissant d’amande. The expression “OMG” immediately came to mind. Inside this bulging croissant was a molten heart of almond-tinged pastry cream, while the top was glazed with marzipan and sliced, toasted almonds. Every bite was a cardinal sin, filled with light, buttery micro-layers of pastry, almonds in various forms and that voluptuous, creamy heart. A pastry this stupefying can overcome most forms of gluto-phobia. Although it can require doubling up on trips to the gym.

Wine of the Week

Every home needs its trusty bottle of low-alcohol white wine, and ours (currently, at least) is the light, minerally Grüner Veltliner 2015 from Pratsch. The top grape of Austria receives plenty of pampering in this welcoming, highly affordable quaff, $15ish (available at New Leaf, among others), and given its 12-percent alcohol, this wine makes a no-brainer, go-to experience at day’s end. With impunity. Add a few green olives, some almonds, perhaps a sardine on a quinoa cracker, and toast the end of winter. (OK, that’s still six weeks away, but now is a good time for some optimism.)

Sones Cellars San Francisco Bay Petite Sirah 2014

Josie Cowden

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February 14, 2017

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Sones Cellars San Francisco Bay Petite Sirah 2014

Michael and Lois Sones, co-owners of Sones Cellars, met in the mid-1980s when they were both working on a cruise ship—Michael as a social photographer and Lois as a massage therapist taking a break from medical social work.

After 15 years at sea, Michael’s interest in making wine eventually took him to UC Davis where he received a degree in fermentation science. He then worked for many well-known local wineries such as Ridge, Bonny Doon, David Bruce, and Bargetto, and now lives in Santa Cruz with wife Lois and their daughter Michaela.

Michael is British, so their wine label is a blend of Lois and Michael’s two cultures—a ship’s masthead figure of Minerva depicted on the Great Seal of California, for Lois, who hails from the Golden State, and the image of Britannia, for Michael.

Michael is an expert at making wine, and Sones Cellars’ varietals can be found on many a store shelf. The new release of 2014 San Francisco Bay Petite Sirah ($28) is a mouthful of handcrafted wine that will get your attention. Its exotic aromas of licorice, smoke and warm spice, and flavors of cassis and dark berries are a treat for the taste buds.

One of Michael’s wines, the Hedgehog Red, is an environmentally conscious wine where you can pay for a full bottle initially, and then take your bottle to get refilled for a nominal amount. What a concept! A wild assortment of stuffed hedgehogs—those cute, spiny creatures found in England and other parts of the world, though not native to the Americas—is on display in the tasting room, mostly given as gifts by faithful Sones Cellars wine drinkers.

Sones Cellars, 334-B Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 420-1552. sonescellars.com.

Carmel Wine Walk

Carmel Wine Walk Passports provide a “Wine Walk Flight” of up to four 1-ounce pours at your choice of any nine of the 15 tasting rooms. Passports ($65) do not expire, and corkage fee is waived at participating restaurants for bottles purchased at a Carmel Wine Walk tasting room. More info at carmelwinewalk.org.

Naka Sushi’s New Location Does Not Disappoint

Food & Drink

Lily Stoicheff

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February 14, 2017

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Naka Sushi’s New Location Does Not Disappoint

Ty McConney and Masao and Keiko Nakagawa, the owners of Naka Sushi, shut their 41st Avenue location at the end of last March, and the transition to their new location in the Begonia Plaza up the street took more than six months longer than expected. The longing on my sushi-obsessed friends’ faces became almost painful to watch as the eagerly awaited reopening dragged on.

Since Naka finally reopened in December, sushi fans new and old have been clamoring to get a seat at the sleek new location—and now that I’ve had a chance to visit, I understand why.

While I would normally order a roll, several longtime customers recommended I opt for sashimi and nigiri at Naka in order to appreciate the chef’s adept techniques. On their advice, my table started with the hamachi sashimi appetizer, a selection of fresh, raw yellow-tail tuna. While I was first hesitant at the $22.50 price tag, the quantities were far more generous than I expected, and the silky texture of the rich, pale pink fish was divine, seeming to melt on my tongue.

Plate after plate of nigiri that followed allowed us to appreciate a range of textures and the chef’s undeniable skill—the effervescent popping of deeply golden tobiko; luscious, slightly oily salmon and light, clean halibut. But to our surprise, the dish that made our jaws drop was the unlikely unagi. When it arrived at the table, it wasn’t the first thing I reached for, simply because I’ve had such unpleasant experiences with freshwater eel before that I assumed I didn’t like it. But the guest that ordered it insisted that I give this one a try. Another skeptical friend and I put a small bite to our mouths and our eyes locked in astonishment. The flesh was unbelievably tender, the texture of soft-cooked egg, and gently smoky—so unlike the chewy, over-grilled product I was familiar with. To say we were floored would be an understatement.

We did also enjoy a couple of Naka house rolls, stuffed to bursting with three or four varieties of impeccably flavorful fish, but the rumors were true—the nigiri stole the show.

1200 41st Ave., Capitola, 479-9620.

Conflict and Chaos Between the Ages

Risa D’Angeles

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February 14, 2017

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We are completing the month of Aquarius this week. However, Mercury remains in Aquarius and we are entering the Age of Aquarius (ages last 2,500 years). So Aquarius will be with us for a very long time.

Aquarius is the waters of life (information, truth) poured forth for thirsty humanity—information that end the darkness of ignorance. This means an immense cleansing and change.

At this time in our history, we are in a state of transition between two ages, from Pisces to Aquarius. In times of transition, the previous age is withdrawn as the new age comes forth. Transition times bring great conflict, chaos, disruption and breakdown (as there is now). It is a very vulnerable time for humanity. Times of transition can polarize humanity, creating two different camps or states of (mis)understanding. Countries and nations enter into chaos, as one way of life disappears and a new way of life slowly emerges. Chaos and conflict result. Humanity learns through chaos and conflict. This is the Law of Ray 4: new harmony emerging from conflict and chaos.

In transition times, the sign Libra steps in, offering humanity balance, equanimity, poise, Right Relations, Right Thinking, Right Choice, Right Discernment and discrimination. Libra asks us, especially in times of transition, to consider the Hindu word ahimsa, which means “doing no harm in thought, word or deed.” Ahimsa means kindness toward all living creatures. Ahimsa avoids all types of verbal and physical violence. The Vedas (Hindu Holy Scriptures) tell us that “by not harming any living being, one becomes fit for salvation.”

ARIES: With Mercury in Aquarius, your mind becomes very inventive, scientific, original, strong and humanistic. You become more of a risk taker. You actually become a bit of an eccentric, different than your usual ways of being. You become witty, more socially conscious, wondering who your group is. You are attracted to advanced ideas and begin to ponder the psychology of everything. Perception is the result.

TAURUS: Considering all your gifts and talents, you consider how to be known and then how to bring your work into the world. You have exceptional abilities that serve and assist humanity. You’re practical and know how to accomplish goals, step by step. Don’t bother being competitive with anyone. Only you have the information. It’s very advanced information for humanity. Make plans to move forward later in the year.

GEMINI: Your mind is quite versatile and restless. You always need the freedom to think for yourself. However, it’s easier to think like everyone else. If you do this, following other’s thoughts and ideas, the special light and sparkle of Gemini is extinguished. Know that you are to be intellectually stimulating for other people, bringing changes to their thinking. You are to be a leader, not a follower. Ponder on this.

CANCER: Your mind is probing, resourceful and penetrating. You observe life like an investigator attempting to diagnose and understand the whys and hows of everything. You’re practical, yet very intuitive and interested in mysteries and mysticism at this time. Gardening is important now for each of us. Grow spearmint, mullein, marshmallow and nettles. These herbs, made into a tea, help a sensitive tummy.

LEO: Your mind becomes rational and balanced. You learn how to better compromise. And you begin to think like a diplomat, with language, reasons and arguments that seek justice and right proportion. Allow yourself to be attracted to a new level of literature, new arts and music. Share what you learn with those close to you. Allow them to respond to your ideas. Have conversations where you learn from one another. Have a salon. Listen carefully.

VIRGO: You are logical and diligent in your thinking, detailed and discriminating. You like to learn and evaluate, which allows for analytical, systemic understanding. It’s most important to always refrain from any criticism. And to always maintain a daily level of tending first to the self so you can adequately serve others. Tending to the self with care is an important spiritual discipline needed by all disciples.

LIBRA: Ponder deeply upon fairness and balance in all interactions and with all people, especially family. These virtues create Right Thinking, ease and harmony. Libra is the sign that is to create Right Relations, especially if there is an event, person or time in your life that feels difficult. Ponder deeply on ahimsa, which means doing no harm. Ask yourself if you are living by this precept. It produces beauty, which you need to truly thrive.

SCORPIO: Home and family may be on your mind. Either your original family or a family you’ve created or are creating. Your mind considers where you came from, your ancestry, what you learned about nurturance and loyalty. It’s most important that home is comfortable. It’s where we return for sustenance, security, relaxation and well-being. It is our refuge. You may be more reflective and emotional at this time. Offering you information about yourself.

SAGITTARIUS: Let yourself feel, be and act dignified. Focusing the mind on learning and study allows for the mind to feel honorable, noble, self-respecting and uplifted, as if one were a special messenger with important information to disseminate. There is great learning that will occur at this time simply by asking more questions, having a dialogue and conversations; also by reading and pursuing a new level of education. The arts and artists illuminate you, leading you to new levels of creativity.

CAPRICORN: It’s important right now to focus on values and resources. Be disciplined about money coming in and money going out. It’s also important to see what one’s talents are, and to value the self through this recognition. Venus retrogrades soon. This is important information I am sharing.

AQUARIUS: All of the experiences you are having in your life at this time make you more adaptable. Adaptability is what humanity needs to learn, especially as we prepare for times of change and transition. Aquarians learn things much earlier than most of humanity, because eventually Aquarians will need to teach humanity how to adjust and acclimate to revolutionary times. Your quickness and inventiveness are assets. Everything about you is an asset.

PISCES: The mind of Pisces is a sensing intuitive mind. It becomes strengthened when there is contemplation, adequate solitude and a study of religions and their inner mysteries. Often Pisces are poets, artists or dreamy mystics. But one day they shift and become occultists. That means one who uses the mind along with the heart in order to understand things. Pisces are subtle, deep and mysterious—two fish under a lotus. They are the “jewel in the lotus.”

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Feb 15—21

Rob Brezsny

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February 14, 2017

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): By my estimates, 72 percent of you Aries are in unusually good moods. The world seems friendlier, more cooperative. Fifty-six percent of you feel more in love with life than you have in a long time. You may even imagine that the birds and trees and stars are flirting with you. I’m also guessing that 14 percent of you are weaving in and out of being absurdly, deliriously happy, sometimes without any apparent explanation. As a result of your generosity of spirit, you may be the recipient of seemingly impossible rewards like free money or toasted ice cream or unconditional tenderness. And I bet that at least ten percent of you are experiencing all of the above.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I am launching a campaign to undo obsolete stereotypes about you Bulls. There are still backwards astrologers out there who perpetrate the lie that many of you are stingy, stolid, stubborn slowpokes. As an antidote, I plan to heighten everyone’s awareness of your sensual, soulful sweetness, and your tastefully pragmatic sensitivity, and your diligent, dynamic productivity. That should be easy in the coming weeks, since you’ll be at the height of your ability to express those superpowers. Luckily, people will also have an enhanced capacity to appreciate you for who you really are. It will be a favorable time to clarify and strengthen your reputation.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Will Giovanni surreptitiously replace Allesandra’s birth control pills with placebos? Will Camille take a hidden crowbar to her rendezvous with the blackmailer? Will Josie steal Jose’s diary and sell it on eBay? Given the current astrological omens, you may have an unconscious attraction to soap opera-type events like those. The glamour of melodrama is tempting you. But I’m hoping and predicting that you will express the cosmic currents in less toxic ways. Maybe you’ll hear a searing but healing confession after midnight in the pouring rain, for instance. Perhaps you’ll break an outworn taboo with ingenious grace, or forge a fertile link with a reformed rascal, or recover a lost memory in a dusty basement.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): All naturally-occurring matter on earth is composed of 92 basic elements arranged in various combinations. Since some of these appear in trace amounts, they took a long time for humans to discover. In the 18th and 19th centuries, chemists were exuberant when they tracked down seven of the 92 in a single location: an underground mine on the Swedish island of Ytterby. That small place was a mother lode. I’m predicting a metaphorically similar experience for you, Cancerian: new access to a concentrated source that will yield much illumination.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The next four weeks will be an excellent time to upgrade your understanding of the important characters in your life. In fact, I suspect you will generate good fortune and meaningful synchronicities whenever you seek greater insight into anyone who affects you. Get to know people better, Leo! If there are intriguing acquaintances who pique your curiosity, find out more about them. Study the oddballs you’re allergic to with the intention to discern their hidden workings. In general, practice being objective as you improve your skill at reading human nature.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In 1787, English captain Arthur Phillip led an eight-month naval expedition to the southeastern part of the continent now known as Australia. Upon arrival, he claimed the land for England, despite the fact that 250,000 Aboriginal people were living there, just as their ancestors had for 2,000 generations. Two hundred years later, an Aboriginal activist named Burnum Burnum planted the Aboriginal flag on the White Cliffs of Dover, claiming England for his people. I encourage you to make a comparably artful or symbolic act like Burnum’s sometime soon, Virgo—a ritual or gesture to assert your sovereignty or evoke a well-deserved reversal or express your unconquerable spirit.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The ancient Roman rhetorician Quintilian authored a twelve-volume textbook on the art of oratory. As ample as it was, it could have been longer. “Erasure is as important as writing,” he said. According to my reading of the astrological omens, that counsel should be a rewarding and even exciting theme for you in the coming weeks. For the long-term health of your labor of love or your masterpiece, you should focus for a while on what to edit out of it. How could you improve it by making it shorter and more concise?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Do you know about the long-running kids’ show Sesame Street? Are you familiar with Big Bird, the talking eight-feet-tall yellow canary who’s one of the main characters? I hope so, because your horoscope is built around them. In the Sesame Street episode called Don’t Eat the Pictures, Big Bird solves a riddle that frees a 4,000-year-old Egyptian prince from an ancient curse. I think this vignette can serve as a model for your own liberation. How? You can finally outwit and outmaneuver a very old problem with the help of some playful, even child-like energy. Don’t assume that you’ve got to be relentlessly serious and dour in order to shed the ancient burden. In fact, just the opposite is true. Trust blithe and rowdy spirits.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Your lessons in communication are reaching a climax. Here are five tips to help you do well on your “final exam.” 1. Focus more on listening for what you need to know rather than on expressing what you already know. 2. Keep white lies and convenient deceptions to a bare minimum. 3. Tell the truth as strong and free as you dare, but always—if possible—with shrewd kindness. 4. You are more likely to help your cause if you spread bright, shiny gossip instead of the grubby kind. 5. Experiment with being unpredictable; try to infuse your transmissions with unexpected information and turns of phrase.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The meaning of the Latin phrase crambe repetita is “cabbage reheated, twice-cooked.” I urge you to avoid partaking of such a dish in the coming weeks, both literally and figuratively. If you’re truly hungry for cooked cabbage, eat it fresh. Likewise, if you have a ravenous appetite for stories, revelations, entertainment, and information—which I suspect you will — don’t accept the warmed-over, recycled variety. Insist on the brisk, crisp stuff that excites your curiosity and appeals to your sense of wonder.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Here’s your mantra for the next three weeks: “I know what I want, and I know how to glide it into my life.” Say this out loud 11 times right after you wake up each morning, and 11 more times before lunch, and 11 more times at bedtime. “I know what I want, and I know how to glide it into my life.” Whenever you do this little chant, summon an upflow of smiling confidence—a serene certainty that no matter how long the magic might take, it will ultimately work. “I know what I want, and I know how to glide it into my life.” Don’t let any little voice in your head undermine your link to this simple truth. Lift your heart to the highest source of vitality you can imagine.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “We cannot simply sit and stare at our wounds forever,” writes Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. “We must stand up and move on to the next action.” That’s your slightly scolding but ultimately inspirational advice, Pisces. According to my astrological analysis, you have done heroic work to identify and investigate your suffering. You have summoned a tremendous amount of intelligence in order to understand it and further the healing. But right now it’s time to turn your focus to other matters. Like what? How about rebirth?

Homework: Imagine you have time-traveled to one of your favorite places in the year 2020. What do you see? I’m at Tr**********@***il.com

Film Review: ‘Comedian’

A&E
Film

Lisa Jensen

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February 9, 2017

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Comedy is subjective. So it makes sense that a movie about a stand-up comic will pass muster or not depending on how funny you think the jokes are. On that scale, The Comedian is more successful than not; there are enough laugh-out-loud jokes to keep it going, but they’re interspersed with a lot of material that’s questionable. Not necessarily in questionable taste (forget about taste, this is a movie about comedy), but in terms of jokes that don’t quite hit the mark, and lie there, whimpering.

Fortunately, director Taylor Hackford keeps the pacing steady enough so as not to stumble too much over the misfires. And he coaxes a terrific performance out of star Robert De Niro. Sure, De Niro has starred in plenty of comedies, but stand-up requires a different kind of chutzpah—the presence to command an audience, and the quick wit to get them to trust where you’re taking them. De Niro gets this; his character Jackie Burke is so relaxed onstage, he looks like he’s been doing stand-up his whole life, and De Niro’s delivery and timing couldn’t be better.

The movie was written by a clutch of showbiz insiders: veteran producer Art Linson, comic and roastmaster Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravenese, and Lewis Friedman, from a story idea by Linson. And Hackford wisely chooses an atmospheric soundtrack of moody, mellow nightclub jazz. Factor in a boatload of real-life stand-up comics and other celebs in cameos, and it all adds up to—well, not a love letter, exactly, but a wistful salute to the business of show business.

Jackie is a veteran “insult comedian” who had a hit TV sitcom 30 years ago that the public never lets him forget. Now he plays whatever podunk gigs his agent Miller (Edie Falco) can line up. Punching out a burly, bearded heckler at one such gig lands Jackie a community service stint at a homeless shelter. There he meets Harmony (a very effective Leslie Mann), another volunteer with her own anger issues. They bond over shared stories of their assault charges.

Over a few days, Jackie introduces Harmony to the New York comedy club scene, and they provide back-up for each other at family events: the wedding of Jackie’s niece to her girlfriend (Danny DeVito and Patti LuPone score as parents of the bride), and a sketchy birthday dinner with Harmony’s domineering mobster dad (Harvey Keitel).

Real- and reel-life showbiz connections help fuel the dynamic between De Niro and Keitel (40-plus years after Mean Streets), and between Jackie and Billy Crystal (as himself, in a cameo), another former De Niro costar. Cloris Leachman has a choice cameo as an elder stateswoman of the comedy scene enduring a Friars Club roast. And a pointed subtext charts the evolution of comedy from stand-up to scripted sitcoms to the bloodsucking humiliation of reality television, to the power of Youtube to make or jump-start careers. All is poised for an insightful meditation on comedy vs. life. If only there were more laughs.

It’s not that some of the material is “blue” (as one character quaintly puts it). One of the best movies about comedy is the documentary The Aristocrats, in which dozens of comics tell their versions of the most notoriously dirty joke in the business. The punch line is always the same, but the set-up challenges each individual comic to plumb personal depths of scatological depravity, with results that are completely unprintable and hysterically funny.

But when material bombs in The Comedian, it’s generally due to weak comedy writing. Jackie’s routines tend to go on way past their expiration dates. His impromptu appearance at a retirement home in Florida starts out great, with acknowledgement that the seniors in the crowd had lives and careers of their own, before it devolves into an (endless) sing-along about making poop.

The movie’s comic highlight, however, is stand-up pro Jessica Kirson, who trades quips with Jackie from the stage. What we see of her routine is so sharp and funny, it’s pretty clear that she lives the life this movie wants to pay homage to.

THE COMEDIAN

**1/2 (out of four)

With Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Danny De Vito and Harvey Keitel. Written by Art Linson, Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravenese, and Lewis Friedman. Directed by Taylor Hackford. A Sony Classics release. Rated R. 119 minutes.

Opinion February 8, 2017

Steve Palopoli

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February 8, 2017

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EDITOR’S NOTE

It’s a tradition around here to do something special for Valentine’s Day. A lot of times it’s a story about something snarky, like a really terrible worst date (oh, junk trunk, we remember you) or a rundown of hilarious Valentine’s-related crimes. I know, I know, we have serious issues, but in our defense we did let Lily Stoicheff do that really sweet defense of Valentine’s Day one time.

Anyway, nobody on staff seemed to in the mood for silliness this time around. Except Jacob Pierce—he’s kind of always in the mood for a little silliness, which makes his interview with UCSC grad (and star of this week’s KPIG Valentine’s Day show) John Craigie about all things romantic a lot of fun.

A theme of how love and art intersect snakes through the whole issue. In the cover story, Maria Grusauskas profiles Helen and Newton Harrison, a couple who have dedicated their lives to each other, and to the ecology-themed art and philosophy that made them famous. Famous outside of Santa Cruz, that is. I always like when we highlight locals who are known nationally and internationally, but somehow not right here at home, and the story of the Harrisons’ partnership is a remarkable one.

I also interviewed an internationally renowned Santa Cruz figure this week, Frans Lanting. Anyone who knows Lanting knows that his relationship with Chris Eckstrom is fundamental to his life and work. Since I’ve written specifically about their close bond in the past, I didn’t focus on it in this week’s story. Instead, a different kind of love seemed to rise to the fore as I wrote about their two shows this week at the Rio—like the Harrisons, their passion for the natural world and dedication to preserving it is a relationship model we can all be inspired by this Valentine’s Day.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Save the ACA

Re: “State of Mind” (GT, 2/1): What a clear, wonderfully written article with such good interviews of Hugh McCormick and Erik Riera.

I really hope that the ACA is not destroyed. So many people needed good care for mental health and substance abuse issues and the ACA finally brought about so many positive changes. A very good article.

Sarah Leonard | Aptos

Reprisals Legal?

Sanctuary reprisals may not be legal, according to Bill Ong Hing, a professor of law at USF and founder of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center: “Ironically, the Republican assault on Obamacare may prove to be the basis that courts use to reject efforts to defund sanctuary cities.” The Supreme Court “struck down one provision of the health reform law that is relevant to whether blocking federal funds to sanctuary cities is legal … Threatening to cut off federal funds to sanctuary cities for not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement runs into the same problem of coercing states to adopt federal regulations as their own.”

I’ve sent this information to our local electeds and gotten some thanks in reply. So let’s hope that our sanctuaries will remain safe, the cities and county not penalized—and let’s have their backs just in case!

Randa Solick | Sanctuary Santa Cruz

Haunted Aptos

Re: “Haunted Santa Cruz” (GT, 10/26): Here is a late tidbit about how the spirits of the past make themselves known:

Mr. and Mrs. Martin Jongeneel were original owners of a small Aptos home built in 1927 where Ma Maison and other restaurants have resided. A newspaper article written in 1948 states in part, “The house, like its mistress, is a gracious place. Here, either singly or by the dozen, Mrs. Jongeneel’s friends drop in for musical evenings, some of her famous soup, or just to absorb a little of her happy spirit.”

When asked if she herself had felt that spirit, Ma Maison owner Janet Le Morvan said, “Sometimes at night when I am closing the restaurant and turning the lights off I feel a presence … I can’t really explain.”

June Smith | Capitola

Online Comments

Re: ‘State of Mind’

People who experience mood swings, fear, voices and visions will still be available to each other even if federal insurance fails. The peer-led Client Action Network (mhcan.org) has been a county resource for 20 years. Instead of being 98-percent dependent on federal funding for behavioral health services, let’s continue to diversify our strategies and our income streams.

Thank you for highlighting these important issues.

— Sylvia Caras

Don’t forget the impact on local Marriage and Family Therapists who have a very similar set of skills as Licensed Clinical Social Workers. We can accept Medi-Cal in our private practices and are a crucial part of the new mental health system. I shudder to think of my clients losing their therapist due to repeal of the ACA, and my ability to make a living as a therapist is threatened severely.

— Val Byrne

CORRECTION

The Jan. 25 news story “Designated Drivers” mistakenly reported that San Vicente Road could be an entrance to the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument. The Bureau of Land Management uses the road, but it’s not being considered for public access.

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

MARCHING GIFT
As congressional leaders show more interest in paying a billion dollars for a wall in the middle of nowhere than protecting womenâ€™s health, Santa Cruz activists are springing into action. In response to nationwide Defund Planned Parenthood rallies, supporters of Planned Parenthood are holding a rally of their own. Organizers are asking participants to show up to the wall along New Leaf by Soquel Avenue at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, wearing pink.

GOOD WORK

HEREâ€™S THE CATCH
All this rain means nothing without some place to put it. The City of Santa Cruzâ€™s reservoir has been full for weeks, and for agencies relying on groundwater, basins can only fill up so fast. Thatâ€™s why the Scotts Valley Water District used grant funding to install a rain catchment system at the bus station this past fall, and final touches are still being completed. The water is allowed to percolate down into the Santa Margarita Aquifer below.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

â€œThe best thing to hold on to in life is each other.â€
-Audrey Hepburn

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Taking a Stand

Meal Life

Pastry of the Week

Wine of the Week

Carmel Wine Walk

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK