Page 931 | Good Times

Love Your Local Band: SA90

A&E
Music

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September 13, 2016

LYLB 1637 SA90 “Patient Zero,” the opening track off of local band SA90’s debut record Johnny On The Phone, could be a lost X track—emotionally intense, dissonant dark punk rock.

The rest of the record is solid, too, from start to finish. That may be because, although SA90 is relatively new to the local scene, most of the members are long-time punkers. Several used to be in the Sealants, and before that a whole slew of other punk rock bands. Now in their 40s, they continue to rock out, talk shit about hippies, and live the punk rock lifestyle.

“I feel like I’m still doing the same things I was doing 30 years ago, how I live my life,” says bassist Mark Hanford. “The reason punk rock has lasted as long as it has is because it never really had a goal. It had the goal of upsetting the status quo, but it didn’t have the goal of making the world a better place. Being an adult doesn’t preclude being able to play this really fun, sometimes silly, sometimes intense music.”

The one addition to SA90 who’s newer to the scene is singer Celina Bottini, who brings a lot of the emotional intensity to the music. She writes all of the lyrics, and they are a reflection of her not-so-stable life growing up.

“It really helps me to express a lot of dark periods in my life that I’ve overcome. It’s been therapeutic to me, where I can start talking about events, situations, relationships that tortured me for years,” Bottini says.

The musicians and Bottini are coming from two very different places, but the band connects in a very visceral place. As Hanford puts it: “It’s like three guys that didn’t have a rough childhood picked up this girl that had a really tough childhood, and gave her an outlet to express herself.”

INFO: 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.

09/14/16 Update: Mark Hanford identified as the bassist.

Film Review: ‘Complete Unknown’

A&E
Film

Lisa Jensen

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September 13, 2016

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Have you ever reached a moment in your life when you just wanted to say, “Enough?” When you wished you could just walk away from everything and start a completely different life somewhere else, no strings attached?

If this notion intrigues you, welcome to Complete Unknown. This low-key character study from filmmaker Joshua Marston is built around a woman who prefers to make up her life as she goes along—one new, invented identity at a time. On the other hand, if this sounds like your vision of hell, and you like your life just the way it is, thank you, then you might not find Marston’s film quite so compelling. The premise is fascinating, but despite heroic performances from stars Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon, the movie never really evolves much past its initial set-up.

This is a shame, because Marston is capable of much more resonant work. An American filmmaker with multicultural sensibilities, he’s best known for the harrowing but engrossing Maria Full of Grace. His most recent feature, the deeply moving The Forgiveness of Blood, about modern Albanian teenagers paying the price for their elders’ blood feuds, was one of my favorite films of 2011—it was never released in Santa Cruz, but do yourself a favor and catch up with it any way you can.

Complete Unknown revolves around Alice (Weisz), a researcher at a New York City bio lab, who starts eating at the lunchroom of the ag administration corporation across the street. There, she chats up Clyde (Michael Chernus), an administrator who eventually invites her to a birthday party for his friend and colleague, Tom (Shannon). Tom’s a workaholic whose Iranian wife, Ramina (Azita Ghanizada), an aspiring jewelry-maker, has just been accepted into a prestigious graduate program across the continent in San Diego.

At the party, Alice dazzles everyone with her tales of growing up in the wilds of Tasmania with her botanist parents. But Tom is certain he recognizes her as a woman named Jenny he had an affair with 15 years earlier who suddenly disappeared from his life. She finally admits it, even though there’s none of the chemistry between them we might expect from people who had been as ardent lovers as Tom seems to think they were.

As the party progresses from Tom and Ramina’s apartment to a dance club to the remote exurban pond where Alice studies frog songs, Tom is drawn into her reckless life of serial identities. In the film’s best sequence, they encounter a bubbly mensch (Kathy Bates), out walking her dog, who trips and sprains her foot. They help her back to her apartment, claiming to be surgeons, dispensing medical advice to the woman and her Haitian husband (Danny Glover), and we can see how thrilled Tom is to make up a completely new identity for himself on the spot.

It’s unfortunate that Marston begins with an opening montage showing Alice/Jenny in some of her various personae—ER trauma nurse; assistant to a Chinese stage magician. It might have been more interesting if her past was revealed in tantalizing, if unlikely bits, and the audience got to play along, trying to decide if any of it was true. But this way, we already know more than the party guests quizzing her, and we’re impatient to get on with it.

Which leads to the main problem: once the premise is finally established, and the viewer has glimpsed the possibilities, as well as the potential drawbacks, of living an untethered life, the movie ends. We want to know more about how her lifestyle impacts Alice, and how she feels about it. We want to better understand the kind of pull Alice’s example exerts on Tom at this crossroads in his own life. (We feel his frustration when he disparages his job as sending emails “suggesting guidelines.”)

But Marston retreats, just when it seems like the real story is about to begin. He sets us up for a complex drama, but only delivers a prologue.

COMPLETE UNKNOWN

**1/2 (out of four)

With Rachel Weisz and Michael Shannon. Written by Joshua Marston and Julian Sheppard. Directed by Joshua Marston. An IFC Film release. Rated R. 90 minutes.

Marini’s on the Westside, Restaurants Changing Hands, and Dried Cherry Tomatoes

Christina Waters

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September 13, 2016

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Marini’s on the Westside, Restaurants Changing Hands, and Dried Cherry Tomatoes

Marini’s has long been a delicious fixture on the Santa Cruz Wharf, offering golly-gee peeks at how saltwater taffy is mixed and stretched, pulled and cut into those bite-sized, chewy, melting morsels of seaside memories. How long? Well, 101 years long, which means my grandparents and parents did some time behind these luscious, traditional candies, all of which are manifestations of founder Victor A. Marini’s original recipe.

And of course, there’s Marini’s downtown, too. And for about a year now, there’s been a jewel box Marini’s tucked into the Westside Ingalls Street complex, between wineries, New Leaf, and the Bonny Doon Vineyard winemaking headquarters. When I was a kid, living far away from Santa Cruz, I always asked my cousins to send me a box of saltwater taffy for special occasions. I adored those watercolor pastel hues, the striped peppermints, the earthy peanut butter flavors. Today Marini’s is famous for a lot more than just very chewy salt water taffy. Chocolate sea salt caramels are one of the top sellers at the Westside store, where every day except Tuesday you can watch the candy-makers working their magic. Turtles! Chocolate, nuts, and caramel—divine. Irresistible caramel apples, homemade fudge and gazillions of truffles line the gleaming glass display cases. What I hadn’t realized was that Marini’s has another wall of colorful little candies from all over (the wall opposite the enormously popular ice cream bins). The kids can take their little Marini’s bags and fill them with whatever candies appeal to them most—licorice, gummies, house-made caramel corn, lollipops. Adults may be content with beer and wine-tasting around the corner. But for the young ones, there’s ice cream cones and fudge, plus the miniature revolving Ferris wheel. For everybody—especially those far from their Santa Cruz home who crave something coastal to chew on—there’s salt water taffy. A bright green 1-pound box of mixed salt water taffies will run you $15. Not bad for a whole lot of oral satisfaction. Marini’s Westside, 332 Ingalls St., Santa Cruz. mariniscandies.com.

Established Changes

Longtime foodies Ashley and Adam Bernardi will be taking over the former Stockton Bridge Grille, following the retirement of veteran Capitola restaurateur Lee Walters. The Bernardis, who plan to specialize in farm-to-table California cuisine, have brought in chef Anthony Kresge (Mustards Grill and Miramonte), to take over the kitchen at their new restaurant Sotola Bar & Grill. Look for a mid-October opening of Sotola.

And by now you know that Brad Briske (Gabriella, La Balena, Main St. Garden Cafe) is returning to the Santa Cruz area to the helm of his own restaurant. Briske will be back at the landmark Main Street Garden and Cafe site (3110 N. Main St., Soquel), creating handmade items showcasing fresh produce from the restaurant’s garden. Rumor has it there will be special tasting menus featuring Briske’s adventurous cookery. Anticipate an October opening, with lunch and dinner offerings Tuesday through Saturday.

Shepherd Those Tomatoes

Up to your eyeballs in cherry tomatoes? In her latest newsletter, seed queen Renee Shepherd tempts me to try drying cherry tomatoes (of which you doubtless have many this time of year). Slice them in half, put on oven racks at very low temperature, 140-160 degrees, (or in a food dehydrator), for as many hours as it takes to achieve a leathery texture. Shepherd says to store them in jars or ziplock bags in the refrigerator. Eat them as snacks all year ’round, or—this sounds good—rehydrate them in warm water, wine, or broth for about 10 minutes until they plump back up. Then you can pop them into pastas or salads or whatever you want. Cool, huh? reneesgarden.com.

Farmers Market Star of Barbecue

Food & Drink

Lily Stoicheff

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September 13, 2016

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It takes an incredible amount of passion, skill and time to create great barbecue. I was reminded of this as Austin Towne, the owner of Gordo Gustavo’s BBQ, described his lengthy process of preparing hunks of pork shoulder, racks of ribs, and tri-tips for his stand at local farmers markets. He begins four days ahead of time with between eight and 40 hours of brining in chilis, salt and spices, then applies a liberal coating of his signature dry rub, followed by hours of slow smoking over oak and plum wood.

The result is some of the best barbecue I’ve had in a long time—pulled pork so tender it seems to melt in your mouth, tri-tip fully infused with smoke, and super flavorful Texas-style ribs, a prized pink smoke ring lying beneath the dark, spicy bark.

If that wasn’t enough to set it apart, even after that lengthy preparation the sandwiches and tacos feel so fresh. Towne and his sous Tom Ferdinand, both restaurant industry vets, are passionate about the details, including the vegetables and sauces. Their sandwich buns are buttered on the inside before they’re toasted on the grill side by side with their fillings, and the purple cabbage slaw that accompanies several dishes is crunchy and just creamy enough, with a hidden kick of spice. Their barbecue sauce is made with smoked chipotles for a sweet heat that rises slowly—nothing crazy, just enough to wake up your palate. At the Westside morning market on Saturdays, they’ll top their pulled pork with lightly dressed arugula and a fried egg. The tri-tip tacos may come with kimchi one week, and crumbly Cotija cheese and chili verde the next. Try anything with a few splashes of homemade peach hot sauce, if they have it on hand, for even more layers of sweet and heat.

Unsurprisingly, Gustavo’s frequently sells out, which Towne says is part of his commitment to being efficient with waste. “I’d rather sell out than make so much that there’s extra. From the wood that I use to the compostable utensils, at the end of the markets we’re throwing away next to nothing,” says Towne.

Gordo Gustavo’s vends at the Downtown, Westside and Scotts Valley Farmers Markets. Instagram: @gordo_gustavos.

The Truth About Flossing

Andrew Steingrube

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September 13, 2016

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If there were a Ten Commandments for healthy habits, flossing would definitely make the list: Thou shall use dental floss daily to help prevent cavities and gum disease. It’s not an easy habit to start, in fact, the late comedian Mitch Hedberg compared it to quitting smoking.

But, along with “only floss the teeth you want to keep,” the seemingly sage advice to use dental floss on a daily basis has been instilled in us—by dentists, parents, and beginning in 1979, the government—almost from the time we sprouted our first tooth. All of that has come into question, though, after an August article published by the Associated Press set off a flurry of headlines suggesting that the benefits of dental floss are not actually backed up by scientific proof.

AP’s research analysis focused on 25 studies, including a 2011 review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews which looked at the results of 12 randomized controlled trials comparing the combination of tooth brushing and flossing on plaque and gingivitis to that of tooth brushing alone. Not only did all 12 trials have either a high or unclear risk of bias, the authors concluded that there was “weak, very unreliable evidence from 10 studies that flossing plus toothbrushing may be associated with a small reduction in plaque at one and three months,” and that “no studies reported the effectiveness of flossing plus toothbrushing for preventing dental caries (cavities).”

Another 2015 meta-review published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology concluded that “weak evidence of unclear or small magnitude was retrieved that supported dental floss … to reduce gingivitis in addition to tooth brushing.” The review’s results also showed no evidence of any effect on plaque. A systematic review published in the International Journal of Dental Hygiene in 2008 also found that “a greater part of the studies did not show a benefit for floss on plaque and clinical parameters of gingivitis.”

Following AP’s requests for evidence from the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year, the government acknowledged that the effectiveness of flossing had not been researched as required, and therefore removed it this year from its Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are issued every five years.

But does this apparent lack of empirical evidence of flossing’s effectiveness against plaque, cavities and gum disease mean we should stop reaching for it every day?

Local dentist Dr. Jonathon Wagner says, “Sometimes in life you don’t necessarily need scientific proof for every decision you make. Sometimes you just need to use common sense—cleaning between your teeth is not a bad thing.”

Wagner, a dentist for more than 15 years who currently practices at Santa Cruz Dental Group, draws a parallel to our proclivity for organic food in spite of a lack of strong scientific evidence proving its superiority. There’s just an intuitive sense that food grown without chemicals and pesticides would be healthier—and the same goes for cleaning the two sides of teeth that brushing misses.

“On a daily basis, we see people that do and don’t floss, and there’s a significant difference between the two,” says Wagner. “The people that floss have fewer cavities between the teeth and better overall gum health.”

The truth is that when it comes to a practice like flossing, producing strong scientific evidence can be quite difficult. Studies are hard to blind with an obvious and somewhat invasive treatment like flossing—and to truly tease out a long-term effect, the studies have to be just that: long-term. Participants would need to be studied for months or years to see if their flossing or lack thereof really did result in better oral health. Study authors would need to make sure that participants adhered to their flossing routines consistently over time. And there is also the issue of technique: study participants would not only need to floss regularly, but also correctly. While many floss in a saw-like motion, dentists actually recommend moving up and down, and to “hug the neck of the tooth.”

So, while the fact that the feds have dropped their official flossing recommendation may seem like a viable excuse to drop the habit, you may regret it years from now when you’re just-brushing the last couple of teeth in your mouth.

Calling All Cooperators

Risa D’Angeles

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September 13, 2016

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We are in an interesting week again, between two eclipses—a full moon lunar eclipse (moon’s hidden) Friday, and continuing Mercury retrograde turning direct (late night next Wednesday.) The recent Saturn/Neptune meant many veils (hindering us from seeing, recognizing, knowing) are continuing to drop. When veils (beliefs, illusions) drop and eclipses happen, we feel naked, vulnerable. Impatient with the old, we want to move forward. However, with retro Mercury nothing moves forward. We have at present seven retrogrades (four planets, three asteroids) in the sky. And Virgo Sun—esoterically known as the “cave of the heart.”

So many things are in shadow this week. The pressure from work and world strain may be overwhelming us. As the world breaks down in order to reconstruct, the heavens are creating new patterns and rhythms for our world. Disciples are being called to take steps toward this reconstruction, eliminating nonessentials, practicing discrimination and conforming to the new emerging patterns required for world reconstruction. We are to begin preparing ourselves for increased future activity in bringing forth the new culture and civilization.

To know how to move forward we must ask, “What is the need of humanity at this time?” And recognize there are three aspects needed to birth the new world. 1. Healing. Compassionate lovers of humanity can heal. 2. Clarification. Humanity is bewildered and we must help it through clear education and communication. 3. New Forms (intelligently discarding old forms). Reorganization and rebuilding require dedication, insight, discernment and discrimination. Old patched-up forms no longer suffice. This latter means building a new shape of community, a template for the new culture and civilization. So … Calling all willing, loving and intelligent cooperators so that we may take Right Action together.

ARIES: It would be good to study the history of romance and the purpose of love. Also, the unfoldment of consciousness (our true history) on Earth—how love happens, why, and our behaviors in relationships when conscious (awake, aware and Soul directed). Identifying love within yourself, the expression of your true self with others. Something in appearance in your daily life disappears.

TAURUS: You create new environments that prepare humanity’s future. You tell us we must turn our attention to different and dynamic ways of growing food (in biodynamic soils). Humanity’s daily life is changing quickly, being reconstructed in ways unknown. You tell us to invest in land, put 15 percent of our money in silver and gold. These new ideas needed for humanity’s well-being we will follow, safeguarding them carefully and secretly.

GEMINI: Dualities are good, for they produce self-awareness. There’s a duality perhaps in some Geminis who don’t know if they are creative. They live with an “unthought known.” Your creativity is this—blending opposing forces into a synthesis. Being Mercury, the messenger. Speaking with Right Human Relations and from your heart so everyone learns from you.

CANCER: At times you hide under a shell like a tortoise or a scarab, a sacred creature signifying rebirth. There’s a turtle that comes to the door of a house and waits patiently for the door to open. He enters the house and rests awhile in the cool dark shadowy corners. He’s offered a fresh banana. After a while he retraces his steps, waiting patiently for the door to open. Refreshed (and grateful), he re-enters the world. You are the turtle.

LEO: It’s important for you to be seen and heard, understood, praised, recognized, applauded and known. Sometimes you’re called a narcissist, mirror gazer, one focused on self alone. Some of us, however, know the truth—that you must do these things, must discover, look at and talk about yourself. You’re learning how to rule, how to lead and how to love, stumbling along, falling, most of the time, just like everyone else.

VIRGO: Virgos carry a secret reality, a hidden purity they show no one. Virgo’s light is always veiled … being nurtured within. Virgos realize that everyone carries a different light (and darkness) and each person is aspiring to be a light for the world, a bearer of light of great value and tenderness. We all aspire to this. We prepare together for that light at winter solstice.

LIBRA: You’re developing a radially new sense of self. You cannot be controlled by others. Libra’s freedom is most important, yet they must have companionship. Libra asks others to walk with them in life. Relationships define Libras. Juxtaposing self to the “other,” a Libran sense of self emerges. Human contact releases love hidden in Libra. We must let them be, allow them to sort out realities and achieve independence. Then their love is exalted.

SCORPIO: Scorpio is known for depth of feeling, being alone and isolated (at times). To proceed on the evolutionary (back to spirit) path, Scorpios must develop the higher mind (education, then teaching), distributing God’s Plan to the world. Scorpios must withstand the heat of the Sun on the mountaintop, collect the light and distribute it on Earth. You’re to reveal through this light, all the mysteries you’ve encountered. In this life preparing for the next.

SAGITTARIUS: The life of a Sag reveals so many influences at work simultaneously along with offering the personality to the Soul. To fuse and balance your personality with the Soul (ending confusion), and to have a better sense of spiritual direction, recite the Soul invocation daily (ceaselessly): “I am the Soul. I am Light Divine. I am Love. I am Will. I am Fixed Design.” You realize you’re not your body, emotions, or lower mind. So, what are you?

CAPRICORN: Whenever there’s conflict, something’s being learned; harmony is being disrupted so a higher harmony can emerge. Sometimes there’s a conflict between personal aspirations and the needs of others. You reorient your needs so that the “little ones” are nurtured. This is Soul work. You’re a mentor for others to transform and stand poised in grace. At other times you take your own path up the mountain, planting trees along the way.

AQUARIUS: You’re in a time of pause, an interlude, considering your next life steps and creative endeavors. It’s not a time for excessive outer actions. It’s a time of rest, reflection and relaxation of your energies. As you see both sides of all issues, achieve a position of poise and balance. Often standing on the “razor’s edge,” you lead the way down the mountain to safety. Read this over and over.

PISCES: A love-filled state will be the consequence of Jupiter in Libra. Your abilities and devotion will see you through any necessary tasks, tests, difficulties, disharmony and/or strife. You are entering into a new level of your spiritual work. Greet the sunrise each day. It will vivify you. And the sunset, too. The angels and all of nature are with you during these holy times. Courage is offered.

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Sept 14—20

Rob Brezsny

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September 13, 2016

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): What should you do if your allies get bogged down by excess caution or lazy procrastination? Here’s what I advise: Don’t confront them or berate them. Instead, cheerfully do what must be done without their help. And what action should you take if mediocrity begins to creep into collaborative projects? Try this: Figure out how to restore excellence, and cheerfully make it happen. And how should you proceed if the world around you seems to have fallen prey to fear-induced apathy or courage-shrinking numbness? My suggestion: Cheerfully kick the world’s butt—with gentle but firm good humor.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For the foreseeable future, your main duty is to be in love. Rowdily and innocently in love. Meticulously and shrewdly in love. In love with whom or what? Everyone and everything—or at least with as much of everyone and everything as you can manage. I realize this is a breathtaking assignment that will require you to push beyond some of your limitations and conjure up almost superhuman levels of generosity. But that’s exactly what the cosmic omens suggest is necessary if you want to break through to the next major chapter of your life story.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): What do you hope to be when you are all grown up, Gemini? An irresistible charmer who is beloved by many and owned by none? A master multi-tasker who’s paid well for the art of never being bored? A versatile virtuoso who is skilled at brokering truces and making matches and tinkering with unique blends? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to entertain fantasies like these—to dream about your future success and happiness. You are likely to generate good fortune for yourself as you brainstorm and play with the pleasurable possibilities. I invite you to be as creative as you dare.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Dear Soul Doctor: I have been trying my best to body-surf the flood of feelings that swept me away a few weeks ago. So far I haven’t drowned! That’s good news, right? But I don’t know how much longer I can stay afloat. It’s hard to maintain so much concentration. The power and volume of the surge doesn’t seem to be abating. Are there any signs that I won’t have to do this forever? Will I eventually reach dry land?—Careening Crab.” Dear Careening: Five or six more days, at the most: You won’t have to hold out longer than that. During this last stretch, see if you can enjoy the ride more. Re-imagine your journey as a rambunctious adventure rather than a harrowing ordeal. And remember to feel grateful: Not many people have your capacity to feel so deeply.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If there can be such a thing as a triumphant loss, you will achieve it sometime soon. If anyone can slink in through the back door but make it look like a grand entrance, it’s you. I am in awe of your potential to achieve auspicious reversals and medicinal redefinitions. Plain old simple justice may not be available, but I bet you’ll be able to conjure up some unruly justice that’s just as valuable. To assist you in your cagey maneuvers, I offer this advice: Don’t let your prowess make you overconfident, and always look for ways to use your so-called liabilities to your advantage.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Caution: You may soon be exposed to outbreaks of peace, intelligence, and mutual admiration. Sweet satisfactions might erupt unexpectedly. Rousing connections could become almost routine, and useful revelations may proliferate. Are you prepared to fully accept this surge of grace? Or will you be suspicious of the chance to feel soulfully successful? I hope you can find a way to at least temporarily adopt an almost comically expansive optimism. That might be a good way to ensure you’re not blindsided by delight.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Brainwashing” is a word with negative connotations. It refers to an intensive indoctrination that scours away a person’s convictions and replaces them with a new set of rigid beliefs. But I’d like to propose an alternative definition for your use in the coming days. According to my astrological analysis, you now have an extraordinary power to thoroughly wash your own brain—thereby flushing away toxic thoughts and trashy attitudes that might have collected there. I invite you to have maximum fun as you make your inner landscape clean and sparkly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): My astrological divinations suggest that a lightning storm is headed your way, metaphorically speaking. But it shouldn’t inconvenience you much—unless you do the equivalent of getting drunk, stumbling out into the wasteland and screaming curses toward heaven. (I don’t recommend that.) For best results, consider this advice: Take shelter from the storm, preferably in your favorite sanctuary. Treat yourself to more silence and serenity than you usually do. Meditate with the relaxed ferocity of a Zen monk high on sublime emptiness. Got all that? Now here’s the best part: Compose a playfully edgy message to God, telling Her about all the situations you want Her to help you transform during the next 12 months.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Novelist Tom Robbins said this about my work: “I’ve seen the future of American literature and its name is Rob Brezsny.” Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei testified, “Rob Brezsny gets my nomination for best prophet in a starring role. He’s a script doctor for the soul.” Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz declared, “Rob Brezsny writes everybody’s favorite astrology column. I dig him for his powerful yet playful insights, his poetry and his humor.” Are you fed up with my boasts yet, Sagittarius? I will spare you from further displays of egomania under one condition: You have to brag about yourself a lot in the coming days—and not just with understated little chirps and peeps. Your expressions of self-appreciation must be lush, flamboyant, exultant, witty and sincere.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): By normal standards, your progress should be vigorous in the coming weeks. You may score a new privilege, increase your influence, or forge a connection that boosts your ability to attract desirable resources. But accomplishments like those will be secondary to an even more crucial benchmark: Will you understand yourself better? Will you cultivate a more robust awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, your needs and your duties? Will you get clear about what you have to learn and what you have to jettison?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I’m confident that you would never try to sneak through customs with cocaine-laced goat meat or 100 live tarantulas or some equally prohibited contraband. Please use similar caution as you gear up for your rite of passage or metaphorical border crossing. Your intentions should be pure and your conscience clear. Any baggage you take with you should be free of nonsense and delusions. To ensure the best possible outcome, arm yourself with the highest version of brave love that you can imagine.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Should you be worried if you have fantasies of seducing a deity, angel, or superhero? Will it be weird if some night soon you dream of an erotic rendezvous with a mermaid, satyr, or centaur? I say no. In fact, I’d regard events like these as healthy signs. They would suggest that you’re ready to tap into mythic and majestic yearnings that have been buried deep in your psyche. They might mean your imagination wants to steer you toward experiences that will energize the smart animal within you. And this would be in accordance with the most exalted cosmic tendencies. Try saying this affirmation: “I am brilliantly primal. I am wildly wise. I am divinely surprising.”

Homework: Read my response to the periodic internet rumors that astrology is based on wrong assumptions, and that there’s a 13th sign: http://bit.ly/13thsignhoax.

Open Studios Art Tour 2016

GT Staff

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September 9, 2016

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A co-production of Arts Council Santa Cruz County and Good Times

Open Studios Art Tour is your opportunity to explore creativity in Santa Cruz County. For 31 years, our goal has been simple: connect artists with people who love art. For the first three weekends in October, artists from the redwoods to the bay open their studios so that friends, neighbors, and strangers from near and far can discover art in this stunning county.

Use this Guide to personalize your tour. View great art while stepping inside the creative process, meeting the makers, and discovering new areas of Santa Cruz County. Download the free App to make your touring experience even easier!

Our 2016 Tour features 278 artists working in dozens of mediums. You’ll find seasoned artists who’ve particpated since 1986 and talented newcomers—many opening their studios for the first time.

Welcome, and enjoy!

Tour Dates

October 1 & 2: South County—From Watsonville to the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, South County boasts marvelous artists and venues throughout the towns and countryside.

October 8 & 9: North County—From the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor on up, including Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, San Lorenzo Valley and the artists tucked among the north coast mountain communities.

October 15 & 16: All County—All across the county, most artists open again for the final weekend.

Hours: 11am to 5pm

About the Arts Council Santa Cruz County:

We’re the team that produces the Open Studios Art Tour—and so much more. We love Santa Cruz County and our daily work finds us supporting artists and arts organizations in dozens of ways to make our community stronger. With a mission to promote, connect, and invest in the arts to stimulate creativity and vibrancy in Santa Cruz County, we’ve been the bedrock of our arts community since 1979. Through grants, arts education programs, and community initiatives such as Ebb & Flow, we help Santa Cruz County flourish. Learn more at artscouncilsc.org.

Opinion September 7, 2016

Steve Palopoli

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September 7, 2016

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Not long ago, Steve Kettmann from the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods—which, in addition to providing a retreat space for writers, also publishes the Wellstone Books imprint—talked to me about how one of the things he and his wife Sarah Ringler are most interested in promoting is “California fiction.” That’s not a term you hear too often, but something about it instantly grabbed me. I remembered how I felt, as a native Californian, reading Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose in college: that he was writing about my places, my West. (Side note: I was lucky enough to have his son Page Stegner as my Creative Writing advisor at UC Santa Cruz.) What Kettmann and Ringler have latched onto, I think, is an untapped genre with a lot of potential.

At the time of that conversation, I had completely forgotten about this piece of fiction that GT and other papers had commissioned from William T. Vollmann. It had been arranged through Stett Holbrook, the editor of the North Bay Bohemian, who sent occasional updates on the progress of the project over the course of several months. Vollmann is notorious for being reclusive and loathing technology—two qualities that make it pretty difficult to guess when you’ll actually get the piece you’re waiting for.

But upon reading it, I realized that Vollmann is such a natural part of the California fiction genre Kettmann was talking about it. It makes sense, since though Vollmann is probably most famous for his novel Europe Central, which won the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction, his magnum opus is surely Imperial, his 1,344-page nonfiction study of Imperial County, California, which traces the border region’s history from 13,000 B.C to present-day.

The only criterium for the piece we commissioned from him was that it be set in Northern California. I hope you enjoy it.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

That’s Not a Bathroom

The article “Flush to Judgment” (GT, 8/31) linguistically, as well as in other ways, stinks. A Porta Potty is neither a “toilet” nor a “bathroom.” Referring to it as such is incorrect and performs a disservice to your publication and the community.

Downtown Santa Cruz has a public restroom which is barely usable. I cannot recommend it for use to shoppers, visitors or tourists who keep the economic vitality of the city intact. What is the city doing about this incredible lack of basic amenities besides “outreach?” Perhaps the “visitor restroom program” has run its course. Yet there is $10,000 for two port-o-johns, which have city signage on them saying “public restroom.” These are not even open during the day, and a “restroom” has a sink and a toilet.

I truly believe that these issues can be addressed and solved affordably, while providing for people’s basic needs being met. Setting the bar so low that a win is when things don’t get vandalized makes it easy to raise the bar. Rather than using Orwellian double-speak calling port-o-johns bathrooms, toilets or restrooms, it might be more valuable to research and write a critically thought-out story, hopefully helping to suss out workable solutions.

Jeremy Carlson

Santa Cruz

Cam Lag

Re: Police body cams (GT, 8/10): Capitola has had them for more than a year. Santa Cruz Sheriff’s [Office] is adopting them. Watsonville and Scotts Valley will implement them within two years.

Why is SCPD only just “considering” the use of body cams? Why are they lagging on this important issue?

Steve Newman

Santa Cruz

Online Comments

Re: ‘Saving Lighthouse Field’

Not to take anything away from Gary Patton and his lifetime of notable work and achievements, because I’ve been a fan before, during and after the 1990s when he and I were county supervisors (he for Santa Cruz County, I for San Luis Obispo), but I want to remind readers that the environmental community began stirring in Santa Cruz in the late ’60s, early ’70s, by citing these two examples: After an uproar of protests, a proposed nuclear power plant to be built south of Davenport was permanently shelved in 1971 and never seriously raised again. That same year, after a similar campaign against the state’s plan to expand Highway 17 into a commute corridor, the state removed that highway and those plans from the freeway system, saving the coast from major developmental pressures from the Santa Clara Valley. Both campaigns were led by a group of local citizens working for an organization called Santa Cruz County Council on the Environment (which I had the privilege of chairing in ’70-’71), and without these victories, Santa Cruz County and the coast would look dramatically different today—and not for the better.

And Gary Patton still had a lot of work to do during his 20 years in office in the never-ending battle to save the sense of place of Santa Cruz County and the coast.

— Bud Laurent

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

ROLLER BOASTER
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will begin a $12 million improvement project after Labor Day to give the coastal amusement park a brand new entrance in time for the 2017 summer season. The narrow walkway in between Neptuneâ€™s Kingdom and the Undertow rides will see a transformation with â€œstate-of-the-art ticketing windows,â€ according to a Boardwalk press release. There will also be a new entrance plaza, and a fresh new look for several games, concessions and attractions.

GOOD WORK

VETERAN AFFAIRS

Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) announced last week that Central Coast organizations will be getting millions of dollars to provide housing assistance services to low-income veteran families to prevent homelessness. The Homeless Services Center received $470,091 to serve veterans in Santa Cruz County through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. Vietnam Veterans of California received $4 million to serve Santa Cruz County and other areas.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

â€œCalifornia is a fine place to liveâ€”if you happen to be an orange.”
-Fred Allen

How would you describe the Santa Cruz community?

Columns

Matthew Cole Scott

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September 7, 2016

0

How would you describe the Santa Cruz community?

“Mostly positive, mostly enthusiastic, could be more diverse.”

Luigi Puntanelli

Santa Cruz

Bike Mechanic

“Very uplifting variety of people. I think a lot of people are really close in this community. ”

Alma Martinez

Santa Cruz

Cashier

“The people here are unique, eccentric and friendly. ”

Alex Schwartzer

Santa Cruz

Arborist

“Laid back and liberal.”

Chris Ballas

Santa Cruz

Screen Printer

“A bunch of food-loving, dog-loving, redwood-loving beer drinkers.”

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Established Changes

Shepherd Those Tomatoes

Tour Dates

About the Arts Council Santa Cruz County:

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Luigi Puntanelli

Santa Cruz

Bike Mechanic

Alma Martinez

Santa Cruz

Cashier

Alex Schwartzer

Santa Cruz

Arborist

Chris Ballas

Santa Cruz

Screen Printer

Zachary Creager

Santa Cruz

Caterer