When professor Jim Funaro introduced a class to Cabrillo in 1979 that used both science and science fiction to teach anthropology, he had no idea it would lead him to building whole new worlds. But thatโs just what he was doing four years later, when he organized the first Contact conference in Santa Cruz. An academic gathering that brought together some of the best minds in science, science fiction writing, and art to imagine possibilities for humanityโs future, it was centered around a main event Funaro called โCOTI: Cultures of the Imagination,โ a simulation that had conference participants designing human colonies and alien civilizations. Larry Niven, the iconic science fiction author whose career stretches over five decades and includes 1970โs groundbreaking Ringworld, was at that first Contact in 1983, and remembers that not everything went smoothly with that first world-building experiment. โWe made mistakes,โ Niven tells GT. โWe broke up participants into two groups who would design alien worlds. On Sunday afternoon they would meet. We didnโt consider that humanities people would be hopeless at creating worlds. At later gatherings, we hard science writers would build the worlds first, and let the humanities play there.โ Niven, who returned to Contact as keynote speaker in 1995, is back at this yearโs conferenceโwhich will be held at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale April 1-3โto return to the matter of world-building with a presentation on โThe Legacy of Heorot,โ explaining the backstory of a series he co-authored with consultation from Dr. Jack Cohen, one of the foremost researchers in fertility among all life forms. This yearโs conference will also feature author Kim Stanley Robinson speaking about the โeccentric orbitโ of science and science fiction, Funaro himself discussing โThe Evolution of Star Trek as an American Mythos,โ and more than two dozen other talks from science-fiction writers and NASA scientists, with titles like โAlien Civilizations: What Lies Beyond Our Imagination?โ โWhat Will Commercial Spaceflight Cost in the Future?โ and โMars: Science and Science Fiction on the Red Planet.โ The Contact conference will be held April 1-3 at the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale. For more information and to register, go to contact-conference.org.
Easter, the Resurrection Festival for Humanity Wednesday is the Aries Solar Festival (and full moon). It is also a lunar eclipse. Something in form and matter in our lives disappears, no longer needed, having fulfilled its destiny. The New Group of World Servers everywhere is celebrating this Festival, which recognizes the Love of God and the work of the Hierarchyโinner world government. We recite the Great Invocation today, Wednesday, and all week long during this Passion Week. Thursday is Purim (Hebrew festival of Lights). In Christian churches it is Holy Thursdayโthe evening of the Last Supper with Christ (Pisces and Aquarius World Teacher) and his โstudentsโ (disciples). On this night Christ instituted the priesthood and Holy Eucharist, the new dispensation (Law for the Pisces Age). โNo more blood sacrifice,โ the Christ said, substituting the grape (signifying blood) and wheat to make bread (form and matter, the body). Good Friday was (is) the Crucifixion, the fourth initiation, the Great Renunciation. Christ Jesus, at the moment of death, โrent the veilโ (opened the closed door) that kept humanity from returning home again (Spirit). Holy Saturday, all candles are extinguished in the church, there is no light. The Christ is in the โtomb of matter,โ the underworld, releasing the earth spirits from their imprisonment (Involutionary path into form and matter). Humanity is released also. Sunday is Easter (always after the full moon), the Festival of Resurrection for humanity, a festival of Love and of new โresurrectedโ life. All of nature knows this. This weekโs events depict the initiations (tests and trials) that Christ underwent. They are humanityโs initiations also. After each โinitiationโ we are resurrected into greater and greater light and understanding. This is the inner esoteric explanation of Easter.
ARIES: Past abilities and gifts emerge in your daily life. There are many and they are good. Wounds go into hiding, secreting away for awhile. Tend with mindfulness on all daily tasks, especially if traveling. Responsibilities increase as the month unfolds. Love increases too. Find Taurus people. Sit and talk with them. They comfort you. Careful with money. Be prudent with money while also constantly tithing and sharing. TAURUS: In these present times, when a reorientation is occurring, when our world as we know it may one day slow to a halt and how weโve lived isnโt available anymore, you are very aware of how to prepare for life on the edge, life without comforts, and still maintain the Art of Living. Continue with research on what makes life livable. Itโs time to gather the materials for a greenhouse. Old wood framed glass windows will do. GEMINI: Home and work simultaneously call to you. And in both places you must do your very focused best. Two directions imply a here and an โover-there-ness,โ an opposition. At first, this creates much resistance, then, later, acceptance and a blending of the two. How can this occur? The astrology shows that your intuition (Pallas Athena in Aquarius) is very active and willing to bring forth synthesis. Ask more, wait for subtle quiet answers. Take time off. CANCER: If you are experiencing inflammation and pain, know that turmeric is an anti-inflammatory. Preparing and eating East Indian (or Ayurvedic) foods are best for healing and digestion. Indian spices have health benefits: cayenne for warmth; coriander, also for inflammation, contains magnesium; cumin aids in digestion; chiles have vitamin C. Dry roast spices first then sizzle them in ghee (clarified butter). These are nurturing North Node in Virgo, Mars in Sag health tips. LEO: Tending to self is your Easter season task. How is your relationship with family? Is there contact, communication and emotional support? It seems that many things from the past remain behind the scenes, somewhat hidden away. You can no longer stay hidden. You are Vesta now, the light of life for others. Vesta is the found object of self. I suggest this yearly to different signs. Create a Vesta treasure box. It becomes your art form. VIRGO: Focus on serving others and not on anything else. Sometimes itโs hard to do our work with concentration and dedication. However, if we have an intention to do something in a certain way, like focusing on our intention to serve, then it becomes easier. What you will receive by doing this is a clear and grounded sense of self. That wound thatโs hurting will step aside. And clarity of vision and purpose emerge. You need all of these. LIBRA: In your daily life youโve become prudent, disciplined, focused, reliable, industrious, serious, reserved, patient, and persevering. Youโve taken on more and more responsibilities and some Librans are assuming a healing role. Perhaps you are the one in need of healing? Do not allow any type of insecurity or inhibitions to limit you. Think these through. Be only with those who care for and support you, where everyone sees you as perfect. Mother always said you were (perfect). SCORPIO: Thereโs a brilliant new state of creativity flowing through you. Music, very important at this time, must be in your environment at all times. Travel, study, things cultural, sculpting, hiking, horse tending and/or riding, seeking your next out-of-body experience, are past gifts you can again cultivate. Tend to mundane tasks carefully and bless the details. Blessings create new and deeper awareness. SAGITTARIUS: Home, for so long in a state of here and not here, now assumes a more defined reality. Bring in bright colors, plants, bowls of fish, art, lights, and a flash of neon. They create the style you seek. Home is your sangha (refuge), sanctuary and retreat. Try not be at odds with anyone and do tend to all tasks with constancy and care. You now expand your new identity, growth and development. CAPRICORN: The tension and pressure youโre feeling can be used creatively. Know that a self-transformation is slowly coming your way. Cooperation is available from everyone. Teaching others to cooperate nurtures them and you. Everyone sees you as someone of great value, providing you with the courage needed that transforms all situations. You answer to needs. You are the harmony after the conflict. AQUARIUS: Itโs important to secure your money and not use it indiscriminately. Itโs also important to share it with those in need. Your money should be used to safeguard your future, work and family. Invest with others in land, consider building an agrarian community. Assess the world situation and be the first to communicate what you see. A new world is coming. You will play a major part in its establishment. PISCES: Is your daily life feeling somewhat shrouded in a mist? Can you assess your present daily needs and priorities? You want to be practical while initiating new goals. Relationships are expanding. How will this affect your life? Do you think about serving others? Serving is a Virgo task, your hidden sign. The Tibetan says, โOut of duty, perfectly performed, will emerge those larger duties which we call world work.โ Always the world calls to you.
Iโm willing to cut filmmaker Terrence Malick some slack. I was never particularly drawn to the early art house films for which he is best known (Days Of Heaven; Badlands), but I thought his 2005 epic, The New World, was the best movie of the first decade of this century. An impressionistic and completely immersive plunge into the first interactions between American natives and European colonists ca. 1600, it dispensed with dialogue and narrative in ways that made total sense in a story about two cultures without language or any sort of cultural reference in common. The strangeness and unease of their struggles to comprehend each other created the drama. Since then, Malick has delivered three more films, each one less burdened by either dialogue or narrative than the last, and none of them with an iota of the power of The New World. Case in point: Malickโs latest, Knight of Cups. Revolving around its protagonist (literally, with plenty of hand-held camera work), a disaffected Hollywood screenwriter searching for the meaning of life, itโs full of light, color, expressionistic images, snippets of disconnected voice-over observations, flashes of hedonistic excess, and swelling orchestral music. But for all the visual movement, Malickโs storytelling is inert. The techniques that worked so well in The New World donโt translate to a modern setting; the characters speak the same language, but thereโs almost no verbal communication between them onscreen. And without the traditional clues of dialogue or the accumulation of narrative details, the viewer canโt work up any sense of emotional engagement with the characters. We have no idea who these people are, and weโre given no reason to care. At the center of it all is screenwriter Rick (Christian Bale), who might be in emotional free fall, if there was any evidence at all that he had emotions. He occupies a cold, spare glass apartment overlooking the beach, and while he never seems to actually work, he takes meetings at the studioโmeaning heโs shown wandering dazedly around the back lot while other guys in suits talk over and around him. He has father issues (all of Malickโs male characters have father issues), and an extant father (Brian Dennehy) who pops up in the margins now and then, and a brother (Wes Bentley). But as for Rick himself, thereโs no there there: heโs the ultimate empty vessel. The only time he seems to perk up is at the orgiastic Hollywood parties he regularly attends, where he laughs and smiles and crawls around drunkenly on all fours. He pairs up with a succession of womenโa pink-haired free spirit (Imogen Poots), a sultry model (Freida Pinto), an exuberant pole-dancer (Teresa Palmer), and a woman who may be the love of his life (Natalie Portman), except that sheโs married to someone else. Most of them end up dancing along the beach at the waterโs edge in filmy, diaphanous gowns. In the absence of narrative, Malick attempts to use the symbolism of Tarot cards to create story. (The suit of Cups, like Hearts, suggests love and pleasure; the Knight of each suit is a young man.) These are used as โchapterโ headings: the โJudgmentโ card cues the appearance of his disapproving ex-wife (Cate Blanchett); the โDeathโ card retains its symbolism as the signal of rebirth. Meanwhile, voices on the soundtrack read from Pilgrimโs Progress, and drone on about knights and pilgrims and quests. Fragments of stunning music from the likes of Debussy, Beethoven, Gorecki, and Pรคrt are seeded in to create an atmosphere of profundity that the movie does not earn. Understanding the story in symbolic terms is not enough; we need to feel invested in somebodyโanybodyโonscreen. Otherwise, whatโs the point? Rickโs search for self-discovery is uninvolving; Bale is encouraged to wander through shots at such a zombie-like remove, we doubt thereโs any self to discover. And he seems to be searching for meaning in all the wrong placesโorgies, strip clubs, Hollywood mansions, Las Vegas. Itโs not that Malickโs themes of emptiness and disconnect are too obscure. He just doesnโt make them interesting.
KNIGHT OF CUPS * (out of four) With Christian Bale,ย Cate Blanchett,ย Natalie Portman,ย Brian Dennehy,ย andย Freida Pinto. Written and directed by Terrence Malick. A Broad Green release. Rated R. 118 minutes.
On a winter night on the back patio of Bocciโs Cellar, wrestling aficionados huddle together, cheering and jeering as grown men and women in colorful tights with names like Perry Von Vicious, Levi Shapiro, Samara, and the Santa Cruz Kid throw each other around a square rented ring. The air reeks of sweat, weed and the raging hormones of the mostly male audience. This is the world of indie wrestling, courtesy of local wrestling promotion company Chronic Combat. Professional wrestling is a billion-dollar industry, and gets more mainstream media coverage than ever, especially when thereโs an irresistible hook like last weekendโs news about a jury awarding disgraced wrestling legend Hulk Hogan $115 million in his invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media. Indie wrestling is sort of the punk-rock, underground version of pro wrestling, and it took quite a while to find its way into Santa Cruz. One of the first wrestling crews here was the short-lived Grand Prix Wrestling, owned by Lawrence Adams and operated by Sparkey Ballard, which started in 2009 but was overhauled and repackaged into Rival Forge Wrestling. Rival Forge Wrestling commanded the Cocoanut Grove at the Boardwalk in 2010, and then continued at the Louden-Nelson Community Center in 2011 before it folded. Picking up the reins, Chronic Combat is looking to go monthly, gathering a new legion of fans whose penchant for men in tights doing signature moves is on the uptick. ย Everybody knows professional wrestling is fake, but does that matter? Like Joseph Campbellโs archetypal figures, wrestlers play upon our deepest fantasies. Heroes like Reno Scum and villains like the Classic Connection act out our inner aggressions as they rise and fall. Itโs epic, itโs garish, itโs entertaining. ย Take, for example, the case of Jesse Hett, a Bay Area comedian who once got caught alone in his bedroom watching Summerslam โ89 by his roommate. Pinned by questions of why a grown man would watch something so obviously fake, Hett is indignant. โFake? Hardly!โ blustered Hett. โItโs staged and itโs scripted, but thatโs not the same thing as โfake.โ Would you go to see a play and say, โOh this is fake. I donโt think those swords are even sharp! And I bet thatโs not real poison in any of those cups. And wait a second, thatโs not Hamlet, thatโs Jeff! He works at the grocery store! Heโs not the prince of Denmark at all! This is fake, letโs get out of here!โโ
Welcome to the Freak Show
Like the rest of show biz, pro wrestling has a hierarchy. World Wrestling Federation guys like Hogan, Kalisto and the New Day are at the top of the wrestling pyramid. At the bottom is backyard wrestling, where neighborhood friends gather in hand-stitched tights and smash each other with metal folding chairs. One step up from teenagers throwing mattresses on the ground is indie wrestling. Itโs a dubious venture often plagued by shady business practices and fly-by-night operations, and its bloodline can be traced to the back tents of traveling carnivals.
โFake? Hardly!โ blustered Hett. โItโs staged and itโs scripted, but thatโs not the same thing as โfake.โ Would you go to see a play and say, โOh this is fake. I donโt think those swords are even sharp!
โBack in the carny days, you would have strongman shows,โ says Nick Robinson, a sought-after regional pro wrestler who goes by the name Levi Shapiro. โAudience members would be invited into the ring to wrestle the strongman, who could never be beat. But if it looked like the rube was going to win, there was a giant white sheet covering one corner of the ring, and the strongman would wrestle the guy to the corner and maneuver his head to the sheet where another carny behind the sheet would hit him in the head with a blackjack, to make sure he lost. Then afterwards they would either invite him to join them on the road, or pull up stakes and get the hell out of town.โ The word from most wrestlers is that the independent circuit is still pretty carny. There are promoters who work with wrestlers who havenโt been properly trained. Rivalries between competing organizations often erupt into flame wars and trash talk. Unscrupulous business practices cause organizations to change names or just fold up. Unfortunately for the fans, a lot of the tradition is being lost to janky bookers who are looking to make more money by paying less to untrained amateurs. But there are still plenty of vibrant, competent and compelling independent wrestlers like Perry Von Vicious.
Performance Artists
A wrestlerโs persona in the ring is a fictionalized stereotype whose narrative should be easy to follow. Perry Von Vicious is a 1 percenter, a heel and a despicable person. Offstage, Von Vicious, aka Dave Grimes II, is humble and thoughtful, a world away from his braggart ring persona. But like Clark Kent changing into Superman, once the wrestler hits the ring, all shreds of their โreal lifeโ are left behind, hidden behind the persona.
One step up from teenagers throwing mattresses on the ground is indie wrestling.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 300 pounds, Grimes was the biggest kid doing high-school theater growing up on the East Coast. โI looked weird acting next to my smaller classmates, so my roles were limited,โ says Grimes. โI heard that pro wrestling was kind of like theater for giant gorillas.โ At the end of college, Grimes started lifting weights and decided that he would give wrestling a shot. โI went to a local show, and during intermission I talked to the ring announcer because he seemed approachable and not intimidating.โ Grimes got the name of Kevin Landry, who ran a wrestling school in Palmer, Massachusetts, and trained for six months before he had his first match. Doing shows every weekend, Grimes was taken under the wing of senior wrestlers who would call the promoters and say, โHey, Iโve got this rookie who will drive me out if you put him on the show.โ A decade later, fans from Hawaii to Japan know the name Perry Von Vicious. His appearances in Santa Cruz are always notable, as he struts the ring looking down his nose at the โlosersโ in the audience.
Pin My Heart
One thing that every wrestler in this story has is a deep passionate love affair with wrestling that started at a very young age. โMy parents would go out on Fridays and leave me with a babysitter,โ says Nick Robinson, part of the โbad guyโ duo known as the Classic Connection with Buddy Royal. โWe would go to the VHS store, and I would get a video game and a VHS tape of wrestling. Iโd play the video game all night and wake up in the morning and watch the wrestling. I would watch anything except the UndertakerโI was deathly afraid of him. Back in the day, it was hard to get into the business, but now there are schools everywhere. You had to find your way to find the one smart person to teach you wrestling.โ Originally, Robinson wanted to go to what he deemed the best wrestling academy on the West Coast, the All Pro Wrestling School in Hayward, which was at the time run by the late Roland Alexander. Unable to come up with the $6,000 required to train, Robinson did backyard wrestling until promoter Sparkey Ballard came to watch. Seabass (aka the Santa Cruz Kid) feels the pain of a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. PHOTO: ADAM FREIDIN โHe thought I had some talent,โ says the side-burned Robinson. A short while later, Robinson trained at the Devil Mountain Wrestling Academy in Pacheco, alongside some of his favorite wrestlers, like Hellfire and Alexis Darevko. His alter ego Levi Shapiro is now a for-hire independent wrestler who is very much in demand. Santa Cruz musician Nick Carroll became wrestler Nick Savage when he began training with Pro Wrestling Revolution in San Jose in January of 2015. โItโs the hardest thing Iโve ever done,โ he says. Training several times a week and planning to make his debut in a few months, Carroll was also bitten by the wrestling bug early on. โThere was never a time I didnโt watch wrestling,โ says Carroll. ย โI was 2 or 3 years old and I remember they captured my attention because they were like lifelike cartoons. I would sit in front of the USA channel until it came on. It was my first love. I only recently thought I had the chance to be a wrestler.โ Unlike Grimes, Carroll didnโt have the advantage of size to give him an edge. ย โIโm 5 foot 7 and Iโve been out of shape for years,โ says Carroll. โI started pushing 30 and I told myself that I didnโt want to have any regrets if I didnโt try wrestling and pursue my dream. I decided to go for it, and I havenโt quit. So many people quit. Typically I train two to three times a week.”
Mundi is a badass in the ring, and like her childhood heroine Xena, she is a warrior.
Carroll also plays with the Santa Cruz band the Randy Savages, a homage to the professional wrestler known as the Macho Man. ย โOf course, down the road I look forward to the day my band the Randy Savages are playing a Chronic Combat show and I get called out and go into the ring,โ says Carroll.
Women in the Ring
Thereโs a stereotype that you have to be huge to be a wrestler, but even more diminutive in stature is Inder Mundi, aka Samara. Mundi is a badass in the ring, and like her childhood heroine Xena, she is a warrior. โI think everyone in the indie scene got hooked into it as kids,โ says Mundi. โIโve always watched it, and itโs always been a part of my life. I didnโt understand how to make it tangible. How do you become an indie wrestler and where do you go? It took time for me to figure out the indie scene in the Bay Area and that I could go to one of these schools.โ Mundi started at Big Time Wrestling in Fremont because of Jason Styles, who trained NXT Womenโs Champion, Bayley. โHe now has his own school and promotion, so I left Big Time,โ says Mundi. The fiery wrestler, who is recovering from a broken ankle, feels there is a stigma that follows women who wrestleโpeople never expect them to have as good a match as the men. According to Mundi, โEven if you had a great match, people will always say, โIt was all right for a womenโs match.โ Itโs never up to par with menโs wrestling, but it is what it is. You can only do your best. People are always surprised that I wrestle, I guess because Iโm small.โ
Combat Leader
The indisputable leader of Chronic Combat is Mikey Gordon, a mustachioed, red-haired, burly man whose penchant for courting controversy is well known. In the ring at Bocciโs, he called himself the Santa Cruz Kid. โNow Iโm Seabass,โ says Gordon. โIโm 32 and not from here, so it was a stretch.โ Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Gordon vividly remembers going to the park and coming home and watching WrestleMania III live on TV. At the time, it was the biggest indoor attendance for any sort of sporting event. Title match: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. Gordon was almost 4 years old, and immediately hooked. โMy mom was a low-level pro wrestler known as Sue Savage,โ says the hype-man extraordinaire. โI never got to see her wrestle. That was before I was born, but she was always a huge fan. It was more a big event back then, people would dress up. Some people wore tuxedos.โ Samara takes flight with a top rope plancha dive. As a teenager, Gordon heard on the radio that there were wrestling shows at a local YMCA. More than 500 people would show up and watch old WWF wrestlers like Jimmy โSuperflyโ Snuka and Pete Madden, the Human Wrecking Ball. Gordonโs mother was a dental hygienist who cleaned the teeth of the cameraman who videoed the matches, so Gordon got taken to events and would also be given videos to watch where he could study the moves. โThere was no Internet to find anything out,โ says Gordon. โWrestling at that point in the late 1980s was underground tape trading. VHS tapes of wrestling from Japan and luchadores from Mexico who practice lucha libre [which translates to โfree fightingโ]. Itโs the Mexican equivalent to pro wrestling American-style. Different regions of the world have different styles. It made me realize that there was way more than WWF. There were so many different specialized promotions and styles to get into.โ Then, like now, Gordon got his friends involved. At Chronic Combat shows you see Gordonโs crew setting up the ring (that Gordon has finally bought), putting out the chairs, announcing the shows, working the sound system and selling the merchandise. Sixteen years ago, Gordon helped combine three Midwest neighborhood wrestling groups into an organization called World Wrestling Rampage. โWe would draw 20 people by ourselves, but when we joined up, we drew 100 people,โ he says. Now, the impresario in flesh-fitting tights finds himself in the same position, leading the charge to bring Santa Cruz out for wrestling shows. Perhaps he is motivated by glory, fame and a paycheck, but Gordon takes his fair share of punishment in the ring, often pummeled to the ground for the love of the craft. Itโs been tough for Chronic Combat (formerly BeachSlam) to find a permanent venue for this underground battle of titans. Bocciโs Cellar, the Pacific Cultural Center and a few places in Watsonville didnโt totally pan out. But it looks like outdoors at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall might finally be a landing pad for dropkicks, piledrivers and moonsaults. Donโt expect a dressed-up tuxedoed affair at Chronic Combat events, but do expect to be wowed. โI truly believe itโs the best form of entertainmentโyou have acting, you have stunt work, you have to be able to improvise and you have to go in front of a live audience and convince them itโs real,โ Gordon says with his trademark enthusiasm. Chronic Combat may be selling Santa Cruz snake oil, but itโs snake oil with a bite. Chronic Combat will hold matches on April 9, April 30, May 20 and June 5 at the VFW Hall located at 2259 7th Ave., Santa Cruz. Tickets are $10 general admission, $20 front row; go to brownpapertickets.com. Admission to matches is 21 and over.
Putting the โbunโ in โEaster Bunny,โ the aromatic hot cross bun has been a fixture of Easter since the mid-18th century.
In the Old World, hot cross buns were sold on the streets on Good Friday. โHot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.โ Thatโs what Charles Dickens would have heard the street vendors crying as they sold fresh-from-the-oven pastries to hungry, pious crowds. Many believe these little holiday cakes to be the descendants of pastries baked for the pagan Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. Itโs a culinary myth that I like, almost as much as I like the delicious little sweet loaves themselves. Thereโs still time to indulge in this fragrant Easter seasonโs sweet spiced bread. We have always loved the indescribable deliciousness of these cuboid buns, risen (in honor of the occasion, one suspects) with yeast, studded with candied orange peel and raisins, with a frosting cross on top. Having eaten my way through more HCBs than was prudent, all in the interest of research, I can announce that my personal favorite this year is the tender, toothsome example from Gayleโs Bakery. All the spice flavors are in balance. These are, simply putโclassic. Get some fast. After Easter youโll have to wait for a whole year ($2 each).
Farm to Table: For the 1 Percent?
Somebodyโs got to say it. Since controversy seems to have grabbed our world by the throat, I might as well wade on in. I was recently sent the 2016 schedule of al fresco dinners created by the folks at Outstanding in the Field. Iโve been to several of these lengthy, atmospheric events in the past. Some were astonishingly wonderful. (I recall pork belly made by David Kinch of Manresa Restaurant served in a Happy Valley apple orchard, seated next to Ridge winemaker Paul Draper, for example.) Others were, well, memorable if one thinks like a laid-back left-coast hipster. As I surveyed this yearโs listing of dinners that will spread the linen tables in fields, beaches and orchards all over the country, my mouth began watering. A ranch in Petaluma in May. A Sea Cove near Half Moon Bay. Roger that. But before I could continue my gastronomic reveries, my eye snagged on something I couldnโt quite wrap my brain around: The price. The price for one of these California field dinners showcasing local foods, fine chefs, and fine winemakers is now $245 per person. So, by my reckoning, that means that dinner for two will run you $500. If you want to feast in a field near Tokyo, itโll run you $320 per person (excluding airfare). The ones on Whidbey Island in Washington are only $225, and in the Midwest, dinners run $215 per person. I was hyperventilating by the time I finished reading. But, if you have something special to celebrate, visit outstandinginthefield.com.
Annieglass Alert!
The wines of Nicole WalshโsSer Winery will be highlighted at this Saturdayโs Annieglass winetasting, March 26 from 1-3:30 p.m. This is a great time to hang out at the tasting bar tucked between the showroom and fabrication studio of Annieglassโ Watsonville headquarters, and taste a flight of Walshโs outstanding wines. Sip, shop and take a free studio tour that starts at 1:30 p.m. The showroom in Watsonville is located at 310 Harvest Drive. annieglass.com
Manresa and Love Apple Farm Split
About this severance from his long-time exclusive kitchen grower, three-Star Michelin chef David Kinch of Manresa told me last week, โI will be using a series of small farmers and going back to the farmers markets. Our food is always evolving and dynamic. That said, I donโt expect major changes,โ he added. Stay tuned.ย
Itโs the morning after St. Paddyโs Day, and my head is as foggy as the coastline. After nights like that, for me, there is only one cure: Windmill Cafe, and the revitalizing Sauteed Veggie Croissant sandwich. As I enter the cozy cafe, housed inside a historic building shaped like a windmill, an involuntary sigh escapes my lungs. Stands of muffins and gluten-free cookies roost like hens along the entry, and the air is filled with the warm smells of breakfast and coffee. As always, Iโm tempted by the chalkboard menu of smoothies, bagels, lunch specials, and breakfast favorites, but today I know what I want before I walk in the door. The waitress rewards my smile with a charming blue ceramic mug hand-painted with the face of an owl. โWe only give this mug to special people,โ she says, sweetly. While I wait, I thaw my brain with sips of honey-sweetened coffee and admire a collection of ceramic windmills and adorable salt and pepper shakers. Thereโs a peaceful vibe, with Sufjan Stevens playing softly over the methodical kitchen sounds. Windmill Cafe is the kind of place where you find that your phone stays in your pocket and you take the time to sit with your friends, bring a book or read the paper, and relax. My sandwich arrives, and itโs like the sun comes out. Tender zucchini, broccolini, sweet snap peas, carrots, and slender asparagus spill out of the confines of the toasted croissant. The bright Dijon mustard and dill sauce complements a buttery, golden omelet perfectly, and crumbles of tangy, salty sheepโs milk feta have melted beautifully over the whole shebang. The layers of texture are delightful: soft eggs with still-crunchy vegetables, flaky pastry and melted cheese, all elevated by that zesty, delicious sauce. Itโs so tasty, and so unlike any other breakfast sandwich Iโve ever had. Thereโs no obligatory pile of homefries, or an out-of-season fruit cup; this meal stands on its own. And after Iโve finished, leaving nothing but croissant shrapnel on my plate, I feel nourished, satisfied, resurrected, and much more ready for the day. 21231 E. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, 464-4698, windmillcafesantacruz.com.
Whenย DNA told me he wanted to write about what he described simply as โthe indie wrestling scene in Santa Cruz,โ I only had a couple of questions: 1) โWhat?โ and 2) โNo, really, what?โ
As he explained, I noticed Santa Cruzโs go-to comedy guy getting that look. You know the one Iโm talking about, where somebody knows way too much about something than can possibly be good for them, and somebody else is letting them talk about it?
Yeah, Iโm all about that look. I think one of the best things we can do here at GT is get deep into Santa Cruzโs subcultures, and DNA does that in his cover story this week.
The stage personas, if you will, of the players in the indie wrestling scene may be a hoot, but itโs the personal stories behind those larger-than-life performances that are the core of the story, and theyโre surprising and even touching. Who knew we could be moved by grown men and women in tights?
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Coffee Boil
Re: โGood Idea,โ 3/16): Does the Good Times have a โblame the Jewsโ mindset? Based on your little blurb about the changes being discussed regarding the Stevenson Cafรฉ at UCSC, it is all about the need for remodeling for โJewishโ food, whatever that is. I have had Indian Jewish food, Moroccan and Tunisian Jewish food, Yemenite Jewish food, as well as European Jewish food. None of that requires remodeling. What may require modifications is introducing kosher food. However, the plan is to introduce both kosher food and halal food so that both devout Jews and Muslims can dine on campus and still observe their traditions. Why was the reference to halal food not mentioned? Are you afraid of being accused of being โIslamophobicโ or is it just easier to blame the Jews for this alleged controversy? There are also financial issues involved as the coffee house had often lost money. Is it too much for you to get the story right?
I am an alum of Stevenson, although before the coffee house was built. I hope that the parties involved can resolve the differences, because the Stevenson Coffee House is an asset to the campus. Having a place that can accommodate a diverse student body should not be trivialized.
Gil Stein
Aptos I do not think โGood Ideaโ means what you think it means. โ Editor
Strategy vs. Treachery
Re: โPosner Undisclosed,โ (GT, 3/9): Deception is the privilege of the politically correct. When โweโ do it, itโs strategy, when โtheyโ do it, itโs treachery. So โTake The Pledge! Support Progressive Candidates!โ Nail the Koch Brothers operatives while looking the other way at scoundrels in PC masks.
I hold Santa Cruz โprogressivesโ in contempt for their long-standing posturing to justify petty power over principle. The great hypocrisy of โprogressivesโ is they consider their stance on national and international issues sufficient cover to dismiss their cowardly double standard locally.
If itโs beyond the local application of values firewall, these self-righteous โprogressivesโ will shout out approval or disapproval. This is particularly acute with issues of abuse of power. Locally, they are silent. Beyond the local application of values firewall, where it takes no real courage to stand up, they launch protest campaigns, bloviate endlessly and devise bogus awards for each other to keep the spin going.
Bob Lamonica
Santa Cruz
Online Comments Re: No Place to Call Home
Iโm amazed at all the people who feel entitled to have affordable housing in Santa Cruz. Most of the homeowners in this town sacrificed for years, working long hours, commuting, etc. in order to live in this special place. What is happening to rents and home prices is not due to any conspiracy by landlords, it is simply the result of supply and demand. I would love to live in Beverly Hills, I simply cannot afford to. If many of you would quit complaining and work hard and sacrifice, you could probably afford to live here. If you cannot afford to live here, no one is obligated to finance your lifestyle.
โ Stephen W. Rohrer
Re: No Place to Call Home
If the greedy property owners and realtors around here keep driving out the heart and soul of Santa Cruz, nobody is going to want to live here. Itโs so overrun by crime right now, Iโm uprooting my successful business and moving. You can take your $700,000 condos and keep them. By the way, pray the drought ends before the bottom falls out from your blatantly inflated market. RIP, Santa Cruz.
โ ย Consultant
Correction
Last weekโs dining subhead erroneously stated that the new East End Gastropub is in Seabright. The correct location is 1501 41st Ave., St. 1, Capitola. We regret the error.
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
GAME CHANGER
Akira Thompson, who graduated from UCSCรขโฌโขs engineering masterรขโฌโขs program last year, developed a videogame that leaves some players unable to see their world the same way again. &maybetheywontkillyou puts players in the shoes of an inner-city African-American, forcing them to make tough choices about everyday tasks, like going to the store. Based on their choices, the player might end up humiliated or even killed.
GOOD WORK
NEUMAN!
Local artist Wendy Ballen recently got recognized by none other than Mad magazine. Ballen, a metalworker, crafted a wire dog reading a copy of Mad over a wastebasket. The picture appeared in Madรขโฌโขs April issue. Above the photo, the publication ran a letter from Ballen, also a tai chi teacher, about why she loves the mag and what it means to her family.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
รขโฌลThe art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.รขโฌย
Blending classic funk with digital styles and tools, brothers Matt and Mark Hill, aka the Floozies, are making a mark on the electronica scene with what has been described as โmusical brain sharing.โ Working without a set list and no spoken communication between them, the two build off of each other to create bass-heavy electronic textures that draw on everything from grunge and jazz to classical, hip-hop and jam. Hailing from Lawrence, Kansas, the duo is making waves far beyond those of their neighboring wheat fields.ย INFO: 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 30. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $14/adv, $16/door. 423-1338. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Friday, March 25 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.
Moshe Vilozny recalls when Michael Franti joined him and his band Universal Language on stage a decade ago at NorCalโs Reggae on the River. After putting so much work into his world-beat fusion dance band, he felt like he was seeing the fruits of his labor. But for the past eight years, Universal Language has not been so active. Vilozny suddenly had a baby to make time for, plus member David โPachaโ Alvares moved back to Mexico and it didnโt feel the same without him. Still, that drive to create never went away. Vilozny is currently raising funds for his debut solo album, which will feature music heโs been working on over the last several years. โItโs something that wouldnโt have the dance floor jumping for a couple hours straight,โ Vilozny says. โThe new album, itโs more intimate and acoustic. Itโs still got some groove, but I would say itโs more Americana, roots, soul. Itโs more of a songwriter, storytelling approach, more about the lyrics and the song and having more sparse arrangements.โ The songs on the album are ready to record, which he plans to do once the project gets funded via Kickstarter. Heโll be playing guitar and singing on the record, with Dan Robbins on upright bass, Gary Kehoe on percussion, and his brother Boaz Vilozny on harmony vocals. โThese songs just happened. I didnโt set out to write them. Itโs basically a natural evolution, just me being comfortable and playing really for myself. Itโs been a process of not trying to please anyone, just playing for the joy of music,โ Vilozny says. โA lot of these songs are about my personal experiences and where Iโm at right now.โย INFO: To learn more about the Kickstarter campaign, visit moshev.com.
Youโd be hard-pressed to find anyone on the touring circuit as passionate as Bryan McPherson. The acoustic singer-songwriter, originally from Boston but now living in L.A., plays his guitar with more ferocity than most rockers shred on their axe. And his voice will fill a room with or without a microphone. His songs range from highly political (he wrote several songs about the Occupy movement) to intimately personal, and the excitement he generates at his live shows with just himself and his guitar rivals that of an eight-piece band. AARON CARNES INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994
BLUEGRASS
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND
Hailing from the mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, by way of Urbana, Illinois, Yonder Mountain String Band is one of the outstanding acts in the progressive bluegrass movement. With an inventive, improvisational style that bridges rock, bluegrass and jazz, YMSB is a favorite on the jam band festival circuit as well as in roots circles. CAT JOHNSON INFO: 8 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $25. 423-1338.
THURSDAY 3/24
REGGAE
RAS ATTITUDE
St. Croix reggae sensation Ras Attitude returns to Rasta Cruz with his message of peace, love and unity. Born the son of a gospel singer, this artist from the Virgin Islands began singing at a young age at church, and found his stage legs by age 7. In 2001, his debut album, Happiness, introduced the world to his blend of soulful reggae with a hip-hop twist. Since then, Ras Attitude has released an additional six more albums, with his latest, Hold the Vibes, released in 2012. MAT WEIR INFO: 9 p.m. Moeโs Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10/adv, $15/door. 479-1854.
ROCK
PUFFBALL DANCE COLLECTIVE
The Puffball Dance Collective promises to lift you to โnew heights of collective dancing puffball consciousness.โ How will they do this, you ask? By creating extended music jams out of their original compositions and classic rock covers (Grateful Dead, Steely Dan, Allman Brothers). What does any of this mean, and whatโs with the whole puffball talk? Just go with it. The members of this local supergroup are experts at long jams, and if thatโs your thing, itโs sure to be an exhilarating experience. AC INFO: 7:30 p.m. Don Quixoteโs, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $8/adv, $10/door. 335-2800
ROCK
WARREN HAYNES
Warren Haynes is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock guitarists ever. His work with the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead, and his own Govโt Mule has made him a favorite among jam band audience and guitar shredders alike. And heโs a honey-voiced singer-songwriter with a handful of albums under his own name. On Thursday, Haynes comes to town with the Ashes & Dust Band, comprising progressive bluegrass trio ChessBoxer and acclaimed drummer Jeff Sipe. CJ INFO: 8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $29/gen, $45/gold. 423-8209.
FRIDAY 3/25
METAL
KINNEFRET
In todayโs more-brutal-than-thou metal scene, it takes a truly grotesque band to turn heads and make people pay attention. Hailing from the grimy streets of Oakland, Kinnefret is one of those bands. As soon as someone presses โplay,โ everyone within listening range is liable to turn their head with a look of crazed bewilderment. They may be even more shocked when they hear lead vocalist Chelsea Rocha joined by lead guitarist Artak Ozanโsinging in Farsi. Theyโll be joined by Stormbat, Warcorpse and Depths of Chaos for local metalhead Gianluigiโs birthday bash. MW INFO: 9 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.
SATURDAY 3/26
FOLK-ROCK
LANGHORNE SLIM
New York-based folk-rocker Langhorne Slim (born Sean Scolnick) wears his heart on his sleeve in all the right ways. His 2012 album The Way We Move was one of the musical bright spots of the year, with raw, honest and soulful lyrics wrapped up in singalong-worthy melodies. Last yearโs acclaimed album, The Spirit Moves, is full of joy, sorrow and introspection, and is catchy as hell. As good as Slim is, he seems to only be getting better. On Saturday, heโs joined by alt-country artist Johnny Fritz for an intimate, seated set. CJ INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20. 423-1338.
SUNDAY 3/27
INDIE-FOLK
SNOWAPPLE
Snowapple likes to think of themselves as a folk trio, but it might sound a bit surreal if what you have in mind is, well, folk music. The Dutch girls each bring unique elements to the ensemble. Laurien was an opera singer, and played in gypsy punk bands. Una was a jazz singer. Laura was a conductor and composer in Latvia. All these elements combined create music that is a David Lynch take on folk music. Their harmonies are creepy, and the music is cinematic and bizarre. They play the standard acoustic folksy instruments, but also include things like the glockenspiel and accordion, as well. AC INFO: 7 p.m. Don Quixoteโs, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $10/adv, $12/door. 335-2800
MONDAY 3/28
AFRICAN
ACOUSTIC AFRICA: HABIB KOITร & VUSI MAHLASELA
Stylistically and culturally Habib Koitรฉ and Vusi Mahlasela have little in common, aside from the fact theyโre both committed to using their gorgeous music as a vehicle for social uplift. Koitรฉ is a charismatic guitarist, bandleader and vocalist who has crafted a lapidary sound drawing on rhythms and traditions from across Mali, the ethnically diverse, landlocked West African nation thatโs home to a vast array of musical riches. Mahlasela, a breathtaking solo performer, spent his early years on the front line in the struggle against South African apartheid, and he rocketed to fame upon the ascension of Nelson Mandela to the presidency. Theyโve become close confederates over the course of several co-headlining tours together, buoyed by the contrast of ย Koitรฉโs earthy grit and Mahlaselaโs skybound sound. ANDREW GILBERT INFO: 7 and 9 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 427-2227.
IN THE QUEUE
CANDACE
Garage-rock trio out of Portland. Thursday at Crepe Place PAT TRAVERS BAND
Rock and blues legend. Friday at Moeโs Alley MONKEY BOYS
Long-running Santa Cruz rock band. Friday at Don Quixoteโs PAINTED MANDOLIN
Acoustic tribute to Jerry Garcia. Friday at Kuumbwa GEOGRAPHER
Indie dream pop out of San Francisco. Tuesday at Catalyst
Blending classic funk with digital styles and tools, brothers Matt and Mark Hill, aka the Floozies, are making a mark on the electronica scene with what has been described as โmusical brain sharing.โ
Working without a set list and no spoken communication between them, the two build off of each other to create bass-heavy electronic textures that draw on...
Moshe Vilozny recalls when Michael Franti joined him and his band Universal Language on stage a decade ago at NorCalโs Reggae on the River. After putting so much work into his world-beat fusion dance band, he felt like he was seeing the fruits of his labor.
But for the past eight years, Universal Language has not been so active. Vilozny...
WEDNESDAY 3/23
FOLK
BRYAN MCPHERSON
Youโd be hard-pressed to find anyone on the touring circuit as passionate as Bryan McPherson. The acoustic singer-songwriter, originally from Boston but now living in L.A., plays his guitar with more ferocity than most rockers shred on their axe. And his voice will fill a room with or without a microphone. His songs range from highly political...
