Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Tuesday 7:30-8:30 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.
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THE DROP OF DEATH. Doesn't anyone else remember the horrible death of that child at Great America who dropped from their tower ride about three years ago? And now the Boardwalk wants to add one of them here, why? Before the City Council bends it like backward to add to the Canfield coffers let's think about safety. Amusement parks in California have always fought state safety inspections saying their own rules and regulations are better. I say IF, a big IF, our City Council thinks the three plus million annual tourists will actually stop coming to Charlie's place and are even half way inclined to let him have his Drop of Death then how about a compromise? Let's demand that The Boardwalk allows California State Safety inspections on all rides at all times, AND they get to put up a lowered version of this ride AND no more forever altering our horizon with any more high risers. Seems reasonable doesn't it? I mean look what the Boardwalk takes from the City now in terms of ocean frontage, fire and police, water, using our land for a parking lot, etc, etc. I mean fairs fair, isn't it? Let's hear of some serious negotiating from the Council this time.
FLICK FLACK. The brilliant new film The Whale Rider does what Bend It like Beckham and Big Fat Greek Thing fail to do. Whale Rider treats an ethnic culture with respect and dignity. Whale Rider is about an ancient Maori legend and tradition and changes necessary to keep the spirit alive. The acting is perfect, especially the young star don't miss it. Then there's Sweet Sixteen another in director Ken Loach's ongoing films about the working class. This time the film is set in Scotland and the accents are so strong that it's all subtitled. Like The Whale Rider it's about growing up and facing the reality of an unforgiving environment, don't miss it either. No I haven't seen The Hulk yet but I'm wondering if the tight little pants he wears manage to grow with him or he just has to change a lot. Well there's always spandex or maybe FX, I'll let you know.
CITY COUNCIL 2004 RACE. Ryan Coonerty told me back in February he was going to run for Santa Cruz City Council next year. I was going to mention it in my old Metro column but was so rudely interrupted I didn't get a chance then. So I asked him again last week and he's still going to run, so there you are. Then I asked Steve Argue and he said he felt pretty sure he'd be running again, and went on to tell me about some Peace and Freedom candidates he was excited about. Thomas Leavitt said he's been considering running again next year but it would depend on his financial situation. It costs a lot to run, even for Santa Cruz City Council. Then I heard that Lynn Robinson, stalwart of the Santa Cruz Neighbors organization was running. I called her… she sez, "why would I do that? No!" So that ends that one. There is so much dissatisfaction with six out of the seven present city council members I'm predicting that we're in for a wild campaign year ahead. Watch this space as rumors abound and abound.
ABOUT THE HISTORICAL PHOTOS. If you've ever doubted that history is alive, keep watching the weekly historical photos printed in these columns. Remember last week's fire photo? Well historian Sandy Lydon www.sandylydon.com emailed to add some contributions and corrections to the data I used. Sandy and Gary Griggs are working on a book about disasters around Monterey Bay. He knew that particular "Watsonville" fire photo and says it was in Monterey, it happened Sept. 15, 1924, and it was near Fisherman's wharf. He added that it was Associated Oil tanks that were hit by the same lightning storm that came across Monterey Bay and started a fire in our Santa Cruz mountains. Two soldiers from Ft. Ord died fighting the fire and several canneries also burned. Just wait'll their book comes out, I'll let you know. But do check out Sandy's website, it's got tons of area history.
TO INFIRMITY…AND BEYOND. You know when the nurse tells you to strip and put on one of those flimsy gowns like for x-rays for instance? And sometimes they remember to tell you the ties go in the back, so your things don't show? Well I came up with an earth shattering idea last time I had to put one on. Tie all those ties first, and then slip the gown on over your head. The nurse was amazed at how neatly and completely I tied them. I didn't tell her the secret. Try to stay calm about this idea but do remember where you heard it.
SHAKESPEARE SANTA CRUZ. This season looks like a real winning combination of plays. For starters, there's The Comedy of Errors and all that foolishness about twins. This time it's being set in Santa Cruz so we'll just have to wait and see if they use the lines, "One pinch, a hungry lean-fac'd villain, A mere anatomy, a mountebank, A threadbare juggler, and a fortune-teller, A needy, hollow-ey'd, sharp looking wretch, A living dead man". You don't suppose they had homeless way back in Shakespeare's time, do you?? Then there's Noel Coward's Private Lives. If you want to do homework, rent Director Sidney Franklin's film version starring Norma Shearer, Gene Hersholt, Robert Montgomery and Reginald Denny. It's rare but worth searching for.
Hamlet will be in the outdoor Glen so that means "shouted Shakespeare". It really hit me for the first time after I visited the new Globe Theatre in London last year. Shakespeare wrote for little enclosed theatres where the acoustics made it easy to act subtle and say words quietly. Think about the difficulty of doing a monologue or whispering love words so that folks 200 feet or more can hear you…that's shouted Shakespeare. And it not only takes special actors to carry it off but it adds a different quality to the meaning of the play. Shakespeare enthusiasts are waiting to see Hamlet, and are wondering what the setting will be. I talked with Michael Warren of UCSC Faculty and Shakespeare expert and constant advisor to Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Michael tells me Artistic director Risa Branin who's also directing Hamlet, has set the play in a modern setting. There'll be actors moving through the audience, Michael says and the costuming will be "non specific contemporary". Then he laughed and said it'll be sort of "a Denmark of The Mind- 2003", which sounds like challenging theatre to me.
The inside tip is to buy your tickets now. Santa Cruzans usually wait for two or three weeks after the performances start to sell out and can't get good seats. Subscribe to all three plays and get good deals. Remember Saturday shows and Sunday matinees are the most popular, think ahead. Go to http://shakespearesantacruz.org or call 459-2159 and tell 'em you read it here, it'll help.
IN CONCLUSION. More next week on San Francisco's 8th Silent Film Festival but save the dates July 12 & 13. Go to www.ticketweb.com or call 415-977-1137 for tickets… Do we need to look into the new parking meters that automatically go back to zero when your car leaves the parking space…what part of that money does the meter company get?...I'm nearly the last to see that The San Francisco Examiner is now a free Wednesday tabloid size paper, and does that seem odd…Yes, El Teatro Campesino is doing "I Don't Have to Show You No Stinkin' Badges" from July 19 through August 31st. It's a perfect excuse to take your visitors to San Juan Bautista call 831-623-2444. Certainly I read the late breaking news that genetic studies confirm that we all came out of Africa between 130,000 and 200,000 years ago. I don't see any problem with that except that if we all went back where we came from, as the unpopular saying goes it sure would be crowded.
BUMPER STICKERS. I've been printing reader's favorite bumper stickers for many years and will continue to do so, if you send them in. I also love nutso definitions and goofy quotes. Scott MacClelland emailed these for example. Avoidable: What a bullfighter tries to do. Baloney: Where some hemlines fall. Selfish: What the owner of a seafood store does... Sudafed: Bringing litigation against the Government. Paradox: Two physicians. Heroes: What the guy in the boat does. Rubberneck: What you do to relax your spouse. Well, you get the idea and thank you very much.
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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HOOK AND RELEASE FISHING. It’s cruel, sadistic, and not sporting to catch and release fish. That’s what Jeff Jacoby said in an excellent column in the Chronicle Wed. May 14. Jeff went on to say that Britain’s Royal Society, a leading scientific Institute, just published a paper saying that fish do feel pain, and react with “profound behavioral and physiological changes…comparable to those observed in higher mammals.” Jacoby also asks us to think about “using worms and flies to catch mountain bluebirds, or maybe eagles and ospreys, and hauling them around on 50 feet of line while they tried to get away. Then when you landed them, you’d release them. No one would tolerate that sort of thing with birds. But we will with fish because they’re underwater and out of sight.” It’s something to think about.
FLACK ABOUT FLICKS. Just to get caught up, here’s some even quicker than usual thoughts on films. Harrison Ford’s Hollywood Homicide didn’t do a thing for me, no laughs, no acting, and a stupid plot if any, don’t go. Bend It Like Beckham is another “feel- good –cute- little- ethnic- group” film like Big Fat Greek Wedding. It’s blah and only for teen age girls with self esteem problems. Finding Nemo is the usual brilliant Pixar animation conception. Go see it, but it’s not as good as their other works. Spellbound the spelling contest documentary is absolutely great, don’t miss it, and take the kids. Cowboy BeBop is a Japanese anime creation, and is violent, trite, and even boring, wait and rent it. Aside from the fact that I too am from Buffalo, New York and share the name, Bruce Almighty isn’t as good as you hoped it would be. Morgan Freeman is his usually perfect acting job and Jennifer Anniston holds her own too. Jim Carrey, like so many comics (Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams etc.) just can’t find the right scripts. Rent this one too, and save your bucks. A Mighty Wind isn’t as good as Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show but it’s a cute takeoff on the 60’s folk music scene, go for it. Matrix Reloaded barely tries to continue the faux philosophy of Matrix One. It’s pointless, too long, badly acted but needs to be seen on a big screen. Mostly for high tech minded, if that’s any clue. The Italian Job starts out ok but then gets cute and loses it entirely, don’t go.
DOWNTOWN DRUGS. Police Chief Belcher also brought us up to date on drug use at that Santa Cruz Neighbors meeting. He said alcohol is by far the number one problem in Santa Cruz. Our police make twice as many arrests for drink related problems as for drugs. Chief Belcher stated that Santa Cruz has twice as many alcohol selling outlets as an average city, and that’s due to our tourism attraction. Our police make an average of 2 drug arrests per day. Heroin according to the Chief, is now cheap, and most comes from Mexico. A pound of heroin sells for $8,000. 1 ounce is around $500, and a bindle (1/4 gram about the size of your fingernail) is $20. Cocaine has gone down in popularity around here. It goes for $100 per ounce. Meth or crank is very big here; the base product that it’s made from comes from Canada. It’s made into “8 balls” and sells for $120 or made into “teeners” (1.7 grams and they sell for $80. But like Chief Belcher sez it’s the alcohol that causes the real problems in our community. We need to keep that perspective. P.S. Chief Belcher added that 70% of California’s population lives in the cities and 30% live in rural areas, which I didn’t know.
FOUR REALLY GOOD FILMS. You must have heard how good Winged Migration is. That’s the bird film that took four years to film and it shows. Like Rivers & Tides, you leave enlightened and feeling that in spite of President Bush, there’s some good things in the world. L’Auberge Espagnole is about young students coming of age. It takes place in Barcelona and it is an excellent film, don’t miss it. Nowhere In Africa won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year. It’s about a German-Jewish family trying to settle in Africa in 1938. Four stars at least. Philip Seymour Hoffman is always fantastic and does a great job in Owning Mahoney. He’s plays a compulsive gambler and makes you not just believe him but provides a view of what this problem might be like to live with. Why Minnie Driver is in the film I can’t figure, but John Hurt is better than ever as the casino boss, please see this film.
FELIX KULPA GALLERY. I finally got to visit the Felix Kulpa Gallery. It is a wonderful, beautiful, much needed art place for our community. Unfortunately Mrs. Kulpa, whose name I assume is Mea, wasn’t there. It’s a long time to wait so don’t, go now, but Michael Leeds is having a rare showing of his motorcycle art there from July 4 through August 17. If you haven’t seen Leed’s work this is your big chance. Actually you probably have seen his stuff all over California and the west coast and not realized whose it was. The Felix Kulpa Gallery is at 107 Elm Street which is out the back door of Streetlight Records, across from where Well Within used to be.
MICHAEL MOORE’S PROBLEM. I liked Bowling for Columbine just as much as you did. I also think Moore’s doing a fine job of muck raking. I applaud his anti Bush statements at the Academy Awards, however I’m sure glad Moore’s on our side. Just imagine if he ever went after Noam Chomsky or Howard Zinn the way he did Charlton Heston…not that Heston didn’t have it coming but shoes would be on very different feet and I sure wouldn’t want to walk a mile in them.
THE RUSSIAN ARK. The long awaited film Russian Ark opens this week at the Nickelodeon. Only two or three times in my life have I seen a film that moved me so much. Some friends and I left the screening in tears and continued gulping and struggling to discuss this film for quite some time. I still am at a loss to say why this film is so stunning. It takes place in The Hermitage Palace in Russia in the 1700’s and time travels to the present time. It’s about art and Russian history, and as the production notes say, “The Hermitage is the Russian Ark, affectionately guarding art and history until the world sees better days”. It’s filmed in one take that lasts 90 minutes. There are 867 actors, 22 assistant directors, hundreds of extras, three live orchestras, and NO edits, NO cuts. It is truly an amazing cinema achievement. You don’t need to know anything about Russia, or art, or cinema it’s just a great film. The San Francisco Chronicle has a thing called “a Critical Consensus” they run every Sunday. It’s a survey of 40 major critics including the NY Times, LATimes, The Chron, etc. Russian Ark has been number one for an astonishing 17 weeks now. Spellbound is #2.
RIOT AT THE HYATT. Jerry Hoffman’s 12 Sports Productions puts on two absolutely exciting nights of boxing every year in The Grand Ballroom of The Hyatt Regency in Monterey. I try to never miss any of them. This July 3 at 7:30 sharp Jerry’s got another bang up card with two undefeated fighters; Luis Perez, and Ricardo Junez. Maurice Hooks from Modesto will face Sheldon Callum of S.F. Tony Avila will go six rounds with Ricardo Barraga. The real star of the evening for us locals will be Ms. Carina Moreno, world Champion Amateur from Watsonville. This will be Carina’s professional debut. As you may know Carina is a proud member of the “Tacos Moreno” family. Carina will challenge Cecilia “Boom Boom” Barraga from Chicago. Assuming she’ll win, they should call her Carina “Tachar” Moreno (to cross out or blot out) or possibly Carina “Taimondo” Moreno (sly, crafty). As of this posting there are still tickets available, but they always sell out…honestly! Call 688-1604 and I’ll meet you there.
ABOUT BRATTONONLINE.COM. This online adventure is incredibly exciting for me. No more pesky editors, censoring, cutting, adding, or worrying about advertisers, The Boardwalk, or pressures like that. Take out a subscription; they’re free; get your friends to subscribe too. The number of subscribers is what makes online newsletters work. Get intrepid business friends to advertise, we’ll make deals, but no compromises. And let me know what you think either in Letters to the Editor or Off The Record, if you prefer.
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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