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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BUSTLING DOWNTOWN. Much is happening on Pacific Avenue new-business-wise. The faux Cooperhouse has Gelato Mania moving in, plus rumor has it that they're going to make the gelato on the premises. Shoe Fetish also coming soon to the Cooperhouse, they'll be near Image Snap and I guess will cater to folks with shoe problems. Uptown Jeans has a store in San Luis Obispo will be opening in the Cooperhouse (and we need to create another name for that building). Urban Outfitters says they'll be opening in November where Wherehouse Records used to be at Church and Pacific. That's across from the empty lot where a Plaza should be. Cold Stone Creamery which has more than 300 stores on this coast is now heading east according to the latest issue of Nutrition Action. They are also opening in the old Palookaville/Morris Abrams building at Pacific and Lincoln. Don't read what Nutrition Action magazine says about Cold Stone Creamery ice cream creations and their comparison to 1 pound of BBQ Baby Back ribs, or two Pizza Hut Pepperoni Pizzas, or two quarter pounders — I mean we've got to have ice cream right? I would guess that Marini's Downtown will feel the same squeeze that Borders gave all local book stores when they opened. All in all our downtown seems to be doing quite well. You have to consider the usual business problems like the depression, and lack of real large spaces but downtown seems fine. Yes, our downtown is housing more and more businesses that you find in every downtown and mall and has lost much of the Santa Cruz Uniqueness. One could say we need to keep a much tighter rein on the Redevelopment Agency and hold the City Council more responsible, to preserve what we used to call home, but we've been saying that for years.
THREE FILMS. The only reason I can think of to see CAMP is because Stephen Sondheim does a 1 minute cameo. If that isn't sufficient, avoid this film about a summer camp for kid amateurs who want to be in musicals. Jamie Lee Curtis does a fine job of being funny in Freaky Friday. So does Leslie Lohan, her co-star. It's more mindless summer idiocy but it is well done. The surprise for me was Kevin Costner's Open Range. Among major critics, only Roger Ebert really thought it deserved classic western status. I agree with Ebert this time. Robert Duvall is at his very best, and that says a lot. The traditional plot in Open Range is about values, like Shane, High Noon, and Bad Day at Black Rock, or even John Ford's classics. If you don't like Westerns, or even samurai films which have copied our westerns, stay away from Open Range. On the other hand, if those pesky, dull visitors are still hanging out at your house and you're running out of things to do, send, or even take them, to see this one.
A VERY SANTA CRUZ WEEK. When you try to pin down just what makes Santa Cruz so unique you have to consider a week like the last one. For starters, Al Holbert retired from decades of teaching at Cabrilho College and there was a fine party in his honor with teachers, politicians, computer people, relatives and old friends in attendance. Then on Thursday the 21st, the California Grey Bears celebrated their 30th anniversary with a grand occasion that featured more politicians, seniors, and community helpers. Grey Bears is a real Santa Cruz creation. Later that same day The Santa Cruz Community Credit Union held their Grand Opening of the new location at 324 Front Street where that awful Movie 1 & 2 used to be and where the Nickelodeon almost moved in to. Some national rep of credit unions spoke and said that the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union has become a model of how Credit Unions should work and everybody got teary eyed and had an excellent time. On Saturday the ACLU of Santa Cruz County held their annual garden party and Awards Ceremony. They honored Josh Sonnenfeld for his student activism, Anne Turner for her courageous work directing our City and County Library systems, poet Adrienne Rich for her poems and actions that have changed the way creative people are regarded, and Mardi Wormhoudt for her long record of fighting for equal rights when she was mayor of Santa Cruz and as our County supervisor. Donna Hunter gave a short talk about why we have to vote no on Proposition 54 which deals with collecting and analyzing data on race and ethnicity. Assemblyman John Laird was at some of the above parties, Congressman Sam Farr attended some, several City Council people were at these affairs, but not a word or mention, or even a proclamation from our State Senator Bruce McPherson. Let's have a contest to best explain why McPherson either wasn't invited anyplace or was a no-show. I have my own opinions on this; I m assuming you do too?
MORE ON THAT TANNERY ISSUE. One of the first justifications I've heard for converting the Salz Tannery into a $52,000,000 live in studio space for artists is something like well, what else can we do with that place? As about 10,000 people have told me and I couldn't agree more—why not create an absolutely gorgeous affordable housing complex there? WE could make that old tannery into a real affordable (not semi market price) scene that would really set new standards for living. It would also earn great credits for our possibly creative city council and our Redevelopment Agency.
THINK AHEAD. Now's the time to plan on attending the 14th Annual Pacific Rim Film Festival. It's going to run from Thursday, October 9 to Wednesday October 15. Remember that this is the film festival that's absolutely free! It'll be at the Del Mar Theatre downtown, The Rio Theatre on the Eastside and at the Fox Theatre in Watsonville. There'll be 14 films from Japan, Vietnam, Mexico, mainland China, and places like that. Eddie Kamae and George Keaumoku will give a concert followed by a screening of Heart of The Sea. There's a new special offer, you can actually get early entry passes for the usually sold out evening screenings by becoming a Friend of The Festival . Call 457-7894 for details.
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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SALZ TANNERY ARTS DISTRICT PROJECT. There's a bunch of folks at the Santa Cruz Art League who have raised serious questions about the feasibility of developing the old Salz Tannery into some kind of Arts Center. These folks are definitely opposed to moving the Art League into as sketchy a project as the Salz Tannery now seems to be, and are working hard to let the world know their concerns. I met with 9 of these concerned artists. Then, at Mayor Emily Reilly's request, one of the artists groups and I met with Emily and Tom Nordyke this morning (Wed. August 20) to straighten things out. This Arts Center is a Redevelopment Agency project, and Tom is being employed by them to see this development go through. The agency has created an organizing board; this board will become a non profit organization and in turn will set up a governing body to run the Tannery Center. You probably know these board members names: Harvey Nickelson (Coast Commercial Bank) is the chair, Charles Canfield (Boardwalk), Gary Reece, and Bruce Nicholson, are some of the members at large, that should tell you they're serious. Beyond that, Attorney Bob Bosso, who's represented almost every would be developer of our North Coast, and Gary Filizetti, who is the president of Devcon, are both providing pro bono services to this non profit. If the history behind those names doesn't impress you, you haven't lived here very long. Those are some heavy hitters who seldom, if ever, give anything to our community that doesn't result in big bucks coming back to them. Heads up here!!!
BANNING, CANNING, PANNING, THE TANNERY? We need to thank those Art League members who have raised some valid questions. Will the Tannery Art Center take away even more from our downtown? Traffic is miserable in the tannery area now, what would happen if it does become a tourist attraction? They propose 127 artists live-in studios renting at 70 cents a sq.ft. Who decides which artists get to move in, what if you're not an artist, who is an artist? Who's going to go there? The City can't afford to run their shuttle now, and parking will be tough at the Tannery so who will walk there or even try to drive there? I personally can't see why Mayor Emily and Tom Nordyke are so excited about this being someplace anyone would want to visit. Who wants to see where 127 artists live and work? Most artists I know value privacy, and after being in hundreds of artists homes over the years... they really aren't worth much special attention. I'm trying to find some websites to send you to in order to get a more complete picture. Right now you can help support our Art League by visiting their gallery and learning more about their organization and especially about the Watercolor Society who have been so active in looking at the Tannery Development.
ONE BIG MOVIE. Due to an extreme vacation I only went to one film last week and it was a good one... Step Into Liquid. That's the newest surfer film and its now at the Del Mar. Old time film nuts could call it the Mondo Cane of surfing films. It shows surfing on the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Ireland, and lots of world wide surfing. More importantly, it gives you as many thrills as possible while you stay dry. There's lots of the "wild and crazy Santa Cruzans" surfing at Mavericks with the jet ski tow concept clearly filmed. I never could figure how that worked. There's the usual amount of holier than thou attitude which I figure is the result of combining smoke with salt water intrusion. But go see it, it's is a very exciting and beautiful film.
GOODBYE CATALYST. We're going to miss Randall Kane and his running of the Catalyst. I will especially; John Tuck and I bought the first beers in the new Catalyst back in April of 1975. That was the same year Good Times started. Matter of fact, the new Catalyst was the main topic of the first issue of Good Times. Randall's been trying to sell that place for years, now maybe he can take it easy, but he probably won't. Mark my words... the new San Jose owners will really do an enormous change on this nearly sacred institution. Let's all meet there in one year and see if I'm right. No one could run a place like Randall did.
AND ANOTHER THING. Isn't this a perfect time for the City Planning Department to demand that the new owners clean up that miserable, germ ridden store front next door? That's the former location of Frenchy's Book Store in case you just got here. But seriously, the City Council or some officials should use this chance to get that eyesore eliminated.
ABOUT DISPERSED CAMPING. You can camp anywhere outside of developed campgrounds in our National Forests. It's called dispersed camping. You take everything in and take everything out. Food, water, toilets - everything you need, you provide. In exchange you get to camp wherever you chose. We were in The Stanislaus National Forest up near Big Bear and didn't see another human being for five days. It's also free, you just need to stop at the nearest ranger station and get a campfire permit. And there was plenty of firewood everyplace. Clean air, deer, chipmunks, redwoods and we were at about 6500 feet elevation. I'll catch my breath pretty soon. Try dispersed camping, but do it before hunting season. We didn't see any bears but they allow the killing of 1700 bears each season, which means it could be crowded up there after Sept. 20 when the season opens.
FILM PLUG. The Dante Alighieri is presenting Dario Argento's Suspira this Sunday, 7 p.m. at The Rio Theatre. Argento fans are a breed apart, and trust me: his films are an acquired taste. He did Phantom of The Opera in 1998, Trauma in '93, Creepers in 85, Two Evil Eyes in '90 and Suspira in '77. Some blood and gore and good music, and it stars Alida Valli, and Jessica Harper. Only bring the children if they liked the original version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Visit the Dante Alighieri Society at www.folkplanet.com or email them at dantesantacruz@lycos.com or even phone them at 423-3900.
CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC. There's no arguing that the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music or "CabFesCoMu" which is what I guess we'll have to call it, is Santa Cruz County's biggest, most important contribution to the wide world of music. This year's Festival was for me, and I've attended the last 30 seasons, the absolute best yet. Or at least since Dennis Russell Davies left in 1990. Marin Alsop's choice of composers such as Michael Daugherty, Thomas Ades, Kevin Puts, John Adams, Richard Danielpour and Michael Hersch was brilliant, argumentative, innovative and inspiring. Those folks insightful and adventuresome enough to have attended this year's concerts will be bragging in years to come about hearing these composers this early in their music careers. Do plan on attending next year, it's great fun.
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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POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS. Certainly I'll be making candidate endorsements. I'd even make demands if it helped any. But right now I just wanted to tell you that Ms. Audie Bock Democrat, former state assemblywoman who is running would at least be an interesting Governor. She wasn't too popular representing some part of Oakland, but most folks don't know that she was the legendary Japanese film maker Akira Kurosawa's best subtitler. She worked on almost all of his late films, and gave an excellent film course at UCSC, which taught me plenty. Celia Scott, Caitlin Gaffney and Scott Bugenthal should run for Santa Cruz city council, if you ask me.
TALKING WITH CHRISTOPHER KROHN. In the last few months, our former Santa Cruz mayor Krohn has been seen more often than Comcast trucks. I asked him a bunch of questions at our last Union Coffee house coffee. And no, he still doesn't say he's going to run for city council...yet. I asked him about issues that happened while he was in office and why nothing ever changed.
1. Motorcycle noises: Chris sez that Police Chief Belcher admits motorcycle noise is a problem, and said we do issue tickets, there are numerous complaints, it is a priority and blah, blah etc. I think it's all just stonewalling and until some city council or the Downtown Association or the Chamber Of Commerce gets enough guts we'll all just have to deal with it. But why do they hang out at Starbucks?
2. On the Plaza at Pacific and Church streets: Krohn repeats that the council never voted on the Plaza. That's technically true. What they did do was to vote 7-0 in favor of giving Louis Rittenhouse everything he wanted, including a rushed approval for his non existent building plans. We still should have a Plaza in that location and Krohn tells me that the 3000 signatures weren't enough, too many from out of town etc. He never checked them. One of my most important questions was why was nothing ever dealt with on the probable illegality of the Boardwalk using our tidelands. Krohn said that the legal costs would have been too high for the city to pursue and it was just dropped. Krohn and Keith Sugar were the only two votes to push for furthering the Tidelands issue. I didn't ask why it was all such a hush, hush deal and why we were never told of any actions or results. Some day maybe we'll get a City Council that will push for some or any of above...not this one, for sure.
NET NOTES. Bush supporters should definitely NOT go to www.ericblumrich.com/gta.html. It takes a minute or two to download but it is one of the funniest and scariest sagas of the Florida voting massacre and the legacy thereafter. Don't tell where you read this.
FILM FOOLERY. Stephen Frears newest film Dirty Pretty Things is at least as good and probably more accessible than his many hits. Frears did My Beautiful Launderette, Prick Up Your Ears, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, Accidental Hero, Mary Reilly, and Hi Fidelity. So you can see he knows his stuff. D. P. Things stars Audrey Tautou from Amelie and she does an excellent job of acting. She plays a Turkish illegal immigrant beautifully. The film had too much of a Hollywood happy ending but the rest was super. Le Divorce has Kate Hudson who surpasses her Mom at every turn, Naomi Watts from Mulholland Drive and Leslie Caron from God knows where, but she's ok. It's a Merchant - Ivory film which tells you something. It's also too cute, flippy, and frou-frou for me. Definitely a summer frock type film if you know what I mean. I went to Watsonville's Green Valley Cinema 8 to see 28 Days Later again. The Green valley Cinema is a perfectly fine theatre, great seats and easy parking. For probably the first time in cinema history the film makers of 28 Days filmed a new ending and sent it to all the theatres who tacked it onto the film, after the credits. The new ending is only four minutes long, it is one of those damned open ended endings that may lead to a sequel, but at least it's better than the sweet happy original ending. Only see this film if you like horror, last folks on earth zombie creatures type things.
VACATIONS. I'm going on a one week wilderness camping trip into the Stanislaus National Forest this week. This made me think of a question that I've asked before. Why is it that only tourists wear shorts? Or stated another way, why is it that we only wear shorts when we are tourists. NO, I'm not wearing shorts on my vacation, or hardly ever anyways.
A PROPOS OF NADA. The multi-million-dollar redesigning of the Seattle Opera house that just reopened with Parsifal now has 100 (that's one hundred) women's toilets. The opera reviewers have so far been more impressed with that than the opera... Ireland now has a tax on chewing gum and their sidewalks are much cleaner than ours are... I found out almost 50 years ago that Disneyland never allowed chewing gum sold on the premises... Why can't we learn?
REAL ESTATE LAUGHS. Go to www.woodmontrentals.com/pacificshores.htm there'll you see the results of that development on Shaffer Road that the developers tied in with 1010 Pacific, the high rise on Pacific and Cathcart. Read how Woodmont Rentals are hyping these apartments. "On a legendary strip of pristine coastline", "Salty spray kisses your skin as you shoot the curl at Steamer's Lane". "Laughter dances on the wind from the Boardwalk". The apartments come with a community computer center, fitness center, resort pool, spa and Sun terrace, poolside cabanas, moments to downtown, and a genuine plus, "environmentally Conscious Neighborhood". What happened to those developer promises? How about Junior 1 bedroom starting at $1545 (545 sq.ft.) up to two bedrooms $2120. Woodmont Real Estate Services handles rentals in Cupertino, South San Francisco, Sacramento, Foster City, Fremont, and now Santa Cruz. I'll get back to this later. You can also go to www.pacificshoreapts.com and learn about their leasing options and how they look at their project, which greased through another city council.
TO CLOSE. Thanks to the miracles of the internet here's something exactly like a present I can give you, if you don't already have it. The most literate connection I've found to date online is Arts & Letters Daily. Go to http://aldaily.com — there is no human way possible to read to the bottom of their page without opening and reading something. Philosophy, why Bob Hope wasn't funny by Christopher Hitchens, Music, worlds greatest newspaper links, Elaine Pagels, Wendell Berry, Criticism, ideas, why Ann Coulter and Michael Moore are so much alike, why conspiracy theorists love the Carlyle Group, and when I say much more I mean it. Fabulous reading. It's fun, informative and with the aforementioned links it's the only website you'll ever need besides this one.
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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ABOUT MASS COMMUNICATIONS. Have you ever realized that once upon a time all of radio was broadcast for free? Then comes NPR and listener supported radio and we are forced to pay for quality radio. We once had all free television broadcasting; now it's cable and satellite and we pay for quality tv. Now it's looking like the internet will go the same way, only faster. According to www.tompaine.com, August 4th in an article by Jeff Chester titled "Stealing the Internet", which I went to from www.Buzzflash.com, Jeff claims that the world's largest communication and entertainment conglomerates and software firms are restructuring the internet to charge people for high speed uses. They are after the marketing potential of having access to most Americans buying habits and their personal data. The media giants are now working with congress and with the FCC to transform the internet, Chester claims. He says there's a legitimate case to be made for paying to use high bandwidth, but just how much of the internet and what quality of programming should remain free? Read the article and let me know what you think.
NOT THOSE FILMS. I thought for a long time about going to see American Wedding and Gigli but after the reviews, I just couldn't do it. Elvis Mitchell, a very sharp reviewer for the New York Times, said about American Wedding—"you?ll see better film on ponds". I forgot who the stars are in American Wedding, but it doesn't matter. About Gigli, starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, The Washington Post stated it is "enervated, torpid, slack, dreary, and oh yes, nasty, brutish and long". The Wall Street Journal said it was the "worst major movie of our young century". The N.Y Times claimed Gigli has "a special badness all of its own". That's why I didn't go to either of them. I did go again to see 28 Days Later. For what may be the first time in cinema history, the studio filmed a new ending and sent it to all the theatres across the country. The theatres spliced the new four minute ending after the closing credits. I went to the Green Valley Cinema 6 in Watsonville (which has great seats) and saw the entire film again plus the new ending. The new ending is a downer where the original ending is upbeat and Hollywood. The new one is better, go see it. Together is a fine, nicely told Chinese film about a young violinist and his father in contemporary Beijing. Asian films seem to have a handle on heart felt films that Hollywood never caught on to. Take your visitors to see it, everybody has to like it. Lucia, Lucia opening this weekend at the Nick has Cecilia Roth from "All About My Mother" and she's excellent, but the plot is just too tricky. It's not Memento or Swimming Pool but it is tricky. It also isn't interesting enough and it seems too overworked to hold together. You are on your own with this one. I wish I'd kept track of how many people have told me how much they liked Swimming Pool. It's rare that a film has this kind of feedback but this one does, hurry if you haven't seen it.
THE GRAND JURY AND HIGHWAY 1. Richard Stover, former Commissioner on The Santa Cruz City Transportation Commission, wrote an excellent reply to the 2002-2003 Santa Cruz County Grand Jury Review of Options to Improve Transportation in Santa Cruz County. Richard came up with a bunch of serious questions that need to be answered. Stover says that when the Grand Jury made its many recommendations involving the widening of Highway 1, they used biased language, they failed to educate them selves on the complexities of transportation planning, and they didn't hire independent experts to help them learn about the alternatives to highway widening. More than that, the jurors appear willing and ready to sacrifice neighborhoods for the movement of cars.
One of the most flagrant faults with the report is that the Grand Jury never questioned the assumption that widening the highway is the best way to go. Stover discusses the hardships that low income county residents would have to live with. He talks about funding problems that were ignored, and asks about the wisdom of creating Highway 2 from Mission, Water, and Soquel Streets. According to Stover the Grand Jury ignored the needs of having Environmental Reviews done and funding them. He adds such curious items in his critique as how the Grand Jury suggests the county start building train stations and acquiring trains before a train service is selected. Stover asks more questions and points out how the Jury report reads like a PR brochure for UCSC. Richard Stover worked harder on his reply to the Grand Jury than the jury did on making their superficial careless recommendations.
You can read Richard's complete report on www.sensibletransportation.org . I met a bunch of those same Grand Jurors recently, they seemed like well meaning people who probably meant well but simply tackled more than they were equipped to understand. Fortunately, Grand Jury reports are only used by people who want to get some political mileage out of them. The reports are not binding in any way and the whole idea of Grand Jury reports is a curious one. I'm glad I wasn't chosen to be on this next one, even though it seemed like a good idea at the time.
MICHAEL MOORE IN SANTA CRUZ. UCSC's Arts & Lectures scored some kind of coup and is bringing Michael Moore to the Civic Auditorium Sunday night, October 19. His program begins at 7 pm. Seeing as how this is Santa Cruz, we should have a standing vote that night and elect him president of the United States, or maybe something more honorable. Tickets and information by calling 459-2159 or email tickets@ucsc.edu.
HALF OF THE CABRILLO MUSIC FESTIVAL. 41 years after it began, The Cabrillo Music Festival is still turning audiences on and off with its choice of music. I've been attending for over 30 years and the Festival has never once failed in introducing me to music that I'll either never forget or can't forget fast enough. Friday night's West Coast premiere of Michael Daugherty's "Fire and Blood" was truly an exciting piece of music. The rest of the evening was nice, but you wouldn't spend your last dollar on cd recordings of it. Saturday night Joseph Ribeiro performed Frankenstein with the orchestra, he was in great shape, and the performance was better than the music. Michael Hersch's "Symphony No. 2" was boisterous and bombastic, but didn't have much depth. Again Michael Daughtery's "Rosa Parks Boulevard" was worth attending to hear. Almost a tone poem, it worked to tell Parks' historical bravery. Sunday night was old home night as Dennis Russell Davies returned to the festival for the first time in 14 years to play Lou Harrison's music. Sanford Sylvan sang, Philip Collins conducted and they showed a truncated version of Eva Soltes' documentary on Lou. I still hope that now maybe we can name a road, street, or boulevard after this great man and former neighbor. Be sure to attend the free rehearsals at the civic this week on Wednesday and Thursday. They're casual, seat yourself and you'll love the music.
PARTING SHOTS. Doug Pomeroy, the voice of Brooklyn sends in more of those Washington Post contest winners. The idea was to add, subtract or change one letter and supply a new definition, such as: Reintarnation: coming back to life as a hillbilly. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to begin with.
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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