SANTA CRUZ SURRENDERS. This 1886 photo was taken at the plaza in front of Holy Cross Church on High Street. The full statement spelled out in flowers says, "Santa Cruz Surrenders 1886 to the G.A.R." We can only assume that meant the Grand Army of The Republic. We may also assume that the small crowd in the photo represents ALL of the members of the G.A.R. Photo courtesy of Special Collections UCSC, click for bigger version. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL SURRENDERS. So far there's been little public response to the City Councils' selling out of the residents of The De Anza Mobile Home Park. Their 6 to 1 decision to not help the residents in their battle against Manufactured Home Communities of Chicago and their repealing Santa Cruz's mobile home rent control law was as shameful as it was predictable. Ed Porter surprised us all by voting against the majority, showing a certain something we didn't know about him. Mayor Emily's printed quote, which probably wasn't accurate, about not sleeping the night before because she failed makes you wonder why she didn't vote no, along with Ed? Remember this is the same city council that is buying the old and contaminated Salz Tannery to turn it into studios for artists. Not low income, not seniors, but artists. I've never heard an answer about who gets to decide who's an artist? Do mimes or poets count as artists?

PETER CAMEJO AT UCSC. On my way to the UCSC's bookstore on Thursday around 3p.m. to buy a textbook for a film class I'm taking, I happened on a big crowd of wildly cheering students. Having grown up on the Berkeley campus in the 50's and missing the good old days, I had to join in. Louis La Fortune had brought The Green Party and Peter Camejo on campus to give a brief rally. Camejo is brilliant, riveting, and one hell of a candidate. He nailed the Democratic Party in no uncertain terms blaming them and not Ralph Nader for allowing Bush to win. He went on to simply tell it like it is, and he presents as much of an argument as Dr. Spock did when he ran, for voting with your brain and your conscience instead of "for the lesser of evils". The biggest problem with voting for the candidate that you believe in and that you know would do the best job is that we've forgotten how...it's been so long. More on Camejo later.

ABOUT TIM JENKINS. Tim died from a heart attack this week. If you've ever been involved with local politics you know Tim Jenkins. He was a very forceful guy who was behind the scenes of many elections, candidates and good causes. He had a rare knack of intuition and could sense both individuals and the community sensitivities long before anyone else had a handle on it. He stuck ferociously to his principles and if you were around him a lot you ended up realizing just how right he was so much of the time. We'll miss him.

JEWS IN VENICE? The Jewish Studies Colloquium is presenting Professor Shaul Bassi from the University of Venice (Italy of course) speaking on "Venice, the Jews, and European Culture". His talk will be Thursday, October 2 at 5 p.m. in the Cowell Conference Room at Cowell College. Professor Bassi will talk about the place of Jews in the city and history of Venice. There'll be a reception afterwards and the discussion will continue. Call 459-2566 for information, the talk is free and open to the public.

MOVIES: IN DESCENDING ORDER. Woody Allen's newest film Anything Else is the worst new film out there! Good old Woody just missed the magic of his usual neurotic New York talkathons and this film starring Jason Biggs and Christina Ricci is just plain boring. Take your neuroses elsewhere. Cabin Fever was directed by Eli Roth who worked with David Lynch and it shows. The film has lots of style, it has fine camera work, and there's no problem with the acting. It's about a bunch of "high schoolers" and a mountain cabin and some guy dying from the plague or whatever. It's fun, bloody, and near classic. With a director like Ridley Scott you know Matchstick Men can't be too bad, in fact it's a fine Hollywood film. Very Hollywood but very good. Nicolas Cage and Alison Lohman do excellent jobs in a sort of Paper Moon II type plot, don't miss it. The best new film in town is the Bill Murray saga Lost In Translation. Sophia Coppola directed it and did an excellent job. You'll see just how fine an actor Bill Murray can be when a director gives him the room to carry a film. Mount Rushmore and Groundhog Day are also tributes to his great acting ability.

OPEN STUDIOS. Why anyone would want to see what artist's studios look like is beyond me. I've been inside hundred's of friends studios and they are a mess. But this is the 18th Annual Open Studios Art Tour and it's happening the first three weekends in October. For only $20 you get a very beautiful calendar which starts this year instead of January 2004. That price also includes two tickets and a map to the all the studios. I was sort of kidding about seeing artist's studios, but we do have an amazing amount of talented artists (and craftspeople) in our County. Call 475-9600 for the details.

FAREWELL CONCHA!! Concha's flower booth right in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz next to Tom Scribner's statue will remain as is but Concha is getting out of the business. As she was telling me, she's been there and done that and needs to spend more time pruning, picking, and arranging her own life instead of flowers. We'll miss her and her never failing enthusiasm and happy greetings, and our downtown loss is certainly Davenport's gain. Congratulations.

THE SQUARED CIRCLE. Jerry Hoffman's 12 Sports Productions has put together another great card for the Riot at The Hyatt boxing matches. Ricardo Junez will fight Everado Salinas, superfeather weight Ricardo Baragan is featured and he's got a 9-2 going so far. Female boxing's top Flyweight Carina Moreno will be back, which means the entire Tacos Moreno support team will be there too. She fought and won a grand match at Jerry's last Hyatt Riot. Undefeated San Jose junior welterweight Gary Owens is also fighting that night. The reason I'm telling you this early is because these fights always sell out very soon. That's not just a promo hype to get you to buy tickets...it's true. The date is Saturday, November 29. It's at the Hyatt Regency-Monterey. Doors open at 6:30 first bout is at 7:30 p.m. For tickets call (831) 688-1604.

UNCONFIRMED RUMORS. "You must remember this", as they say in "that" film...this is an opinion column. Somewhat similar to a restaurant review or a film critic column...just opinions, no more, no less. Facts are for reporters who don't have opinions, as you know. The first part of the rumor is that Mardi Wormhoudt probably won't run for supervisor again, that's sad news. The next part of that same rumor which was heard from the city council arena and other sources is that Scott Kennedy is planning on running to replace her. At one gathering a friend was saying she would even vote for Mark Primack for supervisor instead of Kennedy!!! Folks around her told her never to say that again, and everyone looked stunned. Watch this space.

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Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.

SANTA CRUZ PROHIBITION RAID? The scant photo details say that this was a successful raid staged by Santa Cruz Police Chief Orrie Dunlop (chief 1932-33). It says that the Chief's daughter Mrs. Earl Terfertiller of School Street has the details in her scrap box. It looks like Chief Dunlop behind the bar with the axe right in front of him. I haven't heard from Mrs. Terfertiller "Ruby" in years. Any additional info will be not just appreciated but will be added to the UCSC Special Collection Library. Photo courtesy of Special Collections UCSC, click for bigger version. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

LOUD/ILLEGAL EXHAUST NOISE FOCUS GROUP. Reader David Staudacher emails from Apex, North Carolina about his crusade against loud illegal exhaust noise. He used to live in Staten Island and began fighting those damned motorcycle exhausting devils back in 1991. He has since connected with the Right To Quiet Society of Vancouver and now manages three separate mailing lists that relate to noise pollution. David and his friends are looking for someone to form a focus group that would deal with loud and illegal noise. This person would search the net for current information on the issue and post it for the group. We need a passionate advocate for "Our Right To Quiet" here in Santa Cruz. With the recent Harley anniversary and all the positive press articles about "how boys just want to make noise" and "under the wearing of their colors they are really great people", blah, blah the issue is rapidly getting out of hand. Reach David Staudacher at quiet@quiet.org. Connect with the Right To Quiet group at www.quiet.org. I read the Read To Quiet web page and its many links and it's well worth your time to click on it and catch up on just what noise is and the dangers excessive noises cause. In this problem Canada isn't much further ahead of the USA, but we both have to get busy.

MOVIE MADNESS. Many animation festivals have come and gone over the years. The Fantastic Animation Festival was the first; the Tournee of Animation was the best. The Tournee was created and maintained by professional animators. Then there was Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation which comes and goes almost every year. They used to rip off animators but have probably become more ethical lately. Now we have Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt's The Animation Show coming to the Nick next weekend. It isn't very good. The animation experts at the screening agreed that too much was "filler material". Go warned. Do remember to see Thirteen and American Splendor, they are the best films of the year and most other years for that matter.

HELLO TERRY BRICKLEY. Send many warm and healing thoughts to Terry Brickley who's now at Dominican. He's recovering from some cancerous throat polyp removals, and needs any white lights, rainbows, healing circles or anything else you can think of. Aside from being an excellent columnist in the old days and an ardent fighter for equal rights for the handicapped he's a Gemini...so be extra kind.

WHAT DROP TOWER? Remember back in May when the Boardwalk said they wanted to install a new 125 foot high "drop tower" thrill ride? Originally they tried to install a 186 foot high tower—that was in 1996, but local environmentalists stopped it. The Planning Commission sez that there's a 40 foot height limit. But the Giant Dipper is 70 feet high and the Ferris wheel is 60 feet. According to an old article in The Sentinel (May 28, 2003) Ed Porter was concerned about the noise, Mayor Emily said she'd be happy to discuss it and Mark Primack (surprise, surprise) said this 125 foot tower would have much less visual impact than a new building or another roller coaster. But the thing is we haven't heard any reports or studies or any news on where the Boardwalk plan is at. Not to be all that paranoid, but do we think maybe that deals have been made and they'll start building it during these winter months with no more public discussion?

THE MOTHER OF US ALL. The San Francisco Opera is currently presenting "The Mother The Of Us All", an opera about Susan B. Anthony with music by Virgil Thomson and text by Gertrude Stein. It is one of the most gripping and relevant operas I've ever seen. (I saw it Saturday night Sept. 13). Because it's Gertrude Stein the meaning of her words and what she's saying doesn't come across until you realize it's about all of us in America. Our prejudices, our ignorance, our sexism, the way we handle our constitution, it's all there. There's excellent singing, especially by Luana DeVol as Susan B. And there is a lot of humor, which isn't always the case in new operas. The Chronicle didn't like it, but they're wrong, and the Chronicle opera reviews really affect the box office. They just didn't get the tricky and very intelligent way that Stein writes. There are three more performances Sept. 17, 21, and 26 I believe that there are seats still available. Call the box-office at (415) 864-3330 or go online at www.sfopera.com and check out the cast, the photos, the costumes, and they even have sound clips so you can hear Virgil's songs.

WIDE LIFE. Tandy Beal and a bunch of her friends have created another evening of laughs, thrills, dance and circus type entertainment. It's called Wide Life, and stars the famous dance team of John and Nancy Lingemann, Ivan Rosenblum, Sara Wilbourne, Ellen Sevy, Paula Bliss, William Trimble, Rock Lerum, and plenty of happy performers. This will be another of Tandy's unique productions and if you miss it, you'll spend years hearing everybody else talk about how great it was. Call 763-4047 for info and tickets.

THE DANTE ALIGHIERI SOCIETY MOVIE. One of the Rio Theatre's most successful presentations has been the Dante Alighieri Society's showing of Italian Cinema masterpieces. They'll be showing director Nanni Moretti's Caro Diario this Sunday, Sept 21 at 7 p.m. The film is only 10 years old and was a big hit in Italy. It's funny, emotional, and critical of Italy's way of life. Call 423-8209 or just show up at the door.

IN CLOSING. The nearly omni-present Pat Matejcek sends in these all too appropriate bumper stickers. She and I both hope the stickers make you laugh instead of either weep or wail or start that infernal gnashing of your teeth. "Leave No Billionaire Behind", "The Last Vote You'll Ever Have To Cast", "This Time, Elect Us!", "Vote Bush: Remember, Ashcroft is Watching", "Vote Bush in '04, Or The Supreme Court Will!". Remember to keep laughing.

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Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.

THE ANTLERS. That's the title on the front of this photo taken July 25, 1892. The back of the photo notes that the residence belongs to Thomas L. Bell. It's on the East Side of Santa Cruz and is located at the corner of Broadway and Cayuga. The present homeowners should know about this photo. Photo courtesy of Special Collections UCSC, click for bigger version. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

GREAT CABRILHO COLLEGE NEWS. Sean McCullough who manages the theatre at Cabrilho Community College has great news. He tells us that somehow, some way, the state has come through with grant money and the new theatre building is going ahead full steam. That'll be a 550 seat theatre, with only a very few cutbacks on backstage facilities from the original plans. More than that Sean sez that the new Arts buildings are also going ahead, including a three dimensional studio. There'll be a free standing music building with a 300 seat recital hall. The projected completion date is early 2007. If that doesn't get your pride in the community juices flowing, nothing will. Weren't there plans to build a theatre right across the highway a few years ago? I think it was called Wingspread or something like that.

SOME FILMS OVER LIGHTLY. First the ridiculous, later the sublime. Masked and Anonymous, the Bob Dylan fiasco, is too embarrassing to even bother discussing. But I will. It's what happens when Dylan believes he can put out any quality film and it'll be accepted. The plot, acting, direction, photography is worse than Dylan's disdain for the public. He should be ashamed, but being a legend he couldn't care less. Stay away from this film. The Order is equally bad, except that these people probably tried to make a decent film. The Order has such a confused and dull plot it is just boring and pointless. Jeepers Creepers II like Freddy versus Jason are fine films. They are well made, nicely acted, and fit right into, and do honor to, their own genres. As does Open Range, previously reviewed. The Secret Lives of Dentists was too good to last more than a week at the Riverfront. George C. Scott's son Campbell Scott and Hope Davis did great jobs with this film based on Jane Smiley's book, The Age Of Grief, too bad you missed it. Thirteen, the film about 13-year olds in Los Angeles, opens next week and if you've ever been 13 or know anyone who has, you/they should see this film. It rips your guts out with sympathy and honesty and should win every film award possible. Do go see it. You'll feel uncomfortable living through it, but watching Holly Hunter pull out all her acting stops is worth every bit of anguish. I can't figure what more to say about American Splendor other than saying it is as close to being a perfect film as I can remember seeing. I mean that, it is one of the finest films I've ever seen! 80 critics across the country say the same thing; the advance screening local critic's audience last week at the Nickelodeon says it too. It's about Harvey Pekar a very eccentric actual human. It won top prize at Sundance. It has David Letterman in it and it is funny, really funny. Hope Davis is also in it. It's the creativity and guts that the directors took in making it plus the documentary effect that makes it so great. Please go see American Splendor. And I haven't said that in a long, long time.

AMERICAN SPLENDOR AGAIN... I forgot to mention that Dr. Mark Bernhard told me that mutual friend Robert Armstrong was the first cartoonist to draw Harvey Pekar. Robert as you know is not just a musical saw player, but along with R.Crumb was a member of The Cheap Suit Serenaders. R. Crumb is depicted in American Splendor but Armstrong isn't mentioned!!!

ABOUT PACIFIC SHORES DEVELOPMENT. I didn't make it clear enough when I referred to the new Pacific Shores Apartments out on Shaffer Road (see Brattononline.com August 12, 2003 in the archives). I suggested that you go to www.woodmontrentals.com/pacificshores.htm and read the gooey faux-environmental description of the apartments. But what I meant to say was that I think it's a shame that after all the promises about helping our housing crisis here in Santa Cruz that the developers are spending more money advertising for out-of-town renters and inhabitants than for locals. Because this project was and is tied in with the 1010 Cathcart project in our downtown, will they also be advertising and pushing to bring in even more out-of-town residents? How does that help our housing problem? If I hear anything I'll let you know.

PACIFIC RIM FILM FESTIVAL. Plan ahead. The pacific Rim Film Festival opens Thursday October 9 at the Fox Theatre in Watsonville with the Japanese film Shall We Dance at 6:30 p.m. At 9:00 p.m. they'll screen Todo El Poder from Mexico. There'll be 14 films from 10 countries and 19 screenings and it's all free. There'll be discussions with filmmakers, actors, and local persons talking about the films. The Festival closes Wednesday October 15 with The Friendship Village and Maria's Story showing at the Rio at 5 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. More details to follow but get in touch by calling 457-7894.

CITY COUNCIL DREAM TEAM. Christopher Krohn came up with a city council dream team at our last meeting at 120 Union, my favorite coffee house. He corrected my spelling of Kaitilin Gaffney's name as an excellent city council member. He added Janie Yett, Debbie Bulger, Bob Guzley, Katherine Beiers, Robert Poen and Sandy Brown. We added Celia Scott of course. These folks would bring such a change to our political climate. Now all we have to do is to convince them to run as soon as possible, or even some day?

WHITE ALBUM REDUX. I have rarely heard such heartfelt praise for a live event in our county as I have been hearing for the live staging of the Beatle's The White Album that happened recently at the Rio. It's being repeated at the Mello Center in Watsonville on Friday and Saturday Sept. 26 & 27. The release says and I quote, "The Beatles White Album will be reprised in its entirety, live on stage". That means every note played by the area's finest musicians such as Ken Kraft, Alan Heit, Dale Ockerman, Annie Steinhart, Bob Bliss and on and on. Rick McKee of Ukulele Dick productions assembled everybody. Nancy LeVan, Pipa Pinon, Anne Whittington and Katie McKee will do the vocals. It's a benefit for Guitars Not Guns and is presented by the Pajaro Valley Performing Arts Association and Snazzy productions. When I say folks liked the first production I mean they actually got teary just telling me about attending this extravaganza. Tickets at the PVPAA 763-4047, at Snazzy Productions at 479-9421 or online at www.snazzyproductions.com.

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Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.

BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS. These happy little urchins are watching their lucky friends go to school in the new school bus. It was somewhere in Santa Cruz and the year was 1930. These tatterdemalions are about 80 years old by now. Any positive identifications or additional information would be more than appreciated by the UCSC Special Collections library. Photo courtesy of Special Collections UCSC, click for bigger version. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

SPEAKING OF LONDON NELSON. I'm often asked why I refer to the Louden Nelson Community Center as the London Nelson Community Center. I'll tell you why, it's because I agree with historian Phil Reeder. Phil and I think it is a crime that this big hearted loving African American former slave who gave his last hard earned dollars to the Santa Cruz school system has been robbed of his true name and his chosen name twice. This practice continues to this day, and everyday that we call it Louden Nelson Center. London Nelson lost his African name when he became a slave to his North Carolina master. According to the 1860 Santa Cruz census London had two siblings. Their names were (and no dispute here) Cambridge and Marlboro. London's master selected these British city names for some long forgotten reason. London was known by that name all his Santa Cruz life. Because some ne'er do well misread London's handwriting his name was entered legally just one time as Louden. This mistake has continued. London died of consumption, tuberculosis we call it. He had, according to Phil Reeder, just two friends, a Doctor and Elihu Anthony, a local businessman. They took care of him. Because I have respect for this early Santa Cruzan and because using some Americanized version of his name doesn't seem decent I will continue to use LONDON Nelson, I hope you do too.

MOVIE MEDDLING. Just go see The Magdelene Sisters. It is a searing (as in burning) film about three girls lives in a Dublin, Ireland Catholic home for wayward girls. The last of these laundry factory/convents was closed in 1996. It reminds us of today's treatment of women in the Middle East and of the cruelty that exists in humans. Somehow the film ignored the discovery of more than 300 unmarked graves next to the home that led to the whistleblowing of the truth behind the walls. Has anyone in Santa Cruz never had at least one friend who was schooled in a Roman Catholic school and not had their knuckles rapped by a wicked nun? Freddy does meet and destroy (just kidding) Jason in Freddy vs. Jason. The film has humor, a few scares, and is more like Mothra vs. Godzilla than Yojimbo vs. Zatoichi if you catch my drift. See it if you like films like this. On the other hand avoid The Italian Job, it wasn't any good on its last release a few months ago and I can't imagine why they brought it back. Do see Step Into Liquid, Open Range, Swimming Pool and Seabiscuit. Check out the reviews in previous columns in the archives. Links are on your right.

CALIFORNIA RECALL. County supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt is moderating an in depth discussion on the California recall. It'll be Thursday night (Sept. 4) at 7pm at the United Methodist Church 250 California Street in Santa Cruz. Bob Mulholland: Exec. Dir of the California State Democratic Party, Fred Kelley: Exec. Dir. Planning and Conservation League, and Michael Brown UCSC Professor of Politics will all take part in the discussion. After that there will be a Q & A session. It's free and it's a great opportunity to hear the important angles, plots and predictions that aren't reported in the mainstream press, NPR or other sorts of managed media. The evening is presented by the People's Democratic Club of Santa Cruz County. Co-sponsors are; Democratic Women's Club, SEIU, 415 COPE and NAACP-Santa Cruz. Call 420-1133 or go to www.cruzdemocratics.org. I'll save you a seat.

ONLY IN SANTA CRUZ. Tom Noddy, the world's most famous bubble performer, is producing and emceeing two entirely different stellar evenings of entertainment this weekend at the LONDON Nelson Center. Why Tom's posters spell it the honky way, I'm not sure. Anyways on Friday night the most notable Flying Karamazov Brothers will headline the evening. On Saturday night the frenetic, eclectic, oft recorded Bob Brozman will share the stage with comic juggler Frank Olivier and Tom Noddy himself. Tandy Beal will dance a funny piece and everybody will have an Only In Santa Cruz experience. Talent like this should really be presented at the Civic with generous funding by the CVC, the Downtown Association, The Boardwalk, and the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce. Because these world renowned street performers have given so much to the community, they should be getting paid very generous performance fees by the previously named organizations for their hard work. But being Santa Cruz they'll be lucky if the police don't arrest them before the show. All tickets are $10 and the shows start at 8 p.m. Get your tickets right now at Bookshop Santa Cruz and at Streetlight Records.

ERROL FLYNN AND FIDEL CASTRO? I learned from Nancy Abbey and www.imdb.com (International Movie Data Base) that Errol Flynn's last professional film was a catastrophically bad thing titled Cuban Rebel Girls or Assault of The Rebel Girls co-starring Beverly Aadland (remember her?). It came out in 1959, and the film was apparently made with Fidel's assistance. It was an anti-Batista pro-Castro rebellion piece. Some time later another film was made now titled The Cuban Story. This is a semi documentary with Flynn's voice doing part of the narration and, according to IMDB someone else impersonating Flynn to finish up this curious film effort. There may be a screening in the near future - I'll warn you if it looks likely to happen. When you think about Errol Flynn, and his Ernest Hemmingway hang-up, the connection with Fidel sort of makes sense.

THE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA. After some serious cutbacks the San Francisco Opera opens this weekend with a very challenging season of seven operas. These works cover the entire range of the world of opera. They are all well worth seeing and it's worth finding out how to take advantage of discount for students, gays, seniors, standing room and rush seats. The opener is Virgil Thomson's tribute to Susan B. Anthony, The Mother Of Us All (1947) Thomson used Gertrude Stein's libretto. You'll probably never get another chance to see this early feminist opera. Mozart's The Magic Flute was first performed in 1791. This production has sets designed by David Hockney which are absolutely brilliant and create a very magical world to see and hear Mozart's most beautiful music. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana dates back to 1890 and deals with the Sicilian treatment of women; it has music and passion that will break your heart. Leoncavallo's Pagliacci was performed in 1892. It's the crying clown opera we see pictured so often. They are performing these two one act operas together. I'll tell you more about these three operas after I see them. If you d like to see an interesting and very informative website go to www.sfopera.com click around until you find the seating site then go to the virtual tour of the opera house from any seat you choose! You can also hear snippets from each opera and learn about ticket deals.

DON'T ASK WHY. Mark Colen sent this email—which is completely insane—but try it. Mark sez that when you're seated at your desk and start making clockwise circles with your right foot, and then start drawing the number 6 in the air with your right hand—your foot will change direction! Yes, it's bizarre. No, I don't know why. And you probably shouldn't try this when anybody's watching.

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Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.