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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ABOUT THE TANNERY AGAIN. It's amazing how a few of the "arts" groups around here are so anxious to support the 100 HUD housing units at the Tannery site. Then again, arts groups are always the first target to be pitched at by developers. Developers know that arts groups exist in a state of desperation and will go belly up for any help, and will support damn near anything, in exchange for promised bucks or cheap rent. Remember Wingspread and how so many of our art groups tap danced for that piece of junk? To deny the environmental, logistical, economical, and devastating blows to our community, and especially to our downtown, that The Tannery Project will cause in hopes of a few scraps of grant heaven gets embarrassing to watch. Has anyone bothered to ask why during this rush (so typical of Redevelopment Agency plots) the Salz Tannery has never been given Official Historical Recognition? No plaques, no status in the national registry...why is that?
DON GIOVANNI. Last chance to get tickets to the UCSC Music Department's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. It'll only be Thursday-Sunday June 2-5 and there's a matinee on Sunday. Somehow director Brian Staufenbiel has added a touch of vampire stuff to this Don Juan legend. It'll be grand fun, and a chance to see other kinds of UCSC students spend their learning time. Call 459-2159
GOING TO LOS ANGELES AND THE OPERA. There's no way you can ever get enough time with your grandchildren. I spent Memorial Day weekend with Master Henry Kloiber, he's 6, and his Mom, Hillary, over in Palo Alto. Next weekend I get to be with George Boulanger, he's 5, and his new brother Leo who is not quite 1, and their Mom Jennifer and Dad George in Los Angeles. As an extra treat, Jennifer and I will be attending the LA Opera production of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier on that big day of June 4th. I'll let you know how that works out. The LA Opera performs in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which I've never seen.
FARMER'S MARKET. Nesh Dhillon, manager of the Downtown Farmers Market says that the news is about the same as last week. Get them there blueberries, there's only about 4 weeks left to go for 'em. Asparagus will last until the end of July, so don't delay. Stone fruit isn't the greatest right now, but soon will be. The world's greatest tomatoes are coming soon. These are hot house and hydroponics right now. Santa Cruzan Mike Jacobs of Jacobs Farm who supply Trader Joe's and Whole Foods with their completely organic herbs and edible flowers told me whilst on a tour of his Pescadero Herb Farm that hydroponic growing isn't efficient, it wastes water and that's why we never saw it go anywhere. More later, probably.
BIG CHAIN ADVERTISING. It's not about free speech, but have you ever noticed that all those Pacific Avenue chains that I mentioned last week like Jamba Juice, Taco Bell, Baja Fresh, Togo's never advertise in the weeklies such as Good Times and The Metro? It's about supporting local business, and help me out here, what is it that those chains do FOR the community? Rarely, if ever, do you see their names on any community sponsor lists. It's always the locally owned restaurants and shops that give to area events. Watch what happens IF a local paper prints a negative word about a chain.
UCSC'S ARTS & LECTURES. Now's a perfectly great time to support UCSC's Arts & Lectures series. Ticket sales to their stellar events only cover 45% of the cost of the program which also enriches K-12 area students with special programs. Here's a sneak preview of the 2005-2006 season. Word for Word Theatre will be back doing Amy Tan's Immortal Heart, and Word for Word was one of the best events of last year, don't miss them. Midori and her magic violin will be here, the Miro Quartet, So Percussion, The Fugate/Bahari Ballet New York, Tandy Beal's Mixed Nutz! Noche Flamenca, The Turtle Island String Quartet, Peru Negro, and Mike Marshall & Chris Thile are all going to perform around here. Send your contribution by June 15 to help them balance their budget. Contact by artslecs@ucsc.edu or call 459-4058.
MAD HOT BALLROOM. A fine documentary but by now it's the same film formula as Spelling Bee. Cute kids in this case poor kids from NYC neighborhoods learning how to compete in Ballroom dancing. But the dancing actually adds something to their lives, amazingly enough. See it and think about getting your kids to enter ballroom dancing competitions. Well, better that then having your kids do martial arts.
LOOK AT ME. This is a French film, and that means that it won't play long in Santa Cruz because Santa Cruzans don't like French films. I like this film, I like French films, just so we're clear on that. French films mean people talk a lot, and this one is about family relations where the dad is a famous writer and what that does to him, his friends, and most importantly his daughter. See it quickly.
THE LONGEST YARD. Just more Hollywood schlock from Adam Sandler aimed at the usual 14 year old boy audience we hear so much about. Chris Rock helps out as much as he can but the script is so bad he's helpless. It's sad to believe that mainstream audiences are so desperate that they'll pay to see junk like this, but there you are.
NEXT BUS TO CUBA. Pastors for Peace is sending/donating more buses to Cuba, and one will be from Santa Cruz. Help out by going to the mammoth yard sale Saturday, June 4th from 8:30am - 3 p.m. it'll be at 634 Walnut Avenue. Call 423-8785 if you'd like to donate or help out.
CABRILLO MUSIC FESTIVAL NEWS. Music director Marin Alsop was just awarded the "Female artist of the year" award by the United Kingdom's Classical Awards program. Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel who's making a big hit in the LA Opera production of Falstaff got "Male artist of the year".
ELSA FEST JUNE 3 AND 4, THAT'LL BE RIGHT NEXT DOOR. ELSA which is short for ELectron SAlon will be presenting live music, readings, video and witty song writing. That includes on Friday Run_Return, the electronic/instrumental/up rock trio that began here in Santa Cruz in 1999. Opening the show is Science Fiction novelist Rudy Rucker, reading an interlude of his forthcoming book, The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul, along with electronic music improv by Phil Curtis. Live visuals will be provided by the author of the groundbreaking Geiss audio-visualizer for Winamp downloaded over 3 million times, Ryan Geiss. The iNDe music series continues on Saturday, June 4th with Patria Jacobs, and her band from Los Angeles. Matthew Embry, local piano yokel and free radio DJ, will perform a collection of his diverse, dynamic pop songs. Then there will be a guest appearance by singer Amy Barnes Excolere. ELectron SAlon #11 and iNDe #2 are presented at Next Door, next door to the Rio Theatre, 1207 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz. Tickets are $5 at the door. Go to http://www.elsaproductions.com for more information.
QUOTES. "We lived for days on nothing but food and water." -W.C. Fields. "Cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out." -Samuel Johnson. "The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." -Lucille Ball. "I personally stay away from natural foods. At my age I need all the preservatives I can get." -George Burns.
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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SOLVING SANTA CRUZ'S FINANCIAL PROBLEM. I'm not sure why it's up to us citizens to solve the City's financial needs since it wasn't Santa Cruzans who created the problem. But one friend had an idea that is so logical, so fair, so ethical it would have to work. Think about this, just think, don't jump up and down...yet. Since Prop. 13 was passed all those years ago, taxes were not created equal. You may be paying pre-Prop. 13 taxes of maybe $1000 on your home and yet your next door neighbor is forced to pay $10,000 on a house of equal value. What if fair-minded concerned Santa Cruz city residents willingly donated part of that $9000 to the city on an annual basis? It would solve all the City dollar problems. 100% of the money would go direct to the city. We would have an honor roll or an official plaque stating which citizens are donating specific percentages. It would only last as long as this crunch hangs on, but what an idea, right? Of course we could also lay off several City Department heads, but that's never happened in history, it's always cutting back the last hired and most needy first. Think about donating those ill gotten gains, it would work. Except for that nagging little greed factor.
BAJA FRESH, TACO BELL, QUIZNOS, JAMBA JUICE, TOGOS, SUBWAY, STARBUCKS, PEETS, BORDERS, REGAL 9, URBAN OUTFITTERS, COLD STONE CREAMERY, and other Pacific Avenue TREATS. I need to be reminded again, what exactly is that unique and special Santa Cruz character we talk about so much? What if a tourist asked you what's so special about Downtown Santa Cruz???? Help me out here folks and I'll pass it on. At least the Thomas Kinkade schlock shop is gone.
WELCOME DONBO RESTAURANT. This udon noodle restaurant, locally owned and operated by long time resident Simon Kim, formerly of Café Sparrow, should be open by June 4th. It's between Toadal Fitness and Baja Fresh on Lincoln Street. Simon says the noodles will all be cooked in chicken broth, not water like in other places around town. They'll have a full liquor license, maki, tempura and things like that.
ACLU + PDC= A.O.K. For a rare occasion be sure to attend the joint meeting of the People's Democratic Club and the American Civil Liberties Union. Both groups found they had scheduled their meetings at same time so they merged. Former UCSC Journalism professor Conn Hallinan, Leslie Lopez, anthropologist, KZSC advisor, and activist and UCSC Professor Anna Tsing will discuss "Free Speech in an Era of Media Consolidation and Manipulation" if Bush and NPR will let them. This amalgamation will take place at London (his spelling) Nelson Community Center this Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
UCSC BRINGS TOURIST BUCKS. Nobody ever mentions the huge amount of tourist dollars that UCSC attracts. When you figure that each student has two parents and those parents usually visit the campus a few times for their kids plays, sports events, and graduations and, unlike the day trippers that do the Boardwalk, campus parents stay overnight, actually walk around town and eat and buy things, lots of things. Students buy lots of things too. That's why Santa Cruz usually has 10 or 11 bookshops and Watsonville sometimes has one.
STAR WARS REVENGE OF THE SITH.... LACKS PITH. Of course I've seen all the Star Wars films. Saw my first one in a VW van at our Skyview Drive-In on Soquel Drive. I have to say that the Skyview Drive-In is in better shape, maintained more dignity, and will last longer than the Star Wars saga. With Lucas' vast fortune he could have paid more for some story line that established new creativity, or went where no plot has gone before, but no; this Episode III is only passable. George Lucas had it all when he started this story, but it falls apart and is boring except for the special effects. And the cheap voices for the thug characters? Just poor taste. But don't miss it on the big screen. I'm sure you haven't missed it, look at the money records it's breaking.
LADIES IN LAVENDER. The plot or script is just short of non-existent, but the chance to watch Judy Dench and Maggie Smith play sisters makes this film into a how-to acting class. Relax, forget about Arnold's fall election and enjoy this beautifully photographed mini-fun saga.
3-IRON. Back in the 60's and 70's I remember everybody would leave Fellini movies saying what was that about? They did the same with Ingmar Bergman films, before that we couldn't quite get what Bunuel was saying. Today it's Korean director KIM Ki duk, who is truly great and regularly misunderstood. You may have seen his "Spring Summer Fall, Winter...and Spring". KIM Ki duk's films are almost impossible to see on big screens in the US. You can get "The Isle" and one of the most touching films I've ever seen "The Samaritan Girl" at Cedar Street Video. "Samaritan Girl" was made the same year as 3-Iron and has won almost as many awards. KIM's films are pieces of poetry, they lapse into ghosts, dreams, fears, memories as easily as we do in everyday life. And for sure don't miss "3-Iron" that opens at the Nick, it's about how we all live in empty houses and someday somebody comes and opens the lock to that emptiness.
TURTLES CAN FLY. This beautiful film reminded me of E.A. Chase's statue Collateral Damage down by the Town Clock. The entire film is about the citizens who suffer when there's a war. This film is the first major film out of Iraq. It's about the children who live in a war zone. It's sad, very sad, because they are children and children who act like children under the strangeness of war, knowing or not knowing that they could die at any second. See it and imagine the millions of children living and dying in all the war zones throughout history.
SANTA CRUZ' QUEER COMMUNITY NEEDS YOU. This press release is so well written I'm running it as is, in its entirety. Read it and get involved. Volunteer and show your support for Santa Cruz' queer community.
Santa Cruz 31st annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Day is Sunday, June 5, 2005. On that day the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride march will gather at 10:30 am on Pacific Avenue at Cathcart Street in Santa Cruz, and will step off at 11:00. There will be floats, musical contingents and marching groups from all parts of the queer community, as well as non-queer organizations wanting to show their support in the largest visibility action of the queer year. It's also the perfect opportunity for you to show your support for Santa Cruz' queer folks, and you know what a good idea it is to seize opportunities as they arise.
Following the march, the rally will run in San Lorenzo Park from 12 noon until 5 pm, with booths offering food, merchandise, information, HIV testing and more, and a stage hosting speakers and entertainers from Santa Cruz and around the Bay area.
We don't charge organizations to join in the march, we don't charge admission to the rally, and our booth fees are absurdly small because we want to be as accessible as possible for community groups and organizations of all sizes with information for our community. With this commitment to access and diversity comes the reality that it takes a lot of people to make Santa Cruz LGBT Pride Day happen; we're all volunteers working on the largest and most inclusive queer event in Santa Cruz. If you've been looking for a place to lend a hand, a way to get involved with the queer community, a way to support the queer community - this is it.
We're looking for help on Pride Day itself:
If you're already committed to helping an organization at Pride, consider putting in another hour or so on the event which makes it possible for that group to raise funds or do outreach or increase visibility. If we can't make Pride happen, it doesn't matter how great your raffle prize is or how many people march in your contingent or how fabulous your float is - cause no one will be there. Pride is the longest-running queer event in Santa Cruz, offering the glbt community and its friends a chance to celebrate, to look back and to look forward, to renew old friendships and to make new ones. Be a part of it from the inside.
Santa Cruz LGBT Pride is a Program of The Diversity Center and is produced by a committee of dedicated volunteers working year-round. For more information, or to volunteer, call our Santa Cruz LGBT Pride message line at 427-4009, or visit us online at www.santacruzpride.org.
NO ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS IN SANTA CRUZ? KSZC news student Carla Brauer told me a few weeks ago that there weren't any animal rights groups in Santa Cruz. I couldn't believe it. After checking....turns out, she's right. Amazing.
DOWNTOWN FARMER'S MARKET. Nesh Dhillon, Downtown Farmers Market manager says it's about no "culls". Culls are those pieces of produce that are too ripe or bruised, and aren't good enough to sell at the Farmers Market. People buy culls in bulk/ by the crate and sell them at flea markets or on street corners. Culls are low quality, but cheap, And... you don't have culls at the Farmers market. What you do have this week are blueberries, Sorenson Blueberries from Fresno. They'll only be around for 6 or 7 weeks then no more, so get 'em quick. Get asparagus especially from Hog Farm in Watsonville - it's their only crop, farmers call it "grass". It's the very middle of the asparagus season. Cherries remain great and strawberries have about four weeks to go. Sales-wise this is a record breaking year. Most Farmers Markets business was down last year, but they're all doing great this season. We have a lot more UCSC students shopping at the Downtown Market. As I said before, check out produce prices at your favorite market, make Wednesdays your shopping day from 2:30 to 6:30.
EURYDICE, TANGO, AND BLOOD WEDDING IN THE BARN. UCSC's Theatre Arts Department and KZSC are sponsoring, and The Barn Theater's Barnstorm Stage is producing, Slawomer Mrozek's Tango, Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding, and Sarah Rule's Eurydice. Mrozek is known as a Polish absurdist playwright, Lorca needs no introduction and Sarah Rule from Chicago has won many awards for her plays. It's great to be able to even see plays of this caliber. The students work very hard on them, it looks like the budget is about $1.12 per play and the plays run in repertory through May 29. Blood Wedding is too heavy a play and was over their heads and beyond their reach to do justice to. Eurydice was more fun and the students ran away with it. Tango is an absurdist take on relationships, and that's not an easy concept to play, or to stage, in today's world. What was absurd when Mrozek wrote it, and what's absurd in our family structure today are worlds apart. Check it all out at www.barnstorm.ucsc.edu.
INDY MEDIA, LOCAL CHAPTER. I've been reading their website for a long time and just attended their monthly meeting last Sunday. Grand people, good cause, important mission. It's people all over the world (check their locations) writing what they think is news. No censoring, no money, no commercials, it's all free. You can publish there too. I did, and will continue to do so. I'll find out more and get a link on this site so you can go there quicker. Imagine a world of people reporting what they are actually seeing, not what their employers (AP, UP, NPR, CBS, FOX) tell them to see, and writing it so you can learn the truth direct one to one. Go to www.santacruz.indymedia.org and get in on the fun.
LOCAL QUOTE. Scott Kennedy sent this one, and it's excellent: "Santa Cruz, where no Turner is left unStoned." I have no idea where Scott Kennedy is on this, but I support Anne Turner all the way.
QUOTE. The omnipresent Scott McClelland sent this in, it's so apt we'll skip the usual clever pithy shorter ones. "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." -President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952
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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UCSC'S NEW MULTI USE PERFORMING SPORTS CENTER. UCSC students are voting this very week on whether to increase their own student fees by a sizeable amount to fund a whole lot of things. One that I found really hot was the 4,000 seat multi use center. Every other UC campus has some large indoor auditorium UCSC only has the 450 seat Mainstage theatre. The benefits are staggering, so is the entire slate of things they are voting on. be sure to go to http://currents.ucsc.edu/04-05/05-16/vote.asp and read it carefully before you get all concerned about traffic and where the parking will be. At least we won't have to fight off developers like Rye Kelley who wanted to build us a performing arts center in exchange for the much defeated Wingspread Development, or ridiculous ideas like fixing the Civic.
MADRIGAL MEETINGS CONTINUE. I think there's been four of Tony Madrigal's Economic Prosperity Summit meetings. I've been to the last two and, as I said before, there is an amazing amount of unity in Santa Cruz over what's good for the future of this city, so let's stop this b.s. about all the divisiveness. What really hasn't been discussed at this or any meeting I know of is Reed Searle's huge question, "does economic success have to mean growth", or "can't Santa Cruz remain as it is, and become financially stable?" Carmel does it, it never grows. Capitola has welcomed in any and all development and it's as broke as Santa Cruz is. Let's get some outside thinking on this.
A BRIDGE TO SUCCESS. Santiago Calatrava's Sundial Bridge cost $23 million, and it's near Redding, CA - a city of 85,000 people. It opened last July 4th and has been drawing tourists from around the world ever since. Go to http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/Redding04.asp and read all about it. Look up Sundial Bridge on Vivisimo (better than Google). Now think about what if Santa Cruz would/could build something like that? If we had the world's most beautiful conference center plus hotel, the world would beat several paths to our door just to stay there, or at least visit. Look at The Sydney Australia Opera house, The Museum in Bilbao, Spain, or LA's new Disney Hall, that's what I mean. People keep asking what'll the city do for money? What we should do is think outside the box, put Ceil Cirillo to real work, full time. Get us big investor's money for a genuine attraction, not some stucco egg crate poaching on our precious cliffs that only Matt Thompson likes. Don Miller of the Sentinel, and a few other uninformed persons, said that we conference center opponents didn't want a conference center. Every piece of literature, every press conference we opponents created said we only opposed a conference center in that location. They didn't listen during or after Lighthouse Point either. All the people I've talked to so far love the idea of a truly beautiful world-renowned hotel conference center someplace in Santa Cruz. Let's sit down together and figure out where it should be. Don't invite Don Miller, he won't listen.
A LATE BREAKING IDEA. In view of above let's make sure the La Bahia has a world class design. Here's our chance to improve our attractiveness to these tourists. Let's attract a better class of tourists by building a great looking hotel right there on Beach Street; no more stucco cheapies like Swenson has become famous for. Let's have guts and tell Swenson and Jesse Nickell the new La Bahia has to make people of taste want to come to Santa Cruz and spend their money. I just learned that Charlie Canfield or The Seaside Company brings students here from Eastern Europe every summer, puts them to work at the Boardwalk and they live at La Bahia. Does that sound odd to you? I always thought they hired local kids.
RIOT TO FEATURE FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BOUT. Carina Moreno (7-0) faces Julie Rubalcava (4-0) in a Women's Flyweight championship bout. Carina weighs 112 pounds and they'll fight eight rounds. We all loved Hillary Swank who weighed 129 pounds when she fought in Million Dollar Baby for example - look how exciting she was. The rest of the evening has Sadot Vazquez versus Joel Santino and neither of them has lost any of their fights. Neither has George Garcia, Enrique Gutierrez and Alejandro Perez - they are all undefeated so far, so this has to be a big night. Jerry Hoffman's Riots at the Conference Center in Downtown Monterey will definitely sell out; all of Jerry's fights do. You can only get tickets by calling JH12SPORTS at 831-688-1604. All this happens Saturday, July 2. Doors open at 6:30 fights start at 7:30 p.m.
DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET. As promised, here are Fresh Tips from Downtown Farmer's Market manager Nesh Dhillon. Cherries, just get lots of cherries he said. They've never been better, and don't get any better than these. The big and hottest deal is wild, locally caught, salmon from H & H Fresh Fish (that's Hans and Heidi as in Haveman, as in Kurt Haveman as inside Mr.Goodie's). Get to the market when the sell bell rings at 2:30 en punto because the salmon will be gone soon after. More than that, Nesh tells me that about 80% of the Downtown Farmer's Market is organic, another large percent is non invasive. Now's a good time to buy stone fruit, it's a bit tart, and low brix, but that's due to dew and rain.
MORE LOCAL FISH NEWS. I talked with Hans Havemen of H & H Fresh Fish about fish earlier in the week. He says that because "farm raised fish" aren't selling very well, prices on ocean fish have gone way up, nearing luxury level. Japan and Europe are also buying our fish now and the price goes higher. Local fish like rock cod or sable fish are in, so are Petrale sole, ling cod will be selling between $8-9.95 per lb. Local halibut are beginning now, so watch for them too. Remember, that's 2:30 Wednesdays at The Downtown Farmers Market between Cathcart and Lincoln on Cedar Street.
THREE CHEERS FOR ANN BENNETT. Ann Bennett has written reviews of at least two recent plays for the Sentinel, and dared to write what she thought the plays and the actors deserved. That isn't easy in this community. The plays were Mountain Community Theatre's "The Uninvited " and Pisces Moon's "Dangerous Liaisons". You can go to the Sentinel online and read all of her reviews. Ann's a lot tougher than I am, I go to a Mountain Community Theatre production up in Ben Lomond about once every five years and they are always so bad I swear I'll wait ten years until I go again... but I do weaken and go in only five, and then regret it. Pisces Moon productions used to be wonderful. They did plays like Never The Sinner, The Altruists, and The Laramie Project and were entirely captivating. I left at the intermission of Dangerous Liaisons, as I did at most of their plays since December of 2003, but I didn't have Ann's courage so I never even wrote about attending them. I've left many other productions without writing about it. Not telling my reactions to events isn't very honest, or courageous. Usually the first reaction to a bad review locally is, "you're trying to ruin our theatre...or live theatre in Santa Cruz". A sad and self serving statement because writing honest reviews/critiques, both good and bad, helps theatre, not harms it. More on this later.
SONDHEIM IN SANTA CRUZ. Danny Scheie's directing of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along is pretty straight. Scheie usually manages to add lots of gay, straight, and lewd sex to every production he's involved with, but Merrily remains more Sondheim than Scheie and that's a good thing. It's a UCSC Theatre Arts Department production, which means a decent budget for costumes, effects and music. It also means student actors and this is a fine student cast. Like Community Theatre, these actors have day jobs, and most students I know spend more time on the books than our normal 40 hour work week. So, if you like Sondheim and haven't seen this musical because it isn't the biggest Sondheim hit, call 459-2159 and catch one of the closing 4 shows, May 19,20,21,22.
MONSTER IN LAW. Jane Fonda is ok in this film but it's not a very funny film. When you think of Jane's early comedies, especially Barefoot in The Park or Nine to Five, you got to wonder why she was so desperate to do this Monster film. Maybe she wanted to see if she could steal every scene from Jennifer Lopez, and she does. Rent this film, I repeat, rent this film, it's not funny enough to waste your popcorn money plus admission price too.
UNLEASHED. This film is definitely "a sign of postmodern corruption", and it's a nutty film too. Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, and Bob Hoskins all have great fun, and do some of their finest acting, in this "exercise in Postmodernism that shows the baseness of the human species and the misery and futility of life". I threw those words in there because Morton Marcus said them about Sin City in his Sentinel critique. I'm still working on what he meant, or how it applies to either film, but it sounds important. Unleashed has oomph, style, weird plot holes, and could have used a mite more sense in the plot, but again as Mort says, "it illustrates America's love of the lurid, the perverse and the vicious in its entertainment and that in itself is illustrative of the corruption festering at the heart of our nation". Even though it's filmed in England, you don't see that every day, so don't miss Unleashed.
WALK ON WATER. This Israeli film has everything and it's still very worth seeing. It's a Holocaust reminder film with homosexuality, assassins, terrorism, spies, assignments, bugging devices, scenic tours of the Sea Of Galilee, the Wailing Wall, downtown Tel Aviv and Berlin's Alexander Platz all thrown in. It has almost too many interesting gems in it, and yet you still remain focused on the complex plot. The film haunts you, no matter what your ethnic sensibilities are. See it on the big screen quick, it's leaving soon, and rent it too later, because there are lessons that creep up on you.
DON GIOVANNI LIVES. Brian Staufenbiel will direct Mozart's Don Giovanni opera up at UCSC June 2,3,4 and 5. Don Giovanni is based on, and makes great fun of, the Don Juan legend. Nicole Paiement will conduct the UCSC orchestra. It'll be sung in Italian but they have supertitles so you can follow this beautiful opera. It won't be fully staged but they'll have costumes and lots of other suggestive things. It'll be at UCSC's Music Center Recital Hall call 459-2159 for tickets.
QUOTES. "For some reason a glaze passes over people's faces when you say Canada." -Sondra Gotlieb. "Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name BZJXXLLWCP is pronounced Jackson." -Mark Twain. "If you don't say anything you won't be called upon to repeat it." -Calvin Coolidge.
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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FARMER'S MARKET. Three weeks ago out of curiosity, I wrote down the prices of four fruits at Albertson's and compared them with prices at the Downtown Farmer's Market. I figured that because they are organic, fresh, local etc that The Farmer's Market prices would be higher...I was wrong in every case. I then checked the vegetable prices, same thing!! After talking with Nesh Dhillon the market manager, I learned a lot more.
Best estimates say that between 2500-3000 folks buy their fresh local produce there each Wednesday. That's a lot of people who care what they eat! There are about 60 farmer's booths at the Downtown Market, and it opens at the gong of the bell at precisely 2:30 and goes to about 6:30. With Nesh's help, I'm going to start a little Farmers Market tip sheet. Each week Nesh will tell us what's hot at Wednesday's market. For starters, get those cherries right now - supplies will be limited. Hydroponic tomatoes are in and the hot house tomatoes from Freedom are "unbelievable" Nesh tells us. Heirlooms will be in, in about two weeks. Strawberries are really ripe and, due to the rains, much of the crops have gone to compost. Lettuces will begin in June. What's also new is that organic grass-fed beef from San Juan Bautista will be there by the end of the month, plus organic eggs, plus organic leaf-fed whole chicken broilers. Stone fruit like peaches, and plums will be trickling in the next few weeks and the flavors will peak in June and July. Nesh also tells us that the Live Oak Farmer's market will open in about two weeks. Developer Barry Swenson has been very helpful and lets them use his property at 15th and Portola (where Polivio's used to be). There are about 20 farmers at Live Oak. The big news is that the Capitola Farmer's Market will open for their second year right on the beach (see this week's historical photo above). They'll open May 19 and go through mid September. Go to www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org and get the rest of the story. Let me know what would work for you in the way of these Farmer's Market hints. When you see Nesh running around the farmer's markets, tell him what ideas you'd like to see here online each week.
BLUE/ORANGE AT THE AURORA THEATRE. There are rare times in life when you hear, see, or read something that is so good, so perfectly done, so full of meaning that you feel that your life has been improved. That can happen after hearing music that is new to you, or played in a way you've never heard before. It happens when you read a book that is so perfectly written you wish it went on forever. I could go on, but it happened last Sunday when Joyce Mann, a fellow reviewer friend from Watsonville's Register Pajaronian and I saw Berkeley's Aurora Theatre production of Joe Penhall's many award winning play Blue/Orange. We'd read excellent reviews of this production, but we really went because Shakespeare Santa Cruz's Paul Whitworth is in it. The three actors, Paul Olivier, T. Edward Webster and Paul Whitworth, keep your attention every second of this intense play staged in the round. The play is billed as "a drama about schizophrenia and race" and also by the N.Y. Times as "a ferocious comedy with dialogue fueled by testosterone and paced like a volley of bullets" Both of those fit Blue/Orange which also won the Olivier Award for Best New Play. There are only 6 performances left, that's Wed. through Sunday the 15th , with a matinee on Sunday. Go to the www.auroratheatre.org or call 510-843 4822. Putting it another way: Aurora Theatre's production of Blue/Orange is the best play and best acting I've seen in ten years.
p.s. I counted nine other Santa Cruzans in the audience at this performance up in Berkeley, and they all loved the play.
CRASH. Warning!!! This is an intelligent film. This is not a film for the growing number of folks who go to the movies saying, "I just want to be entertained". This is a film dealing with racial attitudes, and it's one of a very few films that attempts to depict Los Angeles as a unique city. Don Cheadle gets better in every role he plays, and if you forgot what a fine actress Sandra Bullock is (and I did), you'll see her in one scene (and just one scene), that'll slap you upside your head. Even Matt Dillon comes off ok, and I don't like him usually. You won't feel too good about your own racial beliefs after seeing this film, and it's well worth seeing.
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. The message from this film about the crusades is: Don't mess with Christians. They kill and make wars whenever they want something another country has, and they justify it by saying their own particular God says: "it's ok, I'm behind you". There probably are, and were, good Christians but it doesn't seem like they've ever had as much power as the bad Christians. The movie is as bad as the message, it's another excuse to show blood and guts and stabbing and religious maniacs in all their glory. The violence in Kingdom of H makes Sin City look like Mary Poppins, see Sin City instead.
ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room. A documentary about one of the biggest screwings Californians have had yet. Actually it's more than that, it's about Ken Lay and his close friend the enraptured Bush and even Gufforner Schwarzenegger and their connections with the Enron scandal. You'll probably walk away thinking that there really isn't any protection for us little consumers/citizens from a government and the unregulated business corporations like we have now. The only possible hope would be from honest and ethical politicians, who are office for our good and not theirs. Do you know any? See this film.
CRUZIN' CUBA FILM SERIES. The Cuba Study Group of Santa Cruz County is continuing their cinema series with a screening of Juan Carlos Tabio's film Waiting List. Tabio is the Cuban director who did Strawberry and Chocolate, and Guantanamera. Waiting List (2000) is described as "a whimsical blend of social commentary and magical realism", and "a testament to the spirit and passion of its people". But it also has laughs!! It'll be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday May 19 at the Live Oak Grange, 1900 17th Avenue near Capitola Road. Call 465-8272 for more info. Donations at the door.
KZSC LAUGH RIOT. This will be the Second year for the KZSC Laugh Riot, I went last year and it was a very funny night. It did surprise me that there wasn't any political humor, like Arnold or George Bush stuff, but you should go anyway. It'll be Saturday, May 14 at 7 p.m. at UCSC's Kresge Town Hall. Feature acts are Hard & Phirm, Prank The Dean, Brent Weinbach, and it's hosted by Jordan Morris. Tickets at the door.
QUOTES. "I don't believe in astrology because I'm a Gemini, and Gemini's never believe in astrology." -Raymond Smullyan. "As God once said, and I think rightly..." -Margaret Thatcher. "The word, "GOOD" has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I would call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man." -G.K. Chesterton.
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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REAL UNITY IN SANTA CRUZ. Speaking of unity, I've never seen so many former opponents working together for the sake of the City as there are right now, and that's after the hotel conference center battle. Tony Madrigal's economic summit planning meeting last week at the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union had almost exactly a 50-50 split between pro and con hotel supporters. The most impressive unity in the community and it hasn't been acknowledged too much is the unity against the hotel in the first place. Those 8,500 signatures (and there could have been 28,500 more) displayed an incredible unity against unwanted development. Watch and see what happens if Lowe's gets serious about their Westside opening in the old Wrigley/Lipton plant. Trying to open as big a traffic magnet as Lowe's figures on is insane. Look at Mission street once again. As even the most unconcerned citizens are beginning to realize, Santa Cruz is now a developers target like never before in our history. Now more than ever, we need to plan for responsible growth, and that doesn't include Lowe's at least on the Westside.
TIDELANDS MISTAKE, SB960 OR MEA VERY CULPA. Aldo Giacchino has done a lot of work on the Tidelands issue and at the SCRP (Santa Cruzans for Responsible Planning) meeting last week he explained that I was wrong in saying the tidelands were City Property. They were never City property, it's state owned land now and always had been and therefore the city never had the right to transfer that land or the use of that land, to the Seaside Company. That's the basis for all this SB960 hassle. Here's what Aldo kindly wrote for BrattonOnline...read it carefully, better yet print it, because you'll be reading a lot about this in the very near future, or even before that.
"Bruce, here is my concise summary of what I learned from looking into Sen. Simitian's proposed legislation, SB 960, now apparently defunct. I called the State Lands Commission where staffers told me that the tideland in contention between the City and the Seaside Company is State-owned land granted to the City in public trust, for public purposes. In other words, this land, whose boundaries are in dispute, is still State-owned land. The grant to the City was a public trust grant, not an outright transfer of ownership to the City. The state grant means that the City is the steward of this land for public purposes, but the City cannot dispose of it as it pleases.I was told that, over the years, the State made similar tideland grants to other coastal towns, like Oakland and Long Beach, to develop their seaports, but that land also remains state land, though it is under the stewardship of those cities. When and if an ownership change is sought, the State Lands Commission must be a party to it.
It appears to me that there are two distinct issues: one is the issue of what are the boundaries of the state tidelands granted to the City in public trust. In other words, is the land transferred by the City to the Seaside Company in 1933 really tideland, and to what extent? Secondly, what is the validity of the 1933 court judgment on the transfer of the tidelands by the City to the Seaside Company, given that the State (i.e. the real owner) was not a party to the transfer.
As the City Attorney's report at the last Council meeting indicates, as transcribed by Ed Porter, the City expects that the Seaside Company will file a lawsuit against the City. At that time the City "...will take the threshold issue of the validity of the 1933 judgment as the first item of litigation, and defer litigating the public trust aspects of the lawsuit which are going to be more complex and more expensive, with the understanding that the ultimate adjudication of the 1933 judgment and its binding effect on the State of California may or may not render the rest of the lawsuit moot."
It is a shame that our City Council is so adverse to transparency in its really important actions. This whole matter could have been explained to the public more plainly in the past, and it can still benefit by more public clarification and disclosure".
I want to again thank Aldo Giacchino for this explanation, and for writing this summary, and I certainly apologize to all of you for thinking the tidelands had ever belonged to the City.
HISTORICAL SANTA CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHS. If you enjoy the historical photos that I use here at BrattonOnline every week, and have been using for many years, you need to know they come from Covello & Covello Photography over at the Sash Mill. You can buy copies of any of these, or the 50,000 other photographs they have if you stop by their shop. Aside from the fact that Covello & Covello has been doing all kinds of photography for decades in Santa Cruz you can now look at 72 of their wonderful historical photos online. Just go to http://covellocovello.com/portfolio.html; there are more than 20 of those 72 old photos that I've never seen or used, and I see a lot of historical photos. Their website was designed by Gunilla at godmomasforge.com, and she designed and maintains this website too.
MONTEREY MAYHEM. Jerry Hoffman, promoter and matchmaker for 12 Sports Productions, has moved his Riot at The Hyatt boxing matches to The Monterey Conference Center, #1 Portola Plaza in downtown Monterey. Jerry's boxing matches are so successful they outgrew the old location. On July 2, heavyweight George "El Torito" Garcia will square off against Shaun Tyrone Ross, Carina Moreno will take on Julie Rubalcava, and boxers Alejandro Perez, Sadot Vazquez, Joel Santiago, Enrique Gutierrez and Richard Paige will make up the 6 exciting matches. It's no kidding that these 12 Sport matches always sell out, and even with 300 extra seats it'll happen again. You can charge by phone call 688-1604, doors open at 6:30, first bout begins at 7:30pm.
SANTA CRUZ FILM FESTIVAL. Four, count 'em Four, years and the Santa Cruz Film Festival is still growing. I don't have a clue as which are the hot films this year, and since there are 102 films, we'll all just have to take our chances. Go to www.santacruzfilmfestival.com and check out the films, but also check out the film makers who'll be here, and check out all the parties. The festival opens at 3 p.m. at the Del Mar and goes all afternoon and especially at night with a gala. It closes Friday, May 13 with another big party, so if you like fine films you won't see at the Regal 9, be at the Santa Cruz Film Festival every chance you get.
SIN CITY REVISITED. Be sure to read Postmorton Marcus' critique of Sin City in last Friday's Sentinel, (go to http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/April/29/style/stories/06style.htm ) and see what happens when you forget that Sin City is just a movie, a very entertaining movie. I went to see it again, and really appreciated it even more for the absolutely stunning creative visual effects and the fine acting, especially since the film is such a radical change from every other noir film made before it. Please see it, relax and enjoy it, the blood isn't real, and no thugs, broads, wiseguys or dames were hurt during the filming either. The extra good news is that already they are making two sequels, and at the same time!
THE HITCH HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Trying to keep honest, I'm simply going to excuse myself from attempting to critique Hitch Hikers Guide. I didn't read the book, listen to the radio broadcasts and although the film seems clever and pithy I didn't have a clue as to why almost everybody in the audience was enjoying it so much. Go to http://www.alternet.org/movies/21906/ and you'll see that Douglas Adams own reading of the audio book version is sort of available again. If that means anything to you.
BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE. Daniel Day-Lewis and Catherine Keener always turn out excellent acting jobs. The Ballad of Jack and Rose is another back to nature tribute. This one suggests the Garden of Eden, complete with snake, moves a bit slow, and the characters are certainly naïve. And like so many other films lately, Ballad says that developers are evil, and suggests shooting them (which might work locally, as long as they don't just shatter into little pieces, and each piece becomes another developer). Like Off the Map, starring Joan Allen and Sam Elliott (not Kevin Costner), Ballad is about living without most of our modern conveniences. Are real people thinking about this more nowadays, or is it just the movies?
PACIFIC RIM MUSIC FESTIVAL-SO FAR. Watching the Korean Folk Percussion Ensemble and listening to the Balinese and Sudanese Gamelan Ensembles at the opening of the Festival last Friday was great fun. What was even better was hearing mezzo-soprano Mutsumi Hatano sing Michio Mamiya's Serenade No.3 titled Germ at the opening concert. Also, Wu Man was here in person playing the pipa, which is similar to a lute. She's recorded quite a bit of music and you should hear her asap. The concerts continue tonight (Tuesday) at the Civic and go through Saturday night with Kent Nagano conducting the Berkeley Symphony. The Music Department at UCSC is presenting this stupendous collection of international talent. Go to www.pacificrim.ucsc.edu and get the necessary details.
QUOTES. "Television is a 21 inch prison. I'm delighted with it because it used to be that films were the lowest form of art. Now we have something to look down on," -Billy Wilder. "I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everyone to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs." -Samuel Goldwyn. "You can fool all the people all of the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough." -Joseph E. Levine. "I saw the sequel to the movie Clones and you know what? It was the same movie!!." -Jim Samuels.
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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