Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Tuesday 7:30-8:30 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.
|
SENTINEL VS. ROTKIN AND EVERYBODY. The Santa Cruz Sentinel has been doing an awful lot of whining and griping about widening Highway One. Gary Patton wrote a well thought out letter on Monday which should cause some thought. Why hasn't the Sentinel ever quoted one official source such as the California Highway Patrol or Cal Trans or any legitimate source from anywhere that says and proves that widening highways works? The studies Patton mentions show over and over that when a highway is widened and traffic gets faster that more and more people leave their old routes and use the newly widened highway and it locks up again. In addition to new users switching highways if the widened highway goes out to undeveloped areas, those areas get developed because the traffic is faster and again the highway becomes blocked. So write letters to the Sentinel, because this is big money and there should be some proof someplace that widening highways works beyond 2 or 3 years.
GOODBYE CHARLIE HALL. Charlie Hall was an incredibly fine fellow. He and his brother Bob were part of the early fabric of Santa Cruz, and they both are excellent examples of why community works as well as it does. Charlie was such a warm and intelligent human I was amazed to learn from his obituary that he was a Republican. He was a great support to his wife Linda Burman Hall. It was a tribute to him that Linda went on and played so brilliantly in last week's New Music Works Convergence Concert. She too is a real trooper.
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA'S ANNUAL PRESS CONFERENCE. The SFOpera held their annual press conference to announce the 2007-08 Opera season last Monday January 22 at 10:30 am. in the Grand Lobby of the Opera house. They emailed the same press releases that we got at the opera at the same time. So you probably know by now that the season will consist of and, in order....Saint-Saens "Samson and Delilah" starring Olga Borodina who was here in 2001 and Clifton Forbis who "covered" Tristan here last season. Richard Wagner's Tannhauser will be a premiere and the first brand new production of new General Director David Gockley' s term. It features Peter Seiffert singing Tannhauser, with Runnicles conducting. Philip Glass's Appomattox is a world premiere and was commissioned by the SFOpera. Glass has now written 11 operas and another 12 chamber operas!!! It plays 6 performances October 5-20. Dennis Russell Davies will be conducting but Runnicles called him Dennis Russell Davis for some reason. Then comes the Maurice Sendak (not Hockney) version of Mozart's Magic Flute with Piotar Beczala as Tamino. He sang in SFO's last Eugene Onegin and was great. One of opera's two hot babes who can sing, Angela Gheorghiu heads the cast of Puccini's La Rondine; it's her SFO debut and about time too. Verdi's Macbeth will be eye-popping Gockley stated. And he said that soprano Doina Dimitriu as Lady Macbeth is a great actress, let's hope. Long time favorite James Morris sings Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and mezzo soprano Denyce Graves who sang Carmen here in 1998 sings Baba the Turk. This time Rake's Progress is et in 20th Century Hollywood, oh boy!!! That plays 6 performances in Nov and Dec and ends the main season. Opening in June for the tourist season is Richard Wagner's' Das Rheingold with Mark Delavan as Wotan, Jennifer Larmore as Fricka, Stefan Margita is Loge, Polish contralto Ewa Podles is Erda and David Cangelosi is Mime. This is more or less the same Gold Rush- Roaring Twenties production that debuted at Placido Domingo's Washington National Opera last season. Runnicles conducts it. Then in June and July comes the San Francisco Opera's premiere of George Frederich Handel's baroque opera Ariodante. Ewa Podles, Ruth Ann Swenson and Susan Graham sing the lead roles. The production is from the Dallas Opera. Alternating in the summer are 6 performances of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay making her company debut. CAL Performances and the SFO are co-producing the west coast premiere of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. It'll play 6 performances in May at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall and is a special family attraction and Francesca Zambello's production. It was scored by British composer Rachel Portman who did the music for at least 70 films such as Joy Luck Club, Chocolat, Emma, The lake house, The(new) Manchurian Candidate, Benny and Joon and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar. Should be quite a show!!
MORE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA NEWS. Here's some items talked about at Monday's News Conference that weren't released on their official press releases. Composer Phillip Glass and SFOpera's new artistic director Francesca Zambello were present and spoke. Glass spoke for 15 minutes about his newly commissioned opera Appomattox. Present Music director Donald Runnicles spoke at length about the casting of the entire next season and he was highly praised as being "a huge pillar in the company" by Gockley. The newest music director Nicola Luisotti' s name was never mentioned, which seemed odd. This summers Rheingold kicks off four years of separate Ring Operas with the complete new Ring Cycle happening in 2011. There will be a major announcement in 2 or 3 weeks regarding the Opera Company and radio broadcasts. They are even now installing HDTV cameras and a switching system that will allow them to record everything by this summer, and more simulcasts are being worked on. This is Gockley' s first personally selected season, with only Samson and Delilah and Macbeth operas along with Olga Borodina, Thomas Hampson, and Doina Dimitriu's contracts being inherited from previous directors. With the exception of John Adams works (Dr. Atomic, Nixon in China) that require amplification "you will not hear amplification here at the SFOpera", David Gockley. The Merola singers sang Happy Birthday to Phillip Glass who turns 70 on January 31 and we all ate cake at the close of the Press Conference.
OPERA SAN JOSE 2007-08 SEASON. Kelly Hudson Marketing and Development Director of Opera San Jose was on my Grapevine radio program last week. Without planning it we revealed to the public the Opera San Jose 2007-08 season. They still have La Traviata 2/10-2/25, and Madama Butterfly 5/21-5/6 left in this season. The next season will be Lucia Di Lammermoor (Sept.), Werther (Nov.), Rigoletto (Feb.) The Magic Flute (Apr.)
UCSC OPERA SEASON. Lou Harrison's Young Caesar will be performed once only on Tuesday April 3rd at 8p.m. in the Music Recital Hall on the campus. There will be a pre-opera talk at 7:15pm. Nicole Paiment conducts. You could go to San Francisco's Yerba Buena Arts Center and see the same Young Caesar production there on February 16 & 17 at 8p.m. but it costs more.
The Magic Flute will be performed by UCSC students, directed by Brian Staufenbiel, and conducted by Nicole Paiment . That happens Thurs., May 31 through Sunday, June 3 at the UCSC Music Recital Hall. Confidentially, it wouldn't surprise me if we heard many better voices in this production than any of the other flutes around here. More on this later.
WOLFGANG ROSENBERG COVERS THE MEMPHIS MEDIA CONFERENCE.
Wolfgang went to Memphis, as he has the other two annual Media Conferences before. He reports on who was there, (like ABC) and of course Amy Goodman, and some arch conservatives! He tells about the Free Press Organization and Bill Moyers and there may be hope for the future of honest media, don't miss it click here
EAGAN'S EFFULGENCE. Scroll downwards to see the truth about Outsourcing , only more graphic than usual.
PAUL ELERICK'S INPUT. Paul didn't think much of Prez Bush's State of the Union talk...and who did? Paul has much to say about Fred Keeley's Transportation Task Force meeting this week. He discusses the Pajaro Valley School District's recent resignation and ends up ranting about the continued widening of Highway One by the single minded RTC.
GARY PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary talks more about saving Pleasure Point's historic Roadhouse. He talks about Historic Designations in Live Oak and Monterey's new General Plan. Learn about the Foundation for Deep Ecology and their new book on Thrillcraft (jet skis, dune buggies, dirt bikes, etc.) I talked with Jason Kiely who's working on the Thrillcraft book, he says it won't be in print until late fall. Patton ends the week by addressing UCSC's Long Range Development Plan and a group called "Stewards of The Range".
SAUL LANDAU'S PROGRESS. Click here to read Saul's article "A Fool and A Charlatan" (guess who??)
www.progresoweekly.com You can also read how Senator Christopher Dodd still supports free travel between USA and Cuba. There's an article on 20th Century Socialism too. It's all in Progreso Weekly.
THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC CLUB MEETS AGAIN. The PDC will have Gary Patton, Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League (PCL) at their monthly meeting on January 25th at the LONDON-Nelson Center, 301 Center St, Santa Cruz. Gary will tell us what activities the PCL is currently working on and share some thoughts and opinions on politics and government in Sacramento. The Planning and Conservation League is a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization, an alliance of individuals and conservation organizations united to protect California's environment through legislative and administrative action. For more than thirty years, PCL has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in California that is the best in the United States. PCL staff review virtually every environmental bill that comes before the California Legislature each year. They have testified in support or opposition of thousands of bills, working to strengthen California's environmental laws and fight off rollbacks of environmental protections. The meeting starts at 7 PM. The public is really welcome. For more information: Call 420-1133.
THE DRUM MAJOR INSTITUTE AND BUSH'S SPEECH. If you want an interesting and complete dissection of the Bush Union speech go to http://drummajorinstitute.org/sotu2007 . While you're there read all about the Drum Major Institute, and let me know what you think.
CHRISTINA WATERS WEBSITE. Christina's carries on even more about ugly civic architecture. Then she reviews "Pan's Labyrinth", and no I don't know what she says about Labyrinth, yet. She then makes a few choice wine suggestions and reveals some secrets of restaurant reviewing. This is really kind of her especially if you want a reputation like Christina's. Go here christinawaters.com
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. As mentioned a lot, I don't think much of Clint Eastwood as a director or as a mayor for that matter. His Letters From Iwo Jima is typical Eastwood. Not a subtle or nuanced thought in the picture. It's heavy handed and his using Japanese with subtitles in Eastwood's case is only a gimmick. Suppose just for a second he told that exact same story from the American forces point of view it would be a stupid movie and you'd spot the stupidity and condescending attitude in a millisecond. Don't bother going because it's also boring. I know it's nominated for an Oscar, that's why I'm sure I'm right.
THE GOOD GERMAN. Now here's an excellent piece of cinema. It's great old style film noir and Cate Blanchett has never been better or probably never had as much fun acting as this. George Clooney is a bit modern for this WWII Berlin film but it is a marvelous and impressive motion picture. Think Third Man Theme, it's full of secrets, and foreign intrigue.
HALF OF...THE HITCHER. I liked the original with Rutger Hauer it was tense insane, and over done...so was this one. HOWEVER the film burned up about half way through, which I hadn't seen happen in maybe 3 or 4 years so I only got to see the first hour, but it looked almost as good as the earlier one.
VENUS. Peter O'Toole is almost as good here as in Lawrence of Arabia. It's a special kind of love affair between a 75 year old and a 20 year old. It never gets weird, tacky, or gross. It is a very well done British film and you should go see it.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Every Thursday from 4 to 5 pm on KZSC 88.1 FM I host an interview program titled University Grapevine. This Thursday I'll be talking with Ivan Rosenblum pianist, piano teacher, and artistic director of the Santa Cruz Chamber Players. We'll talk about their concerts coming up on Saturday and Sunday February 3rd and 4th at Christ Lutheran Church at 10707 Soquel Dr. in Aptos. They'll be playing Brahms, Mozart, Schumann, and Harbison. The second half hour I'll talk with Sampada ("Sam" for short) Aranke about the recent action against military recruiting on the UCSC campus.
JUST PLAIN NIFTY This illustration of a Newton's Cradle is from Wikimedia Commons. They have a ton of very cool images and other media - start with their featured pictures, and you can lose yourself for hours. Just don't blame me...
QUOTES and AMUSING MUSINGS. Scott McClelland's quote goes something like this, "It's a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word." -President Andrew Jackson. The Ugly Mug in Soquel has a chalked message on a sandwich board in front of their coffee house it says, "Buy local or bye, bye local." That's a very straight way of telling it like it is.
Scott Kennedy sent some illumination... "As Air America Radio pointed out" This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address occur on the same day. It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, while the other involves a groundhog."
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
|
WINTER SURVIVAL CAMPAIGN. The Western Service Workers Association has been waging a Winter Survival Campaign for more than 25 years. They collect clothing, blankets and nutritious foods for low income workers and the unemployed. The agricultural season is over, there are more computer industry layoffs, and too many folks have to decide between Heating or Eating. WSWA says "we need both". They also have a program for helping house-bound disabled and elderly with a Winter Watch program. You can help these folks through the tough and cold winter through Easter by donations of cash, volunteering, the use of your car, the use of your phone or dropping off clothing, blankets, warm clothes at The Western Service Workers Association at 1511 Mission Street near Bay close to Donnelly's Chocolates, and Sylvan Music. They'll take clothing from 9 to 9 every day call them at 831 429-6016. Remember that name ...The Western Service Workers Association.
CELIA SCOTT WRITES ABOUT WIDENING HIGHWAY ONE. This is from an email Celia Scott sent regarding our vote against widening the Big One and the RTC's going through with it.
"The November 2004 vote did deny local tax funds for widening of Highway 1; it did not prevent the Regional Transportation Commission from continuing to consider widening the highway, and to move forward with an EIR for the project known as the HOV Lane project, extending all the way to La Selva Beach. As to whether the voters intended not merely to deny the funds but to express their disapproval of the widening per se might have been clarified by a post-election survey; however, the RTC declined to undertake such a survey. It is notable, however, that Measure J failed in Nov. 2004 in all five Supervisorial districts. In short, the RTC majority has chosen, in my opinion, to interpret the Nov. 2004 vote as not constituting disapproval of highway widening per se (for a variety of unverified reasons), and to proceed with another tactic for highway widening, namely, the salami tactic of widening it under the label of "auxiliary lanes" on a piecemeal basis. The recent vote is an expression of that intent, with the incentive of a new pot of money from Proposition 1B, and also expresses the position of the current RTC majority that widening the highway is the first priority for transportation funding. To be continued". Celia Scott
CRIME MAPS OF SANTA CRUZ. The Santa Cruz City Police Department has a website that shows a calendar of crimes of the month...by category. Go to it at http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pd . I can't quite figure it out. What is the purpose of it? Are we supposed to feel more...or less secure? Are we now impressed with the few crimes or the many crimes in Santa Cruz? Click around on it before responding.
RURAL BONNY DOON ELECTIONS. Congratulations to Yana Jacobs, Tom Hearn, Jodi Frediani and Ted Benharifor winning board seats on the Rural Bonny Doon Association. Bonny Doon has such a beautiful environment that it is always the target of developers. So the RBDA Board works constantly to protect the community. Buel Proffitt ran for the board and lost with the hair brained idea of having a moto-cross racetrack to be built on either Grey Whale Ranch land or Coast Dairy land. I've known Buel for years and alongside his idea of allowing dirt bikes on hiking trails the moto cross racetrack is/was his nuttiest yet.
GARY PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary talks about needed agricultural inspections to thwart more tainted veggies. Then he has words about vineyards and a "farm plan". There are serious plans afoot to develop Fort Ord and the much disrespected Monterey County Board of Supervisors are deeply involved. There's a workshop Thursday 1/18 at the Santa Cruz library 1-4 p.m. sponsored by California Farmlink to help preserve Coastal Farmlands. That developing of Fort Ord means a lot to our Monterey Bay community. Check out those plans.
PAUL ELERICK'S INPUT. Paul waxes nostalgically about good old cars, World War II on DVD and some words about Martin Luther King.
TIM EAGAN'S EFFULGENCE. It's political Oscar time from Eagan's point of view, and that means lots of show biz. Check it all out further down the column.
CHRISTINA WATERS WEIGH IN. Christina talks about the Chef at Capitola's Il Pirata then does a thing about "The Queen" and ends by adding a few words about The River Street Sign. christinawaters.com/
SAUL LANDAU AND GORE VIDAL IN CUBA. Click here to read the latest Progreso Weekly (if you haven't subscribed for free yet). You can read how the Hilton Hotel Chain in Oslo, Norway "snubbed" an official Cuban delegation who was visiting. Hilton was following the embargo policy. You can also read the second part of Saul's visit with Vidal in Havana and how some Cuban asked why the US doesn't elect people like Gore Vidal. A typical Landau story.
ALPHA DOG.It's difficult to say this film has absolutely nothing going for it, because it does have a crazed, imaginative, contemporary drive that isn't consistent but it is exciting at times. It's about some druggies, stoners, and has Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake in it. It's set in 1999 all over Southern California, like Palm Springs, and Valley towns. Don't go in any case, it's not worth it.
PAN'S LABYRINTH. This film is so magnificent I am almost at a loss to describe it. It certainly goes to the very top of my ten best list this year and for as many years back as I can remember!! It is an achievement in motion picture making. Set in Franco's fascist Spain it's the story of a young girl facing the reality of guerrilla war in the country side as she escapes to the most imaginative, creative, fairyland ever created on screen. Just see it and do see it on the big screen...it's that perfect.
THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE . You can find this Criterion DVD at Cedar Street Video, and probably at Netflix.. This classic Spanish film was released on DVD in 2006. It was written and filmed in Spain in 1973 during the closing days of Franco's 40 year dictatorship, and set in 1940. It too like Pan's Labyrinth, oddly enough centers on a young girl's vivid imagination about death and the Spanish Civil War. The monster in Beehive is James Whale's Frankenstein film starring Boris Karloff. It comes on 2 DVD's. Be sure to watch the second one when the director tells of how Franco's censors couldn't figure how to stop the film. And watch it to see how the director used the Frankenstein image to tell the story.
SOPHIE SCHOLL , The Final Days. Another new DVD release and it was the 2005 Academy Award nominee. The description says it's the true story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine in her last six days in Munich. Her courage, belief in peace and her understanding of what was happening around her as Hitler's dream was collapsing has to remind you of our struggles today. Rent it asap.
LATE BREAKING OPERA NEWS . I'll be at the annual San Francisco Opera news conference next Monday morning Jan. 22. David Gockley the opera's general director will announce the names of the operas that'll be presented in the 2007-08 season. Recently Gockley announced that Mr. Nicola Luisotti will replace Donald Runnicles as music director beginning 2009-2010. Runnicles will work with Luisotti in the new Wagner Ring cycle that will continue into the 2010-11 season. What'll be fun is that Monday night I'll be a guest on Jim Endy's and Barbara Smythe's Opera Show on KUSP and we can talk about the new season news scoop. That'll be at 8 p.m. UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Every Thursday from 4-5 p.m. I host University Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 FM radio. This Thursday I'll be taking with Kelly Hudson from the San Jose Opera Company. We'll discuss the rest of the operas in this season and what's scheduled for the next, and other things you may not know about our closest opera company. After that Phil Collins and I will talk about the Convergence concert that the New Music Works will perform on Saturday night January 20 at 8pm. in UCSC's Music Recital Hall. Call 459-2159 for tickets to that concert.
QUOTES"I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty." -Groucho Marx. "A good rule of thumb is if you've made it to thirty- five and your job still requires you to wear a name tag, you've probably made a serious vocational error." -Dennis Miller. "Happiness is getting a bill you've already paid, so you can sit down and write a really nasty letter." -Peter Nero.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
|
OPEN WIDE...EIGHT LANES WIDE. We're getting eight lanes of freeway widening shoved up or down our Highway One, depending on which way you bend. There's no EIR, The RTC is completely ignoring Fred Keeley's Task Force, Capitola voted No Widening, but who asked them? Read PAUL ELERICKS INPUT right here. Paul has followed this widening cancer since it began and has nailed it. See what's going to happen on January 11th and what we can do to stop this enormous waste of our money on something we voted against.
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS. The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, January 23. The big Academy Awards show will be at 5 p.m. on Sunday February 25. On the other hand, we area film critics Morton Marcus, Lisa Jensen, Wallace Baine and I will discuss our opinions as to which films SHOULD win on Saturday February 24 at noon at the Nickelodeon. Bring opinions, it's free.
GOLDEN GLOBE and other AWARDS. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globe Awards will be televised next Monday January 15. It'll be hosted and presented by Drew Barrymore, Hugh Grant, Cameron Diaz, Hilary Swank and George Clooney. The Oscar Awards usually give awards to the same films as the Globes, so tune in. The wild and funny Independent Spirit Awards will be telecast 2 p.m. Saturday February 24 (the day before the Oscars) Go to www.filmindependent.org and watch past years clips, swearing, drinking, they got it all...especially Felicity Huffman's acceptance speech...and it's great fun too.
LEN KLEMPNAUER AND BOB CASTAGNOLA. I ran into Bob Castagnola at lunch last week and thanked him for his new data on that historic Santa Cruz Hotel photo. He added that no story on the old days of the hotel would be complete without mentioning Lula. Someday we should write the entire history of the Santa Cruz Hotel including the Lula part. Then Len Klempnauer sent an email saying, " Any story of the Santa Cruz Hotel during the '50s and '60s should include mention of the restaurant's spectacular French-fried raviolis that were served as hors d'oeuvres in the bar during the happy hour. Also, Al Castagnola' s partner was Friend "Amigo" Arevalo. "Friend" should be capitalized. That was his name. After Al sold out and started another restaurant, I believe Annie Righetti, John Righetti's sister, became part owner. Bob Castagnola should be able to clarify that. Len Klempnauer, Capitola.
CAPITOLA BOOK CAFÉ, PART 2. Last week I wrote that the Capitola Book Café was already sold, it hasn't been...not yet. Here's what Janet Leimeister and C.B.C. employees wrote to set the record straight...."Regarding your statement about the pending sale of Capitola Book Café, it is very important for you and your kind readers to understand that we are still in a transition stage of this important project and no sale has been completed. The current employees who have spearheaded the effort are still raising funds from community members to complete the project. We have taken over the day-to-day management needs, are discussing possible partnerships, are learning much from the current owners and our beloved bosses, and are eager to see that Book Café remains a vital part of our community. Patience and support is appreciated. Additionally, George Ow and Geoffrey Dunn both have offered advice on this transition but have not been involved in the process. Sincerely, Janet Leimeister & Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, employees of Capitola Book Café.
CLUB ZAYANTE BENEFIT. Tom Louagie hisself sent the following email
AN EVENING AT CLUB ZAYANTE
The legendary mountain club recently burned down. But all on ONE BIG NIGHT many of the fine musicians who played Club Z.and then went on to greater glory, will be
honoring its memory and playing for old friends and new.
LACY J. DALTON, Country music awards: 'Best New Female Singer" (Crazy Blue Eyes, 16th Avenue, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, Hard Times, Takin' it Easy).
BOB BROZMAN, National Guitar and Hawaiian slide master, world musician, producer, director, performer in "Song of the Volcano".
RON THOMPSON, Chris Isaak says :"You're lucky to be in a little club seeing the legendary Ron Thompson, one of the last living blues legends. He's the real deal!"
SIROCCO, Sulyman and Armando and their dancers roar in from the desert and enchant us once again!
THE DIRTY BUTTER JUG BAND kicks the chairs off the dance floor for the grandee finale with the one and only ORNATE HAWKINS sitting in!
Also "LIVE AT CLUB ZAYANTE" CD's and tee-shirts, (great late xmas gifts)
IT WILL ALL HAPPEN AT
DON QUIXOTE'S, Hwy 9 & Graham Hill Rd., FELTON. 8P.M.
SATURDAY, JAN.13
$20 at door; $18 advance. Call 831-603-2294
P.S. If you'd like to tell your favorite Club Z.story, hear someone else's, or even make one up, e-mail clubzayantetom@yahoo.com I'll set up a blog or whatever when I figure all that tech stuff out, and we'll keep in touch. Investors welcome.
Yes, our Hot Damn String Band played there many, many nights and early on several mornings too. Then we'd drive over the hill to Roaring Camp and play there on Saturday mornings...those were the days, I think.
GARY PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary also weighs in on the RTC's plot to widen Highway One. He talks about the referendum campaign against the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. The powers are working fast to pave over Spreckels farmland to build 73 new homes. Gary praises using "Google Earth" as an environmental tool! He closes by talking about Saving Pleasure Point's fight to save the historic roadhouse. Click here
TIM EAGAN'S EFFULGENCE. Tim scoops the political world with a new meaning of "Chairman" Bush. Scroll down.
CHRISTINA WATERS WARILY. Check out Christina's website at http://christinawaters.com She's talking about Babe l and the Oscars.
She's found a café in La Jolla and doesn't like the use of the phrase "Guys" in restaurants.
PAUL HOSTETTER'S WEBSITE. www.lutherie.net/live.music.html Hostetter manages to collect the most interesting musical performances in Northern California on his website. Check it out to learn about Pacifica Performances, which is in Pacifica. They have a grand event schedule and very low prices. Then you can check out Stanford's Lively Arts where Michelle Witt is now holding forth.
SAUL LANDAU AND GORE VIDAL IN CUBA. Here's the link to read Progreso Weekly and Saul's story about Gore Vidal and others including Saul and their trip to Havanna. Vidal is as witty as Saul is and the background comments are typical Landau.
http://www.progresoweekly.com
CHETAN TIERRA, pianist. Aside from being a Santa Cruz kid twenty three year old Chetan Tierra holds prizes in over twenty competitions including the 2006 gold medal at the Eighth California International Young Artists Competition, first prize at the Twenty-Eighth Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, and second prize at the Eighteenth New Orleans International Piano Competition. He's going to be playing works by Chopin, Ginastera, Mozart and Scriabin on Saturday, February 3 at 8PM
CELEBRATING ALICE DAVIS. WILPF and the family of Alice Davis invite you to a Celebration of Her Life. Sunday, January 14, 2007, 2:00 - 5:00pm, Harvey West Clubhouse, 326 Evergreen Street, Santa Cruz. Alice was a long-time peace and justice activist and member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom among other organizations. We will share our "Alice stories", celebrate her kindnesses and the infinite occasions and actions when Alice was the calm center and model of hope.
CHILDREN OF MEN. A near film masterpiece directed by Alfonso Cuaron who also directed Great Expectations with Gwyneth Paltrow, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and Harry Potter and the Princess of Azafriznutz or something. It's from Miss P.D. James' book and it's all about London in 2027. Clive Owens is the star along with Julienne Moore and Michael Caine has one of his best parts in years too. It's 1984, Escape From New York, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and it's simply a brilliantly done film. The accents range from Cockney to Liverpool and some words are lost but it is one thrilling and provocative film. Especially if you are political or even environmental.
PERFUME. It's a shock to see Dustin Hoffman as a wheezy foppish perfume maker and it's a shock to watch this entire serial murderer movie. It's full of period costumes and it is a visual and even a guttural pleasure to watch. Not for the squeamish, and Mort Marcus tells me the film has a slightly different ending than the book, and do see it.
THE PAINTED VEIL. Why or how is it that Edward Norton and Naomi Watts have such reputations that when you hear they co-produced this film you know it has to have something going for it....and it does. It's from a Somerset Maugham novel set in 1920's China. Like Maugham's best works the film is intensely personal and the main characters are flawed. See it by all means.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Every Thursday from 4 -5 pm I host University grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. You can hear it on your computer around the world at www.kzsc.org. This week I'll be talking with Offra Gerstein who writes the Relationship Matters column for the Sentinel. Offra has some new approaches to relationships, tune in. Then Gary Griggs & Deepika Shrestha Ross co authors of the new book Santa Cruz Coast (Arcadia Publishing) will talk about their unique idea of matching photos of our coastline taken decades ago and now. Sandy Lydon has a theory that the reason our picturesque bridges like Natural Bridge collapse so often (see the book for many more examples) is because of the vibrations camera lens produce when we take too many photos at the same place. He may not believe that anymore.
QUOTES. "To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with your mother." -Barry Humphries. "My opinion of New York is that the newspapers are too thick and the lavatory paper is too thin." -Winston Churchill. "Going to the bathroom in a yacht in a French harbor is not so much good-bye as an au revoir." -Noel Coward.
in the Cabrillo College Theater, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA. You can get tickets at the Cabrillo Box Office, Bldg 2100 A, Cabrillo College, 479-6331 M-F 9:30 - 4:30 or at www.ticketguys.com
You are welcome to bring a finger-food dish to share. Additionally, you may bring an item for the altar and/or items to be included in a scrapbook of remembrances.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
|
DIY PARADE. The second annual Do It Yourselves New Years eve parade went off near perfectly. It was a genuine Santa Cruz event. That means the people wanted to parade and the City and City Council tried their damndest to make it as difficult as possible. Hundreds of folks, all ages, all political angles marched and it was great. Santa Cruz loves parades and hats off to the DIY non planners for giving us this hunk of community pride.
MADRIGAL NOT AND MONNING MAYBE. A column or two ago I wrote that Tony Madrigal was running, but made it read like he was running for State Assembly, and I didn't mean to. He's running hard for re-election to the City Council. He sent me three emails stating he's not running for Assembly. He said he's got unfinished work as a councilmember and his beloved community etc, etc. After that I got an email stating "After speaking with Bill Monning, it is clear that he is in the early stages of a discernment process regarding the Assembly seat that is scheduled to open up in 2008. He has not decided whether to run or not, but he is evaluating the situation. In closing, I think it would be helpful to update your readers about this matter." That was from Chris Jennings so now we know...but what?
WESTSIDE PHARMACY MOVING. The last I heard was that Westside Pharmacy presently located out next to the Omei Restaurant, was moving to the old Mr. Z's Liquor store site out on Mission. Westside Pharmacy used to be Palm Pharmacy where Blockbuster is now.
BERNICE BELTON BULLETIN. Stalwart Bernice Belton is now in a skilled nursing facility and is doing just fine. She is completely without medical treatment and is recovering from surgery for her lung cancer. Everything is stabilized and she's rebuilding her strength. She should be home in a week or two. Then she faces a surgery for colon cancer so wish her extra good wishes. Phone calls are impossible right now due to her lung operation. She's just as concerned, amused and mad as all of us are about the incredible hoopla and fuss about Gerald Ford and she says a lot of good things about Kaiser Health Care. Call Nora Hochman at 479-1019 to see what's new.
CAPITOLA BOOK CAFE SOLD!! Developers George Ow and Geoffrey Dunn succeeded in selling The Capitola Book Café from the four women employees who were the owners to other store employees. The new owners are going to redo the cafe part and spruce up the rest of the store. Business is great and the author appearances are drawing standing room only.
PAUL ELERICK'S INPUT. Paul says goodbye to Paul Sanford and talks about 2007 and Iraq. He goes on to tell about Community TV and how to find their schedules and when the Trains and Trails Symposium will be on view.
UCSC TEMP CHANCELLOR MEETS SCRP. SCRP (Santa Cruzans for Responsible Planning) member Bill Malone asked a pithy question of Acting UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal at the last SCRP meeting. He asked is it true that UCSC wants to have 4500 new students to the campus but can't or won't try to make campus living and easier? It was a very clear way of stating the problem. Celia Scott asked him why UCSC doesn't now and never has had a goal of being GREEN in new building or in their daily operations, as some other campi are doing... I don't remember what the Chancellor replied.
PROGRESO WEEKLY. Read about the US legislators visit to Havanna and other late news from Cuba.
GARY PATTON'S PROGRAM. You can read two weeks (Dec 29 - Jan. 5) of Gary's KUSP radio program here. Gary waxes philosophical, profound, and deep regarding how to plan our newest year. He talks about General Plans, about San José's Coyote Valley and about the Tri-County Economic Conference that's coming up.
TIM EAGAN'S EFFULGENCE. Check out Tim's pre-caps of 2007. Pre caps? Yes pre-caps...scroll down to bottom of the column.
CHRISTINA WATERS ONLINE. Christina continues her critique of restaurant language abuse, suggests a hot art exhibition at Sesnon Gallery opening this week and raves about a chic trattoria in of all places Oakland! (Somebody has to go to Oakland!!) She's got news about Oswald founding chef Charlie Deal, and much more. All at http://christinawaters.com
CONVERGENCE CONCERT. Get tickets quickly for The New Music Works first concert of their 28th season. It's titled Convergence and features music by John Cage, Alvin Curran and Lou Harrison. It also features performances by Alvin Curran, Joan Jeanrenaud (from Kronos) William Winant, Linda Burman-Hall and Timb Harris. Get tickets now at the UCSC box Office 459-2159 or maybe at the door. The concert is Saturday, January 20 at 8 p.m. at the UCSC Music Center Recital Hall.
BEST FILM LISTS. Read your favorite critics favorite list, if you don't agree on best pics figure out why. This is the only time of the year when you can do that. What we are all going for is to determine which film will stand the test of time. Will any film released this year be talked about in 1 year? 5 years? 100 years? Can you remember which films won awards just last year?
LOCAL CRITICS TOP TEN. Over 100 folks gathered at the Nickelodeon last Saturday to hear our top ten films and tell us about their film likes and dislikes. Here are the lists with each of our top ten films starting at #1 Wallace Baine. United 93, The Queen, An Inconvenient Truth, The Departed, Little Children, Look Both Ways, Little Miss Sunshine, Thank You For Smoking, Water/House of Sand, Volver.
Lisa Jensen. The New World, The Illusionist, Look Both Ways, United 93, The Last King Of Scotland, Water, Babel, Joyeux Noel, An Inconvenient Truth, Scoop, Us VS John Lennon.
Morton Marcus. House Of Sand, Look Both Ways, Flags of Our Fathers, Apocalypto, Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles, The Queen, Mountain Patrol, Little Miss Sunshine, Borat, Twin Towers, Water.
Bruce Bratton. The Queen, Babel, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Little Children, Look Both Ways, Notes on a Scandal, Bubble, House Of Sand, Volver, An Inconvenient Truth.
To save you the trouble...you can see that only Look Both Ways was on all four of our lists. An Inconvenient Truth, Water, House of Sand and The Queen made it to three of our lists. Lisa Jensen had a stunning six films in her list that no one else mentioned. This definitely proves something.
DREAMGIRLS. This is a genuine film musical with singing dialogue and lots of dancing. Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx do fine jobs of acting and singing, but if you don't like the Berry Gordy school of 1960's Detroit rock hokum like the Supremes, and The Jackson 5 and showbiz like that, don't go. I didn't like it very much.
LITTLE CHILDREN. Kate Winslett and Jennifer Connelly head the stars. It's middle class America. In Maine this time, and it deals with pedophilia, murder, and the daily lives of young families trying to figure out how it all works. An intelligent film, don't miss it.
GOOD SHEPHERD. This is a quiet, a very quiet film. I don't mean hush hush, as in spy films, I mean it's just hard to hear all the dialogue. Robert De Niro directed it.. Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, William Hurt all make this a low key 2 ½ hour saga of how the CIA was created work like it's supposed to. It's slow moving, rarely exciting and makes you fell like part of the conspiracy...go see it.
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. You probably saw the inane and tired spanking the monkey joke in the previews of this dull film. Well that monkey joke took five minutes to set up and it wasn't that funny neither was Robin Williams or Ben Stiller.. The idea for this lame comedy had great potential but you can make up scenes faster and funnier than they did. Rent it only if necessary.
ROCKY BALBOA TURNS 61. I have no intention of ruining your day...or your week but you should prepare for the fact that Sylvester Stallone is now filming Rambo 4 which will be out sometime in 2008! Stallone will turn 61 this year. None of that has anything to do with the current Rocky Balboa film. The current Rocky Balboa film is better than any of the other Balboa films, maybe even the first one. Stallone wrote and directed this film, it has a naïve charm and it's nearly believable all the way through.
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. If you've been seeing the previews of this magnificent film, forget them. The film is much better. There is very little martial arts, not much flying through the air or walking on tree tips kind of thing. It's a classical Chinese court drama more like Shakespeare or Grand Opera then Crouching Tiger or Hero it is one of the biggest most spectacular films I've ever seen. It won't open here for a few weeks, but get ready to see it, you'll love it and Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat have never been lovelier.
MISS POTTER. Renee Zellweger screws her little face into a prune and pretends she's Beatrix Potter who wrote all the Peter Rabbit books. Emily Watson plays her best friend and for some odd reason looks about a foot taller that she ever has in any other film. Ewan McGregor plays her publisher and he's nice too. Everybody is nice in this nice film. The nice bunnies and cute ducks jump off the pages. It's treacle, cutesy, and unnecessary. In truth Potter fought anti-women prejudice all her life and spent much of her fortune preserving land from developers. Go see it.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Ted Benhari is the current president of The Rural Bonny Doon Association he and I will talk about recent issues facing Bonny Doon such as UCSC, changes in the fire department and what Davenport's CEMEX plant is up to. The second half hour Don Young will discuss William Shakespeare and the Shakespeare Club which meets this Saturday Jan.6, at 10am in the Aptos library. I host University Grapevine every Thursday on KZSC 88.1 FM from 4-5 p.m. You can also stream it live by going to www.kzsc.org .
QUOTES. "Two things in the play should have been cut. The second act and that youngster's throat." -Noel Coward. "Asking a writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost what it thinks about dogs." -John Osborne. "I go to the theatre to be entertained. I don't want to see rape, sodomy, incest, and drug addiction. I can get all of that at home" -Peter Cook.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
 |
© 2003-2005 Bruce Bratton • info@brattononline.com • HOME |  |