Bratton Online

SANTA CRUZ’S BIGGEST BEACH TRAGEDY, THE DREAM INN. Area environmentalists got serious after The Dream Inn became a reality. This monstrosity (a nod to Honolulu and Rio’s beaches being ruined by hotels) happened back in April 26 1963. Across the street on the left is the Dominican Sisters Hospital, later morphed and moved into Dominican Hospital. Depot Park complete with Depot is there too, about dead center.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE August 15, 2016

James Davis at the Christian City Council Candidate thing.

Let “Jim” speak for himself!! If you really want to know about Jim Davis ask anyone at KPIG, (or the other stations he writes ads for) about his reputation…wow and whew!!!

Nathanael Kennedy at that Christian Council Candidate Thing.

CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES GENUFLECT. A church group sponsored the first collection of the eleven (11) Santa Cruz City Council Candidates gathering last Thursday August 11. In the High Street PeaceUnited Church out in the westside. As you can guess it attracted a very different crowd (probably 250!!) than it will when another gathering is held at London Nelson Community Center. So white,westside, christians listened as the 11 candidates spoke as fast as they could in their given 5 minutes about absolutely nothing new or exciting. It became even more clear that present and often mayor Cynthia Mathews has three staunch camp members who’ll follow her past and present pro-growth and harsh and demanding rulings. J.M Brown, Robert Singleton, and Martine Watkins will be right there for her. There probably won’t be any announced SLATE formed on either side. So then we have former mayor Chris Krohn, Drew Glover, Steve Schnar, Sandy Brown and Steve Pleitch on the progressive, environmental, sustainable growth, help the homeless side. Check out their websites, see if they commit to anything, and most importantly learn who’s endorsing them. Por Ejemplo, J.M. Brown campaign endorsers page has names like Baskin, Bosso, Colligan, Matt Farrell, Robert Singleton, Doug Ley, Fred Keeley, Hilary Bryant, Richelle Noroyan and more like that. Then again, there’s Nathaniel Kennedy who wants more public toilets and told us in great detail about what toilets are used for!!! Cynthia Mathews endorsers are just about the exact same as J.M Brown’s. Tons more to talk about…watch this space especially for the next 10 weeks!!!

IMPROV HISTORY. SAN FRANCISCO’S “THE COMMITTEE” HISTORY.

MISS HAMLET, THE COMEDY & REACTIONS. Folks are still responding to my quest to find out just why Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s production of Hamlet that had Hamlet being a woman, drew so many laughs on opening night (and after that too, according to readers). It’s about an even bout between the acting being so shallow and Hamlet actually being played for any laughs they can get, to this reader who seemed to sum up the other reactions…

“I theorize the people laughing at Hamlet, are “Millennial”. I think it’s because they are so crippled by politically correct Bullpucky that they don’t know how to process 1. the world 2. their emotions 3. social interactions 4. them selves without first checking what their other “peeps” are doing. They are Sheep, or Sleepwalkers, or Lemmings, take your pick”.

BERNIE SANDERS SANTA CRUZ REVOLUTION. Jeffrey Smedberg sends this…

Our Revolution is a new organization emerging from Bernie Sanders’ campaign that will continue to bring together a new majority for economic and social change by supporting candidates at the local, state, and national level who support the mission, issues and values of the Sanders campaign. The progressive community is invited to a potluck meeting to view Bernie’s live broadcast kickoff at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, August 24, at the London Nelson Community Center, 301 Center Street, Santa Cruz.

ELERICK’S INPUT. Mr. Paul Elerick of Aptos is still vacationing…

(Paul Elerick is a member of, and former co-chair of the Campaign for Sensible Transportation, http://sensibletransportation.org . He’s a current member of Nisene to Sea, a group of mid-county citizens committed to maintaining an open hiking trail from Cabrillo College to Nisene Marks State Park

REFLECTIONS ON THE RENT PRICES IN SANTA CRUZ

I am reading the Santa Cruz Sentinel front page article, Rent: Squeezed in Santa Cruz (8/14/16) from 3,000 miles away in central Florida where a new 3-bedroom house can be bought for $140,000 or rented for $1200 a month. Even close to the University of Central Florida, rents are one third the rate in the city of Santa Cruz. Similar reasonable housing costs were typical for Santa Cruz when I arrived in 1975. If I were contemplating where to go to school or where to live and work as a young adult today, Santa Cruz would not be an option.

For years, city and UCSC planners have been arguing that locals have to just get over the perception that Santa Cruz is a town and to get used to the idea that we are a city; that density, infilling and more and more housing are the only avenues to affordability. (Housing Study: Executive Summary 2002). The General Plan and Corridors Rezoning embody these concepts and high-rise buildings to match are already being approved with lots combined, single family homes and old-time businesses razed to make way for the new “smart growth” that according to the promoters will provide housing for our current workforce, our children and our seniors. What nonsense. Any return to the affordable housing of yesteryear is a chimera. Even a return to the housing costs of 2002 when the above document was written with hand wringing over the average housing cost of $480,000 is out of the question under current market conditions. Like it or not, housing is a commodity, exploited to generate profit. Under conditions of bottomless demand, currently being experienced by Santa Cruz and other Bay Area cities, the value and price of housing will continue to rise no matter how many units are built. What is lost in the process is the character and scale of Santa Cruz, irrelevant to the speculators and developers and increasingly to the planners and elected decision makers, all of whom give lip service to retaining what’s left of the town as they bulldoze yet another lovely old building such as the one that housed the 1970’s and 80’s La Chaumiere restaurant on Ocean St. to make way for a Habit Burger chain.

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People talk of tiny houses as an avenue towards affordability. Not sure how small one can go before we are at the level of a doghouse but the 350 square foot units on Water St. rent for $1760 a month which is beyond the budgets of all those who were profiled in the Sentinel article. The 100 small rental units being built at 555 Pacific will most likely be in the same price range. Simply put, building more, building higher, building denser has not demonstrated to lower the cost of housing so long as housing is in the hands of speculators and the demand is endless.

One of those interviewed for the Sentinel article, a recent UCSC graduate in Literature who found a local job in Human Services could not afford rent in town and lived for a while off the grid in Bonny Doon. She was quoted as saying, “If I want to buy I have to save.” With all due respect, this is living in a fantasy world. I’ve heard council members rhapsodize about the desirability of making Santa Cruz a welcoming home for all the talented UCSC graduates. Where is the reality check in this line of thinking? The town of Santa Cruz is 13 square miles in size!

Are there any solutions short of a nation-wide movement to take housing out of the commodity market? That would probably stand as much success as taking health care out of the same. New Zealand tried in the 1970’s to limit housing speculation by making it extremely difficult for homeowners to buy and speculate in second homes and land which helped keep housing costs down until the policy became politically untenable.

There are a few possible avenues that might temper the flames of ever-increasing housing costs short of subsidized housing for the few. First is to drop the mistaken idea that building more will reduce the cost of housing. Building more will only strain available resources to the breaking point. If you build it they will come. Next is to elect decision-makers who see the fallacy in this build-more, build-dense as solving the housing cost and rent crisis and who are at least willing to discuss the merits of controlling rents. Next is to educate newcomers that there is much of Santa Cruz left to cherish and preserve. It is fast disappearing and we haven’t even touched yet on the horrors of the Wharf Master Plan. This is not nostalgia. It is fighting to save what’s left of a town that celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.

Then there is UCSC. Without overstating it, UCSC is a major driver of the spiraling rental costs in Santa Cruz. In the past half-century, UCSC has expanded to well over a third of the size of the town. With an average of half of the student population renting in town, and the student population growing rapidly, the pressure on available rental housing is heavy. Even as more rental units are built downtown with students in mind, the cost will not decrease given market rates and ever-increasing demand. Some suggest that UCSC should house all students on campus. That is not only not feasible (you can’t force students to live on campus) but also would trigger massive rent increases both on and off campus. The high cost of building on campus is by state law, unsubsidized and has to be spread across the whole student body. Each new housing construction results in increased on-campus rents and off-campus landlords adjust their rents up accordingly. It is expected that around 50% of students will always choose to live off campus and 50% of 17,000 (currently) is less than 50% of 30,000 (the goal). In the 1990’s, when many of us tried to temper UCSC growth as harmful to students and the town, a 10th campus was just an idea. Now UC Merced is a reality and with a mere 6,800 students is capable of absorbing many thousands more. Our elected officials should be pressuring the UC President’s Office to have some compassion to the negative impact of student renters on the city of Santa Cruz and demanding that UC Merced absorb a far greater portion of future incoming students than is currently the case. For those who argue that students will prefer to come to Santa Cruz, the response should be, “you can’t always get what you want, but you can get what you need” which is a high quality public education at each and every UC campus. To argue less is to reveal oneself as a member of the speculator class, standing to make huge profits out of ever increasing housing construction and ever increasing housing and rental costs”.

~(Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild).

PATTON’S PROGRAM. From Gary’s Two Worlds website…

The traffic on Highway One in Santa Cruz County is brutal. It’s ugly! It’s horrible. Naturally, elected officials would like to respond to the demand of voters and residents that something be done, and just as in the case of affordable housing, the first thing that comes to mind is that we should just “build our way out of it.”

Where transportation is concerned, a proposed “build our way out of it” solution is contained in a 2016 ballot measure, to be voted on this November. If passed by 2/3 of the voters, this measure would impose a 1/2-cent sales tax, to continue for thirty years. The resulting sales tax income would provide about $125,000,000 for highway widening, which could accomplish a very small part of the widening that the most zealous widening advocates are calling for.

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In the case of housing, as mentioned yesterday, (see Two Worlds blog) the “build our way out of it” idea would be to promote the construction of dense, high-rise developments along our major transportation corridors. Increased supply of these denser, smaller units might bring the price down, it’s thought, and create some affordable housing for this community. See yesterday’s posting for a critique of this well-intentioned but totally ineffective suggestion, absent some type of price control.

In the case of the Highway One traffic jams, the “build our way out of it” idea is that more “supply” of highway real estate would open things up for drivers now caught in the traffic. Even highway widening-supporters admit that this proposed solution would cost a huge amount of money, have some pretty significant negative environmental impacts, and would actually congest things more during the time of construction. Still, if highway widening would ultimately solve the problem, the sacrifices could be worth it. Or, at least, a lot of people think so.

It’s the same thing as with housing, of course. If building dense, high-rise apartments along all of our major transportation corridors would actually have a significant impact on making housing more affordable, all the negative traffic, water, and other community impacts might be worth the cost. The problem, however, in both the housing example and the highway example, is that the “build our way out of it” solution doesn’t work. And for the very same reason!

If increasing the “supply” of something were to occur in a situation in which the “demand” side of the equation remained constant, new supplies would, indeed, be a solution to the problems caused by an excess of demand. However, as noted yesterday, with reference to housing, the “demand” for Santa Cruz County real estate is actually global, and our small community could not ever fill the outstanding demand by building more housing. Thus, building more housing will not drive down prices, absent price controls.

In the case of the highway widening example, the same thing is true. If the same number of cars were going to use the highway both before and after widening, then widening the highway would, indeed, ease congestion. However, as traffic engineers well know, the phenomenon of “induced demand” means that a new widening project leads to increased highway use, and very quickly the congestion is just as bad as before, but with more cars caught in the jam.

So, what to do?
In the case of housing, unless and until the national government mobilizes resources to provide for affordable, permanently price-controlled housing, local price controls are the only available solution.

There is another approach possible with respect to transportation. Most of the cars stuck in the traffic jams on Highway One are single-occupant vehicles. If people were “sharing rides,” the number of vehicles would decrease, and a reduced “demand” for highway capacity would be a consequence. In other words, we could attack the traffic congestion problem not by using a “build ourselves out of it” approach, but by a “let’s lower the demand” approach.

How would that work?
I’m using Uber as a kind of metaphor. But just suppose that there were a transportation option that would let Santa Cruz County residents easily arrange for a shared ride that could get them from wherever they are in Santa Cruz County to wherever they wanted to go without the need to use their own car on Highway One, or to park it, either, once they got to where they are going? That kind of service could be run by a private company, like Uber, or Lyft, or by local taxi companies, or even by the public transit district. If enough people used the service, during peak times, Highway One congestion would decrease. If I am remembering what I learned when I was on the Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission, more than twenty years ago, we’d need to reduce the number of cars on Highway One, at peak times, by about 15% to make a real difference in congestion. How much would that be worth to us? What if we raised the sales tax and used that $125,000,000 for subsidizing peak hour trips on Highway One using Uber-like technologies to match shared rides with willing drivers? I think it’s worth a shot, myself! What we already know is that widening the highway won’t work“.

~Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds at www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo shakes up Shakespeare in Santa Cruz, scroll below.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Tim looks back in anger…see below

If Words Could Put the Fire Out: A Benefit for Soberanes Fire Relief Wine & Small Bites & Readings by local authors Ellen Bass, Jane Smiley & Patrice Vecchione at Earthbound Farm Stand 7250 Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel Valley. August 20, 4:00 – 6:00pm. All proceeds go to the Soberanes Fire Fund at the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes again: “Why would anyone have to take a vacation from watching movies? In my case, it’s two family weddings, and the family reunions that come with them! So I’m taking a short break from the blog, Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). But I’ll be back in time for opening night at Santa Cruz Parks & Rec Teen Theatre’s production of Alias Hook, August 19, at London Nelson. Maybe I’ll see you there!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(THE NEWEST FILMS IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

THE COMMITTEE RETURNS. One of the USA’s best Improv groups. Re “Don’t Think Twice” critique below.

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS. The ever-popular, award winning Meryl Streep mugs , struts and acts her way through this odd portrait of an eccentric totally tone deaf New York socialite in the early 1940’s, Florence Foster Jenkins caught syphilis from her first husband, divorced him, kept his name and married another rich fellow socialite. She loved music, was friends with Arturo Toscanni but because of the tertiary stages of the disease, was unable to accurately hear her own singing voice. She gave concerts and recorded records and made millions laugh at her bizzarre off key voice. It’s a cute, somewhat serious comedy…and again Meryl Srreep has the lead with Hugh Grant playing a good older version of Hugh Grant, and you know what that means.

DON’T THINK TWICE. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 99 % I give it about 4!!! I’ve always hated Improv Comedy, that’s why. This movie is totally about Improv Comedy and the internal combustion within a group calling them selves the Commune. I can’t tell you how many times I watched San Francisco’s The Committee throughout most of the 1960’s. A lot of the Nickelodeon audience laughed a lot when I watched it…go warned.

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

OUR LITTLE SISTER. 91 on Rotten Tomatoes!!! Many (including me) are calling it the Best film of 2016. Intelligent, sensitive, (Subtitled ) perfect acting, the direction assumes we have brains, and a heart. Three Japanese teen age sisters living alone learn they have another sister. The sister moves in with them, and the film takes us through every emotion we’ve ever had. It’s the kind of film we get to see very seldom nowadays. No blood, violence, car chases, or sex…just excellence. Please see it, it’ll re-affirm your faith in movies. (P.S. I’ll always try to say if a film is subtitled because I know it’ll turn off about 50 % of you immediately).

CAFÉ SOCIETY. Woody Allen’s newest starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Parker Posey and Steve Carell. Woody narates the film and he’s older and his voice has lost that whiney, confused, contradictory warble that we’ve grown to love so much. This film doesn’t rank in his top 4 or 5 films. The story is original, the acting is perfunctory, Kristen Stewart is above reproach, but it’s no Midnight in Paris, Annie Hall, Blue Jasmine, Hannah and Her Sisters or Purple Rose of Cairo.

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC. Viggo Mortensen, the lead in this family saga, has never been better, and he’s almost always excellent. The older you are the more you’ll appreciate this extension of our 1950 & 60’s belief system. A film that has Noam Chomsky’s philosophy as a driver, Jesse Jackson, Joy of Sex book, Lolita, Glen Gould’s Bach Variations and some non-christian beliefs added, has to take you back just a bit. And in a good way. Viggo raises his family in the total wilds and later they have to face modern life and society. It’s as much fun as it is moving, sensitive , and well made. Frank Langella and Steve Zahn add to this hit film. Go for/to it!!

HUNT FOR WILDERPEOPLE. An excellent movie that has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. I had a problem with the New Zealand or “Kiwi” accents, and missed a few poignant scenes. See the video on the right for a quick tutorial. Also note it’s “WILDERpeople” as in WILDERNESS not WILDER as in State Park. It’s a scenic, sensitive, comedy about the adventures of a 13 year old misplaced orphan who meets up with grizzly, solitary Sam Neill. They escape authorities by existing in the wilderness of the New Zealand Bush Country. It’s also exciting, tight, creative, perfectly acted, and most importantly…ORIGINAL!! (In all fairness, it’s also cute, feel–good and improbable!)

STAR TREK BEYOND. The third in the new Trek movie series this is a waste of eveyone’s time and money. They cop out and show a photo of Leonard Nimoy about half way through and show a snapshot of the entire Enterprise original 1966 crew. Mostly it’s just another throw bombs and shoot around corners (or curves on spaceships). Nothing near the humanity, intelligence, or real wit the original had, which made all of us such lifelong fans. The acting is terrible, the plot is meaningless. Go only if you need your periodic Star Trek Fix, and don’t care how “authentic” it is. ( I didn’t know Capt. James Kirk’s middle name was Tiberius and that Shatner is 85 years old and was born in Montreal).

JASON BOURNE. The minute you leave the theatre this movie will seem like a dream you had. It’s fuzzy, unclear, random scenes in random order, no real meaning…just like a dream. The director tried to make some new kind of spy killing, car chase, fie, explosion movie. Edits, cuts, dialogue are all mixed up and mixed together…it makes little or no sense at all. Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassell, Alicia Vikander, and Riz Ahmed from “The Night Of” all do their best, but it’s all the director’s fault. Well, Matt Damon just phoned in his part and he’s terrible.

GHOSTBUSTERS 3. Remember that there was a sequel also with the original cast in 1989. As most movie fans know, they have replaced the original male Ghostbusters….Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Sigourney Weaver , Eddie Hudson, Rick Moranis and Harold Ramis with an almost all woman cast ie…Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Plus adding Charles Dance and Chris Hemsworth. The sex change isn’t the important change, even though that’s’ what everyone focusses on. The big difference is iin the amount of intelligence, cleverness,and sold humor in the script. These new jokes are dumber, clumsy, obvious, shallow and just not funny. The ghosts aren’t as clever either. Only go if you need to complete your ghostly experiences. Watch for cameos by most of the originals.

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. I hear that this is a very funny TV show made into a movie. I read in various places that it’s funny…I didn’t laugh once. Two loud British “babes” go to the French Riviera and race through a lot of muck and fuss. Kate Moss (I just learned) is a beautiful and famous model and the two bimbo stars get involved with her. Just to be fair and add perspective…the young girls/women in the movie audience did laugh a lot. So if you’ve watched and liked the TV series, you’ll probably like this heavy accented film too.

SUICIDE SQUAD. Will Smith, Jared Leto, and Viola Davis could never be accused of acting in this horrible Gotham City disaster. Yep, Gotham City and yes Batman is in it for a few seconds but he doesn’t save this Super Hero flick from being one of the very worst ever made. (read any other review!!!). I could try to tell you about the plot, but there really isn’t one…it’s all violence, weird effects, killing, and to save production money most of it is filmed extra dark so you can’t see what might be around the corner. Don’t let anybody go except your worst enemy.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE RADIO PROGRAM
KZSC 88.1 FM or live online at
www.KZSC.ORG TUESDAYS 7-8 P.M.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. The new book “Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast” co-author Christian Schwarz guests on August 18th after which former County Supervisor and Bernie Sanders pledged delegate Gary Patton talks about the DNC. Historian Martin Rizzo talks about MAH‘s new history book “Do You Know My Name?” preceding Carol Panofsky talking about Munching with Mozart and other music on August 23. Then on August 30 Artist and Doctor Mark Wainer talks about his forthcoming exhibit, after which Joan Martin discusses Rancho Bolsa del Pajaro and the MAH history book. Julie James speaks about the Jewel Theatre’s new season and “Streetcar Named Desire” on September 13. Angelo Grova unveils his Fashion Art Show on Sept.20. Michel Singher previews The Espressivo Orchestra’s next concert on September 27. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com

Epic Rap Battles of History is one of my favorite series of videos, ever. If you haven’t seen any of them, you should. If you have, check them out again 🙂 This one is a classic!

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES. “VOTING”

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting”, Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Winston S. Churchill

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters”, Abraham Lincoln

“Majority rule only works if you’re also considering individual rights. Because you can’t have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper”, Larry Flynt

“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal”, Emma Goldman

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron”, H.L. Mencken

COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Ccolumn. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!

Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
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Blog Archives

August 15 – 21, 2016

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(THE NEWEST FILMS IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

Blog Archives

August 15 – 21, 2016

THAT IS THE QUESTION (THE NEWEST FILMS IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(THE NEWEST FILMS IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD