IT'S NOT THAT UNUSUAL!! Back in 1957 Downtown Santa Cruz had snow. That was the real Cooper House on the right. That would now be Urban Outfitters on the immediate left and the façade of the County Bank is still standing, thanks to a few folks who cared enough to preserve it. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection, click for bigger version. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

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.

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