Bratton Online

Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Tuesday 7:30-8:30 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.

PACIFIC AVENUE 1892. This is the Pacific and Cooper streets corner where O'Neill's is now and where the Cooperhouse used to be. And that's the original Santa Cruz County Court House which burned in 1894 on the near left. That clock that says 12:40 p.m.on the upper right is our Town Clock in it's original location on the Odd Fellows Building. You can barley make out Lulu's Octagon Coffee House on the far left margin behind the wagon. Note public transit tracks right down Pacific Avenue.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.
Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

"Do you remember when Pacific Avenue looked like this?"

PACIFIC AVENUE, 1989 Contrasting one more recent historic photo with the one above, look on the right. Do you remember when Pacific Avenue looked like this? If so, come tell your earthquake story on Thursday August 13 in Abbot Square (the courtyard off of Cooper Street behind the Museum of Art and History and next to Lulu's).

Community Studies and Sarah Yahm will be there with microphones from 12pm – 6pm.

This event is part of Community Studies 80c, an oral history course about the effects of Loma Prieta on downtown Santa Cruz.

MARRIOTT AND THE MORMONS PATEL HOTEL MOTEL. SCRP (Santa Cruzans for Responsible Progress) invited Alex Khoury from the Santa Cruz Planning Department to their last meeting. Not only Alex but Don Lauritson and Juliana Rebagliati the Director all showed up last Wednesday afternoon at the SCRP meeting. Juliana was brilliant she even stated, "In California development is a privilege-not a right". We SCRP'ers told them we didn't like...1. The no catching & re-using of rainwater run-off 2. That the Patel Hotel Motel would encourage more restaurants and muck to build nearby 3. That the tree hidden location would cause huge signage on highway one and 4. That the same dumb and cheap stucco low budget catalog design Marriott's Motel building would make even Highway One's approach to Santa Cruz look uglier. We talked about Spot Zoning because hotels aren't allowed there. Juliana mentioned in passing that some folks at UCSC really wanted that motel there because it was so close to campus; we wondered if UCSC would then buy it and take it off the tax roles. We asked how Santa Cruzans could be given more than one week to react to developers before projects went to the Planning Department, but no body knew how. So anyways the Planning Department turned it down the next day...so hoo- ray for SCRP. And yes you can argue just about forever whether or not the Mormon's are involved with the Marriott's Hotel chain and how involved that religion was with Prop 8. Now we'll see if Marriott's is willing to come up with a better looking design and some way around the traffic coming off Highway One.

BRIDGE FROM ROSS DRESS FOR LESS'S DUMPSTER ALMOST TO LOVELY FELKER STREET. Debbie Bulger of the Sierra Club and SCRP and promoter of the new Mission Safeway told me I was wrong about the amount of traffic on the new Water Street Pedestrian Bridge. I said in last week's column that the City was still waiting for the tenth person to actually cross that expensive and useless bridge. I was wrong and I apologize. I went there and parked next to Ross Dress for less dumpster out at Costco Pet Food Plaza. I walked the bridge and hung out for one half hour from 3:30-4p.m. Debbie said that 3-5 p.m. was the heavy traffic time. Well three real people crossed the bridge in just that half hour!!! So I was wrong. I wrote down the bridge number Big R. Mfg Nov. 2008 BR07-02623/1 just to prove I was there. There were a skateboardist, a bicyclist and a plain walking person in just 1/2 hour. Why at that rate there could be as many as 6-10 people in one full hour or as many as 140 people per day. Debbie's Mission Street Safeway's new inside Starbuck's Coffee Shop holds that many in 20 minutes!!! Next, these same bicycle people who apparently fought for that expensive Water Street Bridge and got it will be fighting again to destroy Arana Gulch with another bike road. If these bicycle people weren't just exercising (which they could do on an energy producing exer-cycle) and wearing logo loaded, skinny advertising suits and dreaming of Lance Armstrong maybe they could be taken seriously. Well maybe if the males stopped shaving their legs, it might help too. I mean what's that about shaving their legs???

FOOD CASINOS. Jessica Lussenhop in the August 5^th issue of the Santa Cruz Weekly (which was the best most useful issue they've put out in years) used the phrase "Casino like" to describe the New Safeway on Mission, the Whole Foods stores, and the Westside New Leaf. She should patent that phrase or use "Food Casinos" instead. Those stores just look like casinos. Full of glitz, bling, show biz, glitter plus you'll lose your money, take chances on which foods to eat, gamble on what the labels say. They are Food Casinos!!!

ANOTHER FOOD CASINO COMING. Sources deep inside the grocery business tell me that the SPROUTS chain will be opening an Aptos store. Never heard of Sprouts, me too!! They're described as "Whole Foods Lite". That means smaller stores, cheaper prices and claim to use more local suppliers. They are working hard to open lots of hot spots in California. Read about them http://sprouts.com/home.php and no I don't know where in Aptos. For sure not in Redwood Village!!! I was there last week and there's more life in Evergreen Cemetery than Redwood Village. Paul Elerick guessed that maybe Sprouts is thinking about that empty lot next to Aptos Station but I don't think Sprout builds new places, just replaces old businesses. Keep an eye out.

OPINION OFFSHORE. I asked a trusted friend who knows and experiences our USA offshore politics firsthand to write for us when possible....here's the first installment.

If they're not against us, they're with us

The idea that the US pressuring for Zelaya's reinstatement would somehow be unilateral action (like the US blockade against Cuba) would be true IF every other country in the Americas, the UN, the OAS, and other regional and international bodies weren't applying pressure against the coup regime too, which they are.

Then he tries to play like the US has no more influence over Honduras[ii] than any other country. That is total nonsense. The vast majority of Honduras' trade is with the US. Gringo investors account for nearly two-thirds of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in Honduras. Not to mention that we have plenty of direct relationships with the Honduran ruling class and the military-- since we trained a great deal of their men and had a tight, ongoing personal relationship in the 80's when we used Honduras as the staging ground for fighting its neighbors.

But Obama's last statement really takes the cake. How cynical! Coming from a man who has gone out of his way to NOT lift the ban on US citizen's traveling to Cuba and who has stated that there will be no easing of the nearly half century long blockade of Cuba until Cuba jumps through hoops his administration has set up! Que Vergüenza!
Let's be clear, as Obama likes to say, the US has NOT declared Zelaya's ouster a coup. We are the only country in the world that has not done so. According to the State Department's letter to Senator Lugar last week, the US is still looking into the matter and insinuates that Zelaya brought it on himself. Well, wouldn't our legal system look a lot different if one could use as a defense, "well, he was a jerk, so I shot him." [iii]

The administration has also strangely blamed Zelaya for the violence that has been visited upon his supporters. Clinton said that he was acting "recklessly" when he attempted to return to the country that elected him president, because it could result in violence. Instead she should have said that the coup regime was acting recklessly by militarizing the border and setting up road blocks and enforcing 24 hour curfews for several days, etc.

And if you don't read Spanish you will never know about the protesters who have been murdered. No, not killed in the heat of a street conflict, but found dead, murdered, with signs of torture. Universities have been raided, radio stations closed, candidates for the soon scheduled elections hospitalized. It is no wonder when the coupster president has promoted Billy Joya to ministerial advisor on security. Go ahead, google him. He is one of the founders of a notorious 1980's death squad. Google Batallion 3-16. Read the rest plus more links here (link expands, click again to collapse).

And in case you are thinking that it is just as hypocritical of me to be against the blockade on Cuba while calling for strong sanctions against the coup regime in Honduras, let me point out a couple of differences. What happened in Cuba 50 years ago was an organic revolution with an ideological base (whether or not all of its supporters and participants were aware of that). At the time it was supported by the vast majority of Cubans. It was a hard fought battle against a dictator who had taken office by a coup.

What happened in Honduras was the kidnapping and exile of an elected president. The other branches of government did issue an arrest warrant, the legality of which is questionable, but I have read it and the military did not carry out their orders. Instead they took it upon themselves to whisk Zelaya off to Costa Rica, making this nothing more than a military coup.

The people have shown in the past weeks that they do not support this action (even if they are not pro-Zelaya). They have been striking and protesting constantly. Neighboring countries cut off trade as long as they could afford it, but they have tiny economies and too many cross-boarder business relationships. All American countries have withdrawn their ambassadors (except us). Venezuela has stopped oil shipments. The Soviet Union is not coming to their aid like it did Cuba's.

The country and the elite of Honduras are losing money hand over fist (it is important to note that in Honduras the media are owned by the same families that own industry and instead of influencing those in government seats… they actually sit in them themselves.) The rich have said that they will tax themselves an extra 5% to fund the coup. One baron, Adolfo Facusse, even offered to buy arms for the police[iv]. If the US would do what Zelaya and others have asked, we would freeze the assets and bank accounts of the people involved in the coup government. Those guys are very wealthy and bucket loads of their money are in US banks!

If the US stopped trade and all non-humanitarian aid (like the money we are pouring into the elections slated in a couple months even though all other countries have stated that they will not recognize the elections) for just a few weeks, we would be sharpening and multiplying the efforts of the strikers and as the economy got tighter, the people would get more belligerent (just like they did in Vz.) If the place becomes ungovernable, which is the goal of the protesters; Micheletti will run off to Colombia or Miami and will go down in history as “Roberto el breve" (also like in Vz.).

Again, let me be clear, just as in the case of Cuba, an embargo a year from now, or even six months from now would be stupid and pointless. However, immediate sanctions could make all the difference. Judging by the audacity of the coup regime that has rejected mediation agreements and has recently refused to meet with an OAS delegation, their take on the US stand is “if they're not against us, they're with us."

[i] http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090808/wl_nm/us_honduras_obama
[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras_%E2%80%93_United_States_relations
[iii] http://lugar.senate.gov/sfrc/pdf/Honduras2.pdf
[iv] http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009.../content_11764677.htm

ELERICK'S INPUT. Regional Transportation Plan Heads-up

Last Thursday, the Regional Transportation Commission released their Draft 2010 Regional Transportation Plan. This RTP covers the next 25 years of serious needs and general wish-list items for all the municipalities in their Region. Thanks to Gary Patton's heads-up in last weeks BrattonOnline, the public had the chance to hear first hand about the proposed sales tax increase (1/2 cent) that the RTC was folded into the RTP. Usually, nothing this agency does surprises me, but this one did.

Key assumptions in the draft:

The tax measure will be approved by the voters by 2012
The majority of money raised by the tax will go to Widening Highway 1
Without the passage of the tax measure, the Federal Highway Administration may not authorize the release of the EIR for the Highway 1 Widening Project.

The RTC is counting heavily on legislation that would drop the approval threshold for transportation projects to 55% (from 66%). This legislation (ACA 15) is currently listed as "inactive", which matches the campaign to pass the RTC sales tax by 2012 – inactive.
For those interested the complete details check the below links to the Plan. Also, watch for this meeting to be shown on Community TV, to see your commissioners in action.
2010 Regional Transportation Plan -- Draft Project List & Financial Element

• Staff report

• Attachment 1: Draft Financial Element

• Attachment 2: Draft RTP project list

Also, buried deep in the draft RTP was a one-liner authorizing the extension of 41^st Avenue from Soquel Ave. to Soquel-San Jose Road. This one however didn't slip by Commissioner and 1^st District Supervisor John Leopold who let the commission know he was not supporting this. This Soquel village by-pass has been in every developer's dreams for the past 30 years, as it would potentially open up the rural area north of Soquel for new development. We all remember the Ohio company who tried to develop a new "village" above Soquel, where Anna Jean Cummings Park now is located.

(Paul Elerick is an Aptos resident, active in mid-county political issues, member of Nisene 2 Sea, Seacliff Improvement Association, Aptos Neighbors Association, and the countywide Campaign for Sensible Transportation).

THE LEFTMOST CITY PART 2. Author Bill Domhoff sent this..." Dear friends and colleagues who helped us with or expressed interest in The Leftmost City, I am pleased to tell you that the web site about The Leftmost City now includes an insightful commentary by Gary Patton on Santa Cruz politics from a slightly different angle than the book presents. It widens the perspective presented in the book and notes the important role of the county. We'd welcome any similar thoughtful Commentaries on aspects of the Santa Cruz political experience. BrattonOnline adds that "Domhoff's book caused many readers to say that it was academic and uninvolved and so dominated by Mike Rotkins opinions as to make it just about quaint and simplistic".

DIGITAL SUMMIT COMING UP. Mark Levy sent this in... Here's the info on the Summit to be held at the Digital Media Factory (DMF) Tuesday August 18th from 7 to 9 pm. Michael Knowles and I are putting this on and there are more panelists being confirmed as we speak. Those who attend will have the opportunity to interact and will receive a "white paper" (where did that name come from?) and a video copy of the summit in the modest price of admission. Should be as good as our Branding Seminar last month with the VP of Marketing from Austin City Limits. Good stuff and more to come. Next month will be on "storage" and we'll keep you in the loop on this too. Here's the flyer for the moment... Hope to see you there. You can get a ticket at http://www.broadbandsantacruzlive.com and view the flyer as it updates.

Broadband Summit Santa Cruz 2009 Digital Media Factory Presents Bandwidth Santa Cruz County and The Crescent: Trends, Opportunities, and Challenges for the Future

A Live Panel Discussion and Open Working Session Focused on Issues and Action
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Digital Media Factory
809 Mission Street Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Cost: $35 in advance, $40 at the door. Proceeds to benefit the non-profit Digital Media Learning Foundation: Teaching the Digital Media Professionals of Tomorrow Broadband Summit $35.00 – 1 Ticket $70.00 – 2 Tickets $105.00 – 3 Tickets $140.00 – 4 Tickets

Discussions will be film in digital video and captured in a unique, high-density contextual issue map. Attendees will receive a copy of the contextual issue map, a report/white paper of the session findings, and complete footage of the proceedings.

SEARLE'S SALVO. The proposed hotel near the west end of Mission Extension (anybody know why it is called that?) was shot down by the Planning Commission last Thursday. Well, it wasn't really shot down; the Commission offered the applicant an opportunity to redo the plans, generally to make the project more attractive. The applicant refused, quite probably because the building was boilerplate Marriot hotel, and the developers don't want to accommodate little old us. So the issue goes to the City Council in September with a unanimous recommendation of disapproval. Rather rare, I think, that a recommendation by the Planning Dept is unanimously overruled.
You should have seen the list of permits and variances required. I won't list them, but you can hear them all at the Council meeting on September 8. The Planning Department did yeoperson's work to compile enough rationale to justify the project.

Commission members said they didn't like a cookie-cutter, medium quality hotel as the entry point for our City from the west via Highway 1. What they didn't comment on was how dreadfully ugly Mission St is once you get north of Swift (except for the new Safeway?). Alum Rock in San Jose looks better. They wanted architecture that is more in keeping with Santa Cruz style, whatever that may be. The applicant didn't (but should have, although he'd win no brownie points) observe that his design was probably better than most on Mission St. If indeed there is a Santa Cruz style, I surely hope Mission St doesn't exemplify it.
The commission was also bothered by signage. Coming east on highway 1, Three right turns would be required just to get to the hotel. Going West left, right, right, so it's ideal for GPS or google, but otherwise very difficult to find unless there are huge objectionable signs. And they didn't want large and objectionable signs.
Then there was the inconsistency of the proposal with the general plans, both the present and the proposed one. The draft general plan says that industrial land should be preserved for high-employment jobs, and this project only offered about 7 full-time and 7 part-time jobs on a one and a half acre parcel.. That's hardly "employment intensive". The present general plan permits everything except hotels and kitchen sinks in an industrial area, so the commission wasn't unduly concerned about what certainly would have amounted to spot zoning. I hope that our general plans will soon be what they are supposed to be.(Reed Searle is a retired attorney, active in Santa Cruz Residents for Responsible Planning (SCRP), the Community Water Coalition (CWC), The Tidelands Alliance," and he is a member of CCSTTF. (Cynthia's Citizens Silly Tax Task Farce), and he's a longtime community watchdog).

SOUTH COUNTY REPORT. (Written by Friends in South County)
Teachers tell it like it is on "Teacher, speak out!"

The pilot for a new Community TV series "Teacher, speak out!" featuring Pajaro Valley Unified School District teachers airs this week on Community TV Channels 25 (Comcast) and 71 (Charter). Created and hosted by Peter Nichols and a co-production with the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, the show provides an opportunity for teachers to be heard regarding the issues they face. The first of two half-hour pilot programs features Karen Richmond, kindergarten teacher at Valencia Elementary, Ann May, English language specialist at Landmark Elementary, Sandra Nichols, PVUSD Trustee, Pablo Barrick, math teacher at Watsonville High, and Sarah Henne, second grade teacher at H. A. Hyde Elementary. The first prime-time airing is this Monday at 9:30 PM.
Planned as a fast-paced panel discussion, video from school board meetings are inter-cut to stimulate the discussion. Topics covered include the importance of Class Size Reduction, how Federal stimulus fund will be spent, and the small number of administrative position cuts in the face of nearly 180 teacher layoffs. The program is produced with the help of volunteers and facilities of Community Television of Santa Cruz County. Show airs Monday at 9:30 PM, available online here.

Luis Alejo to hold kickoff for State Assembly Campaign on Thursday. Watsonville Mayor Pro Tem Luis Alejo will be launching his campaign for state assembly for the 28th District this Thursday at his official kickoff at Jalisco's Restaurant (back patio) in Watsonville at 5:30pm. Alejo is seeking to replace Assembly member Anna Caballero, who is expected to run for state senate in the 12th District that is being vacated by Republican Senator Jeff Denham due to term limits. Denham is currently running for California lieutenant governor. Alejo is expected to be a frontrunner in the campaign and has already won some major endorsements, including 27th District Assembly member Bill Monning, former Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keeley, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Tony Campos, County Superintendent Michael Watkins, several Salinas elected officials, and numerous other elected and appointed officials from the Monterey Bay region. The 28th Assembly District covers South San Jose (Evergreen), Gilroy, Hollister, Watsonville, Salinas, Gonzales, Soledad and all the way down to King City.

Attorney General Jerry Brown Makes Surprise Visit at Tri-County Latino Electeds Association Meeting in Santa Cruz.

Last Saturday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown made a surprise visit at the Tri-County Latino Electeds Association meeting held at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, where there were at least 30 Latino elected officials of the Monterey Bay area in attendance. Brown, who is expected to run for California Governor once again next year, spoke about investing in education as a way to prevent gangs in local communities, and the ongoing state budget crisis- among other issues. The Tri-County Latino Elected Officials Association is an association of Latino elected officials of Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties who come together to collaborate on issues impacting the Monterey Bay area.

California Democratic Party Chair John Burton will speak at Pajaro Valley Democrats Fundraiser on August 20.
The new chairman of the California Democratic Party and former State Senator John Burton will be the keynote speaker at the 4th annual Pajaro Valley Cesar Chavez Democratic Club's fundraising event on August 20. The event will also honor long time educator, former union president, and former school board member Rhea Dehart with the 2nd Annual Tony Hill Community Service Award for her decades of service and educating countless numbers of students in the Pajaro Valley. Tickets are almost selling out due to the limited space at the Green Valley Grill at 41 Penny Lane in Watsonville. You can order your tickets by mailing a check of $35-$50 (sliding scale) to the PVCCDC, 21-B Carr Street, Watsonville, CA 95076. The event will include a silent and live auction to raise money to promote Democratic activism in the Pajaro Valley. Organizers say bring your checkbooks with you to the event!

PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary talks about San Luis Obispo and how land use applied to converting Ag Land to a proposed shopping center. There's talk about initiatives and development. Remember Juliana Rebagliati's saying "In California Development is a privilege...not a right". The Coastal Commission meets in San Francisco and will be discussing Santa Cruz County!!! Then there's material on Pacific Avenue and retail uses on our street level buildings.

(Gary Patton is "Of Counsel" to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton's.)

EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. As they say in movies "Let's join our friend Tim as he takes you to the year 2075". Scroll down about 3 more pages.

LANDAU'S PROGRES. Read Saul Landau's "The kidney broker and the money laundering" in Progreso Weekly. (Saul Landau is an award winning author and film maker, and an authority on Latin American Issues).

CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC. It's easy to review the first weekend of the CabMuFest as Buz Bezore first named it...it was probably the best, most exciting, most successful opening weekend I can remember and I've attended every one since 1972. Over 1000 people packed the Civic on opening night and Osvaldo Golijov's Azul completely wowed the critics and the audience. It had integrity, a baseline, and moved beautifully. Saturday night's big hit was Avner Dorman's Spices, Perfumes, and Toxins. Avner reminded me of Roberto Begnini in his opening chat and the instrumentation was brilliant. There was the usual movie music, some horse music, and other contenders. Sunday night's Grateful Dead piece was a surprise. I personally wouldn't know the Grateful Dead from the Monkees and the Civic was full of Deadheads. Deadheads such as Kathy Bisbee, Alec Vanderwoude and Stacey Vreeken said the lyrical-sweet-much-restrained-adaptation of the Dead's music brought tears!!! It was one of the few pieces that didn't get a standing ovation!!! For me it was like Ferde Grofe meets Villa Lobos. Earlier that same night Mathew Hindson's Rave-Elation was more inventive.

GETTING YOUR MONEY'S WORTH FROM HBO. I'm not sure it says much about our intelligence but for those of us Soprano holdovers who still subscribe to HBO please note that Epitafios is back. Epitafios (Epitaphs) is one of the finest serial killer series ever acted. It's filmed in Buenos Aires by wonderful photographers, and has perfect editing and especially great actors. Read what the Washington Post guy said about it. He also said, "But fans of the deeply macabre, of venerable film noir conventions and of plotting that pulls one further and further into a maddening maze, will likely find themselves spellbound". I agree. Watch it On Demand, that's the best way. In Spanish with subtitles.

NOT RANDALL KANE AGAIN!!! Curtis Cartier in the latest S.C. Weekly got it wrong too, in stating that Randall opened the new Catalyst in 1976 - nope it was 1975. Good Times Volume One #1 came out in April 1975 with a photo of Randall Kane and featuring the New Catalyst on the front page. I remember because my very first column was on the back cover!!!

JULIA CHILDS AND JULIE SOMETHING. Meryl Streep can do no wrong and she is the perfect Julia Childs in this movie. Amy Adams is almost as good in her 1/4 of the film, but just go it's wonderful. And it's a feel good- happy- escape Hollywood film that works perfectly.

SEREPHINE. It's A French film about the famed folk/naïve/primitive painter Seraphine de Senlis. It won 7 Cesar Awards best picture, best Actress...just go see it on the big locally owned big screen.

ALIENS IN THE ATTIC. Grandsons George and Leonardo Boulanger loved this movie in 3D. I thought it was terrible and walked out being somewhat older than their 9 and 5 years of age. So if you're past 9 or 5 think twice about going.

THE COLLECTOR. A genuine torture flick where a guy is robbing a house and learns that some sicko beat him to it and has booby trapped the place with fishhooks, nails, razors and gore producing gimmicks. Only if you like torture films should you go, because then it's not that bad!!

PONYO. Japanese animation at its' best but the plot is worse than the Disney Corporation that released it. Hayao Miyasaki who did the monumental Howl's Moving Castle did Ponyo and seems to have sold out to make it cute, cloying and silly. It will also remind you of the Japanese town where they stab and slaughter dolphins in The Cove documentary

PAPER HEART. Stars and was written by the most unlikable screen person in decades Charlene Yi. Yi claims to be a comic, but she isn't funny only abrasive and annoying. This is supposed to be a documentary about her problem in getting anybody to like her, and I sure don't and neither did any of our local critic friends. Michael Cera is in it too and he's getting annoying with his one schtick. Avoid this film.

SHAKESPEARE SANTA CRUZ CHANGE. Patty Gallagher was directing Shakespeare Santa Cruz's School for Divorcees their annual intern's production. Now Patty's joining Cal Shakespeare as the lead in Beckett's Happy Days. Marcia Mason had the role but left due to "personal reasons". Mason starred in The Goodbye Girl and Cinderella Liberty films and used to be married to Neil Simon. Patty starred in and did an amazingly great job when she did Happy Days at UCSC last fall. UCSC veteran Mike Ryan has taken on the director's job on School for Divorcees, which runs for just two performances August 18 & 25. Go to www.Shakespearesantacruz.org for tickets and info. And don't forget to see Shipwrecked it's one of the best plays ever at Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

(((((graphic here))))
CIVILIZATION BY MARCO BRAMBILLA. Please click and watch this visual...it's sort of Wagner and Fritz Lang meet Pixar and the Rosicrucian's thing...its 3:22 only minutes long and one of the most exciting things I've ever seen on my monitor. http://www.artsjournal.com/video.shtml It's a ride from heaven to hell or vice versa and was created by Marco for the Standard Hotel in New York City to show on their elevators linked to go up and down with your elevator ride. Dan Bessie, Audrey Stanley, Scott McClelland, and everybody I sent it to love it. Please check it out.

PRINTING PRESS BEATS THE HELL OUT OF JESUS. "The debate began with an article by Andrew Marr in the summer issue of Intelligent Life magazine. He and five Economist journalists drew up an informal shortlist of important years and voters were allowed to plump for one of their selections or choose any other year of their choice. The results??....
1. 1439: Gutenberg's invention of the printing press
2. 5BC: the birth of Jesus
3. 1953: the discovery of DNA
4. 1945: the fall of Nazism and the atomic bomb
5. 1776: the year America declared its independence from Britain
Other suggestions included: the year the Ford Model T hit the road (1907); the birth of Mohammed (570); Isaac Newton invented calculus (1693); Charles Darwin wrote about evolution (1859); the twin towers fell (2001); and the French had their revolution (1789). At least one reader thought Michael Jackson's death was worth mentioning, and quite a few felt the most important year in the whole of history was the one when they were born". Unquote from http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com
I told this to UCSC Physics prof. Bruce Rosenblum at the CabMuFest Saturday night....he added, "Yes, but the bible remains the number one best seller from that printing press invention".

UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:30-8:30 p.m. I host University Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer at WWW.KZSC.ORG. This Tuesday August 11^th UCSC professor, author and playwright Jim Bierman will talk about his play The School for Fiancées and Surfer/Author Thomas Hickenbottom will talk about his brand new book on Santa Cruz Surfing History. Nutritionist Cin Martino returns August 18^th to say more about eating well and atheist Howard Burman will talk about no god. Later on and TBA will be Supervisor Mark Stone about County Politics and probably swimming, and sometime after that like October 6^th Assemblyman Bill Monning will be my guest and later Congressman Sam Farr will reveal what's new in the State and Nation's Capitol.

QUOTES. "Schizophrenia may be a necessary consequence of literacy", Marshall McLuhan. "Most people in this society who aren't mad are, at best, reformed or potential lunatics", Susan Sontag. "You have to understand that this is a very paranoid atmosphere. We're paranoid and they're paranoid", Jim Park Assistant Warden, San Quentin Prison.

Deep Cover