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LEON PANETTA’S SURPRISE SANTA CRUZ VISIT. The First Congregational Church on High Street was nearly packed and we were waiting for Bert Muhly’s Memorial Service to begin. You could feel the buzz, see the swiveling heads, and hear the whispers… Sylvia Panetta’s here!!! So was Leon of all people!!! Katherine Beiers presided over the 2 hour series of tributes to Bert and Lois. There were tears, laughs, and a genuine feeling of community as we all remembered our personal Bert stories. Bill Monning spoke; Sam Farr presided over the post ceremonies at the reception where Zun Zun played. Bert’s oldest son Bill spoke for 35 minutes and kept Bert’s speech making ability alive and well. Leon Panetta wowed the house by opening with “the last thing Bert would have expected is for the Secretary of Defense to be at his memorial”. Then Leon told of his fond and funny remembrances of the John Tuck/Paul Dragavon “1/4 of July” parties that we staged yearly during the 70’s when Leon was first introduced to Santa Cruz voters. Sam Farr mentioned to me after wards that I should have been included with John and Paul, but what the hell. Zach Friend asked me later what really went on at those legendary parties where upwards of 200-300 people would attend. I didn’t tell him. Keith Greeninger sang and talked how Bert had changed his life. Mark Stone, John Leopold, John Laird, and Don Lane were all there as well as a few other current council people. The Memorial was a fine get together of long time political friends. It’s just too bad that just a few “Developer Democrats” have been working so hard to break up such a community.
| WIND MACHINE NEEDED IN SANTA CRUZ. Peter Bartczak sent this clip. |
LOOKING FOR DICK YOUNT. Peter Fields sent this inquiry…”I’m assisting a gentleman who’s been compiling Harpers Bizarre reissues for CD. No one seems to know what’s happened to Dick Yount (Harpers Bizarre, Corny & The Corvettes), not even his ex-band mates; and its been over a decade at this point. While I could have sworn I saw an obit quite some time ago, I thought I’d contact you with your knowledge and resources to pose the question…”What ever happened to Dick Yount?”Your help is appreciated – thanks. Sincerely, Peter Fields. Any Bonline readers know about Mr. Yount??
| 21 MINUTE FILM OF 1955 SAN FRANCISCO. |
ANONYMOUS LETTER ABOUT FRED. Culled from this week’s contributions (and thanks for those contributions) was this gem re Fred Keeley and why he should punch a time clock in and out from his office…
“I am embarrassed to admit that I have not been reading your online column until just a few days ago. Someone suggested that I read your Sierra Club articles, and I entirely agree with you. This Micah Posner rat is slimy and dangerous. Although I am a voting Sierra Club member, I hadn’t read anything about the election except the Sentinel’s articles, which are obviously one-sided. But I came to the quick conclusion that the election was not about conservation at all and only partially about bikes. It is really about control by pro-development interests. I am glad to see that others such as you agree. Thank you for continuing to report on this. And what is it with Micah Posner’s dirty clothes? Is he making a statement that it is good for the environment to not wash your clothes, or is he just slovenly? I read something that he wrote in September about his summer vacation, when he marched his family from Santa Cruz to Castle Rock, 50 miles in 10 days. He had his 5 1/2 year old daughter with him. I thought that bordered on child abuse. He was so proud that he marched that poor little girl 4 to 8 miles a day.
The real reason I am writing is to say that I work for the County, and am so pleased that Fred Keeley’s disgraceful behavior is finally getting out. I have a non-descript job in the County building, but have friends who work for Fred or are required to deal with him. It is insulting to me that he makes a ton of money (Sentinel salary database says $162,774) for so little work. People are afraid to talk about this. His staff is obviously intimidated by him so they are afraid to make decisions, but he isn’t there enough to make the decisions. The feeling around the County building is that his office functions OK because he has good staff, but don’t expect more than the minimum from them because they are essentially leaderless. I have also heard rumors that he waives penalties for his chums if they happen to pay their taxes late. The Grand Jury did an investigation of this last year, and I heard people chuckling about it, but I don’t think the Grand Jury report was very strong. In my opinion, Fred Keeley is the opposite of the myth he has created for himself – I do not see him as charming, nor an environmentalist, nor the Treasurer (his treasury manager is the real treasurer), nor concerned about Santa Cruz (just himself). I do see him as a pompous freeloader. One would be hard pressed to find a Fred Keeley supporter inside 701 Ocean Street, largely because he insults us other employees and the citizens who voted him into his nice job by putting as little effort into it that he can get away with, and then joking about it. An acquaintance of mine attended Mardi Wormhoudt’s retirement party when she left the Board of Supervisors, which was apparently attended by hundreds of people, and told me that Fred gave a little skit that included a strip tease down to his shorts and t-shirt, but also bragged to the audience that he went through a silly little job interview so the County could give him his job, and then bragged to the audience of hundreds that he doesn’t have to work very hard at it. So inappropriate and disrespectful. I hope you continue to write about Fred Keeley’s work hours. I doubt he will leave voluntarily, but perhaps the Board of Supervisors can do something. He needs to go do something he is interested in, because he is creating problems and costing taxpayers a lot of money to do something he isn’t interested in, and only does it part time”. Anonymous. Enough said? Probably not.
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DONALD SUTHERLANDS FART STORIES. |
ERASING ELERICK INPUT NAME. Maryellen Boyle sent emails to Paul and me about her name appearing in Paul’s Input last week. She said, “I am not a supporter of People Power’s Sierra Club list”.
She emailed again saying, “I am shocked to read your comment about me and my membership in the Sierra Club and the assumption that I joined the club to promote a bicycle agenda in the Sierra Club. Your assertion is quite incorrect. For the record, I voted against the People Power endorsed slate of candidates”. (Ed Note. Paul asked me to remove her name, as it was a mistake).
PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about Carmel and their water supply problem. He relates issues with the proposed shopping center on highway 68. He discusses our Transportation Commission and the Catch 22 created around the redevelopment agencies. It’s all here and on KUSP.
(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. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)
MAJOR MAYOR SHIFTS. The Santa Cruz homeless problem has now shifted from Ryan Coonerty’ s philosophy of the healing power of jail time and arrest records to Don Lane’s concept of providing housing. Pundits around town are now worrying ahead of time that with our next Mayor Hilary Bryant’s background in Veterinary Medicine she’ll be pushing for spays and neuters!!!
CALIFORNIA’S BALLOT BOX BATTLE. There are six measures that could change civil society in California. And our local WILPF chapter is working on them. They say…”The yearly California Battle of the Ballot Box is already heating up, even though November voting is months away. The Santa Cruz WILPF January program will focus on six prospective ballot issues concerning… the death penalty, corporate purchase of our elections, health care, the environment and tax equity. Please join us! 7:00-9:00pm, January 17 Quaker Meeting House 225 Rooney Street, Santa Cruz . Free, all welcome, donations always welcome. For more information call (831 465 8272 ) or email wilpf.news@calcentral.com.
ANCHOR IN ANTARCTICA. Micaela writes re: the cold culinary arts…
Somebody ate my tuna fish. I searched through the week’s leftovers in “Debra Jo”, our name for our communal fridge, and found hush puppies, veggie pasta, chicken egg rolls, basil polenta and hot fudge sauce. All good things to eat (maybe not in the same meal) but I wanted my very own little tub of tuna fish salad. Apparently, it has disappeared into the abyss of our collective appetite.
Most of our meals happen buffet-style, where everyone serves themselves with giant spoons. Our two cooks prepare three meals every working day, and (almost) every meal is delicious. The baked goods deserve special mention. We bring down enormous quantities of food in our vessel, storing it a year’s worth of pork chops and tofu dogs in two shipping containers set up as freezers. However, bread is so bulky that we would never have room to store enough frozen bagels and dinner rolls for a month much less an entire season. Sacks of flour stack much more nicely, so the cooks bake daily and even keep their own sourdough culture.
Of course, eating someone else’s cooking means eating according to their taste and preference rather than your own. The demands of cooking for large groups of people under deadline also dictates how food is prepared and seasoned — not too complicated, not too salty or spicy, not too “ethnic” unless serving a theme meal like Mexican Day (Fridays here at Palmer).
While living at McMurdo Station in 2007-2008, I went an entire year without eating a meal prepared for fewer than one hundred people. By the time I returned to the States after six months of post-Ice travel in Southeast Asia, I had become obsessed with cooking. A year without having to cook did more to expand my palate and range of kitchen techniques than any foodie trend.
And that’s why I get upset thinking about my tuna fish salad, prepared with capers, lemon and dill without the use of wretched plastic-tub mayonnaise. Someone raided Debra Jo for an after-hours snack or maybe for sandwich fixings on Sunday (our only day off) and failed to heed the initials “MN” clearly written on the lid. I tried clarifying Fridge Etiquette at our station meeting during the “Gentle Reminder” portion of our agenda, and perhaps that will solve the problem. If not, then forget initials — I’m labeling my next batch of goodies “Fried Liver and Onions, Help Yourself.”
(Micaela Neus works for Raytheon Polar Services Company as a utilities technician and is currently living at Palmer Station, Antarctica until April or maybe September 2012!!
CAT LIKES PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. Pat Matecjek sent this one, click here: Cat Waits At Bus Stop, Rides the Bus Routinely
VINTAGE DE CINZO. Boulder Creek’s source of boldness ??Seek DeCinzo below.
EAGANS DEEP COVER. The real Mitt Romney from the real Tim Eagan. Scroll to the usual place
LANDAU’S PROGRES. Saul Landau reviews Frank Bardacke’s book, “Trampling out The Vintage” . Saul and I agree completely on the book. Listen to Universal Grapevine Tuesday from 7-7:30 to hear me interview Frank. Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on DVD from roundworldproductions@gmail.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Direct from Lisa…”This week at Lisa Jensen Online Express, I reveal my new mantra for the New Year, mull over Dueling Dragons (Hollywood and Swedish versions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, that is), and send a big shout-out to the Nickelodeon and Del Mar Theaters for their cool new digital upgrade. Lisa Jensen has been writing film reviews and a column for Good Times since 1975.
| CHRIS ROCK ABOUT STRAIGHTS WATCHING THE OSCARS. |
WAR HORSE. Why are there so many sappy, saccharine, Hallmark, trite, syrupy plots about horses. Think about National Velvet, My Friend Flicka, Horse Whisperer, Seabiscuit …all weepy sentimental slobbering stories. War Horse is worse than all of them. All it lacks is Roddy McDowell, Mickey Rooney, Barry Fitzgerald, and a teen aged Elizabeth Taylor. It even has the required duck that nips at men’s trousers. Don’t go ever, and don’t let anybody you care about go either. BUT there is one good thing about horses…read on.
SANTA CRUZ’S HORSE MEAT MARKET.Speaking ofhorse meat, Joe Giallo and his partner Nancy opened a horse meat market at 2590 Portola where Cole’s Bar BQ is now. Here’s a clipping from the Lewiston Daily Sun telling about Joe and selling horsemeat back in September 1974. My friend the late Jerry Predika ( artist and sausage maker) and I started writing a horsemeat cook book with a recipe for Filly Mignon and much, much more, but Joe got just one load of what they said was improperly refrigerated meat and shut up shop. The meat is delicious and almost fat free. Now we see that Obama has made horsemeat legal again!!! Scroll past the news of George Harrison going on tour, and that Sonny and Cher are breaking up and that Michael Tilson Thomas resigned as guest conductor of the Boston Symphony when he was 29.
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. Gary Oldman gets better with every role he plays and he is simply wonderful in this star loaded cast. No one I talked to, me included, could decipher the plot of this complex foreign intrigue. It’s smart, intelligent, perfectly acted, neat photography and all that, but it’s hard to figure who’s doing what to whom…and why. See it anyways, better yet read it again before you go. I should have.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.This re-make isn’t like a director doing a brand new take on Hamlet’s character. It’s not as good, or as tight as the original. It’s exciting; the new Dragon lady is very cool, but not as cool as the original. The problem with it is…you won’t be able to stop comparing, remembering, and thinking ahead on the obvious similarities of the two plots. After saying all that, go anyways…good fun.
HOSTETTER’S HOT STUFF.There are loads of good things coming up, still including the incomparable David Lindley, John McCutcheon, BeauSoleil avec you-know-who, Linda Burman Hall’s sound projects with the most musical primates on earth besides we humans, a wealth of lovely Irish music of all persuasions, and as a bonus, something I neglected last time: accordion wizard Dan Newton in Santa Cruz, of all places! If anyone has a direct line to The Great Morgani, please tell him to come. They are birds of a feather. You need to click this link here, and the other stuff will be revealed. As before, I hope to see you at one or another of these splendid events. yrs, ph.
Memoir (and): A celebration with Claudia Sternbach, Wallace Baine, Richard Stockton and local authors. “This is the age of memoir,” proclaims William Zinsser in Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. Memoir will come of age in our century, outgrowing the constraints bound upon it for so long, as the novel did in the twentieth century. Memoir (and) is a nonprofit literary journal born with these ideas in mind and whose mission is to publish traditional as well as nontraditional forms of nonfiction allied with memoir. Reading tonight is essayist Jaclyn Moyer (“Marigold”) and award-winning poet Charles Atkinson (“Passing Bell for Kobun Chino, Sensei”). Tonight’s event promises lively literary conversation with hosts Wallace Baine, the Santa Cruz Sentinel Arts Editor, Richard Stockton of True Fiction Radio, and Claudia Sternbach, author of Reading Lips: A Memoir of Kisses. Thursday, January 19 at 7:30pm at Capitola Book Café.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE RESUMES AT UCSC. Friday, January 13: “American Crossroads”. 20th-Century American Music for Piano with Mary Jane Cope, piano with Amy Beal (piano) and Kristin Harris Garbeff (cello). This is an evening performance of works for solo, duo, and accompanied piano by great American composers of the 20th century, including “Balinese Ceremonial Music” transcribed in 1940 for two pianos by pioneering ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee.
PROGRAM
In a Landscape (1948) — John Cage (1912–1992)
Piano Sonata no. 3 (1947) — Norman Dello Joio (1913–2008)
Sonata, op. 6, for Cello and Piano (1932) — Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Four Piano Blues — Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
Three Irish Legends — Henry Cowell (1897–1965)
Balinese Ceremonial Music (1940) transcribed for two pianos by Colin McPhee (1900–1964). Friday, January 13, 2012. Music Center Recital Hall, UC Santa Cruz. 7:30pm (doors open at 7:00pm).general seating. tickets at santacruztickets.com
UCSC Ticket Office (831-459-2159) and the SC Civic box office (831-420-5260).
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 sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. On January 10th activist, author, teacher Frank Bardacke will give us background on his Cesar Chavez/UFW new book “Trampling Out The Vintage” then Jim Mosher returns to talk more about his work on regulating alcohol and marketing it to young non drinkers. Wilma Marcus Chandler is on Jan. 17th talking about the current “8 Tens @ 8 Play Festival. She’ll be followed by Peter McGettigan ace producer and cameraman at Community TV. Jan Karwin from The League Of Women Voters will be my guest on January 31 talking about the League and the Ballot measures they are backing. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening.
UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES.In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click here then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The Great Morgani on Street performing, 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 Conpany. 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. Hear them all!!!
QUOTES. “I hated America until I discovered TV”, Michael Gerston.”Every revolutionary needs a color TV”, Jerry Rubin.”Children who worship Batman grow up to vote for heroes“, Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber
BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.
Deep Cover by tim eagan.
