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DATELINE AUGUST 17, 2015
COMBINED WITH DATELINE AUGUST 24, 2015
COLUMN CONFUSION. Once again Gunilla Leavitt and I are forced to combine the weekly columns which are always written every Monday. Hopefully next week there we can get back to a regular new column online as soon as possible each week on or after Mondays.
[Gunilla speaks: It is ALL MY FAULT, please don’t fault Bruce for this. And bear with me, I *will* get back on a normal schedule. I’m just going through some stuff. Thank you for your patience.]
| PRISON “FLASH MOB” DOES Michael Jackson. As one reader pointed out prisons can’t exactly do a “flash mob”. And does dancing to Michael Jackson music equal water boarding? |
| Cabrillo Fest Future??? Another one of those staged “flash mob” cutesy concerts |
FAREWELL FRED KEELEY. There may be a farewll party at the Highway 17 Santa Cruz County Boundary for Fred Keeley by folks who offer to pay his gas fare… one way. We’ll have to wait and see. Then again others have started calling him the Man From Unctuous, but that isn’t kind.
Fred’s giving up his push and pull job working as the Sempervirens Fund President and his connection with the proposed National Monument campaign. As The Sentinel (8/6) said “As a contract democracy consultant for Santa Clara, Keeley, a former California assemblyman and former Santa Cruz County Supervisor, will help expand the city’s award-winning Community Outreach/Vote Ethics Program, which puts ethical campaign strategies at the forefront of elections, asking voters to pay attention to the candidates’ conduct. He also will teach a graduate seminar in the Public Administration Department at San Jose State University and continue serving as chair a special task force, commissioned by State Treasurer John Chiang, to develop best practices on the fiduciary care and use of state and local bond proceeds”. Local subterranean voices are saying he was advised to switch jobs, and even get something out of the county due to some near –totally- unproven rumors. I’ll remain poised to add to all of this…stay in position.
MORE ABOUT TEEN AGERS, LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND DEATH SENTENCES!!!
Last time I wrote in this space…”THE TANNERY MURDER, A THOUGHT. Now that we know that 15 year old teenager will be tried and sentenced as a adult doesn’t it seem “strange” that at 15 we don’t believe he’s mature enough to drink, he’s too young to know how to vote, and he certainly can’t think fast enough to drive a car…but he is definitely qualified to face life imprisonment for that one decision???” Whew, lots of reactions to what I just meant as something to think about. Well it turns out some folks think that stuffing the body in the dumpster closest to your house and then hanging out near it and bugging the police is adult thinking!!! Others think that because that 15 year old kid killed somebody that we should hire prison staff to kill him. It’s really hard to justify this killing thing. Then again we all know what happens to young boys/men in prison especially if they were sick enough to murder a child.
It’s another slower version of a death sentence. There are many articles lately on youths and solitary confinement. A reader sent this link..
The New York Times had an editorial Sunday (8/16) titled “Indefinite Imprisonment, on a Hunch”. I can’t get a link to it, but it says, “despite the public perception that all sex offenders are recidivists sex re-offense rates are in fact lower than those for other crimes”. It concludes, ” Public Safety would be better served if resources were directed toward community supervision and other services for those leaving prison, rather than skirting the Constitution to keep locked away”. One reader/writer wrote, “What bothers me about the crimes that took Maddy Middleton’s life was that AJ Gonzalez was let down by so many systems in his life: familial, social, educational. Somewhere throughout his young life there had to have been many warnings signs that should have been detected and not ignored”.
FAREWELL LOIS MUHLY. Lois and Bert Muhly were among my earliest Santa Cruz friends when I moved here in 1970. For nearly 45 years we worked on an infinite number of causes, campaigns, fund raisers, musicals, and protests. Davenports Nuclear Power Plant, stopping 10,000 homes onto Wilder Ranch…and on and on. Bert and Lois defined what it means to be a beautiful, giving and very loving couple. We will fell the loss for decades. Services will be held September 26, 2015, at 3:00pm at the Peace United Church of Christ (formerly First Congregational Church), 900 High St, Santa Cruz, Ca In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Resource Center for Non-Violence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, Ca, 95060 or Three Americas, Inc. PO Box 711, Santa Cruz, Ca 95061-0711
KUSP HISTORY. For a completely different reason some readers searched online for some of my old columns in Metro Weekly. I happened to find this from JANUARY 22, 2003 Metro Weekly…
“As listeners probably know, KUSP-FM is starting its biggest schedule change in 20 years on Feb. 3, 2003. There’s a new lineup of programs from 9am to 9:30 pm weekdays, including the canceling of the seniors’ Prime Time program. (Full disclosure: that show contained my little eight-minute movie critiques that used to be aired every other week.) The station is cutting out Johnny Simmons’ Lost Highway and Wallace Baine’s Talking Pictures on Sundays. It’s adding Pacifica’s Democracy Now at 3pm on weekdays and expanding a lot of NPR programming, such as All Things Considered and Fresh Air. Changes in any medium (even newspapers) are rarely taken lightly, and KUSP’s changes have caused a near civil war among programmers, supporters and volunteers. Station manager Peter Troxell, who has seven months left (if he leaves on schedule), says these are tough financial times for the station. Along with KAZU’s recent switch to NPR programming, which cost some amount of KUSP listeners, the debt from an expensive station remodeling has also hurt KUSP’s budget. So KUSP has reduced staff hours, not replaced some staff members who’ve left and even gotten a discount on NPR’s program costs. Grants and station-sponsoring clients have dwindled, and now program director Howard Feldstein and Troxell say the station’s healthy. “We’re not going away; we’ll stay here. Membership is OK; these are just program changes that were overdue,” Troxell and Feldstein add. What you need to do is go online to www.kusp.org and see the complete new schedule”. So much for KUSP history and that “expensive remodeling” plus the $6500 monthly rent that seldom gets talked about.
CLOSING PACIFIC AVENUE FOR $800. It’s a good thing Mayor Don Lane and The Santa Cruz City Council approved the closing down of Pacific Avenue and Lincoln Streets last Friday morning for a Helmann’s Mayonnaise commercial. We learned that to cover the cost of blocking all traffic, bringing in extra police and preventing the use of all the parking meters for FOUR HOURS on Pacific Avenue and Lincoln streets costs only $800. That’s the amount that Helmann’s Mayonaise had to pay. As most of us know, Hellmann’s is owned by Unilever, probably the largest commercial institution of its kind in the world. If you go to Unilever’s website you’ll read such stuff as…”On any given day, two billion people use Unilever products to look good, feel good and get more out of life” and, “With more than 400 brands focused on health and wellbeing, no company touches so many people’s lives in so many different ways”. Still more, “Our portfolio ranges from nutritionally balanced foods to indulgent ice creams, affordable soaps, luxurious shampoos and everyday household care products. We produce world-leading brands including Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann’s and Omo, alongside trusted local names such as Mazola, Ben & Jerry’s, Popsicle, Rinso and Suave. With the generosity shown to UNILEVER by our City Council we should surely see a more honest appraisal when any local residents disrupt traffic hereabouts. As The Sentinel article says, “There’s a flat fee of $100 to shut down any street”. We can only assume that anarchists and others would pay that same fee.
CABRILLO FESTIVAL SAYS GOODBYE TO MISSION CONCERTS. Marin Alsop has decreed No more San Juan Bautista Mission concerts! Besides all the problems with traffic, weather, cramped space, bad acoustics, and rigid church officials, the Mission gigs cost the Festival an extra $20,000 to move all their gear there.
LOT SPLITS AND ADU’S ON TOP OF GARAGES.
Neighbors in the Winkle Dr. neighborhoods have succeeded in appealing building permits granted by the County Planners. Item 47 on last week’s Board of Supervisors agenda resulted in the Board agreeing with the neighbors and will be taking jurisdiction in these appeals at a later meeting this year. My guess is that this issue will be the first of many like it, now that our county has been tasked to accept denser, higher multi-family homes and more accessory dwelling units to make room for more people to live here. The Winkle Ave. neighbors take issue with all this being crammed into an existing residential neighborhood, including accessory units built as second stories of new garages.
You can read and hear all about Item 47 on the August 18th BOS agenda here.
http://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/BDS/Govstream2/Bdsvdata/non_legacy_2.0/agendas/2015/20150818-666/PDF/047.pdf If you live in Santa Cruz County you should take a few minutes and see what’s happening to us. (Paul Elerick is co-chair with Peter Scott of the Campaign for Sensible Transportation, http://sensibletransportation.org , and he’s a member of Nisene 2 Sea, a group of open space advocates).
FOOD TRUCKS & WHAT TRUCKS?? Restaurateur Ted Burke swears a friend sent this to him… “There should be a margarita truck that plays Mariachi music as it drives around the neighborhood in the evening. And we would hear it and run out with our money and stand on the curb, waiting for it. Like an ice cream truck, but, you know, with margaritas”. We’d probably have to vote on that.
TESLA MURAL PLANS. Nikola Tesla can get some much needed publicity and recognition here in our enlightened city. Peter Bartczak noted muralist says, “My latest public art project is a 22’x12′ mural featuring Nikola Tesla, your favorite cult hero/genius inventor/visionary. I hope to put paint to the wall at a local longtime (35 years) Santa Cruz institution – John’s Electric Motor Service on May Street. That’s over off Water and Orielly’s Auto Parts and near where the old DMV offices used to be , remember? The mural will depict Tesla as an electrical magician and shows a few of his inventions – A.C. Current, broadcast power, fluorescent lights, remote controls, and, of course, the Tesla coil. Peter is a long time Santa Cruzan and is responsible for murals on the west side’s Upper Crust Pizza on Mission St., the dancing figures downtown by the clock tower, and the portraits that used to grace the wall of the Silver Spur restaurant on Soquel Drive. He has also done work for such companies as Disney, Universal Studio Tours, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Dell Publishing, Annieglass, and many local businesses. You can see more of his work at www.clownbankstudio.com
Funding is thru the Indiegogo crowd funding website All sorts of goodies are given to contributors, including postcards, fine art prints, keychains, and original art, depending on how much you contribute. Please contribute whatever you can to this project so we can inspire more people with Tesla’s genius and vision.
PETER McGETTIGAN SAYS GOODBYE TO COMMUNITY TV. After decades of erstwhile camera work at Santa Cruz Community Television these two entities said goodbye to each other under circumstances which aren’t entirely clear. But Peter is now available to do any and all video work. mcgettiganfilms@gmail.com or 831 469-9501.
HIGHWAY 6 Benefit Dinner August 29, 5:30-8:30 p.m. London Nelson Center. The invitation reads, “There’s a time when you can’t even passively take part! And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus — and you’ve got to make it stop!” – Mario Savio, UC Berkeley Sproul Plaza, 1964.
Please join us for an evening of delicious food and inspiring music in a benefit dinner for the UCSC Highway 6. Members of the UCSC Highway 6 and the Santa Cruz community are organizing to raise funds to further the fight against UC political repression of student activism, at a time when students all over the country are rising against police brutality and inequality in education. We would love to have you be a part of this important movement-building event!The six students who took the highway on March 3rd have met unprecedented repression by the state and the university, including several violations of constitutional rights by the UC administration during the judicial process. The Hwy 6 will be filing a civil suit against the university with the goal of minimizing further repression of student activists across the UC system. This event is also an opportunity for you to connect with other community activists, to learn more about recent student activism at UCSC and why things have escalated to the point that they have. There will be a catered dinner, a silent auction, and several inspiring performances. Please RSVP with your name/s and the number of people attending in your party to: <ucschwy6@gmail.com>
GREENSITE’S INSIGHT. Gillian writes…
DOGGONE:
The public howls of protest may have subsided but no doubt feelings remain high. Even my hero DeCinzo recently weighed in. I understand the fuss. Terrace Point is a Santa Cruz coastal treasure. If you’ve been walking or running your dog there for a number of years, the news that this activity has an ending date is not likely to be well-received, whatever the reasons. Charges of UCSC hypocrisy, insensitivity, arrogance and being a bad neighbor have been pitched with gusto. Letters and online comments challenge with: “How can UCSC ban dogs in the interest of protecting sensitive habitat while simultaneously ripping up the land to build their Marine Sciences campus?” At first sight this contradiction has some appeal. But historical context is important and reasons, if valid, should not be dismissed without thought.
In 1988, Wells Fargo bought the land with plans to build 350 housing units. They repossessed the land from an owner who had leased it to a Brussels sprouts farmer. Wells Fargo refused to renew the farmer’s lease and he claimed they filled in his well to make farming impossible and development more attractive. The then water director Bill Kocher maintained such filling in of unused wells was appropriate. The plan for 350 housing units was scrapped as too large and the second plan put forward by Wells Fargo in1989 was for 144 rental units, 46 for-sale homes plus a marine lab. Many claimed the marine lab was a Trojan horse for developers since no marine entity had committed to occupy the site. Neighbors, environmentalists and farmers organized into the Terrace Point Action Network. City planning meetings, council meetings and neighborhood meetings were attended by scores of vocal opponents until 1999 when UCSC brokered a deal to purchase the 55 acres from Wells Fargo for $4 million for a Marine Sciences campus. By this time, the wetlands and sensitive habitats on the property had been identified and UCSC committed to their permanent protection. So we lost the battle to save Terrace Point as open marine terrace for habitat protection and farming but won the fight to preserve the sensitive habitat areas and wetlands. In this context the charge of hypocrisy against UCSC is meaningless. They are required to protect these areas and the fact that they are prepared to do so should be supported not undermined.
Dog owners need to take more responsibility for losing the privilege of dog access at Terrace Point. If every dog owner understood the impact canines have on sensitive habitats, on flora and fauna (and on other people) and knowing this, kept their dogs leashed at all times and picked up their dog’s poop, it may have been possible to co-exist. But that didn’t happen. Nor does it ever happen. Far too many dog owners not only allowed their dogs to run at large, marking their territory, but felt entitled to do so and affronted if a steward of the natural reserve tried to explain the problem. This is becoming the norm on our beaches and open spaces. Maybe Terrace Point is a harbinger of things to come? The city, county and state have apparently abandoned their role as protectors of the environment. Let’s give a small cheer to UCSC for doing the right thing, even if they were required to do so.
( Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA ( International Dark Sky Association). Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild).
PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary states on his KUSP broadcasts…August 24-28. He talks about plans to vibrate Salinas and developing CSUMB. Then he talks about Cal-Am and their control of the Monterey Peninsula’s water supply. Hard to believe but there’s a “Canine Sports Center,” proposed to be located on a 43-acre site near Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. Gary mentions that too. Fort Ord development will be dealt with by the City Of Marina Planning Commission. Like Santa Cruz, he says, “There is a more Marina-specific item on the agenda, too; namely, the proposal by Shea Homes to cut down two healthy cypress trees. The Planning Director said that was “ok.” The Marinatacrifice
Tree Committee said it was “ok,” and now the Planning Commission will consider the issue on an appeal. From the City of Santa Cruz to the City of Marina, public officials are usually willing to sacrifice trees to aid the desires of the developers. ficials are usually
ABOUT PLACING WIRELESS TOWERS AND SUCH…to aid the desires of the developers”. He closes telling us about the placement of Wireless Facilities…
As listeners may know, federal law has largely preempted the field of wireless regulation, and this federal preemption has made it quite difficult for local governments to have any say on the location of these facilities. For instance, while the health impacts of wireless facilities are of concern to many local residents, federal legislation has pretty much made it impossible for local governments to regulate wireless facilities based on health concerns.The visual impacts of such facilities, and other land use impacts, are still a basis for local regulation. However, there is a bill now being considered in the California State Legislature that might undermine such local regulation. Assembly Bill 57, now in the State Senate, would provide that proposed wireless facilities will be “deemed approved” if not acted upon within either 90 or 150 days. I note that Assembly Member Mark Stone voted “no” on this bill in the Assembly. Assembly Member Alejo is recorded as “not voting.” Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmenatl issues. The opions expressed are Mr. Patton’s \. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. A National Monument by any other name would smell… etc. etc scroll downwards!!!
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Tim Eagan looks at the many sides of Trump…see below.
MACBETH. I wrote on my Facebook page last week…”I’ve been urging everybody to go see Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s “The Liar”,. It’s the best and funniest play I’ve ever seen them perform. I saw Macbeth last night(8/13). It’s the worst, most poorly acted Macbeth I’ve seen in a long lifetime. Macbeth forgets his lines, the audience laughs at every tragic scene, it’s so poorly performed. The Equity actors must be from the bottom of the barrel. Macbeth got more laughs than their production of Much Ado About Nothing!!!” I got many thnk-yous for that but UCSC’s Patty Gallagher who is an EQUITY Actor and a witch in Macbeth felt bad. Patty’s consistently one of the best actors I’ve seen, even though this production plays the witches as bar maids/whores instead of powerful demons from hell. I should have said that 99% of all the actors were all bad and never mind about Equity.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: Lisa writes: “This is the last season for Santa Cruz Shakespeare in the fabulous Sinsheimer-Stanley Festival Glen at UCSC. So if you want to bask one more time in this unique playgoing experience, make plans to see a play (or two) before the season ends on August 30. I recommend the rambunctious, hysterically funny comedy, The Liar, the absolute jewel in the crown of this year’s SCS season, and there are only a few performances left! Read all about it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
THAT IS THE QUESTION
(IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)
MERU. This is much more than a mountain climbing documentary, it’s a no-holds barred examination of the human psyche. Three men climb an un-climable mountain peak in the Himalayas. The photography is bowel grabbing, the beauty is awesome, and these guys personalities and humanness is truly one for the books. The film forces you to also go deep inside and ask your own self many questions. Go se it, by all means…if you care!!
| ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER does Hamlet!!! |
END OF THE TOUR. Jesse Eisenberg plays a real life Rolling Stone reporter and Jason Segel plays author David Foster Wallace. And neither of them are people you’d want to have an espresso with. Egos abound, fame, money, fandom, shyness and deep personal problems are the entire plot. Mamie Gummer and Joan Cusack add some genuine humaness and a likability but if you’ve ever though about writing a book…see this movie it’ll cure you!!!
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE. If you too are a Wallace and Gromit fan you’ll miss the intelligence, wit, pacing and wildly funny situations IF you go see Shaun. It’s really quite boring, it aims at a much dumber audience and doesn’t succeed. Go to the website http://www.wallaceandgromit.com and you’ll remember just how funny Aardman Productions can be.
AMERICAN ULTRA. Why anyone would want to take Kristin Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Pullman and John Leguizamo and keep them stoned for as long as it took to make this “stoner” movie is beyond me. Even if I had been stoned at 10:25 am on Friday morning when I went, I couldn’t have enjoyed this sump of a film.( I mean SUMP). Save your money and your stash and don’t go. It may have had a plot but I couldn’t figure it out.
STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD
JIMMY’S HALL. Ken Loach like Woody Allen, makes both great and near terrible films. His great ones include Kes, Family Life, The Gamekeeper, Riff-Raff, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, and now Jimmy’s Hall seen all year . It’s just about the best film I’ve seen all year. A true story, it’s also a lesson for every protester/free speech/ anti-establishment citizen. It’s about people’s power when they organize…see it and bring friends, and hurry. It’ll probably close Thursday (8/20)…never mind, it did close!!!
BEST OF ENEMIES. To again watch this very personal debete/fight between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, jr. is to re-live the late 60’s, and an age where news, television, and intellect changed radically. Just to watch Buckley say to Vidal , “Now listen you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in your goddamned face, and you’ll stay plastered.” There’s even a scene showing my old producers chair at KGO radio in San Francisco. These brilliant wordsmiths and political mouthpieces are just a delight to watch. See it quickly…at the Nick.
MAN FROM UNCLE. Napoleon Solo is back, but nowhere near as clever as Robert Vaughn and David McCallum in the original 1968 TV series. Those same guys made a movie-copy of the same plot in 1983 which bombed. This “new” flick is just another insanely ridiculous, hard to follow plot about atomic bombs, and much blood. Don’t go. I’ve forgotten who the “stars” are (after a lot of work).
RICKI AND THE FLASH. It’s totally true Meryl Streep can play any role. She does a 60+ near failure rock singer about perfectly. As the publicity says, “Streep stars opposite her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer, who plays her fictional daughter; Rick Springfield, who takes on the role of a Flash member in love with Ricki; and Kevin Kline, who portrays Ricki’s long-suffering ex-husband”. The movie won’t change your life, but it’ll keep you attentive for two hours…don’t miss it.
THE GIFT. Jason Batemen tops this “near Hitchcock” thrill/murder movie. Joel Edgerton plays his long lost”buddy” and wrote and directed it. You’ll stay awake and thank about the movie long after you leave the theatre. There are a few plot holes, but go see it IF you like thrillers with lots of suspense.
Mr. HOLMES. Ian McKellen is “sort of interesting” as a retired 93 year old Sherlock Holmes. But the script takes cheap shots when they claim he never wore a Deerstalker hat or smoked a cigar instead of a pipe. The plot meanders in time from 1947 to now and includes a visit to Hiroshima as well as telling us that he never really lived at 221B Baker Street !!!. Laura Linney gained a few pounds and does her usual brilliant job of acting as his housekeeper. I liked Jeremy Britt, Benedict Cumberbatch and Basil Rathbone (not Robert Downey jr.) much better than McKellen. According to Guiness’s book of Records Sherlock has been played on screen 247 times by 75 actors including Sir Christopher Lee, Charlton Heston, Peter O’Toole, Christopher Plummer, Peter Cook, Roger Moore, and John Cleese. That’s more than Hamlet!!!
IRRATIONAL MAN. You take Woody Allen, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and the seldom seen Parker Posey, put them together and whatcha got??? A confused, pointless, humorless Woody Allen repeat mess!!! How Woody can make so many good films then do a bomb like this, will never be known. IF you do go, see if you don’t thnk about Woody and Mia Farrow’s love life, you’ll remember too about: Soon-Yi Previn (m. 1997-present), Louise Lasser (m. 1966-1970), Harlene Rosen (m. 1956-1962) . Is Woody trying to work out those past loves, who knows??? Go here if you want to remember even more about his love life http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woody-allen-thought-wife-soon-yi-previn-fling-article-1.2309170
INSIDE OUT. I saw this in L.A. at one of those mega movie houses. We were in theatre #17 and there were lots more movies down different hallways. My two grandsons (ages 15 and 11) didn’t seem to like it as muich as their mom and I did. It is a Pixar/Disney animated creation, and has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Lots of San Francisco footage and lots of half assed psychological muck that manages to be inventive, spot on, dumb, clever, inventive, cruel, and dopey, sleepy, plus grumpy with no doctors present. Wait and rent it.
COP CAR. Kevin Bacon, is usually a fine actor but the material in this flop is just plain nuts and non-sensical. In spite of the fact that two production team members are children of an long time Los Angeles-Berkeley friend, this film could have been brilliant…but it sucks. It’s not serious when it should be and it’s not funny when (I think) it tries to be, Everybody was laughing at the wrong times. Like Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s Macbeth we can’t be sure if it’s a tragedy or a parody. Plus, Camyrn Manheim is in it (she shouldn’t have been ) she’s a UCSC graduate, and was in Clint Eastwood’s Sudden Impact, while she was here. It too closed after 7 days, but you didn’t miss much!!
ANT-MAN. Another Marvel Comic Book hero movie and just as idiotic as all the rest. But try to remember that we’re talking comic books here not great literature. Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas give half-hearted attempts at playing cartoon characters. The film is full of age-old tricks, way over used plots and about zero imagination involved in any 5 seconds of this bore.
JURASSIC WORLD. Speaking of “Dumbing Down”, Jurassic World became the world’s biggest box office opener. I’d never seen such lines on Friday mornings (when I usually go) at the Regal Cinema 9. It has nowhere near the class, dignity, fun or terror that the original had about 14 years ago. Remember Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum??? Well you won’t remember anybody in Jurassic World 5 minutes after you leave the theatre.
TRAINWRECK. This entire film (if you can call it a film) hangs on Amy Schumer. I had and have no idea who she is and care less. The film being a Judd Apatow production is gross, vulgar, mean-spirited, and full of “miss-directed” sex. Liking this film is probably a generational thing, for which I’m grateful.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION. Tom Cruise again.This sure isn’t of Mad Max quality but it beats the hell out of the Marvel Comic film industry and 99% of the dumber action films. Like the title and most of this ilk, no one could follow the absolutely useless plot. Like all other big selling films for kids it’s about how you have to kill people to save the world. And we wonder what drives kids to kill!!!
| 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 sometimes old programs are archived… (See next paragraph) and go to http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton August 25 has Bruce Van Allen talking about UCSC’s Highway 6 and a fund raiser on 8/29 as a very hot topic. After that Sharon D. Payne and Kosher Assault tell us inside secrets about the Santa Cruz Derby Girls. Sept. 1st Tom Karwin talking about The UCSC Friends of the Arboretum after which environmentalist Grey Hayes discusses new nature issues that need attention. On Sept 8 Kimberly Perm from the Pajaro Valley Shelter Services talks about their programs and their successes. Then Julie Callahan returns with Rosemarie Alles discussing The March For Elephants. Joseph Sekon guests on September 15 to talk about an upcoming concert. After Josef, Jewel Theatre’s Julie James returns to reveal their 2015-16 season. September 22 has emcee and Santa Cruz Voice Kim Luke discussing this years FashionArt Show happening September 26. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com .
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, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, 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. “The preface is the most important part of a book. Even reviewers read the preface”, Philip Guedalla. “I did so enjoy your book, darling. Everything that everybody writes in it is so good”, Mrs. Patrick Campbell. “It was a book to kill time for those who like it better dead”, Rose MacAulay.
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BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.
Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.
