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THE SISTINE CHAPEL..A CLOSE UP VIEW. Alyce (Vestal) Caudill sent this amazing bit of technology that allows you to scroll closeup and move your arrow everywhere around the Sistene Chapel. (This computer stuff might just catch on!!) [click the musical note in the lower left corner to turn the music off] |
MAH’S LATEST FUNDRAISING LETTER. Nina Simon’s October 1st Fund raising letter is full of references to Art…so maybe some progress is being made!!! There is only one mention of MAH’s History Gallery. She wants to make it “more interactive, multi-vocal, dynamic home for exploring our past and future”. What that means is anyone’s guess, and any credentialed Historian’s nightmare. Nina tried hard to diminish the size and length of stay of the “Journey Forth” art exhibit now on the 3rd floor, what she plans to really do with her promised project that she stated in that fund raiser letter in 2014 “to bring world-class art exhibitions to the MAH” is still more guesswork.
OUR CONVERSATION LAST WEEK. Because I hang out at Lulu Carpenter’s at the Octagon a lot, it is inevitable Nina and I meet by accident every so often. We did just that last week. She said Vance Landis-Carey MAH’s board president hasn’t received any negative emails re the Simon System of Museums. That figures, I haven’t received any positive emails supporting Nina….and it will probably remain a draw until enough folks step up and sign their names. She also said I made two mistakes in the last three columns (scroll down) about MAH plans. They are…
MAH MISTAKE #1. I said Nina was going to rip out Roy Rydell’s Abbott Square Fountain and install a “kiddy wading pool” Nina said it’s not a kiddy wading pool it’s one of those spurting water jet things that squirts shots of water at random, like they have at hundreds of institutions all over the world.
MAH MISTAKE #2. Nina said her husband Sibley Verbeck who has done all that great re-habbing of Evergreen Cemetery legally changed his last name to Simon when he married Nina and I had “Simon” in parethesises last week.
A repeat from last week’s BrattonOnline…
MAH…WHAT COULD HAPPEN? Well, if half as many folks that have talked and emailed me wrote or contacted Vance Landis-Carey, the President of the MAH board she too would see that something should be done about the direction MAH has taken. Nina is fordmidable and tough to face AND great at what she wants to do…but what does the community want her to do? Contact Vance at vance.landis@gatewayhealthmgmt.com
| RORY CALHOUN. Oft claimed Santa Cruzan. Rory wasn’t born here but he enjoyed the years he lived (and played) here. We brought Rory and his wife back to Santa Cruz in 1991, gave him some special awards and he placed his hands and boot prints forever in the patio cement at the Nickelodeon Theatre. Here’s a complete ½ hour episode of The Texan from 1958. |
NEW YORK TIMES AND OUR SANTA CRUZ STATE OF MIND. Judi Grunstra sent this article and also added the Times writer forgot actor Adam Scott, Carlos Santana, and of course Lou Harrison are all from Aptos. I’m not too sure about that particular Santana, but lots of other Santanas lived there.
VERMEER AND MUSIC: THE ART OF LOVE…Thurs. OCT. 10 at Cinema 9. Their website says, “ The National Gallery, London, is offering a major exhibition on one of the most startling and fascinating artists of all-time, Johannes Vermeer. Vermeer is most popularly known as the painter of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer painted little more than 30 works that still exist, and the National Gallery has chosen to focus on his art in relation to music. The event goes beyond the exhibition to tell the entire story of Vermeer’s life and, in doing so, shows in detail many other of the artist’s great works. The program will suit the wide audience who adore Vermeer’s work and who want both to see it in detail and to learn more about this mysterious, fascinating man. Don’t miss your chance to experience a global revolution of world class art, history and biography through the works of Vermeer in Regal Cinema 9 only on Thursday, October 10th at 7:30 PM”. I try to go to all these museum screenings, they are the only way we can see this world famed art aside from going there…tell your friends.
BRILLIANT 15 PART FILM HISTORY SERIES. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has been screening “The Story of Film: An Odyssey” It is 15 chapters, each Monday night at 7:15 p.m. each chapter is one + hours long. No matter where you come in on this you’ll learn stuff you’ve never heard before. I’ve taken more than seven years of film classes, eons of cinema lectures and this series still knocks me out. The official description reads… “The Story of Film: An Odyssey” is an unprecedented cinematic event, an epic journey through the history of world cinema that is a treat for movie lovers around the globe. Guided by film historian Mark Cousins, this bold 15-part love letter to the movies begins with the invention of motion pictures at the end of the 19th century and concludes with the multi-billion dollar globalized digital industry of the 21st. The Story of Film: An Odyssey heralds a unique approach to the evolution of film art by focusing on the artistic vision and innovations of filmmaking pioneers. Cousins’ distinctive approach also yields a personal and idiosyncratic rewriting of film history. Filmed at key locations in film history on every continent, from Thomas Edison’s New Jersey laboratory, to Hitchcock’s London; from post-war Rome to the thriving industry of modern day Mumbai–this landmark documentary is filled with glorious clips from some of the greatest movies ever made and features interviews with legendary filmmakers and actors including Stanley Donen, Kyoko Kagawa, Gus van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Abbas Kiarostami, Claire Denis, Bernardo Bertolucci, Robert Towne, Jane Campion and Claudia Cardinale”. Remember Monday nights 7:15 p.m. Comcast channel 501 TCM.
PHIL SLATER MEMORIAL. It seems like every Santa Cruzan and half the world was and is affected by Phil Slater’s death. There will be a special memorial Sunday Oct. 13.at the First Congregational Church 900 High Street at 2 p.m. No matter how well you knew him, the New York Times obituary has more. Read it here….
PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about The California Coastal Commission and that they are meeting in San Diego three times this week. They’ll be talking about UCSC’s Long Range Development Plan. Capitola’s General Plan is being finalized and that citizens should at least comment on that plan. Then there’s San Luis Obispo’s groundwater crisis, and what that could mean to our county. Water Transfers and Assembly bill 426 are about selling water and agricultural economy. Gary closes talking about CCATF and you can look it up right here. Read his complete scripts at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse. Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor, and an attorney who represents individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365? – www.gapatton.net
VINTAGE DE CINZO. De Cinzo makes a statement about not so strange bedfellows. Scroll downwards.
EAGANS DEEP COVER. Professor Eagan teaches us just one isolated statistic…see below.
SANDY LYDON’S CENTRAL COAST SECRETS.The History Dude’s Christmas in Cambria is sold out but there’s news about the Bay Walk 8 which will happen in 2104. Also new news about Chinese Bone Pickers and the Hike To Nisene Marks. Click here to get all involved.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “All hail the first 4-star movie I’ve seen in two years! What is it? Find out 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……
PARKLAND. Definitely NOT a JFK assassination theory movie. It’s all about the staff at Parkland Hospital when they dealt with JFK’s body then Lee Harvey Oswald’s the day after. Paul Giamatti plays Abraham Zapruder, Marcia Gay Harden is a nurse at Parkland,with Zac Efron and Billy Bob Thornton doing great non-acting humans dealing with this world shattering event. See it quickly. The Nick has it in their smallest theatre already…that means one week.
HAUTE CUISINE.The President of France hires a woman chef to make his meals at the Palace. It’s a true story and the actress Catherine Frot is great in the paret. It’s not too serious a film so if you want to see a diverting film that is very well done…go see it asap.
GRAVITY. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rare 98%, and many of my favorite reviewers went crazy over Gravity. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are the astronauts in trouble and they float around in great 3D trying to fix everything and then battle to survive. Lots of Hollywood muck in this one in spite of director Alfonso Cuaron’s enormous talent.. He’s done some excellent films, Pan’s Labyrinth, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children of Men but Gravity is not in my list of his best works. It’s about like a Saturday matinee war movie where you wonder if so and so will get home alive. BUT go see it in 3D, it’s probably just me.
RUNNING WILD. A documentary about Dayton O. Hyde, who is now 88 years old, and the wild horse preserve he runs in South Dakota. His life and his wild life accomplishments plus his photography and the many books he’s written are stunning. He went to UC Berkeley of course, and you need to go to his home page just to read half of what’s he’s done with his life….and see this one rapidly too, before it vanishes. http://www.daytonohyde.com
STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
(from BEST 2 worst)
ENOUGH SAID. Julia Louis Dreyfus and James Gandolfini create a perfectly complex and brilliant relationship movie. There are some genuine laughs in it, but the truth is you’ll bed deeply touched by the tenderness and the pain they go through. Gandolfini does an excellent acting job here. Far better than I ever thought he could….we’ll miss him. See this grand film asap.
BLUE JASMINE. Don’t expect to see much of San Francisco in this one, even though Woodyloves “The City”, he didn’t show us much of it onscreen. Cate Blanchett goes beyond acting…she digs deeper into her character than we’ve ever seen onscreen. She is simply brilliant. Alec Baldwin is perfect as a sleek, snaky “Mr. Smarmy” type. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll fall all over in your praise of Mr. W. Allen and his “on again-off again” directing technique. See this movie just as soon as you possibly can.
GOOD OL’ FREDA. Freda Kelly was the Beatles secretary for 11 of the ten years the boys were together.No matter how famous YOU thought the Beatles were…Freda’s story shows they were much more than that. It tells great background on each of the boys families, and about Brian Epstein’s controlling and guiding influence on them. If he hadn’t died would they have remained together??? We’ll never know. See this film quickly, it’s probably another one week only showing at the Nick.
RUSH. Ron Howard directed it. That means it “feels good” and that it will end happily. It’s got a sound track of racing cars that sounds like Pacific Avenue on weekends. Hulky Chris Hemsworth appears to be a rare good looking actor who can act, at least he does in this 1970’s Formula One race car epic. The racing scenes are exciting, but the pseudo bios linking all the action fall very flat. Save your money and rent it, even though it should be seen on the big screen.
DON JON. Joseph Gordon-Levitt directed this nearly hot and sexy film and Scarlett Johansson does a great acting job as a New Jersey citizen. That’s the looney- crazy attempt at comedy part of the film…then Julianne Moore enters the plot and adds the only reasons to see this ½ comedy ½ tragedy attempt.
THE FAMILY. Robert DeNiro plays another Mafia- made man and Michelle Pfeiffer does her best with this boring, predictable, over used plot. DeNiro informed on the mob and the fuzz moved them to France for protection. Lots of blood, few if any laughs, and it’s still boring. You’ve seen it all before.
| A GENUINE WEATHER REPORT. Watch this “til the end it gets better and better. |
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. Cathy Pickerrell from the Santa Cruz Chamber Players opens the program on October 8, then John Hibble curator of the Aptos History Museum talks about old and new things. October 15 has Erin Tools and Stacey Falls discussing the Santa Cruz Sanctuary Camp. Then Ken Koenig talks about The Community of Artists photographers group and their show at Felix Kulpa. Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold returns to co-host the bi annual Pledge Drive on Oct. 22 October 29 has Laura Bishop from the 418 Project revealing all their plans for the next season. 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
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 http://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again” The update includes 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. Hear them all!!!
QUOTES. “First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys,” Ray Bradbury “Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring,” Nelson Algren,. “Autumn flings her fiery cloak over the sumac, beech and oak,” Susan Lendroth. “Anne reveled in the world of color about her.
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill–several thrills?” L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
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BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.
Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.
