February 25 – March 3, 2015

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Bruce

DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ 1920. Here’s the corner of Cedar and Locust Streets. It was the Hotel Santa Cruz back then. Now it’s the Planet Fresh Burrito place. The two story building on the closest corner used to be where Gary Patton’s dad had his law offices. It’s now that Chinese restaurant with a patio .

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE February 23, 2015

UCSC & BORLAND PROPERTY or “Sucking up to Silicon Valley”. UCSC is considering buying the former Borland Property that was opened in 1993 that cost $120 million to build.

ELVIS PRESLEY…RARE FOOTAGE OF UNCHAINED MELODY. 1977

The Sentinel’s Jondi Gumz wrote a zinger of a piece (no date!!) about the property that Santa’s Village website re-printed, check it out.

UCSC wants to use it for combining University Relations, Information Technology Services and Business plus Administratvie Services. UCSC claims they’ve outgrown all campus office space, and that they’ve been leasing buildings on Delaware Ave on our Westside. Borland had 1200 employees working up there when it opened. It’ll mean a huge change in vehicle transportation figures. UCSC is going to start “working with the unions that represent involved employees” soon. Does it make you wonder why the old Wrigley Plant didn’t work for UCSC business expansion??? Then we wonder about the impact on rental benefits and the taxes that will be lost to the City of Santa Cruz when they leave for Scotts Valley!!! BUT we can rest assured that our City Council will get to the bottom of this. Somebody should ask if any searching for office space was done in South County…just asking!!!!

TOXIC CRUMB RUBBER & DEPOT PARK OR HARBOR HIGH??? Sunday’s SF Chronicle (02/22/15) had a front page article on the dangers of recycled tires on artificial turf fields and playgrounds. They pose a health risk to people.These surfaces contain rubber from scrap tires. Environmental groups and health advocates say the EPA didn’t study the health effects thoroughly. What about our Depot Park…why was that closed for such a long time….did they ever replace that “crumb rubber” base??? Then too how about Harbor High and that ball park, there was some problem with that “crumb rubber” too. Was all that hassle ever resolved??? Don’t you wish we had more real news reporting around here?

SAN JOSE IS BROKE…WITHER SANTA CRUZ???? By now almost everybody has read or heard the news that San Jose as a city is broke. All that growth, all those jobs, all those great benefits from economic growth meant nothing. Where and how do our Santa Cruz local growth boosters Chamber of Commerce, Board Of Supervisors and our City Council figure our locally encouraged growth will be any different??? Can anybody show us where that growth has resulted in success?

FLUORIDATED WATER ANNIVERSARY. There’s a great article in today’s (2/23/15) New York Times…. “NEW YORK’S FLUORIDATION FUSS, 50 YEARS LATER” by RALPH BLUMENTHAL Among other facts it says that 3/4 of Americans now drink fluoridated water. Then it goes on to say how opponents used to call it a communist plot and how most major cities in the US now fluoridate their water, and the good that it does. Here’s a link, but I don’t think it’ll work…

ELERICK’S INPUT. Mr. Paul Elerick of Aptos writes…

APTOS VILLAGE GETS OFF THE GROUND?

Lots of hoopla this past week when Barry Swenson Builders flattened the Aptos “Post Office” bike jumps. We’re told in Monday’s Sentinel that BSBuilders will be sending plans for construction of their “village” to the County soon. Really? For a plan that has been approved by the County for over two years, what have they been waiting for?

Aptosians are starting to pay attention to what we have in store for us and many are wondering how the Village Plan can solve the traffic increase by adding three stop lights to the already congested area. Other concerns have been voiced on Neighbors Next Door, a community based forum. Most voiced opposition, but one advocate is for the plan because it might “bring us a Chipotle”! But we already have Manuel’s Restaurant! More good info and a chance to voice your opinion can be found on Facebook’s Aptosia page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/aptosia/ It includes a link to local Testorff Construction’s site that shows what we’re facing if and when the whole Village Plan ever happens. .

(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).

MAKE ME HAPPY, BRING ME LOVE.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about the County’s Affordable Housing problem and states, “One of the issues under discussion is whether the developers of five or more units should be required actually to construct affordable units as part of their development, or whether the developers will simply be able to pay a fee, and make County government responsible for turning money into real affordable housing”. Later he says, regarding the development of Fort Ord, “I think that planning that is based on community participation and community goal setting (even over the Internet) is a lot better than the kind of planning that occurs only when landowners and developers have a particular project in mind. It is true, however, that the current planning effort is based on the thought that “urban” development is going to be at the center of future land uses on the former Fort Ord. That might not, in fact, be the “best use” of these lands, particularly since so much of the former Fort Ord is in public ownership. If you care, get involved! He closes with a pithy statement on the proposed Davenport National Monument…” Not everyone is enthusiastic about designating the Santa Cruz County North Coast as a National Monument. No money comes with the designation. Just lots of visitors! 400,000 annual visitors is a figure being suggested as a realistic estimate. Where do they park? How do they get there, and would such a designation actually turn land already protected into what amounts to a nationally advertised resort destination? Will Davenport turn into a hotel/resort gateway? Could the natural resource values of the North Coast actually be compromised, not protected, by the Monument designation? These are all worthy questions. Robust public discussion and participation is advised! 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. Back when CSUMB moved to Fort Ord!!! see below

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Eagan hints at Job Fair secrets…scroll downwards.

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BUDAPEST AIRSHOW 2014. If you’ve ever been to Budapest…watch this…

HARPER REGAN AND JEWEL THEATRE. Jewel Theatre presents the play by Simon Stephens Harper Ragan from Feb. 26- March 22. Bill Peters is directing. The plot runs something like this…. One Autumn evening, after learning her father is near death, Harper walks away from her home, her family and her job, tossing fate and obligations into the air and embarking on a life journey that becomes an exploration of loyalty, morality and the bonds of family. Harper Regan is part of a body of work that has helped Stephens emerge as one of the most renowned and prolific playwrights of his generation in the UK. It’s at 1001 Center Street (where India Joze used to be, if you’re a long time Santa Cruzan). Buy tickets online here.

SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS. The players present The Last Tempo in Paris, a concert of French musical impressionism, focusing on suggestions, atmosphere, and colors, rather than strong emotions, like a painting by Claude Monet. This program features the late masterpieces of two great French impressionist composers: the Violin and Cello Sonatas by Claude Debussy and Les Chansons Madécasses by Maurice Ravel. And the music of Hector Berlioz, Philippe Gaubert and Cécile Chaminade. Aude Castagna, is the artistic director and plays cello. There’s Shannon Delaney, violin Lars Johannesson, flute, Sheila Willey, soprano, Susan Bruckner, and Michael McGushin, piano. It happens Saturday, February 28, 8 pm and Sunday, March 1, at 3 pm. in the Christ Lutheran Church,
10707 Soquel Drive, Aptos (Off Highway 1 at Freedom Blvd.)

LISA JENSEN LINKS Lisa writes: “This week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com), if you love seals, Celtic mythology, and/or exquisite, hand-drawn animation, don’t miss Song of the Sea (and DO see it on a big screen)! Also, the Oscars have been handed out, and 6 out of my top 8 Oscar predictions were right on. Unfortunately, the two I missed were Best Picture and Best Director. I know by now to follow the trail of the pre-Oscar craft guild awards, but this year I was really pulling for my favorite (Boyhood), so I ignored my own advice. Next year I’ll be back on my game! AND the season isn’t complete without the return of the (dreaded) Oscar Barbies!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(NEW ONES…IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

McFARLAND, USA. This heart breaking-tearful movie is Disney at the best. Kevin Costner and Maria Bello head this solid trite hackneyed saga and yep, I cried too. It’s sort of like seven Rocky’s all in one film, as we watch the local Mexican kids in McFarland become state running champs. You can make up the plot, you’ve seen it many , many times. Yet because of the direction and Costner you’ll fall right into the pathos, cornball story.I forgot where Mc Farland is, I looked it up, route 99 goes right through the center of town, that’s why I even remembered being there…back in the day(or decade) It’s near Wasco, where I always get my gas when I drive to Victorville.

SONG OF THE SEA. Ireland’s Cartoon Studio also created The Secret of The Kells and I didn’t like it much either. It doesn’t compare to the Japanese Ghibli Studio’s classic works such as the current “The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya” or Pono, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Monoke or Spirited Away. The backgrounds in Song of the Sea are distracting, the music is too sweet or cute. The plot is cloying too. Plus, it lost the Oscar for animated feature to Big Hero 6.

THE DUFF. “DUFF” stands for “Designated Ugly Fat Friend”. The movie is touted as a teen age comedy, but it’s not very funny. Mae Whitman does a fine job as the Duff in the title, but the story is so over-used and old, you won’t care much for it…unless maybe you liked 50 Shades of Grey.

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

STILL ALICE. Julianne Moore deseves two oscars for her starring role in this mesmerizing film, and she got the big one!!! As a fictional, and 100% believable 50 year old victim of Alzheimers, she is perfect. She’s a linguistics professor with three kids and married to Alec Baldwin.One of many surprises in the film is how efficiently Kristen Stewart plays her daughter., and Baldwin is surprisingly good too. It’s a sad and thoughtful film that will cause you extra worry about the things you’ve been forgetting lately. It’s also one of the best films of the decade…don’t forget to go.

BIRDMAN. Greatest possible cast with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Lindsay Duncan. Keaton is always good and here he plays an ex Batman/Birdman who tries to make it back to fame in a Broadway play. This is not a simple Hollywood flick!!! Don’t expect some cheap laughs, and takeoffs on Batman movies. It’s a complicated psychological look at egos, fame, friendship, family. It’s a very fine film, worth your going to see by all means. It’s just deeper than the previews make you think. I’m betting on this to take the best film Oscar!!! ( and it did!!!)

THE IMITATION GAME. Excellent film, and if you care a lot about authenticity look the plot up on Wikipedia (much artistic license) but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a fine film. Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Keira Knightly as his best friend are nearly perfect. It’s all about breaking the code that the Germans were using during WW2. Turing invents a machine, and in spite of his extra odd personality, the Germans are defeated. The sub theme of Turing’s then illegal homosexuality, and the deathly consequences he paid for it are strangely underplayed, but significent. See this fine film asap.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.Stephen Hawking is played by Eddie Redmayne who did Les Miserables. Felicity Jones from Spider Man 2 and Emily Watson is in it too but you’ll hardly recognize her. David Thewlis is also perfect and downplays his role nicely. It’s a heart rending- tear jerker- feel very good- movie. Redmayne will be near the top for an Oscar because they always go for handicapped roles (My Left Foot, Rainman etc.). There’s very little of Hawkings actual scientific genius in the film. It’s more about how later he split from his long suffering and eternally supportive wife and went for his beautiful sexy caretaker and how his wife paired up with her choir director!!! Hawkings book A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME sold more than 10 million copies in twenty years (but only 8 people read it!!). It was translated into 35 languages sez Wikipedia.The Met has commissioned an opera based on the book which should happen in 2015. Wikipedia also says, “the theory of everything, is a physicists’ jargon term for a theory in physics which unifies the four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force”, but recently Hawking says that theory will probably never happen. Go see it, and bring a hankie.

TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT. Marion Cotillard does an absolutely wonderful, brilliant job of acting in this very emotional and powerful saga of a woman who is facing some of life’s biggest challenges. She’s depressed, weakened, alone- even though she has friends and you’ll share all of her life threatening problems. Highly reccomended …in fact please go, IF you like good cinema.

TURNER. Mike Leigh the director of this partial biography,has made at least 20 films, all without scripts or casts before he starts shooting and he doesn’t make simple films. Secrets & Lies, Life is Sweet, and High Hopes among others. Mr. Turner is famed “action” painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Timothy Spall plays Turner and is so kinky and erractic that you can’t stop watching him. But the story line is so pointless, jumpy, erractic and odd that you constantly keep wide awake just trying to piece it together for your own sake. It’s a curious film, not a great film, and you’ll wonder what point Mike Leigh was trying to make when he directed this beautifully photographed attempt.

SELMA. Given the state of racial affairs in the USA and the world today, this movie should be seen by every thinking human.It’s a powerful document of a shameful historic period in our history that should never be forgotten. There are many facts, lessons, and messages here that need repeating over and over again, no matter how well you think you remember or understand our Civil Rights issues. It gives us a real picture of Martin Luther King and David Oyelowo portrays him beautifully. Tom Wilkinson isn’t a great LBJ but he tries hard and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 99, so there you are. Go see it.

OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS. A few years ago one of these Oscar Shorts had an interview with a filmaker who said how much deeper, better, easier, cheaper it is to make shorts than to attempt “greatness” or even getting your “statement out” in a full length film. This years live action shorts AND the animated shorts are all so much better in general than the years out- put of feature length films…it just isn’t funny. Butter Lamp from China (and set in Tibet) is worth the price of admission.

OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORTS.Try to sneak in and see “Duet” a gorgeous, colorful 4 minute love story. Unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut for Oscar nominations but it’s being shown anyway. Go see this grand grouping of shorts.

AMERICAN SNIPER. Director Clint Eastwood downplays the bar fighting, cruder aspects of this Navy Seal sniper who killed 160 humans and maybe another 95 not confiirmed. Brad Cooper got all big and tubby for the part, and does a great job as an actor. We see a bit of complexity and thoughtfulness from this killing machine, but untimately its’ another Eastwood product. Only go if you like killing, war, and surprise endings, or if you want to see Brad Cooper acting like it’s really a baby and not a doll he holds in one scene!!!

50 SHADES OF GREY.My biggest problem with this movie is that I liked it too much!!! It’s like secretly wanting a MacDonald’s Burger or cherry jello…a guilty pleasure, you know it’s bad for you and still, and still, and still. This 50 Shades movie with its 28 Rotten Tomatoes score blew away the Valentines Day boxoffice weekend….all from women/girls under 28. It isn’t really very sexy, nor does it get very “dominant or submissive” and makes no sense at all from a masculine or especially a feminine point of view. Just to be sure I’d develop a proper opinion I went with a close friend, she agreed with me…and we had a great time discussing it afterwards. Go see it in Aptos, not so many people will know you there.

FOXCATCHER. This is one of the most odd movies I’ve ever seen. You’ll spend almost the entire time just watching Steve Carell’s eagle beak fake nose. Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum look and act like a sequel to Planet of The Apes. It’s creepy, non- focussed and I’m not sure why they made the film. Carell will be nominated for sure for something.du Pont was a real psycho and thought he was Jesus Christ, the Dalai Lama and a Russian czar, according to Wikipedia

JUPITER ASCENDING.The special effects must have cost millions for this sci-fi flick. What is odd is that Eddie Redmayne (winner of this year’s OSCAR for best Actor and also BAFTRA’s leading actor award for playing Stephen Hawkins in The Theory of Everything) has a part playing the nasty Balem Abrasax, whoever that is. Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Sean Bean are in it too, but I’ll bet they aren’t proud of it.

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 WWW.KZSC.ORG. Jonathan Marx discusses ADHD in Adults on Feb. 24 and John Malkin follows him bringing us up to date on the B.E.A.R.C.A.T. issue. March 3 has Julie James and Bill Peters from the Jewel Theatre talking about their new production, “Harper Regan”. after that Hedwig Heerschop and Kim Tyler talk about The Pajaro Valley Arts Council exhibit, “Photo Alchemy”. “Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin returns March 10 telling us about campaigns, voting, and the election department. She’s followed by UCSC’s Ariane Helou discussing the Shakespeare lectures happening on campus and the next Baroque Festival concert. 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 herehttp://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. “March came in that winter like the meekest and mildest of lambs, bringing days that were crisp and golden and tingling, each followed by a frosty pink twilight which gradually lost itself in an elfland of moonshine.”L.M. Montgomery. “Joy is not in things; it is in us,“Richard Wagner. “By March, the worst of the winter would be over. The snow would thaw, the rivers begin to run and the world would wake into itself again. Not that year. Winter hung in there, like an invalid refusing to die. Day after grey day the ice stayed hard; the world remained unfriendly and cold, “Neil Gaiman.

COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS.

Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!

Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com

Direct phone: 831 423-2468

All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ gunilla@thegoldenfleece.com

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

Posted in Weekly Articles | Comments Off on February 25 – March 3, 2015

February 17 – 24, 2015

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Bruce

DAVENPORT 1907. This is the huge construction by the Ocean Shore Railroad of the trestle just below Davenport. It was intended to go to Scott Creek up along Swanton Road.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE February 16, 2015

WILLIE “THE LION” SMITH. One of the all time great stride piano artists.

PSYCHEDELICS, THE NEW YORKER and SANTA CRUZ. Whatever else you do be sure to read Michael Pollan’s “The Trip Treatment” article in the latest (Feb. 9) issue of The New Yorker. Michael Pollan usually writes about food. His books like Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and The Botany of Desire are all best sellers. He teaches at U.C. Berkeley. The New Yorker piece tells about how new research and testing are finding still more beneficial uses and directions for using psychedelics. That’s of course LSD, psilocybin, mushrooms, thorazine and the like. What’s equally interesting is that he talks about Rick Doblin, the Director of The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies or M.A.P.S. The New Yorker article doesn’t mention that M.A.P.S. and Rick Doblin are located right here in Santa Cruz with an office on Mission Street. They have been doing research on positive uses for psychedelics for years. Pollan reports that Doblin sees a bright future for this research and hopes that the less than positive reaction that happened regarding the testing of psychedelics won’t happen again. It’s a fine article, read it quickly.

SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL UP FOR SALE. Actually from what I can ascertain, it’s either the Digital First Media Company or the Bay Area News Group that’s for sale., and The Santa Cruz Sentinel is a tiny, tiny part of that sale. And now we know why the Sentinel has been making all those tightening changes…they’re trying to make it look like a better buy for some corporate mega machine to buy it. From all I can gather it’s part of a $125 million package of 77 newspapers.. If you look at the Bay Area News Group online you’ll see…

“About Bay Area News Group”

As a Digital First Media Company, Bay Area News Group offers the most powerful media buy in America’s 6th largest market. We provide online, print, and mobile advertising solutions to businesses on a local, regional, and national level. Our leading publications include The San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, and Oakland Tribune, (if you scroll down far enough you’ll see The Sentinel and lots more little dailies) and our websites draw over 12 million unique consumers a month. Our papers carry a history of providing quality news and information to the, culturally and economically important, Bay Area region”. Sadly, reporter J.M. Brown has been canned and as he said in an email, he’s a pay grade or two below the group who know what’s happening. Wallace Baine FB’d that Christa Martin and Kirby Scudder are also gone As we have come to expect, there has been nothing reported in The Sentinel…so far. As many have stated, as bad as the Sentinel has become, wait until we have no daily paper at all. A sad commentary on our community.

CORRECTION, DELETION AND APOLOGY DEPARTMENT:

Within minutes of this edition hitting the internet J.M.Brown emailed and said, ” I don’t know where you got your information that I was “canned” but I demand you remove that from your website immediately and issue a correction because it couldn’t be further from the truth. I left the Sentinel on my own accord”. I told him about 4-6 people told me he was canned, and I apologized to J.M. Then Scott MacClelland emailed minutes later to ask why I didn’t include The Monterey Peninsula Herald…the answer…I FORGOT!!

THE BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

B.E.A.R.C.A.T. INFORMATION. Some folks have the wrong idea about these $250,000 citizen removers….they are NOT Army surplus. Each of these machines are separately built to order by THE LENCO ARMORED VEHICLE COMPANY in Massachusetts. The “surplus” idea may be from the surplus money that Homeland Security has to spend to militarize police forces in the USA. Look up BEARCAT on Wikipedia and you’ll see that over 500 are in use in the USA right now. Stockton has one, so does Seaside and San Francisco. Tell anybody you know who knows anyone on our City Council to be courageous and stop the unecessary purchase and expense of this community harming concept.

ELERICK’S INPUT. Mr. Paul Elerick of Aptos writes…

THE SENTINEL

It’s hard to give up subscribing to our local newspaper, and I can afford the latest price increase. But many people can’t and will drop them. There’s nothing against the Sentinel’s content, (De Cinzo is worth the price of the paper), but too many things of local interest go unpublished. It’s hard to keep up with newsworthy items that are reported in real-time social media, but we still like to read details. For example, take the F-15 fighter jet that buzzed mid-county last week.. It was reported on Aptosia, the best Facebook page going, while the plane was still in the air. What’s the answer to keeping the Sentinel publishing a daily newspaper? I don’t know but please support them, or they’ll go the way of so many small town (and big town!) dailies.

(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).

SATCHMO & MEADE LUX LEWIS AND SOME REAL JAZZ.
POLISH SKIMBOARDING OPEN. I happened to watch some local skim boarders…what a different kind of skill, watch this Polish version…

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about “plenary” and defines it for us. He talks about new food peddling laws in Monterey. He goes on to tell how strawberries need a lot of water and how groundwater management in Pajaro Valley is all important. Gary closes his week of broadcasts by saying…”Our local economy is significantly tied to agriculture. When I was a public official, it was my belief that the larger community wanted their local government agencies to establish effective land use controls, to help make sure that agriculture remained at the center of our local economy. To achieve that long-term, community objective, it is sometimes necessary to turn down individual applications that might lead to a greater immediate economic gain for an individual agricultural landowner, but that would undermine our agricultural economy in the long run. Turning a farm field into a new subdivision, for instance, is a perfect example”.

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. The Santa Cruz Sentinel…a steal at any price??? See downwards afew pages.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Eagan slices and dices the Greece situation…see below.

MY 10 BEST 2014 FILMS. Lisa Jensen and I decided to end the Meet The Critics event at the Nick after all these 12 or more years. Morton Marcus started it all way back in 2003, and it was great fun. My personal choice for best films of 2014 are The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman, Venus In Fur, Two Days, One Night, Still Alice, Gone Girl, Ida, The Imitation Game, and Citizenfour., I didn’t like Boyhood or anybody in it at all.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “This week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com), behold the unquenchable urge to make art on a virtual tour of the cut-out paper work of Henri Matisse, done late in life, when he was too infirm to paint. Also, see if my Oscar predictions will fly in a year that’s way too close to call.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(NEW ONES-IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

STILL ALICE. Julianne Moore deseves two oscars for her starring role in this mesmerizing film. As a fictional, and 100% believable 50 year old victim of Alzheimers, she is perfect. She’s a linguistics professor with three kids and married to Alec Baldwin.One of many surprises in the film is how efficiently Kristen Stewart plays her daughter., and Baldwin is surprisingly good too. It’s a sad and thoughtful film that will cause you extra worry about the things you’ve been forgetting lately. It’s also one of the best films of the decade…don’t forget to go.

50 SHADES OF GREY. My biggest problem with this movie is that I liked it too much!!! It’s like secretly wanting a MacDonald’s Burger or cherry jello…a guilty pleasure, you know it’s bad for you and still, and still, and still. This 50 Shades movie with its 28 Rotten Tomatoes score blew away the Valentines Day boxoffice weekend….all from women/girls under 28. It isn’t really very sexy, nor does it get very “dominant or submissive” and makes no sense at all from a masculine or especially a feminine point of view. Just to be sure I’d develop a proper opinion I went with a close friend, she agreed with me…and we had a great time discussing it afterwards. Go see it in Aptos, not so many people will know you there.

KINGSMEN: THE SECRET SERVICE. It’s embarrassing to watch Colin Firth and Michael Caine in this genuinely gross parody of early James Bond films. It’s even more weird to be surprised by Samuel. L. Jackson playing the evil Richmond Valentine, the nasty who seeks world control by killing us through our cell phones and other super nasty schemes!!! One critic said “It relishes low class ugliness”, and I agree. AND it’s over two hours long…it just seems longer!!!

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT. Marion Cotillard does an absolutely wonderful, brilliant job of acting in this very emotional and powerful saga of a woman who is facing some of life’s biggest challenges. She’s depressed, weakened, alone- even though she has friends and you’ll share all of her life threatening problems. Highly reccomended …in fact please go, IF you like good cinema.

BIRDMAN. Greatest possible cast with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Lindsay Duncan. Keaton is always good and here he plays an ex Batman/Birdman who tries to make it back to fame in a Broadway play. This is not a simple Hollywood flick!!! Don’t expect some cheap laughs, and takeoffs on Batman movies. It’s a complicated psychological look at egos, fame, friendship, family. It’s a very fine film, worth your going to see by all means. It’s just deeper than the previews make you think. I’m betting on this to take the best film Oscar!!!

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR. Just watching Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain plus David Oyelowo act is reason enough to see this not very violent film. It’s set in 1981 New York City where mob control of the furnace oil delivery business is the entire plot. Oscar Isaac is the main Al Pacino– type nice guy fighting the evil truckers. Jessica Chastain doesn’t get a chance to do much but what she does is near-perfect. Go see this film IF you like well made films.

THE IMITATION GAME.Excellent film, and if you care a lot about authenticity look the plot up on Wikipedia (much artistic license) but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a fine film. Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Keira Knightly as his best friend are nearly perfect. It’s all about breaking the code that the Germans were using during WW2. Turing invents a machine, and in spite of his extra odd personality, the Germans are defeated. The sub theme of Turing’s then illegal homosexuality, and the deathly consequences he paid for it are strangly underplayed, but significent. See this fine film asap.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.Stephen Hawking is played by Eddie Redmayne who did Les Miserables. Felicity Jones from Spider Man 2 and Emily Watson is in it too but you’ll hardly recognize her. David Thewlis is also perfect and downplays his role nicely. It’s a heart rending- tear jerker- feel very good- movie. Redmayne will be near the top for an Oscar because they always go for handicapped roles (My Left Foot, Rainman etc.). There’s very little of Hawkings actual scientific genius in the film. It’s more about how later he split from his long suffering and eternally supportive wife and went for his beautiful sexy caretaker and how his wife paired up with her choir director!!! Hawkings book A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME sold more than 10 million copies in twenty years (but only 8 people read it!!). It was translated into 35 languages sez Wikipedia.The Met has commissioned an opera based on the book which should happen in 2015. Wikipedia also says, “the theory of everything, is a physicists’ jargon term for a theory in physics which unifies the four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force”, but recently Hawking says that theory will probably never happen. Go see it, and bring a hankie.

TURNER. Mike Leigh the director of this partial biography,has made at least 20 films, all without scripts or casts before he starts shooting and he doesn’t make simple films. Secrets & Lies, Life is Sweet, and High Hopes among others. Mr. Turner is famed ‘action” painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Timothy Spall plays Turner and is so kinky and erractic that you can’t stop watching him. But the story line is so pointless, jumpy, erractic and odd that you constantly keep wide awake just trying to piece it together for your own sake. It’s a curious film, not a great film, and you’ll wonder what point Mike Leigh was trying to make when he directed this beautifully photographed attempt.

SELMA. Given the state of racial affairs in the USA and the world today, this movie should be seen by every thinking human. It’s a powerful document of a shameful historic period in our history that should never be forgotten. There are many facts, lessons, and messages here that need repeating over and over again, no matter how well you think you remember or understand our Civil Rights issues. It gives us a real picture of Martin Luther King and David Oyelowo portrays him beautifully. Tom Wilkinson isn’t a great LBJ but he tries hard and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 99, so there you are. Go see it.

OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS. A few years ago one of these Oscar Shorts had an interview with a filmaker who said how much deeper, better, easier, cheaper it is to make shorts than to attempt “greatness” or even getting your “statement out” in a full length film. This years live action shorts AND the animated shorts are all so much better in general than the years out- put of feature length films…it just isn’t funny. Butter Lamp from China (and set in Tibet) is worth the price of admission.

OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORTS.Try to sneak in and see “Duet” a gorgeous, colorful 4 minute love story. Unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut for Oscar nominations but it’s being shown anyway. Go see this grand grouping of shorts.

AMERICAN SNIPER. Director Clint Eastwood downplays the bar fighting, cruder aspects of this Navy Seal sniper who killed 160 humans and maybe another 95 not confiirmed. Brad Cooper got all big and tubby for the part, and does a great job as an actor. We see a bit of complexity and thoughtfulness from this killing machine, but untimately its’ another Eastwood product. Only go if you like killing, war, and surprise endings, or if you want to see Brad Cooper acting like it’s really a baby and not a doll he holds in one scene!!!

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES. This is supposed to end the Hobbit trilogies, but considering the huge opening weekend they’ll probably squeeze another dwarf flick and go for four. Yes, Martin Freeman is still in it as Bilbo Baggins, the titular lead of the little people. So is Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and good old Ian Holm for two minutes at the end. Like Exodus it’s all done with pixels, and it’s impossible to tell one army fromanother. It’s very bloody and violent as all these billion dollar money makers are. So if you want to support more of these torture scenes , just go.

PROJECT ALMANAC. A bunch of teenagers build a time travel machine. They then go through every trite, hackneyed, stupid plot device we’ve ever seen, and then the movie’s over. And just like all time travel movies you’ll sit there and notice all the impossible contradictions as to why it couldn’t work. It’s also very dull, has that cheap hand-held camera look, and doesn’t have 2 minutes of excitement in it. Don’t rent it either..

JUPITER ASCENDING.The special effects must have cost millions for this sci-fi flick. What is odd is that Eddie Redmayne (winner of BAFTRA’s leading actor award for playing Stephen Hawkins in The Theory of Everything) has a part playing the nasty Balem Abrasax, whoever that is. Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Sean Bean are in it too but I’ll bet they aren’t proud of it.

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 WWW.KZSC.ORG. On Feb. 17 Good Times film reviewer Lisa Jensen and I talk about the Oscars. Then cardiologist Dr. Neil Sawhney discusses current news and recent methods of maintaining heart health. Jonathan Marx discusses ADHD in Adults on Feb. 24 and John Malkin follows him bringing us up to date on the B.E.A.R.C.A.T. issue. March 3 has Julie James and Bill Peters from the Jewel Theatre talking about their new production, “Harper Regan”. after that Hedwig Heerschop and Kim Tyler talk about The Pajaro Valley Arts Council exhibit, “Photo Alchemy”. “Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin returns March 10 telling us about campaigns, voting, and the election department. 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 herehttp://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. “All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher”, Ambrose Bierce. “If you want to make a man angry, tell him you are going to pray for him”, Edgar W.Howe. “How could God do this to me after all I’ve done for him?“, Louis XIV…

COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS.

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BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

Posted in Weekly Articles | Comments Off on February 17 – 24, 2015

February 10 – 16, 2015

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Bruce

KING AND MISSION STREETS JUNE 7, 1957. This is the grand opening of the Flying A Gas station. Complete with clown. Now it’s Five Gables Dentistry where Dr.David Klim has his offices.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE FEBRUARY 9, 2015

SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL UP FOR SALE. Now we know why the Sentinel has been making all those tightening changes…they’re trying to make it look like a better buy for some corporate mega machine to buy it. From all I can gather it’s part of a $125 million package of 77 newspapers. Reporter J.M. Brown has been canned and as he said in an email, he’s a pay grade or two below the group who know what’s happening. As we have come to expect, there has been nothing reported in the Sentinel…so far. As many have stated, as bad as the Sentinel has become wait until we have no daily paper at all. A sad commentary on our community.

B.E.A.R.C.A.T. UPDATE & SAN LEANDRO TOO. The headline in KQED News for Jan. 9 states, “San Leandro Police Face Opposition in Push for New Armored Vehicle”. The San Jose Mercury headline (1/08) says, “San Leandro armored vehicle forum draws crowd”. And yet we’ve seen nothing in the Sentinel about the San Leandro battle to stop the BEARCAT in their city. CBS (KPIX TV 5) San Francisco reported on 2/05/15 “SAN LEANDRO– Amid an ongoing debate over the militarization of local police departments, the San Leandro City Council said they would move forward with plans to purchase an armored rescue vehicle. In a 6-1 vote, the council approved the purchase of the Bearcat Medevac. The vehicle will be paid mostly thorough a $200,000 Homeland Security grant” It’s amazing and as well as shocking to see how our government both nationally by selling these tanks, and locally by buying them, are becoming so militarized, and they are getting approval by our elected officials.

(I REPEAT) THE BEARCAT ATTACK VEHICLE BY ANY OTHER NAME. Now that we know BEARCAT stands forBallistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Truck and now we all know how it’s really going to be used…let’s vote and change the name to “G.A.R.B.A.G.E” that would be Government Approved Reactionary Barricade Against Groups of Environmentalists.

FRED KEELEY’S OPEN SPACE DISTRICT. It would take too long to explain, but when I see Fred Keeley’s name on almost anything….I get worried about some hidden deal. I asked a number of informed friends about Keeley’s Plot and plans for this “district” thing. Replies came in, “I think there has mainly just been “talk” about how creating an Open Space District would be beneficial. The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County explored the idea, too, some years ago. In general, an Open Space District would be a new governmental agency with the governmental purpose being to acquire and protect open space lands. To create such an agency, LAFCO would likely be involved, and there might also be some special state legislation involved. “We should look into the Open Space Authority of Santa Clara County, which was created by a specific state law. Here’s a link to review the law governing that District (called an Authority) by going to the this link. Here’s a link to the Authority’s website, to give you an idea of the kind of entity that might be created here. “The key thing in making any Open Space District work is the willingness of the public to tax themselves, in order to raise money to be spent on the purposes of preserving open space. A 2/3 vote would be required. If a District were created here, and funded, then the “management” of the District would be key. Some Districts spend a lot of money on administrative overhead; some are more bureaucratically efficient, and devote more of their money to actual property acquisition and preservation”. More to follow.

HUGE ICE FLOW. My cousin Dean Hagen sent this email.

HOW PROGRESSIVES IN RICHMOND BEAT BIG OIL. In a “David vs. Goliath” race, 3 of the 3 Team Richmond Progressive candidates were elected to the Richmond City Council. 5 of the 5 candidates promoted by Chevron were defeated — How did they do it? Hear Richmond City Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin describe how they built authentic relationships in the community to mobilize voters in support of their leadership on the Richmond City Council over a ten year period in which they: § Raised the minimum hourly wage;§ Increased green tech jobs and attracted businesses that included both sole operator and firms with a number of employees;§ Opened a foreclosure prevention program to acquire underwater mortgages and resell to citizens at reduced principals;§ Initiated a “livable, walkable community environment”; § Built condominiums for senior housing…AND Formed the Richmond Youth Corps.What can we learn from them? How can we organize campaigns to elect progressive candidates and build a better, kinder Santa Cruz? Saturday, February 21, 4-6 pm Center for Spiritual Living: 1818 Felt St. Sponsored by People’s Democratic Club and WILPF Santa Cruz.

BILL KOCHER’S NOW IN MONTEREY. You have to admire Bill Kocher for having the guts and gall to return to the neighborhood where his zillion dollar De-Sal plant and plans failed so miserably. He’s now Marina Coast Water District’s new interim general manager.

ELERICK’S INPUT. Mr. Paul Elerick of Aptos writes…

STILL MORE ON THAT DAMNED BEARCAT

This whole thing has been mishandled from the start. According to the Good Times, Congressman Farr requested this armored vehicle for Santa Cruz back in September of 2013, saying to somebody that it was something Santa Cruz needed. Was this “need” just pulled out of the blue? Who was consulted in Santa Cruz to find out if Sam was correct? Could this be a colossal oversight by an out-of-touch staffie in his office?

Considering that this was once presented as a way to make use of military surplus gear, what changed to make this not true? We’re now told that the damned thing has yet to be built. Sounds like a never ending list of pork items that never stops. How many of us have to say no? Who EVER said yes? Maybe some of these questions will be answered Wednesday night (2/11) at the public meeting on this subject.

(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).,

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary gives more news about development of Fort Ord and tells of the impact on environment for just about any development.Then he tellls of Mayor Don Lane and his affordable housing dreams. There’s a water supply reliability forum scheduled from 4:00 to 6:00 o’clock Wednesday 2/11 in Santa Cruz, the forum is jointly sponsored by the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Cruz Water Department, the Water Supply Advisory Committee, and Desal Alternatives. That’s a very broad sponsorship list! He adds, “Guest speakers are economist David Mitchell, who will present “Water Reliability and the Community’s Economy,” and water and energy efficiency consultant John Rosenblum, who will present “Deep Conservation: Going Beyond The Building Code.” Hard to think of a more important topic. I encourage listeners and readers to attend!” 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

OLGA KORBUT ON THE OLYMPIC BARS. 1972

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Scroll down and see a preview of De Cinzo’s Jurassic Park nightmare..

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Rand Paul is ahead by at least a foot check out Eagan a few pages below.

EUBIE BLAKE, NINA McKINNEY AND THE NICOLAS BROTHERS.

Great 1932 jazz, vocals and dancing in all 4 songs.

NEW MUSIC WORKS & SARAH CAHILL. An unusual menu of solo piano music titled

“PIANO REVERIE” is happening at Peace United Church of Christ, Santa Cruz (900 High Street) on Sunday, February 15, 2015, 3pm Sarah’s performance selections will include:

Shade Studies (2014), Samuel Carl Adams
Valentine Waltzes, George Antheil
Feuerklavier, Luciano Berio
Pleasant Dreaming, Philip Collins
selected Preludes, Ruth Crawford
Trumpet of Angus Og by Henry Cowell
Patterns of Plants (selections) by Mamoru Fujieda
Dance for Lisa Karon (1938) and Largo Ostinato, Lou Harrison RCSC
Annea Lockwood St. Petersburg Waltz, Meredith Monk
B’midbar (selections), Larry Polansky
Fourth Pentagram (selections) (1925), Dane Rudhyar. There will be a short reception at intermission, featuring a showing of Valentine’s artwork by the children of Santa Cruz Art Studio and truffles from Donnelly Chocolates.Tickets at the door, probably.

WESTSIDE VIDEO MOVES NEAR OMEI AND SHEN’S GALLERY. Rarely do you see a group of friends and family work together and as hard as the gang at Westside Video did last weekend when they moved the million Video tapes (yep, video tapes) Blue Rays, DVD’s and film stuff to their new location at 2334 Mission Street. That’s between Omei Restaurant and Shen’s Gallery and next to La Cabana Taqueria. Westside will order any/all requests for hard to find videos too.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “If you love art, or history, or both, run, don’t walk, to see Mr. Turner while its still in town, reviewed this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). And speaking of movies, don’t forget to tune in the Universal Grapevine radio show on KZSC, Tuesday, February 17, to hear Bruce Bratton and me duke it out over this year’s Oscar nominees.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(NEW ONES – IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT. Marion Cotillard does an absolutely wonderful, brilliantjob of acting in this very emotional and powerful saga of a woman who is facing some of life’s biggest challenges. She’s depressed, weakened, alone- even though she has friends and you’ll share all of her life threatening problems. Highly reccomended …in fact please go, IF you like good cinema.

PROJECT ALMANAC. A bunch of teenagers build a time travel machine. They then go through every trite, hackneyed, stupid plot device we’ve ever seen, and then the movie’s over. And just like all time travel movies you’ll sit there and notice all the impossible contradictions as to why it couldn’t work. It’s also very dull, has that cheap hand-held camera look, and doesn’t have 2 minutes of excitement in it. Don’t rent it either..

JUPITER ASCENDING.The special effects must have cost millions for this sci-fi flick. What is odd is that Eddie Redmayne (winner of BAFTRA’s leading actor award for playing Stephen Hawkins in The Theory of Everything) has a part playing the nasty Balem Abrasax, whoever that is. Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Sean Bean are in it too but I’ll bet they aren’t proud of it.

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

BIRDMAN. Greatest possible cast with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Lindsay Duncan. Keaton is always good and here he plays an ex Batman/Birdman who tries to make it back to fame in a Broadway play. This is not a simple Hollywood flick!!! Don’t expect some cheap laughs, and takeoffs on Batman movies. It’s a complicated psychological look at egos, fame, friendship, family. It’s a very fine film, worth your going to see by all means. It’s just deeper than the previews make you think. I’m betting on this to take the best film Oscar!!!

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR. Just watching Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain plus David Oyelowo act is reason enough to see this not very violent film. It’s set in 1981 New York City where mob control of the furnace oil delivery business is the entire plot. Oscar Isaac is the main Al Pacino– type nice guy fighting the evil truckers. Jessica Chastain doesn’t get a chance to do much but what she does is near-perfect. Go see this film IF you like well made films.

THE IMITATION GAME.Excellent film, and if you care a lot about authenticity look the plot up on Wikipedia (much artistic license) but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a fine film. Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Keira Knightly as his best friend are nearly perfect. It’s all about breaking the code that the Germans were using during WW2. Turing invents a machine, and in spite of his extra odd personality, the Germans are defeated. The sub theme of Turing’s then illegal homosexuality, and the deathly consequences he paid for it are strangly underplayed, but significent. See this fine film asap.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.Stephen Hawking is played by Eddie Redmayne who did Les Miserables. Felicity Jones from Spider Man 2 and Emily Watson is in it too but you’ll hardly recognize her. David Thewlis is also perfect and downplays his role nicely. It’s a heart rending- tear jerker- feel very good- movie. Redmayne will be near the top for an Oscar because they always go for handicapped roles (My Left Foot, Rainman etc.). There’s very little of Hawkings actual scientific genius in the film. It’s more about how later he split from his long suffering and eternally supportive wife and went for his beautiful sexy caretaker and how his wife paired up with her choir director!!! Hawkings book A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME sold more than 10 million copies in twenty years (but only 8 people read it!!). It was translated into 35 languages sez Wikipedia.The Met has commissioned an opera based on the book which should happen in 2015. Wikipedia also says, “the theory of everything, is a physicists’ jargon term for a theory in physics which unifies the four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force”, but recently Hawking says that theory will probably never happen. Go see it, and bring a hankie.

SELMA. Given the state of racial affairs in the USA and the world today, this movie should be seen by every thinking human.It’s a powerful document of a shameful historic period in our history that should never be forgotten. There are many facts, lessons, and messages here that need repeating over and over again, no matter how well you think you remember or understand our Civil Rights issues. It gives us a real picture of Martin Luther King and David Oyelowo portrays him beautifully. Tom Wilkinson isn’t a great LBJ but he tries hard and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 99, so there you are. Go see it.

MR. TURNER. Mike Leigh the director of this partial biography,has made at least 20 films, all without scripts or casts before he starts shooting and he doesn’t make simple films. Secrets & Lies, Life is Sweet, and High Hopes among others. Mr. Turner is famed ‘action” painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Timothy Spall plays Turner and is so kinky and erractic that you can’t stop watching him. But the story line is so pointless, jumpy, erractic and odd that you constantly keep wide awake just trying to piece it together for your own sake. It’s a curious film, not a great film, and you’ll wonder what point Mike Leigh was trying to make when he directed this beautifully photographed attempt.

BLACK SEA. Jude Law gets a great chance to play atough, driven, courageous, mean submarine captain….and he does it perfectly, it’s a Jude Law we’ve seldom if ever, seen on screen. A bunch of non- communicating Russians and Brits are forced to work together to get $182 million dollars worth of gold bars out of a sunken German U-Boat. It’s incredibly tense, all underwater, and probably best described as a “mans” movie….and it’s really, really, good.

OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS. A few years ago one of these Oscar Shorts had an interview with a filmaker who said how much deeper, better, easier, cheaper it is to make shorts than to attempt “greatness” or even getting your “statement out” in a full length film. This years live action shorts AND the animated shorts are all so much better in general than the years out- put of feature length films…it just isn’t funny. Butter Lamp from China (and set in Tibet) is worth the price of admission.

OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORTS.Try to sneak in and see “Duet” a gorgeous, colorful 4 minute love story. Unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut for Oscar nominations but it’s being shown anyway. Go see this grand grouping of shorts.

BLACK OR WHITE. Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer battle it out over this loosey-goosey Hollywood style color line plot. This film is supposed to be dealing with the ongoing racist life styles in the USA but it really doesn’t. It’s a token film, superficial and actually a very stereotyped thin attempt to make a statement…save your money.

INHERENT VICE. I can’t review this film fairly. I can’t “get into” Thomas Pynchon’s books and this film is an excellent adaptation of his 2009 Los Angeles themed novel. Like his books the film’s plot weaves and staggers leaps ahead and falls back. Here’s what a friend of mine who knows Pynchon as a friend said of the film…” Upon further reflection, I realize now that when I said the movie was schizophrenic, what I was feeling was that there was no coherent thematic feel (despite a cinematic unity/style) but that THAT is precisely the nature of Tom’s writing. His stock in trade is the mixture of high and low culture, profane/sacred, slapstick/goofiness with high art/glorious writing. This and his (consistent) paranoid/anti-authoritarian/pro-individual themes contributes to his status as a primary source of “postmodern” literature. We like our stories to be linear and with a consistent theme or tone, whether books or movies, despite our own experience that real life is a hodgepodge of conflicting occurrences and desires, successes and failures, punches out of left field, transcendent grace, whacky/strange/unpleasant thoughts, wistful memories of lost loves/opportunities, etc. creating a general posture of “Huh?” This befuddlement and all of society’s attempts to “explain” or provide coherency/context (religion, morality, philosophy, politics, etc.) at the expense of individual spontaneous expression and our general turning away from looking at the usually disastrous, and evil consequences and actions of these (corporate/fascist) control mechanisms is a central theme of Tom’s writing. That Yin/Yang “chaotic” nature is, I think, what I was feeling and it perfectly captures Tom’s writing style. So I think this movie is a resounding success not only in presenting the primary story line but in somehow capturing the quality of the writing in the film. It is not a film for everybody, nor are the books”. A complex review, a complex film, and a very complex writer.

AMERICAN SNIPER. Director Clint Eastwood downplays the bar fighting, cruder aspects of this Navy Seal sniper who killed 160 humans and maybe another 95 not confiirmed. Brad Cooper got all big and tubby for the part, and does a great job as an actor. We see a bit of complexity and thoughtfulness from this killing machine, but untimately its’ another Eastwood product. Only go if you like killing, war, and surprise endings, or if you want to see Brad Cooper acting like it’s really a baby and not a doll he holds in one scene!!!

WILD. Any Santa Cruzan will be totally sucked in when Reese Witherspoon starts hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and starts reading a copy of one of Adrienne Rich’s books. Somebody mentions Adrienne later in the film too. Cheryl Strayed did hike the PCT and wrote the book.Thomas Sadoski from HBO’s The Newsroom is in it too. Good acting, a few award nominations are already happening and it’s a very good feel-good movie. Not a great movie but a good feel good thing….especially for women. And it wasn’t filmed in California!!!

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES. This is supposed to end the Hobbit trilogies, but considering the huge opening weekend they’ll probably squeeze another dwarf flick and go for four. Yes, Martin Freeman is still in it as Bilbo Baggins, the titular lead of the little people. So is Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and good old Ian Holm for two minutes at the end. Like Exodus it’s all done with pixels, and it’s impossible to tell one army from another. It’s very bloody and violent as all these billion dollar money makers are. So if you want to support more of these torture scenes, just go.

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 WWW.KZSC.ORG. February 10 John Orlando gives details on the remaining two concerts in The Distinguished Artists Series. After John Kianna Anvari and Luis Cubas co-editors of the UCSC publication TWANAS talk about their aims and goals. On Feb. 17 Good Times film reviewer Lisa Jensen and I talk about the Oscars. Then cardiologist Dr. Neil Sawhney discusses current news and recent methods of maintaining heart health. Jonathan Marx discusses ADHD in Adults on Feb. 24 and John Malkin follows him bringing us up to date on the B.E.A.R.C.A.T. issue. March 3 has Julie James and Bill Peters from the Jewel Theatre talking about their new production, “Harper Regan”. Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin returns March 10 telling us about campaigns, voting, and the election department. 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 herehttp://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. “Rain slips through your fingers as easily as words blow away in the wind, and yet it has the power to destroy your whole world”, Karen Maitland. “Life isn’t how to survive the storm, it’s about how to dance in the rain”, Taylor Swift (yes, Taylor Swift!!!) “And in this moment, like a swift intake of breath, the rain came”, Truman Capote

COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS.

Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!

Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com

Direct phone: 831 423-2468

All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ gunilla@thegoldenfleece.com

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

Posted in Weekly Articles | Comments Off on February 10 – 16, 2015

February 2 – 8, 2015

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Bruce

THE ONCE POPULAR WRIGLEY PLANT AND PERSONNEL.Newcomers may not be aware that both Wrigley’s gum and Lipton Tea had big time manufacturing plants out on the Westside. Here’s the Wrigley tour staff “Gal Usherettes” provided by Manpower, Inc. on April 1955.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE February 2, 2015

ALIX TICHELMAN, CBS, MURDER, HEROIN, OUR YACHT HARBOR. The CBS 48 Hours show played on Jan. 24, 2015. It’s called “Kiss Of Death and The Google Exec.” We read part of the story in The Sentinel and Alix Tichelman is going to trial here on Wednesday, February 23. If you can view that program online watch it, by all means. Watch and listen how Santa Cruz Police spokesperson Steve Clark says and does everything he can to hang Alix for murdering Forrest Hayes Google executive. He actually says on the CBS show, “She’s a killer”. She’s not guilty, at least not yet and still Clark makes such accusing statements you really have to wonder about him, and his motivation for judging her. He’s of course the cop who labeled Leonie Sherman an anarchist in the last City Council election. We should wonder too why the Santa Cruz police (according to Clark) has kept video footage from Hayes boat secret. What does that video show? Why hasn’t it been shown to the court? Something is very fishy here, and needs more inverstigation than the Sentinel or our opinionated Police Force can give it. At least check out the photos from the story…

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE NEWS. On last week’s Universal Grapevine (1/27) Linda Bixby and Marilyn Citron O’Rourke broke the news (to me anyways) “that 55% of U.S. cities have a City Council/City Manager form of government, like Santa Cruz’s. Of those cities, 65% HAVE A DIRECTLY ELECTED MAYOR. This includes most of our neighbors in surrounding counties, including Monterey, Carmel, Seaside, and Salinas”. Voting for, and the direct election of, our Mayor would have a huge and positive change in how we relate to our governing representatives. As of now we never know for sure who our next mayor will be, or the one after that one. Council members like Cynthia Mathews and Mike Rotkin have manipulated those decisions for decades now. An actual campaign for mayor would bring out folks with responsibility and experience and help end our present, “Oh gee, I’m just mayor in name only” cop out. Maybe it’s time too to re-think District Elections. We need to face the facts that 6 of our 7 council members live on the Westside. Well, if not six, the vast majority of our last decades of councils are from the Westside.

LES 7 DOIGHTS DE LA MAIN.

Our local ceramic sculptor Peggy Snyder’s daughter Gypsy heads this amazing group.

KPFA AND LIBERAL RADIO IN SERIOUS TROUBLE. Those of us who work (and play) at KZSC 88.1 fm become very attached to KPFA the Pacifica Foundation Station. We play their daily news hours twice every day. I’m attached to KPFA because I did some early student broadcasting there while I was a student at U.C.Berkeley. KPFA’s internal struggles have gone on for decades. Many court battles and many actual locked doors within the station. This is tragic in many ways but mostly because along with Amy Goodman, Pacifica gives us the only honest liberal reporting we’re getting. NPR sold out long ago to proWashington, D.C. progaganda. Read this link once or twice and think about where we stand on honesty and broadcasting.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28824-crises-at-pacifica-radio

STEPHEN FRY …ALL ABOUT GOD

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about Monterey County and development of Fort Ord, and “industrializing about 3,000 acres of land in the southeastern corner of Monterey County, approximately seven miles southeast of Parkfield”. About Fort Ord he states, “The Fort Ord Base Reuse Plan requires the preparation of Regional Urban Design Guidelines for the redevelopment of the former Fort Ord, and these Guidelines are supposed to establish a framework for road design, setbacks, building height, landscaping, signage and other matters of visual importance. If you have any quibbles about the visual impact of the shopping center project that was built on Fort Ord lands right next to Highway One in Marina, you could well be interested in whether or not the proposed Guidelines will allow such developments in the future. He also warns that residents of San Lorenzo Water District need to be concerned about their future water source.

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

YOU THINK SANTA CRUZ WAS HOT LAST WEEK? Watch this newsman deal with a disaster!!

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. What student housing problem??? See DeCinzo’s take on it…scroll lower down a few pages

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. The Koch Brothers divert more than we know…see Eagan’s point of view at the end of this column.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: ” Don’t miss the annual Hearts for the Arts auction, happening for two weeks only at Artisans Gallery, check it out this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also, I share some thoughts on the Republic of Goodreads and ponder the often strange bedfellows of democracy and technology online.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

THAT IS THE QUESTION
(NEW ONES-IN ORDER OF PERFECTION)

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR. Just watching Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain plus David Oyelowo act is reason enough to see this not very violent film. It’s set in 1981 New York City where mob control of the furnace oil delivery business is the entire plot. Oscar Isaac is the main Al Pacino– type nice guy fighting the evil truckers. Jessica Chastain doesn’t get a chance to do much but what she does is near-perfect. Go see this film IF you like well made films.

BLACK SEA. Jude Law gets a great chance to play atough, driven, courageous, mean submarine captain….and he does it perfectly, it’s a Jude Law we’ve seldom if ever, seen on screen. A bunch of non- communicating Russians and Brits are forced to work together to get $182 million dollars worth of gold bars out of a sunken German U-Boat. It’s incredibly tense, all underwater, and probably best described as a “mans” movie….and it’s really, really, good.

OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS. A few years ago one of these Oscar Shorts had an interview with a filmaker who said how much deeper, better, easier, cheaper it is to make shorts than to attempt “greatness” or even getting your “statement out” in a full length film. This years live action shorts AND the animated shorts are all so much better in general than the years out- put of feature length films…it just isn’t funny. Butter Lamp from China (and set in Tibet) is worth the price of admission.

OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATED SHORTS.Try to sneak in and see “Duet” a gorgeous, colorful 4 minute love story. Unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut for Oscar nominations but it’s being shown anyway. Go see this grand grouping of shorts.

BLACK OR WHITE. Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer battle it out over the loosey-goosey Hollywood style color line plot. This film is supposed to be dealing with the ongoing racist life styles in the USA but it really doesn’t. It’s a superficial and actually a very stereotyped thin attempt to make a statement…save your money.

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

BIRDMAN. Great cast with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Lindsay Duncan. Keaton is always good and here he plays an ex Batman/Birdman who tries to make it back to fame in a Broadway play. This is not a simple Hollywood flick!!! Don’t expect some cheap laughs, and takeoffs on Batman movies. It’s a complicated psychological look at egos, fame, friendship, family. It’s a very fine film, worth your going to see by all means. It’s just deeper than the previews make you think. I’m betting on this to take the best film Oscar!!!

THE IMITATION GAME.Excellent film, and if you care a lot about authenticity look the plot up on Wikipedia (much artistic license) but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a fine film. Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Keira Knightly as his best friend are nearly perfect. It’s all about breaking the code that the Germans were using during WW2. Turing invents a machine, and in spite of his extra odd personality, the Germans are defeated. The sub theme of Turing’s then illegal homosexuality, and the deathly consequences he paid for it are strangly underplayed, but significent. See this fine film asap.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.Stephen Hawking is played by Eddie Redmayne who did Les Miserables. Felicity Jones from Spider Man 2 and Emily Watson is in it too but you’ll hardly recognize her. David Thewlis is also perfect and downplays his role nicely. It’s a heart rending- tear jerker- feel very good- movie. Redmayne will be near the top for an Oscar because they always go for handicapped roles (My Left Foot, Rainman etc.). There’s very little of Hawkings actual scientific genius in the film. It’s more about how later he split from his long suffering and eternally supportive wife and went for his beautiful sexy caretaker and how his wife paired up with her choir director!!! Hawkings book A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME sold more than 10 million copies in twenty years (but only 8 people read it!!). It was translated into 35 languages sez Wikipedia.The Met has commissioned an opera based on the book which should happen in 2015. Wikipedia also says, “the theory of everything, is a physicists’ jargon term for a theory in physics which unifies the four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force”, but recently Hawking says that theory will probably never happen. Go see it, and bring a hankie.

SELMA. Given the state of racial affairs in the USA and the world today, this movie should be seen by every thinking human.It’s a powerful document of a shameful historic period in our history that should never be forgotten. There are many facts, lessons, and messages here that need repeating over and over again, no matter how well you think you remember or understand our Civil Rights issues. It gives us a real picture of Martin Luther King and David Oyelowo portrays him beautifully. Tom Wilkinson isn’t a great LBJ but he tries hard and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 99, so there you are. Go see it.

MR. TURNER. Mike Leigh the director of this partial biography, doesn’t make simple films. Secrets & Lies, Life is Sweet, and High Hopes among others. Mr. Turner is famed ‘action” painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Timothy Spall plays Turner and is so kinky and erractic that you can’t stop watching him. But the story line is so pointless, jumpy, erractic and odd that you constantly keep wide awake just trying to piece it together for your own sake. It’s a curious film, not a great film, and you’ll wonder what point Mike Leigh was trying to make when he directed this beautifully photographed attempt.

INHERENT VICE. I can’t review this film fairly. I can’t “get into” Thomas Pynchon’s books and this film is an excellent adaptation of his 2009 Los Angeles themed novel. Like his books the film’s plot weaves and staggers leaps ahead and falls back. Here’s what a friend of mine who knows Pynchon as a friend said of the film…” Upon further reflection, I realize now that when I said the movie was schizophrenic, what I was feeling was that there was no coherent thematic feel (despite a cinematic unity/style) but that THAT is precisely the nature of Tom’s writing. His stock in trade is the mixture of high and low culture, profane/sacred, slapstick/goofiness with high art/glorious writing. This and his (consistent) paranoid/anti-authoritarian/pro-individual themes contributes to his status as a primary source of “postmodern” literature. We like our stories to be linear and with a consistent theme or tone, whether books or movies, despite our own experience that real life is a hodgepodge of conflicting occurrences and desires, successes and failures, punches out of left field, transcendent grace, whacky/strange/unpleasant thoughts, wistful memories of lost loves/opportunities, etc. creating a general posture of “Huh?” This befuddlement and all of society’s attempts to “explain” or provide coherency/context (religion, morality, philosophy, politics, etc.) at the expense of individual spontaneous expression and our general turning away from looking at the usually disastrous, and evil consequences and actions of these (corporate/fascist) control mechanisms is a central theme of Tom’s writing. That Yin/Yang “chaotic” nature is, I think, what I was feeling and it perfectly captures Tom’s writing style. So I think this movie is a resounding success not only in presenting the primary story line but in somehow capturing the quality of the writing in the film. It is not a film for everybody, nor are the books”. A complex review , a complex film, and a very complex writer.

CAKE. The big talk about this saga is Jennifer Anniston’s not wearing her usual amount of makeup, and it works. The script isn’t great, it’s slow, and has some odd-unrelated scenes but it still remains an interesting story of a woman dealing with some serious tragedies in her life. She uses pills like water and thinks about suicide quite a bit…it’s like I said, a very “interesting” film.

AMERICAN SNIPER. Director Clint Eastwood downplays the bar fighting, cruder aspects of this Navy Seal sniper who killed 160 humans and maybe another 95 not confiirmed. Brad Cooper got all big and tubby for the part, and does a great job as an actor. We see a bit of complexity and thoughtfulness from this killing machine, but untimately its’ another Eastwood product. Only go if you like killing, war, and surprise endings, or if you want to see Brad Cooper acting like it’s really a baby and not a doll he holds in one scene!!!

UNBROKEN.More than a few critics have remarked about director Angelina Jolie’s focus on male torture in this near-true saga. It’s a Hollywood product, all heroism, suffering, payoff at the end, and unless you need to feel bad, think twice before you see this one.

INTO THE WOODS. By now we all know the cast, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden Johnny Depp, Chris Pine and Anna Kendrick.We know too that Stephen Sondheim wrote the music, and yet it misses. It’s a clever mixing of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel, and still it doesn’t hang together. The plot is crazy and lacks cleverness, the singing is what you’d expect fom that lineup of non-singing stars, and you’ll just sit there and watch the screen and leave unimpressed.

WILD. Any Santa Cruzan will be totally sucked in when Reese Witherspoon starts hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and starts reading a copy of one of Adrienne Rich’s books. Somebody mentions Adrienne later in the film too. Cheryl Strayed did hike the PCT and wrote the book.Thomas Sadoski from HBO’s The Newsroom is in it too. Good acting, a few award nominations are already happening and it’s a very good feel-good movie. Not a great movie but a good feel good thing….especially for women. And it wasn’t filmed in California!!!

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES. This is supposed to end the Hobbit trilogies, but considering the huge opening weekend they’ll probably squeeze another dwarf flick and go for four. Yes, Martin Freeman is still in it as Bilbo Baggins, the titular lead of the little people. So is Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and good old Ian Holm for two minutes at the end. Like Exodus it’s all done with pixels, and it’s impossible to tell one army fromanother. It’s very bloody and violent as all these billion dollar money makers are. So if you want to support more of these torture scenes , just go.

BLACKHAT. Australian Chris Hemsworth noted mostly for playing Thor brings the same stupidity to this worst movie of 2015. He tries to play someone who can read and write and use a computer. Even if you can believe that…you still shouldn’t see this movie. It’s about hacking, nuclear power plants and lots of bloody chase scenes. It’s a terrible film, and I left before it ended.

MORTDECAI. To watch a cast such as Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Bettany and Olivia Munn camp and ham their roles in this sad excuse for a comedy is not just embarrassing, it’s a waste of your money. There’s not a clever or intelligent moment in it. Actually it’s closer to a Jeff Apatow/Seth Rogen/Adam Sandler type gross out than any British comedy they might have been trying to copy. Don’t go, by any means.

THE INTERVIEW. Yes, I saw that desperate, anti-North Korea gross-out attempt at a comedy. More than that, I saw it Christmas night with daughter Jennifer at famed Hollywood theatre, The Crest.The Crest was built in 1940 and has been named a cultural landmark. Three TV Stations were there to cover any and all action as this indy theatre defied the SONY ban on distribution. James Franco and Seth Rogen should be very ashamed to appear in as ignorant, vile, unclever film like this. The only funny line in it was when Rogen said about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, “he’s gone to bed with more women than Ellen De Generes“.

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 WWW.KZSC.ORG. February 3 has UCSC Professor Linda Burman Hall talking about the new season of The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. She’s followed by UCSC Music Professor Roy Malan talking about the UCSC Faculty Concert on Wed. Feb 4. February 10 John Orlando gives details on the remaining two concerts in The Distinguished Artists Series. On Feb. 17 Good Times film reviewer Lisa Jensen and I talk about the Oscars. Then cardiologist Dr. Neil Sawhney discusses current news and recent methods of maintaining heart health. . 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 herehttp://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. “February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long,” Anna Quindlen, One True Thing. (I know that’s depressing, but spring is coming!!!) “Away in a meadow all covered with snow, The little old groundhog looks for his shadow
The clouds in the sky determine our fate, If winter will leave us all early or late,” Don Halley. “February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer,”Shirley Jackson, Raising Demons.

COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS.

Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!

Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com

Direct phone: 831 423-2468

All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ gunilla@thegoldenfleece.com

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

Posted in Weekly Articles | Comments Off on February 2 – 8, 2015

January 19 – February 2, 2015

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Bruce

LEASKS DEPARTMENT STORE AT PACIFIC AND CHURCH STREETS January 1952 at 11:10 am. This is now Urban Outfitters and Regal Cinema 9. This grand and traditional Department store went through many iterations from 1892 when Samuel Leask from Scotland opened it until Gottschalks bought it in the 1980’s and it was there until the quake of 1989.
photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DOUBLE COLUMN AGAIN!!!

DATELINE January 19, 2015

DATELINE January 26, 2015

ARANA GULCH, THE RIBBON CUTTING. At least two hundred or more locals and lots of bicyclers attended Wednesday’s (1/14) Arana Gulch ribbon cutting. This “bike path” which in reality must be 20 feet wide with two new bridges cuts a huge highway through our Green Belt to provide a short cut for bicyclists who must not like to bicycle. Last week’s S.F. Chronicle (1/18) had a big piece apologizing to author Ed Abbey (“Desert Solitaire”,”Monkey Wrench Gang”) for his pointing out over a lifetime that cutting a highway through Arches National Park in UTAH so more people “nature lurkers”could enjoy nature was a terrible contradiction. http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Utah-s-Big-Five-parks-in-winter-6016318.php Abbey called it “Industrial Tourism”. Will we now pave a road through The Pogonip so students will save yardage from their bike commute? Will we build a bridge over Twin Lakes so we don’t have to drive around that gas – wasting bend? At what point do we stop proclaiming that our comfort and convenience is more important than nature? One ribbon cutting speaker even noted that taggers have already painted the “Path”. We can probably guess just how our Park and Rec. Dept will clean and maintain this new attraction. To apply all of Ed Abbey’s lifelong battle and his principles to the onward race to create the Santa Cruz Redwoods National Monument State Park. More, much more on the park in future weeks.

PIANO MAN. Ralph Davila sent this musical gem. It stars Billy Joel, Kevin Spacey…..doing Piano man.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE WEEKLY NEWS. I’ve been remissfor nine years (since June of 2006 when I started my Universal Grapevine radio program) of not reporting/repeating the news that listeners and I learn from those Tuesday night programs. For example, Bruce Jaffe newly re-elected director of The Soquel Creek Water District said Tuesday night (1/13) that yes, there are existing pipes that could carry water from Santa Cruz to Soquel. He also stated and many folks wanted to know this…yes, the Soquel Creek Water District will be happy to collaborate with Santa Cruz on water transfers. Another little gem of news from Jaffe was that the Soquel voters have been very careful and elected only board members with science backgrounds and credentials. They completely rejected the Aptos Chamber of Commerce (with help from Bill Tyselling of the Santa Cruz Chamber) slate of development/business candidates. Earlier in the Grapevine program environmental attorney Bill Parkin stated that it’s true P.G.& E. has pulled back on its plan to erect huge monster power lines and support structures clouding the Day Valley, Freedom landscape for at least ten years. He also said it looks like Barry Swenson’s Aptos Village Development will get underway in this late summer. That’s complete with water, traffic, and the influx of all those new residents moving in. Parkin also talked about the nearly infamous CAL-AM’s de-sal proposal in Marina and how frustrated the locals are. I need to apologize that KZSC hasn’t yet been able to add my programs to their podcasts. So right now it’s listen on Tuesdays 7-8p.m.88.1fm or live online at KZSC.org or never!!

WORLD’S LARGEST VACUUM CHAMBER. Watch a bowling ball and feather fall when there’s no air!!!
CRAZY RUSSIAN PENCIL GUY. You really need to try this at home!!!

SANDY LYDON’S SANTA CRUZ HISTORY CLASS CANCELLED.Last weekI gave as big a shout out and urging everyone to enroll in Sandy Lydon’s History 25A Santa Cruz County and the Monterey Bay Region to 1880 class. Sandy announced Sunday (1/18) that he had to cancel it. He said, “ It’s been just too difficult for folks to register — many have given up and turned away. And, there are a gazillion of folks who want to take it again and the computer won’t let them. So I’m going to shut it down and cancel it. A lot of this has to do with the re-focusing of the college to transfer students and occupational programs”. “Folks who are registered will get refunds, etc and we’ll re-format it and do it on the Extension side and make it easier to register, hopefully in the Fall”.

WORLD’S LARGEST VACUUM CHAMBER. Watch a bowling ball and feather fall when there’s no air!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E43-CfukEgs

HISTORICAL PHOTO COMMENT. Triton H. wrote to say this about last week’s historic Eastside Post Office Photo…. “What struck me as remarkable about this week’s fabulous historic photo is not that the Eastside U.S. Post Office is no longer there, it’s that the Roller Palladium still is ! Relatively unchanged. That weird old dingy cavern of a roller skating rink has hosted generations of Santa Cruz 6th graders at roller skating parties. (I believe it was run by a couple, Denny & wife Heddy, who also operated a tiny little coffee shop counter at the corner where Pacific Avenue meets Front Street). I for one sure the heck remember going there and having a lot of fun back in the early-60’s, probably because it was one of the first places a kid could go to without tag-long Mom & Dad. And here’s what else is remarkable: The sign, see arrow. That Roller Palladium sign on the corner is gone, but look what survives: The round neon “winged roller skate” which evidently is now affixed to the corner of the building itself. Probably most people wouldn’t really notice or care, but as two aficionados of Old Santa Cruz, I hope you’ll also get a kick out of coming to the realization that a 65+ year-old relic survives, and quite nicely at that ! Anyway take care”.Triton H.

A READER WRITES. Ted “Shadowbrook” Burke writes to say, “As one of our communities notable film critics I thought you might enjoy this line delivered the other night by David Letterman: The Late Show With David Letterman….” This morning the Academy Award nominations were announced. Meryl Streep once again was nominated. I thought she did a tremendous job as the Olympic wrestler”. Happy New Year to you!

ELERICK’S INPUT. Mr. Paul Elerick of Aptos writes…

2015 OFF TO A ROUGH START IN SANTA CRUZ

The armored military surplus vehicle has to be the most opposed Santa Cruz Police action ever brought before the public. After watching the well-moderated hearing (thank you Mayor Lane), it was clear where the public stood. It was simple, they didn’t want the vehicle, send it back, don’t even think about accepting it. Council voted to go ahead with what their police department wanted.

This hearing was followed by still another anti-homeless ordinance that continued the attack on poor people who have no place to sleep by issuing “stay away” tickets for those found sleeping in city parks. This also passed on a 7-1 vote with only Council Member Posner listening to the public; and voting accordingly. For the voters in Santa Cruz who didn’t vote last November, you better get ready for another two years of living with what TBSC (Take Back Santa Cruz) wants for you..

(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).

ELERICK REMEMBERS MARY WAX. Paul sent this in early Monday. (8:45 a.m.)

Mary WaxMary Wax was one of those rare people. Everybody who knew her would put her in the “nicest person they ever knew” category. Both Mary, and husband Elliot who passed away not long ago were that kind of people and I feel honored to have been their friends. We met in the early days of Aptos Neighbors Association, back in the early 1970’s. Mary’s life is well written about in her Sentinel obit; if you knew her or didn’t you’ll enjoy reading what a remarkable woman she was. Mary was a person you think of when somebody asks why you live in Aptos.

SYNCHRONIZED MARCHING IN JAPAN.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about our County Supervisors and their Facebook pages

Check them out, frequently. Also try to imagine (BrattonOnline question) what’s the Supervisor’s Board going to be like with Greg Kaput as the next chair???? This week Gary says the Board of Supervisors will deal with vacation rentals, affordable housing rules and medical marijuana. The Santa Cruz City Council handles some water supply options and will hear a report from the Water Supply Advisory Committee. Watsonville City tells residents about Cell Towers and their regulations and just what power the people have in dealing with those towers.

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 comment on UCSC professors….back in the day??? See downwards.

 

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. Last week’s was about God and cartoonists…a special case??? This week’s Eagan clarify’s everything!!! Scroll below for both.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “I don’t know about you, but last year was full of big changes for me. And for Santa Cruz. I don’t know what’s in store for our burgh in the future, but the New Year is off to an interesting start for me 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)

MR. TURNER starring Timothy Spall as painter J.M.W.Turner at the Nick.

MR. TURNER. Mike Leigh the director of this partial biography, doesn’t make simple films. Secrets & Lies, Life is Sweet, and High Hopes among others. Mr. Turner is famed ‘action” painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Timothy Spall plays Turner and is so kinky and erractic that you can’t stop watching him. But the story line is so pointless, jumpy, erractic and odd that you constantly keep wide awake just trying to piece it together for your own sake. It’s a curious film, not a great film, and you’ll wonder what point Mike Leigh was trying to make when he directed this beautifully photographed attempt.

 

CAKE.The big talk about this saga is Jennifer Anniston’s not wearing her usual amount of makeup, and it works. The script isn’t great, it’s slow, and has some odd-unrelated scenes but it still remains an interesting story of a woman dealing with some serious tragedies in her life. She uses pills like water and thinks about suicide quite a bit…it’s like I said, a very “interesting” film.

 

AMERICAN SNIPER. Director Clint Eastwood downplays the bar fighting, cruder aspects of this Navy Seal sniper who killed 160 humans and maybe another 95 not confiirmed. Brad Cooper got all big and tubby for the part, and does a great job as an actor. We see a bit of complexity and thoughtfulness from this killing machine, but untimately its’ another Eastwood product. Only go if you like killing, war, and surprise endings, or if you want to see Brad Cooper acting like it’s really a baby and not a doll he holds in one scene!!!

 

MORTDECAI. To watch a cast such as Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Bettany and Olivia Munn camp and ham theirroles in this sad excuse for a comedy is not just embarrassing, it’s a waste of your money.There’s not a clever or intelligent moment in it. Actually it’s closer to a Jeff Apatow/Seth Rogen/Adam Sandler type gross out than any British comedy they might have been trying to copy.Don’t go, by any means.

BLACKHAT.Australian Chris Hemsworth noted mostly for playing Thor brings the same stupidity to this worst movie of 2015. He tries to play someone who can read and write and use a computer. Even if you can believe that…you still shouldn’t see this movie. It’s about hacking, nuclear power plants and lots of bloody chase scenes. It’s a terrible film, and I left before it ended.

 

STILL PLAYING AT A THEATRE NEAR US
FROM BEST TO REALLY BAD

BIRDMAN. Great cast with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Lindsay Duncan. Keaton is always good and here he plays an ex Batman/Birdman who tries to make it back to fame in a Broadway play. This is not a simple Hollywood flick!!! Don’t expect some cheap laughs, and takeoffs on Batman movies. It’s a complicated psychological look at egos, fame, friendship, family. It’s a very fine film, worth your going to see by all means. It’s just deeper than the previews make you think. I’m betting on this to take the best film Oscar!!!

THE IMITATION GAME.Excellent film, and if you care a lot about authenticity look it up on Wikipedia (much artistic license) but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a fine film. Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing and Keira Knightly as his best friend are nearly perfect. It’s all about breaking the code that the Germans were using during WW2. Turing invents a machine, and in spite of his extra odd personality, the Germans are defeated. The sub theme of Turing’s then illegal homosexuality, and the deathly consequences he paid for it are strangly underplayed, but significent. See this fine film asap.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.Stephen Hawking is played by Eddie Redmayne who did Les Miserables. Felicity Jones from Spider Man 2 and Emily Watson is in it too but you’ll hardly recognize her. David Thewlis is also perfect and downplays his role nicely. It’s a heart rending- tear jerker- feel very good- movie. Redmayne will be near the top for an Oscar because they always go for handicapped roles (My Left Foot, Rainman etc.). There’s very little of Hawkings actual scientific genius in the film. It’s more about how later he split from his long suffering and eternally supportive wife and went for his beautiful sexy caretaker and how his wife paired up with her choir director!!! Hawkings book A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME sold more than 10 million copies in twenty years (but only 8 people read it!!). It was translated into 35 languages sez Wikipedia.The Met has commissioned an opera based on the book which should happen in 2015. Wikipedia also says, “the theory of everything, is a physicists’ jargon term for a theory in physics which unifies the four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force”, but recently Hawking says that theory will probably never happen. Go see it, and bring a hankie.

SELMA. Given the state of racial affairs in the USA and the world today, this movie should be seen by every thinking human.It’s a powerful document of a shameful historic period in our history that should never be forgotten. There are many facts, lessons, and messages here that need repeating over and over again, no matter how well you think you remember or understand our Civil Rights issues. It gives us a real picture of Martin Luther King and David Oyelowo portrays him beautifully. Tom Wilkinson isn’t a great LBJ but he tries hard and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 99, so there you are. Go see it.

INHERENT VICE. I can’t review this film fairly. I can’t “get into” Thomas Pynchon’s books and this film is an excellent adaptation of his 2009 Los Angeles themed novel. Like his books the film’s plot weaves and staggers leaps ahead and falls back. Here’s what a friend of mine who knows Pynchon as a friend said of the film…” Upon further reflection, I realize now that when I said the movie was schizophrenic, what I was feeling was that there was no coherent thematic feel (despite a cinematic unity/style) but that THAT is precisely the nature of Tom’s writing. His stock in trade is the mixture of high and low culture, profane/sacred, slapstick/goofiness with high art/glorious writing. This and his (consistent) paranoid/anti-authoritarian/pro-individual themes contributes to his status as a primary source of “postmodern” literature. We like our stories to be linear and with a consistent theme or tone, whether books or movies, despite our own experience that real life is a hodgepodge of conflicting occurrences and desires, successes and failures, punches out of left field, transcendent grace, whacky/strange/unpleasant thoughts, wistful memories of lost loves/opportunities, etc. creating a general posture of “Huh?” This befuddlement and all of society’s attempts to “explain” or provide coherency/context (religion, morality, philosophy, politics, etc.) at the expense of individual spontaneous expression and our general turning away from looking at the usually disastrous, and evil consequences and actions of these (corporate/fascist) control mechanisms is a central theme of Tom’s writing. That Yin/Yang “chaotic” nature is, I think, what I was feeling and it perfectly captures Tom’s writing style. So I think this movie is a resounding success not only in presenting the primary story line but in somehow capturing the quality of the writing in the film. It is not a film for everybody, nor are the books”. A complex review , a complex film, and a very complex writer.

UNBROKEN.More than a few critics have remarked about director Angelina Jolie’s focus on male torture in this near-true saga. It’s a Hollywood product, all heroism, suffering, payoff at the end, and unless you need to feel bad, think twice before you see this one.

BIG EYES. Thomas Kinkade must have picked up all his marketing of kitsch art from Walter Keane (and from Margaret Keane) Most of us who’ve lived in Nor Cal any amount of time remember the invasion of the Big Eyes paintings back in the 1950’s and 60’s centering in San Francisco’s North Beach and spreading all over the world. Both Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz play odd roles and do it well. It’s an absolutely fascinating story, well worth seeing.

INTO THE WOODS. By now we all know the cast, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden Johnny Depp, Chris Pine and Anna Kendrick.We know too that Stephen Sondheim wrote the music, and yet it misses. It’s a clever mixing of Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel, and still it doesn’t hang together. The plot is crazy and lacks cleverness, the singing is what you’d expect fom that lineup of non-singing stars, and you’ll just sit there and watch the screen and leave unimpressed.

WILD. Any Santa Cruzan will be totally sucked in when Reese Witherspoon starts hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and starts reading a copy of one of Adrienne Rich’s books. Somebody mentions Adrienne later in the film too. Cheryl Strayed did hike the PCT and wrote the book.Thomas Sadoski from HBO’s The Newsroom is in it too. Good acting, a few award nominations are already happening and it’s a very good feel-good movie. Not a great movie but a good feel good thing….especially for women. And it wasn’t filmed in California!!!

FOXCATCHER. This is one of the most odd movies I’ve ever seen. You’ll spend almost the entire time just watching Steve Carell’s eagle beak fake nose. Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum look and act like a sequel to Planet of The Apes. It’s creepy, non- focussed and I’m not sure why they made the film. Carell will be nominated for sure for something.du Pont was a real psycho and thought he was Jesus Christ, the Dalai Lama and a Russian czar according to Wikipedia

INTERSTELLAR. This over hyped piece-of- crap movie starring Mathew McConaughey, Michael Caine and Anne Hathway should refund every admsssion dollar it takes in. It’s pretentious, full of phoney intelligence, and uses such concepts as black holes, three dimensions and even five dimensions, singularity, string theory and voices from “them” who exist beyond Saturn. It’s not as bad as UCSC’s recent production of Birth Of Stars ..but almost. Once in a great while I’ll look up other critics to see who’s with me in disliking (or seeing) a film the way I do. Here’s what Critic David Thomson of the New Republic wrote…check it out

HUNGER GAMES, Mockingjay Part 1. A stunning cast, plus what has to be Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s really, really last role–forever. He’s joined by Julienne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harleson, Stanley Tucci, and Elizabeth Banks….and it’s a waste of your time and money. That is unless you’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy. Ashlyn Adams of Westside Video read the books, saw this movie, and even then said this new film is puzzling. I could not follow the plot, who’s good, who’s evil…and what is it all about anyways. And Jennifer Lawrence the star of the Games carries a bow and arrow while everyone around her shoots and kills things with future zap and zing future type weapons. I repeat DO NOT GO unless you’ve read all three books and even then Ashlyn says you can’t always trust anybody in the story.

 

THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES. This is supposed to end the Hobbit trilogies, but considering the huge opening weekend they’ll probably squeeze another dwarf flick and go for four. Yes, Martin Freeman is still in it as Bilbo Baggins, the titular lead of the little people. So is Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and good old Ian Holm for two minutes at the end. Like Exodus it’s all done with pixels, and it’s impossible to tell one army fromanother. It’s very bloody and violent as all these billion dollar money makers are. So if you want to support more of these torture scenes , just go.

 

THE INTERVIEW. Yes, I saw that desperate, anti-North Korea gross-out attempt at a comedy. More than that, I saw it Christmas night with daughter Jennifer at famed Hollywood theatre, The Crest.The Crest was built in 1940 and has been named a cultural landmark. Three TV Stations were there to cover any and all action as this indy theatre defied the SONY ban on distribution. James Franco and Seth Rogen should be very ashamed to appear in as ignorant, vile, unclever film like this. The only funny line in it was when Rogen said about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, “he’s gone to bed with more women than Ellen De Generes“.

 

 

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 WWW.KZSC.ORG. On January 27 Marilyn Citron O’Rourke former mayor of Benicia and Linda Bixby once councilperson in Benicia discuss some ideas and alternatives to our present form of City Government. They are followed by Phil Collins of New Music Works describing their up-coming three concerts. February 3 has UCSC Professor Linda Burman Hall talking about the new season of The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. February 10 John Orlando gives details on the remaining two concerts in The Distinguished Artists Series. On Feb. 17 Good Times film reviewer Lisa Jensen and I talk about the Oscars. Then cardiologist Dr. Neil Sawhney discusses current news and recent methods of maintaining heart health. 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 herehttp://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.

“January, month of empty pockets! … let us endure this evil month, anxious as a theatrical producer’s forehead,” Colette . “To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June,” Jean-Paul Sartre. “”Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols,”
Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain .

And a special poem…

“The sun came out,
And the snowman cried.
His tears ran down
on every side.
His tears ran down
Till the spot was cleared.
He cried so hard
That he disappeared.”
– Margaret Hillert, January Thaw

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BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.