Santa Cruz Good Times

Secrets and Lies

Two stars shine in nuanced, gender-bent 'Albert Nobbs'  

An odd mix of quaint and edgy, Albert Nobbs has a plot that often smacks of the creakiest kind of Victorian melodrama. Yet at other times, the story feels startlingly modern, with its insights into gender confusion and sexual identity in turn-of-the-century Ireland.  Read more...

Santa Cruz Calendar

Live Music and Events Calendar
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Soquel Vineyards

Trinity 2010 for Valentine’s Day

Looking for a smooth and sexy number for Valentine’s Day? A hot little item that’s not going to empty your wallet? And I’m talking about wine here! We all need something sensuous for Valentine’s—and if you’re planning a home-cooked meal by candlelight, then you’re going to need an interesting wine to go with it. And here’s where Soquel Vineyards’ Trinity comes in. Read more...

Tasting Away

Beautiful inside and out, Margaritaville blends Mexican specialties with Californian originality 

Last year I felt horribly deprived by the relative lack of warm summer days. Earlier this month though, there was enough shirt-sleeve weather to put me in remarkably giddy spirits. After thoroughly enjoying a walk on Capitola's sunny Esplanade in the middle of January, we stopped in at Margaritaville, a restaurant I had not visited in quite some time. Read more...

Ready to B.I.K.E.?

Bike Dojo unveils new program that links kids in need with bikes—and exercise

In 2010 the Outdoor Foundation reported that cycling is the second most popular activity. But while that may not be “news” to the many avid cyclists here in Santa Cruz, another factoid may raise eyebrows and force people to take action: More than 50 percent of children don’t have a bicycle or don’t even know how to ride. The statistics also note that more kids know how to play video and computer games than those who know how to ride a bike.  

But not for long.

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Meter Moratorium Continues

Board of Supervisors votes to continue opposition of SmartMeter installations

Late last year, the already loud local outcry over SmartMeters rang out even louder, as some residents took matters into their own hands and removed meters from their homes. The action led to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) shutting off several of these residents’ power. Following a flood of public concern at its Dec. 13 meeting, the County Board of Supervisors directed the county’s public health officer, Poki Stewart Namkung, to return on Jan. 24 with an analysi...

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Tip of the Tongue

Local improv troupe, Freefall, throws out script in favor of drama

The idea of being onstage in front of a sold-out audience without a script is the stuff of nightmares. But one person’s terror is another’s ultimate thrill—especially if you’re one of the five talented members of the Santa Cruz-based Freefall Improvisational Theater troupe.

“One of the biggest payoffs is when you’re on stage and you don’t know why or how you’re doing what you’re doing,” says Bob Giges, one of Freefall’s founding members. “You really have no conscious control of wh...

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Surfing for Change Strikes Again

Local change maker and pro surfer Kyle Thiermann has released another installment in his "Surfing for Change" short video series. In the past, he's looked at important issues like banking locally and plastic pollution (all through the lens of a well-traveled surfer). In this episode, he visits Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, a surf hub where plans for a large nuclear power plant are in the works. "The question isn't 'do poor people need access to energy,' it's whether nuclear is the best way to provide it," he says in the video, which also includes...

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Hometown Glory

Chris Rene welcomed back to Santa Cruz with open arms at ‘Love Life’ event

On Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012—a day that Mayor Don Lane announced would officially be referred to as Chris Rene Day in Santa Cruz—the local hero took the stage of the sold-out Civic Auditorium to celebrate his homecoming and give something back to the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that made his recent success possible.

The rapper/songwriter and Santa Cruz native is coming off a year that saw him finish in the top three on the first season of FOX’s The X Factor , and enth...

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dog-friendly spots in Santa Cruz

Dog-friendly businesses in Santa Cruz County
Dining
Shopping
Lodging
Dog Parks
Dog Friendly Beaches
Miscellaneous

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Love is the Better Way

Upcoming nonviolence workshops promote compassionate direct action

What will it take to end poverty, war, racism, self-hatred and other violence? Reverend Deborah L. Johnson, spiritual director at Inner Light Ministries in Soquel, says love is the way.  

“When we use the word ‘love,’” she explains, “we’re not talking about a feeling or an emotion. We’re talking about a kind of love that is a direction of the will. It’s the connectedness that I choose to have with you regardless of whether I like you or not. This is the force that allows us t...

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Fever Pitch

Dengue Fever breathes new life into vintage Cambodian pop

While backpacking with a friend through Southeast Asia in 1997, Ethan Holtzman, organist for Los Angeles-based band Dengue Fever, had a revelation—all thanks to a mosquito.

“Traveling by bus somewhere between the ruins of Angkor Wat and the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, Holtzman’s traveling buddy was going through the symptoms of Dengue Fever,” explains friend and fellow band member Paul Smith. “Each time Holtzman made his way to the front of the bus to check in on his friend, a kind of m...

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Hanging in the Balance

K-12 financial security hinges on governor's tax initiative

The financial future of K-12 education in California is murky, to say the least.  

The best-case scenario hinges on Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative, which would temporarily raise sales tax by a half-cent and income taxes for those making more than $250,000, passing at the ballot boxes in November. If approved by voters, these temporary increases, which would expire after five years, could generate an estimated $7 billion, and go on to fund local schools, community colleges, and pu...

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Behind the Break-up

Authors Maira Kalman and Daniel Handler open up

On a Bookshop Santa Cruz wall, notes are taped above a pile of books whose covers depict a luminous white coffee mug suspended against a red backdrop.

“We broke up because I’m not a gorgeous Australian who lives in China. Accents, right?” reads one note. The words, “We broke up because...” are printed on pages of a notepad near the shop’s display, prompting book shop visitors to share their break up stories. The notes correspond directly with the title of the books piled below: “Why We Broke Up,” by...

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Knowing the Nexties

Jacob Martinez, Monica Martinez, Jeremy Neuner and Mark Davidson top the list of creative innovators in Santa Cruz Next’s annual awards gala

Editor’s Note: With a motto like “inform, inspire and involve,” it’s hard not to appreciate the efforts Santa Cruz Next has been making locally to not only unite innovative minds, but also to foster a networking environment that allows those minds to possibly work together to create powerful changes in our local government and culture. It’s fitting then that Santa Cruz Next begins the new year with an awards...

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