One Halloween, when I was maybe 9 or 10, my mom found a beat-up old hat, put me in one of my dad’s ragged weekend shirts, rubbed charcoal on my face, and sent me out trick-or-treating as a “bum.” And, no, I’m not over it. I mean, what kind of message does that send? It’s […]
Weekender
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Posted inArts & Entertainment, Events
Weekender: Capitola Village horror, strolling Pleasure Point, Westside poetry, local Ben Affleck connection
Hi friends, Dear Trader Joe’s, In regard to the sign at the Front Street entrance of your fine store in downtown Santa Cruz, closed since the pandemic — I don’t think you know what the word “temporary” means. Happy to lend you my dictionary. Just trying to be helpful, Sincerely, Just Some Guy. Now, on […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘A Dark and Rising Tide’: Novelist’s supernatural twist on Capitola Village’s devastating winter storm
The latest novel from former KION-TV news director Debra Castaneda is directly inspired by Capitola’s experience with the Storm of ’23. “A Dark and Rising Tide” imagines a scary winter storm that actually brings forth some enormous and mysterious sea creature, and a couple trying to survive both the ocean’s fury and the monster it washed to shore.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, City Life
Halloween thrills, audio theater, Tom Stoppard: Santa Cruz County theater stages a fall comeback
Santa Cruz County theater companies are making a strong comeback this fall with a lineup that ranges from “The Thin Place,” a chilling play about life after death at the Actors’ Theatre, to Tom Stoppard’s “Rough Crossing,” which opens Jewel Theatre Co.’s farewell season.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Events
Weekender: Open Studios’ second week, fall theater happenings & Watsonville losing its bookstore
Hi friends, Anyone else notice how we seem to have broken the habit of “decade think”? Back in my youth, people spoke of decades as distinct eras — the Sixties, ’80s hair, etc. — because it was linguistically easy to do so. The first two decades of this century made it a bit more awkward […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Events
Weekender: Local ‘Stop Making Sense’ connection, Open Studios time & Comedy Festival
Hi friends, I recently heard some sports commentator guy say of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, “that dude is A.I.’’ I don’t think that he was claiming that Purdy was a robot, just that he was exceptionally good at what he does. Something tells me that little piece of slang is going to stick around for […]