Just aside the Bohemian Highway on the outskirts of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hamlet of Monte Rio sits the Russian River Hall.
For 15 years, it’s hosted the productions of Curtain Call Theatre, a company comprising a dedicated group of local volunteers who bring live theater to West County.
The productions usually feature small casts with a mixture of veteran actors and newcomers, a true hallmark of the welcoming nature of community theater. While technical effects are minimal, which is the norm for intimate venues like the Hall, they always seem to make really effective use of the space with a nicely detailed set.
All these elements are at play in Curtain Call’s season-ending production of Light Sensitive. The Avilynn Pwyll-directed production of Jim Geoghan’s bittersweet romantic comedy runs through Dec 2.
The three-character piece is set in a disheveled tenement apartment in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. Its tenant, Tom (Dan Vanek), is a former taxi driver blinded in an accident. His only friend/caretaker, Lou (Jake Hamlin), drops by on Christmas Eve to inform him that he’s moving out of the area and has arranged for a volunteer from a support services for the blind organization to assist him. Tom is less than thrilled with the proposition and even less so with the abrupt arrival of Edna (Lisa Posternak).
The battle is on as Edna refuses to leave despite Tom’s repeated demands that she vacate the premises. Tom is Edna’s first client and she has no intent in failing in her—and her father’s—eyes. Threats are made, negotiations are held over a bottle of booze, stories are told. In a week’s time, significant changes are apparent in Tom and Edna’s relationship.
Then Lou returns.
Geoghan’s tale of damaged individuals finding solace in each other is a sweet one. Vanek has played the role of Tom before and does well with the physicality of a sightless person. Hamlin provides good support (though a shaky accent) as Lou. Posternak also does well with the physicality of her character and the sense of desperation and longing that envelops her.
The set (by Hamlin) is like a fourth character in the show. It undergoes as much a transformation as the protagonists, and its window effect in particular adds depth to the surroundings.
Light Sensitive has become a holiday staple at some theaters across the country. While set between Christmas and New Year’s, its story of the late-in-life search for human connections is timeless.
‘Light Sensitive’ runs through Dec. 2 at the Russian River Hall, 20347 Hwy 116, Monte Rio. Fri & Sat, 8pm. $25–$75. 707.387.5072. russianriverhall.com.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): As a child, I loved to go to a meadow and whirl around in spirals until I got so dizzy, I fell. As I lay on the ground, the Earth, sky and sun reeled madly, and I was no longer just a pinpoint of awareness lodged inside my body, but was an ecstatically undulating swirl in the kaleidoscopic web of life. Now, years later, I’ve discovered many of us love spinning. Scientists postulate humans have a desire for the intoxicating vertigo it brings. I would never recommend you do what I did as a kid; it could be dangerous for some of you. But if it’s safe and the spirit moves you, do it! Or at least imagine yourself doing it. Do you know about the Sufi Whirling Dervishes who use spinning as a meditation? Read here: tinyurl.com/JoyOfWhirling and tinyurl.com/SufiSpinning.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Your power creature in the coming weeks will not be an eagle, wolf, bear or salmon. I don’t advise you to dream of being a wild horse, tiger or crocodile. Instead, I invite you to cultivate a deep bond with the mushroom family. Why? Now is a favorable time to be like the mushrooms that keep the Earth fresh. In wooded areas, they eat away dead trees and leaves, preventing larger and larger heaps of compost from piling up. They keep the soil healthy and make nutrients available for growing things. Be like those mushrooms, Taurus. Steadily and relentlessly rid your world of the defunct and decaying parts—thereby stimulating fertility.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini novelist Geraldine McCaughrean wrote, “Maybe courage is like memory—a muscle that needs exercise to get strong. So I decided that maybe if I started in a small way, I could gradually work my way up to being brave.” That is an excellent prescription for you: the slow, incremental approach to becoming bolder and pluckier. For best results, begin practicing on mild risks and mellow adventures. Week by week, month by month, increase the audacious beauty of your schemes and the intensity of your spunk and fortitude. By mid-2024, you will be ready to launch a daring project.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian neurologist and author Oliver Sacks worked with people who had unusual neurological issues. His surprising conclusion: “Defects, disorders, and diseases can play a paradoxical role, by bringing out latent powers, developments, and evolutions that might never be seen in their absence.” In not all cases, but more often than seemed reasonable, he found that disorders could be regarded as creative—”for if they destroy particular paths, particular ways of doing things, they may force unexpected growth.” Your assignment is to meditate on how the events of your life might exemplify the principle Sacks marvels at: apparent limitations leading to breakthroughs and bonanzas.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I am falling in love with how deeply you are falling in love with new ways of seeing and understanding yourself. My heart sings as I listen to your heart singing in response to new attractions. Keep it up, Leo! You are having an excellent influence on me. My dormant potentials and drowsy passions are stirring as I behold you waking up and coaxing out your dormant potentials and drowsy passions. Thank you, dear!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo journalist Sydney J. Harris offered advice I suggest you meditate on. He wrote, “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” I bring this to your attention because now is a favorable time to take action on things you have not yet done—and should do. If you put definitive plans in motion soon, you will ensure that regret won’t come calling in five years. (P.S.: Amazingly, it’s also an excellent time to dissolve regret you feel for an iffy move you made in the past.)
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In contrast to false stereotypes, Medieval Europeans were not dirty and unhygienic. They made soap and loved to bathe. Another bogus myth says the people of the Middle Ages believed the Earth was flat. But the truth was that most educated folks knew it was round. And it’s questionable to refer to this historical period as backward, since it brought innovations like mechanical timekeepers, moveable type, accurate maps, the heavy plow and illuminated manuscripts. In this spirit, and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to strip away misconceptions and celebrate actual facts in your own sphere. Be a scrupulous revealer, a conscientious and meticulous truth-teller.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio poet John Berryman said, “To grow, we must travel in the direction of our fears.” Yikes! I personally wouldn’t want to do that kind of growth all the time. I prefer traveling cheerfully in the direction of my hopes and dreams. But then I’m not a Scorpio. Maybe Berryman’s strategy for fulfilling one’s best destiny is a Scorpio superpower. What do you think? One thing I know for sure is that the coming weeks will be an excellent time to re-evaluate and reinvent your relationship with your fears. I suggest you approach the subject with a beginner’s mind. Empty yourself of all your previous ideas and be open to healing new revelations.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian poet Nina Cassian said, “I promise to make you so alive that the fall of dust on furniture will deafen you.” I think she meant she would fully awaken the senses of her readers. She would boost our capacity for enchantment and entice us to feel interesting emotions we had never experienced. As we communed with her beautiful self-expression, we might even reconfigure our understanding of who we are and what life is about. I am pleased to tell you, Sagittarius, that even if you’re not a writer, you now have an enhanced ability to perform these same services—both for yourself and for others.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Sometimes I get lonesome for a storm,” says Capricorn singer-songwriter Joan Baez. “A full-blown storm where everything changes.” That approach has worked well for her. At age 82, she has released 30 albums and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has recorded songs in eight languages and has been honored by Amnesty International for her work on behalf of human rights. If you’re feeling resilient—which I think you are—I recommend that you, too, get lonesome for a storm. Your life could use some rearrangement. If you’re not feeling wildly bold and strong, maybe ask the gods for a mild squall.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Science educator Neil deGrasse Tyson tells us that water molecules we drink have “passed through the kidneys of Socrates, Genghis Khan, and Joan of Arc.” The same prodigious truth applies to the air we breathe: It has “passed through the lungs of Napoleon, Beethoven, and Abraham Lincoln.” Tyson would have also been accurate if he said we have shared water and air that has been inside the bodies of virtually every creature who has ever lived. I bring these facts to your attention, Aquarius, in the hope of inspiring you to deepen your sense of connectedness to other beings. Now is an excellent time to intensify your feelings of kinship with the web of life. Here’s the practical value of doing that: You will attract more help and support into your life.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I am saying a prayer for you. I pray to the Fates that you will not accept lazy or careless efforts from others. You won’t allow their politeness to be a cover-up for manipulativeness. I also pray that you will cultivate high expectations for yourself. You won’t be an obsessive perfectionist, but will be devoted to excellence. All your actions will be infused with high integrity. You will conscientiously attend to every detail with the faith that you are planting seeds that will bloom beautifully in the future.
Making movies is hard. Making movies that make money is even harder. Perhaps hardest of all is facing the stark realities of the American Film Market.
I attended AFM a few weeks ago as part of the frontline marketing efforts for our second feature film, Werewolf Serenade. (And, yes, that’s the title—you voted, and that’s the winner—an instant cult classic.)
I was at the Market to collect business cards of sales agents. Got a stack. I also got a front-row seat to the kind of cinema selling in the hot-house environs of Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica, where AFM took place with picketing hotel workers blaring vuvuzelas outside.
How was it? As H.L. Mencken aptly said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”
I offer, for your viewing pleasure…
Meth Gator, the spiritual heir to Cocaine Bear but without the “true story” bona fides (one hopes). Its tagline also works as the public service announcement we didn’t know we needed: “Don’t Flush Your Meth.”
Zombie Plane, in which an airborne airliner chock-a-block with the undead is spared arriving in Los Angeles by some buxom flight attendants and, naturally, ’90s rapper Vanilla Ice. I gleaned all this from its poster (and I believe it because Hollywood marketing never lies).
Feral. Two words—killer pigs.
Granted, I was at AFM peddling a werewolf film, so who am I to judge…?
…Daedalus F-ing Howell—that’s who. And judge, I will. It’s my responsibility as one of the few remaining suppliers of campy, screwball comedies that namecheck Herman Hesse and Carl Jung, the former being my cinematic M.O. (and, in the case of AFM, that doesn’t stand for Market Opportunity, more like Moral Obligation).
Where are all the grown-up, art-house comedies of yore? They’re coming back to the theaters in dribs and drabs. Consider Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which is right in the pocket. Big on story, small on star power and a humongous flag in the ground for non-franchise, non-IP-driven filmmaking. Bravo.
If movies were math, my tastes and talent land nowhere near the lowest common denominator—it’s all “weird numbers” (starting with the budget). I couldn’t sell out if I tried—and trust me, I’ve tried. I’m an accidental auteur, and my sincere hope for cinema is that more filmmakers with their defaults set like mine continue to emerge.
Sure, our mico-budget art flicks may be a mere drop in an ocean of multiplexes lousy with meth gators and Vanilla Icebergs—but we’re lone werewolves anyway, dog-paddling to some distant shore on a lost horizon, hoping you’re there too, mixing margaritas and metaphors, waiting for the show to begin.
Daedalus Howell moves into movie-making at dhowell.com(where this was originally published).
As Frank Kendall, the U.S. secretary of the Air Force, opined, “These machines will eventually need to have the power to take lethal action on their own while remaining under human oversight in how they are deployed. “
This fascinating quotation about the military potential of A.I. is deeply revealing of how an obsolete way of thinking works. The statement allows a direct stare into the heart of evil, not the evil of malign intent, but of the blind futility of violence accelerated by technological “progress.” It foretells a perverse refusal of possibilities other than dehumanizing our adversaries so completely that we are willing to kill them with machines that are already frighteningly lethal, even without the capacity to make their own decisions.
Also implicit in the secretary’s old thinking is that sacred cow of establishment thinking, deterrence. As long as we have more of the latest, fastest, most intelligent and most destructive weapons, we will not need to use them because that will be sufficient to make our enemy think twice before taking us on. But contemporary asymmetric warfare, let alone the likelihood of either human or A.I. error, effectively undermines deterrence theory.
Conventional war doesn’t resolve the underlying conflict that initiated it. Nuclear war even less so (think nuclear winter). Variations on nuclear or chemical or biological war with the added dimension of A.I. will become doubly, triply world-destructive—in other words, obsolete.
Because everyone’s security and survival is a shared problem, we need to re-humanize our adversaries—to perceive the “me-semblance” of the other, even if they seem hateful to us and toward us.
We need our military people on all sides to gather and peer together down the time-stream at a future that holds only two possibilities: Either adversaries spend infinite treasure and resources to arrive at a stalemate on a new, even more hair-trigger level—or we destroy ourselves.
When we agree that these will be the outcomes unless we change, we can work together to apply A.I. to common challenges, including the prevention of wars no one can win.
Winslow Myers is the author of ‘Living Beyond War: A Citizen’s Guide.’
Donald Trump was hit with a gag order, which is under review. The restrictions prevented Trump from verbally attacking court staff, prosecutors or potential witnesses—the same for social media. This is true, because these are private citizens whose position and involvement are part of their jobs or duties.
But the order didn’t stop him from venting about the judge, the Justice Department, the case more generally or his potential general election foe, President Joe Biden. This is also true, but these persons have public positions and resources that ordinary individuals do not have. The judiciary must retain the gag order, providing guidelines for future abusers.
Gary Sciford
Santa Rosa
Hoodwinked
Who knew? Whatever happened to peripheral vision? Hoodies—the cool dude look has eliminated peripheral anything. Skateboarders, bicyclists and anyone who drives—the hooded dude look prevails. Monks and hoods—maybe, but not all that safe when driving. Or is it another sign of my old age and “out of it” take on peripheral vision? Driverless cars are missing a basic rule of the road. And don’t tell me it’s all covered by computers in cars. Baa-hum-bug.
Neil Davis
Sebastopol
Editor’s Note: In a ‘Pacific Sun’ piece entitled ‘Dharmashire’ (Oct. 30, 2023), the term ‘gender transition’ was inadvertently used instead of ‘generational transition.’ We regret the error.
The sun disappears behind the ocean horizon. The sky turns vanilla, and the wind stiffens. Twilight’s slow transformation into darkness reveals a million subtle shades along the way.
Those who have ever spent an evening on the Sonoma or Marin coast know exactly what I’m writing about. It’s one of the many North Bay ties that bind. There are plenty of others, ones that make us who we are, ones we share gladly with those who visit. The beaches, the farms, the bigger cities and small towns…
But what if I said there was another place, one far away, but one where someone might feel just as at home?
I’m happy to write that such a place exists. It shares our rocky coasts, rich soil and enviable scenic beauty. But most of the people there don’t look out over the Pacific to view the sunset.
They do so to watch the sunrise.
Welcome to Hokkaido, Japan.
Another City by the Bay
As San Francisco is the gateway to the North Bay, Hakodate fills the same role in Hokkaido. Imagine the peninsula flipped upside down, and instead of the Presidio, a mini mountain with excellent views from the summit. And, yes, expect to burn some calories walking up steep hills.
The connection between the two cities runs much deeper than similar geography. The Old Public Hall, built in 1910, features Japanese, Chinese, French and English architectural influences. Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches gaze out over the bay, along with scores of preserved homes that look better suited to Victorian England than Japan. Every culture that has come through Japan’s City by the Bay left a permanent mark.
All that’s missing is the Golden Gate.
And like in San Francisco, Hakodate’s seafood can’t be beat. Thankfully for visitors, the morning seafood market exists just steps from the central train station. Big spenders can put down about $400 for a whole king crab or $80 for a modest-sized rice bowl adorned with tongue-sized pieces of golden sea urchin.
First-timers will wish they’d packed a second stomach before taking the nearly four-hour train ride north to Hokkaido’s Santa Rosa, Sapporo.
Two Cities, One Heart
Sapporo is a sprawling metropolis with convenient access to Hokkaido’s natural beauty. Go west to see the ocean. Go east to find sprawling farms. Go south to encounter wilderness saved for future generations.
Sound familiar?
And as with Santa Rosa, in the center of Sapporo exists a testament to the botanist who preserved his city’s natural beauty. Sapporo’s Luther Burbank was Kingo Miyabe (1860-1950), a Harvard graduate who founded the city’s first botanical garden. Thirty-three acres just five blocks from Sapporo Station host old-growth forests and provide sanctuary to over 4,000 plant species. A modest museum in the style of a Maine farmhouse displays Miyabe’s writings, including an 1888 letter to an American colleague:
“It is my dream and hope that someday during my lifetime to lay a solid foundation of a model garden botanique in Sapporo for the instruction and refinement of the generations to come.”
After seeing it all firsthand, the author must write that Miyabe succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
On to food. Santa Rosa may be famous for beer, but Sapporo has the city beat with its 19th-century brewery, now a German-style beer garden and museum. This red brick structure, one that could easily stand in for the Wonka factory, attracts beer lovers ready to pair more than a few Sapporo Classic lagers with servings of grilled lamb, pork and seafood.
Just don’t overdo it on the all-you-can-drink package. “Gentlemen, excuse me if I should stumble,” the author overheard a visitor say to his friends before shuffling off to the restroom.
From Sapporo, explorers wanting a North Bay experience have two options—one much, much farther away than the other.
Familiar Coastline, Surprising View
The trip up Highway 1 through Marin and Sonoma offers some of the best North Bay views. The slow drive and scenery let locals and visitors alike reconnect with nature and themselves.
Hokkaido’s Highway 1 (National Route 238) begins in Wakkanai, the most northern city in Japan and five hours by train from Sapporo. From there, a bus takes travelers the 20 miles around Tomales Bay’s long-lost cousin—Soya Bay. Fishing shacks, some new, some ancient, dot the narrow, pebbly beaches.
The final destination, Cape Soya, is a pleasant rest area much like the one at The Tides Wharf and Restaurant in Bodega Bay. A monument jutting out into the sea marks Japan’s most northern point. And on a clear day, visitors can see “it” while looking out over the ocean. In this case, it is not a pod of humpbacks or seals, but Russian Sakhalin’s rugged coast.
Turning around reveals hundreds of square miles of dairy farms that would in no way look out of place in Sonoma County. The half-a-million cows spread throughout northern Hokkaido produce everything from the butter found in Tokyo grocery stores to the rich ice cream people flock to Hokkaido just to eat, even for breakfast.
Happy cows live in California, but their Hokkaido counterparts ain’t doing so bad. They just need to spend winter nights indoors.
In fact, the only tell that Wakkanai and Cape Soya aren’t on the Sonoma or Marin coast is the smell, or, better put, lack of one. There is no odor of seaweed along the shore, no whiff of iodine in the air. The wind blowing between the Seas of Japan and Okhotsk carries only the faintest hint of salt.
It’s time to head back south, where other familiar yet new sights await.
Worlds Converge
Like the many small towns in western Sonoma and Marin, Otaru is Hokkaido’s weekend getaway destination. Only 40 minutes from Sapporo by train, this coastal city lets tourists explore preserved buildings, imagine themselves in a simpler time and have a good meal. And if visitors should get hungry for seafood, Otaru has it and then some. The city’s restaurants offer up some of the best crab in Japan, especially during the cold winter months.
Wine lovers find themselves with the same bounty of choices in the summer and fall. Rolling hills to Otaru’s west feature vineyards producing Japan’s finest pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris. The dark volcanic soil helps the fragile vines thrive in the area’s frigid winters and hot, humid summers.
Otaru has one more surprise for the North Bay traveler. Along the main shopping street is SNOOPY Village, a modern store dedicated to everything Peanuts. The merchandise inside ranges from stuffed toys to stained glass. And in the entryway, a small café serves up piping-hot sweet bean buns decorated with the faces of Snoopy, Lucy and good ol’ Charlie Brown.
But all good things must come to an end. The trip feels over too soon as one last train ride starts the journey home.
PEANUTS The Snoopy Cha-ya in Otaru, Hokkaido, has a familiar vibe.
A Home for Everyone
The sun disappears behind the rolling hills. The Hokuto’s (Big Dipper) seven train cars seem to glide over the crashing waves just beyond the window. In the distance, the placid sea shimmers like mercury. Viewing such a splendid yet surreal sight, it’s bittersweet to think that Hokkaido, like the North Bay, is a place where so many people can visit but so few can live.
That feeling doesn’t inspire melancholy but a desire to return. The same pull that brings people back to Hokkaido again and again brings others to the North Bay again and again. These two places, separated by a vast ocean, accept visitors with open arms and let all who pass through feel at home during their stay, no matter how long or how short.
So North Bay readers may consider Hokkaido for a next international adventure. And they may return to see their home in a brand-new light.
Santa gets local with his annual visit to Nick’s Cove via water sleigh (aka, a boat). A converted boat house and tons of decorations make the perfect photo op for junior while the folks grab a seasonal cocktail and meal from the restaurant. Santa’s workshop will have cookies, hot cocoa and more for good little children. With a view of Tomales Bay and good food and drink, no wonder the big red guy comes back every year. Santa visits from 3pm to 5pm, Sunday, Dec. 3. Nick’s Cove Restaurant, 23240 CA-1, Marshall.
Mill Valley
Studio Party
The Studio yoga space in Mill Valley invites all to gather for the holiday season “in the spirit of joy, relaxation and community” at a hosted event featuring food and drink. Participants will experience “rejuvenating 20-minute” mini-classes on topics like “You-ometry” and “Yoga Nidra” and meet local vendors “offering wellness products, yoga essentials and handmade treasures,” according to publicity. If those are one’s thing, this is the place. 2pm to 6pm, Saturday, Dec. 9. The Studio, 650 E. Blithedale Ave., Mill Valley.
Napa
Old Friends
Talking Heads guitarist Jerry Harrison and contributor Adrian Belew have banded together to perform classic songs from the band’s catalog, often digging most deeply into material from Remain in Light. Earlier this year, they played the Mill Valley Music Festival to an ecstatic reception. Good money that the duo will repeat that almost spiritual connection with the crowd at the New Year’s Eve show in a more intimate environment at JaM Cellars Ballroom. Want more intimacy? For VIP ticket holders, there is a meet and greet with the musicians, who will share stories behind the songs. Doors 8pm, show 9pm, Sunday, Dec. 31. JaM Cellars Ballroom, 1030 Main St., Napa. General admission. Ages 8 and up. Ticket prices vary. $99 general admission, $199 VIP.
Santa Rosa
Tiny Works
If all the big news and big expectations of the holidays feels overwhelming right now, a totally different tact is to see the “Small Works: Sense of Humor” exhibition at the Santa Rosa Arts Center, which is the annual Small Works Show. The year’s theme is on display in dozens of miniscule works by local artists whose approach, according to organizers, is “whimsical, oddball, surreal, playful, fun, off-color or just mixed-up.” 11am–2pm Wednesday and Sunday, 11am–3pm Friday and Saturday until Dec. 31, Santa Rosa Arts Center, 312 South A St., Santa Rosa.
One of the most clever inventions of the modern shopping era is Record Store Day.
It signals the release of hundreds of special editions and new material on the same day to draw people into record stores, with a special emphasis on the local shops that hold it down for independent music.
The week of this year’s first RSD saw the fourth-largest week for vinyl album sales since 1991, according to data tracking firm Luminate. Adding an RSD Black Friday event to the calendar is a perfect progression.
While some records will be released to additional sellers in the future, many of the records released to record shops on the big day are exclusive to indie shops, with many limited regional releases.
The regional organization of the event means that, since each indie record store makes its own buying decisions, some titles will be in some stores rather than others. Other titles will be available in one part of the country rather than in another. All this helps build the excitement of going into a store and picking a new rare gem.
Intended as a coming together of friends and community, there are rules to minimize eBay poaching. According to the collaborative Record Store Day website, “The titles on the RSD Black Friday list are limited in number, as are most things created for special time periods or exclusive to certain retailers.”
It’s a brilliant idea to spur sales in a reviving market niche and to guide those sales to the mom-and-pop operators behind independent record stores. Chief among those stores in the North Bay is the Next Record Store in Santa Rosa.
“So we kind of make it an all-day party, you know,” says Gerry Stumbaugh of The Next Record Store.
The store opens early, as most are doing, at 8am. In the afternoon, the DJ Max Wordlow is in the house spinning classic sold gold 45 sets laced with hip-hop.
“And yeah, like, hundreds of used records only come out that day,” says Stumbaugh knowingly.
Red Devil Records in San Rafael puts out special records too.
“I stockpile holiday records all year. I have 150 used holiday records that I’ll be putting out,” says Red Devil proprietor Barry Lazarus.
Watts Music in Novato is staying on theme.
“We have many used records that we’ve had set aside for a while now that [have never] been put out,” says Darin Chace of Watts Music. “So, we will be putting out a nice collection of used records that haven’t gone out yet.”
Chace runs down a list of favorites coming out. One that stands out to me is Lee Perry with Keith Richards, a new addition to the now famous collaboration.
“There’s a Charles Mingus one that looks really good, stuff from 1960,” says Chace. “Tons of good jazz.”
“Obviously the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia pieces always do well here in Marin,” Chase observes. “Me personally though, I’m looking forward to the Faces album,” he adds, audibly perking up, “I love the Faces.” Dope.
Hannah Jensen, at recently opened Paradise Found Records in Petaluma, is interested in some metal releases.
“There’s some metal albums that I don’t think anybody’s going to even know about purchasing,” she says. Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron is releasing an album playing with members of Seattle sound pioneers Melvins.
“And then there’s some Mexican, like, post-rock kind of jazz instrumental thing called Dungeon,” says Jensen. “And, the other one that I’m excited about is called Virulence, which is the guys that became the band Fu Manchu before they formed the band. It’s like a hardcore punk album,” she continues. And as she goes on, I realize I need to guard some of these gems for myself.
Check for stores near you at recordstoreday.com/stores and visit these local favorites:
A cranky member of the 1% spends years exploiting the labor of his employee by paying a sub-standard wage and forcing him to work unregulated hours in an unsafe work environment. Spectral social activists attempt to persuade the capitalist exploiter to see the error of his ways, but it takes the threat of death for him to make meaningful changes and offer the employee a health plan that covers dependents.
That, more-or-less, is the plot to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which since its original publication in 1843 has been adapted for the stage, screen and television innumerable times. The Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts Department is presenting the 1994 musical version by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid) and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, Seussical). The James Newman-directed show runs in the Burbank Main Theatre on the Santa Rosa campus through Dec. 3.
The book of the show by Mike Ockrent and Ahrens tweaks the familiar tale just a bit, with some additional backstory on Scrooge’s upbringing. Much of the tale is told through song, of course. And while not one of Menken’s best efforts, the score does the job.
Scrooge is played by SRJC production manager Justin Smith while local theater artists Alanna Weatherby and Ezra Hernandez play the Ghost of Christmas Past and Present. Students and community members fill out the rest of the roles, leading to the usual challenges in a scholastic production of age-appropriate casting. Bob Cratchit (Jayce Kaldunski) appears to be only about five years older than Tiny Tim (Finn Williams).
Musical highlights included “Link by Link,” in which Jacob Marley (Ethan White) forecasts Scrooge’s fate. I believe it is the only version of Carol I‘ve seen with a dancing headless corpse. In “Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball,” the ensemble does nice work with Tamara Grose’s choreography. All the group numbers came off well, as did the vocal work of Weatherby and Hernadez.
This is as costume-heavy a show as I’ve seen in a while, and designer Coleen Scott Trivett had her hands full dressing (and re-dressing) the cast of 22. They looked great occupying a multi-level scenic design by Austin Mueck and under lighting by John DiGiorgio/Desired Effects.
Go ahead and keep Christmas in your heart by occupying one of the vacant seats in the SRJC house.
‘A Christmas Carol’ runs Weds–Sun through Dec. 3 in the Santa Rosa Junior College Burbank Auditorium Main Theatre, 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Weds–Sat, 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 2pm. $15–$25. 707.527.4307. theatrearts.santarosa.edu.
Santa Rosa’s fire chief says that the heavy rains that hit the region this year probably contributed to a relatively tame fire season, and his department officially declared the end of it last week.
By calling an end to the season, any weed abatement orders for residents are now suspended, and in the coming weeks, burn permits may be issued if conditions are satisfactory.
“Our community benefited from significant rainfall this year,” said Fire Chief Scott Westrope. “Although we responded to several vegetation fires this year, the activity locally was minimal, and we have the weather and our community to thank.”
The Santa Rosa Fire Department first announced the start of wildfire season on June 5 based on local conditions and later than the previous year, due to late spring rains, the city said.
Westrope said this year’s rains kept heavy brush, trees and timber somewhat moist, but he also gave some credit to residents who created “defensible space” around their property and kept seasonal grass cut.
Weed abatement inspections were halted as of last week. The fire department anticipates that pile burning will be permissible starting soon in permitted locations within the City of Santa Rosa, provided regional fire agencies are on board as well.
The pile burning ordinance allows property owners to burn vegetative debris as a limited method to reduce the threat of wildfires, the city said.
The state’s regional fire service, Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa, agrees that the wet weather this year made a significant dent in their normal calls to stop big blazes. This year, there were 340 wildfires that burned 657 acres, a “significant” reduction in fire activity for a third year in a row.
For comparison, Cal Fire LNU said that between 2015 and 2020, an average of 172,827 acres burned in the region per year.
For additional information on pile burning and what preparedness measures are recommended for property owners before the next fire season, view the Santa Rosa Fire Department’s Wildfire Ready online information center at SRCity.org/WildfireReady.
Just aside the Bohemian Highway on the outskirts of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hamlet of Monte Rio sits the Russian River Hall.
For 15 years, it’s hosted the productions of Curtain Call Theatre, a company comprising a dedicated group of local volunteers who bring live theater to West County.
The productions usually feature small casts with a mixture of veteran actors and newcomers,...
ARIES (March 21-April 19): As a child, I loved to go to a meadow and whirl around in spirals until I got so dizzy, I fell. As I lay on the ground, the Earth, sky and sun reeled madly, and I was no longer just a pinpoint of awareness lodged inside my body, but was an ecstatically undulating swirl...
Making movies is hard. Making movies that make money is even harder. Perhaps hardest of all is facing the stark realities of the American Film Market.
I attended AFM a few weeks ago as part of the frontline marketing efforts for our second feature film, Werewolf Serenade. (And, yes, that’s the title—you voted, and that’s the winner—an instant cult classic.)
I...
As Frank Kendall, the U.S. secretary of the Air Force, opined, “These machines will eventually need to have the power to take lethal action on their own while remaining under human oversight in how they are deployed. “
This fascinating quotation about the military potential of A.I. is deeply revealing of how an obsolete way of thinking works. The statement...
Gag Me
Donald Trump was hit with a gag order, which is under review. The restrictions prevented Trump from verbally attacking court staff, prosecutors or potential witnesses—the same for social media. This is true, because these are private citizens whose position and involvement are part of their jobs or duties.
But the order didn’t stop him from venting about the judge,...
The sun disappears behind the ocean horizon. The sky turns vanilla, and the wind stiffens. Twilight’s slow transformation into darkness reveals a million subtle shades along the way.
Those who have ever spent an evening on the Sonoma or Marin coast know exactly what I’m writing about. It’s one of the many North Bay ties that bind. There are plenty...
Marshall
Santa’s Back
Santa gets local with his annual visit to Nick’s Cove via water sleigh (aka, a boat). A converted boat house and tons of decorations make the perfect photo op for junior while the folks grab a seasonal cocktail and meal from the restaurant. Santa’s workshop will have cookies, hot cocoa and more for good little children. With a...
One of the most clever inventions of the modern shopping era is Record Store Day.
It signals the release of hundreds of special editions and new material on the same day to draw people into record stores, with a special emphasis on the local shops that hold it down for independent music.
The week of this year’s first RSD saw the...
A cranky member of the 1% spends years exploiting the labor of his employee by paying a sub-standard wage and forcing him to work unregulated hours in an unsafe work environment. Spectral social activists attempt to persuade the capitalist exploiter to see the error of his ways, but it takes the threat of death for him to make meaningful...
Santa Rosa's fire chief says that the heavy rains that hit the region this year probably contributed to a relatively tame fire season, and his department officially declared the end of it last week.
By calling an end to the season, any weed abatement orders for residents are now suspended, and in the coming weeks, burn permits may be issued...
