Culture Crush, Week of Dec. 7

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Music and Mayhem

Santa Rosa

Joe Craven and Sheridan Malone will perform “An Afternoon of Music and Mayhem” at The Lost Church Santa Rosa on Sunday, Dec. 18. Craven is well known as a multi-talented musician and popular festival MC with lauded improvisational skills, and Malone is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has performed for years in a variety genres, including opera and musical theater. The duo promises an early evening of Americana improvisation that might align with those whose tastes include Steve Polz, Painted Mandolin and Achilles Wheel. Vaccines, boosters and masks are strongly encouraged, but are not required, as per local policy. Joe Craven and Sheridan Malone perform from 4:45-7:30pm, Sunday, Dec. 18 at The Lost Church, 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $20. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/CravenMaloneDec18.

Santa Rosa

‘Sleigh’ Hunger Food Drive

The Redwood Empire Food Bank has a plan to slay hunger—or, at least, sleigh it this winter season—with its  holiday food drive, a.k.a, the Redwood Empire Food Bank Sleigh Hunger Food Drive. Those who are able to contribute are encouraged to bring food donations to the drive this Saturday, where there will be a photo op with “Santa Cause” and free carriage rides, courtesy of Railroad Square. Among the most needed items are canned tuna, canned chicken, peanut butter, rice, pasta, oats, dry beans and low sugar cereals. Redwood Empire Food Bank Sleigh Hunger Food Drive goes from 11am to 3pm, Saturday, Dec. 10 at Railroad Square, 9 4th St., Santa Rosa. For more information, visit refb.org.

Napa

Cool Yule

Blue Note Napa presents Kellie Fuller and the Mike Greensill Trio for “Cool Yule” on Thursday, Dec. 22, a night filled with a mix of vintage holiday and winter jazz classics. Fuller and Greensill have gathered an all-star band featuring Ruth Davies on stand-up bass and Jack Dorsey (not the Twitter founder) on drums for a festive evening of winter classics and holiday cheer. Doors open at 6pm, and dinner, wine, beer and cocktails are available throughout the evening. Tickets range from $15- $30 and can be purchased at www.bluenotenapa.com. Due to the intimate size of the club, advance tickets are strongly recommended. Blue Note Napa is located on the first floor of the Napa Valley Opera House at 1030 Main St., Napa.

Mill Valley

Four Women

What began as an exploration of works of teachers and their students sparked a conversation about the importance of mentorship and support among women artists. Here’s how the dots connect: Jane Rosen introduced the work of Daniella Dooling, who was her student and first assistant. Gale Antokal was a teacher at San Jose State University who taught Shannon Belardi, later recommending her for a position as Rosen’s studio assistant. Each of these artists acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the women artists who have supported them along the way. Reflecting this ethos is a joint exhibition, “Four Women,” on view through Jan. 15 at the Seager Gray Gallery, 108 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. For more information, visit seagergray.com.

Open Mic, Week of Dec. 7

Men and Hijabs

Another case for equality 

By Dr. Martin Blinder

Like most everyone fortunate to live in a free society (and doubtless a goodly number of people who don’t), I am astonished and proud of the extraordinary bravery of the women of Iran, risking their lives to protest a cruel and bizarre dictum by Iranian men apparently so insecure about their manhood that they force their women to shroud themselves from head to toe like lepers. 

But there may be another different strategy that I believe is not only supremely effective, but less likely to place these women in such peril.

Specifically, in that the Iranian government seems convinced that the wearing of this piece of black cloth is absolutely essential to the peace, tranquility, safety and moral fiber of the nation, I would suggest that rather than fighting to do away with this mandate, women should instead insist that men be afforded the same constitutional right to serve the nation that only women presently enjoy. Henceforth, men should be expected to appear in public wearing the hijab. It would be most interesting to hear Iranian men explain why they should be denied the opportunity to add to this priceless and righteous contribution to their nation’s well-being.

Presently, a policy where only women get to wear a hijab in public is manifestly discriminatory against men who are thus left bereft of their right to publicly demonstrate their deeply felt righteous morality. Furthermore, while women can rely on a hijab’s protection year-round against the harsh Iranian climate, burning hot in summer, freezing cold in winter, men have only scraggly beards to protect their faces.

Presently, should a courageous Iranian man protest this injustice by appearing on a public street wearing a hijab, the morality police would be on him in one jihad second. Doubtless they would not wait to haul him back to pious headquarters to beat him to death, but would stone him right there on the spot. This is blatantly unfair. Time for Iranian men to rise up and join their women-folk in the demand to be treated equally.

Dr. Martin Blinder lives in San Anselmo.

Free Will Astrology, Week of Dec. 7

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, “To be free, you simply have to be so, without asking permission. You must have your own hypothesis about what you are called to do, and follow it, not giving in to circumstances or complying with them. But that sort of freedom demands powerful inner resources, a high degree of self-awareness, and a consciousness of your responsibility to yourself and therefore to other people.” That last element is where some freedom-seekers falter. They neglect their obligation to care for and serve their fellow humans. I want to make sure you don’t do that, Aries, as you launch a new phase of your liberation process. Authentic freedom is conscientious.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The term “neurodiversity” refers to the fact that the human brain functions in a wide variety of ways. There are not just a few versions of mental health and learning styles that are better than all the others. Taurus musician David Byrne believes he is neurodiverse because he is on the autism spectrum. That’s an advantage, he feels, giving him the power to focus with extra intensity on his creative pursuits. I consider myself neurodiverse because my life in the imaginal realm is just as important to me as my life in the material world. I suspect that most of us are neurodiverse in some sense—deviating from “normal” mental functioning. What about you, Taurus? The coming months will be an excellent time to explore and celebrate your own neurodiversity.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet Jane Hirshfield says that Zen Buddhism is built on three principles: 1. Everything changes. 2. Everything is connected. 3. Pay attention. Even if you are not a Zen practitioner, Gemini, I hope you will focus on the last two precepts in the coming weeks. If I had to summarize the formula that will bring you the most interesting experiences and feelings, it would be, “Pay attention to how everything is connected.” I hope you will intensify your intention to see how all the apparent fragments are interwoven. Here’s my secret agenda: I think it will help you register the truth that your life has a higher purpose than you’re usually aware of—and that the whole world is conspiring to help you fulfill that purpose.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Author Flannery O’Connor wrote, “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.” I will add a further thought: “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it and strive to transform it into a better place.” Let’s make this one of your inspirational meditations in the coming months, Cancerian. I suspect you will have more power than usual to transform the world into a better place. Get started! (PS: Doing so will enhance your ability to endure and cherish.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Many sports journalists will tell you that while they may root for their favorite teams, they also “root for the story.” They want a compelling tale to tell. They yearn for dramatic plot twists that reveal entertaining details about interesting characters performing unique feats. That’s how I’m going to be in the coming months, Leo, at least in relation to you. I hope to see you engaged in epic sagas, creating yourself with verve as you weave your way through fun challenges and intriguing adventures. I predict my hope will be realized.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Venus is too hot and dry for humans to live on. But if travelers from Earth could figure out a way to feel comfortable there, they would enjoy a marvelous perk. The planet rotates very slowly. One complete day and night lasts for 243 Earth days and nights. That means you and a special friend could take a romantic stroll toward the sunset for as long as you wanted, and never see the sun go down. I invite you to dream up equally lyrical adventures in togetherness here on Earth during the coming months, Virgo. Your intimate alliances will thrive as you get imaginative and creative about nurturing togetherness.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): As far as I’m concerned, Libran Buddhist monk and author Thích Nhất Hạnh was one of the finest humans who ever lived. “Where do you seek the spiritual?” he asked. His answer: “You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables and washing the dishes become sacred if mindfulness is there.” In the coming weeks, Libra, you will have exceptional power to live like this: to regard every event, however mundane or routine, as an opportunity to express your soulful love and gratitude for the privilege of being alive. Act as if the whole world is your precious sanctuary.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A reader named Elisa Jean tells me, “We Scorpio allies admire how Scorpios can be so solicitous and welcoming: the best party hosts. They know how to foster social situations that bring out the best in everyone and provide convivial entertainment. Yet Scorpios also know everyone’s secrets. They are connoisseurs of the skeletons in the closets. So they have the power to spawn discordant commotions and wreak havoc on people’s reputations. But they rarely do. Instead, they keep the secrets. They use their covert knowledge to weave deep connections.” Everything Ella Jean described will be your specialties in the coming weeks, Scorpio.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Sagittarians are least likely to stay in one location for extended periods. Many of you enjoy the need to move around from place to place. Doing so may be crucial in satisfying your quest for ever-fresh knowledge and stimulation. You understand that it’s risky to get too fixed in your habits and too dogmatic in your beliefs. So you feel an imperative to keep disrupting routines before they become deadening. When you are successful in this endeavor, it’s often due to a special talent you have: your capacity for creating an inner sense of home that enables you to feel stable and grounded as you ramble free. I believe this superpower will be extra strong during the coming months.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn author Edgar Allan Poe made this mysterious statement: “We can, at any time, double the true beauty of an actual landscape by half closing our eyes as we look at it.” What did he mean? He was referring to how crucial it is to see life “through the veil of the soul.” Merely using our physical vision gives us only half the story. To be receptive to the full glory of the world, our deepest self must also participate in the vision. Of course, this is always true. But it’s even more extra especially true than usual for you right now.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian theologian Henri Nouwen wrote, “I have discovered that the gifts of life are often hidden in the places that hurt most.” Yikes! Really? I don’t like that idea. But I will say this: If Nouwen’s theory has a grain of truth, you will capitalize on that fact in the coming weeks. Amazingly enough, a wound or pain you experienced in the past could reveal a redemptive possibility that inspires and heals you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen says it’s wise to talk to yourself. No other conversational partner is more fascinating. No one else listens as well. I offer you his advice in the hope of encouraging you to upgrade the intensity and frequency of your dialogs with yourself. It’s an excellent astrological time to go deeper with the questions you pose and to be braver in formulating your responses. Make the coming weeks be the time when you find out much more about what you truly think and feel.

Letters, Week of Dec. 7

Cycle of Life

As a former member of PETA, I am often asked why I no longer support the work of this once-great organization. PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk’s [Open Mic column], titled “Least We Can Do: Doing More at COP27,” is a perfect example of how compassion and empathy for animals can become irrational and divisive. 

Her statement, “It’s because of fishing that billions of fish are suffering in hideous ways as they’re hauled out of their aquatic environment to die in agony on their way into human stomachs,” shows a lack of understanding, if not a complete denial, of the aquatic food chain. It is one thing to protect animals from cruelty and quite another to insist that our fellow human beings remove themselves from the cycle of life. Who can take this woman seriously?

Dino Colombo

Stinson Beach

Missing the Big Picture

Once again, Peter Byrne picks the low-hanging fruit. Five thousand cattle on 50,000 acres. Hardly a Central Valley feedlot. Why doesn’t Mr. Byrne focus his myopic view on the big picture? Sonoma Valley. Thousands of Indigenous acres converted to grapes. Oh yeah. Gourmet. That’s why they are called “Winos.” 

And then we have elephant seals in Big Sur-Piedras Blancas. When I lived in Big Sur in the ’70s, there was one colony of elephant seals. Now, there are 25,000 lolling on the shores. These beasts attain 6,000 lbs. How much fecal waste are they producing? Oh, but they are “natural.” 

Does Mr. Byrne care? Where is his next “expose”? 

Zoey Prunuske

Occidental

Sonoma County moves ahead with teacher housing project following COVID delays

With teachers struggling to afford housing, Sonoma County last week unveiled a partial solution in a long-delayed project: publicly-financed housing dedicated to public employees.

On Nov. 30, the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) announced that it had purchased a Juniper Avenue home located next to Amarosa Academy in southwest Santa Rosa. With the addition of the newly purchased property, SCOE now owns a parcel of land stretching from the front of the school campus along Dutton Avenue back to Juniper Avenue.

Next, the county agency plans to rezone the property and construct “a high-density housing development” with 60 rental units for educators and other public employees.

According to a SCOE announcement, the project, dubbed Casitas de Amarosa, was a priority for three-term Superintendent Steven D. Herrington. 

“Casitas de Amarosa was one of my main project goals during my last term,” Herrington said in a statement last week. “COVID delayed the project from moving forward, but I am so proud to have it back on track.”

SCOE first announced plans for a three-acre property next to Amarosa Academy in August 2018. That month, the Press Democrat reported that SCOE planned to build 30 to 35 townhomes on the property, with hopes of finishing the project in three years.

Now, the delayed project will be picked up by Amie R. Carter, who will take over as superintendent later this month.

“Building housing that school staff can afford is essential to our mission of serving students,” Carter said. “This housing will help us realize our goal of strengthening and diversifying our educational workforce.”

The teacher housing problem is not new in California or Sonoma County.

Other Bay Area municipalities, including Daly City, have built housing for teachers and, with laws passed in recent years, the state legislature has attempted to make the process easier. 

AB 2295, a bill passed this year, would allow school districts to build worker housing on their property without requesting zoning changes from the relevant city or county beginning on Jan. 1, 2024.

Squirrel Nut Zippers Jazz Up Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre

By L. Kent Wolgamott

Jimbo Mathis isn’t from New Orleans. But the Squirrel Nut Zippers sure sound like they inhabit Crescent City on their current album, The Lost Songs of Doc Souchon.

“Most of my band is from there,” the Zippers founder said from his Oxford, Mississippi home. “It’s been a big part of my life. It’s just down the road. I’ve been involved in that city most of my life, mostly through music.”

In fact, The Lost Songs of Doc Souchon, which adds a strong New Orleans jazz flavor to the Zippers’ mix of early jazz, R&B, swing and jumpin’ blues, was recorded there two springs ago around shows Mathis was playing in the city’s clubs.

Who is Doc Souchon? And why should we care?

Well, the answers start with the late, legendary Memphis music man Jim Dickinson, who, among other things, produced The Replacements and Big Star. He also played piano on the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses.”

Dickinson hipped the Zippers’ founder and frontman Mathis to Souchon, an obscure New Orleans musician, at a recording session a few years ago.

Edmund Souchon “grew up in the early days of vaudeville down there,” Mathis said. “He was one of the first to start preserving the old songs. Before the jazz revival of the ’50s, he made an album, just a few hundred copies, to sell around town.”

Mathis was told he had to hear the album and a few days later, Dickinson showed him his copy. A few days after that, Mathis was heading to New Orleans to record another album when he walked down Decatur Street and was bitten by fate.

“There used to be a lot of rummage shops there—lo and behold, on a table in front of one of those shops sat (Souchon’s) record,” he said. “There’s a lot of cool songs on there. It really is a spirit guide to early New Orleans jazz and the early roots of it.”

Souchon’s loose-limbed, swaggering “Animule Ball” opens the album that carries his name, and the trumpet-and-trombone, old-timey jazzer “Cookie” turns up near the end of the record that typifies the Zippers’ approach to its music.

“We always dug into that early era of jazz, vaudeville, cabaret and all that stuff,” Mathis said. “We were always a little earlier than what you would call swing music. We get as much inspiration from Kurt Weill and ‘Three Penny Opera’ as anything. … Even more than that, I’ve traced it back to Stephen Foster. My research in American jazz goes all the way back as far as I can.”

In fact, Mathis’ appreciation of the writer of “Oh, Susana,” “Camp Town Races” and “Beautiful Dreamer” can be heard on the Zippers’ 1998 album “Perennial Favorites” and on Foster’s “Summer Longing,” which closes the new record.

Foster “was the originator of what became American music,” Mathis said. “He was like the Elvis Presley, the Louis Armstrong, whoever you want to pick as the signifier of American music. Before him, we didn’t have our own music.

“It was European music,” he said.

That’s sort of what the Zippers have done since Mathis put the first version of the band together in North Carolina in the mid 1990s, spinning early jazz, swing, R&B with traditional pop and even Klezmer and Balkan music into a mix of their own.

Tagged as part of the swing revival, the Zippers had a hit with the single “Hell” from its platinum 1996 album “Hot” and found themselves playing President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration and at the Super Bowl.

But the Zippers imploded in 2000 and went quiet until Mathis heard suggestions to bring back the band in 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Hot.” He decided to put together a new version of the band—he’s the only original member in the current alignment—but not for commercial reasons.

“It just intrigued me again,” Mathis said. “I felt like it was a waste for it to be sitting on the shelf gathering dust. I knew I could put together another great orchestra and renew this thing, not just replicate what we’d done.”

Five years in, SNZ II has recorded a pair of albums and toured extensively—at least up through March 2020—exceeding Mathis’s expectations when he put the new band together.

“It’s greater than I thought it could be,” Mathis said. “The albums are fantastic. The shows are fantastic.”

The current nine-piece band that features three horns, a full rhythm section with piano and three lead singers, including Mathis, who plays guitar, will play a show that covers a quarter-century of Squirrel Nut Zippers music.

But it won’t include any Mathis solo material.

“The Zippers are just a different thing,” he said. “I keep a good rock ‘n’ roll band on the side for that.”

Mathis’ solo work, however, can’t help but be connected to the Zippers and his love for early American music, an exploration he began years before most of today’s deep roots music purveyors.

“I’m proud to have been a pioneer in that,” he said. 

After his first stint with the Zippers, he put out a solo album—blues, rock and folk—and then found his way to electric blues, which he performed with Buddy Guy. What’s next is still a mystery, he says. 

“I’ve been exploring honky tonk, rock ‘n’ roll, acoustic music,” he said. “You’re not going to know what comes next.”

The same holds true for the Zippers. There’s always a surprise track on the horizon. For example, Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” jumps off the new album in spooky calypso style.

That cover came courtesy of the band’s banjo player, a man known as Dr. Sick.

“That’s why the Squirrel Nut Zippers are a unique beast,” Mathis said.

Squirrel Nut Zippers Christmas Caravan Tour plays at 8 pm, Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Mystic Theatre, 23 Petaluma Blvd. No., Petaluma. Tickets are $33-$43 and available at mystictheatre.com.

Nautical Nonsense: ‘SpongeBob’ at SRJC

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As anyone born in the last 40 years can say, Bikini Bottom is the home of SpongeBob SquarePants. It’s a place where bright colors and sublime silliness make real-world topics palatable for all ages. The Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) theatre arts department has a production of The SpongeBob Musical running through Dec. 4.

It begins with SpongeBob (Samuel J. Gleason) bidding farewell to (an amazing) Gary the Snail and embarking on a typical “Bikini Bottom Day.” The audience meets various citizens through song before being interrupted by an earthquake. It turns out that the nearby Mount Humongous volcano is going to erupt at sunset the next day! 

Add into this an evil plot by Plankton (Calvin Sandeen, in an amusing Bond-villainesque performance) to hypnotize the whole town, an ineffectual mayor (Abrea Tillman), an opportunistic Mr. Krabs (Jace Hassler), a fear mongering reporter (August Perez), a fanatical squad of proselytizing sardines and Squidward’s need for stardom (a solid Colette Van Meter), and the stage is set for chaos. 

Can SpongeBob and Sandy (Phoebe Pruitt) save the town? Will Pearl (Sydnie Crumrine-Thomsen) get to see the Electric Skates? Will Patrick (Aidan Pryor) find more snacks? And will Patchy the Pirate (a standout performance from Anderson Templeton) get to meet his idol?

The predictable but satisfying plot is told through a song list that reads like a who’s who of musical legends. Songwriters include David Bowie and Cyndi Lauper, among others. Musical director Nate Riebli does an admirable job in conducting the award-winning score, but the quality of singing does not match its level. Notes were sour and choral harmony was hit and miss at the mid-week show I attended. But since this is a college program, one should not expect the consistency of a professional company. Students with class loads and a general disregard for sleep should be given a little leeway. 

While excellent set and costume design work by Peter Crompton and Colleen Scott Trivett were on display, the direction and staging seemed sloppy. Occasionally, the show hit (Squidward’s “I’m Not a Loser” was a highlight), but more often than not the pieces felt as if director Reed Martin had deemed them “good enough.” Two-and-a-half hours is a long time to watch “good enough.”

As colorful as it is, it’s unfortunate that the SRJC production of The SpongeBob Musical lacks the whimsy and precision the show deserved.

‘The SpongeBob Musical’ runs Thurs–Sun through Dec. 4 in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Burbank Auditorium Main Theatre, 1501 Mendocino Ave. Thurs–Sat, 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 2pm. $5–$25. 707.527.4307. theatrearts.santarosa.edu.

Enter the Dragon: Harnessing primal energy

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“What are you afraid of?” Merlin asks the young Arthur.

“I don’t know!” cries the lad, stunned after having withdrawn the sword from the stone and heralded the king. 

“Is it the dragon?” Merlin asks.

“Dragon?” Arthur shouts in fright. “What dragon?” 

The dragon that is everywhere, explains the wily magician.

“What should I do?” queries Arthur. “Sleep?” 

Merlin shrugs. “Just sleep in the arms of the dragon.” 

The following morning, Merlin awakes to find Arthur practicing with his new sword.

“The dragon is great with the sword!” Arthur beams. 

“Yes, yes,” Merlin says, rising. “You learn quickly.” 

The 1981 film, Excalibur, contains several such scenes sparkling with wisdom drawn from the esoteric tradition, specifically the regal initiation undergone by sacred kings who were chosen by Providence to establish empires. But what is this dragon that is everywhere, with which one entwines in order to sleep, and employs in armed combat?

In keeping with traditions that trace their way back to primordial times, medieval alchemy posited a universal agent unique in essence that serves as the primary energy source of everything in the universe, from the base matter of a stone to the wellspring of the loftiest artistic inspiration. 

This energy, which is tripartite in nature—active, passive and neutral—was often depicted as a dragon. It is the fifth element that makes possible the other four—earth, air, fire and water. Greeks called it the ether, Hindus akasha and modern science “dark energy.” It is the plastic medium engendered in the Book of Genesis when God says “Let there be light,” the invisible energy field into which the universe was manifest, from vast galaxies to the human beings who gaze up at them in wonder. 

Medieval alchemists often depicted something else: a hermaphroditic figure, half king and half queen, who stands atop a subdued dragon. In mythology, dragons typically guard priceless treasure—and beautiful princesses. The hero who conquers this primordial energy wins the gold, which is knowledge, and mates with the princess, absorbing her primordial feminine attributes, for the dragon that is everywhere is dual-polarized: positive and negative, masculine and feminine, spirit and matter. 

Tai chi may look pointless to a fatuous materialist, but initiates see a meditative dance with the dragon. For the body is not mere bone and tissue but intelligent energy, and the air around us is not empty space, but a magnetic field capable of guiding a sword to victory. 

In the end, each of us is Arthur, the solar king, with a fair princess for a soul and a crafty magician inside of us who mediates between this world and the world of the dragon. 

Ubuntu: ‘I am because you are’

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By Robert C. Koehler

A young man clothed in body armor entered Club Q in Colorado carrying an assault rifle and started shooting as a drag queen danced. In maybe two minutes, he killed five people and wounded, according to some accounts, 18. Then a patron risked his life, tackled the shooter, held him immobile till police arrived.

Five people killed, a few more critically injured. This time the minority group targeted—“the enemy”—was the LGBTQ community.

Hatred, guns, “permission.”

In that sense, yes, America is the land of the free: free to imagine an enemy . . . free to project your own self-hatred outward, onto a specifically defined group of people and sculpt them into the enemy, perhaps with the help of others, especially via social media. We are also free, for the most part, to purchase guns, including assault rifles, and lots of ammo, and plan an attack—at a church, a school, a grocery store, a nightclub, whatever.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, for instance, who tweeted remorse about the Club Q shooting and said the victims and their families “are in my thoughts and prayers,” had, until then, been a notorious tweeter of anti-LGBTQ blather, making the fact-free case that they were “sick, demented” people bent on “grooming” innocent children to become gay—kind of in the same way, it seems, that refugees, according to Donald Trump, not only take our jobs but are often rapists and murderers. Create an enemy, get a following! (And guns are just for self-defense.)

We can’t stop tolerating hate until we realign ourselves with what it means to be alive, for which South Africans have a term: ubuntu: “I am because you are.”

And now we need a national stopping point, as we let this truth transform us. This will never be a perfect world. This will never be a world without conflict. But let’s pause in this moment, calm ourselves, set down our hatred and look each other in the eyes. I am because you are.

Robert Koehler is the author of ‘Courage Grows Strong at the Wound.’

Letters, Week of Nov. 30

Acting Locally

Another excellent article by intrepid investigative reporter Peter Bryne, with deeply disturbing photos that Jocelyn Knight took which accompany the text!

Interestingly, on the same day I picked up your periodical, an email arrived from the campaign account of Congressmember Jared Huffman, wanting to “share reflections and experiences” from the climate catastrophe conference (COP27) he’d just gotten back from attending in Egypt. Unfortunately, that conference apparently neglected to include within its teachings a phrase initially used around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970: “Think globally, act locally.”

There is no denying our continued meaningful habitation upon this planet requires that eight billion people everywhere exhibit a level of care and stewardship heretofore lacking from too many. However, one does not need to fly over 7,000 miles from California to find obvious opportunities to change course regarding the plight of our planet. 

Point Reyes National Seashore, wholly within Huffman’s own congressional district, has significant climate altering pollution problems which have festered for decades. These could easily be solved with simple solutions; promptly get the non-Indigenous cattle and their ranchers out of the place “We the People” already paid for long ago, then fully restore the habitat plus Indigenous civilizations’ sacred sites. Happy Thanksgiving.

Tim Smith

Former Mayor of Rohnert Park

Sunlight

Holy cow?!? Excellent reporting, Peter Byrne and Bohemian! Thank you, and keep up the good work. We can only hope this situation improves sooner than later because of your efforts to bring it out in the open!

John Albritton

Via Bohemian.com

Culture Crush, Week of Dec. 7

Music and Mayhem Santa Rosa Joe Craven and Sheridan Malone will perform “An Afternoon of Music and Mayhem” at The Lost Church Santa Rosa on Sunday, Dec. 18. Craven is well known as a multi-talented musician and popular festival MC with lauded improvisational skills, and Malone is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has performed for years in a variety genres, including...

Open Mic, Week of Dec. 7

Click to read
Men and Hijabs Another case for equality  By Dr. Martin Blinder Like most everyone fortunate to live in a free society (and doubtless a goodly number of people who don’t), I am astonished and proud of the extraordinary bravery of the women of Iran, risking their lives to protest a cruel and bizarre dictum by Iranian men apparently so insecure about their...

Free Will Astrology, Week of Dec. 7

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, "To be free, you simply have to be so, without asking permission. You must have your own hypothesis about what you are called to do, and follow it, not giving in to circumstances or complying with them. But that sort of freedom demands powerful inner resources, a high degree of...

Letters, Week of Dec. 7

Cycle of Life As a former member of PETA, I am often asked why I no longer support the work of this once-great organization. PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk's , titled "Least We Can Do: Doing More at COP27," is a perfect example of how compassion and empathy for animals can become irrational and divisive.  Her statement, "It’s because of fishing that...

Sonoma County moves ahead with teacher housing project following COVID delays

Santa Rosa teacher housing - Google Maps
With teachers struggling to afford housing, Sonoma County last week unveiled a partial solution in a long-delayed project: publicly-financed housing dedicated to public employees. On Nov. 30, the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) announced that it had purchased a Juniper Avenue home located next to Amarosa Academy in southwest Santa Rosa. With the addition of the newly purchased property,...

Squirrel Nut Zippers Jazz Up Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre

Squirrel Nut Zippers
By L. Kent Wolgamott Jimbo Mathis isn’t from New Orleans. But the Squirrel Nut Zippers sure sound like they inhabit Crescent City on their current album, The Lost Songs of Doc Souchon. “Most of my band is from there,” the Zippers founder said from his Oxford, Mississippi home. “It’s been a big part of my life. It’s just down the road....

Nautical Nonsense: ‘SpongeBob’ at SRJC

As anyone born in the last 40 years can say, Bikini Bottom is the home of SpongeBob SquarePants. It’s a place where bright colors and sublime silliness make real-world topics palatable for all ages. The Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) theatre arts department has a production of The SpongeBob Musical running through Dec. 4. It begins with SpongeBob (Samuel J....

Enter the Dragon: Harnessing primal energy

“What are you afraid of?” Merlin asks the young Arthur. “I don’t know!” cries the lad, stunned after having withdrawn the sword from the stone and heralded the king.  “Is it the dragon?” Merlin asks. “Dragon?” Arthur shouts in fright. “What dragon?”  The dragon that is everywhere, explains the wily magician. “What should I do?” queries Arthur. “Sleep?”  Merlin shrugs. “Just sleep in the arms...

Ubuntu: ‘I am because you are’

By Robert C. Koehler A young man clothed in body armor entered Club Q in Colorado carrying an assault rifle and started shooting as a drag queen danced. In maybe two minutes, he killed five people and wounded, according to some accounts, 18. Then a patron risked his life, tackled the shooter, held him immobile till police arrived. Five people killed,...

Letters, Week of Nov. 30

Acting Locally Another excellent article by intrepid investigative reporter Peter Bryne, with deeply disturbing photos that Jocelyn Knight took which accompany the text! Interestingly, on the same day I picked up your periodical, an email arrived from the campaign account of Congressmember Jared Huffman, wanting to “share reflections and experiences” from the climate catastrophe conference (COP27) he'd just gotten back from...
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