Russian River Blues Festival

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Russian River Blues Festival

Living her dream: Four-time W.C. Handy Blues Award nominee Deborah Coleman will perform June 24 at the Russian River Blues Festival.

Blue Steel

Deborah Coleman spearheads wave of young female artists

By Greg Cahill

“I’VE ENVISIONED myself as a live performer since I was a little girl, since I first saw the Monkees on TV,” says mid-30ish blues phenomenon Deborah Coleman with a laugh. “Blame it on the Monkees–and they didn’t even play their own instruments.”

As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist extraordinaire, the super-talented Coleman has become the poster girl for the new blues woman–a role that brings her June 24 to the sixth annual Russian River Blues Festival’s daylong program spotlighting women making a splash in the traditionally male-dominated genre. Along with such relative newcomers as Shemekia Copeland–the awesome gut-bucket blues singer and daughter of the late blues legend Johnny Copeland–Boston blues belter Susan Tedeschi; guitarists Sue Foley and Debbie Davis; and keyboardist Dona Oxford, Coleman is in the forefront of a wave of young women making their mark on the blues.

USA Today hailed her as “a fiery guitarist . . . who makes the spine tingle with her unbridled raw energy” and noted that Coleman is “one of blues music’s most exciting young players.”

Nominated this year for the fourth time for a W.C. Handy Award, Coleman has a red-hot new album, Livin’ on Love (Blind Pig) that is garnering rave reviews. Produced by Jim Gaines–known for his work with Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Huey Lewis & the News–the album showcases Coleman’s considerable songwriting talent.

“That’s one of my gifts, and I like to do it,” she says modestly, during a phone call from her home in Virginia, “so I figured I should squeeze a couple of months out of the year to work on songs.”

The effort has paid off. But the real buzz about Coleman these days is her kick-ass guitar playing onstage, which has drawn favorable comparisons to Vaughan’s. “Oh, well, that’s one of my favorite things to do, playing live,” she explains. “I get in the zone, if you will, and who knows how long it will last. It gives me chance to cut loose, whereas I wouldn’t normally on a record.

“I love it.”

HER INTRODUCTION to the blues guitar came via a circuitous route, not through the great Delta bluesmen but rather from ’60s rock icons. At age 15, Coleman began performing with a series of rock and R&B bands. She started out as a bass player but, after hearing Jimi Hendrix, switched to lead guitar.

“Back then, the formats of the radio stations were more diverse,” she recalls. “I remember hearing Joe Cocker, James Brown, Ray Charles, and the Beatles on the same station.”

As her interest in guitar grew, she began listening to British rock groups such as the Yardbirds, Cream, and Led Zeppelin, and followed the roots of their music back to the blues. “Jeff Beck was one of my favorites,” she says.

“I didn’t find out until later that they were doing blues tunes, and I went to find the original artists.”

She hit pay dirt at age 21 while attending a concert that featured Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and John Lee Hooker all on the same bill. “I will never forget that show! At the time I was still doin’ rock, but I said, ‘Damn! That is cool, y’know!’ ”

As for the newfound interest in the ladies of the blues, Coleman says it’s about time the blues community–and especially blues promoters–loosened up and began appreciating female performers. “Everyone will get to see these women doing their own brand of the blues or, in my case, blues roots-rock. We’ve had our little affairs with the rock, country, and jazz worlds, so why not the blues?” she asks.

“I mean, you can probably count on one hand the number of women who have made a name as blues guitarists. But it’s finally happening in the blues world. Even in the early 20th century, only Memphis Minnie gained a reputation as female guitar player, and she never got the recognition she deserved. Now here we are 80 years later and I’m just glad to be in a position where I’m allowed to be seen more. So I’m just grateful for that.

“Who knew?

“I just wanted to play guitar, write songs, and make records.

“It’s working and it’s great. It’s beautiful.”

Festival Schedule

The sixth annual Russian River Blues Festival is awash with talent. On Saturday, June 23, the two-day festival kicks off with “Blues Is a Woman,” featuring Etta James & the Roots Band, Shemekia Copeland (triple winner at this year’s prestigious W.C. Handy Blues Awards), Deborah Coleman, Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys, and Lady Bianca. On Sunday, June 24, the men get their due with an impressive program featuring Keb’ Mo’ (above), guitarist Lucky Petersen, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Roomful of Blues, the Persuasions, and Sy Klopps. The concerts, beginning at 11 a.m. each day and emceed by deejay Bill Bowker, will be held at Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville. Advance tickets are $40 each day or $75 for a two-day pass; tickets at the gate are $45 each day or $85 for a two-day pass. 510/655-9471.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Open Mic

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Of Boats & Bay Fill

By Julia Gilden

AT A HASTILY CONVENED MEETING last Friday, Assemblyman Joe Nation heard from Sausalito’s floating community regarding his bill to clamshell “derelict” vessels. With 24 hours’ notice, 80 residents from boats, floating homes, and local land-based dwellings packed the Bay Model’s main meeting room to explain basic waterfront facts to the environmental assemblyman.

AB107 would amend an existing state law to control derelict vessel removal. But the new version extends the definition of derelict to include illegally moored and unauthorized vessels. In addition, Nation’s bill would raise the value of “derelict” boats from the existing $300 to $2,000, as determined by unknown persons, charge the owner for the boat’s destruction, and impose a fine, thus creating a new category in the state’s Criminal Code.

According to Richardson Bay Regional Authority administrator Bill Price, harbormasters up and down the state were consulted about the bill’s language, but he acknowledged that vessel owners were left out of the loop. While the bill’s instigator, Tiburon Mayor Andrew Thompson, stressed that the intent of the bill was to clean up beached hulks, the consensus among those attending was that the new law, as written, would give officials global authority to demolish floating communities.

The Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s claim that boats are “bay fill” has put pleasure craft owners, marina managers, and vessel dwellers at war for over 30 years with a state agency whose mandate is to protect the San Francisco Bay’s ecology and to prevent developers from encroaching into tidal areas. Since there are few, if any, “legally moored” or “authorized” vessels throughout the bay, AB107 would provide an enforcing mechanism for the BCDC’s efforts to remove boats at will. But according to the authors of the McAteer-Petris Act, which established the BCDC in 1965, vessels were never intended to be defined as “bay fill.”

Nation says it was a coincidence that his bill’s language matched the BCDC’s new proposal to remove 90 unauthorized vessels anchored or moored in Richardson Bay within a year. But as Waldo Point Floating Homes Association representative Suki Sennett points out, since Waldo Point has not had its permits renewed since 1992, all of Waldo Point’s floating homes could be defined at “unauthorized vessels.” Permit renewal is tied to certain improvements and trade-offs concerning a small co-op of floating homes existing since Sausalito’s heyday of creative houseboats.

Relying on a legacy of waterfront property interests and political deals, both Nation and the BCDC seem uninterested in working with existing federal laws regulating vessel use and navigation, including anchoring. As one boat owner quipped, “When I sail to Mexico, does my boat become ocean fill?”

Julia Gilden is a journalist and photographer who resides anchored out in Sausalito.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

David Meltzer

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Meltzer raps with the Beats, again

By Jonah Raskin

THIRTY years ago, poet-musician David Meltzer published a collection of invigorating interviews with five Beat writers: William Everson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Kenneth Rexroth, and Lew Welch. (Welch coincidentally and mysteriously disappeared just as San Francisco Poets showed up in Bay Area bookstores.)

Now, in his new book, San Francisco Beat: Talking with the Poets (City Lights; $19.95), Meltzer has republished his original material, plus 10 new free-flowing interviews from the 1990s.

This time around he has seen fit to include two women–Brooklyn-born poet Diane di Prima and Vallejo-born poet Joanne Kyger. And he has also been wise enough to include Philip Lamantia, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen, all of whom read at the Six Gallery in San Francisco in 1955, when Allen Ginsberg first performed Howl. Jack Hirschman and Jack Micheline round out the circle.

Meltzger’s interviews will probably make more sense to Beat aficionados than to readers encountering these wild poets for the first time. There’s just not enough biographical information about them, and not nearly enough historical background, either, to meet the needs of the uninitiated.

Moreover, newcomers might be puzzled by the curious verbal antics of the Beats. “I have no idea about the Beat movement,” di Prima says. City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti insists, “I make up a lot of things. . . . I really don’t see the reason for giving a straight answer.”

Then, too, in one breath Meltzger will argue that the Beats ought to be allowed to die a quiet death, and in the next breath he’ll insist that the world today is dying for lack of the Beat message. Could it be he hasn’t resolved his feelings about the authors he’s been publishing for decades?

Poetry is a recurring theme, and so, too, is the decline and fall of nearly everything on earth. “This is the autumn of civilization,” Ferlinghetti says. Kenneth Rexroth, the godfather–or gadfly as some call him–of the Beats, proclaims, “Civilization is in a state of total collapse.” Michael McClure insists, “We were much more intelligent 30,000 years ago.”

Perhaps so. Still, there are intelligent comments in this volume, especially from William Everson, the Sacramento-born poet, printer, and Catholic priest–and one of the most underrated of all the writers associated with the Beats. Everson emerges from behind his own ego–a feat that eludes other figures in this book–to provide insightful comments about the Beat Generation.

“In San Francisco we were ready for it long before the rest of the country, but we couldn’t have pulled it off alone,” he explains. “It took something outside ourselves, something from the East Coast to make a true conjunction of the opposites. Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac provided the ingredients.”

Kerouac isn’t in this book, but he died in 1969, just as Meltzer was beginning to interview the Beat writers, so his absence is understandable though unfortunate. But Ginsberg’s absence is galling, since he wrote Howl in San Francisco and Berkeley in 1955 and 1956, and then for the rest of his life–he died in 1997–never cut his umbilical cord to the dissident Bay Area culture that gave birth to his best work. Just why he doesn’t appear here, Meltzer doesn’t say.

There’s a lot of Beat bravado in these pages, but now and then a comment cuts to the very bone. “Poetry will come from the most vulnerable, wounded sections of society and one’s own life,” Jack Hirschman says. “It doesn’t come from anything institutionalized.”

Surely all the poets here–men, women, East Coasters, West Coasters, Catholics, Jews, and Buddhists–would rally around that resounding expression of the Beat credo of compassion and defiance.

BOOK NOTES: Attention, local writers! Hoping to get your writing published? Take heart! Writers of short fiction, short creative nonfiction, and poetry have a shot at seeing their work in print in The Dickens, a literary magazine published by Copperfield’s Books, the local bookstore chain that’s about to celebrate its 20th birthday. Better hurry, though: the deadline for submission is June 30. For complete rules, see www.copperfields.net.

Jonah Raskin is the author of ‘More Poems, Better Poems ‘ from Running Wolf Press.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Jewish Community Free Clinic

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Jewish Community Free Clinic

To your health: Pharmacist Susan Wilmes, left, clinic founder Robin Lowitz, and director of public relations Archie Lewinstein

Health Matters

Jewish Community Free Clinic set to open in Cotati

By Paula Harris

PERCHED on a tabletop, her legs swinging, Robin Lowitz fingers the discreet Star of David glinting at her throat, as, lost in thought for a moment, she ponders her reasons for shouldering this project. This petite woman with the short blond haircut and bright grin first brings to mind an adolescent Mary Lou Retton, rather than a family practice doctor and founder of a new free medical clinic.

But of course looks can be, and mostly are, deceiving.

Since standing up in front of the congregation in her synagogue last August to reveal her longtime dream of assisting the working poor find access to affordable health care and asking for help, Lowitz has been inundated with support to make the volunteer health facility a reality. The nonprofit Jewish Community Free Clinic of Sonoma County is set to open this summer in Cotati.

The organization’s mission is to offer free medical care based on the family practice model and to serve anyone in need–indigent and working poor, regardless of ethnicity, race, or religion. The clinic seeks to locally address the inequities in the current health system, which consigns the poor to little or no health care.

“I happen to believe health care is a right, not a privilege,” avers Lowitz, her gaze level. “In a country as wealthy as this with so many resources, it’s a travesty that people should go without it.”

The doctor adds that the situation is particularly dire in Sonoma County. “There’s a perception that people who work in society can make it today, but that’s not true in this area. In Sonoma County, many formerly insured people no longer are covered due to a convergence of circumstances–people are being forced to choose between buying food and paying energy bills or getting health care,” she continues, adding that those most at risk are those in the service industry and North Bay farm workers.

Lowitz, 40, a west Sonoma County resident, began her career immersed in the community-oriented medical facilities of Berkeley and the San Francisco Free Clinic. After volunteering in local free clinics sponsored by churches, Lowitz began to question her own community’s lack of involvement. “It just reinforced my questions,” she says. “There were a lot of Jews volunteering in clinics, such as the one sponsored by Catholic Charities, and I wondered why my own community wasn’t organizing.”

While the local Jewish community has been involved in civil rights issues such as the Stop the Hate Project and homelessness, the focus on community outreach involving heath care is a whole new direction. “I had an inkling that the Jewish community in general is very liberal-minded as far as social issues go,” Lowitz says, “and I had a sense that were I to throw out the idea, then people in the Jewish community would come out of the woodwork to help.”

SHE WAS RIGHT, and the support has extended well beyond the Jewish community. The Lions Club of Cotati has allowed the use of its building for the clinic site. The Lions Club is down to six members, says Lowitz, but is still used, plus it’s home to various community groups, such as the local sewing club. The new clinic will slot in among these activities.

In addition, local companies and individuals have donated time and materials to revamp the modest 50-year-old building, located in the Rancho Adobe Fire Station parking lot; and community volunteers have transformed the place by taping sheetrock on the walls, installing insulation, and painting inside and out.

A couple of doctors, a nurse, and others have donated equipment, including a much-needed heater for use in the children’s examination room. In addition to the pediatric room, the clinic will house an adult examination room and a nurse’s triage station. There are plans to enhance the lobby­waiting room with educational videos, workshops, storytelling, and toys. To promote literacy, says Lowitz, each child will be given a book to take home.

A volunteer staff of doctors, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, and a pharmacist have agreed to donate their time and services, and some of the medical supplies have already been donated for the clinic’s use.

Lowitz says the clinic will open one evening each week and see patients on a drop-in basis. Organizers hope to raise $10,000 to provide funds for the clinic’s first year expenses and have planned three fundraising events.

A classical-music concert held June 2, and featuring members of the Cotati Philharmonic and the Rohnert Park Community Band, drew some 350 audience members, marvels Lowitz. A rock concert to be held July 1 at the newly opened Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa and organized by the local medical-aid group Musicians Helping Musicians will feature the Kay Irvine Band, Gator Beat, Fact or Fiction, and other artists and special guests. And an upcoming Latino concert still in the planning stages will feature an afternoon of Latino music and various activities.

“We’re trying to get the people that the clinic will be serving involved,” explains volunteer Archie Lewinstein, “such as farm workers and musicians.” Frank Hayhurst of Zone Music, who is organizing the benefit concerts, agrees. “Musicians and artists are edge-dwellers in our corporate culture and are typically uninsured or underinsured,” he explains. “This is a way to be proactive.”

Lowitz says more than half of the clinic’s board members aren’t affiliated with any religious organizations, and many volunteers are nonpracticing Jews.

“[The project] is drawing people from the Jewish community who aren’t involved in the synagogue and who feel alienated from Judaism, but see this as a way to express their cultural background and to do it outside an organized-religious framework,” she explains. “The issue of health care strikes a chord in a lot of senses.

“I think people are compassionate at the core, and this gives them a chance to give back.”

A rock concert to benefit the clinic will be held Sunday, July 1, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Last Day Saloon, 120 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $10. Call 707/664-1213, ext. 19.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

‘On the Verge’

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Victorian adventuresses explore the future in uneven ‘On the Verge’

“LADIES! Shall we bushwhack?” With these words, exuberantly uttered in the opening minutes of On The Verge, a trio of sharp-witted Victorian adventuresses launch an expedition that will take them to the ends of the known world–and beyond.

Call it a metaphysical comedy. Or a philosophical farce. It’s the tale of three female world travelers, already ahead of their time, who become accidental tourists into America’s future, simultaneously gaining and losing something during their long, strange trip.

Eric Overmyer’s verbally audacious play, directed by Mollie Boice, opens the 2001 season of SRJC’s Summer Repertory Theatre, which is celebrating its 30th year.

Beginning in the year 1888, On the Verge introduces us to Mary, Fanny, and Alexandra, three globetrotting friends who share a mutual scientific curiosity, a heightened facility for language, and an intoxicating sense of wanderlust.

Mary (Holly Jeane), an anthropologist hoping to impress the National Geographic Society into making her a member, and Fanny (Carianne Wrona), an edgy adventurer with a special interest in the foods of other cultures, patiently endure the constant lyrical wordplay of Alexandra (Vanessa Severo).

On their increasingly surreal expedition through a place they call Terra Incognita, the women are good-natured competitors, wittily debating the merits of trousers as compared to petticoats, which Mary has sworn by ever since her own parachutelike petticoats saved her from certain death on a bed of bungee sticks. Or something.

The plot, such as it is, is far less important here than the language, a nearly overwhelming parade of rhymes, alliterations, and metaphors that must be as much fun to speak as they are to hear.

As the friends climb mountains and hack their way through jungles–assisted by the two black-clad “sherpas” (Overmyer’s answer to stagehands) that occupy the stage throughout the play, usually becoming bushes or chairs, dropping ropes, or making animal noises–they begin to experience odd intrusions from the future.

Egg beaters drop from the trees at the women’s feet–“A marsupial unicycle!” declares Alex–and cartons of something called “cream cheese” appear in Fanny’s baggage. Their speech becomes increasingly peppered with odd words and phrases (“Wow!” and “Cool Whip”), as they become channels for the future, fast becoming a part of their consciousness. “Like . . . mustard gas,” suggests Fanny, only to state, a few seconds later (once her consciousness has absorbed what mustard gas actually is), “Oh. Unfortunate metaphor. I withdraw it.”

Soon the women encounter a series of men–a cannibal, a yeti, a gas station attendant, a casino singer, all played by the versatile Richard Wylie–as they move rapidly toward the social innovations and verbal collapses of the 1950s. “I have seen the future,” says Fanny, “and it is slang.”

Dazzled by rock and roll and the miracle of Jacuzzis, the adventurers begin to doubt they will ever find their way back to the past–and wonder if they still even want to.

The cast is uniformly magnificent, with each of the core actresses giving a flawless performance. And some of Boice’s staging is delightfully clever.

But the production, on opening night at least, was marred by technical difficulties and awkward transitions. In one sequence, the piped-in jungle noises were so loud that the actors’ lines couldn’t all be heard, a problem that also occurs when cellophane paper is distractingly crinkled onstage to simulate a campfire. When the sherpas, moving in the dark, produce a dangling snowflake prop from behind the facade, it is done loudly, with bangs and thumps that momentarily ruin the drama taking place elsewhere on the stage.

One hopes these minor problems will be repaired over the next few performances, so that future audiences with discover, without interruption, the many pleasures and treasures awaiting them On the Verge.

‘On the Verge’ continues in rotating repertory with five other SRT productions through Aug. 9 at Santa Rosa Junior College, 1501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Call for dates and times. Tickets are $12. 707/527-4343.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

‘The Anniversary Party’

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‘The Anniversary Party’

Tough Love

Hollywood romances hit the rocks in ‘The Anniversary Party’

By Nicole McEwan

LIVE CLOSE. Visit often. According to screen legend Katherine Hepburn, that strategy is the very simple secret to maintaining a beautiful relationship. She should know. Her 25-year-long love affair with Spencer Tracy is said to be among the most tender and devoted in Hollywood history, despite the fact that these two actors never wed. (Tracy’s rigorously Catholic wife refused to grant him a divorce.)

It’s advice that might well serve the emotionally vacillating couple whose marriage woes lie at the heart of The Anniversary Party, a Dogma 95­style film written and co-directed by actors Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming. A biting, insightful peek into the romantic escapades of a group of Hollywood veterans, the film blends elements of The Big Chill and The Player.

The results suggest that interpersonal human dynamics are universal, relationship issues eternal, and happiness as elusive for the rich and famous as it is for the rest of us. These folks may be wearing Galliano and sipping Dom in a Richard Neutra­designed house, but their lives are as marred by addictions, infidelity, and failed dreams as anyone on Jerry Springer.

The party of the film’s title is a celebration of Joe Therrian and Sally Nash’s sixth wedding anniversary. Joe (played by Alan Cumming) is a renowned novelist whose latest book (rumored to be a thinly veiled exposé of his marriage) is about to be adapted as a film. Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a hugely respected actress whose career (and confidence) is waning.

After a six-month separation, the famous couple have not only reconciled; they have decided to start a family. The soiree, sporting a guest list awash in Hollywood A-listers as well as the couple’s arty friends, is intended to cement their renewed (and hopefully improved) union.

Among the revelers: the couple’s wound-tight married business managers (John Benjamin Hickey and Parker Posey); an Oscar-winning star, his beatific wife, and their two perfectly adjusted children (played by real-life smug-marrieds Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, plus their genuine offspring); and the ditzy ingenue cast as Sally in Joe’s movie (Gwyneth Paltrow).

What starts as a jolly celebration soon disintegrates into a wildly baroque soap opera, fueled by Ecstasy and complete with a celebrity skinny-dipping and near-death experiences. And with this cast of real-life friends and lovers, how could it not?

The truth is that Cumming and Leigh tailored the characters, dialog, and situations to match the mannerisms, personalities, and conflicts of the performers–which makes this whole effort a voyeuristic feast for the audience. The result is an intriguing parlor game where half the fun is dissecting fact from fiction.

And there’s much to pick over. For instance, Sally’s jealousy of her young rival throws a nice All about Eve twist to the mix, while highlighting Leigh’s own dismal dealings with a town that has never quite appreciated her brilliance.

Beautifully, invisibly acted, the film’s central flaw is lack of heat between the two leads. Cumming, again playing a sort of Peter Pan­sexual role, doesn’t seem man enough to corral the tempestuous Leigh. Theirs is more of a mutual admiration society than a full-blooded passion.

The Anniversary Party was shot digitally in a mere 19 days by cinematographer John Bailey (As Good As It Gets), who deserves plaudits for the film’s creamy, soft-focus look. Together with Leigh and Cumming, the production team has delivered a digital film that doesn’t look like a home movie. It just feels like one.

‘The Anniversary Party’ opens Friday, June 22, at Rialto Cinemas Lakeside, 551 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa. For details, see , or call 707/525-4840.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Kenneth Cleaver

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Consumer Correspondent

Adidas Marketing P.O. Box 4015 Beaverton, OR 97076

Dear Adidas:

The 39 graduates of the so-called Heaven’s Gate cult departed our planet in the shoes of your archrival, Nike. My brothers and sisters report that the blissful majesty of the kingdom of Heaven surpasses human comprehension. Unfortunately, and for reasons not thoroughly explained, it is a most difficult place to acquire athletic footwear.

On behalf of the graduating class of 2001, I would like to offer Adidas the opportunity be the official corporate sponsor of our journey to the Level above Human. The media will undoubtedly distort the shedding of our earthly vehicles into a solemn spectacle. This is unfortunate for our movement, but not for Adidas. As we mount our intergalactic coach to LAH, you will revel in a windfall of free publicity.

Our needs are as follows:

18 pairs of men’s shoes: 11 pairs of size 10, 5 pairs of size 9 1/2, one pair each of sizes 11 and 8.

13 pairs of women’s shoes: 8 pairs of size 6, 3 pairs of size 7, 2 pairs of size 7 1/2.

As our class often masquerades as a pickup softball game, I ask that you include corresponding pairs of baseball cleats.

I hope you will take advantage of this unique opportunity.

Sincerely, Kenneth H. Cleaver

Dear Mr. Cleaver:

Thank you for your recent letter requesting a donation or sponsorship.

I wish I could provide you with good news, but unfortunately, Adidas America cannot assist you at this time. We receive a tremendous number of proposals and requests for assistance from many worthy individuals and organizations, and the number increases every year. We have been faced with many tough choices. As much as we would like to be able to respond positively to everyone who contacts us, especially those with a real need, we simply cannot.

We appreciate your contacting Adidas America Inc. and wish you every success with your endeavor.

Sincerely, Erin Purdy Assistant to the President

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Dogstar

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Dogstar

On the Bright Side

In defense of Dogstar

By M. V. Wood

DON’T TELL the fans who are traveling to Petaluma from throughout the known universe that Dogstar isn’t quite stellar. Don’t quip that Keanu Reeves’ grunge band (in which he plays bass) is more dog than star. And don’t jibe that the star of The Matrix, Point Break, and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is no more a bass player than he is an actor.

No, these fans say Dogstar is amazing. That’s their story, and they’re sticking to it.

And they’re turning out in force for his upcoming Sonoma County appearance. Reeves, who’s been busy in the East Bay for the past few months filming two sequels to The Matrix, is heading to the North Bay on June 24 to play a show at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma.

Dogstar has a reputation for being a vanity project, a mediocre band that gets far more than its fair share of attention because of its famous bass player. And by almost all accounts, the band was horrible when it started–much as most garage bands are horrible when they first begin playing in public.

But, of course, most garage bands don’t get to play the kind of venues Dogstar got to play right off the bat, nor do they get written up by the press at an early and unseasoned stage in their careers. On the other hand, most garage bands would give their eyeteeth for the opportunity.

It all started back in 1991 when Reeves saw a guy at a L.A. supermarket wearing a Detroit Redwings hockey sweater. A big hockey fan, and the goalie on his high school team, Reeves started a conversation with Rob Mailhouse, and the two ended up becoming friends. They liked to play music, and buddy Bret Domrose actually had some experience performing as a member of the San Francisco band the Nuns and then later touring as Sheryl Crow’s guitarist.

The three guys started hanging out, drinking beers, playing some Grateful Dead tunes and some old-time rock and roll, writing their own songs, and drinking some more beers. Eventually they figured they might as well go out and play some gigs.

Since those early days when Dogstar’s reputation was formed, it seems the musicians have been gaining experience and respect. In one telling show in England a couple of years ago, soon after the concert started the audience began pelting the band with fruits and other edibles. But Dogstar continued playing, good-naturedly dodging the flying food. By the end of the performance, the pacified masses were swaying to the music.

And it seems that, after the initial pelting, the critics are warming up as well. Perhaps the band is getting tighter, or the critics are getting looser, or both.

Whatever their appeal may be, musical or otherwise, Dogstar draws in the fans. Sonoma-Marin Fair coordinators have been receiving e-mails from people in Japan, Switzerland, Italy, and elsewhere who are flying over specifically for the concert and need further information about Petaluma.

AFTER ALL that trouble, let’s hope the folks from Europe find some good spots from which to view the show. There’s plenty of competition. Another group of fans is planning on arriving early in the morning at the fairgrounds and waiting for the front gates to open at noon. Then they’ll head over to the bandstand and find spots directly in front of the stage–and wait there until the band comes out six hours later.

Sharon Phillips, a 38-year-old fan from the East Bay who plans on making a day of it, says she knows people must see them hanging out hours before the show and “they probably think we’re pitiful. But what can I say? We have a lot of fun.”

Phillips, who co-hosts the website KeanuReevesA-Z.net, is part of an online community of Reeves/Dogstar fans. These women, many in their late 20s and 30s, say they enjoy bantering back and forth on the message boards about Reeves and the guys. But it’s actually the friendships and camaraderie that keep them involved in the community.

In fact, they’ve become so close over the Internet that four of Phillips’ online friends–women from Sweden, Italy, England, and Minnesota–are currently spending their vacations at her home. This is the first time the four have met face to face, and they will all be attending the concert together.

Is Phillips’ husband of 16 years, Mark, jealous of his wife’s obsession with Reeves? “No, not at all,” Mark says. “I’d have a problem if she were drooling over my best friend or something. But if she’s hot over an icon, that’s fine.”

Not only is Mark, 38, not jealous–he even helps his wife out on her many excellent adventures. For instance, The Matrix sequels are being filmed close to their home, so when he flies his private plane to work in Palo Alto, he’ll first take his wife for a quick spin over The Matrix set so she can take some pictures to post on the Internet.

Mark also flew his wife down to L.A. so they could watch Dogstar perform at the House of Blues. Although there were more women than men at the show, he says it was “pretty mellow.”

“I didn’t feel out of place, or anything like that,” Mark explains. “I just hung out back with the rest of the guys and we had some beers while the girls went out in front and did their thing.”

Dogstar takes the stage Sunday, June 24, at 6 p.m. at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma. Admission is free with a ticket to the fair, which runs $7 for adults. 707/283- 3247.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

‘Time and Tide’

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‘Time and Tide’

High Tide

Tsui Hark turns the tide on the action genre

By Jim Aquino

THE FRENETIC action thriller Time and Tide may not be a completely triumphant comeback for Hong Kong filmmaking giant Tsui Hark, who spent the last few years wallowing in so-badly-acted-it’s-campy Jean-Claude Van Damme schlock. But it’s way more tolerable than those stateside Van Damme vehicles.

Time and Tide is classic Hark: it’s offbeat, playful, and exhilarating, as well as mindless. I dare anyone to try and make sense of Time and Tide’s plot, some convoluted, unwieldy nonsense about a reckless young Hong Kong bodyguard (H.K. pop star Nicholas Tse), his older, seen-it-all mercenary pal (Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai), their pregnant loves, and a gang of Brazilian mercenaries that wants both guys dead.

Perhaps there’s a purpose for the plot’s preposterousness. It looks as if Hark is trying to shoot for a critique of the action genre, much like David O. Russell’s Gulf War satire Three Kings, one of the most subversive action movies ever made (and of course, left off the American Film Institute’s inane, muddled “Top 100 Thrilling Movies” list).

There are shots reminiscent of Three Kings, which, in one of its most celebrated and imitated moments, took the camera inside a man’s chest to depict a bullet puncturing his lungs. In Time and Tide, the camera zooms through vents, down skyscraper air shafts, into the chamber of a gun, and, in the film’s niftiest and most memorable shot, inside a bomb explosion in an apartment building.

Hark’s attempt at a satirical actioner doesn’t go as deep as Russell’s Three Kings. Russell employed all those innovative visual and aural effects to indict the Reagan/ Bush-era war genre and the jingoistic mentality that spawned it, as well as to show what movies like Rambo and programs like The A-Team and the G.I. Joe cartoon avoided depicting: the ugliness of gunfire violence and the perspectives of both the enemy and the Third World civilian screwed over by the Americans.

When Hark uses the same effects, he doesn’t seem to have a point of view. It’s similar to how those effects are depoliticized and Jerry Bruckheimer-ized each week on Bruckheimer’s somewhat overrated detective show, CSI; they’re there because they just look cool.

However, Hark sure does know how to stage an inventive set piece. There’s a daring point-of-view shot of mercenaries quickly scaling down the side of a tenement skyscraper along wires, the cinematic equivalent of a roller-coaster drop.

The over-the-top climax juggles a high-wire scuffle on a concert arena skywalk, a gun duel, and a childbirth. For the aforementioned explosion sequence, Hark utilizes that Matrix “bullet time” effect to show objects floating in midair inside the explosion fire, one of which is a safe containing Tse’s character, who seals himself inside to survive.

Only Hark, the man who gave the world the gravity-defying “shadowless kicking” of Jet Li in the Once upon a Time in China series, could come up with an image so bizarre. And only he could concoct a story that’s such a head-scratcher. Time and tide wait for no man, and neither does this movie’s restless plot.

‘Time and Tide’ opens Friday, June 22, at the Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. For details, see , or call 415/454/1222.

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

restaurant name

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restaurant name

Eggs on plate: Kitchen manager , Brian Hall right, and owner/chef Todd Heald are serving up breakfasts that are giving customers something to cluck about.

It’s No Yoke

Eggs & Co. serves up super breakfast

By Paula Harris

“FOR YOUR HEALTH,” states the enormous menu at Eggs & Company, a cheery new breakfast/lunch room in Santa Rosa’s St. Francis Shopping Center, “we fry in 100 percent vegetable corn and canola oil blend, Supreme Fry-On, very low in saturated fats and no cholesterol.” How nutritiously nurturing, my companion and I agree, as we greedily murder butter-smeared pancakes, fluffy omelets, cheese ‘n’ mayo­filled sandwiches, lumberjack-sized coconut cream pie, and hot chocolate crowned with whipped cream. We have to smile.

Eggs & Company, owned and operated business by the family that runs Betty’s Fish & Chips five minutes down Highway 12, seems to have a happy staff sincere in their efforts to please the hungry clients that pack the place on weekends. “It is our goal to serve the very best of everything and offer the cleanest, cutest, and yummiest breakfast/ lunch house in the area with efficient and friendly service,” continues the smiley-toned, chicken-decorated welcome note on the menu.

The place certainly is clean–and cute. Bright and cheerful and decorated with homey country-style knickknacks. You know the type of things: ceramic hens, a wreath of robins’ eggs, farmyard scene art, dried flowers, and cookie jars.

Although the eggshell-white walls, high ceiling, and plain tables and chairs are a bit stark, the total effect manages to be warm and inviting. A glass case at the entrance holds fresh-baked pies and muffins. The amiable staff rushes about in yellow shirts and aprons printed with (what else?) chickens. And the patrons? Well, they run the gamut: babies in strollers, silver-haired couples, surly adolescents, and freckle-faced kids. Seems everyone likes breakfast. And Eggs & Co. serves up a good one.

The biggest crowd-pleaser is the selection of omelets, all with snappy names like Chicky’s, Steve’s, or Corso’s. Some are downright decadent. Take the Big Mike Omelet ($8.95), a humongous creation crammed with ham, bacon, linguiça, hamburger, sausage, crab, shrimp, and Swiss cheese.

Can you say Alka Seltzer?

We build our own, very modest, omelet filled with spinach and tomato ($5.95 plain, and an additional $1 or $1.25 for fillings). The omelets are made here with free-range eggs and are individually created on a grill that apparently renders a fluffier end product. This is one great egg envelope. It’s large herb-sprinkled rectangle encasing the fresh veggies. Neither the eggs nor the filling is runny–and, yes, it is indeed fluffy.

The generous portion comes with good toast (there’s a variety of breads, and the table holds three types of jam as well as honey) and the greatest cottage fries–these are hot, crisp golden discs, completely grease-free, with a pleasing floury flavor.

The pancake and waffle batters are made from scratch, and a short stack of two plain pancakes ($4.75) is another tasty choice, steamy and light and served with warm maple syrup and slightly salted butter on the side.

Other breakfast choices are Texas French toast dipped in egg custard ($4.95/four halves); steak and two eggs ($10.95), pigs in a blanket ($6.95), and eggs Benedict–served on Sundays only–($8.95). Breakfast is served all day.

While the orange juice ($1.50/$2.25) seems less than freshly squeezed and is bitter, the cup of hot chocolate ($1.50) is luscious and topped with cream. With this emphasis on dairy, it’s a pity they don’t have milk shakes.

For dessert (“Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts,” our cheery menu informs us) we’re eager to try the house specialty–homemade raspberry-pear pie–but alas none remains today, so we select a misshapen coconut cream pie ($3.95) that tastes pretty good, but looks like a prop from clown school.

Eggs & Co. is worth a visit, but my advice here is to savor the breakfast and skip the lunch.

Eggs & Company Address: 108 Calistoga Road, Santa Rosa; 707/ 538-7937. Hours: Breakfast and lunch, Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday-Saturday, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Food: Breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers Service: Friendly and efficient Ambiance: Cute and homey, crowded at weekends Price: Inexpensive Wine list: House wine and champagne by the glass Overall: 3-star breakfast; 2-star lunch (out of 4 stars)

From the June 21-27, 2001 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Russian River Blues Festival

Living her dream: Four-time W.C. Handy Blues Award nominee Deborah Coleman will perform June 24 at the Russian River Blues Festival. Blue Steel Deborah Coleman spearheads wave of young female artists By Greg Cahill "I'VE ENVISIONED myself as a live performer since I was a little...
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Open Mic

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David Meltzer

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Jewish Community Free Clinic

To your health: Pharmacist Susan Wilmes, left, clinic founder Robin Lowitz, and director of public relations Archie Lewinstein Health Matters Jewish Community Free Clinic set to open in Cotati By Paula Harris PERCHED on a tabletop, her legs swinging, Robin Lowitz fingers the discreet Star of David...
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‘On the Verge’

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‘The Anniversary Party’

Tough Love Hollywood romances hit the rocks in 'The Anniversary Party' By Nicole McEwan LIVE CLOSE. Visit often. According to screen legend Katherine Hepburn, that strategy is the very simple secret to maintaining a beautiful relationship. She should know. Her 25-year-long love affair with Spencer Tracy is said to be among...
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Kenneth Cleaver

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Dogstar

On the Bright Side In defense of Dogstar By M. V. Wood DON'T TELL the fans who are traveling to Petaluma from throughout the known universe that Dogstar isn't quite stellar. Don't quip that Keanu Reeves' grunge band (in which he plays bass) is more dog than star. And don't jibe...
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‘Time and Tide’

High Tide Tsui Hark turns the tide on the action genre By Jim Aquino THE FRENETIC action thriller Time and Tide may not be a completely triumphant comeback for Hong Kong filmmaking giant Tsui Hark, who spent the last few years wallowing in so-badly-acted-it's-campy Jean-Claude Van Damme schlock. But it's way...
Read more

restaurant name

Eggs on plate: Kitchen manager , Brian Hall right, and owner/chef Todd Heald are serving up breakfasts that are giving customers something to cluck about. It's No Yoke Eggs & Co. serves up super breakfast By Paula Harris "FOR YOUR HEALTH," states the...
Read more
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