The No Spray Movement

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The No Spray Movement

Spray Not

Vine pest control may threaten organic farms

By Shepherd Bliss

THE GROWING No Spray movement considers the Nov. 7 approval of forced pesticide spraying to control the glassy-winged sharpshooter by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to be a declaration of war. Though the target is a tiny insect that can damage grapevines, blanket spraying would harm all insects, many animals, organic gardens and farms, and public health.

Activists among the 300 people attending the daytime four-hour Election Day supervisors’ meeting were outraged by the 5-0 decision and pledged resistance. “This matter will be decided in the streets and at people’s homes,” asserted Sonoma Valley homeowner Will Shonbrun. Civil disobedience, hunger strikes in jail, blocking roads to their homes, and shutting down Highway 101 were mentioned as possible tactics. “We can do far more damage to the wine industry’s public image than this tiny insect can do to the vines,” one west county organic orchardist commented.

When I first heard about the possibility of forced spraying, I did not think that anyone who believes in civil rights and private property would ever approve coming on my organic farm without my permission and spraying poison, thus destroying my livelihood and threatening my health. I have spent years working hard on my soil and attracting beneficial insects. Dozens of friends and customers have volunteered to come to my farm to help me defend it if the government attempts an assault by deadly weapons–toxic pesticides. We will make our stand here, as French villagers have against Mondavi’s corporate/industrial intrusion on their traditional ways of making wine and as French farmer Jose Bove has against McDonald’s.

Good agricultural practices, like bio-pest management, are the only solution to such problems, rather than the attempted quick fix of bombarding an area with poison. Organic grapegrower Michael Topolos of Topolos Vineyards in Forestville commented, “I welcome the sharpshooter; my beneficial insects are hungry.”

Over 60 citizens testified against forced pesticide spraying at the Nov. 7 meeting. Half a dozen grapegrowers spoke for the workplan authorizing forced entry of people’s yards and private properties against their will. Despite overwhelming opposition, the supes approved the workplan, which No Sprayers call a “battleplan,” designed to protect vineyards at any cost.

Mothers with infants in their arms, cancer and asthma survivors, physicians, organic farmers and gardeners, victims of pesticide poisoning, scientists, and elected officials testified against the vague workplan. Sonoma Mayor Larry Barnett and Sebastopol City Councilmember Larry Robinson joined representatives of the Town Hall Coalition, the Mendocino Environmental Center, and Earth First! A petition with more than 4,000 signatures against pesticides was presented by West County Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, and the No Spray Action Network presented another petition with 1,300 signatures against forced spraying.

Sierra Club leader Lucy Kenyon testified, “This ’emergency’ is not a public health crisis, but it could become one with the widespread application of toxic pesticides. Your plan does nothing to address the special needs of people with illnesses that would be aggravated by pesticides.”

The nerve toxin carbaryl has been used elsewhere against the sharpshooter and is the most likely insecticide to be employed here. It causes cancer in animals and is listed as a possible human carcinogen. Carbaryl is a pesticide that poses great risk to public health. It is particularly hazardous to infants and children, the elderly, people on chemotherapy or with a compromised immune system, and pets, birds, honeybees, and other beneficial insects. It can cause nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea, blurred vision, muscle paralysis, and convulsions.

California Certified Organic Farmers spokesperson Diane Cooner criticized “the mandatory treatment of organic farms” and “the mandatory exposure of people to synthetic pesticides against their free will. Wholesale application of broad-spectrum pesticides to control pests is not successful.”

Bugs adapt, become resistant, and evolve into super-bugs.

CCOF supports alternatives to pesticides, “A pest such as the glassy-winged sharpshooter can only be controlled with the use of a wide range of enviromentally sound practices that provide for a diversity of predatory insects, diverse cropping patterns, habitat diversity, physical controls, disease-resistant varieties, and naturally derived least-risk toxic pest control methods.”

Meanwhile, Napa County supervisors have been more responsive to public outrage. Napa citizens helped write their county’s plan and on Nov. 7 were able to further delay a decision in order to allow for more input. Whereas Sonoma County’s 30-page plan is vague and lacks adequate detail, the more comprehensive Napa plan is already 150 pages long.

The Napa Sierra Club’s Chris Malan says, “The Sierra Club opposes all spraying for the sharpshooter, both by ground and by air.” The Friends of the Napa River also notes that any plan must include “pesticide buffer zones along riparian corridors to protect our water and aquatic life from contamination.”

Though the Sonoma County counsel asserts that the workplan is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act, Napa citizens have hired an attorney to argue that all sharpshooter workplans are subject to CEQA. Under CEQA’s environmental protection, blanket forced spraying–which would harm wildlife and water quality–would be illegal.

Many specific objections to Sonoma County’s workplan have been raised. For example, the agricultural commissioner has already taken down the sharpshooter traps for this year, since the insect will not arrive until spring, at the earliest. So why rush through a workplan from an ad hoc committee that had no public input? Letters attached to the plan came only from pro-spray, chemical-industry-funded University of California scientists, and the wine industry. Excluded from the workplan were any of the many letters against forced spraying, including those from organic grapegrowers like Michael Topolos.

Opponents of the workplan are particularly disturbed that the state can declare an agricultural emergency and suspend people’s civil rights. Ag Commisioner John Westoby can determine that an “immediate hazard” exists and spray a person’s yard without notification or the opportunity to appeal. Someone could come home from work and find his/her organic garden and pets sprayed with highly toxic nerve poisons and have no legal recourse.

On Nov. 7, several speakers expressed “no confidence” in Westoby. “We need someone who won’t sacrifice our health for the wine industry,” declared Tara Treasurefield of the Town Hall Coalition. The approved workplan describes an “infestation” as only five insects found within a 300-foot radius within five days. Rural resident Dwight Sims wants citizens to be given the option to eliminate the insects themselves, before the government rushes in with chemicals.

Ag commissioners in the neighboring counties of Mendocino, Napa, and Marin all seem more responsive to the concerns of citizens. Toxicologist Marc Lappé, former head of the state Hazards Assessment Program, has written, “Nobody’s going to die from the sharpshooter, but somebody may die, particularly the most vulnerable, if exposed to pesticides. Pierce’s disease is not an emergency health situation. It’s an emergency dollar situation.”

From the November 16-22, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Holiday Calendar

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Holiday Calendar

Making Merry

Deck the halls, light the menorah, and strike up the mariachi band as we present our selective guide to this season’s celebrations in the North Bay

By Paula Harris

FACE IT ONCE AND FOR ALL. There’s really no point in equating Yuletide with suicide. You may do your damnedest to ignore it, but the dizzying, manic, sheer-out-of-control holiday season is waiting just around the twinkly lighted corner to getcha once again. But hold on to your reindeer–the path to holiday bliss need not rely solely on eggnog and Advil. Take time out to experience some of the sights and sounds of holiday arts happening around the area. Take a holiday outing or two and make a seasonal memory that will warmly linger on till this time next year (or, who knows, maybe even beyond!). Below are some suggestions for the biggest, baddest, bawdiest–and just plain best–holiday events in the North Bay.

Parties & Gatherings

Holiday Victorian Tea Flex those pinkies. Got a hankering for buttery scones, dainty sandwiches, and steamy leafy brew in china cups? The Woman’s Club of Petaluma will be transformed into an elegant setting for a genuine high tea, with costumed servers and much more as the Museum Association sponsors this annual delectable holiday tradition. Tea will be served at three seatings on Dec. 3, at 1, 3, and 5 p.m. 518 B St., Petaluma. $25. 707/778-4398.

Bob Burke’s Christmas Party Forestville’s Bob Burke continues to teach us all a bit about the spirit of human kindness. He’s founder of a 27-year-old program that offers free year-round support groups and fun events for children with cancer and other serious illnesses in Sonoma County. Revenues for the program come from donations made during events such as Burke’s annual Christmas Party. This year’s party, hosted by the Gonnella Family, will be held at the Union Hotel Restaurant in Occidental and will feature a spaghetti plate supper, Christmas music from local schools, and appearances by surprise guests. Dec. 6, 5 to 9 p.m. Free, but donations appreciated. 707/887-2222.

Bird Count Dinner Here’s a new slant on the holiday bird. It’s the annual Point Reyes Christmas Bird Count Dinner–a definitive census of the status, trends, and distribution of the 200-plus species wintering in the Point Reyes area. At this compilation dinner participants will tally the species seen and generally enjoy the bird highlight of the season. Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. Dance Palace, Fifth and B streets, Point Reyes Station. Call to register for the dinner. No charge to just attend. 415/663-1075.

Santa Sightings

Downtown Santa Parade It’s wild. It’s wonderful. And it’s got everything from stunt skaters to costumed dogs. Santa Rosa’s 17th annual Downtown Santa Parade is always a don’t-miss spectacle of creative whimsy. This year, the course will be even longer to include Fifth Street. Starting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 18, at Fourth and E streets, the parade will proceed west on Fourth to B Street and then east on Fifth Street across Mendocino Avenue, and on to Courthouse Square, where a full day of activities, including a Community Tree Lighting Ceremony, is planned. 707/284-2300.

Parade of Lights Carols, candles–and 100,000 pounds of real snow for sledding are the high points of downtown San Rafael’s Parade of Lights. On Nov. 24, snow sledding from noon to 4 p.m. will be followed by a visit from Santa at 5:30–then more sledding from 6:30 to 8 p.m. And then there’ll be more sledding on Nov. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Downtown San Rafael. Free. 415/457-2266.

Santa & Mrs. Claus in Petaluma Christmas’ most popular couple take full advantage of Petaluma’s river access. The Jolly Man and his Missus give old Rudolph and his buddies a break and come to Petaluma via water. This year, they’ll arrive on the deck of their usual all-decked-out tugboat at high noon on Nov. 25. After coming ashore at the Turning Basin at 1 p.m., the happy couple will take a ride through downtown Petaluma aboard an antique horse-drawn sleigh joined by a parade of other antique horse-drawn vehicles. 707/769-0429.

Holiday Parade Santa will be on hand for some chats and photo ops during the Napa Holiday Parade. Watch the floats or march along. This year’s theme is Season of Joy. Nov. 25 at 11 a.m. in downtown Napa. 707/257-0322.

Pioneer Christmas What could be bawdier than popcorn stringing and candle dipping? Get into the Wild West spirit and step back in time at a Pioneer Christmas at the Old Bale Mill. String cranberries, trim the tree, decorate gingerbread cookies, and warble old-fashioned Christmas carols to the accompaniment of mandolin and fiddle. Bring the whole family for a stroll through the 1850s. Dec. 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park, located halfway between St. Helena and Calistoga on Hwy. 29. $5 for adults, $2 for children. 707/942-5707.

Give Santa a Call If you can’t get within knee’s distance of the big guy in person, at least you can call him on your cell phone. One thing about that Santa Claus: he sure knows how to listen. He’s even made himself available for a little long-distance yakking on Dec. 5­ 6, 6 to 8 p.m. On those nights only, the North Pole can be reached by calling 707/763-6051.

Santa’s Castle Join Christmas characters from Santa’s workshop plus toy soldiers, holiday jugglers, and balloon artists. Dec. 16, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vintage 1870, 6525 Washington St., Yountville. 707/944-2451.

Holiday Crafts

‘Tis the Season for Crafts Do your seasonal bit to protect the Russian River from pollution. The Russian River Watershed Protection Committee sponsors the 19th annual Christmas Crafts Fair on two weekends, with a myriad of crafts and homemade gifts, plus live music by guitarist Keith Richman and jazz combo Gary Digman and friends. Nov. 11-12 and 24-26, noon to 4 p.m. Santa Rosa Veterans Auditorium, 1351 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa. Proceeds benefit the RRWPC. $1.50 for general admission; children under 12 get in free. 707/896-0054.

Holiday Fair Sick of shopping frenzy at the malls? The 28th annual Gifts ‘n’ Tyme holiday fair in Napa has 82 booths crammed with arts and crafts that will make great gifts. Find everything from wind chimes and stained glass to baked goods and sweatshirts. Food will be available. Nov. 17-19. Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Napa Valley Exposition, Chardonnay Hall, 575 Third St. ,Napa. Free. 707/255-0902.

More Crafts The 24th annual Spirit of Christmas Crafts Faire is the largest holiday gift show in the North Bay, with handmade goodies to delight even the pickiest person on your Christmas list. Minstrels and carolers will be there to spread musical cheer to frazzled holiday shoppers. The fair is open three weekends: Nov. 24-26, and Dec. 1-3 and 8-10. Fridays, noon to 9 p.m.; and Saturdays-Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa. $4 for adults and $2 for seniors and children ages 6 to 12. Fridays are half price for all. 707/575-9355.

Dickens Fair Pick out some unique handcrafted gifts while being immersed in seasonal good cheer. A Dickens of a Holiday Crafts Fair will warm your heart with music, song, crafts, and even roving minstrels. Dec. 2, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Dec. 3, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Finley Community Center, 2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa. Free. 707/543-3737.

Tinsel & Lights

Festival of Trees The Napa Valley Symphony League’s eighth annual Festival of Trees promises sparkles, glitter, and colorful ornaments of all kinds as designers and individuals create tabletop trees to be admired and then raffled. Nov. 19 at the Silverado Country Club and Resort, 1600 Atlas Peak Road, Napa. Other events include a dinner dance and auction on Nov. 18, and a children’s fashion show and ice cream social on Nov. 19. Proceeds benefit the Napa Valley Symphony. For times and other details, call 707/255-2700.

Yountville Festival of Lights Kickoff events for the monthlong Festival of Lights celebration will be a street fair with food, wine, strolling musicians, an ice-art championship, and other entertainment on Nov. 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., along Washington Street in Yountville. At 5 p.m., the always dramatic tree and town lighting extravaganza will set the entire town aglow with thousands of lights. Free. 707/944-0904.

Light Up a Life This annual tree lighting–sponsored by Hospice of Petaluma–has become a major focal point of the community over the years, as hundreds gather to cheer on the lighting of the enormous Christmas trees in the old downtown. On Dec. 1, starting at 6:30 p.m. at Petaluma Boulevard North and B Street, celebrants will light candles, sing songs, and remember the departed ones who’ve brought joy and light into their lives. For details or to sponsor a tree light in the name of a loved one, call 707/778-6242.

Xmas Bulb Memorial Hospice and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital also hold “light up a life” celebrations. Dec. 3 at 6 p.m., Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, 1165 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa; and Dec. 10 at 6 p.m., Oakmont Medical Building, 6575 Oakmont Drive, Oakmont. $10 will light a bulb at either tree.

Illuminight There will be free hot chocolate and cookies and a variety of entertainment at Napa’s downtown Illuminight tree lighting event. Santa will be on hand for some pre-Christmas consultations–and shops will be open late! Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. in front of City Hall, between First and Second streets. 707/257-0322.

Flotilla on Parade Here’s a wintry watery Christmas parade: dozens of festively lit and decorated boats will be on display in the Petaluma River Turning Basin. The local yacht clubs sponsoring this event invite individual boaters to join in this holiday parade on water. Visitors can view the brightly adorned boats all evening at the Turning Basin (Petaluma Boulevard North and B streets, behind the Great Petaluma Mill), and Santa will arrive aboard the Bonnie Lass. The event sets sail on Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m. 707/765-6750.

Community Christmas What’s Christmas without a festive tractor parade? Calistoga has this and more during the Calistoga Community Christmas Bazaar and Parade Celebration on Dec. 2. The fun starts at 9 a.m. with an old-fashioned crafts bazaar in the fairgrounds at 1439 N. Oak St. The decorated tractors roll down Lincoln Avenue from 6 to 7 p.m., to be followed by a tree lighting with carols and refreshments at the Washington Street Community Center. 707/942-6333.

City of Lights Tooling around Petaluma to ooh and ah at lavishly decorated homes and business has become quite a seasonal tradition. The City of Lights self-guided driving tour runs Dec. 8­29. This year’s theme, “Snowman’s Jubilee,” is sure to produce some stunningly bright sensational creations. To heck with the electricity bill! Call for a map. 707/769-0429.

Seasonal Tours

Holiday in Carneros Looking for a relatively inexpensive way to make merry and help a good cause? Seventeen Carneros wineries will take part in this wine district’s 14th annual open-house event. Each winery will provide a special way to welcome the holidays. Look for food and wine pairings, live entertainment, and more. Weekend of Nov. 18­19 at participating wineries. Proceeds go to community development programs. $10. 800/654-WINE.

Christmas Parlor Tour The Victorian homes of Petaluma are famous for their beauty, their awesome seasonal decorations–and their sheer size. Normally, we only get to gawk from the street–but four of these homes, plus the Petaluma Museum, will be opening their doors this year for Petaluma’s annual Heritage Homes Christmas Parlor Tour. Dec. 3, 6 to 9 p.m. Do wear soft-soled shoes to protect the floors–and do stay out of the closets! $10. 707/769-0429.

Candlelight Tour Wander through historic Victorian homes, mingle with costumed docents and strolling carolers, and partake of chocolate delights and more during Napa Landmarks 12th annual Holiday Candlelight Tour. Dec. 9, 3 to 8 p.m., in the Fuller Park and Napa Abajo historic districts in Old Town Napa. $22 in advance; $25 on the day of the event. 707/255-1836.

Center Stage

All That Glitters Geoffrey Chaucer & Co. present “a medieval musical dinner theatre experience” offering a nice holiday lesson about the results of trying to acquire instant wealth. Nov. 24­Dec. 17. Larkspur Cafe Theater, 500 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur. $40­$45. 415/924-6107.

Fiesta Navidad A Mexican Christmas fiesta comes to the Marin Center, complete with music from the mariachi group Los Camperos de Nati, colorful regional dances from Ballet Olin, a roping exhibition, and Spanish carols. Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. Marin Veterans Auditorium, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. $30, $26, and $22. 415/472-3500.

Patrick Ball The acclaimed storyteller and Celtic harpist brings seasonal music and tales to the Marin Center for a holiday celebration. Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. Showcase Theater. Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. Ticket prices TBA. 415/472-3500.

Santa Rosa Symphony The symphony celebrates the holiday season with choral music from both the Christian and the Jewish traditions, featuring the Sonoma County Bach Choir and the Santa Rosa High School Choir performing works by Bach, Bernstein, Villa-Lobos, Copland, and Silvestre Revueltas. Dec. 16 and 18 at 8 p.m.; and Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. Luther Burbank Center, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. $19­$39; discounts available. 707/546-8742.

Jazz Greats In their only Bay Area appearance, contemporary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter will make a musical pit stop at the Marin Center. This pair of quintessential jazz artists, former members of the Miles Davis Quintet, received critical acclaim for their joint 1998 album 1+1. Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. $28 and $35. 415/472-3500.

Harp Festival Here’s an event that’s sure to mean a plucking good time: it’s the 11th annual Festival of the Harps. Relax and forget the horrors of the upcoming holidays as the cascading sounds of Celtic, Paraguayan, Chinese, and classical pedal harps transport you to Nirvana. Nov. 18 at 2:30 and 8 p.m. Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 2409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. $20 for general admission, $17 for seniors and youth. 707/588-3400.

Winter’s Grace Acoustical bluegrass and more traditional and reflective seasonal sounds will accompany you on the Winter’s Grace Tour, featuring Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, and Bruce Molsky. Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m. Mystic Theater, 21 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. $15. 707/765-6665.

Lee Press-On and the Nails OK, so they’re more like Nightmare Before Christmas, but this irrepressible, voodo-tinged swing band provides the perfect break from holiday madness. Dec. 1 at 9 p.m. Mystic Theater, 23 Petaluma Blvd N., Petaluma. $8. 707/765-6665.

The Swallow’s Tale The Cinnabar Young Repertory Theater presents an original holiday musical. Based on Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, The Swallow’s Tale features cooking crocodiles, dancing hippos, and singing statues. Dec. 1­2, 8­9, and 15­16 at 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 3 and 10 at 2 p.m. Cinnabar Theater, 3333 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. $9 for adults, $6 for youth. 707/763-8920.

Winter Concert Get into the musical gifts of the season with a series of Winter 2000 Concerts by the Occidental Community Choir directed by Doug Bowes. Dec. 2 at 8 p.m., and Dec. 3 at 7 p.m., St. Philip Center, Bohemian Hwy., Occidental. Dec. 8 at 8 p.m., Church of the Incarnation, 550 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Dec. 10 at 4 p.m., Clos Pegase Winery Caves, 1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga. $7 in Occidental and Santa Rosa, $10 in Calistoga; children under 18 get in free. 707/542-0204.

Boston Brass Two delightful performances are delivered by the Boston Brass in “Concert for the Holidays.” Dec. 3 at 2 and 7 p.m. Lincoln Theater at the California Veterans Home, 100 California Drive, Yountville. $25 for adults, $12.50 for students and children. 707/226-8742.

Cinderella American Family Theatre presents this enchanting, award-winning “Broadway for Kids” musical adaptation of the all-time fairy-tale favorite at the Luther Burbank Center. After the show, meet the characters and take part in the annual LBC tree lighting ceremony in the lobby. Dec. 3 at 12:30 and 3 p.m. LBC, Main Theatre, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. $14 for adults, $10 for children. 707/546-3600.

Snoopy on Ice Charles Schulz has passed on, but Snoopy and the gang will continue Sparky’s popular holiday tradition. The Redwood Empire Ice Arena presents its holiday show, “It’s Christmas Again.” The visual feast also stars champion skaters, extravagant costumes, and holiday scenery. Dec. 8­23, with most shows at 3 and 7 p.m. Redwood Empire Ice Arena, 1667 W. Steele Lane, Santa Rosa. $10­$45. 707/546-3385.

A Child’s Christmas in Wales There are two chances to see this stage adaptation of the immortal poem by Dylan Thomas. The Cinnabar Teen Acting Ensemble presents the piece on Dec. 8­9 and 15-16 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 10 and 17 at 2 p.m. at the Polly Klaas Theater, 417 Western Ave., Petaluma. $9 for adults, $6 for youth. 707/763-8920. Or take a holiday trip to a tiny Welsh village when the Sebastopol Center for the Arts presents a reading by Timothy Williams and Susan Bono on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at 425 Morris St., Sebastopol. Free. 707/829-4797.

Holiday Funnies If your seasonal sense of humor is wearing thin, refuel with funnyman David Roche and a few of his buddies. They promise an evening of upbeat, funny, and personal stories about the holiday season. Roche has triumphed over a severe facial disfigurement to be hailed as an extraordinary humorist who uses the healing power of laughter and storytelling to bridge conventional barriers. Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. Dance Palace, Fifth and B streets, Point Reyes Station. $10 for general admission,, $5 for seniors and teens. 415/663-1075.

Chanticleer Christmas Give yourself a gift and wrap yourself in mellifluous wonder. The Chanticleer Men’s Chorus performs the kind of music that fills the bill. Their annual Christmas tour of medieval and Renaissance sacred music (along with traditional carols) brings them to Petaluma on Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. St. Vincent Church, Bassett and Liberty streets. $21-$32. 415/392-4400.

Dance

Balé Folclórico da Bahía This Brazilian company offers a dazzling mix of music, dance, martial arts, and song. Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. Marin Center, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. Call for prices. 415/472-3500.

Nutcrackers Galore Dancing mice, dazzling costumes, fairy-tale kingdoms–The Nutcracker has it all. Indeed, as far as we can tell, this timeless holiday classic has only one drawback: Nearly every dance company in the North Bay stages a version, so it’s tough to decide which one to see. We can’t make that decision for you, but here are your options.

As usual, Ballet California offers a jam-packed holiday season. First, meet the characters and view a mini-performance at the company’s annual Nutcracker breakfast on Dec. 3, 9:30 a.m. to noon, at the Sonoma County Hilton, 3555 Round Barn Blvd., Santa Rosa. $17 for adults, and $12 for children aged 10 and under. 707/537-0140.

Then it’s on to a full performance as Ballet California offers the only Nutcracker in Sonoma County with a full live orchestra, plus guest principals Tina Bohnstedt and Viktor Kabaniaev. Catch the production on Dec. 9 at 2 and 7 p.m., and Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. at the Luther Burbank Center, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. $19­$22 for adults, $14 for children, students, and seniors. 707/546-3600.

The Petaluma City Ballet and the Petaluma School of Ballet team up to present the city’s 14th production of The Nutcracker. Dec. 8 at 8 p.m.; Dec. 9 and 11 at 2 and 8 p.m.; Dec. 10 and 12 at 2 p.m. Sonoma State University, Person Theater, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. $16 for adults, $10 for children. 707/765-2660.

The Marin Ballet presents its 29th seasonal production of the holiday classic, offering the full tale, complete and uncut, followed by a Candy Cane party. Dec. 9­10 at 1 and 4:30 p.m. Marin Veterans Auditorium, Marin Center, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. Ticket prices TBA. 415/472-3500.

Ballet Story Healdsburg Ballet students perform the full-length story ballet of The Night before Christmas. The characters in Clement B. Moore’s story come to life as they dance to the music of Bizet and Tchaikovsky and the opera Faust in this three-act ballet for adults and kids. Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m., and Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. 311 Monte Vista Ave., Healdsburg. $9.50 in advance, $12 at the door. 707/431-7617.

Flamenco Fiesta Heat up your holidays with some Spanish fire and sunshine at the FlamencoArts dance student recital. Presented by the Immecor Corp., 35 flamenco dancers, singers, and guitarists will perform traditional pieces and new choreographies. Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. Luther Burbank Theater, Merlo Theater, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. $10 for adults, $5 for children. 707/544-0909.

Sophie and the Enchanted Toy Shop Marin Dance Theatre’s enchanting ballet, created by two award-winning local choreographers, features a cast of 90 characters, including the Snow Prince and Princess, Valentina Ballerina, and the Dancing Bear. Dec. 16 at 1 and 5 p.m. At 3 p.m., between performances, bring your child to the Teddy Bear Tea Party for food, face painting, and a chance to meet the characters. Marin Veterans Auditorium, Marin Civic Center, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. $23 for adults, $12 for children. 415/499-7687.

Songs of the Season

Carols in the Caves This popular event is celebrating its 15th year with performances by multitalented local musician David Auerbach. He will play traditional Christmas music from America and beyond on rare folkloric instruments in the cask-lined caves of local wineries. His vast collection includes the Celtic harp, hammer dulcimer, pan pipes, and the bowed psaltery (an ancestor of the violin). Auerbach plays at the Clos Pegase Winery (1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga), Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 26 at 4 p.m.; Schramsberg Vineyards (1400 Schramsberg Road, Calistoga), Dec. 2­3 at 5 p.m. (Dec. 2 only is a fundraiser for the Jack. L. Davis Napa County Land Preservation fund, $55 includes champagne and hors d’oeuvres); Storybook Mountain Winery (3835 Hwy. 128, Calistoga), Dec. 9 and 10 at 2 p.m.; Folie à Deux Winery (3070 St. Helena Hwy. N., St. Helena), Dec. 16­17 at 2 p.m.; and RMS Carneros Alambic (1250 Cuttings Wharf Road, Napa)–not a cave but a setting amid the cognac stills–Dec. 23 at 7 p.m.. Concerts partially benefit Interplast, a medical charity. $33. 925/866-9559.

Dickens Celebration Step back in time when the Falkirk Cultural Center presents a Victorian Holiday Benefit and Dickens Celebration. The evening will spotlight the Choral Singers of Marin, characters in Dickens attire, old-fashioned caroling, and Father Christmas. Dec. 1, 6 to 9 p.m. 1408 Mission Ave., San Rafael. $8 for general admission, $5 for children and Falkirk members. 415/485-3328.

Candlelight Christmas Concert For its annual candlelit concert, the Marin Symphony Chamber is joined by the Chamber Singers and a handbell ensemble. The performance includes a suite of carols. Dec. 2­3 at 2 and 4:30 p.m. St. Vincent’s Chapel, St. Vincent Drive, San Rafael. $25. 415/479-8100.

Carols and Chocolate Warm up for the holidays with Christmas carols, featuring the Old World Carolers, and hot chocolate. Dec. 16, 2 p.m. Napa Valley Museum, 55 Presidents Circle, Yountville. 707/944-0500.

Sing-Along ‘Messiah’ Though news to some, Handel’s Messiah actually does contain more words than just “Alleluia.” Even if you don’t know them, you can sing them. Join the West Marin Festival Singers and Orchestra, led by Carol Negro, in a sing-along of this glorious choral piece. Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. Dance Palace, Fifth and B streets, Point Reyes Station. $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors and students, $5 for children and youth under 18. 415/663-1075.

There’s more warbling at the 20th annual Redwood Empire Sing-Along Messiah. Join the Santa Rosa Symphonic Chorus and Baroque Sinphonia and flex those vocal cords. Dec. 20 at 7:30. Luther Burbank Center, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. $14 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors. 707/38-5050.

‘Tis the Season The Choral Singers of Marin will help you catch the spirit of the season and lead you in a rousing burst of caroling. Everyone, even the flat-voiced, can join in! Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. Marin Veterans Auditorium, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. 415/472-3500.

Old Country Christmas Meadowood presents a performance by members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus who will sing a selection of Christmas carols from Europe and the Americas beginning with early Baroque. Dinner in the restaurant precedes the performance. Dec. 17, dinner at 5:50 p.m. and performance at 7:30 p.m. 900 Meadowood Lane, Napa. $130 for dinner, performance, and reception; $65 for performance and reception only. 707/968-3155.

Other Traditions

La Posadas Traditional and classical songs are combined to create an interpretation of Old California’s culture during Las Posadas. Las Posadas is a holiday ceremony in which local people act out a musical version of the biblical story of Mary and Joseph. The Mother Lode Musical Theatre presents this bilingual concert version of the traditional early California procession of music and dance. Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. Dance Palace, Fifth and B streets, Point Reyes Station. Free. 415/663-1075.

River Choir Keeping the holiday humming, the River Choir performs Sonny Vale’s “The Magnificent Maccabe,” a modern Hanukkah cantata with a klezmer chamber ensemble, based on Howard Fast’s novel My Glorious Brothers. Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Congregation Shomrei Torah Reform, 1717 Yulupa Ave., Santa Rosa. $6 for adults, $3 for children. 707/869-0516.

Hanukkah Dinner Petaluma’s Congregation B’nai Israel holds a Hanukkah dinner (chicken or vegetarian) on Dec. 24 at 7 p.m. Bring your own menorah and candles for a special lighting ceremony. 740 Western Ave., Petaluma. $20 for adults, $10 for kids; and those under 5 or over 90 get to feast for free. 707/762-0340.

Hanukkah Festival The Osher Marin Jewish Community Center hosts a Hanukkah Festival. Dec. 10, noon to 2 p.m. 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. Free admission with donation of an unwrapped toy or nonperishable food item to be donated to those in need. 415/444-8007.

Winter Ritual Celebration They’ll be walking in a Wiccan wonderland in Sebastopol, when pagan novelist and spiritual leader Starhawk, joined by Luisah Teish, makes seasonal magic at the 12th annual Winter Ritual and Workshop. The event is a time of reflection and joy, as members of Earth-based spiritual traditions join in dance, song, and storytelling to welcome winter and call back the sun. Dec. 23, 7 to 10 p.m. Community Center, 390 Morris St., Sebastopol. $10­$15. 530/272-1106.

Winter Intertribal Powwow Drumming, dancing, and Native American arts and crafts are the highlight of this annual event sponsored by the American Indian Cultural Education Committee. Dec. 2, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Veterans Building, 1351 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa. Free. 707/526-1026 or 707/869-8233.

Miscellany

Holiday Exhibit The Claudia Chapline Gallery presents “A Marin Painter’s World of Color,” acrylic-on canvas paintings by the late Horst Gottschal, Nov. 10­Dec. 31, 3 to 5 p.m. And a holiday celebration of life and art will be held Nov. 12, noon to 3 p.m. 3445 Shoreline Hwy., Stinson Beach. 415/868-2308.

Bow Wow Boutique Hey, they may have decimated the new carpet over the past 12 months, but don’t forget Fluffy and Fido when you’re stuffing those stockings. The Healdsburg Animal Shelter holds its first Holiday Bazaar with tons of gifts for the animals and the people who love them. Plus, a photographer will be on hand to snap your pet, and a caricature artist will capture your critter’s delightful or destructive personality. Nov. 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 428 Center St., Healdsburg. 707/431-3386.

Holiday Art The Petaluma Art Collective holds its fourth annual Holiday Art Show and sale. Four studios will display a collection of fine weaving, pottery, paintings, watercolors, jewelry, and mosaics by Bay Area artists. Nov. 18­19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 3820 Bodega Ave., Petaluma. 707/769-8315.

Christmas Antiques Deck the halls with splendors from the past. The Christmas Antique and Collector’s Fair comes to the Marin Center. Ferret out Christmas collectibles such as holiday ornaments, antique jewelry, Santa-inspired china glass and silver, and much more. Dec. 2, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Dec. 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exhibit Hall, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. $5. 415/472-3500.

New Year’s Eve

First Night The sixth annual First Night–a drug- and alcohol-free New Year’s Eve celebration that encompasses much of downtown Santa Rosa–again features a myriad of local musicians, performance artists, poets, dancers, and kids’ activities. The action begins on Dec. 31 at 4 p.m. Entry badges (available at Copperfield’s bookstores) cost $5 in advance, $10 at the gate. 707/579-ARTS.

Standup Comedy Have a funny New Year! The Best of the San Francisco Comedy Competition comes to the Marin Center to ring in the New Year with laughter. Several comedians will perform. Dec. 31 at 9 p.m. Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. $25. 415/472-3500.

From the November 16-22, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

‘You Can Count on Me’

Richard von Busack
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‘You Can Count on Me’

True Love

‘You Can Count on Me’ earns its intimate warmth

By

ON THE SURFACE, You Can Count on Me is the typical dreaded Sundance movie, about family togetherness in a small town in upstate New York. Even the cellos on the soundtrack foretell a movie chock-full of hugging. It’s only when the film starts to unfold that you see differently.

The pleasant-looking small town here has its plain, dull side, and there’s congested Sunday traffic on weekends; the long memories of the villagers have a way of keeping the locals from getting over the past. Sammy, the heroine (Laura Linney, who was Jim Carrey’s deceptively sugary wife in The Truman Show) doesn’t mesh in sit-com timing with her shy, chubby fatherless son Rudy (Rory Cullen, Macaulay’s brother). Like real mothers and sons, they talk at slightly cross-purposes.

And Sammy’s job isn’t livened up by a lot of colorful characters. Do you know how it is in small-town movies, that the characters work at the bank? Sammy works at a bank.

As a regular churchgoer, Sammy values her uneventful life, but she’s about to get a shake-up from the arrival of her only other living relative besides Rudy, her drifting brother Terry (Mark Ruffalo). The friction between them is increased by her problems at the office with her new boss, a petty, inept martinet beautifully played by Matthew Broderick. His Brian is the sort of twerp who sends pink notes reading “See me ASAP!!!” to address the problem of an employee being five minutes late for work.

You Can Count on Me is especially a small delight in that no one here gets the last word. The four main characters recognize flaws in each other, but the flaws are left intact. It’s only in the movies that a snap diagnosis fixes a wobbly person and makes him/her sturdy instantly.

Jon Tenney plays Sammy’s pastor, a white mouse of a man who, sadly, insists on calling himself “Pastor Bob.” The reverend expresses himself awkwardly. Yet this Pastor Bob has something important to say about the kind of loneliness Terry faces. (And, naturally, Terry rejects the pastor outright–he may not have heard a word, but we have.)

When Sammy ends up closer to Brian than she could have predicted, the liaison makes no logical and yet perfect emotional sense; it’s Sammy’s reckless youth returning to her, even though she had almost completely sealed herself into middle age. Seeing the first scenes of Ruffalo, I was uneasy. I thought, this is an actor who tears the holes in his own T-shirt to make himself look haggard. Later on, I realized that Terry’s mask of toughness looks ill-fitting not because of Ruffalo’s acting, but because Terry himself isn’t as tough as he seems.

In a weak moment, director writer Kenneth Lonergan wrote the screenplay to The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, a film that may not have worked because the man wasn’t slick enough. Here he’s luckier. You Can Count on Me is mature, lovable, and touching work. This intimate film earns its warm, sentimental ending; the moments of awkwardness only increase the film’s common sense and charm.

‘You Can Count on Me’ opens Friday, Nov. 17, at Rialto Cinemas Lakeside, 551 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa. For details, see , or call 707/525-4840.

From the November 16-22, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Roberto’s Restaurant

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Roberto’s Restaurant

That’s Italian! Restaurateur Roberto Catania presides over a culinary and community landmark in Santa Rosa.

Mamma Mìa!

Roberto’s: A neighborhood refuge

By Paula Harris

“HI, BOBBY, how ya doin’ this evening?” a bright-eyed young man in a yellow sweater leans across the counter to ask the bartender in the intimate, bustling bar at Roberto’s Italian restaurant. “It’s early yet,” snarls the surly bartender, not missing a beat. “I can still screw it up.”

The bartender is one tough biscotti. The antithesis of Tom Cruise in Cocktail, this keenly observant, pokerfaced chap in his middle years is obviously just as much a draw as the buff movie star, since the bar is crammed with adoring (though likely tipsy) clients. These folks are almost all “old-time” Santa Rosans, and almost all regulars.

The colorful cast of characters resembles a soap opera. One such regular is a thick-set, ruddy-faced, 60-something bleached blonde in a crisp white shirt, lots of eye makeup, and some serious jewelry (we’ll call her Ginny). She’s actually a transplant from New York City.

Ginny hoists a Manhattan (very apt), wastes no time in offering anyone within earshot minute details about herself, and grumbles loudly about the lack of night life in Santa Rosa and the abundance of “rack heads.”

Hmm, maybe she means crackheads.

Meanwhile, a 20-something Ginny-in-training fiddles with her tube top to get maximum cleavage before lurching over the bar to order two Captain ‘n’ cokes for herself and her awestruck boyfriend.

Deadpan Bobby continues mixing killer (and cheap!) cocktails and entertaining patrons with constant patter even more acrid than his vodka martinis. “Hey, who stole my Stoli?” he yells at a passing harried server, who almost drops his tray in alarm.

One guy, a would-be chef, is rhapsodizing about the swordfish special of the evening. “It was cooked medium-well so it wasn’t mushy in the middle. I hate mushy in the middle,” he’s telling hard-drinkin’ Ginny, who nods vaguely between slugs. “And the spinach was clean. No grit. I hate grit.”

THE MAIN dining area in this busy restaurant exudes casual warmth and homeyness, with its wall of small booths and rows of little tables set with candles and red linen tablecloths. There’s a second dining room through a door behind the bar, but it’s sparsely decorated, and the atmosphere in there is, quite frankly, grim. So hang out in the bar and people-watch till you can snag a table in the main area.

Which brings us to the food. Roberto’s is the kind of reliable, family-run casual place that turns out consistently good pastas, soups, salads, and specials. The menu features such traditional trattoria favorites as carpaccio ($7.95), steamed clams ($8.95), veal piccata ($17.95), and chicken Milanese ($16.50). Plus a large array of pasta dishes.

The calamari de la casa ($8.95) is expertly deep-fried, but spoiled by tossing the crispy morsels in a semi-spicy tomato-basil sauce. The overall effect is soggy.

The shiitake mushroom ravioli ($7.95/$14.95) in a light pesto and garlic sauce is much better. It has layers of earthy and creamy flavor–deep and smooth–yet it’s light and not overly filling. The pine nuts flecked over the top give added oomph.

All dinners are served with soup or salad–and both are great. The salad consists of crunchy bitter greens in a light vinaigrette, and the soup tonight is a smoky-flavored minestrone swimming with cabbage and plump white beans.

Polenta pomodoro ($10.95) is served soft and is stick-to-the-ribs comforting in its big bowl, while chicken Marsala ($16.50) with mushrooms and Marsala wine is light (not creamy) and delicious.

Bigger appetites may prefer the New York steak al Pepe ($18.95), a firm cut of meat in an ultra-rich green peppercorn and brandy sauce, served with piped mashed potatoes and garden-fresh carrots and chard.

Don’t miss the house-made tiramisu ($4.95) for dessert. It’s a classic: ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese, whipped cream, ground espresso beans, chunks of chocolate, and a hint of liqueur–it’s all in there.

The wine list is comprehensive, with mid-priced bottles, plus some more pricy yummies like 1997 St. Francis Old Vines Zinfandel ($42). Service is impressive; the staff seem rushed off their feet but manage to retain a friendly, attentive composure.

As we leave, we notice that Ginny now has spaghetti sauce stains down the front of her white shirt, but is as bubbly as ever, and that the bartender is still in top form. “I’m gonna kill somebody tonight,” he growls, slapping a maraschino cherry onto an ice cream sundae held out by an apologetic waiter. “And you might as well be the one!”

We can’t wait for the next installment.

Roberto’s Restaurant Address: 4776 Sonoma Hwy., Santa Rosa; 707/539-0260 Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m. Food: Italian favorites Service: Friendly and helpful, though sometimes rushed Ambiance: Casual and warm; crowded on weekends Price: Moderate Wine list: Good selection Overall: 2 1/2 stars (out of 4)

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

‘Billy Elliot’

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‘Billy Elliot’

Billy Elliot.

Feet of Clay

‘Billy Elliot’ offers ponderous tale of working-class dancer

By Nicole McEwan

“I DANCED myself right out of the womb,” sings Marc Bolan in “Cosmic Dancer,” one of several T-Rex songs featured in Billy Elliot, a film with a soundtrack so infectious it nearly inspires dancing in the aisles. Ushers need not worry, however. Every toe-tapping, hip-swinging, over-the-top dance sequence in this working-class fable is quickly weighed down by a plot whose two left feet might be nicknamed “Predictability” and “Gracelessness.”

Directed by Brit theater veteran Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot is the story of a coal-miner’s son who prefers ballet slippers to boxing gloves.

Newcomer Jamie Bell plays Billy, whose weekly boxing lesson is brightened by the unanticipated arrival of Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters) and her gaggle of tutu-clad prancers. It’s 1984, Great Britain’s miners are on an extended strike, and the class’s rehearsal space has been co-opted by a soup kitchen.

Billy, who’s “crap” as far as fighting goes, becomes fascinated by the ballet and begins taking classes in secret. In Thatcher’s Britain, where rioting in the streets is as English as fish and chips, any boy in a leotard must certainly be a “poof.”

For a while, Billy’s widowed father and supermacho brother are too involved in the strike to question Billy’s whereabouts. While they’re fighting scabs and coppers, Billy is growing more confident of his ability to channel his emotions through his feet instead of his fists.

Mrs. Wilkinson, a salty old broad whose mouth seems inoperable without the requisite fag drooping from it, gives him encouragement and criticism in equal measure, pushing him so hard to excel that he nearly quits. It’s tough love, the only kind available since his mother’s death, and Billy rebels for a time, questioning both his own talent and his teacher’s motives. Before his doubts get too deeply rooted, his ruse is discovered and he finds himself fighting for the right to follow his bliss.

Initially, Billy’s dad forbids him to dance, even disregarding Mrs. Wilkinson’s impassioned plea that his progeny is a candidate for the Royal Ballet. Life is bad enough with no food on the table and no fuel for the fire, he roars, without his son prancing down the path to becoming a “pansy homosexual.”

Billy’s lessons end, but still he dances. He dances up the walls in his backyard. He dances in the streets in the snow. And, in the film’s most show-stopping sequence, he throws a whopping angst-driven tap-tantrum to the Jam’s infinitely catchy “Town Called Malice.” It is in scenes like this that the otherwise cliché-ridden film achieves a rollicking weightlessness, wholly owing to young Bell’s ebullient performance. Sadly, when the music stops the energy dips so dramatically that it rarely recovers.

Billy Elliot is nothing if not true to formula. After Poppa Elliot’s requisite change of heart comes the inevitable Flashdance-style audition scene–strangely, it is Billy’s most lackluster performance in the entire film.

If you’re looking for a dose of cinematic Prozac, or a few good dance scenes, or you want to see some great tunes from late-’80a rockers like the Clash set to film, Billy Elliot offers a modicum of entertainment. Otherwise, just buy the far-superior soundtrack and sit this one out.

Billy Elliot opens Friday, Nov. 10, at Rialto Cinemas Lakeside, 551 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa. For details, see or call 707/539-9770.

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

The Slow Food Movement

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The Slow Food Movement

Fast-food indigestion? Slow-food movement is picking up speed

By Paul Bush

IN HIS TRAVELING days, Jeff Roberts always searched out the best local foods. Whether the trail led to an open-air Italian market in south Philadelphia or a great barbecue joint in the South, the ethnic or regional cuisine invariably made for better eating than fast-food restaurants.

“I like to eat. Part of my family is Italian and the other side is Jewish, so two of the world’s great food cultures have contributed to my interests,” says Roberts, who lives in Montpelier, Vt.

The goals of the Slow Food Movement fit perfectly with Robert’s ideas about food. Founded 10 years ago in Paris, the international organization encourages people to return to eating food that isn’t mass produced or processed in mass quantities.

But, Roberts says, “It isn’t just ‘Eat good, tasty food and avoid McDonald’s.'”

The 60,000-member group, now based in Rome, is not just about slowing down and reconnecting with the good things in life. If it catches on, it could also have an impact on culture–and agriculture.

The president of the Slow Food Movement, Carlo Petrini, recently completed an 18-day tour of the United States to publicize the organization and to launch several new initiatives. Among those is a Taste Education Project aimed at introducing schoolchildren to traditional tastes and foods. Another is the Ark Project, which is intended to help save vanishing fruits and vegetables from the onslaught of convenience foods that are easier to grow and ship.

Roberts had already been involved in a program with similar aims. He is a member of the board of directors of the Vermont Fresh Network, which tries to connect the state’s small farmers with restaurant chefs. After Petrini’s visit to Vermont, Roberts and others plan to start a Slow Food chapter, or convivium as it is called, in the state.

Petrini originally had the idea for the movement after a McDonald’s opened in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna in 1986. The official founding of the group took place three years later in the Opera Comique in Paris. Among those present was Dario Fo, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. Today, the group has chapters in more than 35 countries, including more than a dozen in the United States.

The group contends that “fast life” and the fast food that goes with it are overwhelming the good things in life, such as leisurely meals with friends or even ethnic cuisines. “Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of fast food,” reads one line from the group’s “Slow Food Manifesto.” “Slow Food guarantees a better future,” reads another.

Eating this way may cost more, but that doesn’t put the group’s message out of the average consumer’s reach, Slow Food advocates contend. “In the United States, we spend more to diet than to eat well,” Roberts says.

FOOD IS important, but some members, like Karen Christensen, argue that food just opens the door to other attractive possibilities. Christensen helped organize a convivium in Great Barrington, Mass., in mid-May. Thirty people attended an afternoon tea that was complete with Welsh tea bread, watercress sandwiches, and homemade American pecan bars.

“Certainly there’s a gourmet element, but that’s not all,” Christensen says. “It is about encouraging people to get involved in issues by appealing to their sense of pleasure and taste in food.”

Christensen sees the Slow Food Movement as a way of alerting people to the need for taking environmental action, such as saving family farms that grow regional products. Referring to the doomsaying biblical prophet Jeremiah, Christensen says, “I’ve spent a lot of time on global warming and all these Jeremiah things. I don’t think it’s all that effective. It’s easier to get people involved by talking about things that are important to us.”

Christensen says she had her own run-in with the corporate fast-food world when she published a book, Home Ecology, in Britain seven years ago. References in the book to McDonald’s earned her threatening letters from the fast-food giant, which caused many bookshops to return her book, she says. The third edition of the book, under the new title Eco Living, will be published next spring–without the references to McDonald’s.

The Slow Food Movement has just launched a program designed to make children aware that there is more to eating than hamburgers and French fries. During a swing through California in late May, Petrini inaugurated the Taste Education Project, which included “slow food” cooking and tasting sessions in elementary school classrooms.

THE MOVEMENT leader also announced the start of the Ark Project. The project’s goal is to draw attention to fruits like the Gravenstein apple and vegetables like ramps and the Southern field pea.

The Gravenstein is one of the earliest-ripening apples. Sweet but tart, it is shunned by most commercial growers because it bruises easily and is difficult to ship, according to Barbara Bowman, who has written about disappearing American food for the movement’s magazine, Slow.

Ramps are a type of wild onion that grows in mountain areas of the South. Field peas, or cowpeas, once were grown in many varieties and flavors, but today the only commonly available variety is the black-eyed pea, which Bowman describes as bland in comparison with the other types.

Slow magazine carries articles about such produce. Recent issues have also featured gaucho cooking of South America, a bread called eftazymo, and vacherin cheese from Switzerland.

Despite the organization’s aversion to mass-produced fast foods, the group’s website (www.slowfood.com) does make an effort to be even-handed. Besides offering connections to Internet pages dedicated to regional cuisines, it provides links to the corporate websites for Coca-Cola, Campbell, and Burger King.

Paul Bush, a journalist for 16 years, has published articles in the ‘Boston Globe,’ ‘Vermont Life,’ and elsewhere. He was also editor of ‘Southern Vermont Magazine.’

This article originated with the American News Service.

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Newsgrinder

Bohemian.com
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Important events as reported by daily newspapers and summarized by Daedalus Howell.

Saturday 11.04.00

University of California plant pathologist Matteo Garbelotto is seeking a weapon with which to wage war against the raging sudden oak death epidemic that has affected hundreds of thousands of trees in Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties. According to the Marin Independent Journal, Garbelotto has been conducting tests to determine whether certain fungicides and phosphorus compounds will do the trick. If not, a more radical treatment, jocularly dubbed “The Axe,” will be used.

Sunday 11.05.00

Despite the rampant e-failures dotting the Internet business community, San Rafael’s Dominican University has added a new e-business major this semester to teach students whether they’re dot-coming or -going. Boris Porkovich, dean of the university’s School of Business and International Studies, boasted to the Marin IJ, “No one else in the Bay Area does a full undergraduate degree that is really specifically focused on e-business.” Perhaps because most accredited colleges adhere to the antiquated Old Economy notion that real business schools should study real businesses with real business models rather than churn out diplomas as worthless as yesterday’s hi-tech stock options. “To me, the leading edge right now is mixing reality with online,” says instructor Americ Azevedo, whose online neural map may have taken too many hits.

Monday 11.06.00

Therapist Shannon Simonelli spent five years at a secure facility in Utah working with repeat youth offenders, convicted of armed robbery, rape, and murder. There, she got “a lot of attitude.” Now established in Marin County, she can expect to get a lot of dough from parents whose teens need a taste of Simonelli’s “gentle persuasion” (yes!), reports the Marin IJ. The therapist is starting a stress-reduction group for teens at the Stress Management Center of Marin in Larkspur. “I create a safe container, a safe place, to explore [personal] issues,” says Simonelli. “Kids need structure, they need containment. . . . They’re careening from side to side trying to find where the parameters are.” Like rats in a cage, baby.

Monday 11.06.00

Napan Henry Michalski has amassed 40 years, worth of political memorabilia, some of which were on display at the Napa City-County Library through election day, reports the Napa Valley Register. “I dream of having my own museum,” said Michalski. “I could fill a good-sized room with my collection.” Indeed, Michalski could own a good-sized room if he had been amassing another form of presidential collectible–the greenback. If Michalski had put away a dollar a day for 40 years with compounded 8 percent annual interest, he would have $107,327.93 But then he wouldn’t have all those cool buttons. No word on what an “Anderson for President” bumper sticker fetches these days.

Tuesday 11.07.00

Taking the lead from Mel Brooks, Santa Rosan David Ramirez set out to live Robin Hood: Men in Tights by embezzling $225,000 over two years from his employer and donating it to the now-defunct Redwood Empire Ballet. Ramirez, a 50-year-old senior claims supervisor for the California State Automobile Association in Santa Rosa, pleaded no contest in Sonoma County Superior Court to grand theft and tax evasion on Monday, reports the local daily. “I’ve never handled a case like this. Normally, bad guys steal money and do bad things,” said prosecutor Bruce Enos. “This guy stole money and did good things.” That is, if you consider amateur ballet a good thing. The Redwood Empire Ballet hung up its tutus in 1998, when it ran out of money. No word if a second embezzlement investigation has been launched. Says Ramirez’s attorney, “He felt a need to help the arts. He’s a real ballet fan. He couldn’t control his behavior.” Sometimes, you just gotta dance.

Tuesday 11.07.00

In an area renowned for its water woes, residents of an unincorporated area south of West College Avenue in Santa Rosa have a veritable tsunami of troubles gushing from their taps, reports the local daily. State health officials have confirmed that drinking water in dozens of wells is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene, a deadly chemical that is used in dry cleaning and causes birth defects and cancer. “Every time I turn on the tap, I think about it. Every time we shower, we’re afraid to breathe,” said one resident, who did not comment on whether or not her teeth were whiter or well-pressed. State officials have told residents any level above five parts per billion of the chemical is a health risk. Several wells have registered above 300 ppb, and one unlucky resident, Tina Vassar, has a well that tested at 572 ppb. “Right now, I’m at ground zero,” said Vassar, who apparently has no plans to go into the dry cleaning business. “I’m devastated.”

Tuesday 11.07.00

The Argus-Courier website reports that the Petaluma Police Department is looking for a man who rode a bicycle onto the St. Vincent Elementary campus the morning of Oct. 26 and “yelled, behaved strangely, and rode away.” The suspect was described as a white male with brown hair cut in a “shaved-bowl” style–the exact coiffure of noted performance artist Hans Gelbing who was scheduled to perform his “spoke-and-word” poem cycle Ich bin ein Liegerad (“I am a recumbent bicycle”) on the campus.

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Designer Babies

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Designer Babies

A Colorado couple ups the ante on genetic engineering of children

By Christopher Kemp

Photographs by Michael Amsler

ANYONE WHO has read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World will remember the Embryo Store, just down the corridor from the Social Predestination Room of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center. There, row upon row and gallery upon gallery of embryo-filled glass jars recede into the distance, awaiting classification as intellectual Alphas or brainless Gammas.

Sounds a bit weird, right?

But Huxley’s 1932 vision inched a little closer recently with the news that a Colorado couple designed a baby using genetic tests–a baby who would, in turn, help save their desperately ill daughter. Overshadowed by the fast-approaching presidential elections, this news has passed unnoticed in many quarters, but it provides a chilling backdrop to the political season for those who understand its implications.

Jack and Lisa Nash thought 6-year-old daughter Molly had few clinical options when she was born with Fanconi’s anemia, an inherited bone-marrow deficiency. The genetic disorder disrupts bone-marrow cell production, compromising the immune system and often leading to leukemia. Sufferers rarely survive beyond the age of 7 without a bone marrow transplant. Molly was ill and her parents knew it.

Eager to have more children, but reluctant to risk passing on the disorder, the couple used in vitro fertilization, testing embryos for Fanconi’s anemia before any were implanted. But while doing so, researchers also tested embryos for compatibility with Molly’s cells. Late last year, Jack and Lisa were the proud parents of 15 embryos, of which two were free from Molly’s condition and also compatible with her cells.

Implantation was successful, and a baby was born Aug. 29, after the couple’s fourth attempt at in vitro fertilization. Doctors infused Molly’s circulatory system with cells collected from the baby’s umbilical cord, a tissue rich in the healthy stem cells that Molly needed. Now free from the effects of Fanconi’s anemia, Molly is expected to survive, and her prognosis is good.

THIS example of medical intervention should worry us all. It raises many questions about the capricious use of embryo selection to satisfy the preferences of parents. To many, this case sets a precedent for screening embryos, using the information gained, and making a selection on the basis of particular traits. For instance, will parents choose embryos with a decreased chance of dyslexia, or select against embryos with genetic markers for obesity or substance abuse? Will they choose against an embryo with a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease in its old age? If scientists discover genetic markers for homosexuality, will they use genetic embryo screening to select against that trait? What about children with below-average intelligence? What about children with annoying speech impediments?

According to press reports, the couple decided on the name Adam for their new son, a choice with enough biblical symbolism to satisfy just about everyone. But the question is, Why bother naming the child at all? Why not just keep him in the garage with the lawn fertilizer and the jump cables? Just in case he’s needed again. Survival of the fittest. It’s instinctive. He’ll do fine.

To others, the Nash case isn’t an indication of worse to come.

“I just don’t see how this particular case really adds anything new to the ethical debate,” says John Bickle, associate professor and head of the philosophy department at the University of Cincinnati. “There’s nothing particularly new about this technology. The ethical issues we start raising now are what constitutes a capricious choice.”

The selection of an embryo that might provide a medical benefit is not a capricious choice, Bickle says, and doesn’t set any precedents. Anyone who supports contraceptive devices but opposes embryo screening has some explaining to do, he says.

But according to an Oct. 4 Reuters news report, Professor Jacques Montagut, a pioneer of in vitro fertilization, told the newspaper Le Parisien that the case set a dangerous precedent if the child were born to save Molly.

“It would inaugurate a new form of biological slavery,” he says.

Along similar lines, a Scottish couple is planning to use the European Convention of Human Rights to win the right to choose the gender of their next child. Parents to four sons, the Mastersons lost their only daughter after an explosion in their home, and now they want to use new laws to select only female embryos for in vitro fertilization.

This is a question no one is equipped to answer, but someone will be charged with the responsibility of doing so. To many, these are the first tentative steps onto the slippery slope of bioethics, a slope characterized not by what we can do but by what we should do.

With the Human Genome Project nearing completion, genetic information soon will become a commodity, and commodities can be both used and abused. Scientists finally will be in a position to quantify and label the genetic components of personality traits. For instance, at this time we know human intelligence is determined by nature and nurture in roughly equal parts, but we can neither locate nor quantify either portion. If scientists can pinpoint the genes that determine the genetic fraction of intelligence, we will all be faced with the question of whether or not lower-than-average intelligence is a sufficient handicap on which to base embryo selection.

And as long as Congress continues to debate the use of embryo stem cells, even from discarded embryos, research on Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders will remain stalled. Meanwhile, it’s only a matter of time before doctors take another step onto the slippery slope of bioethics, allowing embryo screening for less deserving reasons than those presented by Molly and her family.

And maybe its also only a matter of time until we can all just place a request down at the Embryo Store and pick it up when it’s ready.

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

‘Chicken Run’

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‘Chicken Run’

Poultry Slam

The Surreal Gourmet looks back on the year’s strangest hit

Writer David Templeton takes interesting people to interesting movies in his ongoing quest for the ultimate post-film conversation. This is not a review; rather, it’s a freewheeling, tangential discussion of art, alternative ideas, and popular culture.

BOB BLUMER doesn’t get to a lot of movies these days. As one would expect from a man with so many hyphens in his title, the energetic author-chef-journalist-teacher-artist-designer-sculptor-television host and bon vivant is way too busy for movies, this year especially.

With the major release of a trippy new book–Off the Eaten Path: Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks (Ballantine; $20)–and the massive 11-month tour to promote it, Blumer’s been a busy boy. So it’s something of a miracle that he found a bit of spare time, right in the middle of his tour, to go see the film Chicken Run.

An unexpected hit, the Claymation effort from Nick Park and Dreamworks has lingered in theaters around the world since its debut in June, and will probably still be playing somewhere when it’s released on video and DVD Nov. 11. A weird blend of The Great Escape and a Foster Farms commercial–the ones with the suicidal chicken puppets–Chicken Run brings us the story of a doomed flock of English chickens who’ve just learned they’ll be turned into chicken potpies if they don’t lay enough eggs. A broasted, excuse me, a boastful American rooster named Rocky (voiced by Mel Gibson) flaps in to attempt a rescue and add some spice to the animated stew.

“I saw the movie Chicken Run in a theater that was packed with kids,” reports the affable Blumer, whom I’ve managed to reach at a budget hotel somewhere in the state of Georgia. “Based on the looks of horror on the faces of those kids–mainly during the scenes where the chickens are almost sliced and diced and made into meat pies–I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of those kids had a very hard time eating chicken from now on.”

“So, is that the effect it had on you?“ I suddenly wonder.

“Oh, not at all,” Blumer replies. “I had chicken for lunch.”

THE HOLLYWOOD-based Blumer, best known to Food Network fans as “The Surreal Gourmet,” is a spiky-haired 20-something for whom food exists mainly as another way to express one’s inner wackiness. And Blumer is wacky indeed. In his world, a bed of polenta must be fashioned to resemble an actual bed, with a crisp sheet-pasta blanket and matching ravioli pillows. A shellfish appetizer should be served in a plastic beach bucket with matching plastic shovel. And pound cake, instead of being offered up on a plate, can be cut into strips and served in a French fry container–with raspberry catsup on the side.

Blumer is equally fond of extraordinary cooking methods. In Off the Eaten Path, Blumer includes detailed instructions on how to steam salmon in your dishwasher, how to cook trout and shrimp on the engine of your car, and even how to melt a cheese sandwich . . . with your electric iron. There are also directions on how to throw Home Video Dinner Parties, in which Blumer imagines entire menus to accompany movies like The Godfather and Like Water for Chocolate.

But let’s get back to Chicken Run.

“You know, once it hits video, I think this movie really might end up doing for chickens what Babe did for pigs,” Blumer says, “which was to save a few from the old meat factory.” He pauses. “On the other hand, it could have the opposite effect. It could create a resurgence of chicken potpie consumption, a chicken potpie renaissance, as it were.”

“And why not?” I jump in. “I mean, chicken potpie is a dish so traditional it’s almost sacred, yet most gourmands seem to have relegated it to the ranks of such white-trash cuisine as possum stew and R.C. Cola. What’s so bad about chicken potpies?”

Blumer is amused at this outburst.

“There’s nothing bad about chicken potpies,” he says, patiently. “It’s just that they’re usually made with very mediocre ingredients. If I hosted a Chicken Run video night, the obvious thing would be to serve chicken potpies. I’d make it a really great chicken potpie, with really fresh, crisp vegetables, fresh peas, fresh carrots, and some really special gravy.

“But I’d take it one step further. I’d serve the pies in boxes, creating a piece of conceptual artwork in the form of boxes that match the pie boxes that the crazy farmer woman in the movie planned to package her pies in. And I’d serve wine in custom-made goblets that had little plastic chicken legs for stems.”

“I don’t know,” I queasily counter. “You said it yourself. Chicken Run is, in essence, a kind of defense of chickens, isn’t it? Wouldn’t serving chicken at Chicken Run be a little like serving ham at a screening of Babe?”

“Well, what about egg salad sandwiches then. Is that a decent halfway point?” He counters. “And for dessert, chocolate eggs, maybe. Or something with a good egg cream.”

“You forgot the appetizer.”

“Right,” he acknowledges. “For an appetizer there’s always chicken fingers and stuff like that. And the chickens in the movie actually have fingers, so chicken fingers would fit in very well.”

ALL OF THIS chicken talk is making me hungry. Which leads to the most important question of all.

“Of all the chicken characters in the movie,” I ask, “which one do you think would taste the best?”

“Good question,” he observes, then falls silent to consider it. “Hmmm. Do you remember if any of the chickens drank beer?”

“Uh, not that I can recall. Why?”

“Well, there’s this fabulous recipe that has been sweeping the nation,” he says. It’s ‘Beer Can Chicken.’ Have you ever heard of that? It started off as an Internet thing, and I’ve never seen a recipe move so quickly.

“You take a tall can of beer–a Bud or something–and you drink half of it,” he continues. “Then you take a whole roasting chicken and you rub it down with salt. Now you grab it by the legs, and you pull the cavity of the bird down over the beer can, so the chicken is literally sitting on top of the beer can, using its legs to prop it up, like a tripod. You put it on your grill, in indirect heat, for an hour and a half. And that’s it.”

“Is it good?”

“It’s fantastic!” Blumer insists. “It cooks perfectly. The beer steams up into the cavity and keeps the interior of the bird very moist. And the beer can keeps the bird upright, exactly the way an expensive upright roasting rack would do.”

“So, if Rocky were a beer-drinking rooster,” concludes the Surreal Gourmet, “and I had the spare time, that’s the recipe I’d use to cook him up.

“And I bet he’d be delicious.”

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of the Northern California Bohemian.

© Metro Publishing Inc.

Dan Hicks

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Dan Hicks

Modern Hicks

Dan Hicks gets a new lease on life

By Bill English

DAN HICKS is wearing a new hat he picked up in New Orleans. It’s a jaunty red yachting cap that gives the impression everything is clear sailing. But nothing in Hicks’ 30-year-plus career has ever been easy. At 58, he’s a surviving member of San Francisco’s ’60s music scene. Only a unique talent and sheer endurance have kept him around long after many of his peers have dropped out of sight.

“Sheer endurance,” Hicks repeats as he lounges in a booth at Marin Joe’s. “I like the sound of that. You know it’s a short list of people who were doing it back then, who are still doing it.”

Back then was the psychedelic ’60s and early ’70s. Hicks, a longtime Mill Valley resident who grew up in Santa Rosa in the ’50s and graduated from Montgomery High, got his start in the music business as a member of the colorful Charlatans, a proto-underground rock band. From there he founded Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, a campy outfit that dished up quirky country swing-inflected tunes, and recorded a debut album of the same name in 1969.

That first record was quickly followed by 1971’s Where’s the Money? and 1973’s Last Train to Hicksville. That same year Hicks appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and announced he was burnt out and planning a slow comeback.

“It was a sequence of events,” Hicks explains. “I broke up the Hot Licks, and then Warner Brothers sort of cleaned house and dropped me. I started the Acoustic Warriors, but the good companies didn’t know what to do with me, and the little companies didn’t have any money.”

Now Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks have returned with Beatin’ the Heat (Surfdog), their first studio album in over 25 years. It features the likes of Bette Midler, Rickie Lee Jones, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits, all helping out on vintage Hicks’ tunes and arrangements.

Surfdog founder Dave Kaplan was 12 years old when he first saw Hicks on the Tonight Show. “I stayed up late one Friday night and saw this wild band,” Kaplan writes in the liner notes on the new album. “They played totally unique music and at the same time had a radical and dangerous edge.”

THE COOL of Dan Hicks has never been in question. With his slightly seedy, surfer boy good looks and hipster Mose Allison vibe, Hicks has always been an inventive performer and legendary writer of otherworldly tunes. But how did he get all those amazing people to agree to sing on his album?

“I made a list of some of my contemporaries,” Hicks says, “people I thought I’d sound good with. I wrote each of them a little letter. Tom Waits came first. Then I did “I Scare Myself” with Rickie Lee. Later I did the songs with Elvis and Bette.”

The result is an album that seems as fresh and exciting as when Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks first came to Sonoma County back in the late ’60s.

Nobody writes lyrics quite like Hicks. The man takes a James Joycean delight in language and wordplay that clearly sets him apart. Songs like “I’ve Got a Capo on My Brain” and “I Scare Myself” are timeless classics.

” ‘I Scare Myself’ was based on feelings I had,” Hicks says. “You know, it was sort of a love song, but I think I was just driving in the car, and I thought: ‘I scare myself.’ I don’t really want to talk about it or I’ll scare myself all over again.”

Hicks has cleaned up his notorious act of excess in recent years and says that, besides the few pounds he’d like to shed, he’s feeling pretty good.

“Starting tomorrow I’m going low-fat,” Hicks says as he eats a plate of hamburger and onions. “Starting tomorrow I’m going to run every day.”

Starting tomorrow? Hey, that sounds like a Hicks’ tune. “Starting tomorrow‚” Hicks picks up the cue and begins to croon. “Starting tomorrow I’m going low-fat‚ starting tomorrow. Yeah, that might work.”

Hicks says he has hundreds of tunes already written. At the moment writing anything new has taken a back seat to touring and promoting Beatin’ the Heat.

“I’m going on Conan O’Brien this month,” Hicks says. “Maybe I’ll wear this hat. You know, Count Basie had a hat like this. I’m happy that I can do this for a living. I just wish I was a little wealthier.”

Hicks is philosophical about his uphill career path, but also seems saddened that he doesn’t have more fame and fortune.

“I can’t be in a place where I expect it all right now,” Hicks says. “But I work harder than guys making 20 times as much as I do. My real priority has always been my music. I want to make a good sound. Something with an up attitude.”

Hicks is getting his fair share of packed houses and standing ovations on his tour across the country. And he’s selling more albums than ever before.

“I’ve gotten a great response,” he says. “You can’t really think about how many people are going to show up at the Mystic Theater to see you. You’ve got to think about putting on the best show you can.”

While all the Hot Licks and musicians are new in the band’s most recent incarnation‚ none of the old appeal has been lost. The sound is still a soaring ride of violins, guitars, and vocals.

“I’m taking my singing more seriously,” Hicks says. “Now that I’ve stopped drinking and drugging, I can depend on myself more on stage and in the studio.”

From the November 9-15, 2000 issue of Metro, Silicon Valley’s Weekly Newspaper.

© 2000 Metro Publishing Inc. MetroActive is affiliated with the Boulevards Network.

For more information about the San Jose/Silicon Valley area, visit sanjose.com.

The No Spray Movement

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Holiday Calendar

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A Colorado couple ups the ante on genetic engineering of children By Christopher Kemp Photographs by Michael Amsler ANYONE WHO has read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World will remember the Embryo Store, just down the corridor from the Social Predestination Room of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center. There, row...
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‘Chicken Run’

Poultry Slam The Surreal Gourmet looks back on the year's strangest hit Writer David Templeton takes interesting people to interesting movies in his ongoing quest for the ultimate post-film conversation. This is not a review; rather, it's a freewheeling, tangential discussion of art, alternative ideas, and popular culture. ...
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Dan Hicks

Modern Hicks Dan Hicks gets a new lease on life By Bill English DAN HICKS is wearing a new hat he picked up in New Orleans. It's a jaunty red yachting cap that gives the impression everything is clear sailing. But nothing in Hicks' 30-year-plus career has ever been easy. At...
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