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Resistance.ai: Putting a Nonviolence Advisor in Every Person’s Pocket

Mar 24, 2026

Resistance.ai: Putting a Nonviolence Advisor in Every Person’s Pocket

It is, perhaps, the third most important book in human history. And yet it remains perfectly obscure. The drab cover doesn’t help. Clothed in a fatigues-esque olive green, the book resembles an army officer’s field manual. Make no mistake; that’s the point—it’s a field manual to wage a nonviolent campaign of peace. It is Gene Sharp’s Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part Two: The Methods of Non-Violent Action—sometimes referred to as “MLK’s Playbook.”

The Opposite of a Gun

The book names and describes 198 proven methods of nonviolent resistance. One hundred ninety-eight. Most Americans couldn’t name 10. Maybe that’s why most Americans feel powerless… All are necessary; each method is suited to a different tactical situation, covering every stage of a nonviolent conflict—from a one-woman stand to a general strike (in which all the people withdraw their support from an oppressive regime) and victory.

The author, Gene Sharp, was doubtless a smart man—but this book is not his genius. It contains the genius of all peoples. The 198 entries cite and reference freedom movements from around the world, across all of human history. Because violence has always been with us. It is the oldest technology of oppression.

Sharp’s 198 entries roughly describe a lineage of nonviolent resistance, with each generation contributing new methods toward a single end, the end of oppression. This tool has been finished and furnished to us now, the 10,000th generation of humanity. Surely that is a signal sign of hope in these violent and oppressive times.

It had been my hope when I partnered with Gene Sharp’s successor at the Albert Einstein Institute, Jamila Rabiq, to help bring this manual back into print. If we could arm 10,000 young leaders around the world with “MLK’s Playbook,” perhaps this generation would be the generation to turn the page on history and start humanity’s second chapter—the post-violence.

Six years on, and I see a problem with that plan. People just don’t read. This age is digital. And in it, physical books are outmoded tech. What’s more, Sharp’s 1973 field manual was written before computers, social media and artificial intelligence—“online” has become one of our most important political battlefronts.

The solution I ponder is whether we should now merge the digital content of Gene Sharp’s book with an AI. It’s a question. What is certain is that the violent forces of oppression are using AI against free peoples.

Big Tech

Donald Trump’s partnership with Big Tech is so close, the tech majors might even be considered part of the administration. This partnership has led to rapid adoption and heavy dependence by the administration on AI to do its “thinking” and strategy.

AI programs developed to identify and track “illegal immigrants” are being expanded to include AI surveillance of all political opposition to Trump (extending through social media, purchases, finances and location finding). This exceeds their legal authority and lacks transparency and independent oversight. The lodestone of this administration (and unprincipled Big Tech) is self preservation through wealth and power. And it is leading America down a path being blazed by China—the path of “techno-authoritarianism.”

China is currently implementing an AI system that integrates hundreds of millions of security cameras, sensors and patrol drones, with billions of “smart” appliances, computers and smart phones into a single integrated system of state surveillance.

This AI system is capable of conducting continuous real-time monitoring of its citizens. Activities as innocuous as getting more gas than usual or watching “the wrong type of show” are red-flagged and entered into a comprehensive assessment of that citizen’s “political risk.” That risk rating affects a loss of privileges and rights (access to loans, benefits, education, employment, travel).

At a certain threshold of “risk,” AI automatically triggers an arrest warrant. Make no mistake; the only crime for which the Communist Party is concerned is resistance to their authoritarian power. These AI systems are the future of oppression.

And the world’s authoritarian powers are following China’s lead. Weaponized AI is one of the reasons why oppressive governments around the globe are becoming more powerful and more resistant to protest movements… It’s time to level the battlefield.

Sharp Phone

Any modern, cloud-based AI (Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude) can be turned into a simple nonviolent resistance advisor with the prompt: “You are a nonviolent resistance advisor.” With the capacity instantly to aggregate internet search results into a single voice (that speaks 70 world languages at all reading levels), AI is a ready resistance tool. One drawback is that the information gathered by the basic internet searches that inform its advice is often shallow, opinionated and inexpert.

My proposal is to have the AI search the entirety of Gene Sharp’s book instead.

Through AI, a thick book can become a talking book that dialogs with the user. In fact, with the book as the AI’s memory and its voice, the AI becomes a rough approximation to conferring with Gene Sharp himself. Moreover, this “AI resistance advisor” can rephrase, clarify, elaborate on any point of Sharp’s and pull additional historic examples of a tactic from the internet.

It can receive from the user a detailed and disorganized account of their protest movement’s strategic situation and present what tactical options Gene Sharp would recommend. It can even apply Gene Sharp’s principles of non-violence to modern digital contexts—bringing the 1973 book up to date.

And here’s the kicker: The commercial AI (Claude Projects or Google Notebook LM) that have the capacity to upload a single book actually have the expanded capacity to upload an entire library of books.

So resistance.ai’s “memory” could include all of Gene Sharp’s 10 books, the critiques of his work, additional source works (such as Nelson Mandela’s 656-page Long Walk to Freedom) and materials on special topics like digital security, organizing a movement or PTSD care for the victims of violence. Thus, the AI’s memory and voice can draw from the entire literature of resistance. It’s like having Sharp, King, Ghandi, Mandela and more in one’s corner.

Moreover, these consumer AIs let one supplement these libraries with a set of guiding “instructions” (principles) that are easy to write. They can be written to prioritize the security and safety of the dissidents it consults with and have the intellectual humility and deference needed to keep humans in charge of the decision making.

The addition of Starlink satellite internet reduces the risk that regimes will be able to disrupt the internet on which these cloud-based AI depend. The addition of VPNs reduces the risk that dissidents using this AI will be detected.

Moving the use of this AI to democratic countries where allies transfer the AI responses back to the dissidents over encrypted message services (like Signal or Byrar) camouflages use in places like Russia and China. Transitioning from cloud-based AI to the oncoming wave of hardware-based AI (which use no more power or water than the laptop or smartphone on which they are installed) addresses the ecological concerns of AI and reduces dependence on the internet and morally dubious tech companies.

Within a few years, 10 million young leaders could have a rounded, genius-level resistance advisor in their pockets. The cloud-based advisors are possible today.

Obsolete Violence

Whether Sharp’s nonviolent content is delivered in an AI or in a mass market paperback, the goal remains the same: to distribute tactical genius as widely as possible among the people, and to lower the threshold for action, creating a vast, leaderless nonviolent movement.

“Do not mistake people’s inaction for apathy,” Jamila Rabiq said to me on a recent call to New York. “It is powerlessness.” People don’t know what to do—they don’t have tactics. I hadn’t spoken to Rabiq in six years (since the reprinting of Sharp’s tome). I was pleased to find her Albert Einstein Institute on a full, nonviolent, war footing—working closely with dozens of opposition groups around the world.

I had called her seeking her blessing for my Gene Sharp AI idea. I was pleased to find that she was way out ahead of me. She had just come from a conference where she was invited to speak on the safety of resistance AI. Broadly in favor of them, Rabiq was keenly interested in the efforts of a Serbian protest group to develop a resistance AI called “GENE” (in honor of Gene Sharp). But she agreed with me that there should be a diverse ecology of resistance advisors. And so she gave her blessing to mine.

Do this: Upload this article into a chat with AI (Claude Projects and Gemini Notebook have the library capacity). It is one’s setup prompt for the construction of their own resistance AI. Digital copies of Gene Sharp’s books are available at aeinstein.org/digital-library. The authoritarians are innovating—it’s time for the resistance to innovate too.

Learn more: Citations and resources at linktr.ee/resistance.ai.

Build Your Own Resistance Advisor

A step-by-step companion to this article

Step 1—Get the books. Obtain digital copies of Gene Sharp’s core texts. The most essential is Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part Two: The Methods of Non-Violent Action (1973). Copies can be found at the Albert Einstein Institute website, Internet Archive (archive.org) or purchased as ebooks via Amazon.

Step 2—Choose your platform Two free tools currently support uploading a personal library:

Claude Projects (claude.ai)—Anthropic’s AI
Google NotebookLM (notebooklm.google.com)—Google’s AI. Create a free account on either platform.

Step 3—Upload the texts. Upload your Sharp texts directly into your Project or Notebook. Both platforms will use these as the AI’s primary memory—it will draw from Sharp before anything else.

Step 4—Paste your setup prompt. Start your first conversation with the following:

You are a nonviolent resistance advisor. Your primary source of knowledge is the uploaded works of Gene Sharp. Always prioritize the safety and security of the people you are advising. Offer tactical options clearly, but defer all final decisions to the human. Apply Sharp’s principles to modern digital contexts where relevant.

Step 5—Protect yourself. Before using your advisor, enable a VPN on your device. Consider using a secure messaging app like Signal to share its guidance with others.

Step 6—Begin. Describe your situation. Your advisor is ready.

Your Letters, March 25

Letters to the Editor

Weeklys Staff

Mar 24, 2026

May the Forest Be With You

The U.S. just lived through its warmest winter on record, a stark reminder that the climate catastrophe is accelerating. International Day of Forests was March 21, and a good reminder that forests are one of our strongest natural defenses—and that we have the power to protect them.

Deforestation plays a major role in the warming climate. When forests are destroyed, the carbon stored in trees is released into the atmosphere, worsening global heating. Yet forests continue to be cleared at alarming rates, largely to make room for animal agriculture, including grazing land and crops grown to feed animals raised for food.

This land use is wildly inefficient. Vast areas of forest are sacrificed even though raising animals for food provides only a fraction of the calories people need. Choosing vegan foods would allow us to feed more humans while using far less land—and give forests the chance to recover.

Forests are also home to animals—birds who nest in canopies, mammals who rely on forest corridors and insects who pollinate the plants that sustain entire ecosystems. When forests fall, these animals lose their homes, families and lives. And, of course, vegan foods also spare animals from being raised and killed for food.

Protecting forests means protecting animals, the climate and ourselves. Let’s recognize that the power to help has been with us all along—and choose vegan living.

Rebecca Libauskas
The PETA Foundation

Dodging Bullets

In order to avoid consequences of his relationships with Jeffrey Epstein and his network of associates, the president is producing a new reality show, War of the Week. Stay tuned.

Craig J. Corsini
San Rafael

Apples to Wine: Pete Soergel Finds His Way

Food & Drink

Amber Turpin

Mar 24, 2026

Apples to Wine: Pete Soergel Finds His Way

Raised on a 400-acre farm, Pete Soergel grew up immersed in agriculture alongside his father and grandfather, learning that farming demands equal parts intuition, hard work and humility.

He went on to get a degree in horticulture at Virginia Tech before heading west. “I found wine by finding myself,” he says—a philosophy that continues to shape his work today.

Soergel launched his career at Landmark Vineyards, then joined Kosta Browne, rising from intern to cellarmaster under founders Michael Browne and winemaker Shane Finley. He later returned to Landmark before Finley invited him to Lynmar Estate in 2012. Promoted steadily to winemaker in 2017 and ultimately general manager, he now oversees all aspects of the estate in close partnership with proprietors Lynn and Anisya Fritz.

At the heart of his work are Lynmar’s four estate vineyards, where he and his team conduct up to 90 small-lot fermentations per vintage. “Lynmar is the model of a true estate, which is rare,” Soergel reflects. “We grow the grapes, make the wines, and we pair them with seasonal foods we grow in our own gardens. Everything is connected by the same visions and values … the sum is even greater than the individual parts.”

Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?

Pete Soergel: I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on an apple farm, so agriculture was always part of my life. After graduating from college, I wanted to head west to California to explore grape growing and viticulture. That interest led me to an internship in winemaking, and more than 20 years later I’m still happily making wine and doing what I love.

Did you ever have an ‘aha’ moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.

My ‘aha’ moment came during my first trip to California wine country in 2005, when I was 23. I was visiting the area with my aunt, and we opened a 2001 St. Francis Pagani Ranch Zinfandel. I remember being blown away by the wine, the power, finesse and vibrant fruit flavors all working together. It was the first time I truly understood how expressive and complex wine could be, and from that moment on I knew I wanted wine to be part of my life.

What is your favorite thing to drink at home?

I tend to gravitate toward white wines at home. That said, sometimes there’s nothing better than a simple glass of whole milk.

Where do you like to go out for a drink?

Underwood and Russian River Brewing

If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?

Good wine.

Lynmar Estate Winery, 3909 Frei Rd., Sebastopol, 707.829.3374, lynmarestate.com.

Irish Music, Ceramics & Light and Cedars’ Neighborly Art Show

Crush

Weeklys Staff

Mar 24, 2026

Irish Music, Ceramics & Light and Cedars’ Neighborly Art Show

Sebastopol

Sebtown Goes Irish

Irish traditional music gets a high-octane revival when Lúnasa lands at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center. Formed in 1997 from members of some of Ireland’s most influential groups, the band has spent decades pushing the boundaries of trad with intricate arrangements, global touring and a sound that feels both rooted and restlessly alive. The group has played more than 2,000 performances across 36 countries and collaborations, spanning Natalie Merchant to Bruce Springsteen. Touring behind their latest release, Live in Kyoto—a live album composed entirely of new material—the current lineup brings virtuosity and momentum in equal measure, from driving pipes and fiddle to fluid guitar and flute, marking Lúnasa as a defining force in contemporary Irish music. 7:30pm, Friday, March 27, Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, 390 Morris St.

Santa Rosa

Smart Arts

Sonoma County’s arts education community gathers to honor Tobias Sparks, founder of Play Marimba!, as the 2026 arts educator of the year. Recognized by the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and Creative Sonoma, Sparks has built a program that goes beyond music, creating hands-on, technology-free experiences where students are meant to gain confidence, community and a sense of rhythm that extends well past the classroom. A master percussionist and educator, Sparks has spent decades studying and performing globally, bringing those influences back to Sonoma County through Play Marimba!, where he builds instruments, trains teachers and leads youth ensembles. The award ceremony takes place during the Arts Education Alliance Mix-and-Mingle, a casual gathering celebrating the educators shaping the region’s creative future. 4:30–6:30pm, Thursday, March 26, Mitote Food Park, Santa Rosa.

San Rafael

Way of Clay

Clay catches the light—and lets it go—at Illuminations: How the Light Gets In, a ceramic-focused exhibition at Falkirk Cultural Center. The show explores light not just as illumination, but as a presence that moves through form, surface and space. Artists lean into cracks, voids and translucencies, treating them not as imperfections but as portals—places where something deeper can pass through. Working in three dimensions, each piece becomes a quiet study in contrast: interior and exterior, shadow and glow, structure and release. Some works approach light as memory or emotion, others as balance or transformation, but together they form a contemplative, tactile meditation on how we hold and reflect what comes in. Juried by John Toki. Exhibit runs now through April 25, Falkirk Cultural Center, 1408 Mission Ave., San Rafael. Hours 1–4:30pm Tuesday–Friday, 10am–2pm Saturday.

Point Reyes Station

Neighborly Art

Cedars—one of California’s original programs supporting people with developmental disabilities—asks its artists to turn their gaze close to home in You’re My Neighbor, a warm, community-minded exhibition at Toby’s Feed Barn. From grazing cows and coastal birds to the familiar faces just down the road, the show captures the textures of everyday life in West Marin—those small, shared moments that quietly define a place. The exhibition reflects a deeply rooted creative community where art and lived experience meet. Through colorful, imaginative works, You’re My Neighbor celebrates the beauty of proximity: living alongside one another, alongside nature and within the rhythms of a working landscape. Exhibit runs now through April 12, Toby’s Feed Barn, 11250 Hwy. 1, Point Reyes Station. Hours vary; free.

Strings Attached, Foreigner Collabs with Orchestra in Napa

Bill Forman

Mar 17, 2026

Strings Attached, Foreigner Collabs with Orchestra in Napa

Rock and roll never dies, and Foreigner is living proof. Fifty years into their career, the classic rock titans have turned around and said a fond farewell to what they’d billed as their “Farewell Tour,” once they realized the band had too much vitality to call it quits.

Now the multi-platinum hitmakers who gave us enduring anthems like “Cold as Ice,” “Juke Box Hero” and “Urgent” have risen from near-death to carry on the Foreigner legacy, with a new singer from within their own ranks and a 2026 calendar packed with everything from intimate unplugged sets to an upcoming symphonic collaboration with a live, classical orchestra at Napa’s Uptown Theatre this Saturday, March 21.

The Bohemian caught up with Foreigner bassist and musical director Jeff Pilson to discuss the band’s sonic evolution, his deep history with Mick Jones and the time he rented his own gear to the band decades before joining.

Foreigner famously announced a ‘Farewell Tour’ recently, but that seems to have evolved. Beyond just the practicalities, what were the specific factors that convinced you to keep the machine running?

Jeff Pilson: The main factor was that once we realized that Luis [Maldonado] was going to be able to carry us forward, nobody else wanted to stop. Originally, Kelly [Hansen] came to us and said, ‘Look guys, I don’t want to tour anymore.’ But once we realized we have a future with Luis as singer, the rest of us all wanted to continue. It felt like we were reinvigorated and inspired to carry on.

When Kelly passed the torch to Luis, how did that internal transition play out?

It’s an interesting dynamic. It’s not like we went out and hired some new singer. We got somebody from within the band, which is actually really great because you already have a bond and a rapport. And the fact that he was in the band with Kelly… The whole thing felt like divine intervention, almost, the way everything worked out so smoothly.

What new possibilities opened up when Luis stepped up to the mic?

Well, Luis speaks Spanish, so it really was a no-brainer that we do Spanish versions of the songs. They’re coming out amazing. We recorded ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ as a duet with Joy Huerta from Jesse & Joy, which is a huge band in Mexico.

You’ve also done some reunion shows with original vocalist Lou Gramm. What were those like?

We’re actually doing another run of shows with Lou for ‘Four and More,’ where we do Foreigner 4 in its entirety. It’s kind of the most iconic Foreigner album, and we love playing those deep tracks that don’t always make the standard setlist.

But the record itself was only 42 minutes of music, and we have other hits that you just kind of got to play to give the fans a full two-hour experience. You can’t walk off stage without doing ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ or ‘Hot Blooded,’ so we use the album as the core and then build the ‘More’ part around the absolute essentials.

When you approach the orchestral shows, what do real strings offer that keyboards or guitars can’t?

An orchestra can be heavy in a way, just like a rock band. It can be just as heavy. I think cellos are a really great instrument to translate heaviness into a rock format. I think it’s just as effective as distorted guitars when done right. I still always prefer the sound of real strings just because there’s a human element to it that machines don’t quite have yet.

Some songs, like ‘I Want to Know What Love Is,’ lend themselves naturally to an orchestral arrangement. But how do you handle a straight-ahead rocker like ‘Hot Blooded’ in a live setting without losing its grit?

For the live arrangement, we really want to feature the guitar players on that song. It’s a great guitar song. We let both John [Sexton], our new guitarist, and Bruce [Watson] just shine away. It really lifts the song into a new area.

Working so closely with founder Mick Jones, you must have collected some incredible stories about his history in the classic rock pantheon. Does any specific anecdote stand out that captures his legacy?

Here’s a Mick Jones story for you. Do you know how he learned to play the intro of ‘Hey Joe’ by Jimi Hendrix? In a tour bus. Because he was touring and Jimi was on the bus, and Jimi himself showed it to him.

Did he have any other ‘only in the ’60s’ encounters before Foreigner really took off?

Absolutely. In early 1964, Mick was playing with a French artist while The Beatles were doing a residency at the Olympia Theatre in Paris. As the curtain closed, it knocked Mick’s amp over. He went, ‘Oh, fuck,’ in English. And all of a sudden he hears somebody go, ‘Oh man, you’re a Brit; gotta come up and join us.’ It was (John) Lennon.

Every day after the shows, he would go up to the Beatles’ suite and party with them. He was in the suite when they received the telegram from Brian Epstein saying that ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ had gone number one in the States. He was in the room with them, partying with them, when they heard about that.

I know you’re a massive fan of the Mellotron [electro-mechanical keyboard]. Is it true you actually have a personal history with Foreigner’s gear dating back to the late ’70s, long before you joined the band?

I do. In 1978, I was living in Seattle. We were hell-bent on buying a Mellotron. I get a call one day. The guy says, ‘Foreigner is coming through town, and their Mellotron broke. The only one we have is yours. Would you rent it to Foreigner?’ So Foreigner rented my Mellotron. As I’m walking into the Veterans Stadium in Seattle, I’m listening to ‘Cold as Ice’ with the Mellotron part flooding the stadium. And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s my Mellotron.’

Do you remember the first time you actually heard Foreigner? I suspect your entry point might have been a bit different given your prog-rock background.

I was drawn to Foreigner because of Ian McDonald. I heard he was in a new band after King Crimson. And then when I heard ‘Feels Like the First Time,’ I was just knocked out. I thought it was the best rock song I’d heard in a long time. Great chorus, great guitar riff, amazing singing. It really floored me.

With such a packed schedule in 2026, do you have any room left for side projects, or is it all Foreigner all the time?

I have a Black Swan record [Paralyzed] coming out in February, but I know I’m not going to have any time to record anything during 2026. No side projects this coming year; it’s all Foreigner for me. But that’s great because we’re busy, and that’s the way I like it.

Looking back at your younger self starting out in bands, did you ever imagine your career would end up here—carrying on the legacy of one of the biggest bands in the world?

My goal was always to be in a big rock band. I wanted to play concerts; I wanted to do records; and I’ve done all that. It came out not exactly the way I would have envisioned it, but I’ve achieved what I set out to do.

Foreigner performs at 8pm, March 21, at the Uptown Theatre, 1350 Third St., Napa. Tickets and more info at uptowntheatrenapa.com.

Hemingway Blues: Choose Role Models Carefully

Jeff Burkhart

Mar 17, 2026

Hemingway Blues: Choose Role Models Carefully

Humorist Will Rogers once said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” What’s noticeably absent from that sentiment is how he felt about them 30 seconds later. In my business, you learn to like everyone—at first.

I initially thought this man was the guest of a man I knew. They came in together, they found two seats together, and they sat down together. They even ordered together. Two martinis, if memory serves. And the irony is of all the things I remember from nights that I work, a person’s drink order is probably the thing I remember best. It’s certainly the most important thing to me because that’s how I make my living.

The fact that the order diverged almost immediately should have been my first clue. The man I knew ordered his usual, a chilled vodka martini with a twist. The man I didn’t know ordered a chilled gin with a lime squeeze.

They say that birds of a feather flock together. And while that most likely is true, in the bar business, friends order together and good friends often order the exact same thing. Maybe that’s the basis of their friendship, and maybe it isn’t. But it’s certainly something I have noticed over the years.

The two men were in their mid-50s or mid-60s, which is often hard to tell. In a job where judging age is of paramount importance, you start to realize that people ages 25 to 35 often appear the same. It’s the same with people ages 35 to 45 or 55 to 65. Man or woman, it doesn’t seem to matter.

The man I didn’t know was barrel-chested and bearded. Put him in a woolly turtleneck, and he might even have been a late-model Ernest Hemingway. And I don’t think that was accidental.

Hemingway, of course, is still a giant in the bar business. People order like him, people drink like him, and people quote him all the time. What no one has been able to do is write like him.

My erstwhile Hemingway seemed earnest at first. It was his first story that raised an eyebrow. And that first story started unsurprisingly with his second drink order.

“I’ll have a Commodore Nelson,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I don’t know what that is,” I had to say.

He paused for dramatic effect, only made certain by the fact that he looked around to see if anyone was listening. No one was, so the unfortunate job of the audience fell exclusively onto me.

“It’s one of these,” he said, pointing at his chilled gin. “Only a double on the rocks in a tall glass with soda.”

There’s a great scene in the 1988 movie Cocktail starring Tom Cruise—based on the 1984 book by Heywood Gould—where the cocktail waitress stumps Cruise’s character by ordering a Cuba Libre—a scene that clearly evokes Hemingway (Cuba and Libre) as well as bars and bartenders. The point of the scene is that a Cuba Libre is actually just a rum and coke with lime—an easy drink made difficult by adding an obscure name. Maybe not so Hemingway-ish after all.

“So, a double gin and soda?” I replied, perhaps more snarkily than I intended. But I quickly added a “sure,” hoping that would be the end of the story. It wasn’t.

“It’s named after the commodore of the yacht club I used to go to,” said the man with the beard. “He used to drink them all the time.”

“Great,” I think I said.

Good stories know when to end, and bad stories do not. And this was more of the latter than the former.

I set the simple drink with the ridiculous name down in front of him and turned to walk away. But his story wasn’t over.

“At least until they cut him off and threw him out of the yacht club,” replied my erstwhile Hemingway.

“Let me get this straight,” I said. “Your go-to opening story is ordering a drink named after a yacht club commodore who got thrown out of his own yacht club for being a drunk?”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he replied.

I looked at the man I knew and realized that he didn’t actually know this guy. Coincidence can be so coincidental. And things didn’t really get better from there. After one more “Commodore Nelson,” there was a dispute over the bill, followed by a dispute with me, followed by a dispute with the manager, all followed by a dispute with the arresting officer.

Leaving me with these thoughts:

• Beer brand Dos Equis has released a new series of “the most interesting man in the world” commercials. Clearly these commercials are based on an idealized Hemingway.

• The Cuba Libre was named during the brief Spanish-American War (1898) by American soldiers fighting in the Caribbean. A Cuban product mixed with an American product symbolizing Cuban liberation. Drink names are sometimes ironic. And sometimes they are extremely prescient.

• Kurt Vonnegut once said, “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”

• Hemingway often drank double drinks. And he once said, “I drink to make other people more interesting.” There doesn’t seem to be a record of what those other people thought about Hemingway, especially not, it would seem, the bartenders.

More Jeff Burkhart at jeffburkhart.net.

Lessons: Book of Matthew Musical in Napa

Beulah F. Vega

Mar 17, 2026

Lessons: Book of Matthew Musical in Napa

These days, it has become common to throw Bible verses at each other like poisoned javelins.

That is not necessarily a new phenomenon. Throughout history, the Bible has more often been used as a political weapon than as a teaching tool or true guide. That’s a big part of what keeps a show like Godspell relevant.

Lucky Penny has opened an all-female version of the 1971 musical adaptation of the Book of Matthew. Yes, there have been some updates to the time and place, but overall, the script’s main message of being good to others and leading with love is firmly intact. Directed by Barry Martin, it runs in Napa through March 22.

The original Godspell was conceived as a student production at Carnegie Mellon University. It has been remounted multiple times, and there are various versions, but the core is the same. Jesus (Sarah Lundstrom) and his disciples (Hannah Brudney, Andrea Davis, Arri Toshiko Glenn, Marjory Harper, Cait Pederson, Erin Smith, Emma Sutherland) take turns teaching parables while Judas (Daniela Innocenti Beem) waits for the right moment to strike.

This is an extremely talented and fearless cast. Even amongst the high level of talent, special note should be given to Erin Smith’s heartfelt rendition of “By My Side” and Hannah Brudney’s impressive (and energetic) dancing.

Lundstrom is a very gentle Jesus, which works well most of the time, but robs the power of songs like “Alas for You,” where the outrage necessary for the piece is missing. Similarly, due to Beem’s gravitas and stage presence, she is a magnificent Judas and a good John. But between those two roles, there is a lot of light-hearted whimsy in which she feels out of place. A lot of that out-of-place feeling comes from her costuming.

Godspell costumes have caused confusion and controversy from the very first production, where the concept of “Christ as Clown” from Harvey Cox’s Feast of Fools was taken literally. While the depth of this concept is quite interesting from an academic standpoint, it’s not easy to pull off in practice without everyone looking more foolish than rebellious.

Sadly, Taylor Bartolucci’s costumes for this production missed the mark, looking more incohesive than purposefully clownlike. Most importantly, choosing not to costume Jesus and John/Judas as clowns meant that the disciples’ costumes were actively working against the story of the disciples becoming Christ-like.

Despite these issues, this production gets the message right and, as storytellers, that’s what really matters.

‘Godspell’ runs through March 22 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center, 1758 Industrial Way, Napa. Thurs–Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $25–$47. 707.266.6305. luckypennynapa.com.