Take Two

-
0
Take Two

The story of the freak-folk movement coming out of San Francisco’s scene for the last decade starts with Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic. The two long-standing musicians and friends have together and individually shaped the city’s experimental folk sound.

Both Banhart’s psych-tinged solo career and Cabic’s indie folk outfit Vetiver are acclaimed for their effortlessly rustic and emotionally charged songwriting. This fall, the two performers appear together as a duo when they play Oct. 18 at Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma.

By phone, Cabic recalls meeting Banhart and how their relationship contributed to Cabic’s career.

“We met in a bookstore, where I worked,” says Cabic. “He was a student at the Art Institute, and he was new to town; I hadn’t been in San Francisco that long myself.”

Banhart was raised in Venezuela and Los Angeles. Cabic had recently settled in San Francisco after living in Virginia and North Carolina, where he fronted indie rock band the Raymond Brake.

Right away, the two started jamming together. “I was into playing with whoever wanted to play with me,” recalls Cabic. “[Banhart] was mostly writing poetry and doing art, so his songs were extensions of his poems. They were simple but really expressive and unique.”

Soon, the two were writing material and collaborating onstage, where Banhart’s poetic aesthetic matched well with Cabic’s uncanny ability for melody. “I think [Vetiver’s] first show was just the two of us,” says Cabic. “We did a lot of touring and traveling together. It was because he would perform with me that I even played out.”

After that initial support for each other, the two quickly became busy with their individual projects. Banhart has released eight full-length albums since 2002 and has lived in New York and Paris. Cabic is currently putting together Vetiver’s sixth record, slated for release in early 2015. “I’m a little too close to it still to give much description, but it continues what I was going for with the last record,” hints Cabic.

Until then, Banhart and Cabic are seizing the day with some select dates throughout Northern California. This tour is built on one they did together two years back in Japan.

“We’ll both be onstage together, alternating between songs of his and songs of mine,” says Cabic. “We don’t play together very often anymore; the last time we were playing was in Japan. That went really great, and was really fun to do, so we wanted it to happen again.”

Devendra Banhart and Andy Cubic perform on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Gundlach Bundschu Winery,
2000 Denmark St., Sonoma. 7:30pm. $35. 707.938.5277.

End Service Apathy

-
0
End Service Apathy

So it’s come to this. I’ve only recently entered my 30s, and I’m about to write a letter railing against today’s youth, but recent events have me concerned.

This summer I confronted a barrage of discouraging interactions with teenagers and “young people” who continually made me question our culture’s current and future state of civility. Time after time, I encountered kids working counters and booths, in stores and on the street who could barely function. I was met with rude, inattentive or otherwise incompetent service all summer long, and I have decided that I’m no longer going to act apologetic about it.

Maybe it’s because I’ve finally figured out how to behave like a professional over the last few years that the behavior I am assaulted with is so glaringly offensive. Kids today have distinct problems with seemingly simple operations such as finishing sentences and making eye contact. At venues both corporate and locally owned, I was made to feel like I was inconveniencing employees who would rather brag about partying last weekend than help the person standing right in front of them.

So, young people, here’s the headline: The age of apathy is over. It’s not cool to not care. Not anymore. I get it, you know. I grew up in the ’90s, when apathy was king. Baristas and waiters became beacons of underachieving slacker culture. And it was charming for a while, and we all slowly got used to it. But that’s done now.

As more and more youngsters find college to be a mountainous obstacle—one that’s perceived as not worth the avalanche of debt that comes with the diploma—the service industry will become an increasingly competitive industry. Expectations are going to go up with the growing demand for work, and in an arena where qualifications are low, an engaging conversation can make all the difference in landing the gig. That’s why now is the perfect time to step it up. We’re counting on you!

Charlie Swanson is the Bohemian’s calendar editor and is not a curmudgeon at all.

Open Mic is a weekly feature in the ‘Bohemian.’ We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write [email protected].

Laptops and Lattes: Internet Cafes with Free WiFi in the North Bay

-
0
Laptops and Lattes: Internet Cafes with Free WiFi in the North Bay

Cafes have always been the unofficial workplaces for creatives and freelance writers working on the next big thing. As the laptop replaced the notebook, the internet cafe was born, complete with free WiFi, good music, plenty of sockets and ‘hang out as long as you like’ policy. But finding a cafe in the North Bay that offers all of the above, while keeping coffee standards high can be a challenge, especially outside of large cities. Here are a few dignified options, whether you live on a slope in Marin, or by the river in Sonoma County..

In Sebastopol, Taylor Maid Farms is as close as it gets to a perfect second office. Opened in the beginning of 2014 at the Barlow, the place is a mecca for photographers, writers and scholars who seek a bright, friendly space to accommodate their business and creative exploration. Laptop users can choose between bar stools on the terrace, a spot on the upper level, or roomy tables by the counter, where some visitors have regular seats; many spend the whole day here.

The smell of freshly ground coffee, roasted on location, is ever-present, but the play list changes according to the staff’s mood. You might type to French chansons one day then browse to alternative rock the next. Culinary minimalism—just pastries and cookies—ensures no one will distract you with a tuna sandwich while you’re editing your short film, and the most indulgent item on the beverage menu is lavender or pumpkin latte.

The same no-nonsense attitude can be observed in other Sonoma County hotspots—smaller than Tailor Maid but very effective nevertheless. Roasting their own beans and sharing a modern design of wood and steel, both Acre Coffee in Petaluma and Santa Rosa and Flying Goat Coffee in Healdsburg and Santa Rosa host dozens of laptop users on daily basis. While Acre offers a busy, urban vibe and networking, Flying Goat’s atmosphere is laid-back and small-town friendly, welcoming yoga-practicing girls, rural entrepreneurs and nonprofit enthusiasts.

In addition to the Acre and Flying Goat, Santa Rosa has plenty of laptop-friendly options, but none of them has the sunlight or menu of Criminal Baking Co. & Undercover Noshery. This tiny SOFA district place is charming and arty, with Melody coffee and WiFi fast enough to Skype, if you must. The menu will make sure nobody goes home hungry.

Napa County’s choice of coffee shops could be improved, but glimpses of hope emerge occasionally. Yo El Rey Roasting in Calistoga may have limited seating, but the cute modern design and the excellent fair trade, organic coffee make this coffee shop a pleasant pit stop. The Calistoga Roastery is a cozy alternative, where families outnumber laptop tappers.

Marin County offers plenty of nearly-perfect spots, catering to students, tech workers and young dads on maternity leave. Fans of quirky, unusual settings and anyone who’d like to try a “scuffin,” should head to Dr. Insomniac’s in Novato. Christmas lights and homemade lattes make for a good workday boost, and the muffin-meets-scone pastries are addictive.

In San Rafael, Royal Ground Coffee and Aroma Cafe both have plenty of sunlight and a number of tables to perch your laptop on. Royal Ground has generous food portions and luscious mocha drinks, presented in a relaxed, casual environment. Aroma Cafe serves Grafeo espresso and McLaughlin Coffee Co. brew, plus a tempting Mediterranean menu. The exposed brick and the artwork, featuring local artists, make for a European vibe, perfect for an afternoon escapism session.

Alternatively, a very happening local atmosphere can be found at Mill Valley’s Depot Cafe and Bookstore, located in one of the most charming buildings in the county. An old train depot, the narrow structure’s big windows fill the space with light. As delicious salads and quiches come out of the kitchen, coffee drinks can be overlooked, but great lattes and ice coffees, courtesy of Peerless Coffee in Oakland, are available.

A similar deal—books, sun, music and coffee—makes Corte Madera’s Book Passage a favorite destination. Here, the scene is more Golden Girls than HBO’s Girls, and the menu offers delicious gluten-free options. In chic San Anselmo, where everyone seems to be on a perpetual vacation, the San Anselmo Coffee Roastery is a popular daytime spot. Located on a street corner, it pampers laptop crowds with ample seating, a very Instagrammable mural for a background and house-roasted beans.

Balancing good coffee, quietude and creative energy isn’t easily achieved, but these coffee shops hit the mark.

Whale of a Play

-
0
Whale of a Play

Brilliant theater is not always fun.

From Arthur Miller’s unflinching Death of a Salesman to Peter Shaefer’s brutal Equus, the best playwrights and plays succeed because they depress, rattle, upset and stun us with stories that are heartrending, unsettling and just plain unpleasant. But of course, life is sometimes unpleasant, and theater, simply put, is a reflection of life—good, bad and ugly.

Samuel D. Hunter’s The Whale, a critical hit last year in New York, serves up a fearlessly blunt and bitter (but strangely compassionate) slice of life that is beautifully written, emotionally knotty, and anything but traditionally “enjoyable.” Now running at Marin Theatre Company, directed with documentary straightforwardness by Jasson Minadakis, The Whale may be the best new play I’ve seen this year—yet I cannot think of another show that I have felt more assaulted and challenged by.

Charlie (a remarkable performance by Nicholas Pelczar) is a 600-pound shut-in, an English teacher with a death wish he is close to accomplishing. Charlie (brought to life with an impressive body-sized prosthetic), rarely moves from his shabby couch, still grieving the absence of his lover, who, ironically, starved himself to death 10 years ago. With a heart that barely functions to keep him breathing, Charlie somehow manages to see the best in others while abandoning all hope and faith in himself.

Taking place over the last days of Charlie’s life—it’s Death of a Fat Man—the play’s title comes from a student’s essay about Moby Dick, coupled with a few references to the biblical story of Jonah and the whale. As Charlie resists the loving encouragement of his best friend Liz (Liz Sklar), he finds himself reaching out to two unlikely newcomers: a troubled young Mormon missionary (Adam Magill, all gangly zeal) and Ellie (Cristina Oeschger), Charlie’s deeply resentful teenage daughter, who hasn’t seen her father since she was two.

Ellie, it must be stated, is easily the most hateful, angry, cruel and unlikable character I have seen portrayed onstage in recent memory. She hates everyone and everything, especially Charlie, who still, somehow, loves her and sees her as “amazing.”

And that’s one of the many miracles of Hunter’s ingenious drama. Through Charlie’s insistence, we eventually start trying, cautiously, to somehow see what Charlie sees in this sociopathic monster. And there is the definition of brilliant theater: it allows us to enter the lives of others so deeply we begin to see the world—good, bad or ugly—through their eyes. It’s not fun, but it’s well worth the pain.

Rating (out of 5): ★★★★★

Fight of Our Lives

-
0
Fight of Our Lives

Capitalism is on a death ride, and it’s taking all of us with it. So argues Naomi Klein in her new book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate.

The book is a galvanizing and potent dose of real talk, filled with harrowing stories of the immense damage done by free-market capitalism gone amok. But there’s still time (not much) to stave off a fossil-fuel driven endgame, argues Klein.

“Nothing is going to change until there are broad-based, muscular mass movements that are fighting for change,” says Klein, on the phone from Portland, Ore. “And not just polite NGOs having meetings with lawmakers. These should be political communities deeply invested in social change, much like the labor movement and the Civil Rights movement.” Klein appears in Santa Rosa on Oct. 17 and in San Rafael on Oct. 18 at the Bioneers Conference.

The Canadian journalist has long disrupted the status quo. Her 1999 book No Logo took on corporate branding and consumerism. In 2007,
her international bestseller
The Shock Doctrine exposed how governments and corporations exploit large-scale disasters (think: post-Katrina New Orleans) for profit.

Yet Klein spent years turning a blind eye to the biggest threat to humanity and the natural world. “I denied climate change for longer than I care to admit,” she writes in her new book. At a 2009 meeting with Angélica Navarro Llanos, the Bolivian ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Klein learned about the young woman’s call for a “Marshall Plan for the Earth.” This forced her to take a hard look at the terrible threats of climate change—and the opportunity to switch to a post-growth economic system, one fueled by renewable energy, carbon taxes, climate debt and polluters-pay legislation.

Klein immersed herself in scientific studies about climate change. The birth of her son Toma in 2013 gave the issue even more urgency, she says in the book.

Over the course of 400 pages, Klein takes the reader on a masterful ride through a maze of carbon trading, fossil fuel companies with little to no governmental regulations, indigenous battles against pipelines and the glimmer of hope found in renewable energy, with a focus on the Northern Cheyenne tribe in Montana and the Idle No More movement in Canada.

Klein favors the word “regenerative” over “resilient.”

“Humans and natural systems are resilient, but they have limits and can be pushed too far,” Klein tells me. “What I like about the idea of regeneration, and a regenerative economic model and systems in general, are that they stress reciprocity.”

We need a new paradigm, she goes on to say, one that values cycles of regeneration and fertility over the extraction-or-bust drive of the fossil-fuel industry. “Just because we can take a lot, doesn’t mean we can take everything,” says Klein.

Klein tells stories, with her trademark incisive, journalistic approach, about the Northern Cheyenne in southeastern Montana who’ve been fighting off mining companies since the 1970s. Instead of giving in, or engaging in an endless, and ultimately, doomed battle, activists turned to solar—specifically the installation of solar heaters and energy panels. Then there’s Richmond, Calif., where solar co-ops have been a successful strategy in the battle against Chevron’s polluting refineries.

Much of This Changes Everything is dedicated to big-picture economic analysis. She explains the convoluted and false promise of carbon trades—a market-based “remedy” that led corporations to pollute more instead of less. She calls out “green” billionaires like Richard Branson, and the “big green” NGOs that coddle polluters rather than holding them to task. Climate-change deniers, geo-engineers who want to “dim the sun” and short-sighted government officials are all hewed by Klein’s sharp-edged analysis.

Fresh off the People’s Climate March on Sept. 21, Klein says she was heartened by what she witnessed in the streets. “It was diverse, led by communities of color, and led by indigenous people. That to me is the game changer.”

While the fossil-fuel industry has much to lose, those people most effected by the environmental and health impacts of extractive projects have the most to gain, and the most to lose if things change, she says.

“This is also the promise of climate justice,” she says. “It could bring resources to those communities that have been on the front lines. Communities that have been on the front lines of our toxic economy should be first in line to benefit from the new economy. We can’t get there unless we’re willing to look at the path with honesty.”

2014 Fiction Contest

-
0
2014 Fiction Contest

My inbox runneth over. This was my first go-around with the Bohemian‘s annual fiction contest, and I didn’t know what to expect. What would the turnout be? Would we get many good submissions? Well, I needn’t have worried. I was overwhelmed by both the number and quality of the stories I got—141 in all.

My goal was to pick one winner and four runners up. It wasn’t easy. There are some really talented writers out there, and it was a lot of fun to read about all those vampires, avenging cats, murderers, talking fish, wistful lovers and extraterrestrial gigolos.

We chose the winning stories based on how well the writers incorporated the opening and closing sentence prompts (“Suddenly, it all made sense”; “And she had the corpse to prove it”). We looked for good reads that entertained us with well-told stories or the surprise ending. And I’m a sucker for any story that involves the death of Justin Bieber.

The winners here reflect a range of genres and styles. The winning story was by Jeff Cox, who happens to be the Press Democrat‘s restaurant critic. He didn’t write about food, but rather spun an old fashioned who dunnit in the spirit of Agatha Christie. The other winning stories were variously fun, surprising and just plain ol’ weird.

Enjoy and thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a story. We’ll do it again!—Stett Holbrook

THE GOD’S EYE

By Jeff Cox

Suddenly, it all made sense. Of all the people at the party where the diamond disappeared, Colonel Murray would have been the least likely thief. He was a decorated Vietnam War veteran who had lost his sight in that conflict.   

 The party was given by Jim and Tootie McTavish for the graduation of their daughter, Sara. On the night of the party, Tootie wore her prized diamond brooch pinned to her sequined jacket. No one noticed that the central diamond, a magnificent five-carat flawless stone, was missing until Tootie’s friend Grace asked about it. “Do you keep it somewhere for safekeeping?” Grace asked. 

Tootie looked down and, panicked, realized that the diamond was gone. “No. It was there when I put on the brooch.” She looked quickly around the room. “Jim!” she called to her husband. He rushed over. “The God’s Eye is gone!” 

Jim, a practical man, immediately had two thoughts. First, the diamond must have somehow dislodged from the brooch and was somewhere on the floor. Or—someone had found it and pocketed it. 

He called for quiet, explained to the guests what had happened, and asked them to search the floor for the stone. For 15 minutes, 18 guests crawled and stooped, examining every inch of the hardwood flooring and the Chinese rug, even looking under the cushions on the chairs and couches. Nothing. 

Jim told the guests he was going to lock the doors and call the police. Every pocket of every guest would be searched before anyone could leave. Later, after the police searches were fruitlessly completed, Colonel Murray threw up his hands. “Enough,” he said. “I’m leaving.” 

“Not so fast,” a detective said. Colonel Murray drew a pistol and moved toward the door: “I said I’m leaving!” The detective drew his firearm and fired. Colonel Murray slumped to the floor. 

“I’m afraid Colonel Murray took the diamond,” Jim said. 

“How do you know that?” the detective asked. Jim pulled a glass eye from his pocket and showed it to the guests. “Colonel Murray had taken out his glass eye and hidden the diamond in the empty socket. No one could see behind his glasses. My wife told me who must have taken it when she found the glass eye under the couch.” 

Tootie had the smarts to see that. And she had the corpse to prove it.

[page]

I’M A BELIEBER

By Evan St. Andrew

Suddenly, it all made sense. Charlene turned toward the nearest fan, a fanatically screaming teenage boy, and unleashed a backhanded blow so severe it broke his neck. He crumpled to the stadium floor like a spider crushed with a newspaper. Cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, packing lunch . . . Hot Pockets, Montel Williams . . . her whining, bratty children, der uncaring beer-bellied husband, Bud. She couldn’t take one more second of it. But now she had a purpose. Charlene knew what her destiny was.

No one had noticed the boy. The crowed shouted and cheered along with their idol— “Show you off, tonight I wanna show you off (eh, eh, eh).”

Charlene was still wearing the pink pajamas she had run off in all those months ago, but instead of their usually clean and cheery appearance, the PJs were ripped, tattered and unrecognizable. Visible underneath were no longer layers of fat, but taut sinew and hard muscle, slowly developing as she made her murderous pilgrimage to the Carnegie. Charlene’s voice pierced through the music, her primal and blood-frothed scream touched with insanity:

“HE IS MINE! JUSTIN BIEBER BELONGS TO ME!”

Like a snarling wolverine, she lashed out at anyone in sight, fans being thrown left and right like hay in a thresher. The entire stadium fell into disarray as the thousands attending ran in any direction they could. Justin’s bodyguards, even through the bedlam identifying her as a lethal threat, opened fire as Charlene closed in on her deity.

She used an unlucky fan (wearing an “I Bieber” T-shirt) as a human shield. Hurling him like a javelin into the guards, Charlene vaulted onto the stage. The men attempted to restrain the mad housewife as she howled unintelligible gibberish and broke their bones like some of kind of demented Hercules.  

All three soon dispatched; Charlene saw only Him. JBieb only managed a few awkward, shuffling steps before she was on top of him, her fingers digging into his windpipe. “Oh Justin . . . ” Charlene weeped, her saliva and tears mixing together as they dripped onto his pale face. “I’m all you need—a beauty and a beat.” His arms flailed uselessly against her. She leaned forward and planted a warm kiss on his now cold lips.

She had done it. She had become Justin Beiber’s No.1 fan. And she had the corpse to prove it.

Evan asked to give a shout out to Mrs. Bogomolny’s creative writing class.

[page]

SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY

By Karen Rasore

Suddenly, it all made sense. The baskets were proof. I didn’t go looking for them, hidden away in the back bedroom where Great Grandma died, but our families were packed into the ranch house for the holiday and the room had the only other bathroom. Kids never used it because it was dark, there were weird old dolls everywhere and you had to turn on the light by a pull switch over the bed, which was too high for kids to reach. The desperate need to pee trumped my fear.

I ran across the room, jumped onto the bed and flailed my arms about wildly until I found the cord. The room lit up and the army of dolls came alive. Fear turned to elation when I saw the six baskets overflowing with ribbons and chocolate bunnies. Then, just as quickly, injury replaced my happiness. They had lied to me. My friends were right: there was no Easter Bunny.

Grandma convinced me every Easter morning when she went to her garden armed with her shotgun. “I’m going to get that little son-of-a-bitch this year. He’s not hanging around to eat my garden.” I knew she kept meat rabbits and chickens and that she was capable of murdering a bunny, but she was Grandma so I forgave her for her vendetta against my rabbit hero. Besides, she always missed. Now I knew it was a trick and I was going to call her out.

“Grandma, got your shotgun ready?”

“Yep, gonna get him this year.”

“I saw the baskets and I know you’re lying.”

“Baskets? Where?” Now I had her.

“In the back room.”

“So, that’s where he’s been keeping them. I knew he couldn’t carry all of those baskets. I’m gonna use those as bait.” Now she was going too far.

“OK. Grandma. Shoot him, I dare you.”

I woke early, eager to catch Grandma in her lie. I went to the kitchen, ready to expose her, and then I heard the shot. Oh, my God, was I wrong? I wasn’t feeling as confident as I did the night before. I opened the door and saw Grandma walking toward me. She had her shotgun hanging in one arm and a buckskin Rex dangling from her other.

“Now do you believe me?”

She was right, the Easter Bunny was real, and she had the corpse to prove it.

[page]

CONVICT ON THE RUN

By Cody S.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Meat lover’s pizza on a beach at sundown, olive film on a trash chard, a car bomb in the mouth of a newborn. He dreamed of a thrill, flying over roof shingles of the tiny, hoods disappearing in deactivated nighttimes and drug trees, the only thing that made sense in the first place, the expanding blobs of blindness undulating nebulously across the light boxes. Pizza, more important than human life, than a celebrity child, blonde, a teenage smile, or a sunset holding a disappearing ship, or a vacuum swallowing a nebula, or a black coal in the burn crevice. Burning in the moment, he blacked out and faced the steamy glass man, offering a cardboard mailer dripping with blood tomatoes, a boat that carried refugees from the food chain, pyramid, amoeba, to larger celled organisms to absorb and merge. It takes a village to really love a food. If you love a food, let it go, and see if it comes back. Some you are acquainted with, others strangers, still others food enemies, keep your friends close but your food enemies closer. A sadistic gaggle of retards and troglodytes and mongoloids queued in the square. They looted and dipped their booger-tainted paws into the river and came out holding the prizes, a short prayer later laughing. They anointed the voodoo makeup of babyhood, desperate prairie of the mind. Keither was this way, holding a slice, terrible justice, a limp memoir of himself and his place in the town, the town absorbed by a larger one and consumed by a city and the expanding mucus giant with its heavy cement fingers carving the creek beds to run dry in the summer far away from the market, a gray blob streaked untraced across the value chart of our concrete sunrise. Bite, the heavy taste of salt reaching, slipping around his bacteria-stained tongue erect and provoked. Primitive logic call sounded, a bushy unibrow arc and a simian slap on the ambiguously sweat-colored shirted helpmate seated within reach on this cold industrial bench and they raised their bones in victorious and feverish frenzy, grunting and howling entwined sterile hospital walls that lied with gluey placards. A sick smile swelled on sparsely stubbled folds, a maw flecked with forgotten smallers and olders and the ones that fit inside something else, weeping sores passing the granulated, the fibrous, the flaked oiled and seared. A guilty smile, a convict on the run. And he had the corpse to prove it.

[page]

BUZZ OFF

By Mark Bellinger

Suddenly, it all made sense, and Ms. Young wished it didn’t.

“You have the wrong number, Michael. This is Ms. Young. By the way, I hope to find more formal English conventions when I read your Poe essay tomorrow,” she typed back, slowly.

A moment passed, then her phone vibrated again, indicating a new text message. “wat u mean?? u aint jenjen?”

She thought a moment, and responded, “In the parlance of your generation, Michael, I believe you have been ‘punk’d.’ Don’t fret. The last would-be suitor she fooled in this manner texted pictures.”

“how dija know im me??”

“Your spelling of ‘jenjen’ was unmistakable. Michael, please only text me with questions about American literature.”

Ms. Young, who thought of herself as “Ms. Young” even when wearing pajamas, set her phone back down on the nightstand. She had barely closed her eyes, though, when it buzzed again, twice.

“sory ms Y,” came the text from Michael’s number.

“Ms Young this is Jen Im sorry Mike texted you were out atthe movies and I though it would be funny.”

That surprised Ms. Young, since at school Jennifer worked very hard to appear as friendly and personable as a blackberry thicket. For her out to be at the movies with Michael was unexpected. For children their age to be on their phones during a movie was typical.

She replied to them both, “I will see you both after class tomorrow. Until then, goodnight.”

Her phone started buzzing incessantly.

“hey jenjen so this ur number kk thanx ms young”

“Yeah thats me now stop with the phone Mike and pay a tension to me.”

Ms. Young turned her phone off and sighed in frustration. She supposed she should be happy for young romance, but that travesty of grammar, syntax and spelling left her with a pounding headache. Scholars could claim that English was a living language, but Ms. Young knew better. English was dead, and she had the corpse to prove it.  

Debriefer: October 15, 2014

-
0
Debriefer: October 15, 2014

FOAM TO MARKET

For the first time, California craft beermakers will be able to sell bottled beer at certified farmers markets under AB 2004, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month. Sponsored by Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, the bill lifts restrictions on the state’s craft-beer industry at farmers markets, and lets beer-makers sell any kind of beer and wine at private, on-premises events they host. The measure enjoyed unanimous bipartisan support in Sacramento and goes into effect Jan. 1.

Critically, AB 2004 brings state beer law in line with what’s allowed in the wine industry.

The craft-beer lobby is thrilled at a bill that offers parity “with the privileges currently enjoyed by the wine industry,” says California Craft Brewers Association executive director Tom McCormick in a statement.

STAR SALE

A small group of Bolinas residents is working hard to keep Star Route Farms operational as an organic farm.

Star Route opened in 1974; it’s where modern organic farming started in the United States. But the 100-acre farm is for sale by owner Warren Weber. Asking price: about $12.5 million.

Enter CORE (Community Organic Regenerative Education), whose goal is to “bring in research and education to a farm that’s already doing fantastic,” says Bolinas resident Melinda Stone. CORE is hoping for buy-in from a regional land trust, and from a university that’s been shopping for an off-campus ag site. A deep-pockets investor would also come in handy.

REMEMBERING ANDY LOPEZ

A long and trying year has passed since Andy Lopez was shot and killed by a Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff. October 22 marks the one-year anniversary of the teen’s death in the Moorland Avenue neighborhood, and Santa Rosa criminal-justice activists have organized two weeks’ worth of Lopez-related actions and events to commemorate his passing as they push for greater police accountability.

Here’s what’s happening: The Justice Coalition for Andy Lopez (JCAL) has a memorial planned for Lopez on Oct. 15 at 4pm at the plot of land known as Andy’s Memorial Park (Moorland and Los Robles). There’s a cleanup at the park Oct. 18 at 10am and a meeting of the Sonoma County Community Oversight of Police Practices on Oct. 20—that group sprang up out of the JCAL and is working up a review of police practices in Santa Rosa.

Organizers plan a daylong protest at the Hall of Justice in Santa Rosa and at the Sonoma Board of Supervisors County Complex on Oct. 21.

Oct. 22 was Andy Lopez’ last day on earth in 2013, and, sadly, it coincides with the National Day Against Police Brutality and Mass Incarceration. There’s a daylong protest against such things in Sacramento starting at 9am—and a potluck back at Andy’s Park in the late afternoon.

Lopez’s death has already spawned legislation at the state level. At the time of his death, he was carrying a toy gun that was mistaken for a real one. Legislation sponsored by Santa Rosa State Sen. Noreen Evans and signed by Gov. Brown this year puts new restrictions on toy guns—the most obvious one being to make sure toy guns can’t be mistaken for real ones.

Small Town Drama

-
0
Small Town Drama

Embittered high-end attorney Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to his practically perfect home town of Carlinville, Ind., for his mother’s funeral. Palmer intends to leave, but that’s when his father, Joseph (Robert Duvall), a judge of some 42 years standing, is arrested for a hit-and-run accident. Evidence suggests Joseph had a personal motive for the accident. The accused judge needs the best lawyer he can get . . .

David Dobkin’s film is contrived and shameless, and it derives some of its courtroom methods by a close observation of Judge Judy. (As on afternoon TV, when Joseph hammers his gavel, it echoes like the sound of a pile driver.)

All this is mitigated by one fine cast. The Oscar-bound Downey, leading them, demonstrates lashing impatience and bursts of intelligence, and proves that so much of what we describe as great acting is just a matter of clearing air fouled by the smell of moldy corn. Duvall is at home with the role’s stubbornness and graphic physical decay. Vera Farmiga, as the tattooed girl Hank left behind, is a Howard Hawks type who likes to start things first. She’s too good to be true, but she’s a hotshot. A pleasure that they didn’t go for the manic pixie, as usual.

And in this relentlessly patriarchy-pampering drama, Farmiga gives the movie some physicality, some common sense. She’s just about the only female in the film, if you don’t count Hanks’ studiously cute little girl. Thomas Newman’s soundtrack is unnoticeable until you notice it—which is a good way to furnish such a drama.

If some of the driving scenes are shot like car commercials, with the prop wash from the camera copter ruffling the corn fields, Dobkin’s people found a fairly ravishing hamlet to shoot in, and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski burnishes the locations. “Indiana” is played by river town Shelburne Falls, Mass., which works well for us in California. During a serious drought, you start to crave even the look of water.

‘The Judge’ is now playing in wide release.

Surprise Ending

-
0
Surprise Ending

The 1998 film You’ve Got Mail portrayed Meg Ryan as the owner of a quaint, neighborhood bookstore being preyed upon by a Barnes & Noble–like behemoth.

The film foreshadowed the likelihood of heartless, corporate megastores knocking off the mom-and-pop shops one by one, leaving only a pile of brick and mortar.

Flash forward to today. The demise of the independent bookstore by online superstores has not come to pass. But in an age that embraces all things tech, how did the quaint, neighborhood bookstore endure?

According to the American Booksellers Association, despite hitting rock-bottom in 2009, the number of independent bookstores has increased 19.3 percent, from 1,651 to 1,971. This trajectory bodes well for the future of the small business.

“Reports of our death are definitely premature,” jokes Elaine Petrocelli, owner of North Bay independent bookstore Book Passage, which has been thriving for more 30 years.

She maintains that their success is a combination of things, including the people who work in the store, the more than 800 events they host and the involvement of the authors themselves. One might happen upon local author Martin Cruz Smith sipping hot tea in a corner, which, according to Petrocelli, happened only recently.

Vicki DeArmon, marketing and events director for Copperfield’s Books, with locations in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties, asserts that these indie stores can “make bestsellers out of books,” adding that they can, “hand-sell a book, introduce it to the community,” thereby making a sleeper out of an otherwise lesser known title. This kind of symbiotic relationship is uncharacteristic of e-commerce. “You are not going to meet any authors on Amazon,” she says.

Naomi Chamblin grew up in her father’s bookstore and felt compelled to open one of her own.

“Napa was missing a bookstore. The community needed it,” she says. Thus, Napa Book Mine was born. The store has only been open a little over a year, but Chamblin and her husband, Eric Hagyard, have already opened a second location at the Oxbow Farmer’s Market in Napa.

A critical flaw in the mega-bookstore, world-wide domination theorem surfaced in 2011 when Borders closed all of its stores. The reason for their failure was a misread of the market. Peter Wahlstrom, an industry tracker for research firm Morningstar, stated in a 2011 interview for NPR, “[Borders] made a pretty big bet in merchandising, went heavy into CD music sales and DVDs, just as the industry was going towards digital. And at that same time, Barnes and Noble was pulling back.

“Barnes and Noble invested in beefing up its online sales,” Wahlstrom told NPR. “Borders did not. Instead, it expanded its physical plant and refurbished its stores. And Borders outsourced its online sales operation to Amazon. In our view, that was more like handing the keys over to a direct competitor.”

One might conclude that this casualty of commerce would create room for more online corporations to flourish. Meanwhile, Amazon announced it would be opening a store in Manhattan, close to the Macy’s flagship, a testament to the resiliency of the conventional bookshop.

Here in the North Bay, the strength of the community is integral in what makes a successful business. “We were so lucky,” says Chamblin, referring to the recent earthquake that devastated a number of businesses in Napa. “Half of our books fell to the ground, and people just showed up to help out. We were only closed for one day.” Chamblin adds, “Those experiences you cannot get in a big chain.”

And independent bookstores are as equally involved in their communities. Book Passage began its foray into civic participation when it conducted a writing class with local author Anne Lamott 25 years ago.

“The Bay Area’s liveliest bookstore” also conducts classes throughout the year for adults and children, in languages, art appreciation, cooking and writing classes as well as working closely with local schools, including Dominican University. Petrocelli believes that residents should “support the idea of locally owned businesses. It is the beauty of where we live. We are lucky to have this thriving community. We have fun!”

Copperfield’s DeArmon cannot deny the visceral element. “People want the experience of being in a bookstore, they want the experience of discovery. [The bookstore] evokes all the senses. It has the ability to create a whole experience.” She contrasts the personal experience of a bookstore to online dating and e-commerce. “It’s not sustaining. People want the contact.”

Amazon would do well to sleep with one eye open.

Letters to the Editor: October 15, 2014

-
0
Letters to the Editor: October 15, 2014

It’s Complicated

The article (“Gary’s Web,” Oct. 8) suggests Mercury News executive editor Jerry Ceppos threw Gary Webb under the bus, but the truth is more complex than that.

At the time, in the Albion Monitor I paraphrased Ceppos’ editorial thus: “Look, this was an extremely important story, but it was also complex and involved staggering amounts of information. It was probably the greatest challenge I’ve seen in my three decades as a reporter. For the record, I’d like to say that I’m not satisfied with a few points. We did a great job, but I’d change a few things if I had my druthers.” In particular, Ceppos was right in saying that the series oversimplified the causes of the crack explosion in urban America.

But the New York Times pounced on his editorial and “produced an article and editorial as deceitful as Ceppos’ work was noble” (quoting again my 1997 piece that appeared in the Albion Monitor). “The Mercury News Comes Clean,” read the NYT editorial headline, falsely claiming that Ceppos and the Mercury News were retracting all or part of the story.

To the contrary, Ceppos wrote in his editorial: “Indeed, one of the most bedeviling questions for us over the past few months has been: Does the presence of conflicting information invalidate our entire effort? I strongly believe the answer is no, and that this story was right on many important points.”

The Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times worked hard to discredit the series and succeeded, to their shame. The Post also refused to print a letter to the editor from Ceppos in response to their critique.

If Webb’s series was flawed, it’s because he didn’t delve deep enough into those bloodied waters. Yet the Times misused the Ceppos editorial as an excuse to exonerate the CIA—something far more deceptive than Ceppos’ qualified admission that they couldn’t conclusively link top CIA officials to the operation.

—Jeff Elliott

Via online

Eat at Molina

Best place in Marin (“Not Run of the Mill,” Oct. 8). Love the music, love the food and love Todd.

—Michael Banks

Via online

Walmart Not Wanted

What happens in Rohnert Park does not stay in Rohnert Park. That is why local environmental, labor, health and social justice organizations have consistently opposed the expansion of the Walmart store in that city.

Since Rohnert Park is a part of a regional economy and the proposed expansion is designed to attract shoppers from nearby communities, city officials should assess the long-term impacts on the region, not just their city.

Instead of supporting pedestrian and bike-friendly neighborhood shopping centers, anchored by a grocery store, as envisioned in the city’s general plan, the construction of a super-center far from any residential complex tramples that vision. It means long shopping trips across town or on 101, increasing traffic and carbon emissions in an already congested corridor.

Because Walmart ships many of its products from distant or offshore factories, its operations are energy intensive and its container ships release millions of tons of greenhouse gases. Instead of buying local, its food products are shipped by truck from factory farms or canneries, burning fossil fuels and increasing carbon emissions. This expansion and 24-7 operations will double Walmart’s carbon footprint.

This is not just about Walmart, or about Rohnert Park. We are part of a national movement against the low-wage, no benefits packages of big-box retail outlets and fast-food restaurants. Although more Americans are employed today than in 2008, they earn 23 percent less.

We welcome the promise of new jobs, but we need jobs which offer a living wage. Since Walmart does not pay a living wage, its employees qualify for food stamps, rental assistance and Medicaid.

Although Walmart supporters cite the increased revenue from sales taxes, the major increase will be in nontaxable grocery items. Any increase in sales, therefore, will be at the expense of existing businesses without increasing jobs, sales or revenue.

The big-box retail model, based on low wages and part-time employment, and pressuring suppliers and competitors to reduce employee compensation, has also played a role in the decline of the middle class. By forcing small, locally owned businesses, the major source of job creation, to close, this model reduces good job opportunities.

Under smart growth policies, workers and consumers live close to where they work and shop, reducing traffic, commuting costs and emissions. When they receive a living wage, they spend it in locally owned businesses, promoting job growth and a stable local economy.

By supporting smart growth and expressing our opposition to the big-box model, we work for a more efficient and stable economy, one which offers just compensation, protects our environment and preserves our democracy.

—Tony White

Santa Rosa

Write to us at [email protected].

Take Two

The story of the freak-folk movement coming out of San Francisco's scene for the last decade starts with Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic. The two long-standing musicians and friends have together and individually shaped the city's experimental folk sound. Both Banhart's psych-tinged solo career and Cabic's indie folk outfit Vetiver are acclaimed for their effortlessly rustic and emotionally charged songwriting....
Read more

End Service Apathy

So it's come to this. I've only recently entered my 30s, and I'm about to write a letter railing against today's youth, but recent events have me concerned. This summer I confronted a barrage of discouraging interactions with teenagers and "young people" who continually made me question our culture's current and future state of civility. Time after time, I encountered...
Read more

Laptops and Lattes: Internet Cafes with Free WiFi in the North Bay

Cafes have always been the unofficial workplaces for creatives and freelance writers working on the next big thing. As the laptop replaced the notebook, the internet cafe was born, complete with free WiFi, good music, plenty of sockets and 'hang out as long as you like' policy. But finding a cafe in the North Bay that offers all of...
Read more

Whale of a Play

Brilliant theater is not always fun. From Arthur Miller's unflinching Death of a Salesman to Peter Shaefer's brutal Equus, the best playwrights and plays succeed because they depress, rattle, upset and stun us with stories that are heartrending, unsettling and just plain unpleasant. But of course, life is sometimes unpleasant, and theater, simply put, is a reflection of life—good, bad...
Read more

Fight of Our Lives

Capitalism is on a death ride, and it's taking all of us with it. So argues Naomi Klein in her new book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. The book is a galvanizing and potent dose of real talk, filled with harrowing stories of the immense damage done by free-market capitalism gone amok. But there's still time (not much)...
Read more

2014 Fiction Contest

My inbox runneth over. This was my first go-around with the Bohemian's annual fiction contest, and I didn't know what to expect. What would the turnout be? Would we get many good submissions? Well, I needn't have worried. I was overwhelmed by both the number and quality of the stories I got—141 in all. My goal was to pick one...
Read more

Debriefer: October 15, 2014

FOAM TO MARKET For the first time, California craft beermakers will be able to sell bottled beer at certified farmers markets under AB 2004, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month. Sponsored by Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, the bill lifts restrictions on the state's craft-beer industry at farmers markets, and lets beer-makers sell any kind of beer and...
Read more

Small Town Drama

Embittered high-end attorney Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) returns to his practically perfect home town of Carlinville, Ind., for his mother's funeral. Palmer intends to leave, but that's when his father, Joseph (Robert Duvall), a judge of some 42 years standing, is arrested for a hit-and-run accident. Evidence suggests Joseph had a personal motive for the accident. The accused...
Read more

Surprise Ending

The 1998 film You've Got Mail portrayed Meg Ryan as the owner of a quaint, neighborhood bookstore being preyed upon by a Barnes & Noble–like behemoth. The film foreshadowed the likelihood of heartless, corporate megastores knocking off the mom-and-pop shops one by one, leaving only a pile of brick and mortar. Flash forward to today. The demise of the independent bookstore...
Read more

Letters to the Editor: October 15, 2014

It's Complicated The article ("Gary's Web," Oct. 8) suggests Mercury News executive editor Jerry Ceppos threw Gary Webb under the bus, but the truth is more complex than that. At the time, in the Albion Monitor I paraphrased Ceppos' editorial thus: "Look, this was an extremely important story, but it was also complex and involved staggering amounts of information. It was...
Read more
1...817818819...1,000Page 818 of 1,000
11,084FansLike
4,606FollowersFollow
6,928FollowersFollow
north bay bohemian newspaper sonoma napa county logo
CURRENT ISSUE & ARCHIVES
East Bay Express cover
East Bay Express cover
CURRENT ISSUE & ARCHIVES
Newsletters Subscribe Advertise About Us Contact Us Letter to the Editor Press Release Obituaries Writing an Obituary Archives Find a Paper Distribute Bohemian Vote for Best Of Plaques & Banners
win free stuff
Features Local News News
Arts Books & Literature Crush Culture Movies Music Spotlight Theater
Astrology Look Media Opinion Letters To The Editor Open Mic Press Pass Rolling Papers
Dining Restaurants Small Bites
Readers' Picks 2025 Arts & Culture Beer, Wine & Spirits Beauty, Health & Wellness Cannabis Everyday Services Family & Pets Home Improvement Recreation Restaurants Romance Shopping
All Upcoming Events Today's Events Submit an Event Promote Your Event
weeklys california local media group logo

FOLLOW US

Copyright © Weeklys All rights reserved.

Our Publications

ADVERTISING Advertise Legal Submit an Obituary Legal NoticesFictitious Business Name (FBN) StatementsDoing Business As (DBA) NoticesTrustee Sale Notices

COMPANY INFO Job Opportunities Journalism Awards Privacy Policy Terms of Service

Support Local Journalism