Page 956 | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Rhone Rangers Ride Again

Swirl

James Knight

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Apr 3, 2013

p>It’s been a while since the term “American Burgundy” was in general circulation. True, you can pick up a jug of Hearty Burgundy, if you squat down by the low shelves (don’t bend at the waist; it’s a gallon, and you could hurt yourself), but that’s another story. Americans have come to love the way “Pinot Noir” and “Chardonnay” drip off the tip of their tongue. Until Picpoul Blanc and the rest of the 22 grape varieties recognized by the Rhône Rangers get their very own festival, however, this one’s called the “16th Annual Celebration of American Rhône Wines.”

Rhone Rangers was founded in 1997, back when varietal wines like Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Roussanne were the mere sideshow that they still are. That’s just fine, if it means you can stroll the entire Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason, uninterrupted, from one end to the other. There was an eager huddle around Qupé, sure, and another cluster at Tablas Creek.

But it’s easy to get a drink at Kieran Robinson Wines, a one-wine outfit staffed by a young winemaker of the same name. With his plate full, making Cab for a Napa Valley winery, what does Robinson do with his free time? He makes a big, brooding 2009 Vivio Vineyard Bennett Valley Syrah ($53). “I sell more of it in Sonoma than Napa,” he says.

Just around the corner, Herb Quady, scion of sweet wine from Madera, pours a dry Quady North 2012 Rosé ($14). With pink grapefruit flavor and sizzling acidity, this quaff from “the state of Jefferson” reminds me of a recent tank sample of Santa Rosa’s Argot Wines’ 2012 Grenache Rosé—both made as rosé from the outset, not byproducts of a red wine. Look for more of this refreshing, honest style of rosé this spring.

Over here, I’m hailed by Chuck Mansfield, who, charged with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production at Hop Kiln (Swirl, Oct. 5, 2011), also finds time to make a 2011 El Dorado Grenache ($18) at Four Fields Wines, the winery he owns. With all the success that Martinelli Winery has had with Pinot and Zin, only a jackass would persist with Syrah like the 2009 Zio Tony Ranch Russian River Valley Syrah ($75), with its seriously smoky, sauvage aromas . . . Mmm, but hey, isn’t that a lot for a Syrah? Not for a pretty good Côte-Rôtie, it’s not. You want value, listen to what Kieran Robinson has to say about California Syrah’s current fan base: “It’s a wine lover’s wine.” Folks pay good money for marketing messages like that, and he’s just giving it away.

Rhone Rangers, Albion. 800.467.0163. www.rhonerangers.org.

Land of Rising Son

Movies

Richard von Busack

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Apr 3, 2013

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The dubbed version of the feature-length cartoon From Up on Poppy Hill, co-written by master animator Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son, Goro, has a taste of expurgation. In 1963, Umi (voiced by Sarah Bolger), a high school girl from the green outskirts of Yokohama, is working hard in the kitchen of her grandmother’s boarding house, her father having been killed under unexplained circumstances.

The post-WWII relations between Korea and Japan are a loaded subject, dense with mutual prejudice. If indeed these are the details that are missing—because something is certainly missing—they explain the nature of the family secrets keeping Umi and her lover, Shun (voiced by Anton Yelchin), apart.

Shun has a political cause: the ancient, rickety student union called “the Quarter Latin” is scheduled to be demolished, and he and his friends want to save it. This old firetrap is a symbol, naturally; as in so many Studio Ghibli films, the tension lies between renovating the past and cherishing tradition. The movie is staged during a beautifully chosen moment of transition—the months right before the Tokyo Olympiad. (Goro Miyazaki was a landscape architect before joining the family business; watching From Up on Poppy Hill, the old career seems significant—the movie is full of vistas.)

With affection and loving detail, Goro Miyazaki shows this realm behind the crossed young lovers, who navigate it on a bicycle. And there’s the perfect evocative song accompanying them, “Ue o Muite Arukou” sung by Kyu Sakamoto—best known as “Sukiyaki.”

The film is bittersweet, and at its best recalls Meet Me in St. Louis. But to watch From Up on Poppy Hill is to realize that a style is coming to an end. It’s not just that no one is making movies like this anymore; it’s that, soon, nobody is going to be making movies like this at all.

‘From Up on Poppy Hill’ is playing at the Century Regency, 280 Smith Ranch Road, San Rafael. 415.479.6496.

Critical Justice

Open Mic

Judy Walenta

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Apr 3, 2013

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I am a white woman who jogs. Sometimes I jog after dark. I was active in the ’60s Civil Rights movement. I went to jail in order to integrate schools and lunch counters. I testified against New York transit officers who participated in the fatal beating of an African-American art student in 1983. I have spent most of my life opposing racism in its many insidious forms. My daughter’s father is African-American. My daughter is bi-racial.

The film The Central Park Five, recently screened at the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, tells the story of five young men of color who were wrongfully convicted of brutally attacking a young, white, female investment banker who was jogging after dark in New York’s Central Park in 1989. Fortunately, through some miracle, she survived and eventually recovered. The five happened to be in the park that night. They were arrested and coerced into confessing. Later they recanted. Convicted by the press and the courts, each served between seven and 13 years in jail.

Thirteen years later, the real rapist confessed. The convictions of the five were vacated, but they report being permanently scarred by the experience.

Even with all of the anti-racist work I have done, I drank the Kool-Aid. I believed the press hysteria. I believed the story, created by the press and police, about gangs of teenage boys of color going out on “wilding,” or rampaging, missions. I eyed suspiciously any group of boys of color whom I encountered.

I was not the only one. Most New Yorkers of any race believed it. Protests against the shameless railroading of these five children, ages 14 to 16, were so limited as to be nearly nonexistent. In the film, Craig Wilder, head of MIT’s history faculty, concludes, “We are not very nice people.”

This incident glaringly demonstrates how easily we are manipulated by the media, how quick to mentally judge someone based on a story in the press or on TV—or even on hearsay from another person. We could all benefit from being more discerning about information we cannot verify. Failure to do so could have a devastating effect on the life of an innocent human being.

Judy Walenta is a nurse practitioner living in Sebastopol.

Open Mic is a weekly op/ed feature in the Bohemian. We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write op*****@******an.com.

Mujeres Mandan

Music

Estefany Gonzalez

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Apr 3, 2013

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To those who don’t have an appreciation for ranchera music, it may be hard to imagine why a woman who resembles Mimi from The Drew Carey Show has such a large fan base.

Francisca Viveros Barradas—or, as she prefers to be called, Paquita la del Barrio (“Paquita from the Hood”)—is no stranger to Latino culture. She has nearly 40 albums available and has been broadcast on nearly every Spanish radio station and TV channel.

The reason Paquita is such a big hit in Latino culture is simple: she’s uncut and never afraid to put her thoughts out there. She’s known for her ranchera songs (a sort of Mexican version of country music), in which she sings about her disappointment in men. But instead of sorrowful laments, Paquita’s songs are confrontational, usually referring to men as snakes or vermin.

Paquita is a huge feminist, and insists that “las mujeres mandan“—a woman should have the final say over everything. Because these types of sayings have been known to piss off many men, her fan base mostly consists of other women who, like her, have been done wrong or been mistreated.

Her catch phrase “Me estas oyendo, inútil” roughly means “Are you listening to me, you useless man?” Paquita says this often, both in concert and in several of her songs, and she usually follows it with other comments about men being good for nothing or simply embarrassing.

In her hit “Hombres Malvados,” Paquita comments on serial cheating by both her grandfather and father, and states that she hates all men for “letting out their dogs” and measuring their machismo by their conquests. “Tres Veses,” a song about cheating on her man three times and then tossing him to the curb, was written to make all the “useless men” suffer. And in her biggest hit “Rata de Dos Patas,” she refers to her lover as a filthy two-legged rat who is the scum of life and deserves to die.

Beyond the bleach-blond hair and flashy clothes, Paquita is a symbol of female empowerment with a large audience of Latino women who are tired of the tradition of staying with men who treat them like crap. More remarkably, she began her career in the 1970s, when views like these were seen as outrageous. Paquita encouraged women to reevaluate their self-worth and question Mexico’s then-sexist male culture.

At 65, after over 30 years of performing, Paquita continues to bash men in defense of women everywhere.

Clean Living

Dining

Nicolas Grizzle

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Apr 3, 2013

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In my pre-coffee morning haze, before shower, pants or even sitting upright, I often find myself wondering what breakfast meat I’ll have that day. I very much enjoy eating animal products, but that doesn’t mean I’m married to them. Every once in a while, it’s good to sneak in some earth-grown goodness to balance out my inner lion. It’s a day like this that I’m grateful for Lydia’s Organics.

Lydia’s Organics was founded 18 years ago in Fairfax, when Lydia Kindheart opened what some tell her was California’s first raw restaurant. After a hiatus due to Kindheart’s refocus on catering and wholesale, it reopened nine years ago, adding cooked items to the menu of mostly raw offerings. The journey continued with a move in December 2011 to her current location in Petaluma, relaunching the restaurant to include an events center and community gathering space.

The Sunflower Center hosts classes, concerts, gatherings and a health-centered restaurant. Here, there’s no need to ask—everything on the menu is vegan, gluten-free and organic. About half the menu is raw, as well, a break from the 100 percent–raw philosophy she once embraced. “I want to serve healthy food to people,” says Kindheart. “And some people might not want raw foods.”

Lydia’s best moments are its original ones. The “famous” raw green soup ($3–$5) is an example. A cold and smooth blend of kale, avocado, cucumber, cilantro, ginger, celery, parsley, basil, lemon and dulse seaweed, it’s so refreshing it may be confused for a drink. In fact, says Kindheart, many people do drink it from a glass. As for the taste? “Imagine a salad with everything in it,” she says. “It makes people really feel good.”

Another popular item is Sunflower’s burger patty. This cooked item isn’t trying to fool anyone: “I’m not meat,” it screams, with its red, mushy texture and burst of earthy flavors, “but you’re gonna love me just the same.” Made with quinoa, carrots, beets, celery, kale, parsley, basil, herbs and sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, it’s extremely flavorful and soft, with a consistency between hearty paste and moist cake. The Super Burger ($9) comes with the patty, avocado and cashew “cheez,” which is far better than it sounds. It’s available on a house-made bun or a large, bright green buffkin ($2.50), made of spinach, kale, parsley, sprouted brown rice flour and coconut and sunflower oils. The buffkin serves not only as a light, fluffy, chlorophyll-packed way to contain the wall-to-wall health-fest within but also as an easy way to eat more nutrient-rich greens.

Reinventing well-known dishes by adding vegan substitutes can have mixed results. The Middle Eastern plate ($12.50) features an excellent Greek salad with delicious walnut “kreem” in place of feta. But dolmas made with marinated collards and raw “rice” (in quotes on the menu) are a bit too tough and stringy, and the coconut-almond hummus, paired with crackers, was a bit dry compared to most other versions.

Elsewhere on the menu, the alchemy of vegan substitution works much better. “Cheez” is a strange way to refer to the nut butters in many of Lydia’s dishes; it’s a spreadable, viscous plasma that Kindheart stores in squeeze bottles. Definitely not cheese, it is rich and creamy, and the flavors are complex enough to add another dimension to an entrée—or to be used as a base itself. “I always thought cheese out of a squeeze bottle was pretty awful,” says Kindheart. “And I realized, ‘Oh, I created one!'”

Some products are available to go: snacks like beet chips and kale chips, as well as desserts like cheez cakes, brownies, pies and more, all raw. (It’s good to know there’s someone who can make brownies if the power goes out for a few days). Drinks are another highlight—try the ginger lemonade ($2–$3).

The Sunflower Center is more than a restaurant, with an events calendar bustling with workshops, concerts and, in June, a hemp-history week featuring musician and actor John Trudell.

“I’ve always liked to bring people together,” says Kindheart. Despite (or perhaps because of) the connectedness of people through social media, she says, “people are the loneliest they’ve ever been.”

The interior is inviting, a peaceful environment where it’s easy to strike up a conversation. Calm lighting, open space and friendly people are natural stress relievers, as is a session on an air chair; these one-person hammocks melt away the harping voice of a clueless boss better than any violent daydream or mocking web comic.

Between the food and atmosphere, the whole experience at Lydia’s feels like an unmanned therapy session—a way to cleanse the body and refresh the head. It’s a lullaby for my inner lion, letting the beast take a well-deserved rest.

Lydia’s Organics and the Sunflower Center, 1435 N. McDowell Blvd., Ste. 100, Petaluma. 707.792.5300.

Letters to the Editor: April 2, 2013

Letters to the Editor

Bohemian.com

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Apr 3, 2013

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Breaking: Fluffy Is Alive and Well

James Knight mentioned in his recent article about Buena Vista Winery the fact that a colony of feral cats lived on the grounds for generations (Swirl, March 27). But the story of that colony is missing, and there is one glaring inaccuracy.

The origination of the colony, or “clowder,” can be found in the museum of neighboring Bartholomew Park Winery, where there are displays about the history of the cat colony and pictures of the cats in the home of Robert C. and Kate Birdsall Johnson, who built a monstrous Gothic Victorian “castle” on the property in 1880.

Kate Johnson would today be considered a cat hoarder, but at the time, as she was rich, she was considered “eccentric.” Mrs. Johnson had a home in which she could easily accommodate and properly care for several dozen Persian and Angora cats; in fact, they occupied one entire floor of the mansion.

Local legend had it that Kate hoarded as many as 200 cats, but according to F. Turner Reuter Jr., author of Animal and Sporting Artists in America (2008), “at the time of her death [she] had thirty-two cats and may have had as many as forty-six at one point.” Reuter wrote about Austrian artist Carl Kahler, a cat and horse painter of international reputation who was commissioned by Kate for $5,000 to paint a portrait of her 42 cats in 1891. Kahler was living in San Francisco from 1890 to 1893, and his portrait was life-sized, measuring 6-by-8.5 feet, and is titled My Wife’s Lovers.

To “amuse” the cats, Kate Birdsall also kept parrots and cockatoos, and even housed on the property “donkeys imported from Jerusalem, said to be descended from the one that Christ rode.”

Her husband preceded her in death in 1889 (leaving her in his will half his estate and the castle), and their adopted and disabled daughter, Rosalind, died of tuberculosis in 1890. All alone in the castle now with her cats, Kate stipulated in her own will that the castle and a full third of her estate should pass, upon her death (which occurred in 1893), to the local Roman Catholic archdiocese to be used as a home for disadvantaged women. But she also bequeathed $20,000 to a distant relative to use to care for the cats in perpetuity.

The relative took care of the cash, but the cats may have been left to care for themselves. The church let the property sit untouched until 1920, at which point it was sold to the state of California, which used the so-called Johnson Castle as the “State Farm for Delinquent Women,” namely prostitutes, drug addicts, con artists and petty thieves. One of the “wayward women” supposedly torched the mansion in 1927. It burned to the ground, and the Johnson cats were forced to live in the wild on the property as a feral clowder.

Now, as for Fluffy, the last member of the Johnson clowder to survive on the property, Mr. Knight reports that Fluffy “passed away only months ago.” This is incorrect.

I used to visit Buena Vista Winery four days a week when I was hosting tours aboard the Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley. Fluffy and I became friendly, and I often told the staff that one day I should take her home to live with me and my husband and our cat and dogs. When the winery’s renovation began, staff members came to me and said, “Jean Charles [Boisset] said we have to get Fluffy off the property. Will you please take her home?”

So, as a matter of fact, Fluffy Birdsall Johnson, the last surviving member of the historic Johnson clowder living ferally on the former Buena Vista Ranch and Bartholomew Park, is still alive and well, living at my house in Petaluma since Jan. 16, 2012.

Thank you for your attention.

—Christopher Linnell

Petaluma

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Editor’s note: Christopher’s letter has prompted this reply

I just read Christopher Linnell’s letter to the editor and then checked out the original Buena Vista Winery article by James Knight. I know something about the history of Buena Vista Winery as I was a co-author of the winery’s National Register Nomination (1986) and historical consultant to Bartholomew Park Winery in 1994 when they created their museum. I have been researching Kate Johnson’s life for many years. I would like to make a few corrections/additions to the submitted information. Robert C. Johnson and his father, George C. Johnson, were investors and trustees of the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society; Robert Johnson’s purchase of Buena Vista in December 1879 was directly related to recovering that investment. (The historical significance of the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society (1863-1879) is described in the National Register narrative; Agoston Haraszthy’s active role in the BVVS corporation lasted only three years (1863-1866).)

The Johnsons’ primary residence was in San Francisco but they owned extensive properties elsewhere, including a suburban retreat in Menlo Park. Robert Johnson turned his attention to building a mansion at Buena Vista in the early 1880s. His idea was apparently to build a country estate similar in the style of other wealthy San Francisco “capitalists.” He was also interested in pure bred animals, keeping several “blood” race horses on the ranch.

Mrs. Johnson was known to have kept a favorite cat most of her life, but her cat “collection” appears to have started around 1883 when she began buying Angoras in Europe. She did indeed leave $20,000 to Helen Shellard to care for her cats but there was some delay in the legal transfer. The Sonoma Index-Tribune (Dec. 15, 1894) reported “the thirty Angoria (sic) cats that belonged to the late Mrs. Johnson are snugly housed…on Telegraph Hill, San Francisco.” In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle (March 13, 1894), Miss Shellard explained she had visited Buena Vista after Mrs. Johnson’s death and found the “valuable Angora cats in a sad state of neglect.” She brought 32 cats (not 200, she emphasized), to her home, spending part of the inheritance converting rooms for the animals. There is no indication in either newspaper article that any cats were ever set free on the grounds in the interim. Because the Kate Johnson estate remained in probate for several years, the residence property was used first by family members, then as a resort. In 1906, all of the remaining property was sold at auction. A sbsequent attempt to create a real estate subdivision failed and the remaining owners, Henry & Augustine Cailleaud, sold a large portion to the state of California in 1920.

When Kate Johnson died in December 1893, one third of her estate was willed to the Catholic Church to found Mary’s Help Hospital in San Francisco, now the Seton Medical Center in Daly City. Mrs. Johnson had researched the latest innovations in health care and hospital architecture, made recommendations concerning the original hospital board and staff, and designated certain income producing properties to be used for financial support. A highly intelligent woman, it’s unfortunate that she has been labeled an eccentric. Kate Johnson’s charitable and cultural contributions to the Bay Area were significant.

Barbara Skryja

Forestville

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In Defense of Capitalism

I was enjoying the latest issue of your publication until I read “The Cost of Privilege” by Carl Patrick (Open Mic, March 13). The article was all right, until I got to the last sentence. His statement that “it’s time to get free of capitalism” bothered me. Yes, capitalism isn’t perfect, but you wouldn’t have a newspaper without capitalism. If I were an advertiser of yours I think I would be upset that such statements are made in the Bohemian.

—Rick Call

Via online

Hi Rick, thanks for writing. Open Mic is an op/ed section where readers are free to express their opinion.—The Ed.

Write to us at le*****@******an.com.

A Fair Pour

News

Rachel Dovey

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Apr 3, 2013

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According to Arthur Hartunian, it’s easier to operate a microdistillery in socially conservative Utah than in California.

Hartunian is president of the California Artisanal Distillers Guild, a collective of beverage makers taking aim at the Golden State’s byzantine hard-alcohol laws, some of which are downright counterintuitive. For example, distillers cannot sell their product directly to consumers. With one kind of license, a type 4, they can offer tastings, but they can’t charge for them. This creates a scenario akin to walking into Russian River Brewing Company, sampling a very small amount of Pliny and then being told that nobody can order a pint, or visiting a winery tasting room and being barred from buying a bottle of wine.

“It’s been extremely crippling to my business,” says Marko Karakasevic, owner of Charbay in St. Helena and another member of the guild. “This year is our 30th anniversary. For 30 years, I’ve never been able to sell a single bottle to anyone coming to our distillery.”

Instead, California distillers are bound to what’s known as a three-tier system. They sell to distributors. Distributors sell to retailers and bars. Bars can then serve the vodka or scotch to the fair consumer. All these middlemen increase costs, and for makers of hard alcohol, cutting out these middlemen is illegal.

Partially, this is due to a well-meaning but antiquated bit of legislation left over from Prohibition.

“A lot of the social problems that led to Prohibition were the result of cross-ownership,” says Matthew Botting of the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control, describing a time when temperance leagues targeted saloons for the commonly attendant gambling, prostitution and theft.

Coming out of the national dry spell, states like California imposed regulations that, in the ’30s, made cultural sense, the idea being “to mitigate the relationship between alcohol manufacturers and retailers, to limit the economic motive of retailers to sell as much alcohol as possible,” Botting says.

But fast-forwarding 80 years, a simple question must be asked: If liquor laws for winemakers and brewers have changed, why not for distillers?

Higher alcohol content is a factor, according to the ABC. But there’s something else causing this lopsided regulatory system, which even the state regulator describes as “restrictive.”

[page]

“The wine industry has a strong economic industrial base,” Botting says.

According to Botting, this simply means that the wine industry “has more political influence. We [ABC] don’t go out to the State Legislature. It’s an industry-driven legislative process, and [the wine industry] has been more involved in that process over the years, and thus has affected more change.”

The microdistillery industry, on the other hand, is still small; according to Hartunian, there are only around 30 craft distillers in California.

“It comes down to money,” Hartunian says. “If you’re bigger, you can make more changes that will benefit your industry.”

Hartunian says that several bills have been crafted to address the three-tier system for distillers in the past, but none has even made it to the floor for a vote. He believes national distribution companies like Southern Wine & Spirits, which reported $9 billion in revenue in 2011, have a vested interest in keeping the system intact.

The guild is currently backing AB 933, a bill introduced by Assemblymembers Nancy Skinner and Isadore Hall, which would allow distilleries to operate tasting rooms that charge for samples. The bill does not delve further into the three-tier system.

“The three-tier system is fine,” Karakasevic says. “We need our distributors, but the reality is that microdistilleries are businesses and should be able to sell their own product. So let me have my products available to taste and let me sell them, and therefore pay my distributors more money.”

Hartunian says the guild envisions a California-sourced microdistillery scene, in which Golden State farmers and distillers work together to create a product that is completely California-made. To help in the legislative process, the guild has contracted with lobbying firm DiMare, Van Vleck & Brown, which represents companies that aren’t exactly players in the go-local scene; the firm also represents Safeway and multinational manufacturer Siemens Corporation, among others.

“They have good relationships with the distributors and are able to make our pitch,” Hartunian explains. “We have the need for an experienced, well-connected lobbying firm to help us navigate some of the political waters that we don’t have experience in, being a smaller, younger industry.”

As it is now, he says, “we’re unable to help [our distributors] help us. We want to apply the business model that has worked for wineries and breweries. Distillers are getting the short end of the stick.”

Pieces of April

Theater

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Apr 3, 2013

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Sometimes, a change of scenery is all that’s needed to alter a gloomy outlook. It doesn’t hurt when that change includes old Italian castles and a great deal of wisteria.

The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim’s forgotten 1922 novel, might not be known at all today were it not for the 1992 film adaptation starring Miranda Richardson, Alfred Molina and Joan Plowright. It was that low-budget charmer by director Mike Newell that fluttered into the hearts of moviegoers, making possible playwright Matthew Barber’s magical stage adaptation in 2003. A hit on Broadway, it came out of nowhere to take the Tony for best new play. And now it comes to the Ross Valley Players, running through April 14.

Enchanted April is the story of four very different British women who are joined together by a newspaper ad inviting renters to a fortnight in Italy. Nicely directed by Cris Cassell, with a dash of puppy love and a pinch of old-fashioned farce, Enchanted April features strong performances, an eye-pleasing set and even a tasteful bit of (very funny) nudity. A story of unexpected transformations, this irresistible offbeat charmer is a trip well worth visiting. For showtimes and prices, see wwwrossvalleyplayerscom.

Planting Ideas

Books & Literature

Estefany Gonzalez

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Apr 3, 2013

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Hairy arms, legs and your boyfriend’s hairy ass—these aren’t the only similarities between humans and chimps, according to Jane Goodall.

Goodall should know—she spent 45 years studying wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. Since, she’s spent a large portion of her time devoted to advocacy on behalf of chimpanzees, established the Jane Goodall Institute, written numerous books and even had a Simpsons character based on her. And somehow, in the midst of her many projects, Goodall found time to write a new book, Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants.

A book on plants might seem unlikely from the woman known for going ape, but Goodall’s love for botany started at a young age, when she spent her days climbing trees and making elderberry wine with her grandmother. Her book introduces readers to botanists around the world, unveils the secret world of plants, and discusses the potential plants contain for healing the human body and the planet. Presented by Copperfield’s Books, Goodall appears in Santa Rosa on Saturday, April 6, at the Santa Rosa High School Auditorium. 1235 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. 8pm. $35 includes book. 707.578.8938.

Cover Me

Music

Gabe Meline

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Apr 3, 2013

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Sure, we knew there were some creative musicians out there who might enter our Neutral Milk Hotel cover song contest. But how could we have expected what musical treasures you, dear readers, sent in?

There was the in-the-red, gleefully distorted version of “Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone” sent in by Ted Farber, and the horn-flavored version of “A Baby for Pree / Where You’ll Find Me Now” by Chris Alarie. John Gaby’s autotuned “Communist Daughter” changed the time signature to 6/8 with a circus feel, and Brian O’Connor played with chromatics and fretboard slides in a version of “The King of Carrot Flowers, Part II.” We even got a crazy cut-and-paste edit called “Two-Headed Sex Machine Man” from Ricardo M’ohaire that chopped together samples of James Brown, Neutral Milk Hotel and various spoken-word recordings.

But when it came time to select a winner, we went with Dustin Heald’s imaginative cover of “You’ve Passed,” played on guitar, darbuka, zils and melodica. Without trying to emulate the letter of Mangum’s delivery, the version captures the slight Middle Eastern spirit of the intro lick and takes the song to another place entirely. Congratulations, Dustin, you’ve won two tickets to Jeff Mangum’s sold-out show at the Phoenix Theater on Tuesday, April 9.

Hear Dustin’s winning cover song here.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their songs!

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Rhone Rangers Ride Again

Land of Rising Son

Critical Justice

Mujeres Mandan

Clean Living

Letters to the Editor: April 2, 2013

Breaking: Fluffy Is Alive and Well

Editor’s note: Christopher’s letter has prompted this reply

In Defense of Capitalism

A Fair Pour

Pieces of April

Planting Ideas

Cover Me

Rhone Rangers Ride Again

Land of Rising Son

Critical Justice

Mujeres Mandan

Clean Living

Letters to the Editor: April 2, 2013

A Fair Pour

Pieces of April

Planting Ideas

Cover Me