2004

TOP 10 SONGS ON THE PIG

10. “Diggin’ On The Road,” by Sonia Dada. Here’s a band that made an impressive impact on The Pig this year. Sonia Dada is great harmonies and an original sound. 9. “Ashgrove,” Dave Alvin. Dave ...

TOP 10 PERSONAL MOMENTS

(Hold on, what happened to 1994, or 1984 or 1974—where did they all go?) 10. A project that is just underway, with a September completion, is the putting together of a photo show of images ...

The Time Machine

The State Theater will temporarily re-animate its grandeur on New Years Eve.

At the time of its opening in 1926, the State Theater could hold a third of the population of Monterey. The city was, of course, much smaller then, and the seats were tightly packed. In ...

831: Home-aid

Local program fills in the gaps for Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Terri Nash has lived with Multiple Sclerosis for the past 35 years of her life. Now in her 50’s, she has undergone the slow and painful deterioration that all MS patients eventually experience, losing function ...

TOP 10 MOST CHERISHED FREEDOMS

10. Freedom to have children. 9. Freedom to go to school. 8. Freedom to create and enjoy arts. 7. Freedom to read/free libraries. 6. Freedom from search and seizure. 5. Freedom to enjoy public lands, ...

TheaterListings

| theater now playing | Buddy: The Tribute Concert Sat 7:30pm; Sun 2pm and 7pm. PacRep’s hit returns in concert form. Held over into January due to overwhelming response. $35/adults; $25/seniors; $20/students, teachers, military, children. ...

Smith Goes Global

Founding CSUMB president brings ideas about reforming education to UN post.

The day after announcing that he was leaving his eleven-year position as founding President of California State University Monterey Bay, Dr. Peter Smith and his wife Sally got up at dawn and loaded up their ...

DiscSpace

EMINEMEncore | Aftermath Records It’s no surprise that Encore is already sitting at number one on the charts—whatever Eminem has to say, it seems that a lot of people are always willing to listen. It’s ...

Meet the Sequel

Potty humor is abundant in this follow-up to the 2000 movie Meet the Parents.

You can Fockerize Meet the Parents all you want, but this new movie is nothing more than a lame sequel to the comic hit of 2000. Added to this new mix is merely another set ...

HomePage

Sweet Repose in Carmel

Noah and Ian Trosky are brothers, Candace and Amy their wives, and together they make a team of home remodelers called T.N.T. Painting and Decorating. They call the house they’ve just completed ‘Apple Pie.’ It’s ...

TOP 10 ITEMS ON ANARCHIST/NIHILIST TO DO LIST

10. Wait for a dark night. Take whatever car you can get your hands on and drive it out to Laguna Seca. Make high-speed victory laps and don’t slow down until it runs out of ...

TOP 10 WORST HOLIDAY GIFTS

(available in Hammacher Schlemmer catalog)

10. Double Decker Pet Stroller. $249.95. “Now designed for the multi-pet family, our double-decker stroller has two separate carriers mounted vertically to a durable frame that’s easy to push and folds easily for storage.” Fluffy ...

FoodChain

This Will Be Our Year

It’s funny how we humans celebrate New Year’s. Most of our celebrations are for old years—birthdays, our own and those of more prominent folks; the time years ago when a group of people may have ...

TOP 10 SCIENCE STORIES FROM LOCAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

TOP 10 REASONS FOR NOT WORKING OUT

10. I don’t want my thighs to get too thin! 9. Big butts are in...mine’s really in! 8. I already carry 15 extra pounds...who needs to lift weights? 7. Sweating makes my makeup run. 6. ...

TOP 10 PR BLUNDERS

10. At a public meeting, an unnamed county appointee advised concerned residents their comments would be heard better if they “make love to the microphone.” 9. The same aforementioned unnamed county appointee declared a controversial ...

TOP 10 THINGS ONE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BELIEVES IN

10. We like to build new government buildings because we like to see our names on the plaques outside the door. 9. We like to do things the way they should be done, but a ...

TOP 10 ENVIRONMENTAL/WILDLIFE STORIES

10. More grizzlies were killed this year than in previous years. This is a big problem for the bear population. 9. In meetings on opposite sides of the globe, two international bodies called for new ...

TOP 10 MOMENTS IN CONGRESS

10. Getting there: Covered more than 90,000 plane-miles commuting to and from work. 9. Standing in the rain: Attended the opening of the Clinton Presidential Center. 8. Best trip: Took my staff artichoke-picking in Castroville. ...

Strange Seas

Director Wes Anderson takes his latest comedy/drama out to sea.

Even Wes Anderson’s most ardent fans—and I count myself one of them—might scratch their heads at his latest picture, wondering just how to process this fantastical tale of the Jacques Cousteau-like oceanographer, Steve Zissou (Murray), ...

TOP 10 WAYS TO WELCOME 2005

10. We have miles of paths, parks, coastline and scenery. Walk, jog, and hike to explore and experience. 9. Walking-friendly days abound, with an average yearly temperature of 56F. Beat that, Fresno! 8. Yearly rainfall ...

TOP 10 THINGS THAT ITALY SHOULD IMPORT FROM THE MONTEREY PENINSULA (OR THE USA)

10. One decent Mexican restaurant per town. You can only eat great Italian food for so long. 9. Customer service. You don’t know how good it is until you have none. 8. Some of the ...

TOP 10 THINGS THAT THE MONTEREY PENINSULA SHOULD IMPORT FROM ITALY

10. Regional public transit. From the Monterey Peninsula you can’t really go anywhere besides Seaside. 9. Weekly public television shows that focus solely on the oceans (there are two such shows in Italy). 8. A ...

Squid Fry

HOLIDAY SPIRITS… Squid hates to be a Scrooge, but Squid’s relieved the holidays are just about over. Squid’s spent from all of the holiday parties, and Squid’s had a headache mostof December. To top it ...

ArtListings

| openings | events | Artist Loft Co-op January exhibit of co-op members. 700 Cannery Row, Suite RR, Monterey. 655-2222. Ends 1/28. Avery Gallery League of American Pen Women. Reception: 1/14, 7-8:30pm. Seaside City Hall, ...

TOP 10 IRONIES, CHEAP SHOTS AND NIGHTMARES

10. Nightmarish Ironic Cheap Shot. A woman who is proficient with a banjo almost got elected to the state senate. 9. Irony. The same pukes who accused Democrats of playing politics with our nation’s security ...

Bring On the Night

First Night Monterey’s New Year’s celebration jumps into its twelfth year of clean-and-sober fun.

Noisemakers, confetti, bottle upon bottle of champagne and people frantically trying to find the one to be next to by the end-of-the-year countdown. A classic New Year’s Eve scene. But why not bring in the ...

TOP 10 CARMEL FUN FACTS

(See right column for more Top 10 Lists)

10. The City spends approximately $10,000 per year to provide “Mutt Mitts” to pick up after your dog. 9. There is one art gallery for every 34 residents. 8. You need a special permit from ...

Family Resemblances

Great apes exhibit evokes grief.

Ryan Masters Last week, the conservation group WWF International announced that pygmy chimpanzees, one of humanity’s closest living relatives, have been pushed to the brink of extinction in the war-battered Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent ...

Letters

Killing Breeds Hatred Regardless of age, sex, occupation, religious or political affiliation, for every Iraqi killed or maimed by US forces, 50 new anti-Americans are created among families, friends, coworkers and sympathizers. With an estimate ...

NewsBriefs

Drunk-Patrols Out in Force The annual anti-drunk-driving campaign by local law enforcement will be in full effect over the New Year’s holiday. With the New Year falling on a weekend, Monterey cops are expecting to ...

TOP 10 POLITICAL ODDITIES

10. We can no longer feed ourselves. After years of being battered by the rising costs dictated by environmental regulations, American agriculture has finally been brought to its knees. 2004 is the first year in ...

Ring It In

A tour guide of countywide New Year’s Eve parties.

All around the world, people celebrate the New Year in different ways. In Brazil, people wear white clothes for good luck and then go to the beach where they jump over exactly seven waves. Down ...

Forum: Jack Newfield’s Legacy Lives On

Pioneering alternative weekly journalist dies at 66.

In RFK: A Memoir, the finest of the shelf full of books he produced during a career that was as prolific as it was meaningful, Jack Newfield succeeded in explaining the late Robert F. Kennedy ...

Burning Man

Arroyo Seco firefighter indicted in wildland arson.

The neighbor, a nice white-haired lady, thought a get-together was forming across the road at Craig Underwood’s little tan house in Arroyo Seco. Not that he threw raging parties all the time. It’s just that ...

Pass The Fat

Winter season is the time to bulk up on full-flavored foods.

It’s time to dig in for winter. Time to rub our hands together, light candles, and generate warmth and light. It’s time to gather indoors, extend our glasses, and eat fat. Let’s get rid of ...

Street Talk: That Could Have Gone Better...

Asked in Downtown Carmel

Q: Presidential elections aside, what was a real bummer in 2004? Follow-up: What’s your New Year’s resolution? Donald Archer Artist | Cambria A: The mainstream media. I do political commentary for editorials and it’s very ...

Down By The River

Big Sur’s River Inn serves up yummy food in a natural setting.

Rustic, cozy ambience and good food sum up why I like to eat at the Big Sur River Inn. I especially like to eat here during the winter months when the restaurant is less crowded ...

StreetTalk

I’ll Be Home For Christmas - Asked on Cannery Row

Q: What message would you like to send to all the soldiers who will be in Iraq and elsewhere during Christmas? Follow-up: Who should take over for Bob Hope, travelling abroad to entertain the troops? ...

TheaterListings

| theater now playing | Buddy: The Tribute Concert Sat 7:30pm; Sun 2pm and 7pm. PacRep’s hit returns in concert form. Held over into January due to overwhelming response. $35/adults; $25/seniors; $20/students, teachers, military, children. ...

Comfort and Joy

FIX YOUR VERNACULAR… Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas. Ho Ho Ho. It’s amazing how words change meanings almost as quickly as fashions change meanings. Take that word “ho,” for instance. For years, a jingly upbeat ...

NewsBriefs

Bush Forms Ocean Committee Right around ninety days ago, the US Commission on Ocean Policy submitted to Congress and President Bush a massive study on ocean health and management—a report full of suggested changes to ...

Two-Wheeling Spirit

Christmas Eve bike ride is all about silly fun.

For the most part, Christmas spirit is a wildly fraudulent concept in America. In the name of good will towards men, we browse catalogs like hymnals while listening to frantic product descriptions sung to the ...

Christmas Spirit on Tape

The best holiday movies of all time.

It feels a little strange to put on a costume and ask your neighbors for candy in the middle of August. It’s a bit rowdy to drink lots of domestic beer and shoot off loads ...

Flight or Fright

Scorsese and DiCaprio capture the conflicted prime of Howard Hughes.

It’s been seven years since Leonardo DiCaprio woo-hoo’d his way into catchphrase immortality from the prow of a certain doomed ocean liner. After approximately 10 million rotations of “My Heart Will Go On”—not to mention ...

Home for Christmas

The embattled residents of the Rippling River subsidized housing community celebrate a victorious year.

Yellow caution tape covers wooden beams outside, but inside Rippling River’s community room, a handful of residents breathe deeply and listen to soothing flute music. It’s been a stressful year for the seniors and disabled ...

The Best Records of 2004

Sure, 2004 was a breakthrough year for featherweight pop artists like Josh Groban and Ashlee Simpson. And, it is true that horrible rock songs like Nickelback’s “Figured You Out” were in heavy rotation on “alternative” ...

Bright Christmas

Chanticleer returns to the Carmel Mission for its traditional Christmas show.

Words can sound prettier in French. Perhaps it was because of this that Geoffrey Chaucer chose to name his singing rooster of Canterbury Tales “Chanticleer,” uniting the French words “chanter” (pronounced shawn-tay, “to sing”) and ...

ArtListings

SquidFry

IT AIN’T OVER… If this writer thing doesn’t work out for Squid, Squid is going to consider pursuing a career in the fortune telling field. It’s got that air of mystery to it that Squid ...

Forum: The P.U.-litzer Prizes For 2004

When critics say the corporate media have become lapdogs, not watchdogs, this is what they are talking about.

The P.U.-litzer Prizes were established a dozen years ago to provide special recognition for truly smelly media performances. As usual, I’ve conferred with Jeff Cohen, founder of the media watch group FAIR, to sift through ...

HomePage

Hollywood Romance in PG

Michael and Elizabeth Lynberg have a home in Pacific Grove that looks to have been lifted directly from background scenes in James McElroy’s, L.A. Confidential. It’s evocative of black-and-white crime novels set in southern California ...

Fast Reads 101

Love and Death in Brief Blame it on the passions inspired by a trying moment in history. It was a difficult year marked by more war and bad politics—the Weekly’s reader-writers, participating in our annual ...

Forum: Reality-Based Bad News

The real world will not follow the precepts of the Bush administration.

“The aide (a senior advisor to President Bush) said that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study ...

Dark Days

Jim Carrey is the best and worst part of the film adaptation of Daniel Handler’s Lemony Snicket books.

“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off watching some other movie,” warns our narrator, Lemony Snicket. “In this movie,” he continues gravely, “not only is there no happy ...

TheaterListings

| theater opening | Box and Cox 6pm Tues. Continues Wed 6pm. Unicorn Theatre presents the acclaimed Victorian-era drawing room comedy Box and Cox by John Maddison-Mortan. Set in a London boarding house in the ...

Wrong Numbers

SBC Communications has received 50,000 complaints in the last seven years. The nation’s second biggest telephone company doesn’t care.

When it comes to conjuring the darkest strains of consumer venom, when it comes to incurring rage so deep and bloody it makes mature adults spit with anger like petulant children, the worst offender, leading ...

Nirvana Shaped Box

With the Lights Out gets at the music behind the myth.

According to former New York Times critic Neil Strauss, only 11 out of the 30 teenagers he surveyed in a Tower Records in an upscale LA suburb had ever heard of the band Nirvana. That’s ...

Streettalk

Charging Beyond The Call: Asked at Northridge Mall in Salinas

Q: Are you intimidated by phone companies?Follow-up: If you were in charge of a phone company what random fee would you charge your customers?Leigh SchlosserMarketing | King CityA: No. I don’t think about it much. ...

HomePage

New-Again Carmel Classic

Mary Carl and Kris Howard had been friends for more than ten years when they decided to remodel a house together. Although grubstaked by their husbands’ money, the women did the entire project unassisted by ...

Casino Heist Revenge

A star-studded cast of hipster thieves romps through Rome with an oh-so-cool vibe, chased by their last victim.

Let’s be honest: With a cast like this, it doesn’t matter too much what the characters are doing onscreen, or if it makes about as much sense as a monochrome rainbow. Director Steven Soderbergh knows ...

The Final Cut

Salinas City Council bows to the inevitable and shutters its libraries, vowing to find the money to reopen them.

Salinas’ three libraries will close next year as part of painful budget cuts approved by the City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 14. After listening to two hours of heartfelt pleas from teachers, school kids and ...

Holiday Nightlight

PG’s Candy Cane Lane continues a half-century tradition of welcoming Santa to town.

Despite being thousands of miles from the North Pole and hundreds of miles from Disneyland, one Pacific Grove neighborhood has been hosting luminaries like Santa Claus and the Little Mermaid for years. During December, scores ...

In Steinbeck’s Kitchen

The Steinbeck House in Salinas offers homey meals and a chance to tour the author’s birthplace.

On a visit last week to the Steinbeck House Restaurant in Salinas, I snuck a peek into the room where John Steinbeck was born. The 19th century manor immediately made me think of childhood visits ...

Taking Off

Globally-loved local pianist Weber Iago is set to fly.

Weber Iago is starting to break out of his gilded cage. Since arriving on the Peninsula in the early 1990s, the Brazilian pianist has become something of a local institution through his steady gigs at ...

Lawyers and Money

Fees disputed in public records case.

A court hearing last week did not resolve the dispute between public interest attorney Michael Stamp and the city of Monterey in a case that gets at issues of democracy and public access to government ...

Food and Spirit

I don’t sleep much—not as much as most people. Consequently, I experience more of each 24-unit time measurement than a lot of people. I love to watch Don Imus in the wee hours, simulcasting his ...

NewsBriefs

CIA Muckraker Dies As far as scoops go, investigative reporter Gary Webb hit the motherlode back in 1995. In what would become a highly controversial story and also the makings of a book, Webb wrote ...

The Penultimate Gig

The Unknown Jeromes play one more, and then one more. And that’s it.

A few weeks ago, at an Unknown Jeromes show in the Lava Lounge, it was a bit hard to keep track of everything that was happening onstage. During an energetic version of the Bob Marley ...

Never Grow Up

Finding Neverland’s fun-loving star hides darker motivations.

Marc Forster’s movie, Finding Neverland, about J.M. Barrie and the “lost boys” is glossy, floridly sentimental, yet daringly muted. As the playwright, Johnny Depp is at the opposite pole from his pirate mode. This guy ...

Not Half Bad

The Medium bring perky bleakness from Fresno.

Even though the Fresno-based group The Medium has extremely catchy music, don’t expect sunny lyrics from this acoustic rock outfit. On “The Way It Is,” bassist/vocalist Brian Coale sings lyrics like “when you are around ...

The Year in Weird

A year’s worth of strange but true stories from the nation’s daily newspapers.

Let Freedom Reign Optimists International announced the formation of a chapter in Baghdad, Iraq. Fickle Fingers of Fate The International Wheelchair Rugby Federation informed Mark Fosbrook, 28, who has no feet and only two fingers ...

Letters

Curl Up With Some Good TV What’s all the fuss about closing libraries in Salinas? [“Balancing the Books: Deep financial troubles could make Salinas a city with no libraries,” Dec 2-8.] Reading books is vastly ...

Squidfry

YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON…And the rest of it, please. Squid’s all for middle- to late-aged women posing half-naked…wait a minute, maybe Squid’s not. Case in point: the Carmel Fire Belles: a group of ...

ArtListings

DiscSpace

BARENAKED LADIESBarenaked for the Holidays | Desperation/Nettwerk Did anybody see this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade? My favorite part was watching Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page attempt to lip-sync one of these songs (nobody actually sings ...

Winter Vacation Reading List

Issues / 2004

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