0414| Apr 14

Indiana Jones, Jr.

Based on the popular Clive Cussler book, Sahara may be asinine, but it’s also goofy good fun, a pre-summer popcorn actioner that strips away Cussler’s veneer of rank conservatism and Boys’ Own shenanigans in favor ...

FOODCHAN: Perfect Seasoning

TAKE A DEEP BREATH… Whooah, what a meal at the American Culinary Federation Monterey Bay Chapter Chef of the Year Dinner (man, that name has got to be shorter)—which reminds me: Am I alone in ...

Newsbriefs

Big Waves Win Two of the five finalists for the 2005 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards were ridden last month at the spot dubbed “Ghost Tree” off Pescadero Point in Pebble Beach. The annual ...

Graduation Tracks

CSUMB’s music scene moves off campus and onto a new CD.

Finally, the youthful creativity of the CSU Monterey Bay student body is seeping into Monterey’s music scene. In recent months, bands like Para La Gente, Clockwork, The Nancy Boys and Flojos Nos Visten have ventured ...

HOMEPAGE: Vacationing at Home

Rob and Laura Castro moved to the Monterey Bay area two years ago from Modesto, where Rob had been raised and where Laura’s family was living at the time the couple met. The Castros had ...

Learning To Live

Seaside conference to address African-Americans conquering cancer.

When Seaside resident Renita Cowan speaks of her three-year journey through cancer, it sounds more like a challenging adventure than a tale of woe. Maybe it’s because Cowan—a registered nurse, a widow and a 55-year-old ...

Scary Movie

Strange Days explores the frightening edges of earth science.

A mystery: Lake Chad, in Central Africa, is drying up. Dust clouds rise from the center of the continent and are blown across the Atlantic. In Trinidad, 5,100 miles away, asthma rates among children skyrocket, ...

Wired on the Water?

Monterey Coast Guard personnel investigated for illegal drug use.

Several local Coast Guard personnel, whose primary responsibilities include the enforcement of drug laws, may soon be charged with using or possessing illegal drugs, according to a spokesman. Coast Guard District 11 Public Affairs Officer ...

ArtListings

Reading and Riding

Salinas library supporters take a bus to Sacramento.

Salinas school kids sat on the State Capitol steps Tuesday and read The Little Engine That Could. Then they were off to lobby support for Salinas libraries. The children were among the 60 or so ...

Squidfry

YOU’RE FIRED?…Deadlines schmeadlines. Who needs ‘em? Certainly not this mollusk. So be advised, Mr. Editor: No more deadlines. Yes, instead of actually putting ink to paper and running with this here weekly (eh-ehm) advice column, ...

Insider's Guide

Sea Otter Classic '05

With over 200 events in four days, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the veritable hurricane of activity going on at Laguna Seca. Fear not, the Weekly has the angle on the Classic’s can’t miss ...

Hanging on the Ranch

The Mission Ranch plays the roles of lazy Sunday hangout and nighttime hotspot well.

Like a wise elder, the mere mention of Mission Ranch commands a certain respect from both locals and visitors. The exquisite parcel of property has experienced numerous ownerships, a near demise, and a happy ending ...

Streettalk

This is the End, My Friend: Asked at Del Monte Center in Monterey

Q: Between Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II we’ve been forced to think a lot about death lately. Do you believe death is something to be afraid of?Follow-up: Who is someone you wish was ...

FORUM: Salinas Deserves National Attention

All of America needs to see what it means to spend billions on an unwise war while ignoring our cultural necessities.

I was glad to open The New York Times on April 4 and see the headline: “In Steinbeck’s Birthplace, a Fight to Keep the Libraries Open.” After visiting Salinas, Calif., over the weekend, I was ...

OUTSIDE: Single-Track Minds

Off Road to Athens documents eight mountain bikers’ Olympic quest.

Rare is the athlete that can call Lance Armstrong a softie. Yes, Armstrong rides 3,000 some kilometers over a couple weeks every year in France. And the guy beat cancer. But Armstrong rides on paved ...

Out There

Stellar performances by Joan Allen and Jim True-Frost anchor the quirky

Off the map is right. After kicking around the festival circuit for two years, this intriguing ensemble dramedy finally gets a limited release. It’s not perfect and strives too hard to be quirky (consider a ...

Keeping It New

After more than 50 years as a somewhat controversial jazz icon, Dave Brubeck still brings fresh stuff to the mix.

At 84, Dave Brubeck still delights in the new. I was reminded of this enduring, perhaps defining quality of the legendary pianist and composer several years ago at the close of the prestigious Festival International ...

TheaterListings

Letters

Correction Two weeks ago, the Weekly printed a mistake uttered by the legendary journalist Bill Moyers in a December, 2004 speech at Harvard University. Apparently, the Weekly’s editors had overlooked an online explosion that Moyers ...

Game On

Computer gaming fanatics come out of the basement to visit Tweak’T.

In the arctic blue lighting of Tweak’T, a computer gaming center located on Foam Street in Monterey, Ben Middlebrook stares intently at a 24-inch computer screen. Middlebrook’s playing the military action game Call of Duty, ...

Big Happy Music

Big Happy Music Extra Large’s funk tunes are insistently upbeat.

While watching lead singer/multi-instrumentalist Russ Leal of Santa Cruz band Extra Large prowl the stage of Sly McFly’s at the group’s last Monterey show, the fellow next to me makes a pronouncement. “There’s a good ...