Constructing the Perfect Cowboy*
The 102nd California Rodeo Salinas inspires an attempt to corral all ideal cowboy qualities in one place.
*Cowgirls aren’t nearly as feasible to understand and equip. While barrel racers deserve their own diagram – and epic cowboy poem – they’d be far too complex for the burro-brains at the Weekly. We are ...
Take the Reins
A peek at the weekend’s rodeo schedule
Mamas, you may not want to let your babies grow up to be cowboys. But you gotta let them play the part for a week because – between the petting zoo and the rope tricks, ...
Issues / 2012 / July 19
Letters To The Editor 7.19.12
Unhappy Trails If the trails had not been continually used for the past two decades they would have been overgrown by now (“EPA tells FORA to man the fort, threatens to close off public access,” ...
Parsing Waters
Peninsula mayors consider staff, budget for new JPA water; Burnett cozies up to PUC.
Dip your toe in the waters of desalination, and you’d best hire an attorney. That’s the message from Monterey City Attorney Christine Davi to City Manager Fred Meurer in a July 5 memo regarding the ...
The Dark Knight Rises
Darkest Knight: With the most anticipated release of the summer, Christopher Nolan reveals there are no heroes in Gotham.
This may be the darkest, the grimmest, the most depressing summer popcorn movie ever. It is not summery. It is not popcorny. There is no adventure here. There is no escapism. There is only grinding ...
For Wheels
Amtrak’s Route 21 bus transports locals to San Francisco smoothly and speedily.
Our private driver has us flying up the 280 North, the very Junipero Serra Freeway understandably described by its signage as the World’s Most Beautiful Freeway. Even with a stop to pick up some friends, ...
Brezsny's Astrology July 19-25, 2012
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Acro-Yoga is a relatively new physical discipline. According to a description I read on a flier in Santa Cruz, it “blends the spiritual wisdom of yoga, the loving kindness of massage, ...
Forward March
A new documentary – and an exchange with now-legendary enviroactivist Bill McKibben – illuminate how we go about
In the sustainable-business documentary Fixing the Future, which just got its simulcast debut in Monterey Wednesday, host David Brancaccio is asked a heavy question: “Do people exist to serve the economy, or should the economy ...
By The Numbers 7-19-12
Real Estate
$315,500 Recent Sale 1165 Rousch Ave., Seaside Built: 1961 Size: 1,244 square feet Features: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2-car garage Amenities: Fireplace, large yard, RV/boat parking, ceiling fans Seller: Deutsche Bank Buyer: Earl Kennel Broker: ...
‘Fast Foodies’
Stunning developments in the world of Burger King and Taco Bell are a call to arms/forks.
The first hint something surreal was coming was the sign on the chain link fence in front of the Burger King in Seaside. “Closed for remodel” it read. Behind it, the building wasn’t exactly getting ...
Monk-y Meal
A retreat to the Tassajara Zen Center kitchen yields few culinary tips beyond the best one: Cooking is fun.
For someone happy to subsist on mostly brown rice and steamed broccoli, Dale Kent is surprisingly eager to coax as many combinations as possible out of a four-foot shelf of spices and seasonings. Now an ...
Take This Waltz
Unfaithfully Yours: Take This Waltz serves up some great performances but not much else.
Actress/writer/director Sarah Polley – the Canadian indie darling who garnered an Oscar nod for Best Adapted Screenplay last year for her big-screen directorial debut Away From Her – continues to question marriage in her sophomore ...
In the House
Country star Alan Jackson brings his sell-out show to the Salinas Rodeo.
Alan Jackson has more Country Music Association awards than Lil Wayne has gold teeth. The country music star apparently also had more square footage in his house – 18,600 square feet to be exact. Jackson ...
Just a Number
Songwriting only gets easier for local favorite Tom Faia.
Age doesn’t seem to slow down luminaries like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Neil Young. Tom Faia appears similarly unphased by life beyond 50. “Sometimes writers lose their creative spark with age,” says the singer, ...
Civil Duties
Monterey County Jail reduces costs by hiring non-sworn officers.
In order to put more deputies on the streets and cut costs, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office is partially staffing the jail with civilians to watch over inmates. The position for what’s called a Custody ...
Wide Awake
Asleep at the Wheel has pushed through hardships to remain one of the most well respected Texas swing groups in the game.
Towering 6’7” Ray Benson doesn’t really know why his band Asleep at the Wheel has lasted more than 40 years. “We’ve had about a hundred folks come in and out of this band over the ...
Trashing Waste
County wants out of Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, despite vision to end landfills.
Trash will be obsolete within a few decades if the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority has its way. “Our approach is to get out of the landfill business,” says Assistant General Manager Jose Gamboa. “We ...
Delta Deception
California’s booming salmon season belies the species’ precarious future
As Monterey County’s own water troubles persist, the Bay Delta’s water battle also rages on – with a species and a local industry that depends on it hanging in the balance. California is currently experiencing ...
As the American economy reels, Romney still reaping millions from Bain’s vulture capitalism.
Poor Mitt Romney. Well, not that poor. The wealthiest man ever to secure a major party nomination for the presidency is crying foul because President Barack Obama’s campaign has dared to explain how Romney made ...
An unapproved trip into the belly of Monterey Downs.
I am standing in the middle of what, in a few years, might be the parking lot of the low-income housing that Brian Boudreau and his partners have planned as part of the equestrian-themed development ...
Speak Out, Squid
BOOTS ON… In summer, a young Squid’s fancy turns to thoughts of bronc busting and bull riding, and while Squid has been refused entry as a contestant to the California Rodeo Salinas (“All those tentacles ...
Words Have Power
Academy award-winning Dustin Lance Black returns to support the local premiere of his artistic activism with 8.
Four years ago, the most heated contest in the November elections in California – after Obama-Biden v. McCain-Palin – was over these 14 words: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or ...
Street Talk 07.19.12 (asked @ Seaside City Center.)
What’s the most daredevil thing you’ve done?
Follow-up: What’s the most daredevil thing you’ve done? STEVE HUNTER | Repair Man | Santa Cruz A: Riding horses bareback in the rodeo. I would want to experience all the adrenaline and excitement. Fast Wheels: ...
Get Involved
Public Citizen 7.19.12
ONGOING PAINT THE TOWN | MONTEREY—Art in the Adobes is looking for artists to participate in the plein air art festival. Spend a day painting your favorite site, then display and sell art the following ...
