Thursday, October 25
Squid
Squid considers the following to be sublime examples of unintentional humor: The sentence "Exciting technology for the parking industry." The existence of a magazine called Parking Today. That publication''s rivalry with Parking Professional Magazine. But ...
Press groups plead for adequate coverage rules.
A number of national press organizations, including the California First Amendment Coalition, last week sent an open letter to President Bush, Congress and Pentagon officials formally seeking a relaxation of government restrictions on war reporting. ...
A fresh history of Monterey County gives voice to stories too long ignored.
Two men from Scotland came to Monterey in the 19th century. One stayed the rest of his life and profoundly shaped the area''s economic landscape. The other stayed three months and kept to himself, ill ...
Stackabones brings two decades' worth of eclecticism to Blue Fin.
The band Stackabones has a name that is both revealing and subtle. Taken at face value, it''s easy to guess the band to be musically related to The Grateful Dead-which is a pretty accurate guess. ...
Best Wishes...
BEST WISHES...When Pebble Beach lays off 170 employees, you know things are not normal around here. It was unfortunate to hear about the cutbacks at our largest employer of service industry personnel. Among the axed ...
A recycled art contest yields inventive results.
The Monterey Regional Waste Management District specializes in redemption; last year "the dump" diverted 38 percent of 335,000 tons of refuse into recycling programs, taking society''s least deniable source of shame and giving it renewed ...
First harvest comes to an Arroyo Seco vineyard.
831 Tales of the Area Code For three years the vines of syrah, primativo and sangiovese grapes at Mesa del Sol flourished and grew. When they first arrived at the dusty 14-acre farm in Arroyo ...
Monterey will soon be home to a new state-of-the-art breast cancer facility, thanks to some women who beat the disease.
Nancy Porteous-Thomas can''t seem to escape her reputation as a breast cancer activist--which is fine by her. Hopeful donors, eager to contribute money to the soon-to-be-built Breast Care Center, seek her out, checks in hand. ...
Despite solid performances, Riding in Cars with Boys' uneven script makes for rough driving.
This rendering of Beverly Donofrio''s autobiographical book about a woman who believes in her literary abilities, and has faith that she can overcome the unplanned detours life has dealt her, is a scattershot affair. Filled ...
By Aaron S. Birk
street talk The world of fashion always seems to change. In a way, the models strutting their stuff on catwalks dictate what the world will look like. As trends go in and out of fashion, ...
7219
thursday 10|25 The Best Medicine UNKNOWN JEROMES It''s next to impossible to give a credible description of this five-piece band''s sound. Their style of music is a completely original fusion of funk, reggae, jazz, and ...
Steinbeck and Hartnell celebrate D& %s;a de Los Muertos.
Most Americans are not forced to come into contact with death very often. We place our sick and dying in hospitals and we shunt our elderly into retirement homes. Many of us have moved far ...
Hot Picks 10/25-10/31
thursday 10|25 The Best Medicine UNKNOWN JEROMES It''s next to impossible to give a credible description of this five-piece band''s sound. Their style of music is a completely original fusion of funk, reggae, jazz, and ...
There's something sexy in the way Tita's Cafe gives downhome Mexican cuisine an uptown twist.
The sign outside Tita''s says "Mexican Home Cooking," and the family that runs the place takes that simple slogan seriously. The dining room is cozy and bright with windows opening into a little Carmel courtyard. ...
A 15-year-old sailor from Carmel Valley has the competition on the run.
Over the weekend, the best high school sailors in the region swooped into Monterey to compete in the Northern California (NorCal) Sailing Association Championship Series. A young 15-year-old sailor from Carmel Valley named Nick Ward ...
United we stand--in the unemployment line.
Before the translator can even finish asking the question, Porfirio Amaya answers simply and rapidly, "Nada." The translator, Sergio Rangel, is a bespectacled American-flag-pin-wearing organizer for the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) Local ...
Sally's Gap invades a new venue.
His shaved head glistening with sweat, an intense scowl on his face, Greg McElroy, lead singer for Sally''s Gap, drove into the front row of dancers like a warrior poet leading his troops into battle. ...
Grow Up, Buy A Honda
It seems that the current administration lacks vision when it comes to our energy policy. I understand that we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but why not take it a step further ...
The Packard Foundation has made a mark on global philanthropy, nowhere more profoundly than in Monterey County.
The Packard family and the biologists are always mentioned in the tale of how the Monterey Bay Aquarium came to be built. But sometimes the tequila gets lost in the plot. "As so many things ...
Noxious Material, On the Other Hand, Fair weather Music
NOXIOUS MATERIAL...Hollywood reacted quickly to the events of September 11, showing remarkable--and well publicized--sensitivity to the situation by postponing or canceling the opening of several films that dealt with terrorism. The opening for Collateral Damage, ...
Thursday, October 18
Wise Up, Pawlick
Did the Salinas High School principal censor the yearbook? "I don''t know what that means," the Weekly quoted him saying in "Principal to a Fault" (Sept. 27). It''s time to learn-especially for a leader who ...
October 18-24, 2001
thursday 10|18Poesía PolíticaMARTIN ESPADA READING Poet Martin Espada grew up in a New York City that was struggling with its melting pot identity. His father fought for the rights of Puerto Ricans, blacks and other ...
Salinas anthropologist Gary Breschini spends his work week scouring the backcountry for ancient rock art left by natives. His findings tell a cryptic tale.
An eagle soars over the wrinkled terrain, banks on an updraft, then swoops down along a rock face. Thick brush clings to the leeward sides of outcroppings; manzanita and wild sage twist in tortured poses ...
Mellow's the mood and perfection's the word at The Big Sur Bakery.
The Big Sur Bakery is very Big Sur. That is to say, it is very California but more so. And so is the Big Sur Bakery''s food. California cuisine means fresh, organic ingredients and simple-yet-innovative ...
Soupy Bush...Feel the Thunder...Make Some Noise...
SOUPY BUSH...Maybe there is something to the theory that television, film and other media influence peoples'' behavior. Last Thursday, I was stunned, startled and stupefied to watch President George W. Bush mimic the comedian Soupy ...
Local officials say threats of terrorism striking locally are exaggerated. But they're ready anyway.
J&S Surplus in Moss Landing has been sold out of two items since the days following the Sept. 11 attacks: gas masks and American flags. Ozzy Cardinale of J&S says the current waiting list for ...
Human Invention
street talk From the dawn of humanity''s rise up to the top of the food chain, we have achieved and failed for the sake of our species. Cavemen once hunched over a flame would soon ...
Top Gun Squid's mailpouch was stuffed this week with the usual bulletins and dispatches from the front.
It was the regular stuff: Hell on Earth, Report from Terror Firma, Apocalypse Today and the City of Marina Planning Commission Agenda. Luckily none of it arrived bearing powders--non-dairy creamer, brown sugar, stardust or spores. ...
Ode to Oak...Speaking of perfectionists...Almost Evergreen...
Ode to Oak...One of my favorite restaurants on the Monterey Peninsula, White Oak Grill, is no more. The quaint and wonderful bastion of freshness, careful preparation, loving service and unyielding quality has been sold. Owners ...
Photographer Wynn Bullock knew how to engage the wondering viewer.
Around the world, two names immediately come to mind at the mention of Monterey area photography: Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. These justly famous pioneers of the West Coast school were obsessed with capturing the ...
A reporter tests an ad campaign against reality and finds the lights are on, but no one's home.
831--tales of the area code Meandering down what has become North Salinas'' residential development main street, drivers can catch a glimpse of what was and what is yet to be. On the two-lane stretch of ...
Liquid 8's music, a cross between heavy metal and punk, is all soul.
There is a new twist to Heavy Metal here in the Monterey music scene. This past spring groups of energetic thrashers stepped up to microphones across the Peninsula and revived the hammering sound of metal ...
Sergio Sanchez, who learned social justice from his parents, will be honored by ACLU.
When you''re looking to get something done, say the friends and co-workers of activist Sergio Sanchez, he''s the "go to" guy. The six-year resident of Monterey County, who has his hands in nearly every local ...
Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett and Bruce Willis shine as "The Sleepover Bandits," a trio of star-crossed lovers.
There''s much to like about Bandits, Barry Levinson''s new film about a romantic triangle that blossoms among a pair of gentlemen bank robbers and a suburban housewife who has grown dissatisfied with her chilly husband ...
Thursday, October 11
Look Who's Talking...Let's Go Get Juiced...Looking the Part..
LOOK WHO''S TALKING...As I continue to study the world situation, it seems more and more apparent that communication between humans--actually, the problems in communication between humans--is the most important component of the overall struggle that ...
Staff Player's season resonates with the nation's somber mood.
The theme for the Staff Players Repertory Company''s season that opens this weekend at the Indoor Forest Theater seems almost hand-picked to correspond with the confused emotions and priorities that the world is experiencing today. ...
By Aaron S. Birk
street talk One aspect of childhood memories is usually the toys and the small things we as little brats did to entertain ourselves. Whether it was a bike or a mountain of Legos with which ...
Mel Edelman's mixed media exhibit explores how surface impressions give way to complicated depths.
Some of life''s most compelling mysteries arise from the inner complexity of people''s minds. In artist Mel Edelman''s most recent exploration of life around him, however, he wanted to examine the simplicities on the surface. ...
Marina neighbors convince sex offenders to go to Salinas.
A vibrating hummingbird pokes at a feeder hung overhead as Tammy Carter sits crunched at a toddler-sized plastic picnic table in her front lawn and talks about the sex offenders who used to live in ...
Ashcroft's anti-terrorism bill--with a few protections for civil liberties--hits House floor.
When the Bush Administration''s hastily assembled anti-terrorism proposal emerged from the House Judiciary Committee on Oct. 1, it dragged behind it a bombastic and revealing name. The Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct ...
Language school expects new demand.
''Where''s A?" asks Gary Munsinger of his wife Mounia as they sit in an upstairs office off Forest Avenue in Pacific Grove. On a table before them is a chart of the Arabic alphabet. There ...
Despite Siamese Bay's generally strong offerings, a few small fix-its would take the restaurant to a new level of quality.
I am a firm believer in sensualism, defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as "the ethical doctrine that the pleasures of the senses are the highest good." As a lifetime member and an extremely sensitive ...
The local economy is slowly recovering from the hard blow it took on September 11.
So few travelers emerged from the Monterey Airport it felt like some remote rural strip. The skycap sat in the sun behind his podium, his cap at a tilt and the radio on. He didn''t ...
Despite fewer performances, the Carmel Performing Arts Festival now has venues spread throughout Monterey County.
If the Carmel Performing Arts Festival is any indication, the city of Carmel is expanding its borders at a rapid rate. Beginning tonight and continuing for the next three weeks, the festival will present more ...
An amateur astrologer ventures to Nepenthe's legendary sign parties.
831-Tales from the area code Holly Fassett does not seem like a typical Capricorn. The owner of Big Sur''s Nepenthe restaurant, she does not appear to be a cutthroat businesswoman intent on making a profit ...
Potty Mouth...Aloha Oe...Missing in Action..
POTTY MOUTH...KPIG listeners who faithfully tune in Uncle Sherman''s "Dirty Boogie" radio program from 10pm to midnight on Saturday nights, can pollute their minds 24/7 with the XXX Radio Network. A couple years ago, at ...
Stop the Bombing
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 were attacks against humanity, and the bombing of Afghanistan is only the same crime. No, we cannot capitulate to those that commit terrorism on our country or on anyone ...
Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke breathe new life into cliched characters in Training Day.
''This is important. Don''t blow it," wife Lisa (Charlotte Ayanna) tells her rookie cop husband Jake (Ethan Hawke) at the outset of his first day as neighborhood narc-to-be. Eager to nail a coveted spot as ...
Twelfth Knight...Electronic Frontier...
TWELFTH KNIGHT...The most interesting things can happen while everyone''s watching CNN. While Afghanistan gets pummeled by Tomahawk cruise missiles and indigestible TV dinners, the hazy outlines of a very different sort of battle are beginning ...
Local classical presenters scramble to mount the first shows of their new seasons.
music The tragic events on the other side of the country are playing havoc with more than airport security and the stock market--they''re having a disruptive effect on the Monterey Peninsula concert scene, as well. ...
Thursday, October 4
We are fighting for freedom--including the right to vigorously debate. But the war fever crowd wants us all to march in step.
Truth is not the only early casualty of war. So is rational thought. War breeds hysteria and a rush to conformity. The herd, under attack, instinctively groups together and seeks assurance that everyone is loyal, ...
Dakota Jake's mountain of meat defeats the honed appetite of a man eating alone.
Dakota Jake''s looks like a roadhouse that at one time stood alone out on North Main in Salinas and has since been surrounded by strip malls. It sits there in the middle of a shopping ...
Two veteran activists team up to insist that new developments reflect the economic makeup of the community.
The two women look at a parking lot and see a place to house people. Pointing at the city-owned two-level lot on Pacific across from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, local housing activists Jane ...
Body Parts
Beyond the most obvious and deviant parts of the body, everyone has a favorite. When you look at yourself or at another human being, you may be attracted to fingers, hands, eyes, nose or any ...
Beneath Contempt
Jessica Lyons'' article about Salinas High School Principal Dr. Joseph Pawlick, entitled "Principal to a Fault" (Sept. 27), reads more like soap opera than journalism. Ms. Lyon''s petty remarks about Dr. Pawlick''s physical appearance are ...
Hot Picks
Hot Shot thursday 10.4 CHRIS WEBSTER The name will be familiar to fans of the band Mumbo Gumbo, an act that''s been garnering West Coast and national attention for its Cajun-spiced brand of pop. Frontwoman ...
The short tale of a man, his van and a wish for world peace.
As he sits on a rock munching a sandwich at the bottom of Ocean Avenue in Carmel, Brother One Feather smiles broadly at the crowd gathered around his ''76 Dodge Sportsman. "Peace be with you," ...
A day in the life of a Master Sommelier.
Originally, a sommelier was the monk who had charge of the crockery, linen, bread and wine in a monastery--the "cellarer." During the Ancient Regime, the king''s household had several sommeliers, whose primary function was to ...
Debate Comes Home...Business as Usual...
DEBATE COMES HOME...One of the greatest ongoing mysteries revolves around one of the greatest writers of all time. Despite the many plays and poems produced by someone going by the name William Shakespeare, nobody really ...
Squidfry
READING BETWEEN THE SIGNS... Squid''s finally figured it out. The City of Monterey is like a compulsive neatnik. No portable basketball hoops in the streets, no concert flyers on the telephone poles, no campaign signs ...
Jeffrey Halford, who plays Sly's this weekend, brings a new and authentic voice in from the road.
From the opening chords of Jeffrey Halford''s National Resolectric guitar on his second CD, Hunkpapa, there''s a feeling of something special going on. There''s a Delta-bluesy guitar sequence that quickly devolves into something that sounds ...
Ben Stiller's satire of male models is filled with giggles, chuckles and belly laughs.
If the balm of comedy is not only helpful but necessary in times of crisis, consider Ben Stiller a national wartime resource. Bizarre, outrageous, and profoundly silly, Zoolander is so delightfully over the top, so ...
SIGNS OF HOPE AND HELP...As I sit here writing this, it has been exactly two weeks since the surreal horror of September 11th.
This past weekend has brought the return of many "normal" activities. Business seems to be increasing slightly, sporting events have resumed and planes are flying... although not nearly as loaded as before. The Peninsula, which ...
