Thursday, June 27
After breaking with The Lock, Nancy Jones finds a roots-rock sound.
Photo: Nancy Jones says her new band, which plays Ocean Thunder Saturday, reflects her Southern upbringing. It''s been a short, straight trip for Nancy Jones'' newest band, Jones. It''s a story that started with a ...
Hotpicks
friday 6|28 Deep Rivers GOSPEL CONCERT. Eighty musicians from all over the country, filled with the gospel spirit, let loose tonight in Salinas with spiritual music dating back to the 19th century. Spirituals originated in ...
The third annual Monterey County Composers Forum brings the work of new and enduring local musicians to Carmel and Salinas.
Photos: (Left to right; top to bottom) Allison Passell, Bruce Graham, Bruce Hamill, Dale Victorine, David Price, Ed Mercurio, Ed Moncrief, Michael Chan, Rick Knudsen, Steve Ettinger. At what point does doodling turn into art? ...
Newsbriefs
Affordable Housing Plan Moves Torward Supes Even as civic leaders and developers stew over Congressman Sam Farr''s strong-arm method of ensuring 50 percent affordable housing on Fort Ord, another significant rule requiring reasonably priced housing ...
Minority Report takes on the question of intent and rescues Steven Spielberg's reputation as a sci-fi moviemaker.
Photo: I Didn''t Think It, Therefore I Was Not Going To Do It- Tom Cruise is on the lam as a law enforcer accused of evil intent in Steven Spielberg''s sci-fi head-trip thriller Minority Report. ...
Asked at the Structure clothing store in Monterey.
Q: How important is it to be clean and organized? Follow Up: What is the most interesting thing you have found while cleaning out your home? Laurel Murdock Board Operator/Monterey A: When my space is ...
Pajaro residents debate the benefits of Calpine's proposed 'peaker plant.'
Photo by Jessica Lyons Photo: If They Build It, It Will Hum: Calpine proposes to put a "peaker plant," like this one in Gilroy, in an abandoned field in Pajaro. There''s a dusty, ugly plot ...
New Re-releases
X More Fun In The New World Ain''t Love Grand See How We Are Elektra/Rhino Play to the same 200/500/1,000 people year in and year out and eventually, even the most stalwart of cult acts ...
Letters
The Poop on Squid Squid: It would appear that you have yourself recovered from a bad case of anosmia, or, in the alternative, greediness, shortsightedness, or some other moral deficiency with regard to PG''s choice ...
A planning primer for the Fourth of July
Photo: Neigh To Go: P.G. police officer John Purdom and his trusty companion at last year''s 4th of July. Next Thursday, most of the country will shut down and people will gather together in large ...
Foodchain
WINE FUN.. .Head out to Carmel Valley Saturday for Joullian Vineyards'' third annual Summer Zin-Q: Zinfandel and BBQ Open House, from 11am-4pm. As the pioneer of Zinfandel in Carmel Valley, Joullian celebrates this quintessential summer ...
Jungles, waterfalls and exotic creatures of Brazil's Pantanal are pictured at the P.G. Natural History Museum.
Photo courtesy Vic Banks Photo: The Pantanal- Brazil''s Forgotten Wilderness shows through Sept. 8 at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum, 165 Forest Ave. Vic Banks will offer two free public lectures Aug. 6 and ...
Union asks county supervisors to join negotiations.
After hitting a stalemate with county officials during wage negotiations, Monterey County social workers have asked the Board of Supervisors to intervene-and show them more money-at the Board''s June 25 meeting. The union is asking ...
None so blind as those who will not see.
Photo: Dream Weavers- Michael Jacobs (left) and John Rousseau (below right) project their own hopes onto Molly Sweeney. Some plays tell great stories; they''re driven by strong narratives, they have dramatic tension, a climax and ...
Wrong Turn at Lungfish provokes giggles, snorts, tears and a standing ovation.
Photo:Bedside Manners- Dawn Flood (left in both pictures) tries to breach Rolly Dick''s nearly impenetrable emotional walls at the Magic Circle Theater. There must have been a Shirley Temple movie that follows the same basic ...
Best Of The Rest
Photo: On Guard-The Human Chess Game is a TheatreFest highlight Saturday and Sunday. thursday 6|27 LeTip of Monterey 7am. This business-networking group of local entrepreneurs will host a free business mixer. A hearty breakfast and ...
The women of Monterey County's police forces fight crime in their own way.
Photo by Randy Tunnell. Photo: Julie Stradan (Seaside PD)and Kathy Hale (Pacific Grove PD) Officer Kathy Hale walks through the jail at the Pacific Grove Police Department. It''s Saturday morning and silent. More of a ...
KAZU veterans adjust to a new reality.
Before she decided that she would return to the air next Monday morning to host the Roadside Cafe radio show, J.T. Mason went through several days of soul-searching. A week after deciding to go forward ...
The Covey has a new chef, new dishes, and a spiffed-up look.
Photo by Randy Tunnell. Photo: Sauce It Up- Classic cooking techniques prevail at The Covey. The Covey has been serving fois gras to customers since 1971. For years, it held the distinction of being the ...
With a lot of help and safety gear, disabled divers venture into Lovers Cove to glimpse the underwater universe.
Photos by Randy Tunnell. Photos: Ready And Willing-Clockwise from upper left, Ricky Belmonte gets encouragement from Steve Fortino; Belmonte gets a final hood fitting; Belmonte enters the water with two volunteers; Janice and Steve Miguel ...
Thursday, June 20
Zany colors. Wacky flavors! And somewhere, the perfect martini.
Photo by Randy Tunnell. Photo: Not Fakin'' Shaken-Bond was wasting his breath-real martinis are always shaken, never stirred. Ah, the martini. The quintessential American drink, the libation of movie stars and Manhattanites. It says Hollywood ...
Director Doug Liman smartens up the thriller and refines the extended chase in The Bourne Identity.
Photo: Baby, We Were Bourne to Run-Matt Damon asks Franke Potente for a ride to Paris that turns into oh so much more in The Bourne Identity. The Bourne Identity isn''t a remake of one ...
Newsbriefs
Not All Seniors Graduate There was plenty of room for all the kids on the football field at Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas on the afternoon of June 13, graduation day. Had all 724 ...
A Man For All Seasons explores age-old questions of loyalty and religious faith at the Outdoor Forest Theater.
Photo: Don''t Lose Your Head-Richard Boynton (left) as Henry VIII squares off with Skip Kadish''s Sir Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons. Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century statesman and philosopher, was one of ...
Petticoat Junction
Q: Summer is here, and people are wearing less and less clothing. Is there a decency limit to skimpy summer attire? Follow Up: Have you ever offended anyone by wearing too little? Asked outside Victoria''s ...
Squidfry
RAISING A STINK... One of these days Squid is going to raid the refrigerator at the Weekly for the foulest-smelling little carton of leftovers-the kind whose stench lingers in the kitchen after the refrigerator door ...
Anti-tax initiative would exterminate Salinas' recreation centers.
Photo by Randy Tunnell. Photo: Dojo Mojo-Instructor James Carrillo''s karate class at Firehouse Recreation Center is credited with raising students'' self-confidence. All six of Salinas''s rec centers are in danger of losing their funding. If ...
Foodchain
SERVED WITH LOVE...Seems I went and ruffled a few feathers again when I wrote about my disappointing experience at Nepenthe. Tom Birmingham wrote me a very nice electronic letter that mentioned some customers'' comments regarding ...
The beloved public radio station ditches the old format.
By the end of the afternoon on Monday, June 17, John McNally was tired and sounded depressed. "There have been better days," he said in a telephone interview from his office. "It''s not that wonderful ...
Best Of The Rest
Photo: Barrels O' Fun-Carouse at Chateau Julien's wine and cigar dinner Friday. thursday 6|20 Toastmasters Morning 6:35am. Every Thursday morning the Toastmasters meet to practice public speaking. Unitarian Universalist Church, 490 Aguajito, Carmel. 641-0652. Community ...
The Big Sur Hidden Garden Tours opens up a world of green and flowering delights.
Photo: Heaven Meets Earth-Visit Big Sur''s magical gardens this Saturday. Imagine a place where plants speak in words, where the ocean meets the land dancing through the white of the sea foam, moving to the ...
Letters
Hold Your Water How far can these measures go toward eliminating our water woes? Probably not far enough as they seem to be insatiable. But they could help a lot. Combined with other conservation measures ...
Two new photography exhibits focus on the symbolic in the exotic, and the exotic in the banal.
For many people, the function of the camera is to record voyages and destinations, to capture for posterity new places encountered or familiar places that have changed. While fine art photography also records encounters with ...
Using a system called Animal Sign, a horse learns to ask for treats.
Photo by Randy Tunnell. Photo: A Gifted Horse in The Mouth-Of all Princess''s talents for communication, her ability to sneer and grin may be the most charming. Princess has it good. Really good. When the ...
Hotpicks
thursday 6|20 En Vogue, On Cannery Row FASHION SHOW Fashionistas in the know say Planet Gemini will be the hottest place on the Peninsula tonight-beautiful people, beautiful clothing and lots of fun free stuff. Wearing ...
Congressman puts teeth in his demand for affordable housing at Fort Ord.
Rep. Sam Farr has been making a threat for at least six months, and last week he kept his word. Farr has demanded that Fort Ord public land be used for affordable housing, and sworn, ...
Thursday, June 13
The Elephant Man reveals what society struggles to conceal.
Photo: Freak Out-Con artists and pinheads suggest the monstrous in all of us in The Elephant Man. Almost everyone wants to believe there''s a truer, purer, more beautiful self lying beneath the surface illusion of ...
Monterey ramps up big city hall project.
Photo: Edifice Complex-public facilities manager Carl Anderson says cramped conditions demand the new public service center. It used to be that Todd Bennett''s computer terminal was to his right and his keyboard was to his ...
Bring the U.S. Open to Bayonet.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Many of us hang out in loose-knit groups of 20 or 30 golfers who enjoy playing together every weekend. We call ourselves things like The Salinas Hackers, The Seaside Chili-Dippers, Pacific ...
Gonzalez says racism is the real issue.
Greenfield Mayor Mike Romo says Zak Gonzalez hasn''t made any progress on developing a 20-year growth plan for the South County city. But it doesn''t look like that will stop the Greenfield City Council from ...
Article Insulting to Whores
In "The Whore vs. the Bore" (May 30-June 5) John Mecklin likens Governor Gray Davis'' fundraising ability and lack of principle to that of a whore''s. I understand that prostitution, being one of the least ...
Hotpicks
friday 6|14 Out of The Pigeonhole IMPRESSIONISTS EXHIBIT In And Out of California: Travels of American Impressionists seeks to illuminate the unfairly marginalized contributions of the so-called California Impressionists to the American cultural scene. Though ...
Seven months later, a visit to Manhattan evokes nothing but sorrow and confusion-and awareness of a great divide.
Photo by Michelle Caldwell Photo: Hole Truth-devastation and trauma are still apparent everywhere in the blocks surrounding the chasm where the World Trade Center towers stood. As horror filled every dot per inch on the ...
A new gallery showcasing local artists is helping turn PG's 17th Street into an art destination.
Artwork: "Wild Irises", monotype collage by Charles Prentiss. Four years ago, Barbara Edell Poole bought a small Victorian house on 17th Street in downtown Pacific Grove as a retirement project. She sold her plein aire ...
Best Of The Rest
Photo: Having A Ball-Saturday evening the Carmel Foundation presentsVillage-by-the-Sea, a playful musical comedy about tourists, locals, shopping, dining and all the madcap fun that Carmel has to offer. thursday 6|13 Toastmasters Morning 6:35am. Every Thursday ...
Newsbriefs
Judge Refuses to Overturn Ban on Water Credit Transfers A Superior Court judge has denied Peninsula cities'' initial attempt to throw out a ban on water credit transfers. In May, six Peninsula cities, led by ...
Asked at the Bagel Bakery in Pacific Grove
Q: What measures do you take to protect your skin from sun damage? Follow Up: Where did you get your worst sunburn? Sheila Vaccarezza In Transition/Seaside A: Really, that little ball in the sky, I ...
Or, The Snagger Chronicles.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Photo: Casting Call- Alan Smith, aka the Snagger, preps his fishing rod while Oscar Cabalsag looks on. Smith''s been fishing at Wharf #2 for 15 years. Below, Thanh Tran holds one ...
By Raymond Napolitano
RANTING TIME...What is going on with this society? It''s about time the disgusting fast food chains that are poisoning our populace be brought to justice. And it''s about time we all stop eating that shit. ...
Squidfry
SQUIDVISION 2020... Squid has no problem with special treatment-so long as Squid''s on the receiving end. But lately those pesky developers and land-use attorneys keep stealing Squid''s thunder. So listen up, CHRISTINE GIANASCOL, TONY LOMBARDO, ...
The Waverly Gallery is a glorious tragi-comic production at the Carl Cherry Center.
Photo: Mind Adrift-Neva Hahns turns in a moving performance in The Waverly Gallery. Watching The Waverly Gallery is a little like listening to a hilarious racist or sexist joke: You know you shouldn''t laugh but ...
Spreckels residents want to protect their very-small-town way of life.
Photo by Jessica Lyons Photo: Rick and Ann Meyer at the school where they met-in kindergarten. In the town tag-line department, Spreckels was robbed. The powers that be designated Pacific Grove as America''s Last Home ...
Hanagasa Japanese restaurant is an unpretentious culinary gem often missed.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Photo: Sushi looks simple on the plate, but it takes years to perfect the delicate preparation techniques, as Ryo Chiba of Hanagasa has. Few Carmel restaurants can pull off an atmosphere ...
An artist dies too young
Five years ago, Erika Radon decided to come home to Carmel Valley and devote herself to a life immersed in art. She had been living in San Francisco, working at an advertising agency and dabbling, ...
In Windtalkers, otherwise talented director John Woo comes off like a gas bag.
Photo: Code Dread-Nicolas Cage is a tormented WWII Marine charged with guarding Navajo codetalker Adam Beach in John Woo''s Windtalkers. Windtalkers opens with a near-perfect shot that''s so reflective of John Woo''s style that you ...
Thursday, June 6
Hotpicks
thursday 6|6 Horse Bill 66th MONTEREY NATIONAL HORSE SHOW All right, so it''s not really a "national" horse show. It''s the horse show for the Monterey County Fair, it''s just gotten too big for the ...
With covenants broken, developer wants to put 275 houses on Marks Ranch.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Photo: Rev. Jerome Politzer says the decision to sell Marks Ranch and develop housing there violates the trust of his old friend, Herman Marks. When Herman Marks, a philanthropist and nature ...
Dueling statewide growth plans head to Assembly.
Two bills encouraging "smart growth" land use policies recently cleared the state Senate and will soon make their way onto the Assembly floor. While both bills push the same ideas, only one pays municipalities to ...
The new film based on Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears packs way too much action.
Photo: Does Not Compute-The Sum of All Fears finds Morgan Freeman and an improbably cast Ben Affleck embroiled in Russian politics, Tom Clancy-style. If you''ve ever wondered what crackerjack CIA Agent Jack Ryan was like ...
Monterey's dusty gem needs a hero.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Imagine a place in downtown Monterey where your favorite band, just about any kind of band, performs for about a thousand fans. Far from the crowded chaos of the huge stadiums ...
Foodchain
MAGNANIMOUS MORSEL... Fresh Cream''s owner, Steve Chesney, has decided to offer a 20 percent discount to all schoolteachers who eat at his restaurant. Also, he is issuing a challenge to all Peninsula businesses to follow ...
Kevork Mourad's paintings map the emotional landscape.
Art: Wo-Wo-Wo Feelings-Kevork Mourad''s "Transparency" (acrylic on paper, 19" x 14.5") exemplifies the evocative body of work coming to Sasoontsi Gallery in Salinas. If anyone was hogging the finger-paints in elementary school, it was Kevork ...
The Elephant Man demonstrates the power of the human spirit in overcoming physical disabilities.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Photo: James Kiberd (l) and Barbara Babcock take on the demons of Victorian England at the Golden Bough Playhouse. In The Elephant Man, the Tony award-winning play by Bernard Pomerance, the ...
It's time once again for the groovy soul-surfing feel-goodfest that is the Surfabout.
Photo: Bashed Lip-Viktor Klinger makes some water art at the 2001 Surfabout, where he wrested the All-Around Waterman title from defending champ Craig Cox. Sad but true fact: Carmel is often characterized as a fuddy-duddy ...
Monterey High students sound off on global warming, education and the future.
Photo by Randy Tunnell Photo: Global Warning-Juan Ramirez, a junior at Monterey High, wrote an essay on global warming for the United Nations Association and brought home the gold for the regional division. Maj-Brit Eagle ...
Don't let a rank odor keep you from life's cheesy pleasures.
Photo courtesy of California Milk Advisory Board Photo: Despite draconian pasteurization laws, California makes some pretty fine stinky cheeses, too. If the thought of cheese conjures up images of bland snack food hermetically sealed in ...
Squidfry
SUICIDE IS NOT PAINLESS... Be advised, Squid does not mean to mock another soul''s sadness or despair. The purpose of relaying the following passage serves merely to share recent printed material that set Squid back ...
Jeffrey Foucault's rough-hewn charm comes across in a noisy room.
Photo: Singer-songwriter Jeffrey Foucault learned his craft first from his dad, and then from guys like Chris Smither and Greg Brown. The best live music can sound as easy as a conversation over beers with ...
City prepares for June 18 public hearing.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Monterey City Council informally reviewed its proposed $71.5 million municipal budget for 2002 to 2003. As with so much else, the September 11 terror attacks lurked in the background. Within months ...
Newsbriefs
Nation's Campuses Still Hotbeds of Idealism, Panetta Says When Newsweek coined the phrase Generation 9/11 last November, the character of today''s high school and college students became the subject of much idle speculation. Now the ...
Letters
Tax and Spend The Weekly did an excellent job on the article "Pro-Tax Protesters" [May 30). The issue is far bigger then just the City of Salinas. The utility tax is on the ballot in ...
Asked at Supercuts in Monterey By Jennifer Flowers
Q: What is wrong with the Monterey Peninsula? Name something. Follow Up: Why are you here? Brandon Mirani Student/Pacific Grove A: Too many tourists. The police don''t have enough to do but pick on innocent ...
Hamid Karzai, global fashionplate (and Afghanistan's interim leader), appeals to our fascination with the exotic.
Photo by Getty Images Photo: My Uniform''s Cooler Than Yours-Hamid Karzai walks with the commander of all U.S. ground troops in Afghanistan, Commanding General F.L. "Buster" Hagenbeck. The spoils of war are as rich as ...
