Stories for August 2007

Thursday, August 30

My Best Friend

Patrice Leconte’s latest film brings a Hollywood concept to the art house.

My Best Friend is an odd little movie. The screenplay (by Patrice Leconte and Jérôme Tonnerre) is a contrived situation comedy of the kind that fills prime-time television and suburban multiplexes. A ruthless, workaholic businessman ...

ArtListings for Aug 30, 2007

ALVARADO GALLERY Monterey County Art: works by Marvin Anderson, William Lawrence; also Discovered Objects: jewelry by Charlene Doran. Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey. 646-5648.AMERICAN GALLERIES New gallery features nationally known artists including Calvin ...

Public Citizen for Aug 30, 2007

ONGOINGHOST EXCHANGE STUDENTSCOUNTYWIDE—Inter-Ed works exclusively with German students staying five or 10 months. Now sure about hosting? Try being a “welcome family,” for two or three weeks. (559) 930-7274. Pacific Intercultural Exchange also needs families ...

Quick Trippin’

Four great sojourns north, south, east and west, all within two hours’ travel time.

WHY DO WE GO? Why leave this place—this supreme collaboration of land and sea, this pine-scented paradise, this heavenly habitat that attracts hundreds of out-of-towners every day? We go because it’s not here. We go ...

Coastline Sanctuary

There’s a precious place on the Monterey Peninsula exemplary on this coastline and unique in the world. For first-time visitors, it can be transforming, and for those who’ve seen other coasts on other continents, it’s ...

Beat A Woman? Play On

As the country rages over Michael Vick’s animal abuse, no one in the NFL has been suspended for domestic violence.

National Football League superstar Michael Vick is in trouble, serious trouble. Federal prosecutors charged the Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback with animal abuse for his role as the alleged leader of a dog-fighting ring and, after denying ...

No Reggae, No Cry

The 12th Monterey Bay Reggaefest makes it simple to enjoy a strong lineup.

Back in 1995, Seaside resident Robert Brown and fellow promoter Pete Rodriguez decided to throw the first Monterey Bay Reggaefest. Brown, a former band manager for the reggae act Ras Midas, ended up securing a ...

Venice Report

The Venice Biennale shows high art reaching wide and deep.

I’ve been to Venice many times and there is nowhere in the world like it. But Venice is no longer a producing city. It offers itself to the world as a provincial museum and theme ...

The Weekly Tally

0The number of states in the US that showed a decline in obesity last year. Obesity rates continued to climb in 31 states and Mississippi became the first state to crack the 30 percent barrier ...

The Hitler Collection

My parents came home from Friday night services in Chicago whispering about a man who had been tortured by the Nazis. He had been invited to speak at the synagogue, to show his scars and ...

Destination South

Morro Bay

DISTANCE: 20-160 miles or two-3.5 hours drive. DIRECTIONS: For efficiency and speed, Highway 101 south is the sensible choice. For pure beauty, the coast road—Highway 1 through Big Sur, Cayucas, and San Simeon—is glorious. Morro ...

US Top Cop Out

Attorney General’s exit comes just days after Rove announced he would leave at the end of August.

Facing the prospect of increasingly aggressive congressional inquiries into his politicization of the Department of Justice, as well as an energetic House push for his impeachment, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned.Gonzales, the former White ...

Squid Fry for Aug 30, 2007

BITE OF LIFE...Squid isn’t scared of much: Pump nacho cheese. Mannequins. Coffee breath. But even Squid, despite being equipped with barbed clubs, swift tentacles and razor sharp wit, is scared of sharks. Sharks in shiny ...

Serious Game

TRAVELING TYPE...I’m sitting in the complimentary computer room at one of those Suites Something or Other-style hotels in Tampa, Florida—or F-L-A as the locals like to say. Took a red-eye via LA from Monterey last ...

Picture of Fitness

Behind one Pacific Grove cover girl’s photo lies a surprising story of will.

Lea Newman poses on the cover of Ms. Fitness magazine’s July 2007 issue wearing a burgundy bikini and a pearly smile. Droplets of water cascade around her body. She shares the cover with colorful callouts ...

Healthy Upgrade

A new family team makes Carmel Valley’s Plaza Linda even better.

Whenever I get out of my car on the wide Del Fino Place in Carmel Valley Village, I wonder if the builder was planning for lots of traffic. Fortunately, there isn’t much action, just a ...

Trashy Scene

A look behind the garbage costume at the Aquarium’s “Basta Basura” drama.

Little Rosa Maria skips down the beach, thinking about how much she loves the sea. The wind pulls at her hair. The salty tide chases after her. Finishing a drink, she realizes that there are ...

Letters to the Editor for Aug 30, 2007

NEW, IMPROVED BLOOD ALLEY I’m glad Squid mentioned Highway 101 between Russell Road and Echo Valley Road [Aug. 23-29]. The Prunedale area safety improvements just happen to be the Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s highest ...

Asked at Crossroads Shopping Center in Carmel.

Street Talk

Q: What destination is the local area’s best kept secret?Follow–up: What are your three must-have travel items?Anna PecciantiAdministrative Assistant | Los AngelesA: The best–kept secret destination is the tree house at Garland Park that is ...

Flying Pests

Residents balk at the government’s plan to spray moth sex scent over the Peninsula.

Seaside resident Roelof Wijbrandus looks lost. He came to the Oldemeyer Center on Aug. 20 expecting to air his concerns about the government’s plan to spray synthetic pheromones by plane over the Peninsula, an effort ...

A History Of Violence

Suspect in day laborer beating has a long criminal record.

Glenn Michael Blevins, the man accused of beating a Mexican day laborer, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, his mother says. Blevins has been in and out of jail for a string of misdemeanors, from breaking a ...

Discspace

NEW PORNOGRAPHERSChallengersMatador Is indie rock’s supergroup not so super anymore? The major complaint is that >>Challengers lacks the freewheeling power-pop punch of past efforts, especially the inspired, one-off feel of the debut, >>Mass Romantic.>>Challenger’s songs ...

Destination North

Santa Cruz Mountains

DISTANCE: Approximately 50 to 60 miles depending on specific destination, or about an hour to an hour and a half by car. DIRECTIONS: Head north on Highway 1, turn right onto River Street in Santa ...

School Ties

Only one in three Californians make it to college.

THE LOCAL SPIN This past weekend, I had the pleasure of welcoming our largest freshman class ever to CSUMB: More than 750 new students, a 42 percent increase over last year, and more than 400 ...

Border Battles

Farr says the latest immigration crackdown may breathe new life into AgJOBS.

It’s hard to find a silver lining in the US Department of Homeland Security’s crackdown on workers with phony Social Security numbers. The order announced recently by Secretary Michael Chertoff pressures employers to fire undocumented ...

The 11th Hour

The 11th Hour is more important than An Inconvenient Truth.

The comparison is inevitable, so let’s put this up front: An Inconvenient Truth is a much better movie than The 11th Hour, but The 11th Hour is a far more important one.Directed by sisters Nadia ...

Destination East

San Jaun Bautista

DISTANCE: 32 miles or about 40 minutes by car. DIRECTIONS: From Highway 101 North, exit 156 East. Take a left at Monterey Street, followed by a right onto Muckelemi Street and another right on 2nd ...

Thursday, August 23

Letters to the Editor for Aug 23, 2007

BUILDING A NEW COMMUNITYThe “ugly truth” of Monterey County’s stark inequalities needs action. Eric Johnson put it well: “Most of us would not be proud to say that we helped build…a community in which a ...

The Politics of Plastic

Champions of the middle class, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, bank on predatory lenders to fund their campaigns.

FORUM When it comes to domestic issues that pit the interests of large corporations against those of ordinary Americans, few equal the exploding crisis in consumer debt. Yet with the exception of John Edwards, none ...

Kitchen’s Hell

After years of delays, Lumpia Hut may open its Oldtown Salinas doors within weeks.

Rod Daquioag isn’t exactly new to the theater of business ownership. He’s been operating a catering business out of his home for nearly a decade. But shortly after Daquioag decided to hang out a shingle ...

Seaside Bytes

City computer deal goes awry.

It started out simple enough: The city of Seaside needed a computer system upgrade. Staff put out a request for proposals, and two companies responded. City staff, on advice from a consultant, recommended one of ...

Economics 129: Good Fun, Great Value

STUDENTGUIDE07Some have called it the prettiest place on the planet. Others have called it the language capital of the world. As of this fall, a new crop of students call it home. Few, however, call ...

Squid

SQUID SPEED RACERS…Squid hates red lights. This cephalopod feels a need for speed. So Squid’s not too happy to hear that some members of the MARINA CITY COUNCIL want to slow down commuter traffic on ...

Big Fat Deal

Locals agencies and restaurants target trans fats.

Trans fats slithered into the national limelight last December when New York City famously cracked down on them in all of its 20,000-plus restaurants. Fast food chains, small takeout eateries, and fine restaurants alike are ...

The Nanny Diaries

The Nanny Diaries loses sight of a tragic, angry point of view.

At first glance, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus’s best-selling The Nanny Diaries looked like the pinnacle of snotty art: A couple of young women make bank watching the kids of Manhattan’s beautiful people, then make ...

Senate Passes State Spending Plan

Two of 15 GOP members vote yes.

After weeks of gridlock, the California Senate approved a $145 billion budget late Tuesday, Aug. 21, ending the 52-day stalemate. The state Assembly passed a nearly identical spending plan on July 20. But up until ...

Fashion 101: Go North

Student fashion tips from a genuine Canadian.

STUDENTGUIDE07This may come as a shock, but here it is: Canada can help take American fashion to higher latitudes. I know this because I am a Canadian who has lived and traveled extensively in the ...

Asked on Del Monte Avenue in Marina.

What college elective do you wish they offered?

Follow-up: If you could go to college all over again, what would you major in? PAUL SCAVO | Math Teacher | SalinasA: Two or three internships for one semester to get a feel for what ...

Mr. Bean's Holiday

Physical comedian Rowan Atkinson returns with Mr. Bean’s Holiday.

Mr. Bean the fumbling half-wit hails from Britain, and through his comic exploits he reminds us that the English aren’t all the Kate Moss, Gordon Ramsey and Damien Hirst kind of cool.Rowan Atkinson’s comic invention, ...

Poly Sci 68: Seeds Of Revolution

STUDENTGUIDE07 It’s not exactly all student protests and walkouts, all the time, on Monterey or Salinas campuses. Some have their activist moments—like CSU Monterey Bay MEChA’s march against an anti-immigration bill, Hartnell students’ counter-military-recruitment efforts ...

Musicology 156: Comparative Sound

Finding the student-friendly local bands that evoke national touring acts.

STUDENTGUIDE07 There are lots of different elements that make up a college experience. There are those new friends from all over the nation to be made. There are stacks of books to somehow read in ...

Sound Decision

Andrea Wolper continues to expand her skill set at the Jazz & Blues Co.

Music fans outside of the Big Apple first heard jazz vocalist Andrea Wolper in her luminous 2005 recording The Small Hours. A haunting session of standards and original tunes, the CD was produced by Todd ...

Women’s Crisis Center To Close

Money from state and local sources didn’t come through.

If it weren’t for a staff of dedicated volunteers, the closure of the Monterey County Women’s Crisis Center would be old news. In May about a dozen staff agreed to be laid off, and to ...

Factory Fresh

WIDGETS OF WISDOM...It’s an interesting thing, sitting in front of a blank screen (inside my head) assuming that eventually something will present itself and make its way through the maze of synaptic signal switching to ...

A Salinas student recovers from a stroke to return to school this week.

The Reeducation of Ruben Ahedo

Most individuals look back on middle school – that awkward phase when baby fat remains, acne becomes a reality and hormones take over – and cringe. When Ruben Ahedo begins his senior year at Salinas ...

Different Coarse

The Actors Collective explores the ribald one-act plays of Shel Silverstein.

While Shel Silverstein is best known for his classic children’s books such as The Missing Piece and The Giving Tree and his endlessly delightful volumes of poetry Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in ...

ArtListings

Rough Terrain For Refugees

Environmental devastation follows wars—and refugee camps.

FORUM Survival is the highest priority for the nearly 10 million refugees in the world (21 million if you include internally displaced persons and asylum-seekers). While international relief agencies struggle to protect people displaced by ...

Tip-Top Shape

Jacqueline Carlin was strolling around LA one day when she noticed a house for sale and went in. “I was from back East, amazed that I could walk in wearing jeans and a T-shirt to ...

Too Much Information

The all-seeing, all-knowing eye in the sky that is Google.

FORUM In the Internet, somebody does know you’re a dog. Google, to be exact. And it has the pictures to prove it. The ominously helpful high-tech giant introduced a service called Street View in Las ...

PublicCitizen

8|23THURSWATER QUALITY BOARD | SALINAS – The Regional Water Quality Control Board meets to discuss, among other items, seasonal discharge to Carmel River Lagoon for fish habitat augmentation. 10am. Council Chambers, 200 Lincoln Ave., Salinas. ...

Strung Together

Two locals trade pathology for pretty jewelry.

By day, Raquel Salati and Carol Ziegel are research scientists in plant pathology. From 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday, the best friends get their kicks injecting plants with killer diseases to test their resistance. ...

Man of His Times

Glen Campbell used many talents to rise to stardom in the late ’60s.

Famous for pop-country crossover hits like “Wichita Lineman” and “Rhinestone Cowboy,” Glen Campbell’s contribution to popular culture is in fact much deeper. Before fully embarking on his solo career, Campbell was an in-demand session musician ...

Thursday, August 16

Home Wrecker

Marina mobile home park residents call for citywide rent control.

Cindy Virtue sorts through a pile of bills and loan statements inside her spacious, white-carpeted house in Lazy Wheel Mobile Home Park and fishes out a petition. It’s a call for a citywide rent stabilization ...

Spin Zone

Contradance brings different people together by design.

The irresistible lilt of fiddle, guitar and banjo pours from every orifice of the historic building that is the Monterey Peninsula “Y.” Inside, dancers whirl around each other in long lines of synchronized groups. From ...

Squid Fry for Aug 16, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JERRY… Squid’s not exactly the bashful type, and not really one to hope that Squid’s friends and coworkers forget Squid’s Big Day. Quite the opposite, in fact: Squid starts announcing Squid’s birthday at ...

From Back East

Fragment brings bluegrass from Prague.

Bluegrass music in Czechoslovakia became part of the Eastern European country’s counterculture during its years under communist rule. It is said that some Czechs discovered the traditional American acoustic art form on a radio station ...

Under the Hood

Car week in Monterey County cranks up the RPMs.

>>CARWEEK2007They travel from distant parts to share their stories: tales of racing across continents before seatbelts; of Brits touring to find fashion when London had none; of separating movie stars, iconoclasts and car-buying barons from ...

General Failure

A crisis in civil-military relations threatens America’s future.

>>FORUMLargely unrecognized by the American public, unacknowledged by those in power, and denied by professionals in uniform, the United States suffers today from an enduring crisis in civil-military relations. The tacit social contract of mutual ...

ArtListings for Aug 16, 2007

Monterey Leaders Eye Plastic Bag Ban

Councilwoman says she’ll push the issue on Aug. 21

California’s retailers hand out an estimated 19 billion plastic bags per year, fewer than 5 percent of which are recycled. The impacts are seen in the mounds of plastic film swelling landfills, littering highways and ...

Letters to the Editor for Aug 16, 2007

DON’T FORGET HISTORYThank you for Kera Abraham’s article “History Burns” [July 26-Aug. 1], which outlines the history of discrimination against the Chinese in the Monterey area, and also mentions the Chinese Exclusion Act, which many ...

Deft Chef

The cozy Bistro Moulin is a perfect stage for Didier Dutertre’s delicious skill.

Colleen Manni and French-born Didier Dutertre, the chef at Casanova in Carmel for 25 years, recently opened Bistro Moulin just up the hill from the Aquarium on Wave Street. It’s a nice place with only ...

Cliff Hanger

Locals squabble with the state over the Big Sur Coastal Trail planning process.

Several wads of toilet paper litter a shady cypress grove overlooking the Pacific in Garrapata State Park. My trail guide, Lee Otter of the Coastal Commission, jokingly identifies them as “Kleenex flowers.” Continuing along the ...

PublicCitizen

ONGOINGSEAL WATCH | COUNTYWIDE—Have you seen a harbor seal with a funny-looking tag? The Marine Mammal Center asks members of the public to report sightings of tagged seals along the California Coast for the Harbor ...

Mad Ambition

Macbeth begins the Carmel Shake-speare Festival with a nightmare in the round.

No question that the audience has been barraged by daily images of strife, noise and peril, embittered by governance that clasps to its chest every possible vestige of power, dulled by daytime television enactments of ...

Heavy New Beat

Plaster premieres new lineup.

When drummer Matt Brown moved to Nebraska this past spring, his colleagues in the local metal band Plaster wondered if they were going to continue on without him. Last month ago, they jammed with drummer ...

Motor Running

THE ART OF THE AUTO...Car week is here again. Time to polish up that little two-seater in the garage and cruise the main drags and soak up adoration. Each year I am progressively amazed at ...

DiscSpace

RYAN ADAMS | Easy Tiger | Lost HighwayRyan Adams’ country-music influences move to the background or foreground, depending on the project. Easy Tiger is an effort to seamlessly blend rock, country, folk and blues à ...

Death at a Funeral

Director Frank Oz returns with a comedy set at a funeral.

Frank Oz (also known as the voice of Yoda, Miss Piggy, and Fozzy Bear) began his directing career with the not-really-for-kids kids’ classic The Dark Crystal and over the years has successfully turned out bizarre ...

Uncommon Intelligence

Ret. Maj. Arnold Kohn finally tells his story of the secret POW camp that changed the world.

Ret. Maj. Arnold Kohn, a former intelligence officer who helped keep so many critical national secrets hidden for so long, would just as soon keep things quiet now. While soldiers of his era have enjoyed ...

You’re In Charge

This land is your land—if you want it.

>>THELOCALSPIN There was a story in the Herald about a guy who bought a house in Pebble Beach a few years ago for $23 million. Turns out he’s now in trouble with the law for ...

Local talent shows up strong for ‘Central Coast Idol’ competition.

In front of the Golden State Theatre and spilling down Alvarado to Franklin Street, scores of wannabe American Idols were waiting for their chance. There were celebrities-in-the-making that wore stylish sunglasses as large as welding ...

The Mayor’s House

>>REALESTATEFormer Monterey Mayor Dan Albert knows a lot about the Oak Grove house bequeathed him and his three brothers in 1996. Their parents once owned several lots in the neighborhood near the family home where ...

Asked at Cypress Coast Ford in Seaside.

It’s Car Week. What's Your Fantasy Classic Ride?

Follow-up: What is the crappiest vehicle you’ve ever owned?KYLE BOYD | Sales manager | WatsonvilleA: My dream classic car would have to be a charcoal grey 1967 Shelby Mustang with a white stripe.Old Faithful: My ...

Salinas’ Cleanup Campaign

Councilman envisions more family-friendly neighborhoods.

Standing before a mural of a fruit cyclone swirling over a blender, Councilman Tony Barrera touched on the little things he’s doing his east Salinas district. Barrera wants to make Closter Park—now a hangout for ...

Superbad

Adolescent humor hits highs and lows in Superbad.

Here’s what I find fascinating about groin-level humor: If you’re an adolescent, it works no matter what. But even if your emotional and mental age has advanced beyond the teens, it can still work if ...

Thursday, August 9

The Race Is On

Contestants crowd the field for four open Hartnell board seats.

When Hartnell College teachers left their classrooms and formed a picket line last fall, Steve McShane was probably the second most unpopular guy on campus – next to President Ed Valeau. Teachers criticized McShane, chairman ...

Real As It Gets

SAD NEWS… Another seemingly senseless tragedy occurred a couple of weeks ago when the two sons of local hospitality industry veteran John Narigi, who is GM of Monterey Plaza Hotel, rolled their SUV while leaving ...

ArtListings for Aug 09, 2007

Stardust

A new fun fantasy world is created in

Once upon a time, stories were simply stories. People found their entertainment and instruction in fables and folktales, epic poems and bedtime yarns. Storytellers didn’t worry whether their tales met the needs of viral marketing, ...

Keeping Pollutants Out of the Bay

Seaside plans to divert summer runoff to wastewater treatment plant.

If the political stars that govern federal budget-making align in Seaside’s favor, the City will receive a half-million-dollar federal grant to divert its polluted summer stormwater runoff away from the Bay.A proposed pump system would ...

Squid Fry for Aug 09, 2007

COME HOME JEFF… Ever since Weekly editor ERIC JOHNSON announced his impending departure, Squid has given serious thought to the kinds of demands… er… requests Squid will make of Squid’s next editor. First: Squid’s own ...

PublicCitizen

8|9THURSGLOBAL MAJORITY | MONTEREY – Global Majority members speak at the meeting of the Green Party. 7pm. Monterey Senior Center, 280 Dickman Ave., Monterey. Free. 625-5577.8|10FRICANDIDATE DEADLINE TODAY | COUNTYWIDE – Want to run for ...

The Criminalization of Thought

Prosecuting US citizens for unsavory ideas sets a tricky precendent.

>>FORUM This is not a crime about thought,” says the assistant US attorney. Then what is it? Mahmud Faruq Brent, a 30-year-old DC taxi driver, is about to spend the next 15 years behind bars ...

DiscSpace

GOGOL BORDELLO | Super Taranta | Side One Dummy Records“If we are here not to do/ what you and I wanna do/ and go forever crazy with it,/ why the hell we are even here?” ...

The Kids Are Alright

Salinas’ youngsters The Mystery Lights prepare to blow up.

There has been a deafening buzz in the local music community about a young Salinas band called The Mystery Lights. I first heard about the band from the charismatic frontman of Serpico, L.T., who told ...

Old is New Again

Paulo Kantz, chef extraordinaire, and his wife, Sylvia Medina, an organizational genius with a lovely smile, are two very smart business people. They are best known for their star-spangled careers as owners of the restaurants ...

Going Wild

Volunteers defend the native splendor of Fort Ord.

Sara orangetip butterflies settle on Indian paintbrushes. The green leaves and red flowers of the pajaro manzanita sway in the offshore breeze. Delicate purple and white Chinese houses mingle amongst the other native species.Beyond, cascading ...

A Win in the Water War

A Stockton, Calif. citizens group wins back public control of their water from a profit-thirsty corporation.

>>FORUM Bill Lokyo never expected to find himself embroiled in a six-year battle over water with a multinational corporation and city officials in Stockton, Calif. “We all thought this would only be a one-year fight,” ...

Crafting a City

Sand City’s West End Celebration helps define the town.

Elena Salsedo is cooking up more than galettes in her blink-and-you’ve-passed-it Sweet Elena’a café in Sand City. When the gutsy Frenchwoman established her teensy fine-art bakery in the industrial outpost of Sand City in 1994, ...

Letters to the Editor for Aug 09, 2007

BUILDING SUPPORT FOR ARTAlas! The giant crane is gone from Cannery Row. For me it was a magnificent conceptual work of art. I was so hoping it would become the outdoor sculpture in front of ...

Hidden Giant

Mel Martin celebrates Benny Carter, one of the jazz world’s unheralded greats.

Taking the measure of a great artist is never an easy task, but when you’re trying to figure the dimensions of a giant like Benny Carter, the job is nearly impossible. With a career spanning ...

What social cause would you risk your life for?

Asked at Eat Village Coffee Lounge in Monterey.

Follow-up: What food is on your to-die-for list?LILLY KEENE | Student | CarmelA: A cause I would fight for is gay and lesbian rights. I don’t think it’s right to discriminate against peoples’ personal choices.Spicy ...

A Complete Dump

Exploring the amazing Marina waste management facility.

Two miles north of Marina, on 475 acres surrounded by farmland and pasture, the Monterey Regional Waste Management District deals with mountains of the Peninsula’s trash. And it does a good job of it: The ...

Outer Edge Studio To Close

Andrew Jackson says he’ll continue to host parties at other venues.

Life at the Edge was taking up too much space. This month, Andrew and Sunshine Jackson are closing the chapter on the current incarnation of Outer Edge Studio, the only studio of its kind in ...

Who Killed Brad Will?

And why have Mexican and US authorities allowed the murderers of an American journalist to go free?

Those of us who report from the front lines of the social justice movement in Latin America share an understanding that there’s always a bullet out there with our names on it. Brad Will traveled ...

Sore Subject

The Montessori elementary school doesn’t have a site and classes start on Aug. 20.

With about a week until classes are scheduled to start, the Montessori Learning Center is scrambling to find a new elementary school site. The private school – the only one in the county offering a ...

Hip sushi joint Pink Tuna joins downtown Monterey food landscape.

Youth, low lights, and pop music. That’s Pink Tuna, a new Japanese restaurant with the personality of a night club. The music isn’t loud and in the way, and the scene is fashionable, as might ...

Thursday, August 2

The Big Idea

Sunset’s new green showcase house will call Monterra home.

Today, Aug. 2, a collection of distinguished local politicians and planners are gathering in the hills above Highway 68 to mark the next step toward erecting a house made of ideas. Congressman Sam Farr, Assemblyman ...

Sista Soul

She’s back on top again.

The blues came banging on Sista Monica’s door, but the resilient vocalist refused to let them in. The knock came in the form of a cancer diagnosis, which took the Santa Cruz-based blues belter off ...

So So Fresh

Wild Plum Café&Bakery wins for its flavor and character.

The first testimonial for the Wild Plum awaited us as we entered the modest eatery: Bill occupied one of the butcher-papered tables against the wall, waiting for lunch. His high expectations positively lit the room. ...

McCloud of Mystery

The Carmel mayor keeps her secrets.

Mayor Sue McCloud sits across the table from me at Il Fornaio. Neither of us have anything to eat or drink. The waiter doesn’t even bother to check up on us. This is strictly business. ...

Three Way Street

Rushad Eggleston brings jazz and rock projects to Big Sur.

The first time I wrote about cellist Rushad Eggleston, back in 2003, he sent me a press photo of himself as a clean-cut scholar of classical music, cradling a cello and staring pensively into the ...

Born Again

>>REALESTATEWhen the Hospice Foundation was bequeathed this Pebble Beach property, few would have considered the place magnificent—though it was no doubt quite valuable. The house was a single-level ranch, and although it was long cherished, ...

Another Housing Lawsuit

Unions add East Garrison to fair-wage lawsuit.

With its arts district and “affordable by design” housing, East Garrison was supposed to be the exception to Monterey County’s approve-and-then-get-sued approach to land use. But the County and East Garrison’s developers will eventually see ...

Etc. pt.1

Jane Morba spends a lot of her days chasing down assignments for the Weekly, and on weekends she often shoots weddings. So she always has her camera with her. When she sees something she likes, ...

ArtListings for Aug 02, 2007

alvarado gallery Monterey County Art: works by Marvin Anderson, William Lawrence; also Discovered Objects: jewelry by Charlene Doran. Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza, Monterey. 646-5648 american galleries New gallery features nationally known artists including ...

Etc. pt.4

These Images:Near Laureles Grade, Carmel Valley, 6/17/07. “My dogs – I take a lot of portraits of my dogs. I was lying on the deck, shooting up. It’s a glam shot.”Café Rustica, Carmel Valley, 7/21/07. ...

The Bourne Ultimatum

The camera may be jittery, but Paul Greengrass has The Bourne Ultimatum’s terrific action under control.

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) can never stop moving. A human rogue weapon left for dead and without a memory in The Bourne Identity, he’s driven by the twin motivations of keeping one step ahead of ...

DiscSpace

BAD BRAINS | Build a Nation | MegaforceWith the reggae and rock hybrid of ‘90s act Sublime being imitated by countless bands, it is sometimes hard to remember that mixing the two disparate genres was ...

Letters to the Editor for Aug 02, 2007

FEAST OF LANTERNS IS NOT RACISTYou should be ashamed of yourself for publishing the mean-spirited article on the Feast of Lanterns [“History Burns,” July 26-Aug. 1]. Why make a racist connection to a festival based ...

Country Girl

Kiwi songstress follows path from New Zealand to Australia to LA.

Under slate grey Scottish skies and a beaded curtain of constant precipitation, singer/songwriter Jackie Bristow wrote the song “This is Australia.” The native New Zealander, who moved to Australia in 1995, was traveling around Scotland ...

Etc. pt.2

These Photos:Concourse d’ Elegance, Pebble Beach, 8/21/05. “I just loved the designer wear, the bag and the jewels – I love seeing the eccentric lifestyle of the rich, being able to peer into how they ...

Quite a Pick

Ag Against Hunger harvests left-behind crops for those who need it most.

The warm morning sun glows in the cloudless sky, illuminating bright green ag fields that stretch to the base of the sublime mountains outside San Juan Bautista. A friend and I put on gloves and ...

Bringing the Heat

Attorney General says local growth plans must work to counter global warming.

The County will soon have to address how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming in its General Plan Update. Otherwise, it might face another lawsuit.California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed suit against ...

A Man of His Times

Steinbeck Festival explores the author’s relationship to the wild and turbulent ‘60s.

>>LITA towering figure on the cultural landscape of Monterey County and the world, John Steinbeck’s early works gained enormous critical and popular attention in their day (1937’s Of Mice and Men, ‘39’s Grapes of Wrath, ...

Passion and Principle

John Edwards sets the agenda for the Democratic presidential race.

HARLESTON, S.C.—John Edwards may not be leading in the polls. But, he would like to stress, he is leading on the issues.“I don’t need to read a poll, I don’t need to see a focus ...

What is your take on online dating?

Asked at University Plaza in Seaside.

Follow-up: What is your weirdest date moment?AL GLOVER | Real Estate Developer | Seaside Q: I may be old school, but I don’t think it’s right to meet people that way. When looking for someone ...

PublicCitizen

ONGOINGCOMMUNITY ACTION COMMISSION | COUNTYWIDE – The Monterey County Community Action Partnership seeks volunteers from Districts 2, 4 and 5 to fill vacancies on the Community Action Commission, an advisory board intended to influence programs ...

The Life

THE FABRIC OF LIFE... The coarse, black threads of tragedy interweave each human tapestry, adding dimension, texture, accents of darkness and strength. Those threads come in varying thickness and lengths, and in different shades of ...

El Cantante

El Cantante is a standard musician biopic.

The first time we see Hector Lavoe in El Cantante he’s in a heroin-induced stupor and can barely move. The year is 1985, and according to his wife Puchi it’s the best time of their ...

Etc. pt.3

These Photos:Good Old Days, Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, 4/9/05. “When I find an interesting character, I want to see if I can get a shot. She’s so interesting – she’d be great in a book ...

Etc. pt.5

These Images:Festival of the Winds, Marina, 5/13/07. “There’s this photographer I like, from London, his name is Martin Parr. He takes a lot of people shots, in a decisive way. This is my homage.” Laguna ...

Her Own Song

Sasha Dobson forges her own musical path.

Sasha Dobson may be the product of Bay Area jazz royalty, but she’s not looking to take over the jazz throne. As the daughter of vocalist Gale Dobson and the late, revered pianist Smith Dobson, ...

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