On Star Trek: The Next Generation, crew members use a machine known as the replicator to make replacement parts for the ship, prepare food and fix Captain Picard’s usual: “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” Creating something out of nothing, the replicator is, sadly, pure science fiction. But using a newly emerging technology, we can design a wrench, a toy, a bike or a flying monkey, and with a click of the mouse, create it. This replicator is a printer, but what it makes is not a two-dimensional image of the design; not a paper model that folds into a 3-D one. This printer creates, quite literally, the object. Three-dimensional printing is here.
Fathers and Sons: Dano Trumps De Niro in ‘Being Flynn’
Two men, father and son, share the name, Flynn. And as we meet them in Being Flynn, father Jonathan (Robert De Niro) and son Nick (Paul Dano) also appear to share a life trajectory—downhill. Jonathan, a self-styled “great” writer, is already well down the road to ruin, his loser status well in progress, whereas twentysomething Nick’s decline is still a rough draft. Paul Weitz’ script and direction tell a familiar tale: loser father abandons wife (Julianne Moore) and son, goes to prison and disappears, sending letters to son claiming to be finishing up the great American novel.
Jewish Film Fest Kicks Off
The 12th annual Jewish Film Festival kicks off its multi-weekend celebration of culture and tradition from Israel and points beyond. Here are a couple of highlights from the first weekend.
Letters to the Editor, Mar. 21-27
Our readers respond to locally produced cult film ‘Thrive,’ which recently screened in Santa Cruz, and to good ol’ Rush, who’s still on the radio.
City of Santa Cruz Poised to Ban Plastic Bags, Styrofoam Sales
Plastic bags and Styrofoam are going to be scarce sights around these parts soon. On Monday, March 19, the day before a plastic bag ban went into effect in unincorporated Santa Cruz County, the city of Santa Cruz proper took steps to outlaw single-use plastic bags and the sale of polystyrene cups, coolers and peanuts. The public works commission unanimously passed the measures, paving the way for city council to vote on them.
Coming Soon: Kalefest
Do you sometimes skip dessert just so you an have another serving of kale salad? Me too! Kale is truly an astonishing member of the brassica family, beloved for its deep green (sometimes purple) color and its wealth of antioxidants and healthy minerals. Its distinctive bitter flavor makes it a hit with savvy chefs all over the world. And it loves to grow right here on our windswept, fog-kissed coast.
Southern Story Charms in Santa Cruz Mountains
Lenny Magrath is having a bad day. Her youngest sister Babe is suspected of attempted manslaughter, her grandfather is in the hospital and, as an unmarried Southern belle, she’s less than thrilled about turning 30. But Crimes of the Heart isn’t all about Lenny.
The Hands-On Approach to Publicity
When Chicago-based mountain bike company SRAM was shopping around for a place to show off a new line of products, it came to Santa Cruz. It’s “a mountain biking destination and a year-round destination,” says Benny Cruickshank, brand communication manager. “There aren’t many of them, and Santa Cruz is definitely one of them.”
Save Our Shores’ Anti-Plastic Ambitions
It’s impossible to sit in a room with Save Our Shores’ tiny staff and stay morose about the future of the planet. They’ve become expert at pulling kung fu moves against ocean pollution, using the pressure points of local laws to change widespread and damaging human behaviors. Just five people strong, they’ve managed to get Styrofoam banned in all but one coastal city between Santa Cruz and Carmel, installed 24 cigarette butt dispensers around the bay and mobilized 10,000 volunteers a year for weekly beach cleanups from Big Sur to Half Moon Bay.
Bagelry Hits the Spot
For decades this home of utterly firm, toothsome bagels and laid-back ambiance has provided instant shelter from the usual storms of economic chaos, relationship entanglements and social justice meltdown. In other words, it’s a place where the reliable, the cozy and the bagel all reign together.
