There’s a myth that the era of free music and nightlong jams is a thing of the past. But that’s all it is: a myth, its lie proven every time an all-night MC freestyle battle rocks a warehouse or musicians both professional and amateur sit around a campfire at a bluegrass music festival. It’s this communal spirit that show organizer Eric Burman has fostered during the 17 years he has organized bluegrass festivals around Northern California.
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Watsonville Factories Offer Holiday Bargains
Shoppers across Santa Cruz County will be heading to Watsonville this Saturday for the annual Holiday Factory Sale. It’s the only time of the year that the many diverse factories in town open their doors to the general public, and there are sure to be bargains a-plenty. It’s also a chance to get to know about local industry and how it helps the economy.
Ainsworth Back in County Jail
Maurice Ainsworth woke up behind bars again this morning at the Santa Cruz County Jail.
The Sound of Santa Cruz
Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, folk singer Ginny Mitchell and her husband Marty Collins activated their extensive network of connections in the Santa Cruz music scene to pull together a benefit concert at the old Wrigley’s Chewing Gum factory on Mission Street. Despite the fact that the factory houses the couple’s business, a film production facility called the Digital Media Factory, it wasn’t until the day of the event, Mitchell says, that the two of them noticed the opportunity they were being presented with. “We looked around and said, ‘We have to film this!’”
Marking the Un-Holiday
It’s Chanukah today and Christmas is right around the corner. Downtown Santa Cruz can expect to see the usual collection of decorated trees and burning menorahs lighting up the downtown area. This year, however, there may be one noticeable addition. At Saturday’s holiday season parade, a coalition of the Santa Cruz Brights, UCSC Secular Student Alliance and Secular Humanists of Santa Cruz County will be marching alongside their religious neighbors with a banner that reads: “Reason’s Greetings!” They hope to display the banner prominently downtown and are hoping to get a permit for it.
No Knee-Jerk Reactions to Prisoner’s Escape
Sheriff Phil Wowak says that the county plans to review its procedures following the escape of prisoner Maurice Ainsworth during a medical procedure on Monday.
Another Spooky Ride
A driver passing by Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery on Tuesday lost control of his vehicle while negotiating an S-curve and plowed through the fence, according to news reports.
Holiday Foods: Chefs Go Retro
Nostalgic for the holiday foods of yesteryear? Me too. And amidst the contemporary menus for Chanukah, Christmas and New Year’s, look for comforting “back in the day” dishes to please your inner child.
Holiday Foods: Through a Glass, Bubbly
Synonymous with New Year’s Eve, weddings and every celebratory event in between, champagne is less a drink than an affirmation of life. Planted long ago by thirsty Romans, the vineyards of France became the crucible for what would be the world’s most popular holiday elixir. A labor-intensive creation of the pinot and chardonnay grapes and filled with breathtaking effervescence, the sparkling wine labeled “champagne” must by law be produced in the northeastern French region of the same name. Thanks to a Benedictine monk named Perignon and his attention to bubbles created by residual sugar fermentation, we are all the beneficiaries of methode champenoise, the hallmark of authenticity separating every decent sparkling wine from cheap swill artificially injected with carbon dioxide. Two fermentations and two bottlings add to the complexity of making this heady tipple. And to the price tag.
Holiday Foods: Seasonal Suds
’Tis the season of wintry things: a sun that hardly rises, gloom and gray all day, farmers markets flooded with kale and the anguish of gift shopping.
But with December, at least, we also enter the months of the big-boned malt bombs, often billed by brewers as their “winter” or “Christmas” beers. Such brews currently on shelves at local supermarkets and better beer stores include Ginger’s Winter Warmer from Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Sierra Nevada’s annual Celebration Ale and Anchor Brewing’s yearly Christmas Ale. San Francisco’s 21st Amendment has released Fireside Chat, a strong brown beer named after Franklin Roosevelt’s weekly radio talks with a nation that was then burning its furniture to keep warm. And from breweries further afield, beers like Deschutes’ Jubelale and Avery’s Old Jubilation Ale have arrived with the rains and the nasty north swell.
