Our writers lend their considerable expertise to the subject of music and nightlife in Santa Cruz.
Articles
‘Oy Way’ Master Exercises Cultural Pride
When things in life don’t go as planned, Harvey Gotliffe can get rid of bad energy. He simply steps back, closes his eyes, breathes deeply, extends his palms and whispers, “Gay avek,” the Yiddish phrase for “go away.” He even wrote a book that has 35 other tips on coping with everyday life.
2012 Goldies — Arts & Culture
Santa Cruz Weekly writers sound off about artsy stuff they like.
A Classic Example
Cooking dinner on a Wednesday night, I tune in to public radio, actual airwaves, imagine that, not my private device with my private songs hermetically piped into my pre-programmed head, but unpredictable, possibly unfamiliar music streaming out of an antique boom box set on the counter, its antenna pulling in a sexy signal, violins guiding the rhythm of my chopping as the greens are prepared for the cast-iron skillet and an improvised omelet takes shape under my watchful hands and listening eyes.
Farewell to Adrienne Rich
I was introduced to Adrienne Rich’s poetry many years ago at Kenneth Rexroth’s home in Santa Barbara. I had been a poetry student of Rexroth’s, and I was visiting him on my way up to The Hoh Rain Forest in Washington. Almost immediately after I walked into his house he picked up a book set aside from his stack of mail and handed it to me, saying, “Doren, here’s a book to keep with you.” It was Rich’s major collection Diving into the Wreck.
Susie Bright on Sex, Politics and Religion
“Revolutionaries don’t look good on actuarial tables,” says Santa Cruz’s Susie Bright, but her own survival is a tribute to her strength, eclecticism and honesty. Maybe a revolutionary defies the insurance companies’ odds if she has enough of a sense of humor.
Local Dancer’s ‘Project 52’ at the Nick
Santa Cruz dancer and filmmaker Daniel Mollner is engaged in a year-long creative marathon: choreographing, shooting, editing and producing a new dance video every week. This has resulted, so far, in 13 films that cover a lot of aesthetic and emotional territory.
Retro Glamor Meets Garage Rock In The Wild Ones
In 1958, the man who would go down in history as Australia’s first rock & roller, Johnny O’Keefe, recorded “The Wild One.” Its opening verse eventually become one of the most famous in early rock, thanks to Jerry Lee Lewis’ arguably more convincing version. O’Keefe also recorded—twice—the song “Shout!,” getting his own hit version into stores only a month after the original landed on the charts. “Shout!” was picked up by the Shangri-Las for their 1965 debut album, Leader of the Pack. Then it was recorded again by Joan Jett on her 1980 debut album Bad Reputation, which featured guest appearances by two of the Ramones, Dee Dee and Marky. Years later, Jett would cover…”The Wild One.”
Jewish Film Festival: Week Two
The Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival continues this weekend with screenings of films by and about Jews. On Sunday, 100 Voices follows a group of American hazzan, or Jewish cantors, as they travel on mission to Warsaw’s Grand Theatre, Poland’s grandest opera house, where they will perform a concert of traditional Jewish music to a mostly non-Jewish audience. As their personal stories unfold we are confronted with a culture torn asunder by the most horrific single crime ever perpetrated against a people.
Neil Hamburger Takes Bad Comedy to Hilarious Heights
Greg Turkington’s funnyman character Neil Hamburger is like a satirical composite of all the thousands of bad comedians that ever were. He’s a bitter, miserable comic who constantly clears his throat and delivers bad, crass jokes with awkward timing. (“Why did God create Domino’s Pizza? To punish humanity for their complacency at letting the Holocaust happen.”)
