Einstein once explained the concept of relativity by saying, “When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.”
Articles by Tessa Stuart
How The Bay Was Saved
Hopkins sits on a rocky knob of land jutting out into the water from a much larger knob of land that constitutes the southernmost tip of the Monterey Bay. It is surrounded by cypress trees that, on foggy mornings (as most are), act like sponges, collecting moisture and letting it loose in fat, missilelike drops.
Fungus Fair Friday!
Santa Cruz’s annual weekend of mycological mayhem begins on Friday night this year with a lecture and cooking demo.
Franzen at Santa Cruz High
2010 was a banner year for Jonathan Franzen. In August, the author released his fourth novel, Freedom, a piece of literature so deftly crafted it instantly garnered him the kind of attention usually reserved for movie stars and heads of state. He graced the cover of Time Magazine in September (the first living writer in more than a decade to do so) above the headline “Great American Novelist.” He appeared on Oprah, where the daytime talk show Queen-pin heaped on the praise and the two buried the hatchet after a 2001 dust-up regarding her selection of his novel The Corrections for her Book Club.
NYE, Santa Cruz Style
From anarchist to Zen master, New Year’s Eve celebrations in Santa Cruz are a cross section of our fair city’s rich diversity. Whether a person wants to march through the streets or meditate, rub up against a sexy stranger, mine a buffet for all it’s worth or just catch some great live music, there’s a party for every persuasion and price point. Not afraid to be of service, we’ve compiled a guide to the best parties of (the last night of) the year.
Landmark Pesticide Drift Case Appealed
In 2008, Jacobs Farm made national headlines when a Santa Cruz County judge awarded the local herb grower a $1 million dollar settlement after its organic dill, sage and rosemary crops were contaminated by organophosphate pesticides. The pesticides were sprayed by Western Farm Services on the Brussels sprout fields at Wilder Ranch State Park, a popular destination for local hikers where Jacobs Farm leases 120 acres. The trace amounts of the pesticides, which drifted from the Brussels sprout fields to the herbs, rendered the entire crop unusable for commercial sale.
Surf’s Up—For Global Honor
The stretch of shoreline from the Hook at 41st Avenue to Natural Bridges State Park is as close to holy as it comes for many surfers, so why shouldn’t it receive the kind of recognition afforded the temples at Chichen Itza or Notre Dame Cathedral? The Save the Waves Coalition thought world-famous breaks deserve worldwide props, so it came up with the concept of World Surfing Reserves, sort of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of surfing.
Dream Inn Hotel Workers Keep Bennies
The owners and operators of Santa Cruz’s Dream Inn can rest easy now that the unionized employees at the hotel have finally ratified a contract following nearly a year of negotiations and union demonstrations. The employees, represented by UNITE HERE Local 483, voted to accept a new four-year contract last Tuesday, Nov. 30.
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!’”
Gift Guide: e-Readers
Three years ago this month Amazon unveiled its groundbreaking Kindle e-reader. The original Kindle featured a 6-by-4-inch grayscale screen, could hold approximately 200 titles, retailed for about $400 and—since it was the only device of its kind on the market—sold out a projected five months’ worth of stock in a little over five hours. Holiday shoppers who weren’t on top of their game had to wait until April of the following year to get their hands on the coveted contraption.
