Are we over big yet? Have we had enough of supersizing? This could be the year to buck the trend with gifts that are small in size but big on style.
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Gift Guide: Service Robots
Siri, the iPhone 4S “personal assistant,” makes a great Christmas gift, and not just because she’s helpful. If you’re a tech-savvy asshole (or just curious), you probably already know how the sassy robot voice responds to questions like “What are you wearing?” or “When do you menstruate?” Of course, poor Siri isn’t the first bionic being to suffer indignity in the name of progress. Here’s a list of some other ’bots that have served us doggedly over the years—no matter what we subject them to—for that person in your life who just needs something to abuse.
Gift Guide: Soleful Gifts
I smelled it first, the stench of rotting meat mixed with stale ocean air. Turning the corner into the courtyard I found my housemate Liam standing in his underwear happily draping pieces of white rubber-like strands over the fence. I posed the obvious question.
Gift Guide: Locally Made
Most people will love and appreciate the unnecessary material good you’ve carefully selected—it’s the thought that counts, anyway, right? But when it comes to the impassioned activist on your list, holiday shopping becomes a little more challenging. For the Occupier in the family, there is only one type of gift that will flatter and please without offending their anti-corporate, nonconsumerist and eco-conscious values: the made-in-Santa Cruz gift. This guide locates some nifty locally made gifts anyone can feel warm and fuzzy about giving or receiving.
Which Way on Pacific Avenue?
Even before Santa Cruz’s Public Works Department temporarily stymied the debate about turning Pacific Avenue into a two-way street—decreeing that public safely won’t allow it—some locals had strong ideas on how to re-engineer the business district’s main artery.
Plated: Pastor-al Fantasy
In my world, Tacos Moreno is synonymous with the mighty al pastor taco, that simple, incomparable offering of corn, pink beans and salsa complicated by sensuous pork. Can your $3.15 do this? Two soft, warm corn tortillas overflowing with mounds of spicy barbecue pork, fat pinto beans, shredded cabbage, a dusting of cilantro and arguably the best salsa in town.
UCSC Grad Finds Bluebird–Wine Connection
With its bright blue back and rust-colored chest, it’s easy to see why the western bluebird is a frequent birder’s favorite. Soon viticulturists may number among its fans as well.
Missing The New Energy Wave
The turbines planted in 2008 off the coast of Lincolnshire, on England’s eastern edge, brought the United Kingdom’s total of electricity generated from offshore wind turbines to 590 megawatts, enough to power 300,000 homes. Plans to double the growth of the U.K.’s offshore wind farms by 2016 will secure the country as the world’s largest producer of electricity generated from ocean winds. But on this side of the Atlantic it’s a very different story.
UPDATED: Occupiers Say They Will Sit Down With City
“We’re having a historic event,” says Chris Doyan, who wears a tricorne hat and is sitting on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. “Occupy Santa Cruz is going to have joint meeting with the City of Santa Cruz.” Occupy members say Vice Mayor Don Lane came by yesterday and agreed to schedule a joint meeting for 10:30 a.m. today (Monday, Nov. 14).
Full Meal Deal at Leo’s
The friendly Live Oak taco bar delivers lots for little
