“I’ve been worried about this problem for 10 years . . . long before this crisis. Long, long before Occupy Wall Street. I’ve been very aware of the fact that the economic system doesn’t work the way that I learned it works in school.”
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Faces of Occupy Santa Cruz
“I didn’t know about the movement until my caregiver told me about it, and then I saw it on the news. I told my friend, ‘I’m down to support that, I’ll definitely march with you guys.’”
Faces of Occupy Santa Cruz
“I’m trying to get more people involved because a lot of people don’t know what’s going on and what this actually supports—making Wall Street and the upper classes take more responsibility for the state of the economy.”
Santa Cruz Council Votes to Reduce Library Positions
City Council voted 5-1 last night to reclassify positions in the municipal library system. Only Councilmember Tony Madrigal dissented. The new arrangement could lead to as many as 11 layoffs, though library staffers are hopeful that at least some of these will be eased by early retirements. Also possible, they say, is a new deal with the union to cut costs by as much as $900,000.
Occupy Santa Cruz Plans Dance Protest
Today’s Occupy Santa Cruz protest will mark a change not only from previous protests in the city but also from Occupy protests taking place across the country. Rather than marching and chanting slogans, the participants plan on dancing. After all, music is inherently related to the protest movements of the past, and this is the town most closely identified with the Grateful Dead, known for such iconic protest songs as Mr. Charlie.
Ten Questions: George Ow, Jr.
Real estate developer and philanthropist likes boogie boarding, hates forgetting things.
PRFF: Fantastic Voyage
It looks serene in the footage, the long slender fiberglass canoe and its outrigger slicing through sapphire water or filmed from below, silhouetted against the clear green of the shallows. The oars move in rhythm, the paddlers bend their broad backs to the task. And it is, in fact, quiet—if not exactly peaceful.
PRFF: Trainspotting
If you thought trains meant a lot in blues songs, consider how much metaphysical freight they pull in Japanese film. Donald Richie was one of the first westerners to write about Japanese cinema. His new collection Viewed Sideways (Stone Bridge Press) includes a 1993 piece on the importance of trains in Japan’s films.
PRFF: Paradise Found
Last Paradise isn’t your average surf film. “We’d dream up these crazy ideas of things you can do, which is exciting because you don’t know if you’re going to live or die when you’re doing them,” says all-around extreme sports enthusiast John Neeson.
PRFF: Deadly Heights
Luis Benitez paused when he saw me coming down and leaned into the axe planted in the snow above him. “Hey Sam, how’re you feeling?”
“Good . . . tired,” I replied, my voice weak.
“I’ll bet you are,” he said, and laughed. “Why don’t you go back to base camp, get yourself a coke, go to college, find a hot boyfriend—how ‘bout a junior—and forget this scene for a while,” he said.
