Cover Story
Wandering around looking for odd things
One of the first things to strike a 23-year-old Arthur Tress, arriving in San Francisco for the first time, was the city’s abundance of clean, white light. I. Coming to the Bay Area from Mexico, rumpled from three days aboard a bus, Tress wrote a typewritten letter home to his parents: “Sunday we went to…
Questions For: Etty Klinger
NEW TIMES You use a lot of exclamation points. Are you excited? ETTY KLINGER Yes. I’m definitely excited. I try to convey that in my writing. NEW TIMES How many different classes do you offer? KLINGER I didn’t actually count, but around 10. This is our first go-round. NEW TIMES Are they more…
What does this inkblot look like?
John Lemons professor “Sternum, clavicle, and a pelvis.” Maurice Lee UC Berkeley student “A very odd carnival mask.” Vicki McPartland retired “A motorcycle Zorro mask.” Molly Hemler kombucha brewer “An ape with headphones.”
Headbangers’ ball
Just when you thought it was safe to let your children out of the house again, along come Altercation, Wintersfear, Facinorous, and The More the Merrier to play an all-ages, quadruple-header, metal-tastic double album release party extravaganza at SLO Brew on Thursday, March 29 (8 p.m.; $10 presale or $12 at the door). Sadly, I…
Smell the magic
I walk into SLO Brew on Tuesday, March 27, about one verse into Todd Snider’s first song. He’s kicked off his show with “The Ballad of the Kingsmen,” and he’s talk-singing out to a throng of about 250 people, “Now, I don’t know the words to that song ‘Louie Louie,’ and I’m pretty sure the…
Art behind bars
Paul LaRiviere has long used art to better society. A visual artist and registered art therapist, he holds a master’s degree in fine art and psychology. He taught art to criminally ill patients at Atascadero State Hospital before taking on the position of institutional artist facilitator to the California Department of Corrections. Working with visual…
They think they’re in love
Teen Monologues opens with a cacophony of statistics. They rain so hard I can’t even get them down: facts spewing in every direction, tumbling from mouths, colliding with each other, flooding the stage. Seven in 10 teens say they … something. One in four teens has had … I missed that one, too. Twenty percent…
Take it outside
Something happens to sculpture when you bring it outdoors. Seen against the clinically white walls of a gallery, the artworks in the eighth annual Art Eco show might read as imposing, untouchable, and expensive. But under the broad blue sky, dwarfed by oaks, with Mediterranean flowers nipping impertinently at their heels, the sculptures in this…
The food in your garbage
There’s an elephant in the room, and it stinks. It’s that leftover serving of lasagna that lingered in the back of your fridge before being overtaken by colonists from planet mold. It’s that apple with a bruise that you didn’t bother trying to save. And it’s that bag of spinach that you never even opened,…
U.S. citizens: Act like U.S. citizens!
Mum and Dad saved so Mum and I could come to the United States to join Dad legally. Dad, born a U.S. citizen, married Mum, an English subject, while he was stationed in England serving in the U.S. Army in 1944. Both of my dad’s older brothers (former Navy) were our sponsors in case Dad…
We need to recognize mental illness when we see it
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five families has a member who is suffering from a mental illness, a brain disease, or a brain disorder. It would be interesting to learn the opinions (diagnoses) made by psychiatrists about the behavior of talk show host Rush Limbaugh. It appears that he may…
Why do we allow Diablo to operate?
Many local residents are in favor of Diablo. Most residents around Fukushima felt the same way about their plant prior to the earthquake. If you are saying we need the electricity, does your roof look like mine—covered with photovoltaic and solar panels? Germany and Switzerland are phasing out all their nuclear power. Diablo is storing…
You’d have to have blinders on not to see this
In a recent opinion piece in Israel’s Haaretz (March 23), author Jamie Levin notes the effect defense spending has on Israel’s “most vulnerable sectors of society.” In this endeavor, Levin points out “countrywide protests this past summer, which targeted everything from the price of cottage cheese to the lack of affordable housing … .” Social…
‘Capps for Congress’ doesn’t like questioning
I have been banned from Facebook! Let me be more precise: I have been banned from the “Lois Capps for Congress” Facebook page. In a medium that has opened up the realms of the freedoms for speech, press, and social communal interaction more than in the last 100 years, I have been banned from my…
If only the birds had a voice
Here is my contribution to the ongoing story of the cutting of eucalyptus trees in Los Osos: The Audubon Society woodchippers are mercifully silent for now, here in Cuesta by the Sea, opposite Baywood Park. The Sweet Springs and Lupine Wetlands have been assaulted and denuded of a portion of their “tall trees.” Many of…
Have I been missing these air farmers?
I have been following the “zip line” issue at Santa Margarita Ranch, and the Planning Department’s response (“Giant swings and zip lines—oh my,” March 15). I think we may have another type of agriculture, unknown to me: “aerial agriculture.” That can be the only explanation for the decision to allow this activity in agricultural zoning.…
Come out and say what you’re really asking
OK, I get it that New Times is a pretty liberal paper, but I was surprised that you beat around the bush (no pun intended) in the recent “Street Talk” (“Which historical figure would you most like to punch in the mouth, besides Hitler?” March 22). You should have just shortened it to: “Would you…
Shills!
You might find this impossible to believe, but I was a socially awkward youth, the type of kid who would round up the neighborhood field mice and dress them up as United States legislators and make them pass laws that would benefit the greater good. Once in a very great while, I’d let loose and…
Clubs
Goin’ South … BRANCH ST. DELI: 203 E. Branch St., Arroyo Grande, 489-9099. Live music Fri. from 5:30-8:30 p.m. THE CLIFFS RESORT: 2757 Shell Beach Road, 773-5000 or cliffsresort.com. F. MCLINTOCKS SALOON: Two locations: 750 Mattie Road in Pismo Beach and 133 Bridge St. in Arroyo Grande. 773-1892 or mclintocks.com. Live music at the…
April foods!
It’s true that April Fools pranks take a certain type of person to appreciate. After all, there are only so many times you can call the folks from a blocked number, claiming to be in a county jail, before the whole day gets a little stale. But never fear; there are plenty of fresh pranks…
Ghostwriter
With her farm and home in jeopardy and at least three banks jostling to recoup their money, Gail Moore and her attorney are trying to figure out why she’s on the hook for a $900,000 loan she claims she never signed. In fact, two other people have disputed they signed similar documents that bear their…
Zocker 2009 Riesling Edna Valley Paragon Vineyard
A “SIP” wine, which means it’s certified sustainably grown, is always an indication of quality. The name means “gambler” in Austria, and Zocker is devoted to Gruner Veltliner and Riesling. Owned by the Niven Family Wine Estates, it was named so because they aren’t popular varieties in the U.S. But if you love Riesling, this…
Peppoli 2008 Chianti Classico Tuscany
This isn’t one of Antinori’s cheaper bottlings, but this Sangiovese blend with 10 percent Merlot and Syrah is a great wine for the price. Deeply-hued like black plums, it offers well balanced flavors of brambly blackberries, black cherries, and plums. The subtle notes of leather, spice, herbs, and dark chocolate give it intense character. It’s…
A great find in Santa Maria
I’ve dined at Central City Market (CCM) in the Santa Maria Town Center several times over the past year, which was convenient since I travel there several times a month. Every meal I’ve tried at this unique garden-style restaurant and deli, from the first light lunch to outstanding winemakers’ dinners created by chef Ryan Gromfin,…
Cougars and Mustangs
When I woke up this morning, I was assaulted by pastels and fluorescent lighting. St. Patrick’s Day had been a blur, and somehow I wound up in what seemed like Wal-Mart as portrayed by van Gogh. A thousand sugary eyes cast their dopey gazes at me. “Easter,” I murmured, as I hobbled out of the…
Satisfy the sweet tooth
Psychologists say that every adult is harboring an inner child with its own desires—nagging needs that beg to be resolved even if they conflict with rational, grown-up goals. How does a busy adult handle such mental turmoil? When the kid in you acts up, just do what your parents did and shut it up with…
To serve or protect?
For hours at a time, visitors to the San Luis Obispo County Superior Courthouse would see people slumped over a counter, fiddling with the court-provided databases, entering information into their own personal laptops. Until recently, few people besides court staff knew what those longtime guests were up to. But during the week of March 19,…
Clarification
The March 22 article, “Backlash,” needs clarification: San Miguel Community Services District General Manager Rene Salas’ contract was finalized June 29, 2011; his start date was Aug. 1. San Luis Obispo County maintains a contingency that accounts for 4 percent of its budget, but the county also holds earmarked reserve funds. In total, the contingency…
SLO County votes in favor of Nipomo water project
San Luis Obispo County has cast its vote in favor of a controversial supplemental water project for Nipomo. On March 27, SLO County supervisors, acting in their side role as the SLO County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, cast a ballot in favor of the Nipomo Supplemental Water Project. The Nipomo Community Services District…
Arroyo Grande approves a temporary overnight parking program
If the March 27 Arroyo Grande City Council meeting proved anything, it’s that the people of the city feel for the plight of the homeless, but some just don’t want to have to see it on a day-to-day basis. Council members unanimously approved a temporary-use permit for St. Barnabas Episcopal Church that would allow three…
Get outta jail somewhat free?
Somebody got one over on the Sheriff’s Department in March, probably using counterfeit money to post bail at the county jail. Sheriff’s Department officials say that over the last month, they’ve discovered they took in at least two fake $50 bills at the jail facility. The bogus bills weren’t identified at the time they were…
Strobridge alleges retaliation
Dale Strobridge, formerly a sergeant with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department and the past head of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association, is fighting a two-pronged battle over his unceremonious termination in early 2011. After 11 years with the department, Strobridge was fired on Feb. 25, 2011. On March 13 of this year, he filed…
Atascadero recommits $355,000 to drug and homeless services
The North County’s only programs aimed at helping recovering drug addicts and destitute men, women, and children are in trouble. The buildings that house the El Camino Homeless Shelter (ECHO) and North County Connection (NCC) are being sold, but the programs can breathe a little easier knowing that they have financial support from the City…
