Cover Story
Where fat rabbits and antelope hunters play
This year’s film festival theme is simple. Direct. Movies matter. And who could argue? Sitting in a darkened theater, laughing, crying, and thinking beside friends and strangers is perhaps the epitome of equality, fraternity. And it is in these plastic seats, eating buttered popcorn that we discover the best and worst of ourselves, of humanity.…
Reeled in
Captain Mark Tognazzini is still reeling over the very idea of the shiny rectangular box that now occupies a commanding spot in the watch house of his Morro Bay fishing boat. “It’s unbelievable. It gives anybody with a passcode the ability to see exactly where you are 24 hours a day, seven days a week,”…
Lights out!
Dark skid marks stained the road and a broken power pole lay shattered in the street across from San Luis Obispo High School on the afternoon of March 5, when a pickup truck crashed into the power pole across from the school’s main entrance on San Luis Drive, causing a massive power outage downtown, according…
Pave paradise, put in a parking lot
Neighbors from the historic district surrounding Mitchell Park in SLO have rallied under a single banner–Save Mitchell Park–to oppose a recommendation that 6,000 square feet of park be paved over to create more parking at the senior center. The group planned to attend a March 5 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission–an advisory body…
More beer
# Firestone-Walker brewery just released the latest in its arsenal of oak-brewed pale ales, Union Jack. The most recent effort is a “double dry hopped” IPA (India Pale Ale,) a sort of English ale meets Northern California micro-brew. The result is surprisingly light and spicy a tasty original brew. The secret, according to Brewmaster Matt…
Where has Allen Settle(d)?
# At the undramatic end of a recent Tuesday night’s San Luis Obispo City Council meeting, councilman Allen Settle climbed into his 1999 Toyota four-door sedan and took a long and winding drive to his house. To the one in Arroyo Grande. The one that’s not in the city he represents. Settle, a former four-term…
‘I’m toughest little cookie you ever did see’
For a couple of decades now, there’s been a growing faction of the rock’n’roll brigade that’s eschewed showmanship and spectacle in favor of shoe-gazing introspection and stasis-like stage shows. # Well, they totally suck, don’t they? Those kinds of performers are the equivalent of the sex partner who just lays there. When I go to…
Fast facts:
Need help with your taxes? AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons,) is offering free income tax preparation at several locations around the county through April 11. Seniors with Social Security benefits and people with disability benefits are encouraged to take advantage of the help, because they may be eligible for returns of between…
Clarification
The Central Coast Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Chapter (“Minuteman group meets on the Central Coast,” Feb. 21) volunteers under the umbrella of National Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. It is not associated with Jim Gilchrist or his Minuteman Project.
A tidy deal, until the campus found out
A possible $6 million contract between Cal Poly’s engineering program and a Saudi Arabian university inspired more than 100 students, faculty and administrators to attend a Cal Poly Academic Senate meeting on the afternoon of March 4. The proposed program would enable Cal Poly engineering faculty to help create four engineering degree programs at the…
Vote for Lenthall or else. Or else Hill.
Barack Obama has media mogul Oprah Winfrey on his side and Hillary Clinton is backed by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Now SLO County Supervisor Jerry Lenthall is apparently being supported by Ultimate Fighting Championship bad-ass Chuck Liddell. Liddell is set to lend his mohawked persona to Lenthall during a fundraiser for his re-election campaign…
Think of the plants!
I am down with animal emancipator Peggy Koteen (“It’s ugly business, becoming a nugget”, Feb. 21), but she stops short. It is unconscionable to me that she and so many others can care and do so much good to protect our living biosphere, yet still overlook the plight of used and abused plants and vegetables.…
New Times wants you to check out these movies
Bending Space–Georges Rousse and The Durham Project Where you can see it: Palm Theatre on March 13 at 4 p.m. Penelope Maunsell and Kenny Dalsheimer bring you this documentary where art and architecture collide and the result is a public art crusade involving Georges Rousse–a French photographer and installation artist–and hundreds of volunteers. Getting back…
Letters
You want an answer, Shredder? The Shredder asked at the end of his column in the Feb. 21 issue (“Where did you come from?”) if somebody would tell him what to think about cheating on his taxes. Presumably he is talking about income taxes. Libertarians call taxation “legalized theft,” so they have a ready answer.…
Variety is the spice of wine
I’ve appreciated Chile’s value-priced wines since the early 1980s. You could always find tasty Cabernet Sauvignons priced at less than $10. Today you’ll pay about $12 for Chilean Cabernets and Carmeneres at the best quality they’ve ever been, and that’s an excellent deal. Of course, Chile’s rare Cabernets cost a bit more. Late in February,…
Old New Times under fire
Things have gotten pretty heated following an Oct. 6, 2007 fire at New Times’ old building on 550 Higuera St. in SLO. According to a building spokesman, the fire may have been due to an electrical sign that was removed and incorrectly dismantled. Kurry Wannagat, an administrative assistant at CenterVest Capital, said the building’s owners…
SLO High prank could lead to felony charges
A group of San Luis Obispo High seniors allegedly caused some serious damage to the school in the early morning of Feb. 27. According to police, five male students vandalized buildings by spray painting “2008” and “Don’t Hate ’08” in at least 20 places. In addition to the twisted sense of class pride, they also…
Clean up that ranch!
You all won’t be surprised with what I’m talking about this week. I’m talking about that ranch that’s been in the news. You know, the one that has piles of abandoned vehicles out front and junk everywhere, the one right on the edge of our beautiful, precious San Luis. I, of course, am talking about…
