Cover Story
Pretty words and wit
Few art forms are as demanding as poetry. To be successful, a poet must combine rhythm with story telling, imagery with sentiment, personal experiences with universal wisdom. It’s a delicate balancing act. If any element is overly emphasized, the poem fails; it seems sappy, cliché, or lifeless. But when the balance is just right, the…
Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em!
Hey look! There’s a big, fat, white canvas set up on an easel with a table of paints and brushes next to it. I can’t resist defiling such a pristine canvas, so I squeeze out a big glop of red and have at it. Then some yellow. Ta-da! I just officially started the group painting…
Foliage or foilage?
Can you feel it? Things are changing. There’s a cold bite to the air. Even the streets seem to have been made cleaner by the coming chill. Did the brisk winds sweep away litter? Or chase away people who have nowhere to sleep but the sidewalk? Either way, I’ll bet downtown SLO business owners are…
If threatened, what household item would you use as a weapon?
John Francis administrative assistant “A spatula. You can do a lot of slapping with that.” Hayden Kessel craft designer “I would use a bat, so the intruder would stay as far away as possible.” Katie Germound pet store employee “A kitchen knife and a pillow as a shield.” Steve Luisi retired grocer “A baseball would…
What a drip!
All week long, New Times Staff Writer Matt Fountain had been urging this writer to cover figure painter Derek Schultz’s latest show, “Body of Light,” at San Luis Art Supply. This writer refused to budge, certain she wanted to dedicate this week’s Artifacts column to KCPR’s 40th anniversary auction, going down Nov. 15 to 19…
A dispatch across time
Throughout the 80 minutes of Al Schnupp’s Antigone and Letters to Soldiers Lost, an adapted story of lost soldiers in ancient and modern times, a wooden boat dangles, unused, between the stage ceiling and the floor. It’s an unsubtle symbol for the No Man’s Land between worlds—life and death, the physical and the spiritual, Greece…
How smart are they?
Pacific Gas and Electric’s ambitious and controversial program to replace every household’s electricity meter with a wireless Smart Meter has brought howls of protest over health risks and calls for bans in many other parts of the state. So far in SLO County, though, even as contractors are ripping out the analog meters and bolting…
It’s good to be a San Luis Obispo firefighter
Ask any San Luis Obispo firefighters about the financial difficulties facing their city, and they’ll likely point out that police officers are the employees who received large raises and the only safety employees who have used binding arbitration. This is true. But there’s more to the story. Although SLO police officers are often labeled as…
Corrections and clarifications
• Just to reiterate, in the news story “(Not) for sale” (Nov. 4), DW August Company does not own the Laureate School. • In the Strokes column “The Zen of paddling” (Nov. 4), the owner of Central Coast Standup Paddling was incorrectly identified in the photo caption. His name is Matt Hudgens. • In the…
Is Paso basin tapped?
There are still plenty of uncertainties about the Paso Robles groundwater basin. But while the details of a 13-year basin study are fuzzy in some areas, the one thing experts agree on is that the basin is in trouble and has effectively reached its cap. “No matter how you change the assumptions, outflows are going…
County reaches settlement with Charter
Charter Communications has agreed to pay $286,285 in a settlement agreement with San Luis Obispo County, County Counsel Warren Jensen announced following a Nov. 9 closed session meeting. Jensen wasn’t available for further comment as of press time, but Deputy County Counsel Tim McNulty said in an e-mail to New Times the settlement was over…
SLO Historical Home Ordinance passes
The lame duck San Luis Obispo City Council approved a reworked new historical home ordinance at its Nov. 8 meeting, capping months of contentious debate over how far the city should go to preserve its old houses. The council voted 4-1 to approve. Councilman Allen Settle voted against the ordinance. The ordinance faced more muted…
Marx to be SLO Mayor (we’re pretty sure)
More than a week after the election—as New Times went to press—SLO City Councilwoman Jan Marx was leading Paul Brown by 298 votes in the race for mayor of San Luis Obispo. Votes were still being counted in the concrete-and-glass depths of the SLO County government building. Marx’s election will undoubtedly create the next big…
Poly’s adult students protest potential program elimination
Roughly 30 students, teachers, and supporters of the Adult Degree Program (ADP) at Cal Poly staged a rally in front of the university’s administration building to protest the possible elimination of the program they say has given many in the community a second chance at a first-rate education. On Oct. 29, Dean of Continuing Education…
Mind trip
I think what I like best about 3 Leg Torso is that they don’t even try to sound like anything or anyone else. The fiercely independent, wholly original chamber quintet creates cinematic, unusual music that’s at once beautiful and arresting. Sure, if you listen closely you can discover some subtle touchstones on their newest instrumental…
This candy’s not for kids
Many people spend their childhood in a desperate search for that next piece of sweet, sweet candy, only to spend most of their 20s in search of cheap, cheap beer specials. Now there’s a way to satisfy both cravings, and it’s nostalgically delicious. Brewed and bottled in the kitchen of an Atascadero apartment, TNA Candy…
Clubs
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Support your farmers markets
All of the passionate local chefs I know shop SLO County’s farmers markets, and every resident appreciates the farmers’ motto: “Shake the hand that feeds you.” I enjoy shopping directly from the farmers whether I’m at the market in Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, or San Luis Obispo. You’ll usually find me at the Arroyo Grande…
Cadre 2007 Pinot Noir The Architects
The brand name Cadre infers an impassioned group that banded together to further a cause: promoting the extraordinary Pinot Noir grown in California’s South Central Coast wine appellations. It’s comprised of four pioneering vineyards in the cool climate of Arroyo Grande, Edna, and Santa Maria valleys, and Santa Rita Hills: Laetitia, Firepeak, Bien Nacido, and…
Brigitte Faulkner, Hospitality Catering head chef
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Times are tough, but SLO is well-prepared
I don’t need to tell you how bad the recession has been. But I want to tell you about the things the City of San Luis Obispo has accomplished over the past few years to continue to provide the high-quality services expected by residents and businesses. As the city begins the process of adopting a…
It’s recycled clothes for me
For my whole life, I have bought used clothing when possible; it started in childhood since I was the younger boy and it was a matter of economics. But no more! Now when I buy at Goodwill, I am recycling, thank you.
Use common sense for heating and cooling
Troy Spindler writes (Aug. 5) from the EnergySavvy website that the “average home in the U.S. wastes about 30 percent more energy than an efficient one.” I take exception. The average American home wastes nearly all of its energy usage. Properly placed shade trees eliminate all summer season cooling energy needs for single family homes…
Focus on sensible conservation
I must disagree with people who believe the earth is ours to strip and despoil. Though I agree that too many conservationists ignore human need while setting agendas for sand fleas and termites, sensible conservation is in our own best interests. We do not own the earth. We cannot take anything in it with us…
Thanks, Trader Joe’s
It may be of interest to readers who shop at Trader Joe’s that the company has agreed to shift all its seafood purchases to sustainable sources by December 12, 2012. This decision came after a campaign called “Traitor Joe’s,” mounted by Greenpeace, pressured the company to abide by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “red list” of…
What’s going on in France?
You have all read in the press that the French were striking because their government was moving their retirement age from 60 to 62. They have it pretty good, you thought. What’s wrong with them?’ Actually, on this account, not much is wrong with the French, but plenty is wrong with the American press that…
Thanks to those who voted yes on H
We deeply appreciate the support from our volunteers and the voters who studied the issues during our grassroots movement, and voted yes on Measure H. Several environmental issues have been brought to light by the campaign, including but not limited to Clean Air/No Idle Zones and the magnitude of the Unocal/Chevron 322-acre oil spill near…
They’re selling us out
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been eagerly abetting Republicans in Congress in outsourcing millions of American manufacturing jobs to foreign countries. This has occurred while the Republicans have also been helping U.S. banks, including those that were bailed out with taxpayers’ money, to lock up trillions of dollars to invest only in “emerging markets”…
This is the state on drugs
The end could be near for California. We already had a cradle-to-grave entitlement mentality in this state. The feeding trough just got deeper and wider after the recent election. The state of California is like a drug addict on crack. They have to hit rock bottom, facing death, before waking up. We, as a state,…
