Cover Story
Winning Images 2011
Open publication Check out this years slideshow presentation. WINNING IMAGES 2011
Who’s your most contacted ‘contact’ on your phone?
Amy O’Kane student “My best friend in New York. We get to talk and share little bits of our day.” Eric DeMarcus student “Wife—to check up on our kids, setting up childcare. Also for work-related things.” Colby Reece Bella Mundo barista “Kate. I like the way she smiles. She brings me yummy breakfast sandwiches.” Kate…
Concoction apocalypse!
I’m sort of a PBR and Jameson kind of guy, but when Executive Director Deborah Love of the Exploration Station, the South County Family Educational and Cultural Center, contacted me through Facebook to see if I wanted to judge their fundraising event, the Chemistry of Cocktails, I was like, free booze? I’ll do it! Then…
Protect dogs–and other drivers
To folks who drive with loose dogs on the back bed of pickup trucks: Please stop. Crate them or keep them inside. One-hundred-thousand dogs are killed annually because they jump or fall off the back. Just recently, we were driving north on Rt. 101 in Atascadero behind a pick-up with a loose dog in the…
A Nacimiento catastrophe is looming
The problem needs a $1.178 million fix no one has the money for, and even if they had the money, no one can do anything to fix it yet. The one thing that’s clear about a so-called “unusual” sewage line running through Lake Nacimiento is something needs to be done. “Without being alarmist about it,…
Shurman’s charge
Maybe Shurman never belonged in L.A. After all, this soulful country rock act is steeped in Americana traditions, drenched in electrical rainstorms sweeping across lowlands, layered in the dust of migrant workers, thigh-deep in the blood and mud of fallen soldiers. In short, Austin’s fertile music scene was always calling out to front man Aaron…
‘Lumber is my palette’
“Wood Transformations,” the latest exhibit to grace Paso Robles’ Studios on the Park, features the work of woodworkers Roger Combs and Barry Lundgren. The two approach the medium from different angles. Where Combs renders highly functional works of art—bed frames, tables, chairs, and chests of drawers—Lundgren often works with wood’s organic forms and imperfections to…
Introducing Eva
Honest criticism can be a treacherous road when it comes to community theater. Of course, if the play is good, you traverse it unscathed. The director of the performance loves you, thanks you personally for your support, reminds you how much he or she adores your publication, and mentions to your editor what a promising…
A tale told by an idiot
Unchecked ambition can lead a man to do strange and horrible things. In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth, the titular character murders a benevolent king, his own best friend, and an innocent family so he can sit atop the throne. It’s a dark, damning, and disturbingly accurate critique of human nature and the willingness to set…
Bites: Party like the 1 percent
It’s hard to escape the coverage of the Occupy movement. It can be maddening to try to discern the hundreds of arguments and causes from one another. Yet one thing seems to be clear: There’s a huge discrepancy of wealth in this country. Some people are referring to this gap as the 99 percent and…
Stolpman 2009 Hilltops Syrah Santa Ynez Valley
This impressive Syrah is a great value for quality vs. price ratio. Grown in Stolpman’s estate vineyards, this intensely hued wine has an amazing red violet rim. It opens with bold fruit flavors with the most intense blueberry notes I have ever tasted. Filled out with flavors of plums and wild, briary blackberries, it’s a…
Stolpman 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Ynez Valley
This fabulous white is an excellent example of the fine Sauvignon Blancs grown in Northern Santa Barbara County. Very California in style, its melon aromas and flavors marry nicely with notes of grapefruit, Meyer lemon, and tangy green apple. Pair it with a fall salad of fruit, nuts, greens, and goat cheese, or pizza with…
Rock on at this harvest party!
When fall arrives, my husband Dan is always ready for some Sunday football. I, on the other hand, am always up for good times at our great local wine fests. But there’s another reason I’m looking forward to the Rockin’ Harvest celebration in SLO wine country, Nov. 4 to 6. The wineries in South County…
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…
JAMIE COXON, San Luis Obispo craftsman
NEW TIMES What exactly is it that you do here in SLO? COXON I have a workshop in town where I build custom displays from remade materials. I also surf and hike a lot. NEW TIMES Tell me about some projects you’re working on right now. COXON I’m doing some custom displays for some…
Hooray for opera!
Kudos to OperaSLO and Cal Poly Arts for presenting another season of The Met: Live in HD, and making it possible for all of us to enjoy these marvelous Metropolitan Opera simulcasts. Thanks to generous donations and great technical work, the Performing Arts Center is the perfect venue for these performances. Every attendee can experience…
How’s this for a killer agenda?
Fox News (aka FOX-GOP Propaganda and Fundraising) has been running a fairly vicious repeating segment claiming that First Lady Michelle Obama is receiving three times the press coverage that former First Lady Laura Bush did. Apparently these “media mentions” include the daily kamikaze assaults on Ms. Obama’s character orchestrated by Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michelle…
I’m glad I chose baseball over Occupy
I went to a recent Thursday’s assembly for the Occupy SLO movement. I thought that the meeting would address the small schism developing between rowdies and movement stalwarts as to how to behave. Far from free discussion, the assembly was more like a staff development day. I abhor those idiotic ideas that breaking into groups…
Let’s hear from the top
So the city of San Luis Obispo wants city workers to take a pay cut. My question is, how much of a pay cut are city manager Katie Lichtig and her top administrators willing to take?
Dear Shredder
Your definition of a Los Osos Sewer Nut (“Sometimes you feel like a nut … ,” Oct. 20) differs from mine: A Los Osos Sewer Nut is someone who has nuts (i.e. chutzpah, gumption, guts, or, in language you might understand [and not very lady-like, but necessary to make my point], “balls”—and in Los Osos…
Political debate doesn’t move us forward
Responding to Robert Parkhurst’s “Some final words in this bailout conversation” (Oct. 27): Fat chance, Bob! Throw your stuff onto the pile after stating that no one can reply. “Vote the present administration out of office,” he says. What I have learned in the last several years is that the election cycle has so little…
Earth’s biggest dummy: It’s a tie!
Dear Laura Duffy (“Unlawful ads,” Oct. 27): Thank you. I no longer consider myself the stupidest person on the planet. That contest is now a two-person race between you and Sheriff Joe from Arizona! You should move there; the weather is nice.
Fleeced
I don’t know if you celebrate Halloween. Actually, I don’t really care whether you do or not. I want to talk about myself. I can’t afford a proper therapist, and I consider abusing the general public on a weekly basis just as good, if not better, than paying a stranger $100 an hour to talk…
Happenings in Geekland
Anonymous vs. Wall Street, the CIA, Oakland PD, and now … drug cartels? According to several online videos posted recently, hacktivist group Anonymous has threatened the Zetas cartel to release the names and addresses of members and their supporters in retaliation for the alleged kidnapping of an Anonymous member. The alleged Anon was supposedly kidnapped…
Sewer costs are not confined to Los Osos
I am not one of the Los Osos “Sewer Nuts,” as the Shredder called the persistent voices who argue against the Los Osos sewer. I’ve never spoken publicly anywhere about the sewer issue, though I’ve lived here for 24 years. So please, Board of Supervisors and the entire San Luis Obispo County, do not turn…
Cougars and Mustangs
How would you like to take a long walk on a short pier? No? Good, because then you would miss the opening of the Cal Poly pier for marine life sciences. That’s right, the land-lovin’ Mustangs have taken to the sea. On Saturday, Nov. 5, from 9 a.m. to noon, Cal Poly will be showing…
Teched off
Imagine you’ve just been laid off. You’re spending days scrounging for change in the couch cushions and rationing cold SpaghettiOs. And most of your neighbors are in the same crappy situation, all scrimping where possible with the hope that things will get better. Then a new guy moves into the house next door: a big…
Turning wrenches
If you’ve ever taken your car into an auto mechanic, you may know the dreadful feeling of anxiety that comes over you when you’re being told what’s wrong with your four-wheeled companion. With sweaty palms and a blank stare you attempt to decipher the mechanical jargon, all the while clutching your wallet in fear. John…
Death to roadkill
Special today: Roadkill” reads a restaurant menu board in a cartoon tacked on a Cal Poly biology lab bulletin board. Vegetable side dish? Squash. But roadkill is no laughing matter for the hundreds of wild animals (mostly ground squirrels, but also deer, feral pigs, skunks, and raccoons) that Cal Poly biology student researchers counted dead…
SLO courthouse gets a new presiding judge
San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Barry LaBarbera has been elected by his peers to be the courthouse’s new presiding judge, a title that comes with significant responsibilities during a time of unprecedented cuts in court services. According to state law, courts with two or more judges are required to select a presiding judge, responsible…
86s all around?
Since late July, owners and staff from 14 different downtown establishments have been meeting bi-monthly to create a plan to promote safe and responsible revelry without alienating certain businesses or customers. The newly coined Safe Nightlife Association officially launched its efforts over the Halloween weekend following a lengthy public-awareness campaign. They put up posters reminding…
County says Occupy less, please
San Luis Obispo County has asked the Occupy SLO campers to limit their protest and find somewhere else to defecate. On Oct. 28, County Administrator Jim Grant sent a notice to the dozen or so campers outside the San Luis Obispo Superior courthouse to limit their protests from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Three days…
Cal Poly settles with former volleyball coach
Cal Poly has finalized a settlement with the embattled women’s volleyball coach who was repeatedly accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by his student athletes. In the deal between the state university and Jon Stevenson, the former coach will receive most of the remaining money due to him under his prior contract, in exchange…
SLO Council approves Garden Street Terraces
The San Luis Obispo City Council approved the final Garden Street Terraces plans at its Nov. 1 meeting, clearing the way for construction of one of the largest projects in the city. The council approved the 135,000-square-foot project planned for 1.1 acres between Broad, Garden, and Marsh streets. If and when it’s built, the project…
