Cover Story
Digital afterlife
Peggy was dying. She had battled cancer for years, but at the age of 45 she was losing her fight. A wife and stay-at-home mother of three children in Ventura, Peggy had caught the online bug and couldn’t stop writing about what was happening to her and the effect the disease had on her family.…
What is mankind’s greatest technological achievement?
David Maegert musician/metalworker “Flying to the moon. It involved a lot of computers and systems. Making stuff function up there takes a lot of technology.” Rodi Bragg tea specialist “The internet. It is so fast and it’s part of everything.” Alex Biale student “Creating a heart valve. My friend is working on a new heart…
Musical madman!
Joe Craven is one of a kind. From his outlandish costumes to his dizzying array of unusual instruments, this unpredictable musician takes listeners on a journey through music and its deepest and most unexplored jungles, where dangers and delights await! His stage can resemble a swap-meet, festooned with dozens of “instruments,” including, as his bio…
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…
Art After Dark
Josephine Crawford Studio 5-6 p.m. Pre-party Salon. 873 Church St. (Railroad District); 543-2237. ARTS Space Obispo Open Studios Art Tour 6×6(x6) Show. 570 Higuera St.; No. 165 (SLO Creamery) 544-925; artsobispo.org. Bambu Batu Organic Skin Food by Danielle Small, Aria Glass by Jamie Stehula, photography by Charlotte Cashell-Varga and Patrick Fina. 1023 Broad St.; 788-0806;…
Something to crow about …
It’s Sunday, Oct. 2, and my gal and I are tooling up Pacific Coast Highway on a classic fall day—some patchy fog but mostly clear, crystalline blues skies and aquamarine seas. We’re heading to Cambria to check out the Scarecrow Festival, where arts-minded folks and businesses decorate the town with our stuffed, brainless friends, who…
I am not a camera
Photography, in its infancy, represented both a formative influence on and a threat to Impressionist painters. The two art forms—one on canvas, one on film—may have come from the same desire to reach out to a fleeting, lovely piece of the world—a sunrise, a sailboat, a lily pond in the afternoon, a twirling dancer—grasp it,…
The shape of things to come
Consider the potential of a dance company that borrows its name from a fungus that thrives on excrement; that hails from a quintessentially charming, rural New England town; that stacks taut, athletic bodies like Lego bricks, folds them like origami, conflates, repurposes, and bewitches until you don’t know whether you’re watching dancers, athletes, acrobats, puppeteers,…
Get to know the award-winning Paso Wine Man
Do you know the Paso Robles Wine Man? He’s a local PR character with Isaiah Mustafa Old Spice overtones and subtle hints of Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World. He’s suave and immaculate, and he’s a diehard supporter of uncorking local bottles. Paso Robles Wine Country recently released the latest promotional video in…
Ancient Peaks 2009 Renegade Margarita Vineyard
This new blockbuster from winemaker Mike Sinor offers a robust Rhone blend of Syrah, Malbec, and Petite Verdot. Bold and flavorful, it’s rich with aromas and flavors of wild blackberries, black cherries, currants, and ripe plums, highlighted with notes of minerals, smoky meats, and toasty spices. Grown in the southernmost part of Paso Robles appellation,…
Zocker 2010 Gruner Veltliner Paragon Vineyard
This is a light, elegant white that hints more of lightly spiced apple blossoms than ripened fruit. It’s nicely balanced by zippy citrus notes, mellow grapefruit flavors, and minerality. Quite dry and tasty, this is a varietal that’s easy sipping and food friendly. It’s perfect for lightly spiced Asian food from curries and stir-fried fish…
Look! Up in the air!
A zeppelin makes a historic landing in Morro Bay—but this one is no airship. This time it’s Stillman Brown, owner and winemaker of Red Zeppelin Wines, opening his first tasting room. Like its eccentric winemaker, aka Swilly Idle or Swilly von Zeppelin, it’s like nothing you would expect. Suitably named the Zeppelin Hangar, it’s housed…
Bethany Soxman
NEW TIMES How did you become partners with Ken Brown? SOXMAN I had just got done interning with a trainer in Riverside for a couple months. I was looking for someone who I could intern with locally. No one was willing to help me without me willing to pay. When I met Ken, he said…
Cork it!
Last year I submitted an audition tape to Ninja Warrior, a Japanese reality show pitting man against, well, nothing. Just a bizarre assortment of obstacles and water pits, really. Getting on Ninja Warrior is the first phase in my five-year plan to get off my couch. I haven’t figured out the other phases yet, but…
Good times at Good Games
Let’s be honest: We all love our broadband connections. I love being able to play online from my couch, but there’s a certain glee that comes from being able to reach over and smack a buddy in the back of the head for that last headshot. Force feedback, if you will. The only problem with…
We need a president who’s a leader, not a debater
Haven’t we had enough examples of candidates who can talk good and promise “change” but have no experience to back it up? We elected the Obamanation in the White House as a result! Let’s not make this mistake again in selecting a Republican candidate. We need a man in the White House who has years…
End the Drug War insanity
How many Americans are watching the Ken Burns special on Prohibition and comparing it to the Drugs Wars of today? Think about it. Here we have historians and social scientists telling us that prohibition does not work, that a ban on something makes it not only more desirable but profitable, and yet most Americans think…
I don’t feel like Lucia Mar is putting students’ needs first
Regarding the proposed New Tech High School in Nipomo: While I admit the school sounds exciting, I have concerns that so much money is being spent on a school that will benefit few students, especially when so many schools are doing without because there are supposedly no funds. 1) There are no computer lab assistants…
Review the eucalyptus-replacement facts
The Board of the Morro Coast Audubon Society (MCAS) wishes to respond to flyers being distributed to residents of Los Osos and Morro Bay regarding future eucalyptus removal from the MCAS-owned East Sweet Springs property in Los Osos. Since acquiring the 8-acre parcel in 2008, MCAS has conducted the needed surveys and gathered information to…
Occupy San Luis Obispo!
The mainstream media has tried to censor what began in the streets of New York City the 17th of September. Occupy Wall Street is here, and it is spreading. I am calling on the citizens of San Luis Obispo and all the other surrounding cities to wake up and take to the streets. We must…
Don’t forget the human impact
In March 2008, I remember reading that a crude death note was sent to a county employee who was involved in evicting residents from Sunny Acres. Now, in 2011, our county employees and Judge Crandall are at it again. I don’t believe in violence, but I sometimes think our paid officials go too far to…
A sad outcome would rest solely on De Vaul
You have devoted another issue to the ongoing De Vaul drama (“For better or worse,” Sept. 29). You pointed out the sad prospect of homeless people housed on his ranch having to be moved off. However, you neglected to report an important fact. Namely, Mr. De Vaul’s operation does not meet County Health and Safety…
You can’t handle the nuclear
In her Sept. 29 letter, Rochelle Becker laments that radioactive waste is accumulating on the Central Coast (“We want a voice in nuclear storage”). Ms. Becker, I would like to see evidence that any organization you have worked with has supported any other alternative besides shutting down Diablo Canyon. Storage at Yucca Mountain in Nevada…
Remember the struggle
During the early hours of Oct. 10, 1911, California women readied, after eight busy months of preparation, for a last critical day of work. On that date, male voters would go to the polls for the second time since 1896 to decide whether they—California women—should have the right to vote. They had organized to distribute…
Burlesque to your best
Arroyo Grande isn’t usually associated with burlesque dancing. But that’s exactly what has come to town thanks to Shelby Bundy and her dance studio, Tantrum. Located on Grand Avenue, Tantrum is a women-only studio focused on a rather unique area of dance fitness. The studio’s pink walls and abundance of mirrors give the impression of…
Cougars and Mustangs
Do you know a kid whose game needs attention? Like, medical attention? The Cal Poly Mustangs Women’s Basketball team is coming to the Grover Beach Parks and Recreation Department’s annual basketball clinic to give eighth graders and younger the attention they need. Poly players will be doling out pointers and leading drills from 9 to…
It’s on
A local political wonk may have made the understatement of the year: “It’s gonna be a money election,” he said. “It’s coming down to calculating the money.” If money and politics were merely in bed before, in today’s climate their unholy union has shot out a litter of suckling trust fund babies. According to Michael…
Air of contention
People on the sidelines of the fight to reduce airborne dust around the Oceano Dunes have fallen into one of two groups: those who think regulators are overstepping their bounds, and those who think they aren’t doing enough. Seldom has this divide been more obvious than on Sept. 28, when the San Luis Obispo County…
NRC to discuss spent fuel in SLO
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has included San Luis Obispo as one of three locations nationwide in which to discuss issues related to the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel from commercial power reactors, such as that stored onsite at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The public meeting is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15…
LOVR/101 interchange moves ahead
The city of San Luis Obispo is moving ahead with a $30 million project to revamp the crowded interchange at Los Osos Valley Road and Highway 101. The project has been on Caltrans’ on-deck circle for years, but the road agency recently approved environmental and other project reports, signaling that the way ahead may finally…
Brown vetoes Blakeslee parks bill
Sen. Sam Blakeslee’s bill to allow local jurisdictions to operate state parks threatened with closure has fallen to the veto pen of Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown announced Oct. 4 that he vetoed Blakeslee’s Senate Bill 356, which would have mandated that the California Department of State Parks and Recreation allow local jurisdictions—such as counties and…
No conflict for Paavo
San Luis Obispo County has determined there was some hanky between its Public Works director and a former Community Services District director, but no panky. On Oct. 4, County Administrator Jim Grant announced his conclusion after more than three months of investigating a relationship between Public Works Director Paavo Ogren and Maria Kelly, a former…
New truck routes rile community
There weren’t supposed to be any trucks going through Santa Margarita, but changes made internally and virtually silently by San Luis Obispo County planners have cleared the way for hundreds of gravel-haulers to roll through the small town on their way to the California Valley and SunPower’s California Valley Solar Ranch. On Aug. 19, the…
Golden Shovel Diggers
A gaggle of local, state, and federal officials shoveled dirt at a Sept. 30 groundbreaking ceremony for the widening of the Santa Maria River Bridge. Pictured from left to right are Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougher, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, Santa Maria Mayor Larry Lavagnino, U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, State Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, State…
