Cover Story
A palette full of color and a pocketful of stones
Editor’s Note Momento mori: Remember that you are mortal. Consider the macabre theme our annual Autumn Arts edition not as a celebration of death, but as a reminder of vitality, a reminder that life, however brief, can be purposeful and well lived. Many, many years ago at my grandfather’s funeral, I recited the poem “High…
Pants? We don’t need no stinking pants!
The boys of Still Time like to boast about their van, a “sweet” Ford Econoline with “double cassette player and VCR,” the same van that’s been hauling the SLO Town band up and down the West Coast this past summer in an endless loop of concerts. I peak my head into the van and can…
Artifacts
Celebrate Central Coast landscapes with the legendary Plein Air festival Sept. 29 through Oct. 5, all over SLO County. Sept. 29 to Oct. 2: Art appreciators and collectors watch festival artists as they paint the landscapes, cityscapes, and seascapes of San Luis Obispo County. The San Luis Obispo Art Center is festival headquarters all week,…
Vegetables rule
New Times What the heck is POVE (Pismo Oceano Vegetable Exchange) anyway? Dan Sutton [Laughs] In a sense it is a grower and shipper of fresh produce. The way it’s set up is that POVE is owned by five local family farmers: The Hayashi’s, the Kobaras, the Dohi’s, the Ikeda’s, and the Saruwatari’s ; they…
Resolving thirst
Thirst is a beautiful word, elegant, old-fashioned, and often used to express a quest for knowledge or achievement. Rarely is the word ‘thirst’ used in a context that implies desperation or dehydration. Marianne Orme—owner of Linnaea’s Cafe—and photographers Kameron Ahler and Daniel Neal are hoping to alter that fact with a few photographs. At the…
A fine play
We’ve all been storytellers at one point or another, whether entertaining friends or co-workers with a verbal account of a particular event in our lives or spinning fictional fantasies through a computer. It’s a very human activity, and the central concept in Conor McPherson’s production The Weir, playing at PCPA through Oct. 5. A weir,…
Estancia 2005 Shiraz Central Coast
Whether it’s called Syrah or Shiraz, the latter its Australian name, it’s made from the classic wine grape Syrah. This delicious blend, 76 percent Syrah, 18 percent Petite Sirah, 4 percent Grenache and 2 percent Mourvedre, offers novice wine drinkers a great chance to learn to appreciate Rhone wines at a value price. Bright with…
Scharffenberger Brut Mendocino County Non-vintage
It’s not too soon to start stocking up for the holidays and I just discovered this excellent sparkling wine. I loved its fragrant bready nose, a big plus. It’s elegant and perfectly balanced with appealing fruit and citrus notes from the blend of two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay. Once you’ve tried it, say with…
So sweet, so savory is Linn’s restaurant
I just tried my first piece of olallieberry pie and it was so delicious I couldn’t keep my fork away from it, until only a trace remained on the plate. I’ve been a health fanatic for years yet I also slurped up all of the McConnell’s Creamery (of Santa Barbara) vanilla-bean ice cream melting on…
Vote for policies
I understand why so many rich people vote Republican. They are interested in the preservation of their wealth at the expense of all else. I don’t respect it, but I understand it. But Republican votes from the working class and even the poor? To you I want to say, “thank you for your Republican vote!”…
Thanks for the warning
I appreciated your article on Lyme disease (“Take precautions to avoid Lyme disease,” Sept. 11, 2008). I am currently recovering from Lyme disease, having been bitten by a tick in San Luis Obispo County 18 months ago. Jacque Simmons’ experience with the medical community here in the county is the same as mine (with the…
Move forward
Last week I was sitting in my apartment on a Sunday afternoon when I heard a knock on the door. When I answered, two young men were standing there asking me if I wanted to help their campaign to pass Propostion 8. I was appalled. How could those young men, the country’s future, want to…
A pitch for the Reclamator
The county is pushing a “STEP” (Septic Tank Effluent Pumping) system for Los Osos in an attempt to create an unlawful means to maintain control of the community’s water. With a price tag of $250 million, STEP will deprive residents of a sustainable alternative water source. The Federal Water Law makes clear that a STEP…
Los Osos does not need a gold-plated sewer
The county’s public works department, under Paavo Olgren, is still determined to spend more money for more studies for the Los Osos Wastewater Project, instead of using common sense. He is still pursuing the $250-million stinking gravity sewer that the people of Los Osos voted down a few years ago by throwing three CSD directors…
There are more than two parties
How many presidential candidates will there be on the 2008 ballot? If you were to observe this presidential race from outside the U.S., you would think there are only two candidates. If you are a typical American, you would think the same thing. Ninety percent of voting Americans will vote for a Republican or a…
Ouch!
Whether Palin is capable or not of being vice-president while raising five children is besides the point. The electorate should concentrate on much more serious issues. All this sudden infatuation for a woman whose experience consists of four years on the city council and six years as the mayor of a town with less than…
How could you?
Russell Hodin’s sonogram cartoon (New Times, Sept. 4, 2008), concerning the daughter of beautiful, intelligent, and articulate Governor Sarah Palin, was neither funny nor entertaining. It was nothing but a sexist, deplorable, outrageous, and insensitive cartoon that is typical of an extreme liberal chauvinist pig who would stoop so low as to attack Gov. Palin’s…
Keep it simple
The costly bailouts keep us in a collapse-mode. What citizens want is not monster expensive mansions but small sustainable inexpensive homes with solar panels and photo-voltaics on the roof and a clothesline in the backyard. Change is needed—not bailouts.
Sounds like theft
Let me get this straight. Wall Street takes the profit it makes off the backs of investors and victims of shady loan practices and pockets hundreds of billions in bonuses. Then Wall Street goes bankrupt because the money it made went to bonuses instead of into accounts to cover the loans it made to people…
Messages to the new board
The June election set the stage for a seismic shift of power on the County Board of Supervisors, the government entity that has the most direct impact on the quality of life in San Luis Obispo. The result was a clear mandate: out with the old majority, whose lips said no! no! to sprawl development…
Mark Buchman – Chair of SLO County Democratic Party
NEW TIMES: Have you ever done a “terrorist fist bump”? Buchman: I can’t say that I have. When I was growing up it was the high-five, but in today’s political climate you can assign characteristics to anything. NEW TIMES: In one sentence, who is a Democrat in 2008? BUCHMAN: A Democrat in 2008 is someone…
Bush-style socialism
Wall Street is yanking the markets these days like the pull on a broken chainsaw. And what the traders are really wondering is: Are they falling for it? I’m afraid we are. Most of Washington seems ready to hand the pinstriped kleptocrats unprecedented, unchecked powers over the financial industry, as well as a blank check…
Fast Facts
A 52-pound bag of dog hair was one of the items intrepid volunteers turned up in the 24th Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 20. In all, organizers say they expect the 2008 effort will match the previous year’s collections. About 60,000 volunteers turned out statewide, collecting about 900,000 pounds of trash and recyclables. Locally, off-roaders…
Super clean, green machines
Jake Carter wants to change the way people get around town. Change them from hauling themselves to and fro in a gas guzzling car, to scooting as many as 30 miles for the cost of a stick of gum. “I want everyone to stop driving downtown,” Carter declared. “And, I want every student to stop…
Banking on communication
With Wall Street banks in turmoil and signs the sickness is spreading to some regional banks, many local banks are reaching out to customers with soothing messages. Local financial experts, however, say there are additional questions customers can ask if they’re concerned about the strength of an individual bank. Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks Bank recently…
WOW Week 2008 citations jump from 2007
The San Luis Obispo Police Department responded to 373 calls over WOW Week weekend, a 19 percent increase from the 315 reported during the same period a year ago. A “significant” number of the calls were related to the beginning of the 2008-09 academic year at Cal Poly, police say. Officers reported heavy party activity…
Ralph Nader coming to SLO
President Bush was just demanding action on his proposed $700 billion financial sector bailout when Independent presidential candidate and corporate watchdog Ralph Nader spoke with New Times in advance of his coming campaign trip to San Luis Obispo. Nader, who many believe played a spoiler role in the 2000 election of Bush, will again be…
Airport lobbying works with U.S. Airlines
The business community, feverishly fighting to keep SLO County Airport expansion plans alive, scored a small victory recently with the addition of one new flight to Phoenix. Through a fervent lobbying effort by the San Luis Obispo County Air Transportation Alliance (SLOCATA), U.S. Airways agreed to add another daily flight and a larger 86-passenger jet.…
Independence of Wal-Mart surveyor questioned
The Atascadero Chamber of Commerce is flaunting a recent survey as proof that there is “overwhelming” support from the business community to bring a Wal-Mart into town. But the results came from a company with ties to the controversial retail giant, and the Wal-Mart debate is heating up again in Atascadero. The chamber paid $1,500…
Huasna oil: a tale of two stories
Two different audiences. Two different messages. The Australian parent company of Excelaron LLC, the small oil exploration corporation that is proposing to tap long-dormant oil wells in Huasna Valley, is telling its shareholders information about the project that in some cases differs substantially from what Excelaron has told county planners and area landowners. A New…
BIKES ARE HAPPENING
Simply stated, the point of Bike Happening is to have fun. This is achieved most readily when everyone grabs a bike, dresses up, makes a bunch of noise, and no one gets hassled by the cops, because no one is doing anything dangerous or blatantly illegal. When all that happens, the result is a glorious…
