Talking about beach party, we have the chance to enjoy one every Thursday in front of the Crow's Nest. I shouldn't advertise, it's crowded enough, but I just discovered this image on the homepage (photo by Jim Strickland). It looked so cool I wanted to pass it on.

Was die Einladung im letzten Beitrag angeht, natürlich ist mein Geburtstag nicht am 1. August. Im Winter war es nur zu kalt um am Strand zu feiern, weshalb jetzt mit einer Freundin zusammen nachgeholt wird. Und a propos Beach Party, wir können genialerweise jeden Donnerstag zu einer gehen, und zwar am Hafeneingang, 5 Minuten mit dem Rad von mir entfernt. Das Crow's Nest organisiert jede Woche, inclusive live Band. Nett, oder?

Seabright Beach Birthday Bash

We've been talking about it, now it's time to get down to the beach and actually do it! Celebrate with us!

Host: Angelika & Birgit
Location: Seabright Beach,
East Cliff Dr. at Mott Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062 US
When: Sunday, August 1, 2:00PM

It will be a potluck, so bring whatever you would like to have & share. Or just bring yourself...

LET'S GET TOGETHER AND PARTY!

View evite invitation

Festivals this Weekend

On Saturday, June 19, the yearly Japanese Cultural Fair will take place again from 11 am to 6 pm on Mission Plaza. "We believe that through the arts, craft, and culture of Japan, we can improve mutual understanding among neighbors on the Pacific Rim as well as enrich our community life here in Santa Cruz" states the Fair's website. I'm looking forward to San Francisco Taiko Dojo, and Marianne's Green Tea Ice Cream!

For something completely different (or maybe not, looking at the Japanese lady's hat): This weekend also brings us the "Central Coast Crazy Hat Days," a fundraiser organized by Mountain Parks Foundation in co-operation with California State Parks. I've never been there, nor do I own a crazy hat, but it looks like so much fun I might be tempted to throw myself into the crowd inexperienced and hatless. For more information check out the events page of the Mountain Parks Foundation. The Mercury News' offers images from previous years and links to performing artists.

Aida sold out!

My friend JZ even volunteered to buy tickets early, but unfortunately we were still late, Aida was already sold out the afternoon of the show. Holy opera cow! So she secured tickets for next week's Roméo et Juliette. I finally found the Met's website for their HD live broadcasts as well as summer encores. It turns out that I had caught the tail end of two operas on PBS. Eugene Onegin and Carmen looked like two very attractive productions. I'm a little disappointed that Madama Butterfly will only have an encore appearance in Canadian movie theaters, particularly since Anthony Minghella directed. Grumblegrumble. O well, there's still a lot of opera deliciousness to enjoy.

The Met comes to Santa Cruz

Two of my friends brought this to my attention (thanks, guys!). I'll definitely be there for Aida, for which I found a helpful review on MusicalCriticism.com. But let's start with the basics, Wallace Baine's article in the Sentinel:

Native New Yorkers will tell you that California is nice and all. But there are certain finer things in life that are only available to those who live in or near New York City, among them a great pastrami sandwich, good playground basketball and the Metropolitan Opera. Well, you can scratch at least one of those off the list [...] The Santa Cruz Cinema 9 will be showing full Met productions on the big screen in glorious high-definition, beginning Wednesday June 16 with Verdi's "Aida." The summer series will feature recordings of six well-known, fully staged operas, each Wednesday night through the end of July. All times are 6:30 p.m. and tickets will be $15.

June 16 -- "Aida" June 23 -- "Romeo et Juliette" July 7 -- "Eugene Onegin" July 14 -- "La Boheme" July 21 -- "Turandot" July 28 -- "Carmen"

Sommerwein

It's finally summer! Balmy nights call for... Riesling, of course. Chilled, peachy, slightly bubbly, yummy! This Mosel Riesling is available at Shopper's. I liked it so much, I had to take a picture of it.

Ich sehe im Geiste schon wie der Franke kritisch die Nase kräuselt, aber ich bin dem Herben schon so entwöhnt, dass ich einen recht lieblichen Mosel-Riesling an einem lauschigen Sommerabend ganz köstlich finde. Gefiel mir so gut, dass ich gleich ein Foto machen musste. Und, ganz genau, der Sommer ist endlich angekommen, und fühlt sich einfach wunderbar an!

another favorite pastime: Santa Cruz Derby Girls

I reported on the season opener back in March, but discovered only last week that we have a video of it now. Great! Saturday's bout (5/15), in comparison, was a bit more subdued, for several reasons. First I noticed that the music seemed at a lower volume than usual, which was somewhat strange considering the kind of music you enjoy at the bouts. The only explanation I could think of was that we were having ourselves a family-friendly event since the Derby Groms were scheduled to compete during the half-time break. After the Groms' performance a good part of the audience, proud parents I suppose, promptly disappeared, which made for a (relatively) quiet second half. Birgit and I thought that we could also detect a certain fatigue spreading. It felt like a double header with one team, the Groms, being very cute, but not exactly very exciting, which took some momentum out of the proceedings. Would it be better to schedule separate events for the kids? I, for one, will avoid the bouts from now on that include the Groms. Which is not to say that we didn't have fun. It's always a blast! I'm ready to order my tickets for the next Santa Cruz bout June 26th, if my perpetual nemesis, friggin santacruztickets.com, will let me. I always have problems with this site. (One specialty would be to send me a temporary password, only to lock me out as soon as I use it. Thanks!)

The Jesus Factor

Could it get more Santa Cruz? Guerilla Drive-In presents the local film The Jesus Factor. Written and directed by Cheri Lovedog. Friday May 14th 8pm. Under the Soquel Avenue bridge, behind the Indian Restaurant. Free (Bring warm clothing).

Thema Spargel, genauer grüner Spargel.

Über weissen Spargel in Santa Cruz muss uns jemand anderes informieren. Es gibt ihn schon wenn in Saison, aber entweder bin ich zu doof, oder habe nicht die entsprechenden Kultrequisiten, auf jeden Fall wird der weisse bei mir immer eher nix. Weshalb ich auf grünen umgestiegen bin und sagen muss: Einmal grün, immer grün, da er so viel einfacher zu handhaben ist!
Ich schneide ihn in Stücke und haue ihn in die Pfanne. Wenn ich nicht rechtzeitig wende und er leicht anbrennt schmeckt er sogar noch besser. Praktisch.
Ein Hinweis für Santa Cruzianer: Da wir die Gelegenheit haben frisch vom örtlichen Anbieter zu kaufen sollten wir sie auch ergreifen. Als Lohnsklavin ist mir der mittwöchliche Wochenmarkt versagt, aber ich kaufe zumindest bei Shopper's Corner ein und kann den Laden mit Überzeugung weiterempfehlen. Trader Joe's ist ja nett für andere Geschichten, aber vom Gemüsekauf dort würde ich allgemein abraten. Die langen Wege der teilweise eingeflogenen Waren sind nicht nur politically incorrect, sondern lassen das Gemüse schlichtweg altern bevor es in die Regale kommt. Man tut sich wirklich keinen Gefallen ein paar Cent zu sparen um dann die Geschmacksnerven mit komplett unspannendem Futtergeschmack zu langweilen. TJ Spargel insbesondere hat sich als holzig erwiesen, während die Stengel bei Shopper's bisher jedesmal frisch & saftig waren. Natürlich ist Unikat Shopper's teurer als Kette TJ, aber ich habe gerade festgestellt, dass man die wöchentliche Zeitungsanzeige mit Angeboten auch online anschauen kann, was sich allemal lohnt. Und die Wandmalerei auf der Branciforte Seite ist natürlich klasse! (Foto Coyro/Sentinel)

From The Smoking Gun to Extras via Thin White Duke

Browsing the web on a quiet night at home I let the The Smoking Gun's extensive mug shot collection entertain me for a while. Among a plethora of stars, starlets and superstar athletes, it offers the classic shots that we all know & love, of Sam Shepard, several of Robert Downey Jr. over the years, and Nick Nolte, of course. Interesting are TSG's Favorite Mug Shots, "images of the not-so-famous that chronicle the rich assortment of American misbehavior." Leona Helmsley e.g. is pretty funny. Among all the dazed and disheveled, for once human looking celebrities The Thin White Duke stands out in his magnificent artifice. He did have a chance to tidy up, though, the "Rochester Police Department mug shot was taken three days after Bowie's arrest, when the performer appeared at City Court for arraignment." 1976. Still lovely! This incarnation just never went out of style. Iggy was nabbed the same night, apparently, but we don't have any pictures. And while we're at it, guess who declared: "Bowie said that after Let's Dance, which is his biggest album ever and obviously not his best, he was doing these stadium gigs and looked out at the audience and suddenly realized that he had Phil Collins fans instead of Iggy Pop fans. And that's how I feel about everything I do: I want Iggy Pop fans." Guess! Ricky Gervais. Biggest Bowie fan. "See his pug-nosed face" in one of the top cringe-inducing scenes in comedy history! If you're not familiar with Extras, you might have to watch the whole episode, though, to appreciate it, including the Bowie interview. They've been mates & at it at least since back in The Observer days. And yes, I'm feeling a little sentimental tonight!