Christina Waters

Led by Marco Barricelli and a virtuoso cast of Equity actors, this year’s Shakespeare Santa Cruz opener, Lion in Winter, started off with a roar last weekend. Astute casting and transparent directing, by Richard E.T. White, helped power this biting psychodrama to full dazzle. The effect is potent, sobering, and very funny.

Barricelli (SSC’s Artistic Director) commands the stage with his richly physical portrayal as King Henry II, yet shares the theatrical electricity with a cast of professionals. As  Eleanor, aging queen-in-exile, Kandis Chappell hurls invective with laser precision, yet shimmers with all the innuendo of a scorned, still loving wife.

Henry and Eleanor’s sons are played with bravado and intelligence by John Pasha (Richard, the Lionhart; shown here), Dylan Saunders (John) and Aaron Blakely (Geoffrey). Joined by Philip the young King of France (Adam Yazbeck) whose sister Alais (Mairin Lee) is Henry’s new mistress, these outstanding actors take hold of the play’s dark domestic dynamics and never let go. (more…)

Cloaked in a contrarian label are blended grapes from Contra Costa County (the theme begins to sink in…) transformed into the stuff of great ragu and Gorgonzola delivery systems by the shamanic mind of Randall Grahm.

Priced at $14, Contra sips like a much pricier wine, loaded with dark berries, earth, attitude, autumn leaves and a backbone of spine-tingling tannins. Carignane, grenache, mourvedre, petite syrah, a touch of syrah and yes, even old-vine zinfandel have made their way into the heart of this opulent, dusky creation. 13.5% alcohol and persistent attitude have made it our new house favorite.

Stop by the BD tasting room on Ingalls, ask about the eccentric green label. You’ll find out just why there’s a couch sitting in the vineyards. Think of it as Randall Grahm’s way of helping us get through these fiscal doldrums.

Fourteen bucks. Incroyable!

Q: Max, your color woodblock “Untitled,” (Bike) is a knockout – how did you achieve the amazing effects?

A: Untitled, 9×12, was a seven run print, five separate woodblocks with two reduced states one on the second and one on the fourth in the print sequence; edition of 15. The final number of colors in the piece I roughly estimate to be around 40, maybe more. This was achieved by applying CMYK color separation technology to a photographic source and then separating each channel into a duotone of that color except for the key layer. This information was then hand copied and carved out of Japanese shina wood and printed in hand-mixed oil-based inks in sequence.

Q: Where did you develop your skill with multiple woodblocks?

A: I developed my skill with multiple woodblocks primarily under the guidance and motivational support of UCSC Lecturer Paul Rangell. Richard Wohlfeiler, another UCSC teacher also played a large role in opening my mind to the possibilities of the medium, and gave me the technical support needed to realize the completion of the seemingly impossible projects I had imagined.

I spent a great deal of time in mainland China (more…)

Wraparound grapevines created a soothing, green backdrop to the al fresco wine dinner we sampled last weekend at Hunter Hill.

Chef Michael Clark brought some of his Michael’s on Main team up to the outdoor grill and patio area facing the award-winning winery, and while he turned out a lovely series of courses — from prawns wrapped with prosciutto to rack of lamb and ultra-rich German chocolate cake — we sampled Vann Slatter’s vintage handiwork.

Starting with a richly-hued Syrah rosé—my favorite wine of the evening—Leslie and I strolled up to the top of the lawn (more…)

Written with a crystalline ear for everyday miasmas, Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg dive deftly into the depths of contemporary family ties. The Kids are All Right stars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a longtime lesbian couple whose teenaged children are busy testing boundaries. As their 18-year-old daughter Joni, played to restless perfection by Mia (Alice in Wonderland) Wasikowska, gets ready to go off to college, the younger son, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) goads her into contacting their sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo). Set in the hip enclaves of bourgeois Southern California, the film offers us the new American family—green, eco-conscious, bristling with political correctitude—on the verge of more revelation than it can handle.

Director Cholodenko and her co-writer achieve the exact angle of post-hippie rhetoric (more…)

A bit more of what chef Brad Briske is up to in his new kitchen at Main Street Garden Cafe in Soquel. Cured with ginger, liqueurs, orange peel, smoked salts and other exotic, experimental ingredients, Briske’s house-made salames, coppacola, prosciutto arrived served with spiced plum mostardo and a creamy fresh buratta.

Still haunted by Leonardo diCaprio’s beautiful face, taking on gravitas with time, I find it difficult to know where to start with Christopher Nolan’s hugely entertaining Inception. From the director of Memento and The Dark Knight, this dream-within-a-dream caper is everything a movie should be. Mixing up cinematic quotes from Mulholland Drive, The Matrix and many a 007 thriller, Inception offers tight script (too tight for those who don’t enjoy teasing out interlocking plot lines), mind-boggling cinematography (Paris morphed in on itself is easily one of the most thrilling uses of moving images ever devised), vertiginous editing (in the good sense), a relentless Hans Zimmer soundtrack, and a cast of ridiculously good-looking men dressed beyond Hugo Boss.

Perhaps the final race against time sequences go on ten minutes too long. Maybe there is too much verbal exposition. But I didn’t care. (more…)

Backlit by a throbbing, surging, overripe score from opera composer John Adams, and wandering stylishly through the mother of all Milanese mansions, Tilda Swinton & company offer much in the way of visual opulence, in the new Italian chick flick I Am Love.

Tall, attenuated and obviously, beautifully bored, Swinton’s character - a Russian blonde married into a wealthy family of spoiled Milanese textile magnates - is only one of many confined and closeted characters in this sensuous bit of fluff. With her Mannerist neck (more…)

Verve fresh roasted coffee beans are electrifying our morning ritual. Pungent and toasty, yet completely free of that burnt charcoal finish that haunts many french roast beans—these are light, rich and deliver nuanced flavor.
For $10ish for 10 oz, the French Roast is our new favorite way to start the day with a well-rounded caffeine rush. Check your local market.

Or, head out to Verve Coffee Roasters at the end of 41st Avenue, pick up some beans and sip a double macchiato surrounded by the bohemian beautiful people of Opal Cliffs.

The scenic Santa Cruz Mountains viticultural region opens up its winery tasting rooms this Saturday for the July installment of the Passport tasting cycle.

Over 40 wineries, each distinctive, each showcasing handmade premium wines and the ineffable terroir of this region, will be open for visits, tastings, picnics, finger food, live music and of course purchases - this Saturday, July 17 from 11am until 5pm.

Find out all the details at SCMWA and plan to discover your new favorite wine this weekend.