Illustration by Louise Leong.

Flowers. Chocolates. Hallmark cards. Feb. 14 is almost upon us, but instead of repeating this tired trio, local non-profit Santa Cruz Writes (SCW) wants to pen your valentine an old-school love letter.

This Saturday, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH), along with Bookshop Santa Cruz and the Felix Culpa Gallery, will welcome three writers apiece from SCW to set up shop in each location and put their talents to work for Santa Cruzans. SCW members will type or hand-write personalized love letters based on specifications given to them by prospective “lovers.”

“So much of Valentine’s Day is about buying crap, and this is not about that,” said Nina Simon, executive director of the MAH. “I think [this] is going to be a unique opportunity for people to engage in the long-honored but rarely practiced art of romantic letter writing.”

Many of these letters will then appear in the All You Need Is Love exhibit at the MAH from April to July.

“People are going be able to take away either a letter or poem — that’s the tangible thing they’ll take away,” said Julia Chiapello, who co-founded SCW along with local writers Jory Post and Karen Ackland. “But I also hope people come away with a sense of community around writing and words, and around the expression of ideas and of our thoughts.”

The Love Letters event is the brainchild of Chiapello and her friend Sara Wilbourne. They developed goals, formulated ideas, and Love Letters took shape.

Wilbourne wanted to spend more time with Chiapello, an old friend, and thought a mutual project might present a perfect solution to that dilemma. Meanwhile, Chiapello had been trying to think of some sort of launch event for SCW’s forthcoming online literary magazine, Phren-Z, the group’s main creative endeavor. Phren-Z is now scheduled for takeoff on Feb. 14. The Love Letters project came to be a solution to both of these problems.

Love Letters was inspired by a Dave Eggers exhibit involving the general public and typewriters, and a Brazilian movie called “Central Station” in which a teacher writes letters for others who cannot.

“I’m very excited about the way the three venues embraced this event when we proposed it to them, because Julia and I just kind of made this up, and we had no idea really what was going to happen with it,” Wilbourne said. “And now it has grown into this amazing thing with three venues all in one day, and nine writers.”

The writers themselves are a varied bunch, coming from all different backgrounds and stages in their careers.

UC Santa Cruz alum Elizabeth Mckenzie has had her stories published in The Saturday Evening Post as well as The Atlantic Weekly, and is also the author of two published novels. Three of the other writers are current UCSC students in the creative writing concentration in the literature department.

“Letters have become even more valuable because we’re desensitized with the mass amount of technological mediums, and receiving something that’s handwritten or typed up on a typewriter … it just really connects with people on a different level,” SCW writer Alyssa Young said. “Having anything handmade is always wonderful.”

Young also has her approach to the letters down pat.

“It’s a matter of just trying to be really emotionally understanding of [the lover’s] situation and finding good little language tentacles to represent that,” she said.

In addition to providing their services to Santa Cruzans on Valentine’s Day, the group hopes the event will support SCW. The local non-profit is committed to fostering community and change via the written word.

“Our aim really with all of this is promoting Santa Cruz Writes,” Chiapello said. “Santa Cruz Writes is really existing to create an informed and thoughtful democracy via writing. We need more people writing and communicating ideas and reflecting on their thinking in order to make sense of our world.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Love Letters Capture Hearts

Photo courtesy of Cara Robbins.

They were all just sitting on the floor of a hostel in Germany, a little tired, a little hungover, when they got the incredible news: Gardens and Villa is going to play Coachella.

“Coachella is definitely a big deal for us, especially being a band in California,” said Shane McKillop of Gardens and Villa. “We kinda flipped our lids when we found out.”

Hailing from down south, Santa Barbara-based Gardens and Villa mix equal parts synth, acoustics and floating harmonies with flute. They’ll be bringing that sound to the Crêpe Place on Feb. 10. for a $10 show.

Friend of the band Nate Salman first saw Gardens and Villa play at a co-op in Berkeley, and says their future is bright.

“When I initially met them, they were touring around in this funky old laundromat van, trying to figure things out,” said Salman, frontman of the Berkeley-based band Waterstrider.“Every time I see them play, it gets crazier and crazier — there [are] more and more people at the shows, bigger venues. Good opportunities keep happening for them.”

Eric Deines, project manager from the band’s record label Secretly Canadian, is looking forward to what the boys will be doing next.

“They recorded a handful of songs [this month] with Richard Swift in Oregon,” Deines said. “We’re all listening to them now, we’re really excited about them.”

McKillop is ready to get things moving with the band after hiding away recording in a basement in Portland for a month.

“Luckily we have a month and a half tour before Coachella that we get to implement these new songs we’ve been writing, get more dialed in on the stage and have more fun with our music,” McKillop said.

Along with his other band members, Mikillop has been playing music since he was about 14. He said writing and performing has got them to where they are today.

“I think it really comes down to writing good music,” McKillop said. “Music you’re really confident in and really proud of, and play a lot of shows.”

McKillop knows there are many tactics bands try to use to succeed, like social media and networking. He said people don’t really want to be approached by bands — rather, people want to find out about the band on their own and grow with them.

“There’re so many bands out there in my eyes that are kinda overdoing things and not really focusing on staying true to their art the best they can,” McKillop said. “We try to stay ambiguous and not too exhausting.”

Old and new fans alike can expect the music newer and louder than before at the show on Friday.

“We’re just stoked to come back and play the cruddy old Crêpe Place,” said McKillop, “and to see our friends and fans in Santa Cruz.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Gardens & Villa Tour the Coast

Illustration by Leigh Douglas.

We are always interested in that which reminds us of ourselves.

Larry Shore, producer and co-director of the documentary “RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope,” said this is why Americans showed such concern and interest in South Africa in the 1960s.

“It reminded them of their own history,” Shore said. “It reminded them of their struggle [in the civil rights movement]. A big part of the film for us is to try and make those connections.”

“RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope” will be screened at UC Santa Cruz on Feb 13. The film documents the late Senator Robert Kennedy’s five-day visit to South Africa in 1966, during the worst years of the apartheid.

Now a professor of film and media studies in New York, Shore was born and raised in South Africa. He was 13 years old when Robert F. Kennedy came to his segregated country and delivered some of his most famous anti-apartheid speeches to South Africans across the country.

“I remember it very well because it was so unusual — quite an amazing thing — we’d never seen anything like that,” Shore said. “It was the first time someone really important from the outside world came to South Africa and gave you the feeling they were on your side. Even though I was 13 years old, I really felt it. It was a very powerful sense of feeling we were not alone.”

Apartheid in South Africa bore similarities to strife faced by black Americans during the U.S. civil rights movement. Senator Kennedy visited South Africa at a time in which, according to Shore, “hope was necessary.” Shore said hope is exactly what he gave, particularly in his most famous speech, “A Ripple of Hope.”

Not many Americans realize the importance of this crucial visit. This was a huge source of motivation behind the making of the documentary, which uses never-before-seen archival footage, and includes exclusive interviews with South Africans that remember Kennedy’s visit.

“When you are a filmmaker, you obviously want to look for stories that haven’t been told,” Shore said. “I thought it would make a really good film, an inspiring film — I was looking for a film that would make the connections between South Africa and the U.S.”

In a speech given at the University of Cape Town on June 6, 1966, Kennedy said, “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

UCSC lecturer Ryan Coonerty, who is helping organize the screening of the film on campus, said this connection is what makes the documentary so necessary.

“It was an amazing moment in history when Robert Kennedy was able to bring international attention and pressure on the South African government’s policy of apartheid, and was also able to speak about the civil rights movement in the United States at the same time,” Coonerty said. “This documentary captures this historical turning point very well.”

Viewers of the documentary can start to understand the connection between the United States and South Africa, and also the way the United States relates to countries in general, which is a point Shore stresses.

“When you’re making a historical documentary, you always hope and work hard to make sure that it isn’t just a story about something in the past, but that it has relevance today,” Shore said. “In many ways, it talks about how we talk. How do we, as a United States, promote values we believe in — human rights, democracy, etc. — around the world without being arrogant?”

Shore said Kennedy achieved speaking to what America stood for without being overbearing or domineering.

Film director and producer Larry Shore said it still resonates today with his question, “How does the U.S. talk to other countries, particularly those that are not democratic?”

Shore’s ultimate goal for his documentary is for it to be used for educational purposes.

“I have an educational distributor, and I’m very much trying to get this film into high schools and colleges,” Shore said. “It’s being used already by many courses on human rights, on African study and on foreign policy.”

In his opinion, Shore said Kennedy’s efforts to remedy social upheavals in South Africa were mostly successful.

“[Kennedy] would be very delighted, very pleased and feel very grateful he had contributed to the end of apartheid,” Shore said. “The end of apartheid was really like a negotiated revolution.”

“RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope” will be screened on Monday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in UCSC Social Sciences II, room 71.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at A Negotiated Revolution

This may sound like a start to a child’s craft project, but this is also a possible starting point to any origami piece. Moving past “simple” swans, the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery in UC Santa Cruz’s Cowell College is opening a new exhibit on April 8 featuring the art of some of today’s most influential origami artists.

Courtesy of the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery

The exhibition is titled “The David Huffman Memorial Exhibit: Origami: Art + Mathematics.” David Huffman was a UCSC professor until his death in 1999. He was known most notably for his work in computer science, creating coding algorithms vital to programming today. This exhibit serves as an honorarium to the little-known fact that he was a pioneer in the field of computational and mathematical origami.

The difference between traditional origami and computational origami lies in the designing and creation of the folds. Simply put, computational origami uses computers to help create and plan designs. Computational origami lies in the realm of computer science, where geometry plays a vital role in computer programs that will help create new origami designs.

The artists in this exhibition have all been influenced in some way through the work that Huffman has done. Computational origami artist and MIT mathematician Erik Demaine calls Huffman “an icon.”

Demaine and his father, Martin, are working with Huffman’s family to interpret and organize his notes, as well as reverse-engineer some of his difficult origami designs. Demaine has also been collaborating with fellow artist and computer scientist Tomohiro Tachi, on improving a program called Origamizer. This program can help you create your own origami designs.

Robert Lang who is considered a pioneer of computational origami, is also exhibiting pieces of his art at the gallery.

“What keeps me going is that there is no end of possibilities,” Lang said.

In the past, Lang has found practical uses for origami practices, like designing a telescope that folds into a rocket.

Although he could not be reached for comment, another artist, Brian Chan, is also taking part in the exhibition. Demaine praised Chan’s abilities.

“[Brian is] a rising star… [who] goes beyond what you would expect to be possible from a square of paper,” Demaine said.

Lang is also appreciative of Chan’s work.

“[He is the] master of complex design,” Lang said. “Even more importantly, [Chan] is a master of craftsmanship, of control over the folding. Brian makes it so the complexity of the design doesn’t interfere with its artistic beauty.”

Chan is most known for is his piece “Suigintou,” a folding of a character from an anime and manga series.

Courtesy of the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery

Each artist has their own particular style. The art of Erik Demaine features mathematics, with his most recent origami works involving circular paper that he folds into abstract, 3-D shapes.

“It’s very different from what people think of traditional origami,” Lang said of Demaine’s work. “His art is a bridge between the abstract world of art and traditional origami. If you know math, you have an added layer of appreciation for his art.”

Recently, Lang and Demaine collaborated on a more efficient method of folding origami checkerboards.

At the exhibition itself, both Lang and Demaine will give lectures in the Humanities Lecture Hall about various subjects regarding the exhibit.

The curator of the Eloise Pickard Smith gallery, Linda Pope, said she got the idea for the exhibition while she was watching PBS one night.

“I was very impressed with the documentary ‘Between the Folds,’” Pope said.

“Between the Folds” is an award-winning documentary about origami that features Demaine, Lang, Chan and many others. Liking the way mathematics and art were mixed, Pope started the step-by-step process of developing an origami exhibition, starting by contacting Demaine. Her research led her to discover Huffman was the beginning of computational origami.

Courtesy of the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery

At the exhibition, Elise and Linda Huffman will bestow the Huffman Prize to one graduating senior “whose academic career at UCSC exhibits extraordinary creativity, depth of inquiry and overall excellence,” according to Jack Baskin’s School of Engineering webpage.

The exhibit will open on April 8 at 12:30 p.m., and will feature the art of some of the most prominent computational origami artists of today.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Math + Art = Origami

Illustration by Jamie Morton.

Writer and civil rights activist Nikki Giovanni is the featured speaker at the 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation being held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium on Thursday, Feb. 2. Giovanni spoke with City on a Hill Press about becoming a writer and her connections with civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

City on a Hill Press: When did you come to realize that you were a writer?

Nikki Giovanni: I always liked storytelling. I’m an Eastern Tennessean by birth — I was born in Knoxville, Tenn. We grew up storytelling. If I had been born in Memphis, I would have been a blues singer. If I had been born in Nashville, I would have been in gospel, country or western. It comes down to that. We didn’t get television until the late ‘60s. We were in the mountains. We had to talk to each other, which was a good thing. When I started writing, I was just trying to make sense of the world, trying to give a voice. Black Americans were being silenced and somebody needed to say what was going on. So I wrote. I’ve always written for whoever would read it — I wasn’t trying to start a revolution. I wasn’t trying to do anything but be honest. It’s important to be an honest writer.

CHP: I’ve read that your primary focus is on the individual, and the power one has to make a difference. When did you come to realize the importance of the individual?

NG: I grew up in the era of segregation, and watching Ms. Parks give up her seat was a galvanizing moment for all of us. It was during the Montgomery bus boycott. All of the people participated, but without Ms. Parks saying, “It’s time for this to stop, it stops here,” [the revolution wouldn’t have been as strong]. The power of the individual is incredible. That you actually stand up for yourself and say, “No, I’m not doing this anymore” — I think she galvanized a generation. What Dr. King did was to articulate what the people were expressing physically. I think without Ms. Parks we wouldn’t have had Dr. King.

CHP: You had a friendship of 20 years with Rosa Parks. What about Dr. King?

NG: I didn’t know him nearly as well as Rosa. Of course, we were all in the civil rights movement, but he’s Dr. King and I’m not. You always have to know where you are. Everybody thinks Martin was just an old guy, but he was only 26 years old. He was a young man. He had a wonderful sense of humor. He liked good music and he loved good food. Well, I should say he loved southern food — not necessarily good — but I like fried chicken, so I say what the hell, fried chicken is good for you.

CHP: Can you give us a little preview of your talk at the MLK Jr. Memorial Convocation, “The Privilege of Serving: Art and the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.”?

NG: I think it’s so important that young people recognize it’s your mind, and you should make it up for yourself. And in doing that, sometimes it’s going to be difficult, and sometimes you might even disappoint yourself, but other times you’re going to find yourself standing there pretty much alone. That’s why I always talk about the individual — because a crowd is no better than the individuals in it. And it’s very important if you are with a group, you be proud of the fact you’re there. What I’m trying to say, essentially, is don’t do anything in a crowd that you couldn’t do alone.

CHP: Is that what you mean by the privilege of serving?

NG: Sure — the privilege of being yourself, the privilege of standing up. All of these are privileges, because if they were rights, there wouldn’t be any discussions. Everybody would leave everybody alone; life would be a lot easier. It’s a privilege to be educated, it’s a privilege to have First Amendment rights, to worship as you choose, and it’s a privilege to recognize some people don’t worship as you do. We are privileged to live in the 21st century, where so much knowledge is available to us. Two hundred years ago, people were ignorant because they didn’t know. We don’t have that excuse anymore.

CHP: How do you want Dr. King to be remembered?

NG: I think for the sanity and the soul of America we have to recognize the wonderful contributions people have made for our freedom. And it’s not just the freedom of black Americans — it’s all of us. Any time you can take a step away from hate, this is a good thing.

CHP: What do you feel the most effective form of student awareness and change is? What would be most crucial for students across America today?

NG: I don’t try to tell one generation what to do, so let me just be clear. I have great admiration for your European counterparts, students in Europe, who facilitated the takeover in Egypt. Without the courage of those students to relay messages, things would not have happened the way they did. We saw it again in Libya. Things are happening differently — a whole different world from what people like me knew. What you youngsters will be doing is something we have not thought of. What will happen is not beyond my imagination, but at this point outside of my articulation.

CHP: What would you say to those who underestimate the power of spoken word as a social change agent?

NG: Human beings only have our words — anything else, we are only fooling ourselves. Now we have contracts of course, but there was a time in the mythology of human beings that we shook hands and said, “I’ll do it, I’ll be there, I’ll help you.” The word among human beings is sacred, and should be treated as that. Being Americans, we have wonderful strong words such as, “all men and women are created equal.” This is an important revelation. It is important that we speak it aloud, that we recognize it. Words determine who we are — we dream in words — so words are always important.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Q&A with Poet and Activist Nikki Giovanni

Katarina Lanfranco sketches out the plan for her site specific installation "Natural Selection which in the Sesnon Gallery. Photo by Sal Ingram

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Seeing the Forest for the Trees

Illustration by Louise Leong.

No matter who you are, you are born with the individual privilege of being yourself.

This is a privilege Nikki Giovanni — world-renowned poet and writer, storyteller, English professor, civil rights activist and commentator — feels is underestimated and misrepresented, and should be harnessed by contemporary American society, especially its youth. Giovanni will share these sentiments with the Santa Cruz community as keynote speaker at the 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation.

On Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Giovanni will speak on “The Privilege of Serving: Art and the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.” The event is hosted by UC Santa Cruz each year as a part of the celebration of Black History Month, and as a way of remembering Martin Luther King Jr. and continuing to raise awareness about civil rights.

Giovanni was active in the civil rights movement after growing up in segregated eastern Tennessee. She said although she was only 12 years old at the time, watching Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery in 1955 was “a galvanizing moment for all of us.”

Rosa Parks, whom Giovanni grew to be very close friends with, took an initiative that had not been taken before and represented repressed Americans all over the United States.

“It’s so important young people recognize it’s your mind, and you should make it up for yourself,” Giovanni said. “In doing that, sometimes it’s going to be difficult, sometimes you’re going to find yourself standing there pretty much alone — that’s why I talk about the individual, because a crowd is no better than the individuals in it. It’s very important that if you are with a group, you be proud of the fact you’re there.”

David Anthony, associate history professor at UCSC and emcee of the event, discussed the importance of informing and inspiring students on this subject matter.

“Not everyone has had the opportunity to attend [a university], or even if attending, to complete [a degree],” Anthony said. “And yet, there are many ways to become educated through being observant and committed to building a better world for oneself and one’s fellow human beings, in all ways. Student awareness usually comes as a response to living in stimulating environments.”

Giovanni says she enjoys talking to young people because there is a future in it, an opportunity for even more change.

“Change is important for the self, for itself, change in every way,” Giovanni said. “That’s why you grow old. If you never changed, you’d be running around in diapers right now.”

She said she is amazed at the change that has already happened in her lifetime.

“What you youngsters will be doing is something we have not thought of,” she said. “It’s not beyond my imagination, but at this point it’s outside of my articulation.”

This event is a rare opportunity, as Nikki Giovanni will help us remember the great and inspirational man Martin Luther King Jr. was. She will, as he did, use the power of spoken word as a change agent.

“Human beings only have words — anything else, we are fooling ourselves,” Giovanni said. “The word among human beings is sacred and should be treated as that. Words determine who we are. We dream in words, so words are always important.”

A balance of the individual and the crowd is crucial. When asked what she means by “the privilege of serving,” Giovanni explained,

“The privilege of being yourself, the privilege of standing up.”

“It’s a privilege to be educated, to have First Amendment rights, to worship as you choose and to recognize that some people don’t worship as you do,” she said.

Joy L. Lei, assistant campus diversity officer, said Giovanni will be the perfect person to speak at the event in honor of Dr. King.

“She has an immense amount of energy— she is known to be such a dynamic speaker,” Lei said. “This is important, for Dr. King was such a wonderful orator. I’m hoping that [Giovanni] will speak to what civil rights and equality mean to us today.”

In addition to Giovanni’s talk and poetry reading, there will be several other performances including the African-American Theatre Arts Group (AATAG), Reverend Johnson’s reflection on faith, Chancellor George R. Blumenthal speaking, and the presentation of the fourth annual Tony Hill Memorial Award.

For the past four years, UCSC officials at the MLK Jr. Memorial Convocation have presented the award in memory of Tony Hill, a beloved community leader, mentor and volunteer that was a part of the convocation planning committee. The award will be presented to a community member who reflects Hill’s qualities: a mentor, inspirational leader, and bridge builder in the community. The recipient will be awarded $500 to donate to their charity of choice.

Nikki Giovanni said recognizing and remembering leaders is vital.

“I think for the sanity and the soul of America we have to recognize the wonderful contributions people have made for our freedom,” Giovanni said. “And it’s not just the freedom of black Americans, it’s all of us. Any time you can take a step away from hate, this is a good thing.”

In addition to the event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium at 7 p.m. (free of cost), Nikki Giovanni will also lead a student panel in the Stevenson Event Center beforehand, on Feb. 2, at 3 p.m.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at The Importance of the Individual

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band: “Bat Chain Puller,” Jan. 15

Illustrations by Jamie Morton.

Some die-hard fans of Captain Beefheart, a cult experimental rock musician from the 1970s, have probably already heard the frequently bootlegged album “Bat Chain Puller.” But the fact that this album will be officially released 36 years after its planned release date is worth a mention. The album is due to release on the birthday of Don Van Vliet (also known as Captain Beefheart, who died in December 2010). The album is sure to prove a treat for those who have been awaiting it patiently, for this release will be properly mixed (unlike its predecessors) by members of Captain Beefheart’s accompanying ensemble, The Magic Band. This serves as a kind of poetic justice, seeing as the album’s release was delayed by disagreements between producers. Although Captain Beefheart isn’t what one might describe as “casual listening,” anyone with as experimental and open a mind as the master himself will undoubtedly enjoy his free and poetic approach to music.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Air: “Le Voyage dans la Lune,” Feb. 7

With music as light and ambient as the band’s name itself, Air’s new album “Le Voyage dans la Lune” resembles a trippy medley of funk, acid rock, psychedelic and electronic. The French duo originally premiered this collection as a score for Georges Melies’ 1902 silent film, “A Trip to the Moon.” The process of creating the 10-minute-long film score produced enough extra material for a full-length album to be released. If you like what you hear, check out the silent film as well — the two go hand in hand. This album will be a good one for those long hours of winter, and a lovely, white-noise-type background music for studying purposes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Listen to the new song here.
Phenomenal Handclap Band: “Form and Control,” Feb. 14

“Regurgitated psyched out dustbowl funk” is how the Phenomenal Handclap Band has been described in the past. Their new album “Form and Control” will be released on Valentine’s Day this year. Their already-released single “Following” has had a warm welcome in the music world, with sounds reminiscent of a combination between Chic, Fern Kinney and the Human League. Writer and co-producer Sean Marquand dedicated this song to the “energy takeoff in the room” at “a truly great dance party.” You know when you feel this thing at a party, and you know everyone around you is feeling the same thing? That is what this song is for. I’m sure, as winter often calls for spontaneous bedroom dance parties, we can all relate.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Winter Music Guide—New Tunes For the New Quarter

Photo courtesy of Dan P. and The Bricks.

While the homeless community in Santa Cruz struggles to get by, local band Dan P. and the Bricks gives money back to the community. On Jan. 21, Kuumbwa Jazz Center is clearing its seating for a dance floor and hosting the band’s latest album release. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Homeless Service Center of Santa Cruz.

With a five-piece horn section, two guitars, an organ, a bass and drums, Dan P. and the Bricks are a rocking 10-member ska band from Santa Cruz. Their latest album, “Watch Where You Walk,” was released from Asian Man Records in November 2011 and was voted No. 1 of the top 10 albums of 2011 by Upstarter Punk Reviews.

“We’re a local band, we play local shows, so we wanted to help a local charity that helps the homeless,” said Dan Potthast, the band’s lead singer.

Since the band formed in 2009, their goal has been to play locally and raise money for local charities. Their fundraisers have included a concert for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Hospice of Santa Cruz County, and the Surf City AIDS Ride that benefited the Santa Cruz AIDS Project.

Dan P. and the Bricks, who regularly play street shows on Pacific Avenue, said they play most of their shows for the homeless community.

“We show up on Pacific with a piano, a drum set and play free shows for anyone on the street,” Potthast said.

In this event, as in their past philanthropic events, the band feels supported in their efforts.

“You discover other people in the community that are like-minded and want to help out,” Potthast said. “We’re fortunate to have a lot of community to help out with this show.”

The Santa Cruz Homeless Service Center is an organization dedicated to providing emergency and transitional services to homeless individuals and families. It has four different programs that offer an abundance of resources like shelter, hot showers, meals, phone use, an address from which to send and receive mail and many other benefits.

Mareisa Weil, Homeless Service Center development manager, is thrilled about the band’s donations.

“It’s really special when an artist wants to get involved with our program,” Weil said. “There’s something really special about music and art that brings a community together. It has a lot of power and impact.”

Both Potthast and Weil predict the show will sell out. With a 200-person venue capacity and tickets at $9 a piece, that is a potential donation of $1,800. The funds will be used for general operating funds within the organization.

The Homeless Service Center is also enthusiastic about the event being held at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, another nonprofit.

“It’s two great local organizations with a great local band, coming together to help people who just need a little bit of extra support to get them on their feet,” Weil said.

Clutch Couriers, a local bike messenger service, has been supporting the event by donating its printing and poster distribution services.

Richard Graves, who works for the Couriers, said the organization donated its time because all the sales were going to benefit the Homeless Services Center.

“Big ups to Phil and the band, as well as the Kuumbwaa for setting this up — true humanitarians,” Graves said. “Myself and other crew members have been homeless at one time. I have seen how when you give a leg-up to someone, you never know how far they can go.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Local Band Gives Back to Homeless Community

Illustration by Matt Boblet.

‘Tis the season for hot chocolate, holiday parties, lots of shopping and going to the movies. This holiday season is prime time for the world of cinema, with over three dozen films being released between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. From Oscar contenders to action blockbusters and romantic comedies, here is a small taste of some of the films that will be opening during winter break.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Director: Stephen Daldry
Stars: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock
Release date: Dec. 25
Genre: Drama

Based on the 2005 novel of the same name, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” tells the story of nine-year-old Oskar Schell (Horn), whose father died in the 9/11 attacks. Oskar finds a mysterious key in his father’s closet two years after his death and is determined to find the lock that matches this key. Through his journey searching the five boroughs of New York City to find the lock, he meets people and goes places that shed light on his father’s life, his own, and the complex world that is post-9/11 New York. The movie touches on the difficulty of grieving when the audience sees Oskar and his mother (Bullock) disconnect from each other in the midst of mourning their father and husband (Hanks). Movie adaptations of books are known to rarely live up to the reader’s expectations, but with an outstanding cast and director, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” may be an exception.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris
Release date: Dec. 16
Genre: Action-adventure

Sherlock Holmes is back, and this time he’s not the the only mastermind in the room. The ruthless Professor Moriarty, who matches Holmes in intelligence but lacks any kind of conscience, becomes Holmes’ prime suspect in his investigation of the death of the crown prince of Austria — although the cause of the prince’s death is supposedly suicide, Holmes suspects the prince was killed by Moriarty. More importantly, Holmes discovers the murder is only a small part of Moriarty’s secret plan, which will shock and destroy the world. The sequel continues as Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his loyal sidekick Dr. Watson (Law) chase Moriarty through visually impressive period violence. One part mystery, one part epic, one part bromance, this film is sure to transport you to a more exciting place.

The Adventures of Tintin

Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig
Release date: Dec. 21
Genre: Animation/family

Whether you grew up reading the comic books or your parents read them, most people remember “The Adventures of Tintin,” coming to theaters this December. Young reporter Tintin (voice of Bell) and his dog companion, Snowy discover a ship with an astonishing secret. Escaping the gambit of classic Tintin villains, Tintin and Snowy travel around the world to find an important artifact that holds the ancient curse on the ship. Following the trend of big-name directors remaking classic children’s books, the film takes Tintin out of the panel and puts him on the screen in 3-D, sure to complement Spielberg’s cinematography nicely and add to the adventure.

New Year’s Eve

Director: Garry Marshall
Stars: Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Robert de Niro, Ashton Kutcher
Release date: Dec. 9
Genre: Comedy

Remember the 2010 holiday film, “Valentine’s Day”? Well, imagine it took place on New Year’s Eve. Garry Marshall has once again gathered an ensemble cast of stars to celebrate forgiveness, love, new beginnings and other typical feel-good themes of the holiday. Set in the Big Apple and shot entirely on location, the audience is able to see much of the city following the criss-crossing plot lines and experience the excitement of New Year’s Eve in the one and only Times Square. Lighthearted and funny, “New Year’s Eve” is an appropriate holiday pick.

Young Adult

Director: Jason Reitman
Stars: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt
Release date: Dec. 9
Genre: Comedy-drama

Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody reunite again in this black comedy after working together on the 2007 hit “Juno.” Theron stars as literature writer Mavis Gary, also known as the girl that everybody hated in high school. She comes back to her small town to win back her now-married high school sweetheart (Wilson) but realizes her conquest is not as easy as she thought it would be. Gary is newly-divorced and unhappy, while her high school boyfriend is happily married with kids — a strong contrast and interesting play on gender roles. While she tries to win his affections, she befriends a former nerd (Oswalt). Gary remains an immature, mean person despite everybody else in the film, which proves that some people never really grow out of high school.

Other movies coming out during winter break

The Sitter
Director: David Gordon Green
Stars: Jonah Hill
Release date: Dec. 9
Genre: Comedy

I Melt With You
Director: Mark Pellington
Stars: Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe
Release date: Dec. 9
Genre: Thriller

Carnage
Director: Roman Polanski
Stars: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly, Christopher Waltz
Release date: Dec. 16
Genre: Comedy

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Director: Mike Mitchell
Stars: Jason Lee, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Christina Applegate
Release date: Dec. 16
Genre: Family

The Iron Lady
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Stars: Meryl Streep
Release date: Dec. 16
Genre: Drama

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara
Release date: Dec. 21
Genre: Thriller

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Director: Brad Bird
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner
Release date: Dec. 21
Genre: Action

We Bought a Zoo
Director: Cameron Crowe
Stars: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Patrick Fugit
Release date: Dec. 23
Genre: Comedy drama

The Darkest Hour
Director: Chris Gorak
Stars: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby
Release date: Dec. 25
Genre: Action

War Horse
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson
Release date: Dec. 25
Genre: Drama

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Coming Soon

Photo Courtesy of Katie Ventura.

All people have voices, and in “Blu” and Poet’s Corner, Rainbow Theater acknowledged them by speaking — and shouting — to the hushed-up stories that so many share.

Opening with “Blu” by Virginia Grise, a troupe of ten players exposed a poverty-stricken family’s experience in the American barrio. This ranged from broken family ties and child abuse to prison confinement, drug use, gang violence and military recruitment.

The set was static, the lighting simple — but the characters, forced to embrace a life of hope, fear, setback and dismay, wove a portrait more dynamic and complex than any social worker’s record could hope to capture.

While Grise’s characters were beautifully three-dimensional, the piece as a whole focused on recurring conflicts of “life in the ten-mile radius.” The narration-driven plot emphasized an overlap in frustrations; several times a chorus of onstage players spoke in unison with individual characters, giving their words exponential weight.

Portraying the ever hopeful Blu, Carlos Ocampo’s wistful monologues, interrupted by violent outbursts, faithfully embodied his character’s discontent while struggling for articulation.

Fourth-year Gaby Franco also gave a strong performance as the multi-faceted Soledad, a woman who, though tangled in a web of conflicting roles, refuses to abandon her painful commitment as mother in the troubled family.

Although the set was simple, each item was strategically placed to echo the themes of the play. A disco ball gave the illusion of hundreds of stars and made Blu feel like “I’m here, but I ain’t,” echoing the character’s feelings of disconnection from his Latino culture.

The performers of Poet’s Corner entered to a roaring reception of “Rainbow! Rainbow!” and “Poets! Let’s go Poets!”

Each Poet’s piece was personal and unmistakably genuine. Newcomers to Rainbow Theater slid easily into the rhythm of a Poet’s Corner performance. Individual experiences, declared in defiance of ignorance and secrecy, were compounded to form a powerful collective awareness.

The Poets focused on the spaces of social oppression: female body perception, queer identity “habitats,” child abuse traps and racial segregation lines. Encouraged by finger-snaps and exclamations from the audience, several performers were singled out.

In a mock report, the Poets crucified Fox News for its portrayal of the Occupy Wall Street protests, arguing that the station had stacked misrepresentation upon misrepresentation, and proceeded to present a renegade news report about the status of social justice struggles worldwide.

The Poets approached the stage from the within the audience and rejoined it once they were finished. This and the sentiments shared emphasized, just like “Blu” had, the shared humanity of all present. Rainbow Theater shows the audience that everyone has a story — they are just taking their turn to talk.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Rainbow Theater Presents “Blu” and Poet’s Corner

Emotions Run High in “The First Seed,” written by UCSC alum Aman Gohal, directed by students Sharif Zakout and Aye Thant. Photo Courtesy of Katie Ventura.

An arranged Indian marriage and four men held captive by a group of women — what do these two plots have in common? For one, they both bring up issues of racism and gender inequality. And they also are both plays currently being put on by UC Santa Cruz’s own Rainbow Theater.

The theater troupe illustrates the connections between cultures in the two plays “First Seed” and “Captivated.” Creative and well produced, these shows address issues of sexism and ethnicity among a wide range of people, leaving audiences with a new perspective.

“First Seed,” directed and written by UCSC and Rainbow Theater alumnus Aman Gohal, tells the story of a contemporary Indian family and the arranged marriage of their eldest daughter. The play draws contrasts among the varying cultural identities of the family’s three sisters. For example, the eldest sister wears the traditional Indian caftans and scarves, while the youngest sister wears short dresses and caked-on makeup. The eldest sister grapples with having an arranged marriage with a wealthy Indian doctor, who has her parents approval but isn’t quite a perfect match for her.

Differing expectations of cultural gender roles, chauvinistic jokes and stereotypical bread-winning husbands all have a part in this play, which focuses on domestic violence toward women and dueling cultures.

While the message in “First Seed” is very clear, it often feels overbearing. Yes, the repeated quarrels and clashing personalities of the sisters effectively show the struggles of immigrant cultures, but in a way that weakens the effect with every repetition. Similarly, although the intense action and dialogue keep the audience captivated through about an hour and 20 minutes of drama, the piece at times lacked subtlety.

Regardless, Gohal succeeds in getting his audience to take a deeper look at domestic abuse, ethnic differences and sexism.

“Captivated,” the second show, written by Darryl Davis, addresses gender expectations between men and women in an extreme setting: a laboratory with four cages, each cage with its own captive human male. The men are held captive by three female scientists who perform “experiments” on them.

The main character is a black man who represents the racial contrast between himself, the other captives and the scientists. He is confused as to where he is or what is going on.

The audience shares the captive’s confusion as to what the imprisonment and experiments mean. It might be frustrating at times for the viewer to be asked to go along with the play without having reference points for the plot. But as issues rise between the captives and experimenters, it becomes clear the play centers around exploring male privilege.

In one scene, the black experimenter, who is wearing tight black pants and a matching tank top, lets the main character out of his cage. Moments later, the freed man starts to make offensive comments about the experimenter’s body, objectifying her, giving her pet names and even trying to cop a feel. The experimenter turns on him in an instant, throwing the man on the ground.

“Captivated” is most effective because it takes a look at commonplace social conflicts in an unrealistic and jarring setting, forcing the audience to reevaluate their own prejudices. Though it was difficult to follow at certain points, Davis without a doubt conveys a strong message to the audience, and the confusion only added to that strength.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Rainbow Theater Gets Audience Thinking

Courtesy photo.

Upon the towering, jagged earth that makes up the mountain ranges of British Columbia, Travis Rice stands poised on a precipice, dwarfed by both the celestial and earthly structures that surround him. Without warning he launches himself over the edge, carving barely visible lines in the immaculate mountainside with calm, calculated precision. When juxtaposed with the monolithic landscape, Rice appears little more than a brown speck amid an unruly sea of white, weaving maniacally to some absurd rhythm. Suddenly, the whole mountain face slides away, rapidly evolving into a rampaging white cloud that chases Rice down the incline. Rice is now riding for his life, plummeting with uncompromising speed into the white abyss.

In spite of the potentially fatal situation, Rice survives, making it just one of many adrenaline-filled ventures that comprise his latest film, “The Art of Flight,” a feature-length chronicle of a group of America’s best freestyle snowboarders and their quest to conquer the world’s most precarious mountain ranges. The film, co-produced by Rice and funded by Red Bull, premiered in San Francisco on Nov. 3.

The film, rendered beautifully with the cameras used to make the “Planet Earth” series, takes viewers to locales largely unscathed by humans existence. From the tumultuous ranges of Chile to the icy peaks of Alaska, each location communicates a desire to seek out new extremes among the planet’s unwritten terrain.

“It’s a quest laced with wanderlust,” Rice said. “We’re out looking for natural terrain that poses unique challenges.”

This aim is certainly apparent within the film, as much of it is characterized by an eschewal of both normal snowboarding conventions and, some might say, common sense. Over the course of the film, Rice and company  frequently veer off the obvious path in favor of narrow passageways and hanging cliffs, whose height can only be discerned by the duration of the boarder’s flight. Just when you’re certain the boarder has nowhere to go, he plays hopscotch along the mountainside, leaping from one snow-laden boulder to the next to complete his journey to the bottom.

“You’re two-stepping with mother nature, man,” Rice said, smiling. “Sometimes you guys find rhythm, and sometimes you step on her toes or she squashes yours. She’s a big girl.”

Even if the death-defying stunts featured in the film fail to satiate your appetite for all things epic, the gorgeous cinematography is reason enough to check it out. “The Art of Flight” is landscape porn at its finest, showcasing stunning aerial shots of rare locales paired with artistically rendered cosmological backdrops. Slow-motion not only articulates the action, but makes it eloquent, displaying every detail as cascading layers of snow are displaced by the boarder’s descent. It all makes for a “crescendoing experience of oneness,” as Rice describes it, one that conveys exactly what fuels his love of the lifestyle.

“It’s not just a sport,” Rice said. “It’s not just a hobby. It’s not just an activity. It takes you places, and you learn a lot about yourself when you put yourself in awkward situations. That’s when you really figure out who the hell you are.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at A Cinematic Take on an Extreme Sport

One doctor puts her research subject through his paces in “Captivated,” showing Friday at 7 p.m. in the Stevenson Events Center. Photo by Katie Ventura.

Rainbow Theater, the only multi-cultural theater group in the UC system, is entering the last two weekends of its 18th season with three more plays that expand the intellectual and emotional palette.

Rainbow Theater consists of approximately 110 students who put on five shows in the fall and comprise an outreach team that travels throughout the state, performing and workshopping with high school students.

At the center of Rainbow Theater is its founder Don Williams, UC Santa Cruz director of cultural arts and diversity.

“Rainbow has a spirit that really runs from heart to heart,” Williams said. “It’s an org, it’s a class, it’s a family. It works on teaching history, various cultures, and also being able to accept all walks of people.”

At UCSC, programs like Rainbow Theater serve as more than just an venue for the arts.

“There’s a lot of students that come here, especially students of color, who can really get lost in the fabric of UCSC,” Williams said. “Over the years, many participants say Rainbow Theater has become a pseudo-family community.”

In a time when support for the arts can be scarce, Rainbow Theater has stayed consistently strong. Last spring, students voted to pass Measure 49, allotting Rainbow Theater more funding from student fees. The group also receive attention from provosts, and even executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway.

“[Galloway] was very impressed with what the students had done,” Williams said. “She has truly demonstrated her interest of all students, and a movement of embracing culture in a real way, and that’s a good thing.”

Although this season of Rainbow Theater is well underway, there are still three more shows this weekend and next, all of which are being performed at the Stevenson Events Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the shows start at 7 p.m.

Tomorrow, audiences can see Program A, two plays titled “The First Seed” and “Captivated.”

“The First Seed” follows an Indian-American family’s experience with arranged marriage as they deal with issues of assimilation, gender roles and abuse. “First Seed” was written by UCSC alumni Aman Gohal. Gohal attended opening night with the majority of the original cast, highlighting Rainbow Theater’s deep sense of lifelong community.

“Captivated” by Darryl C. Davis shows what can happen when three female doctors take men captive for observation. “It’s a dicey play because it deals with women getting into the heads of men,” said student co-director Chela Simmons. “You see these men being challenged and questioned.”

Program B, showing Saturday, consists of the play “Blu” and Rainbow Theater’s “Poet’s Corner.”

“Blu,” by Virginia Grise, focuses on a group of Chicano/a youths in the barrio as they navigate a world fraught with the complexities of gang violence, criminalization of youth, military recruitment in minority neighborhoods and coming of age.

“Poet’s Corner” is a venue for student poets, musicians and storytellers to express their personal stories and experiences through original pieces.

“It takes you places you’ve been to, but not like they take you there,” Williams said. He points to one piece as an example.

“It’s these three women on stage dealing with body images,” Williams said. “It’s these thick women, and all they want to be is loved, too. So they tell their story, and the way they tell their story is captivating … It’s a shout-out to any woman who is oversized: You are beautiful.”

Closing out the Rainbow Theater season on Nov. 19 and 20 is “Black Men on the Edge” by William F. Mayfield. This deeply stirring study of eight black men is a raw and truthful journey into the psyche of a largely culturally stereotyped demographic.

“I want people to think twice before they try to use stereotypes to judge a black man, because in the media we’re perceived as really masculine, and degrading women as these sexual objects,” actor Jeovaughn Bautista said. “We want people to know we are just human. We’re not trying to make you feel bad about how you live your life — we just want you to be aware.”

Rainbow Theater is about so much more for Bautista than being an actor in a play. Like many in the organization, he feels it was an impactful experience.

“These plays changed my life,” Bautista said. “Literally, how I looked at my life would change every year with these plays. I would always look forward to them. I had to make it my goal to come here no matter what … we do change lives.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Voice in the Rainbow Is Heard

DJ Clockwork and Mac Miller take the stage at The Catalyst downtown. Photo by Marielena Verdugo.

Rapper Mac Miller, 19, gained fame after establishing a presence on YouTube. Photo by Marielena Verdugo.

DJ Clockwork, Mac Miller’s official DJ, woke up at around 4 p.m. on Nov. 2. He casually walked out of the lobby of the Holiday Inn, toothbrush in hand, drove to The Catalyst — where he was headlining that night — and lit a blunt.

With retro eyeglasses, a “the color granddaddy purple” shirt, a sleeve of tattoos, and a solitary golden owl hanging from his neck, DJ Clockwork is ready to perform another show on the Most Dope Tour.

Clockwork, a Cincinnati native, has been touring for the past two years with Mac Miller, a fresh-faced young rapper new to the hip-hop scene.

“We all feel like we’ve known each other for years we’re so comfortable with each other,” Clockwork said. “He lives above me on the tour bus. We call the bunks ‘cribs’.”

The duo’s album, “Blue Slide Park,” was released on Tuesday.

At only 19 years old, Mac Miller has already made his name as an internet sensation.

“Mac’s got a million followers,” Clockwork said. “That’s a fucking lot.”

The group went viral after posting just a few videos on Youtube.

“Our internet presence is crazy,” Clockwork said. “VH1 and MTV pay attention to things like that and caught wind of us.”

A few weeks ago, Clockwork and Miller performed at the MTV Online Music Awards in front of 100 handpicked, devoted fans.

Clockwork, who has been DJing for the past 11 years, has coined his own genre, “Time Zones,” also the name of a mixtape he released over two years ago.

“When I DJ, I play music from around the world,” Clockwork said. “I’ll play some Brazilian hip-hop with some French house — I just try to mix everything in.”

The duo believes musical appreciation is international. At each show they promote enjoying a variety of music, not just one genre.

“If you listen to some hip-hop, then one day put on some fucking Mozart,” Clockwork said. “Just be open.”

Clockwork, who’s 26, said he admires his younger musical partner.

“Mac is one of the most talented 19-year-olds out right now,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know he produces and writes a lot of his own music.”

With lyrics like “one day I’ll be so rich I can buy my moms a house” — from his song “Oy Vey” — and uplifting choruses like that in “Live Free,” Miller draws a younger crowd who can both relate to the music and be inspired by it. In “Nikes on My Feet,” he talks about how good it feels to get a brand new pair of Nikes. Miller looks like he could be any one of the kids standing in the crowd, wearing high-top Air Jordans and a snap-backed hat.

Clockwork explains people used to tell Miller he would never be a rapper, but Miller proved them wrong. Now he’s touring the country, performing sold-out shows. The kids at these shows look up to him, thinking, “if he can do it, I can do it,” Clockwork said.

“If you want to do something, be sincere about it,” Clockwork said, “and don’t stop until you burst through yellow tape and you’re the first-place winner.”

After the show, groups of fans stood behind The Catalyst in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Mac Miller and DJ Clockwork. A group of girls wearing handmade glitter shirts with “Mac Miller” written on them came all the way from Sacramento to see him.When asked why they like him, they responded unanimously, “He’s our age!”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at DJ Clockwork, Mac Miller Bring ‘Most Dope Tour’ to the Catalyst

Photo by Sal Ingram.

Storytelling and music are two of the oldest, most well-known art forms. Put them together and you get a fusion of auditory and mental entertainment appropriate for adults and children alike.

Erica Lann-Clark and Michael Gaither, a local storyteller and a musician, respectively, have collaborated on a show geared toward families. It features Lann-Clark’s exquisite storytelling skills set to Gaither’s music, followed by a related song by Gaither in his intimate Americana style.

The show will take place at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall on Sunday at 1 p.m., an early time scheduled to draw families.

Gaither and Lann-Clark have collaborated twice before, but putting together a show targeting families is new for them.

“Stories, Songs and Silliness” includes fiction and non-fiction stories spanning a range of themes.

“For instance,” Gaither said, “we tell a story about a pig who rescues a boy in a pool. There’s also a Jewish story and a Native American story. We try to mix it up and not stick to one genre. We put in a lot of variety.”

Gaither, a loving dog owner, uses animals as characters in many of his stories.

“Animals are great metaphors. It’s easy to relate to an animal,” Gaither said. “On my first record, I wrote about a mule that lived down the road.”

Gaither draws inspiration from a variety of other animals as well.

“[The dog] was a hybrid and had spots all over it, so the angle of the song was, ‘It’s a misfit, it’s one of a kind. If you’re a misfit, you’re a friend of mine.’”

When it comes to the age-old question of music or lyrics, Gaither has a strong preference.

“I’m a lyric guy,” he said. “For me, the music supports the story but it’s always about what the song is trying to say. I usually think about what I want to write about and the music follows it.”

The music itself is a strong example of the Americana genre — acoustic guitar, harmonica and all — and Gaither cites his influences as ranging from John Hiatt and Ray Davies to Robert Earl Keen, Jr.

Tom Miller, the Don Quixote’s concert programmer, said he is happy to have the duo return to their stage.

“[Gaither] has a way of engaging the crowd and he is one of the most outstanding singer-songwriters in our area,” Miller said. “I love his ability to tell a story with a song. The opportunity to get one of the nation’s premier professional storytellers on our stage is very exciting.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Storytelling and Music Attract Wide Audience

Peter Hunter, a founder of Team Krinoid and designer of “Syz: E.G.,” shows off the multi-touch technology that allows players to simultaneously control both how their spaceship flies and the direction in which it fires. Photo by Toby Silverman.

You are zipping through the cosmos in the Syzygy, a hyper-advanced starship boasting an array of weapons, all manned by seasoned specialists. You jet past asteroids and stardust with relative ease, engaging in friendly banter with your crew, until suddenly you’re ambushed by a fleet of enemy fighters. What was once an empty starscape is suddenly filled with cascading laser beams of every color of the rainbow. Only your commanding expertise and lightning-fast reflexes can save you from a gruesome death in the vast vacuum that surrounds you.

Thus begins “Syz E.G.,” the first installment in a series of space shooters produced by Team Krinoid, an independent game development studio founded by three UC Santa Cruz alumni. In addition to a fully voiced cast of characters and an invariably slick soundtrack, “Syz E.G.” boasts a number of other distinctions that set it apart from your typical iPad game, like an innovative multi-touch targeting system and a compelling story.

“Most iPad games are ‘sit here’ or ‘touch that,’” said John Peters, CEO of Team Krinoid. “But I feel that the platform has much more potential than that.”

Work on “Syz E.G.” began in the summer of 2010. It was then that Peters moved in with fellow students (and avid gamers) Peter Hunter and Max Weinberg. The trio soon discovered they shared an interest in gaming, and between them they had the skills necessary to begin developing a game of their own. By the time the school year started, the team already had a solid foundation upon which to build. In the interest of time management, Peters made the game his senior project, allowing the team to recruit seven other programming students and expedite the process.

“A team of that size helped balance things,” Hunter said. “We had one team member working on Lynn’s shields for three months.”

By the end of the school year, the group had produced a polished, innovative and wildly entertaining mobile game, one that ultimately won them the grand prize at the UCSC 2011 Sammy Awards, a prize awarded for the best games created by students in the program. Since graduating, Peters, Hunter and Weinberg have spent their time establishing Team Krinoid as a legitimate game development studio, allowing them to market the game and pay their fellow programmers royalties. After jumping through all the legal hoops necessary to form a company, “Syz E.G.” was released on the iTunes app store at the end of September, and has since yielded a steady stream of sales.

Team Krinoid has already begun work on their next venture, a side-scrolling platformer called “Bunny Run,” which they plan to release on every mobile gaming device they can. They are simultaneously working to make “Syz E.G.” compatible with Blackberry’s Playbook.

“Mobile gaming is becoming a much more influential part of the gaming industry,” Weinberg said. “We want to make the games that we want to play. If there’s a game we want to play that doesn’t exist yet, we’ll make it.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Cruz-ing Through the Cosmos

Though their journey spans all three hours, the majority of the film consists of flashbacks of their years in engineering school, a series of anecdotes in which the three friends inflict their insanity upon the uptight dean and manage to always learn something profound in the process.

This results in some jarring tonal shifts which ultimately work to make the film more enjoyable. In one instance, the boys launch into a staging of “All Is Well,” a jubilant musical number about the merits of self-deception, only to be cut off by discovering that one of their classmates has killed himself, succumbing to the overwhelming pressures placed on them by the dean and their parents.

Consequently, one has very little opportunity to even consider how much time has passed, as you are forced to react to the onslaught of melodrama present within each scene.

Ultimately the film feels like a comedy of mythic proportions, successfully grappling with heavy
themes while simultaneously delivering on the comedic front. Over the course of three hours, it is made clear that Rancho is some sort of super-friend: smart, principled and always in search of a good time.

Through a series of ridiculously heroic and selfless actions (at one point he delivers a stillborn baby and breathes life back into it), Rancho teaches his friends to embrace life and follow their dreams.

This is a feel-good movie, and it’s very well constructed. It plays to the emotions, but it’s well
balanced, never letting its audience laugh or cry for too long.

The music and dancing characteristic of Bollywood productions is sparse and well executed, and the pacing is pulled off in such a way that the excessive length is entirely tolerable. Some very solid, very warm escapism.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Review: Three Idiots

“We must and we can teach everyone about the aloha spirit,” he says in the film.

The moments of cultural realization in the film added richness to the story. Kapahulehua’s perspective anchors the documentary and he is the clear source of culture and inspiration for the other characters.

To reach their goal, HOCVS worked around the clock, each teammate paddling 1-hour shifts a few times a day. The film takes you on the journey with the team by providing outrigger footage, on-ship testimonials, and scenes to parallel real-time events. This proved an effective strategy that keeps the audience engaged with the characters.

Three members of the team and two people from the production crew were present at the filming on Sunday night. They modestly answered questions about the excursion after the screening.

The film was dedicated to Kendall Struxness, a paddler who died of stage four colon cancer shortly after completing the voyage. He refused to stay at home for the trip and made it to the end of the journey despite severe physical pain and exhaustion.

In the film, Struxness said he found strength because the team wanted him there. “Family of the Wa’a” presents the story of one big paddling ohana that celebrates Hawaiian culture and supports one another to the very end.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Review: Family of the Wa’a

Through OZ, people can shop for digital accessories, file their taxes and even do their jobs, as profiles carry the same privileges as the user. In “Summer Wars,” OZ is fully integrated into every facet of the human lifestyle, a relationship with disastrous consequences.

The film centers around Kenji, a young math whiz who punches code for OZ. After a brief introduction to the digital world, Kenji is asked by Natsuki, the most attractive girl at school, to pose as her boyfriend at her grandmother’s weekend-long 90th birthday celebration.

Soon after his arrival, Kenji responds to a mysterious text message, inadvertently enabling an artificial intelligence (AI) designed for hacking to break into OZ’s security, granting it access to every account.

The result is chaotic, the entire population seized by panic as their accounts are stolen, exposing the degree to which the world depends on its digital counterpart. The situation escalates as even the president of the United States loses his profile to the AI, thus surrendering his privileges to the malicious software and bringing about the possibility of a nuclear holocaust.

Now, only Kenji, with the help of Natsuki and her family, can save the world from highly ironic doom.

For the most part, the film is highly entertaining. Endearing characters keep things interesting in the real world, navigating themes of family and honor, while spectacular action sequences and high-stakes thrills make the exposition of the digital world both thrilling and intriguing.

Hosoda successfully builds tension by tying the action that we witness within OZ to real-world consequences, lending a feeling of authenticity to the disaster the characters face.

The film leaves little question as to the danger of complete integration of the human experience into the digital plane. In spite of this fact, the film’s message is ultimately optimistic, as it is only through the global community established by OZ that they are able to prevent the end of the world.

The ending does drag on, as the heroes are presented with desperate situation after desperate situation in which they overcome impossible odds, but if you’re a fan of multiple climaxes, then this only makes for a more pleasurable viewing experience.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Review: Summer Wars

Using real footage of the two families, we are witness to the true struggle associated with international adoption.  The film does its job well.

The two are reunited on a live Korean national television show and from there the documentary gives an account of their lives afterward, as they begin to figure out their relationship.   Whether cultural, financial or political, their differences seem to enrich their connection, without even speaking the same language, all in order to create and maintain a familial relationship for themselves and for their children.

Well filmed, with its real-life characters “Resistance” is an effective and powerful documentary showing the many obstacles not just within international adoption, but within cross-cultural communication, and how it is possible to come together, despite differences.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Review: Resilience

Although the students first resist this new approach to calligraphy, they enter the “Shodo Girls Koshien” competition where they must draw colorful calligraphy on huge banners while dancing to music. Throughout the film, we watch the students prepare for the event while facing their own issues at home and with the poverty in their small town.

The film contains a lot of ups and downs, staying tuned into the impending competition while also understanding the reality of living in an economically depressed Shikoku town.

To most Americans, handwriting is not generally a work of art. In “Shodo Girls,” the delicate beauty of Japanese calligraphy and the surrounding culture is well expressed.

The girls on the team bring joy and laughter to the film with their vibrant personalities. Talented actress Riko Narumi, who stars as Satoko, completes the film as we watch her transform from a stern, focused-on-the-prize student to a lovable team captain and player.

“Shodo Girls” is predictable at times, but its strong representation of a greatly overlooked art culture and strong character development make it a prize contender.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Review: Shodo Girls

Courtesy photo.

When you walk into an art exhibit, you probably don’t expect to go surfing.

But this is the case at “DANM Artists Take Over the Museum of Art and History.”

A virtual surfboard experience constructed by Daniel Christopher, Lyes Belhocine and Drew Detweiler illustrates the endless possibilities offered through the fusion of technology and art. This fusion is the focus of UC Santa Cruz’s Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) exhibit which opens tomorow.

The show features a variety of interactive technology and art by current and former DANM students. Mobile technology, interactive designs and web-based applications are just a few of the modes utilized to create interactive works. Not only does the exhibit offer a hands-on experience, it also explores the idea of seeing technology as art.

DANM’s exhibit opening will be a one-night affair at the Museum of Art and History (MAH) in downtown Santa Cruz on Friday from 5–9 p.m. A collage animation workshop will be held from 6–8 p.m., along with a guerilla grafting demonstration at 6 and 8 p.m.

DANM students have displayed work at MAH before, and it has since become a prime place for them to showcase student art.

“Artists want to show their work, and they want to show it in the best place possible,” said Felicia Rice, DANM program manager. “These students and alumni all have experience, so this is wonderful that they took the initiative to plan the event.”

“There are a lot of digital artists in the area working, so we were able to bring the alumni and current students together. It’s also a great way to reach out to the larger Santa Cruz,” said Drew Detweiler, a UCSC DANM research associate and 2010 graduate of the DANM program.

“It’s all interactive and hands-on,” Detweiler said. “It’s not like looking at art on a wall. You can pick up the objects, touch them … it’s a very participatory experience. I think people will be excited by the variety of work, from web-based applications to VJ tech to participatory activities. People will see things they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.”

Although the exhibit explores the boundaries of technology and art, the pieces displayed are centered around themes different people can relate to, like music, skateboarding and animation. This means that the exhibit attracts an eclectic crowd, bringing people together to experience art through the eyes of digital artists.

“When you hear the word ‘digital,’ it brings up a lot of different ideas,” Rice said. “What you will learn is that the field is very broad. DANM is a wealth of possibilities for applying technology and rethinking how these tools are used in an art context.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at DANM Artists Take over Museum

Illustration by Jamie Morton.

In a time when we willingly broadcast the most intimate details of our lives using a medium without bounds, the idea of having a film crew follow your family around may seem a little less than extraordinary. However, for the Loud family and television audiences circa 1973, the notion was revolutionary, and the results wildly controversial.

Oct. 12 through Nov. 16, UCSC’s Wednesday Night Cinema Society will be screening episodic installments of “An American Family,” a series considered by many media scholars to be the first and most controversial experiment within the genre of reality TV. This is a rare opportunity to recreate the communal viewing experience and engage in some lively discussion with students and faculty.

The series, which originally aired on PBS in 1973, chronicles the day-to-day lives of the Louds, a Santa Barbara family of seven. At first glance they seem pretty typical, each member fulfilling their role, engaging in the kinds of everyday experiences we’ve come to expect from a traditional, middle-class family in America.

But what began as an effort to document the everyday life of an average 1970s American household soon evolved into a 12-hour journey into the psyche of the nuclear family and an odyssey into the ethical issues of documentary filmmaking.

As the series unfolds, the deep-seated issues that underlie the family’s daily interactions surface.

“With ‘An American Family,’” said L.S. Kim, associate professor of film and digital media at UC Santa Cruz, “there’s definitely a sociological goal, as opposed to contemporary reality TV, where the focus is on pleasure and entertainment.”

Over the span of the series, the Louds struggle to function in spite of a strained relationship with their openly gay son and a deteriorating marriage, which actually ends when the series does.

One of the many interesting issues brought up by “An American Family” is the ethics — or lack thereof — of reality filmmaking. After the series was broadcast, the Louds spoke out against the production team, claiming the footage (of which 300 hours was recorded) had been edited to emphasize the negative, resulting in misrepresentation.

It has also been suggested that the presence of a film crew had a direct impact on the ultimate disintegration of the family, functioning as a catalyst for drama. These issues remain relevant in contemporary documentary filmmaking, and continue to shape the discussion of what constitutes reality or truth in the evolving media of film and television.

The screenings take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday nights in Room 150 of the communications building, and are open to all UCSC students who want a disturbing slice of the Loud life.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at A Retro Look at Reality TV

Filmmakers from all over the Pacific Rim, as well as local filmmakers, bring their work together to emphasize the importance of diversity to a broad audience while staying true to the film festival’s theme: “When Strangers Meet.” Illustration by Matt Boblet.

Get a taste of the Pacific Rim’s culture, minus the plane ticket, at this year’s 23rd annual Pacific Rim Film Festival (PRFF), which offers us a look into the eyes of people from cultures and places much different from California. With free admission and a variety of films and speakers, the Pacific Rim Film Festival is a great opportunity to not only enjoy cinema, but also gain a new perspective on other parts of the world.

During the free, six-day 23rd Pacific Rim Film Festival in Santa Cruz and Watsonville, films and documentaries from the Pacific Rim region will be screened, as well as several live speaker events after the screenings.

Filmmakers from all over the Pacific Rim, as well as local filmmakers, bring their work together to emphasize the importance of diversity to a broad audience while staying true to the film festival’s theme: “When Strangers Meet.”

Films will be screening Oct. 14-19 in Santa Cruz at the Del Mar Theatre and Rio Theatre, and in Watsonville at the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center. All screenings are free, barring the Closing Night Benefit.

Ever since the Pacific Rim Film Festival started at the Del Mar Theatre in 1988, filmmakers have been keeping the theme of cross-cultural awareness alive in Santa Cruz and Watsonville through their films.

The film “Resilience” is a great example of how PRFF weaves the theme of cross-cultural dialogue into its film selections. The film documents the reunion of a Korean mother and her American son after nearly 30 years apart. As we watch them build a relationship, struggling with cultural differences and misunderstandings, the details of the story itself become secondary to the dialogue inspired by the film’s themes.

This year, the PRFF features films from Japan, South Korea, China, New Zealand, the Philippines, New Mexico, India, Australia and the U.S., providing viewers a truly comprehensive look at the Pacific Rim culture.

At the Closing Night Benefit screening, Bay Area filmmakers Brian Lilla and Greg Miller will present their film, “Patagonia Rising.” The film raises awareness and suggests potential solutions to the issue of international water and power shortages. Lilla himself will be attending the screening and holding a Q&A session after the film. This special screening event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz.

More films from the Bay Area include Eric Thiermann’s documentary, “It Tolls for Thee: Bells and Their Stories,” which explores the use of bells around the world. Thiermann will make an appearance at the screening followed by a musical performance.

The film “Family of the Wa’a” shares the journey of paddlers (including Santa Cruzans Dave Loustalot, David Waynar, Theron Forrester and Matt Muirhead) through the Hawaiian Islands, from the island of Hawai’i to Kure Atoll in a wa’a (canoe).

Since PRFF has become a popular event, it is recommended that viewers arrive to the screenings early.

PRFF has remained a popular and well-known event, as shown by the generous donations received each year from UC Santa Cruz, Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, Ow Family Properties and other local groups. Their donations have kept the free admission a tradition for 23 years.

By bringing these provocative cultural films to Santa Cruz, PRFF sets a precedent of sharing through the arts. By filling up the theaters for every screening, Santa Cruz will show how much it is appreciated.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at A Cross-Cultural Production

Musicians gather at The Catalyst on Monday night to perform in the Jazz Jam. Billed performers and audience members collaborated and jammed together. Photo by Kyan Mahzouf

Members of the service industry crowd the bar, and a small group of metalheads shoot pool quietly in the game room. On the other side of the bar, chaos reigns supreme, as jazz musicians, both young and old, take part in the creation of what the players call “truly American music.”

Every Monday night through Oct. 17, The Catalyst is hosting Monday Night Jazz Jam, an old-school, open-mic style jazz odyssey in which audience members — whether they be vocalists, keyboardists, or horn players — sign up to play alongside the band. The results please the ear and embody the philosophy behind jazz.

Esoteric Collective, the quartet foundation upon which audience members construct their jazzy musings, kicks off with variations of works by some of America’s greatest jazz musicians. They cover everything from Miles Davis to Cole Porter.

“Jazz is America’s classical music,” said Esoteric Collective bassist Jamie Brudnick. “Each song exists as a template upon which we impose our improvisational skills.”

The knowing grin drawn across Brudnick’s face suggests the entire number is rehearsed — scripted — but he insists upon its spontaneity.

“We don’t use papers,” Brudnick said. “And we never play a song the same way twice. Hopefully we inspire other musicians to expand upon what they hear here tonight.”

Indeed, Brudnick makes it look easy, closing his eyes and plucking along in violent accord with a rapidly evolving rendition of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” Such is the nature of Monday Night Jazz Jam. There are no auditions, no agendas, and no “papers.” The experience is entirely organic, with the musicians playing off each other, each sound expounding upon the last. One can’t help but feel that every aspect of the event is in perfect harmony with the impromptu, frenetic nature of jazz.

After a 30-minute set, Esoteric Collective opens up the stage to the audience for collaboration. A group of horn players joins the band, as well as a keyboardist, who relieves Esoteric Collective’s own Jon Dryden. Then, as if they had been playing together for months, the newly formed ensemble launches into a smooth, yet appropriately chaotic jam. Singers soon emerge from the audience, offering their vocal variations on the classics.

“It was like time travel,” vocalist Joy Rush said after her performance, “a real old-school jam session.” This sentiment was undoubtedly shared by the audience, which was warm and attentive throughout of the event, applauding each musician after their respective solos.

“This is the hottest thing going on,” said trumpet player Robert Reisman. “I’m coming back every chance I get.”

The event is limited to people ages 21 and up, but if you’re of age and looking for an inexpensive ($5 to $10 donation), intimate setting to listen or contribute to the sounds of a group of jazz sages paying homage to the chaos that surrounds them, then Monday Night Jazz Jam might just be your thing.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Jazz Comes to The Catalyst

Illustration by Jamie Morton.

Any kind of life-threatening disease is difficult to cope with — that is a given. We have all seen dramas about people overcoming or succumbing to serious illnesses. What separates director Jonathan Levine’s new comedy “50/50” from these movies is its honest and real, yet slightly humorous portrayal of a young man fighting cancer.

The physical changes, doctor appointments and chemotherapy play an important part in the film, but the most crucial aspect is the way Levine captures the impact of cancer on Adam, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and his relationships. Day by day, viewers catch a glimpse of how destructive a disease can be on someone’s personal life.

Though the concept of a comedy about cancer seems difficult to grasp, Levine pulls together a funny, touching story about a 27-year-old battling the disease. What is especially interesting about the film is it is based on Levine’s real-life struggle with cancer. Levine achieves an astounding level of authenticity and touches on a difficult subject with just the right amount of laughs and tears.

Adam is a young journalist who lives with his girlfriend, played by Bryce Dallas Howard. After going to the doctor for what seems to be a minor backache, he learns that he has a rare form of spinal cancer with only a 50 percent chance of survival.

“That doesn’t make any sense, though,” Adam says, baffled. “I mean, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink … I recycle.”

As a young, seemingly healthy man until his diagnosis, Adam portrays the frustration and feeling of unfairness that comes with having cancer at such a young age. As the film continues, we watch Adam fight for his life and cope with the ripple effects his illness has on those he loves.

Writer Will Reiser brings dark humor to the film, especially through Adam’s sex-crazed best friend Kyle, played by funnyman Seth Rogen. His optimism and humor provide lots of laughs for the audience, even in some of the most serious scenes. After Adam tells Kyle about his chance of survival, Kyle replies, “50/50 — if you were a casino game, you would have the best odds.”

This balances out the heavier aspects of the film, bringing just the right amount of unexpected comedy and wit to the movie.

Another reason “50/50” deserves applause is it presents such a painful issue to the audience gently and compassionately, without any overly heavy or melodramatic moments. Reiser keeps the cancer storyline straightforward, and although you may shed a few tears, you certainly won’t be bawling through the whole movie.

In other words, “50/50” is not another difficult, overbearing film that leaves you feeling depressed. Instead, it simply focuses on a tough subject in a humorous manner, with endearing characters.

Heartwarming and sincere, there is more than a 50/50 chance that you will enjoy the film.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at ’50/50′ Hits a Funny Bone

Illustration by Louise Leong.

If you possess the slightest amount of germaphobia, Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” will, undoubtedly, reinforce that fear.

This thriller disaster film boasts an all-star cast, including Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. Though the film is at times dry and data-heavy, it makes a strong statement about the extreme, barbaric transformations humans can undergo in reaction to disastrous events.

This tale of four people affected by the sudden outburst of a deadly and highly contagious virus is set, unsettlingly enough, in contemporary times. Nobody knows where this terrifying virus originated from, or any cure for it; all we know is it spreads faster than any other disease or virus known to mankind and if nobody finds a cure soon, humanity may cease to exist.

Soderbergh breaks up the film into four subplots that interweave increasingly as the film progresses. This narrative style is reminiscent of Paul Haggis’ 2004 drama “Crash,” especially in its lack of a prominent protagonist. The virus takes the role of antagonist as it rips apart the lives of the main characters, especially Mitch Emhoff (Damon), who loses his wife to this paralyzing virus days after she returns from Hong Kong. Throughout the movie, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer, outstandingly played by Kate Winslet, struggles to find a cure for the disease as it spreads globally.

Although “Contagion” is a thriller, the film gives off more of an empirical, scientific vibe. The majority of the movie focuses on characters’ theories as to the origin of the virus, setting a good deal of the film in laboratories. This can make the storyline difficult to follow if you are not familiar with the feel of scientific movies. Less data and more character development could have balanced the film better, incorporating technological aspects of the movie with more character-driven material. Because the film is so preoccupied with scientific drama, the intricacies of human emotion fall by the wayside. After the tragic death of his wife, Mitch is appropriately crushed, but these emotions abruptly evaporate.

Along with the other characters in the film, Mitch focuses less on his personal life and more on the struggle of finding a cure for this virus. The more people continue to die, the more the survivors begin to act like animals. Riots, violence and complete mayhem break out among the infected cities. These scenes add to the overall theme of the movie, which is the fight for human survival.

If you enjoy disaster thrillers and sci-fi flicks, you will most likely be entertained by “Contagion.” But if you tend to grow bored of scientific talk, you may be unimpressed and restless.

Also, don’t be surprised if you find yourself wanting to invest a pair of gloves and maybe even a face mask for everyday use … just warning you.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Infect Yourself with ‘Contagion’

Illustration by Louise Leong.

“Era Extraña” can be translated from Spanish to English as “Strange Era.” Musically, it does mark a new era for Neon Indian, one in which you can actually discern what the lyrics are saying 60 percent of the time, but for all of its washed out ‘80s pop aspirations, “Era Extraña” falls short of maturing, languishing in a navel-gazing, adolescent arrested development.

“Era Extraña” was released Sept. 13 on Neon Indian frontman Alan Palomo’s Static Tongues label. Neon Indian’s first album, “Psychic Chasms,” is a fresh “chill wave” soundscape of vintage synth and driving beats. The tracks feel cohesive but individual. In comparison, even though “Era Extraña” uses the same synths and beats, the album feels self-conscious and needy: Tracks blur together, and the vocals are no longer strange and sympathetic, but merely a disoriented, bass-y “Breakfast Club” throwback.

However, “Era Extraña” achieves a different kind of success. It serves as a spot-on musical analogy for the contemporary youth culture. Not quite innovative or fresh, not a completely pedestrian pop ‘80s throwback, “Era Extraña” struggles to find its own voice.

In the barrage of synths and melancholy vocals, there is a reflection of the hazy uncertainty our youth is entering. With economic, political and environmental uncertainty coming at you at the speed of social media, Neon Indian’s wall of sound overwhelms you to the point of acceptance while the persistent drum machine drives you on.

The sound traps you in a mental state that is aimless and deadline-less, like our Indian summer.

Tracks like “Hex Girlfriend” express disillusionment, with lyrics like, “Sullen sights always indirect/Tired eyes hypnotized by your teenage sect/Weekend rituals resurrecting/Feelings our sober minds reject” and a chorus that asks the question we’re all resistant to ask ourselves: “Does it make you, does it make you feel alright?/Did they make you, did they make you feel alright?”

The pop-y single “Polish Girl” sticks in your teeth like cotton candy and leaves you with the same saliva-mouthed, empty-stomached feeling that brings you back for more, searching for the substantive element and ultimately finding it in its impracticality.

Warbling distortion on title track ballad-anthem “Era Extraña” and dark themes on “The Blindside Kiss” (suicide? Social anxiety? Social suicide?) round out “Era Extraña” to be a more contemplative and emotional album.

Historically, sophomore albums tend to be hard, especially on the heels of a success like “Psychic Chasms.” If “Era Extraña” isn’t for you, don’t despair — check back in a year or two.

Take a listen. Keep pretending it’s summer. It may resonate with a deep, unaddressed, apathetic longing, or it may end up feeling like a drunken and dateless prom night, complete with paper stars brittle with glass glitter.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Neon Indian Summer Never Matures

Illustration by Matt Boblet

Jack is back. The fourth installment of the swashbuckling “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “On Stranger Tides” is, as predicted, a definite sinker. In search for the fountain of youth, unexpected teams join forces to obtain the coveted treasure. Jack and his crew must race to the fountain before the Spaniards and the British. Through a thrilling chase, friendships are formed and bitter rivals challenged. However, the obvious yet unexplained disappearance of key actors and the introduction of a new director made “Stranger Tides” a definite stranger compared to the rest of the series, as the romance of Will and Elizabeth was surely missed. The result was a completely different movie that did not deserve to be considered a “Pirates” film.

Director Rob Marshall, who directed successful musicals such as “Nine” and “Chicago,” did what he does best — entertained — but lacked the effect of the pirate movies that inspired the world to once again see the haunting mystery of the seven seas. The direction just didn’t fit the genre — for a split second, I was sure that Marshall would have Jack Sparrow tap-dancing to keep viewers in their seats.

Desperation was the word as the movie clung on for dear life, hoping that Captain Jack Sparrow, regurgitating old jokes and phrases, would save the film. Throughout the film, it could almost be seen in Johnny Depp’s heavily-lined eyes that he really was tired of swaggering and parroting “matey” every other second. Jack’s usual bored, nonchalant tone of voice was unmistakenly genuine. Unlike the previous movies, Jack did not have any tricks up his sleeves or any ulterior motive, making him almost trustworthy and definitely boring.

In keeping a few key characters and the same closet of pirate costumes and adding a few exciting “fish tales” such as mermaids and Blackbeard, it was clear that Marshall had hoped he could reel in loyal pirate fans. While there was plenty of thrilling sword-fighting, with the absence of the previous cast, the scenes often lacked character. Without the key characters, there were just too many unrecognizable pirates to have to care about. Although the beautiful and terrifying mermaids were a cinematic treat, without the romance of Will and Elizabeth, there was too much new and not enough old. These new elements of the film were cliché and uncreative, as if Marshall extracted his inspiration from cheap decorations found at any seafood restaurant. There was plenty of kitsch, but no mystery.

To replace Keira Knightley, the all-male cast was joined by feisty Spaniard Penelope Cruz, who tries to resuscitate the dying film with her irresistible Spanish accent and almond-brown eyes. The cliché “tough on the outside, sensitive in the inside” was used as Cruz threw feminism a bone every now and then, occasionally ranting about respect for women.

While a viewer can leave the theater content to be able to say he had watched the entire “Pirates” series, it was deeply disappointing just how far the mighty franchise had fallen. Despite some thrilling scenes of haunting mermaids and sword-fighting, in the end, the film failed to capture the audience and appeared for what it really was: a bunch of boys playing make-believe, wearing unexplained eye patches and tattered pirate costumes.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides