by Christina Waters | Mar 2, 2010 | Home |
We all knew that mountain climbers were a different breed. We just didn’t know how different. Now we do, thanks to North Face, which opens next week at The Nick.
Never before have adventure junkies gotten so close to the testosterone-drenched thrills of alpine climbing. And the Eiger, so beautiful, breathtaking. The film is a jaw-dropping recreation of a tragic assault on the Eiger’s north face. So help me I can’t understand how they got this footage. Even if most of it was somehow staged for the camera, it is still rife with the sorts of punishing handholds, rappels and traverses that jumpstart the adrenaline of extreme climbers and masochists.
At this point I have to stop. One of the most startling things about this scenery-driven film was my physical response to it. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Mar 2, 2010 | Home |
Wine. Grüner Veltliner. Dry aromatic white wine that is almost unbearably easy to drink. Furthermore, this one — from Biohof Pratsch — is available in a super-size, liter bottle for only $12.99 @ New Leaf.
The most widely-planted grape of Austria, GV famously goes with everything, including Brussels sprouts. We climbed down into the glass full of salted nectarines, straw and jasmine – at first sip. Then this creation of organic grapes morphed into pink grapefruit and a bouquet of quartrz. Ultra clean finish.
What’s not to like?
You can also sample this wine by the glass at Oswald, corner of Soquel and Front streets in downtown Santa Cruz.
by Christina Waters | Mar 1, 2010 | Home |
Nothing compares with being in the midst of a live performance.
The UCSC Concert Choir, conducted by Nathaniel Berman, will perform two musical masterworks by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Friday and Saturday March 12 & 13, @ 8pm.
Friday, March 12, the choir performs Dona Nobis Pacem and Five Mystical Songs at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz, and again the following evening at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in San Mateo.
British modernist composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (shown here in his composing prime) and American poet Walt Whitman shared a sensitivity to the dark allure of warfare. Both saw the full range of battlefield suffering. Neither forgot what they saw.
Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem sets Whitman’s (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 23, 2010 | Home |
The croissant bread pudding with bourbon glaze at Hollins House.
Double OMG.
by Christina Waters | Feb 23, 2010 | Home |
On the First Friday artcrawl next week, don’t miss the large show of original oil paintings by contemporary realist Burt Levitsky.
On display at this show will be 16 paintings representing Levitsky’s substantial body of work from the past eight years.
(Genevieve Walking, 2009, at left)
The show runs March 5 – 28, with an opening reception on
Friday, March 5 6-8:30pm.
MichaelAngelo Gallery is located at 1111 River Street, Santa Cruz (831)426-5500.
by Christina Waters | Feb 23, 2010 | Home |
There they are again, those folkloric musicologists the Rangells, fingers flying in the central windowfront nook at The Buttery last Sunday morning. Along with the area’s most sought-after musical collaborator, Irene Herrmann (show at left, Paul center, Emily at right) on yet another mandolin, the trio filled the eastside coffee & pastry mecca with intricately upbeat music for a rainy day.
Come by any Sunday and prepare to stay a while.
It is not exactly a hardship lingering a while at The Buttery, where I often meet fellow book fanatics over danish and French roast. The atmosphere is unbeatable.
