Plus Letters To the Editor
If you haven’t heard about Cruz the Wave, it’s a 75-foot-long, 18-foot-high model of a wave that a team of organizers and artists is building in Santa Cruz for this year’s Burning Man. It’s an ambitious project even by the standards of Bob Marzewski—aka Wizzard, who burners may remember as one of the artists featured in the 2006 documentary Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock, and for Burning Man art like the huge Mayan Tricycle in 2012; he calls it the biggest piece he’s worked on. It’s meant to be the first Burning Man art piece to represent the community of Santa Cruz as a whole (information about donating to its completion is at cruzthewave.org), and it’s an ideal symbol. Santa Cruz has a tidal relationship to Burning Man, sending a huge wave of artistic energy and enthusiasm rolling into the gathering every year.
Kris Kaufeldt could be thought of as the riptide. Here at GT, we love to spotlight the local personalities who are making their mark in some interesting way, but aren’t known to the public at large. Kaufeldt’s rise as the White Tiger has got to be one of the most offbeat success stories to come out of burner culture, certainly locally. To go from tongue-in-cheek power moves in Black Rock City to having someone say a Northern California festival hasn’t made it until you’ve danced on their stage is kind of jaw-dropping. Whatever you think of the White Tiger, you’ll have to agree he is that, and our former staffer Georgia Perry has returned to profile him.
Steve Palopoli | Editor-in-Chief
Picking on History
Re: “What the Fleck?” (GT, 7/23): As much as I love some of the music Bela Fleck has written and produced, I was disappointed by Fleck and the interviewer that there was little mention or elaboration on the banjo orchestral work at the turn of the last century. The banjo was an orchestral instrument before it became a largely folk and bluegrass instrument. I have one of the original Dobson banjos with a copyright date of 1891. According to builders, it was probably made in 1903. Fleck is an innovator, but not an originator. Regardless, I am grateful for his wonderful music, and hope he works with Jerry Douglas again from time to time.
Michael Faulk | Aptos
Senior Health
Maria Grusauskas’ article “Picture of Health” (GT, 7/30) was very good. I would like Good Times to have an article about housing for the elderly. In 2011, I had to accept that due to old age infirmities and issues I had to give up living in my home of many years. I learned about the availability for people of low or moderate income to community housing which they could afford. For example, Garfield Park is presently undergoing extensive renovation in three stages, which is requiring residents to be temporarily relocated while the buildings are being worked over. It is disturbing for some of the residents, and some residents have issues about what is being done. This is a significant aspect of the ongoing and increasing need for low-income housing for the elderly and for some who are handicapped.
Patricia Rayne | Santa Cruz
Online Comments
Re: Jordan Graham
Super cool guys keep up the good work! I have been waiting to see the movie for almost a year now and cannot wait to see it. With all of your hard work you guys are going to blow up!
— Gilbert
Correction
In “This Sucks” (News, 7/30), we incorrectly reported that Aedes aegypti can carry malaria. It can carry dengue and chikungunya. We regret the error.
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THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION Nolan Alisago goes out on a limb in British Columbia, during a family vacation in July. Photograph by Megan Alisago.
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Wheel Time
The school year will soon start up again, and Ecology Action wants to help everyone get around town safely on a bike. They’ll also update people on ways to get involved in the community. It will all go down at a free volunteer workshop, complete with dinner, on Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 6:30 p.m. To RSVP, contact Jen Werner at
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Help With School
The Cosmo Factory, downtown Santa Cruz’s local cosmetology academy, received funding last fall to provide federal financial aid to eligible students. That opened the door for numerous students to complete their studies and become licensed cosmetologists. It is now expanding financial aid to esthetics students, who specialize in skin care.
“He was the only candidate that had been to Burning Man”
—Larry Page and Sergey Brin, on why they made Eric Schmidt Google’s CEO
