Geographically, socially and culturally, the Monterey Peninsula is like nowhere else on Earth. And that holds true on the area's highways and byways as well, where on any given day of the week it's possible to see a rare, top-of-the-marque example of automotive art cruse by. We've become perhaps a little jaded, barely glancing at a vehicle that would cause a pile-up of … [Read more...] about The Cars We Love
Raising the Standards
The 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival lineup includes some old friends, some new blood and plenty of musical surprises. So what else is new? The longest continuously running jazz festival on Planet Earth certainly didn’t get that way by being stodgy, boring or predictable. This year, Artistic Director Tim Jackson has put together a stellar three-day program, running September 19-21, … [Read more...] about Raising the Standards
Big Sur Magic
It's a vast paradox... a landscape breathtakingly beautiful yet unsparingly harsh; a climate equally bucolic and brutal; a community simultaneously insular and warmly welcoming; a spirit both ruggedly realistic and dreamily ethereal. It’s Big Sur. If ever a region were appropriately named, this is it. It’s huge, encompassing some 75 miles of California coastline extending … [Read more...] about Big Sur Magic
Free Spirit, Free Style
Anyone who believes that American men have the competitiveness market cornered has not yet met Bri Chmel. She’s just past 30, just over five feet tall, and just about as hard a charger as you’re likely to meet, male or female. And over the course of the past six years she’s come to dominate the sport of women’s wakesurfing. By the age of 14, Chmel (pronounced ka-MEL) was … [Read more...] about Free Spirit, Free Style
All’s Well That Ends Well
Comedian Ray Romano once admitted, “I have this mistress: show business.” As everyone who has trod the boards knows, she can be a harsh mistress. To wit: recent budget cuts have put Monterey Peninsula College’s Drama Department in danger and forced Shakespeare Santa Cruz to draw the curtain on its 32-year run. But Carmel’s Pacific Repertory Theatre (PacRep) is still going … [Read more...] about All’s Well That Ends Well