Boasting an impressive list of mid-’90s music and plenty of geek culture nostalgia, Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters (directed by Lisa Morse, playing at the College of Marin through May 18) is a warm-hearted romp through grief and acceptance.
The story follows Agnes (Paige Flaming), trying to find a connection to her deceased sister, Tilly (Arya Safavi), through a custom Dungeons & Dragons campaign written by Tilly. Agnes is guided through the campaign by her sister’s dungeon master friend, Chuck, aka DM Biggs (Karim Al-Jamal). Reality and fantasy start to blur as she learns more about her sister’s world, threatening Agnes’ real-world relationships.
Set and props (both by Huda Al-Jamal) are colorfully spectacular, especially for being in the small studio theater. Particularly impressive are the puppets, which come into their own during the final scene.
The cast is at its strongest when in the fantasy world. Safavi portrays Tilly with an earnest fierceness that immediately engages the audience. Flaming comes off as a little one-note. But considering that the character is written as “the most normal person ever,” it would be hard to add range to the character. Jonathan Lazzerini’s Steve is a scene stealer who does a very believable job switching between an inept sorcerer and the awkward teenager. However, the standout performance is Al-Jamal’s Chuck.
Being the only character that is never a part of the D&D fantasy, Al-Jamal captures the big silliness necessary. Yet, of all the actors, he remains the most grounded in his character and delivers some of the most impactful moments in the play.
Yes, some moments of depth are glossed over, the momentum isn’t consistent and some special vocal effects are hard to understand (though a very cool idea). Still, the show is beautifully fun, and the artists are obviously engaged in the story. In the end, it would be almost impossible to leave this show without a smile. It’s a shame that even in the studio theater, there were empty seats.
These young artists are putting on a solid show with great tech, impressive production values and committed actors, and the tickets are free. One doesn’t even need to understand D&D to enjoy this show.
What’s important is a love for stories because, as Tilly tells us, we are all “just a collection of stories.”
‘She Kills Monsters’ runs through May 18 at the Studio Theatre at the College of Marin, 835 College Ave., Kentfield. Friday-Saturday, 7:30pm; Sunday, 2pm. Free. Donations welcome. 415.485.9385. pa.marin.edu.
Think resisting authoritarianism is too big of a lift? Think again. This spring, while the U.S. resistance movement may not be in full bloom, it is blossoming.
The “3.5% rule”—identified by political scientist Erica Chenoweth—should be on the lips of every American anxious about the Trump administration’s headlong drive to replace our democracy with authoritarianism. After studying more than 300 nonviolent resistance campaigns, Chenoweth and colleagues’ research revealed a startling truth: When just 3.5% of a population engages in sustained, strategic civil resistance, authoritarian regimes fall.
Think about it. Not 50%. Not 30%. Just 3.5%. The message is clear: When enough people turn out—repeatedly and nonviolently—democracy wins.
When people commit to showing up—demonstrating creatively and persistently—history is on our side. Nonviolence trainer, activist and writer Rivera Sun, whose YA novels address peace-building, highlights the “imagination” side of movements—that we must not only resist but also build the world we want to live in.
The implications for the nation are profound. We’re a country of 330 million, so 3.5% equals 11.5 million people. That’s the number we need to side with democracy over authoritarianism. That’s not fantasy. It’s strategy. In many, many communities—well beyond western Massachusetts—it’s growing. Person by person, town by town.
What’s needed now is not despair, but determination. Not hand-wringing, but hand-raising. Where I live, it’s one in every 28 standing up consistently and courageously as agents of change, transforming darkness into light. What is it where you live?
In the fall of 2020, during the reign of deep Covid, I worked in-person as a frontline behavioral healthcare counselor at a residential facility for adults with serious mental illness.
It was a strange time to be a commuter. And as I drove from my apartment in Rohnert Park to the facility in Santa Rosa on the deserted 101, it was hard not to imagine that the world had ended right under my nose.
I fell into a sort of paranoid solipsism on these drives, lost in an anxious dream that people would never leave their houses again, that we had been placed in a continuous stasis from which there was no escape. That is, until I started noticing the strange evidence of other people along the highway, proof that I was not alone in the world.
Bedsheets and torn cardboard canvases, affixed with twine to chain-link fences, began appearing at freeway onramps and along frontage roads. All of them bearing the same hastily scrawled or spray-painted message: “Listen To The Happys.”
Nick Petty came up with the idea to start a band in 2012 while living in a halfway house in San Francisco. He had recently been released from jail and was doing his best to envision life free of the OxyContin and heroin habit that had been following him for years. While discussing potential names with a friend, he landed on The Happys as a tongue-in-cheek description of the music he wanted to make and the conditions he currently found himself in.
Now, in 2025, sitting in the attic of a barn on the property of the San Rafael Elks Club, The Happys’ current rehearsal space, Petty tells me, “Writing is what kept, and keeps, me sane.” As he tells it, he has been clean from opiates since that stint.
The current lineup of The Happys comprises Brett Brazil (bass/vocals), Alejandro Sanchez (lead guitar/vocals), Elijah Smetzer (drums) and Petty (songwriter/lead vocals). The band prides itself on having a wide range of influences and a somewhat chameleonic sound.
During the interview, they cite Kurt Cobain, Eliot Smith and Sublime as influences, and their most popular songs on Spotify tilt from surf-rock to post-punk to arena-rock anthems. It is hard to pin down their specific genre within the vague boundaries of “rock.” This amorphousness works, though, as it is undergirded by excessive energy and dedication from every member of the band. “All of us are all in on this,” Sanchez tells me. “We are in it for the long run.”
In 2019, Petty’s father passed away, and he was pushed into a bit of an existential crisis. “I just started thinking about the time I have left and what I wanted to do with it,” Petty notes. He decided to channel this angst into The Happys, a project that had already ferried him through one crisis years earlier. Starting around this time, The Happys crew started putting up makeshift signs around the North Bay, encouraging anyone and everyone to listen to them.
“The signs were inspired by graffiti,” Petty says. “And garage sale signs,” Brazil adds. The idea was guerrilla and anti-algorithm. In an age where musicians are encouraged to have an online presence and market themselves to specific demographics, The Happys decided to aggressively market themselves to literally whomever happened to be driving down the freeway that day.
After an especially long overnight shift back in 2020, I drove by another sign that read, “Listen to The Happys,” and finally caved. I loaded up their music on the spot and started listening. Several months later, as the world began coming back into focus, I saw a flyer advertising a live performance by The Happys in front of George’s Nightclub in San Rafael as a part of the Dine Under the Lights event series. Dear reader, I went and saw The Happys live. I bought a bumper sticker that says, “Listen to The Happys,” and it is still on my car. If anyone has ever wondered if this sort of marketing works, it at the very least did on me.
Sanchez claims that over the past five years, any time there is a Happys show in or around the Bay Area, they are approached by people who claim they came because of all the signs. “People come up to us and are like, ‘I’ve been waiting to meet you guys,’” he says with a nervous chuckle. He is also quick to qualify that he doesn’t think the signs are solely, or mainly, responsible for the growing success they’ve been experiencing over the past half-decade. “What helps us is that we are down to play a show anywhere and everywhere,” he states.
“I don’t think people understand how hard we work at this,” Petty adds. Outside of traditional venues, The Happys have played shows at Petaluma High School, non-profit organizations and substance use facilities. When Jack White played a pop-up show at the Phoenix in Petaluma in October 2024, The Happys played a pop-up show outside it for people waiting to get into the show.
At this point in the interview, I ask Petty if he feels like he might have some obsessive tendencies about the band. He responds by nodding and offering me a fist-bump.
It didn’t feel right to just interview the band about the signs. Obviously, they were going to have a positive pitch. I wanted to hear a counter opinion, a voice from the community on how they feel about the presence of so much DIY marketing. So I turned to the only reliable source of information gathering I could think of: Reddit. Creating a burner account, I posted on the Sonoma and Marin County subreddits asking what people thought of the signs.
CRITIQUE Not all North Bay residents are fans of The Happys’ marketing efforts. Screengrab from instagram.com/thehappys.
As it stands at the time of writing this, the threads have a combined total of more than 200 comments. Some commenters hate the signs and think they are just litter; others respect the hustle but aren’t a fan of the music. Others still love the signs and encourage everyone to see The Happys live, promising an excellent show. One commenter in particular observed that a real journalist wouldn’t lazily poll Reddit for opinions. Ouch.
Judgments aside, one thing is irrefutable: People know who The Happys are and feel passionate one way or the other about their presence in the North Bay.
Petty is quick to address the litter question when I ask about it. “We take trash that is already there and make signs out of it. I’ve also hauled a bunch of litter off the highway to try and clean it up,” he states. The signs, then, are part of a green mindset: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. As far as the people who hate the signs and call them a nuisance, he says quite matter-of-factly, “Some people hate to see other people following their dreams.”
Speaking of following dreams, in the past five years, The Happys have released a full-length album, sold out Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley and have performed as openers for The Mad Caddies, Hobo Johnson and Sublime with Rome. They are currently preparing for an East Coast tour, which will be the first part of a nationwide tour, and will be releasing a new album in the coming months, titled Listen to The Happys.
When I ask the members about their long-term plans for the band, Sanchez and Brazil tell me they value the possibility of longevity. Smetzer says he wants to reach as wide an audience as he can. When I ask Petty the same question, he smiles for a second and then says, “Biggest band in the world.”
Kim Stare Wallace was born into the wine business, but when in college, first pursued fashion.
Her design expertise led to creating Dry Creek Vineyard’s iconic nautical labels when she joined as marketing director. Now president and second-generation owner, she serves on multiple Sonoma County boards, including Sonoma County Vintners and Santa Rosa Junior College Shone Farm Foundation.
Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?
Kim Stare Wallace: I was literally raised among the vines in the Dry Creek Valley. My childhood was filled with watching my dad, David Stare, pioneer Dry Creek Vineyard as the first new winery to be built in the region following Prohibition. I worked when I was a teenager in the office, the cellar and on the bottling line …
Did you ever have an “aha” moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.
Growing up in the wine industry, I was lucky to be exposed to some amazing wines at a young age. But one of the most memorable was a 1937 Saviennières from Domaine Baumard that I tasted in the Loire Valley with Jean Baumard, who was a dear friend of my father.
We were visiting their home, tasting a bunch of wines at the dining room table, while Jean told stories of how his father hid their wines from the Nazis during WWII.
Hearing this story, while tasting a white wine (chenin blanc, no less) that had aged so beautifully made me fall in love with not only that varietal, but the power that wine has to capture moments in time, preserve history and communicate stories. That is one of the reasons I decided to join the family business.
What is your favorite thing to drink at home?
This is very hard to answer, but the wines I tend to drink the most of are either our Fumé Blanc or Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc, or our Heritage Vines Zinfandel. When I’m not drinking wine, I’m usually sipping tea.
Where do you like to go out for a drink?
For a glass of wine or a cold beer, the Bar at the Dry Creek General Store can’t be beat. I love that I still run into people that I rode the school bus with, growers, old friends, etc. And, if I’m really feeling festive, Barn Diva has a Champagne cocktail called “Bitches of the Seizième” that reminds me of Paris, one of my favorite cities.
If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?
Absolutely no question: a really good, expressive sauvignon blanc.Dry Creek Vineyard, 3770 Lambert Bridge Rd., Healdsburg, 707.433.1000. drycreekvineyard.com.
ARIES (March 21–April 19): Just for now, you might benefit from moderating your intensity. I am pleased to see how much good stuff you have generated lately, but it may be time to scale back a bit. At least consider the possibility of pursuing modest, sustainable production rather than daring to indulge in spectacular bursts of energy. In conclusion, dear Aries, the coming days will be a favorable time for finding the sweet spot between driving ambition and practical self-care. Your natural radiance won’t have to burn at maximum brightness to be effective.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Classical ballet dancers often seek to convey the illusion of weightlessness through highly stylized movements. Innovative Taurus choreographer Martha Graham had a different aim, emphasizing groundedness. Emotional depth and rooted physicality were crucial to her art of movement. “The body never lies” is a motto attributed to her, along with “Don’t be nice, be real.” I recommend you make those themes your guides for now, Taurus. Ask your body to reveal truths unavailable to your rational mind. Value raw honesty and unembellished authenticity over mere decorum.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini photographer Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) was a trailblazer. She was the first American woman war photojournalist, the first professional photographer permitted into the former Soviet Union and among the first to photograph a Nazi concentration camp. She was consistently at the right place at the right time to record key historical moments. She’s your role model in the coming months. You, too, will have a knack for being in the right place and time to experience weighty turning points. Be vigilant for such opportunities. Be alert and ready to gracefully pounce.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Each negative word in a news headline increases click-through rates,” writes Joan Westenberg. “Negative political posts on social media get twice the engagement. The system rewards pessimism.” She wants to be clear: “Doomsayers aren’t necessarily wrong. Many concerns are valid. But they’ve built an attention economy that profits from perpetual panic. It’s a challenge to distinguish between actionable information and algorithmic amplification, genuine concern and manufactured outrage.” Westenberg’s excellent points are true for all of us. But it’s especially important that you Cancerians take measures to protect yourself now. For the sake of your mental and physical health, you need extra high doses of optimism, hope and compassion. Seek out tales of triumph, liberation, pleasure and ingenuity far more than tales of affliction, mayhem and corruption.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Bees are smart. The robust and lightweight honeycombs they create for their homes are designed with high efficiency, maximizing storage space while using the least amount of resources. Let’s make the bees’ genius your inspirational role model for the coming weeks, Leo. It will be a favorable time to optimize your own routines and systems. Where can you reduce unnecessary effort and create more efficiency? Whether it’s refining your schedule, streamlining a project or organizing your workspace, small adjustments will yield pleasing rewards.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In 1971, Virgo poet Kay Ryan began teaching English at a small community college. Though she wrote steadily, working hard to improve her craft and publish books, she never promoted herself. For years, she was virtually unknown. Finally, in 2008, she flamed into prominence. In quick succession, she served as the U.S. poet laureate, won a Pulitzer Prize and received a $500,000 “genius grant” as a MacArthur fellow. Why am I telling you about her long toil before getting her rightful honors? Because I believe that if you are ever going to receive the acclaim, recognition, appreciation and full respect you deserve, it will happen in the coming months.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran author Diane Ackerman combines an elegant poetic sensibility and a deft skill at scientific observation. She is lyrical and precise, imaginative and logical, inventive and factual. I would love for you to be inspired by her example in the coming weeks. Your greatest success and pleasure will arise as you blend creativity with pragmatism. You will make good decisions as you focus on both the big picture and the intimate details. P.S.: If you immerse yourself in the natural world and seek out sensory-rich experiences, I bet you will inspire a smart solution to an achy dilemma.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio-born Sabina Spielrein (1885-1942) was one of the earliest woman psychoanalysts. In the 21st century, she is increasingly recognized as a great thinker who got marginalized because of her feminist approach to psychology. Several of her big contributions were Scorpionic to the core: She observed how breakdown can lead to breakthrough, how most transformations require the death of an old form and how dissolution often serves creation. These will be useful themes for you to ruminate about in the coming weeks. For best results, be your deep, true, Scorpio self.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In the middle of his art career, Sagittarian painter Paul Klee (1879-1940) was drafted into the German army as a soldier in World War I. Rather than fighting on the front lines, he managed to get a job painting camouflage on military airplanes. This enabled him to conduct artistic explorations and experiments. The metal hulls became his canvases. I am predicting a comparable opportunity disguised as an obstacle for you, Sagittarius. Just as the apparent constraint on Klee actually advanced his artistic development, you will discover luck in unexpected places.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else,” wrote poet Emily Dickinson. I often feel that truth. As much as I would love to devote 70+ hours a week to creative writing and making music, I am continually diverted by the endless surprises of the daily rhythm. One of these weeks, maybe I’ll be brave enough to simply give myself unconditionally to ordinary life’s startling flow and forget about trying to accomplish anything great. If you have ever felt a similar pull, Capricorn, the coming days will be prime time to indulge. There will be no karmic cost incurred.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): David Bowie was a brilliant musical composer and performer. His artistry extended to how he crafted his persona. He was constantly revising and reshaping his identity, his appearance and his style. The Ziggy Stardust character he portrayed on stage, for example, had little in common with his later phase as the Thin White Duke. “I’ve always collected personalities,” he quipped. If you have ever felt an inclination to experiment with your image and identity, Aquarius, the coming weeks will be an excellent time. Shape-shifting could be fun and productive. Transforming your outer style may generate interesting inner growth. What would be interesting ways to play with your self-expression?
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Voynich manuscript is a famous text written in an unfamiliar script filled with bizarre illustrations. Carbon-dated to the early 15th century, it has resisted all attempts at deciphering its content. Even Artificial Intelligence has not penetrated its meaning. I propose we make this enigmatic document an iconic metaphor for your life in the coming weeks. It will symbolize the power you can generate by celebrating and honoring mystery. It will affirm the fact that you don’t necessarily require logical explanations, but can instead appreciate the beauty of the unknown. Your natural comfort with ambiguity will be a potent asset, enabling you to work effectively with situations others find too uncertain.
Sure, Inception, Dreamscape, The Lathe of Heaven or any of a number of sci-fi flicks that explore harnessing the dream state are entertaining—but are they healing?
A recent study led by Dr. Garret Yount, a molecular neurobiologist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), which is perched over the border of Sonoma and Marin counties, points to the potential of healing minds while sleeping.
Yount’s research explored the potential of lucid dreaming—a state in which a person becomes aware of dreaming and can actively engage with the dream—as an alternative therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“I’ve always wanted to do research in dreaming since I was a kid,” Yount said. “And then as an adult was working with PTSD alternative therapies to help them and came across this combination. So, I was excited to explore that.”
The study involved a six-day lucid dreaming workshop providing 22 hours of live instruction and group activities via video conferencing. About half of all participants, including those in a control group, experienced at least one lucid dream. Among those who did, 63% of workshop participants reported achieving a “healing lucid dream,” compared to 38% of the controls.
Workshop participants reported significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and nightmare distress, with improvements persisting at a one-month follow-up. Increased well-being and diminished negative emotions were also noted.
“A lucid dream is a dream in which waking consciousness awakens inside the dreamscape,” Yount explained. “So the waking consciousness that we’re using right now to talk to each other just kind of wakes up inside the dreamscape. Realization occurs that dreaming is happening, and in that state, it becomes possible to interact with the scenario.”
The therapeutic goal is not controlling the dream but participating in it consciously, particularly when confronting symbolic representations of trauma.
“You encounter a monster in the dream, and instead of running from it, embrace it, turn to it, somehow ask to integrate with it,” Yount said.
In one of his own lucid dreams, Yount recounted becoming aware of a ghoul pursuing him. Remembering his training, he chose not to flee but instead addressed the figure: What can you teach me? he asked. The figure promptly shrank into a younger version of himself, leading to what he described as “an amazing healing lucid dream.”
For individuals coping with PTSD—whether veterans, survivors of abuse or others facing traumatic memories—this type of symbolic engagement can offer real relief.
The study also suggests lucid dreaming might replicate some of the neurochemical effects of medications commonly prescribed for PTSD.
“Many of the medicines are dampening neurotransmitters, which is part of the symptoms of stress in the brain,” Yount noted. “During rapid eye movement sleep, the neurotransmitters are dampened also. So it’s kind of like mimicking the conditions that the meds are trying to reach.”
In this unique state, traumatic memories can be recalled without triggering stress hormones, allowing for a kind of reprogramming. “Whether the dreamer embraces the monster or simply observes a recurring scene and acknowledges, ‘I’m OK; I’m going to be OK,’ the process becomes a kind of self-hypnosis,” Yount said.
Lucid dreaming offers a relatively low-cost and accessible approach to trauma therapy. While some achieve lucidity naturally, others can learn induction techniques like those taught in the study’s workshop. Even participants who did not consistently reach lucidity reported therapeutic benefits.
“Just doing this ‘dream thinking’ about dreaming—and realizing trauma can be transformed in dreams—seems to work even if lucidity is not achieved,” said Yount.
The findings point to a fascinating frontier in the science of sleep and the potential of the dreaming mind—not a fantasy, but an emerging therapeutic reality.
For more information on the work at IONS, visit noetic.org.
Marin’s own Rancho Nicasio is hosting the iconic local band, Dirty Cello, for a night designed to have the type of good-natured revelry even Bacchus would be proud to attend. So, those who love to listen and tap a foot along to the band’s unique spin on blues, rock and Americana music may want to take note. This invite is all about attending an evening in a most happening venue, meant to be surrounded by good vibes, good food, good people (presumably) and most of all good tunes. The band is led by Rebecca Roudman, a crossover cellist with a lively spirit to match her ensemble. Dirty Cello will play at Rancho Nicasio on Saturday, May 10. Dinner reservations last from 6 to 8pm, and music begins at 7:30pm. Purchase tickets at dirtyranchocello.com.
Petaluma
Jack Black Ain’t Got Nothing
Step aside, Jack Black—The River Montessori Foundation is hosting their Rock 4 River Music Festival (and fundraiser), intended to be so awesome that it’ll put the School of Rock movie to shame. This music festival is all about spending an afternoon supporting musically talented youths in true community spirit, tapping along and maybe even tipping if one is in the spirit of generosity. Either way, it’s clear that support for the arts is alive and well here in the North Bay. And the Rock 4 River Music Festival is a perfect example of how and why creativity continues to thrive along the central California coastline. The Rock 4 River Music Festival fundraiser will take place on May 17 from 2 to 5pm at the historic Phoenix Theater in Petaluma. Visit Eventbrite for tickets.
San Rafael
Take a Bike … Literally
In a very true-to-the-Marin-spirit event style, a Movement Festival for Mental Health is coming to San Rafael (for its fourth year, no less). Bike and Hike for Buckelew is a celebratory day for everybody and every body, with activities centered around getting festive and active with the local community. Those who attend will bike, hike and downward dog their way through the day, taking in the company and music along the way. Plus, rumor has it a bike raffle could win some lucky soul an Orbea eBike worth $4k. Registration, breakfast and coffee start at 8am; staggered rides and hikes start from 9 to 10am; morning yoga class begins at 11am; and lunch, live music and a raffle last from noon to 2pm. Bikes for Buckelew will take place on May 10 at Miwok Meadows in China Camp State Park. To learn more, visit buckelew.org.
Santa Rosa
May I Come to the Potluck?
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, or AAPI Heritage Month for short. And the North Bay is offering up an array of ways to gather together as a community to celebrate—the AAPI Potluck in the Park, for instance, is an excellent avenue to get festive with family, friends and, of course, food for all who attend. The potluck promises not just community festivity and food, but games, crafts and activities galore in store for those who come out to the park to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage, culture and tradition (old and new). AAPI Potluck in the Park will take place on Saturday, May 10 from noon to 4pm at the Rincon Valley Community Park, located at 5108 Badger Rd. in Santa Rosa. Visit aapicnorthbay.org to learn more.
One of the fun aspects of being my age is that I was fully coherent when Richard Nixon met his karmic retribution for being a pathetic public liar before, during and after Watergate. Like Donald Trump today, he had his team of enablers, though unlike today, there was a free press for him to contend with.
The same will happen to Trump. He will be taken down differently, but he will be taken down.
The rise of Trump, the consummate con artist, is a complete breakdown of American society. For those whose personal fortunes will be erased by the tariffs and whatever other stupid ideas the president comes up with, you have my sympathy but not my respect.
There are only so many bright, shining lies, small, medium and large, that we can bear.
Craig J. Corsini
San Rafael
Call of Cthulhu
“He thought of the ancient legends of Ultimate Chaos, at whose center sprawls the blind idiot god Azathoth, Lord of All Things, encircled by his flopping horde of mindless and amorphous dancers, and lulled by the thin monotonous piping of a demoniac flute held in nameless paws.”
That’s a quote from a short story that H. P. Lovecraft wrote years ago. Or maybe you thought I was talking about Donald Trump?
David Madgalene
Windsor
Shrinky Dinks
Guys, it’s not just because I’m old and my eyesight ain’t what it used to be, but reading (or trying) to read a scrunched-down and overpopulated “This Modern World” is extremely frustrating. When a black band at the top of an intro panel soaks up the white lettering like a sponge, and the clunky boldface type in the speech balloons from multiple characters smushes together, my (our?) eyes ask, “What did they say?”
Or in the words of my 31-year-old neighbor, whom I asked to translate, “God, this is so damn stupid.”
I emcee events. I’ve been doing it for years. And such is my professional pride, I often find myself looking down critically on other emcees. That gives context, and the measure of what I am about to say next.
When I first saw Sweet Beat Petite, hosting Hopmonk’s Valentine’s Day Burlesque and Cabaret, I was impressed. I was so impressed that I paid her a compliment I have never paid anyone before. I stepped onto the stage after the curtains and asked her to “please teach me.” I now believe, whatever our pride, some part of us is always waiting for a true master to appear. And I believe Sweet Beat Petite is the North Bay’s most skillful and charismatic master of ceremonies. She is in complete control of her full-body instrument.
That is the impression she makes in front of a packed crowd, posing under a thousand-watt spotlight. With flourishes of vaudeville humor and Broadway cheer—through a generous outro of the previous act, through a table-mounting burlesque performance that upstages it, into a full-throated morning song of positive affirmations as she stalls for the next act—Sweet Beat Petite accomplishes it all while wearing little more than a few hundred sequins.
The impression is not of an erotic dancer or a showperson, but that of a high level martial artist demonstrating combinations from the master’s manual.
In promotion of her next show, at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (Performance Lab, 6pm May 4), I sat down with Cassandra* Hampl (aka Sweet Beat Petite) to get a grounded sense of the wider woman. By the way, the asterisk on her name is silent.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Cassandra* Hampl: I’m Cassandra*, aka Sweet Beat Petite … and I’m a human in a suit—female form, and grateful (laughs).
Professionally?
I am a professional performance artist and energy psychology practitioner.
I see many schools in your performance style—including vaudeville comedy. Could you break your style down?
There is the microphone arts section, and then there is the dance arts section—oh, and the beautiful costume-design section. I am a public speaker, storyteller, poet, MC, wedding officiant, guide, coach and oracle. Then I am a belly dancer, burlesque performer, nude art model, fire dancer and a martial artist.
Now we don’t have the column space to fully enlarge upon your theoretical work and psycho-spiritual practice—you are in fact a multiple author. Perhaps we can invite the reader to research “energy psychology” and refer to your five published works?
“Open to Source: Channeled Musings Vol. 1,” “One Breath at a Time: A Story for
Empath Children and Those of Us That Sometimes Feel Overwhelmed,” “M.U.S.E.: My
User Systems Explained,” “The D.I.Y. How to Be a Functional Human Manual” and my
oracle deck, “The Mystery Within: 47 Archetypes of the Divine Feminine.”
That’s quite a feast. Tell me, what unifies these works?
Energetic psychology … and the unified field theory (laughs).
(laughing) Now that we’ve typed you, say something unexpected about yourself.
I’m actually a deeply hermitted introvert (laughing).
Cassandra*, what’s your dream?
To create and to own a castle village retreat center where I can run “summer camps” for highly gifted people and amplify their extra-sensory abilities.
Learn more: Follow linktr.ee/sweetbeatpetite for links to Cassandra* Hampl’s many offerings. And see her May 4 at 6pm at Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 S. High St.
Don’t let the billionaires behind the curtain distract you while they steal your money and your freedom.
George W. Bush believed that replacing theocratic government in the Middle East with democracy would bring peace, justice and equality to that part of the world. With this rationale, he and his party justified the Iraq War, which went on for eight years, with the loss of 4,500 American lives and a cost of two trillion borrowed dollars.
I voted for Bush. I admired his love for democracy. If only Donald Trump could show that devotion, but sadly, it is not in his nature. The conservatives I know did not want or expect this outcome. They knew Trump was a narcissist, but he concealed his plans. He denied any knowledge of Project 2025, for example. But in the first six weeks of his administration, he followed that plan step by step.
Freely electing an autocrat was not a historic first. It happened 90 years ago in Germany when the disheartened German people became enamored with Adolf Hitler. But as chaotic as this Trump administration is, this is not Nazi Germany, and the onslaught of our democracy can be stopped. For that to happen, the root cause of people’s disillusionment must be appreciated, for it conditioned voters to accept the disinformation from and about Trump that flooded social media.
Sixty years ago, our presidents and congress people valued America’s founding principles, freedom, equality and democracy. Elected officials honored their oath to the Constitution, and they supported other liberal democracies that shared our values. Issues of religion were handled by religious leaders, who were satisfied with America’s guarantee of religious freedom. They did not have political agendas.
We must again elect representatives who are principled and stop mixing religion with politics. And reality TV personalities should not be running American government.
The Trump administration and the billionaire oligarchs are working at a lightning pace to take your money and make America another Russia.
Boasting an impressive list of mid-’90s music and plenty of geek culture nostalgia, Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters (directed by Lisa Morse, playing at the College of Marin through May 18) is a warm-hearted romp through grief and acceptance.
The story follows Agnes (Paige Flaming), trying to find a connection to her deceased sister, Tilly (Arya Safavi), through a custom...
Think resisting authoritarianism is too big of a lift? Think again. This spring, while the U.S. resistance movement may not be in full bloom, it is blossoming.
The “3.5% rule”—identified by political scientist Erica Chenoweth—should be on the lips of every American anxious about the Trump administration’s headlong drive to replace our democracy with authoritarianism. After studying more than 300...
In the fall of 2020, during the reign of deep Covid, I worked in-person as a frontline behavioral healthcare counselor at a residential facility for adults with serious mental illness.
It was a strange time to be a commuter. And as I drove from my apartment in Rohnert Park to the facility in Santa Rosa on the deserted 101, it...
Kim Stare Wallace was born into the wine business, but when in college, first pursued fashion.
Her design expertise led to creating Dry Creek Vineyard’s iconic nautical labels when she joined as marketing director. Now president and second-generation owner, she serves on multiple Sonoma County boards, including Sonoma County Vintners and Santa Rosa Junior College Shone Farm Foundation.
Amber Turpin: How...
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Just for now, you might benefit from moderating your intensity. I am pleased to see how much good stuff you have generated lately, but it may be time to scale back a bit. At least consider the possibility of pursuing modest, sustainable production rather than daring to indulge in spectacular bursts of energy. In conclusion,...
Sure, Inception, Dreamscape, The Lathe of Heaven or any of a number of sci-fi flicks that explore harnessing the dream state are entertaining—but are they healing?
A recent study led by Dr. Garret Yount, a molecular neurobiologist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), which is perched over the border of Sonoma and Marin counties, points to the potential of...
Nicasio
You Had Me at ‘Dirty Cello’
Marin’s own Rancho Nicasio is hosting the iconic local band, Dirty Cello, for a night designed to have the type of good-natured revelry even Bacchus would be proud to attend. So, those who love to listen and tap a foot along to the band’s unique spin on blues, rock and Americana music may want...
Clown Takedown
One of the fun aspects of being my age is that I was fully coherent when Richard Nixon met his karmic retribution for being a pathetic public liar before, during and after Watergate. Like Donald Trump today, he had his team of enablers, though unlike today, there was a free press for him to contend with.
The same will...
I emcee events. I’ve been doing it for years. And such is my professional pride, I often find myself looking down critically on other emcees. That gives context, and the measure of what I am about to say next.
When I first saw Sweet Beat Petite, hosting Hopmonk’s Valentine’s Day Burlesque and Cabaret, I was impressed. I was so impressed...
Don’t let the billionaires behind the curtain distract you while they steal your money and your freedom.
George W. Bush believed that replacing theocratic government in the Middle East with democracy would bring peace, justice and equality to that part of the world. With this rationale, he and his party justified the Iraq War, which went on for eight years,...
