Letter: Let’s stop kowtowing’

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Wasted tax dollars

I hate to see our tax dollars go to waste when there are so many real needs that go unfulfilled. Our roads have deteriorated beyond any plausible excuse by the Supervisors and bureaucrats at Civic Center, yet they continue to piss away our funds on fluff and self-serving nonsense. Supervisor Steve Kinsey’s MTC is competing with Mark Zuckerberg to see who can build the grandest edifice in San Francisco, all with our bridge tolls and highway funds. This misuse of public funds borders on thievery. We should empanel a Federal Grand Jury to investigate this misuse of tax dollars. Our roads are crying for help.

Nine-hundred dollars a day per person to house a handful of kids at juvenile hall. At that rate we could send them to Harvard and put them up at the Four Seasons on Boston Common. Yet the county is kicking out the Helen Vine Center from the old Honor Farm in favor of some injured animals, when there are injured human beings who are really helped by the detox and counseling center being thrown out on the street.

I propose that we welcome the use of our empty, yet well-appointed, juvenile facility to the Helen Vine Center in a mixed-use capacity, ignoring the ruffled feathers of the existing staff and civic center bureaucrats.

We have an infuriating homeless problem, yet the Sheriff’s facility at Marin Commons is cavernous with huge empty offices, extensive grand hallways, unused restrooms, kitchens and meeting halls. The place is so huge and so empty it seems the place was built by mistake or rather purchased by the County Supervisors by mistake.

I once again propose using the Marin Commons as a mixed-use facility to get our homeless off the street and into some meaningful rehabilitation.

Let’s stop kowtowing to the Civic Center gang and address some of these problems forcefully with some ingenuity and guts. This is our county, these are our facilities and our money. Stop being afraid of our bureaucratic brethren, they are, after all, our employees who work for the U.S. Think about this when you go to pay your property tax bill. Let’s start taking care of business.

—Alex Easton-Brown

Letter: ‘I never in my life … ‘

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Surprise, surprise

Editor,

As a lifelong Democrat, I never in my life thought I would pray for the Koch brothers to save us from Donald Trump.

–Michelle Kaye

Letters: ‘A fine example’

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Letters: ‘A fine example’

Good journalism

The “Coho vs. Pinot” report [Sept. 9] on the deadly effects of grape growers sucking water from feeder streams to the Russian River is a fine example of what good journalism is all about. Nice job, Will.

—Mike Alaimo

Editor’s note

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0
Editor’s note

Editor’s note

Beginning this week, we’ll be replacing our daily emailed newsletter, PS Today, with a weekly newsletter. The great news about that? All of the week’s stories will be in one convenient place, and just a click away. If you haven’t already signed up to receive the Pacific Sun newsletter, you can do so at pacificsun.com (click on “Pacific Sun Today” at the top of our homepage to enter your email address.) Happy reading!

Trivia Café: Scientists are expecting what ‘little boy’ to visit this year, possibly solving some problems and causing others?

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Trivia Café: Scientists are expecting what ‘little boy’ to visit this year, possibly solving some problems and causing others?

For more trivia questions (and answers!), see Howard Rachelson’s Trivia Café every week in the Pacific Sun.

 

 

 

Answer: El Niño, translating to ‘Little Boy’ in Spanish, warms the Pacific and ‘hopefully’ increases the amount of rain, but can bring mudslides and flooding.

Hero & Zero: Generosity from Woody’s and an unaware speedster

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Hero & Zero: Generosity from Woody’s and an unaware speedster

by Nikki Silverstein

Hero: For more than 30 years, Woody’s Yogurt Place in Strawberry Village has been scooping up delicious frozen yogurt and ice cream to kids of all ages. Last Sunday, this Best of Marin winner proved that they just keep getting better when they held a major fundraiser to aid folks impacted by the devastating Valley Fire. Every cent taken in was donated to the cause, including the money in the employee tip jar. All those pennies added up to a sweet $5,225. Woody and Brian Woodson, the father-and-son-team that operates Woody’s, were thrilled with the outcome. “The community really came together and this money will be given directly to those that need it,” Brian says. Thank you, Woody’s Yogurt Place, for taking the lead and for your generosity.

Zero: Everyone in Fairfax is familiar with the wonderfully flamboyant gentleman who speeds through town in his vintage black ’57 Studebaker Avanti. Last Friday at Good Earth Natural Foods, he unabashedly rocketed into a blue wheelchair parking slot without displaying a disability placard, launched into the store for his purchases (no limp detected) and then marched back out again, his flagrant parking violation seemingly going unnoticed. JC saw the whole thing go down and “Lucky Lenny” missed a meeting with Fairfax’s finest by seconds. Thanks to JC for writing this Zero. We couldn’t have said it better. Anyone who parks illegally in a disabled space should be ashamed. Lenny, sounds like people have eyes on you and you may not be so lucky the next time.

Horoscope: What’s Your Sign?

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Horoscope: What’s Your Sign?

by Leona Moon

To my celestially advanced readers,

It would appear that I, Leona Moon, am no more immune to lunar eclipses than you or the average Joe. As the stars would have it, it appears that this will be my last column with you—culminating in a vibrant lunar eclipse in Aries on Sept. 27. I’ve enjoyed sharing every retrograde, baby warning, break-up debacle and eclipse with all of you. It’s been my honor, and pleasure, to serve you up the planetary happenings for the past two years. I bid you adieu, and send you all white light and love to your star charts.

Forever yours, Leona

Aries (March 21 – April 19) It’s here, Aries! The second part of the September eclipse madness will arrive on Sept. 27 with a lunar eclipse in Aries. A relationship integral to your very being will culminate or dissipate. One minute you may be drinking espresso and discussing Netflix’s Narcos, and the next you might be heading to Home Depot for packing boxes. Or you could find yourself poppin’ the question and bottles. Good luck!

Taurus (April 20 – May 20) Secrets, secrets are no fun unless you tell everyone, Taurus! If you’ve been hauling around a big ol’ hush-hush and it’s been weighing you down, it might be time to spill. The lunar eclipse on Sept. 27 is here to help you shed some emotional baggage. If you haven’t been keeping a secret, it’s likely that one of your co-workers might tell your boss how you really feel about those weekly check-in meetings.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20) You’ve got a friend in him or her, Gemini! Sept. 27 ushers in friends from faraway places. Grab your nearest and dearest and set up a time to BBQ. If you have a friend from high school who moved away and got married, the lunar eclipse will bring him or her to your doorstep. Stock up on the Pabst and ping pong paddles.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22) You’ve got one week, Cancer! One week until your boss resigns. The Sept. 27 lunar eclipse in Aries lands in your work sector—you might find yourself taking over as CEO of your company, or out on the streets. Gear up for some change-up at work, and stockpile some charm. The future is uncertain!

Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22) All aboard, Leo! It’s time to ditch the home front—update your passport on Sept. 24, because this lunar eclipse will have you planning an international trip. Did your best friend move to Canada? Is your cousin building houses in Costa Rica? Do yourself a favor and join the mile high club. There’s more to see than In-N-Out and the Marin Country Mart.

Virgo (Aug. 23 – Sept. 22) Where did all of that money go from your third cousin removed aunt’s will, Virgo? We know, it’s a sensitive subject, but the lunar eclipse on Sept. 27 will solve all money matters—because let’s face it, money does matter to your practical self. If you aren’t expecting a chunk of change from a deceased relative—you might finally clear up your debt or receive a belated birthday check from your uncle.

Libra (Sept. 23 – Oct. 22) Quick, where are the tissues, Libra?! The lunar eclipse on Sept. 27 is going to hit extra close to home, especially if your birthday falls within plus or minus five days of Sept. 27. You’ll likely find yourself sobbing over a borderline pathetic Today Show segment, or tearing up while looking at your rose garden. Everyone cries, but you might want to keep these as “me” moments and sob in solitude.

Scorpio (Oct. 23 – Nov. 21) Your bill is here, Scorpio! Your new bill of health, that is. Flush those cigarettes down the toilet, call off that rager you’re scheduled for next weekend and make plans to attend your nearest Yogi retreat ASAP. You’ve been a little rambunctious lately and it shows. A hungover Scorpio isn’t good luck, and it’s even harder to control that stringer when you’re dehydrated. Make a conscious effort to focus on your health on Sept. 27.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21) Love is always in the air, Sagittarius! What does the lunar eclipse have in store for you? An epic blind date from Tinder, that’s what. Make sure you’ve lined up all of your ducks—clean laundry, clean sheets, deodorant and no dirty dishes. This one might just wow you—lunar eclipses have a way of ushering in wonderful surprises.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19) Renovations are underway, Capricorn! Are you working on a huge DIY project like building your very own tiny house or adding on a duplex to your plex? Maybe you’re just adding the finishing touches with new furniture—whatever it is, the lunar eclipse on Sept. 27 will bring a friendly finishing varnish to your wildest Martha Stewart dreams.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18) Don’t sign on the dotted line, Aquarius! Looks like someone wants your John Hancock and he or she wants it now. Listen up—Mercury is retrograde until Oct. 9, which means that no one gets your autograph. The lunar eclipse on Sept. 27 will bring in a stream of offers, but make sure you go with the one that allows you some leeway.

Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20) What was that thud in your mailbox, Pisces? An extra wad of cash—the lunar eclipse on Sept. 27 will finally have you recognized for all of your arduous, dedicated work. Money has been tight, but let the era of lunch break shopping and easy spending commence. Time to treat yourself!

Advice Goddess

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Advice Goddess

by Amy Alkon

Q: Is there anything inherently bad about getting into a serious relationship quickly? I met this guy about a month ago. We hit it off instantly, became boyfriend and girlfriend two weeks later, and have been dropping I-love-yous. It all feels pretty great; I don’t have a history of poor relationship judgment; and I wasn’t desperate or even looking for a new partner. However, popular opinion seems to run against getting involved so fast. Your thoughts?—Speedy

A: Ah, yes … your love is like a summer’s day—if a summer’s day chased its lemonade with two Red Bulls and a five-shot latte.

It’s easy for you to assume you’re in your right mind, just because you haven’t started throwing peanuts at people in the park while debating abortion with a squirrel. But there are three stages of love: The “falling in it” stage, the “figuring out how it’ll work” stage and finally, the “you’re the one!” commitment stage. You’re in the starting days of the “falling in it” stage—getting hit by rushing hormones and neurotransmitters—which is to say that you’re chemically dazed. Which is to say that making any sort of decision about what you two have is like getting really high and going off to sign papers for a bank loan.

In fact, according to research by psychiatry professor Donatella Marazziti, it’s likely that right now, you and this guy are each chemically different people—and thus behaviorally different people—than you will be once the chemical storm dies down. Marazziti found significant shifts in testosterone levels in both men and women who’d recently fallen in love. Compared with single people and people who’d been in relationships a while, women newly in love had elevated testosterone, likely making them more sexually tigress-y, while the T levels of men newly in love dropped, likely making them more gooey and emotional—to the point where even a Navy SEAL might start sounding like a Valentine’s Day card.

How long the biochemical inebriation lasts varies, but Marazziti’s research suggests that couples are pretty much out of the falling in love daze a year to two years later. It’s only then—once you sober up—that you find out what you actually have together.

The kind of love that sticks around is not just a feeling but a feeling that inspires loving action. As novelist Marlon James, quoting a former lover, put it: “Love isn’t saying ‘I love you’ but calling to say, ‘Did you eat?’” Love that lasts should also inspire a sort of loving inaction—loving the person enough that you don’t hate them for all the ways they turn out to be a total idiot: How they can’t seem to understand that pee goes in the big white porcelain thing, not on the floor; that those gross phlegm-clearing sounds are not a mating call; and that socks left on the bedroom rug will not grow tiny legs, crawl up the hamper and fling themselves in.

Q: I’m a 70-year-old man, and my wife is 68. I suffer from ED, and we both seem to have lost our sex drive. Don’t get me wrong; we are still very loving and affectionate with each other. We just don’t have sex. Is this a problem I should be addressing or just a side effect of aging? My male ego keeps telling me that I should still be a horndog.—Older Dude

A: No need to pull out the hose if there’s no fire.

So, on date night, you have a romantic dinner (early-bird special!) and then retire to bed for some rough hugging. Assuming your ED doesn’t stem from some more serious medical condition, the only thing that’s wrong with you is your thinking that something’s wrong with you. OK, your sexparts aren’t as perky as they were back when Warren G. Harding (or whoever!) was president. Would you deem yourself less manly if you got osteoarthritis in your elbow? Probably not. But predictably, your elbow has probably stopped working as well as it did when you were 22—just like Mr. Winky Senior.

The reality is that there’s much more to physical intimacy than being all Vlad the Impaler—a point sex therapist Dr. Marty Klein makes in his book Sexual Intelligence. Touch and affection are essential, and you have those. So instead of lamenting what you don’t have, focus on what you do. You might also consider that your level of manliness is reflected in your character—what you do when the chips are down—not by how, lately, your favorite thing to do in bed is sleep through the night without getting awakened by the twins: Your bladder and your prostate.

This Week in the Pacific Sun

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This Week in the Pacific Sun

This week, the Pacific Sun is dedicated to our Harvest Issue. You’ll find our cover story, “Legalization Realization,” in which we ask police chiefs, marijuana growers, activists and more about their hopes and concerns as California heads toward the legalization of cannabis, along with a story about Steve DeAngelo, author of The Cannabis Manifesto: A New Paradigm for Wellness. On top of that, you’ll find a story about Performing Stars, the Marin City nonprofit that provides kids with opportunities in the arts, a story about two Marin schools that have become first in the country to offer 100 percent organic meals and a review of Marin Theatre Company’s ‘The Oldest Boy.’ All that and more on stands and online today!

Music: Lost in song

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Music: Lost in song

by Charlie Swanson

Will Oldham has stories to tell. At first, the singer-songwriter and occasional actor told these stories under the Palace moniker, forming several folk and rock bands in the early to mid-’90s with some variation on the name. Late in the decade, Oldham adopted his most prolific alias, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and began releasing a mountain of music, both as a solo artist and in collaboration.

This week, his newly formed ensemble rolls through the North Bay for two dates. They play Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma on Sept. 27 and the Sweetwater in Mill Valley on Sept. 28.

“If I had to sit down and write a step-by-step ‘best way to make a record,’ it would be a phone book,” says Oldham from his home in Louisville, Kentucky. “And it’s at odds with the way a lot of people do things.”

For Oldham, keeping it authentic is the key to his work—and he does think of it as a job; his records are often written, recorded and distributed by him. “Most of the time, when someone offers you a lot of money, it’s for something that you don’t feel comfortable doing.”

And while he is firm on his need to create music without financial influence, Oldham knows that’s not the case for much of the industry.

“The way to not get disillusioned is to understand what it is you admire or respect or value in another human being,” he says, “and understand it’s going to come with a little red wagon of contradictions.”

Oldham seeks out other musicians he admires for projects that have ranged from an Everly Brothers cover album with Oakland renaissance woman Dawn McCarthy, to a throwback acid-rock album with Glasgow indie band Trembling Bells.

“When there’s somebody whose work I find incredibly compelling, I think I do what I can to put my being closer to their work,” says Oldham. “Every once in a while, you find yourself in the same room with somebody whose work you feel this connection to and then you see where conversations go.”

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy performs with opener Fountainsun at 8pm on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Gundlach Bundschu Winery (2000 Denmark St., Sonoma; $40; 707/938-5277) and at 9pm on Monday, Sept. 28, at Sweetwater Music Hall (19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley; $36; 415/388-1100).

Letter: Let’s stop kowtowing’

Wasted tax dollars I hate to see our tax dollars go to waste when there are so many real needs that go unfulfilled. Our roads have deteriorated beyond any plausible excuse by the Supervisors and bureaucrats at Civic Center, yet they continue to piss away our funds on fluff and self-serving nonsense. Supervisor Steve Kinsey’s MTC is competing with Mark...
Read more

Letter: ‘I never in my life … ‘

Surprise, surprise Editor, As a lifelong Democrat, I never in my life thought I would pray for the Koch brothers to save us from Donald Trump. --Michelle Kaye
Read more

Letters: ‘A fine example’

Good journalism The “Coho vs. Pinot” report on the deadly effects of grape growers sucking water from feeder streams to the Russian River is a fine example of what good journalism is all about. Nice job, Will. --Mike Alaimo
Read more

Editor’s note

Editor’s note Beginning this week, we’ll be replacing our daily emailed newsletter, PS Today, with a weekly newsletter. The great news about that? All of the week’s stories will be in one convenient place, and just a click away. If you haven’t already signed up to receive the Pacific Sun newsletter, you can do so at pacificsun.com (click on “Pacific...
Read more

Trivia Café: Scientists are expecting what ‘little boy’ to visit this year, possibly solving some problems and causing others?

For more trivia questions (and answers!), see Howard Rachelson's Trivia Café every week in the Pacific Sun.       Answer: El Niño, translating to ‘Little Boy’ in Spanish, warms the Pacific and ‘hopefully’ increases the amount of rain, but can bring mudslides and flooding.
Read more

Hero & Zero: Generosity from Woody’s and an unaware speedster

hero and zero
by Nikki Silverstein Hero: For more than 30 years, Woody’s Yogurt Place in Strawberry Village has been scooping up delicious frozen yogurt and ice cream to kids of all ages. Last Sunday, this Best of Marin winner proved that they just keep getting better when they held a major fundraiser to aid folks impacted by the devastating Valley Fire. Every...
Read more

Horoscope: What’s Your Sign?

All signs look to the 'Sun'
by Leona Moon To my celestially advanced readers, It would appear that I, Leona Moon, am no more immune to lunar eclipses than you or the average Joe. As the stars would have it, it appears that this will be my last column with you—culminating in a vibrant lunar eclipse in Aries on Sept. 27. I’ve enjoyed sharing every retrograde, baby...
Read more

Advice Goddess

advice goddess
by Amy Alkon Q: Is there anything inherently bad about getting into a serious relationship quickly? I met this guy about a month ago. We hit it off instantly, became boyfriend and girlfriend two weeks later, and have been dropping I-love-yous. It all feels pretty great; I don’t have a history of poor relationship judgment; and I wasn’t desperate or...
Read more

This Week in the Pacific Sun

This week, the Pacific Sun is dedicated to our Harvest Issue. You'll find our cover story, "Legalization Realization," in which we ask police chiefs, marijuana growers, activists and more about their hopes and concerns as California heads toward the legalization of cannabis, along with a story about Steve DeAngelo, author of The Cannabis Manifesto: A New Paradigm for Wellness....
Read more

Music: Lost in song

by Charlie Swanson Will Oldham has stories to tell. At first, the singer-songwriter and occasional actor told these stories under the Palace moniker, forming several folk and rock bands in the early to mid-’90s with some variation on the name. Late in the decade, Oldham adopted his most prolific alias, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and began releasing a mountain of music,...
Read more
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