A 30-year veteran of the international jazz scene, pianist Phil Markowitz has been called "a unique voice in contemporary jazz".

Phil has been heard with the all-star group "Saxophone Summit" (with Ravi Coltrane, Joe Lovano and David Liebman), but his credentials span a cornucopia of jazz; from the traditional to the avant-garde; from his early associations with Chet Baker and Toots Thielemans, through his respective twenty and fifteen-year affiliations with Bob Mintzer and David Liebman. 

All concerts are presented at the Douglas Beach House, directly on Miramar Beach in Half Moon Bay, CA, 40 minutes from SF and Silicon Valley. Doors open at 3 for buying tickets and hanging out until music starts at 4:30.  Food and drinks available.

http://www.bachddsoc.org

On Saturday November 1 at 7:00PM the Half Moon Bay Library will host a very unique program to celebrate Day of the Dead or Dia de Los Muertos.

Each year during the last week of October and the first week of November Mexican communities everywhere begin preparations for this marvelous event.  Homes and public places are decorated with symbols of the holiday including marigolds, skulls, skeletons, and food placed in colorful displays called Ofrendas.  Community Ofrendas will be built in the Library to invite ancestors and come and visit for the day.  There will also be Pan de Muertos, traditional baked treats, and Atole, a corn based drink for visitors to sample and enjoy.  A group of women from Pescadero will give a demonstration of sugar skull making.

The Half Moon Bay Library invites the entire community to join in celebration of this very special cultural event.  This program is open to all ages.  Admission is free.  For further information contact Armando Ramirez at 726-2316x231.

Posted on the intranet at work is San Mateo County’s public transit bulletin urging county commuters to participate in this week’s "I’m Pumped For Transit." 

I like to be Green.  I’d like to reduce my carbon footprint, as well as lessen adding one more car to the road. 

I used the following websites to build a schedule for my public transit needs: SamTrans, CalTrain, and Google to search for the shuttle schedule, (because the link to the CalTrain employer shuttle via my employer’s intranet had changed and did not link).  I filled a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper with penciled departure and arrival times for each station.

First I need to get from Half Moon Bay to Redwood City for work.  I find I could leave from Main Street on the 294 at either 6:17 a.m., reaching Hillsdale CalTrain Station by 6:43 a.m., or leave a bit later by taking the 8:07 a.m. eastbound bus, arriving at Hillsdale at 8:35.

To then reach Redwood City, the easiest and fastest route would be for me to take CalTrain from Hillsdale to Sequoia Station.  If I arrive via bus at Hillsdale at 6:43, then the next soutbound Sequoia Station stopping CalTrain picks up at 7:01 a.m.  I’d arrive at Sequoia Station by 7:12 a.m. and wait for the 7:33 shuttle out to the business park where I work, arriving at: 7:51. 

Almost 90 minutes of a commute.  (Via auto: commute time averages 30 to 40 mins.)

If instead, I took the 8:07 departing bus from Half Moon Bay, I would arrive at Hillsdale Caltrain at 8:35 a.m.  The 9:07 CalTrain would drop me at Sequoia Station at 9:12, I’d jump on the 9:23 shuttle and arrive at work by quarter to ten.

Total Cost to this one-way eastbound route:  $4.50

Returning home I’d start with the 5 p.m. shuttle, (if I arrived at work early, 7:51 a.m.) and reach Sequoia Station at 5:16 p.m.  I would have to wait until 5:57 p.m. for the next northbound CalTrain that would stop at Hillsdale.  (All earlier trains are express with no Hillsdale stops.)  Thinking positively, perhaps I’d do a little shopping at Sequoia Station to kill that 40 minutes of time, maybe I’d read a book. 

The 5:57 train arrives at Hillsdale at 6:08, however, I would just miss the westbound 294 to Half Moon Bay as it departed at 6:00 p.m.  Now I would need to wait until 7:32 p.m.(!) for the 294 to drop me off on Main Street at 8:05.

During that 80 minute wait, perhaps I’d finish the book I started at Sequoia Station, or choose to shop at the mall across the street?

My Commute if I participate in Public Transit Week:

6:17 a.m. departure from Half Moon Bay
8:05 p.m. return to Half Moon Bay
Total fares:  $9.00
Cost to fill my 10 gallon tank: $33.00 (current price)
MPG with my car:  32
Cost to drive my car to and from work: about $5.50

Overwhelmed by the planning to and from work, I haven’t even factored the schedule to include the three nights a week when I am in class at San Francisco State University.

I won’t be participating in "I’m Pumped For Transit" Week.  I’ll continue to drive my car.  Anyone want to carpool?

Anneliese Agren

The Coastside’s Hysterical Housewives headliner Lieben McDermott will perform Friday Night, Halloween, October 31, 2008, at Gazos Grill, Pescadero, California.  Hysterical Housewife Jennifer Celeste kick off the show.  Doors open at 5:30 pm with dinner served until to 8pm.  The Comedy starts at 9 pm. 

"Come on down to Gazos for a screamin’ meal," says proprietor, Stephanie.  "Join us for a frightfully delicious night with wicked food,  home-brew and hilarious comedy." 

Advance tickets are recommended and can be reserved by calling 650-726-5424 or purchased online [link].  Tickets are also available from Lieben McDermott at Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero, or from Stephanie Hare at the 7th Street Grill in Montara.  Tickets for the comedy are $20 plus a can of food or non-perishable food item. Reservations are recommended for the optional fixed priced dinner, $25. The Dinner is a four course meal with Halloween specials and ocean dining.

There will be discussion of the pros and cons of the various ballot measures,pPresented by Kathee Tyson, Sunday, October 28, 11:30am in the chapel at Community United Methodist Church, 777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay, CA.

The Pacifica Land Trust took about 30 guests on a three-hour tour of the headlands above Pedro Point. The property is open to hikers, but difficult to get to. The only access that doesn’t involve crossing private property is a the green gate off Highway 1, just south of the site of the bridge construction to the tunnel site.

But it’s worth the trouble. Even on a foggy day, the views are magnificent.  The Trust’s long-term goal is to transfer the property to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In the meantime, they’re working to maintain the property, remove invasive species, and improve access.

The Coastside Film Society, Half Moon Bay Library and the AAUW host a night of film and conversation about the Darfur region of Sudan.

when: Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 pm
where: Methodist Sanctuary,  777 Miramontes (& Johnson), Half Moon Bay
admission: FREE (All donations will go to aid refugees in Darfur)

The Lost Boys (15 mins)
(A 60 Minutes Report from CBS)

In Peter Pan, the lost boys fought off pirates and crocodiles before flying off to Never Never Land. In Sudan, thousands of lost boys also fought off crocodiles and other dangers we can barely imagine before flying off to a new life in the United States. This incredible journey began in the midst of Sudan’s civil war in which two million people died. Five years after their long march away from the war began, thousands walked into a refugee camp in Kenya and began a journey to another strange and wonderful land, the United States.

Darfur Diaries: Message From Home (57 mins)

Directors Aisha Bain and Jen Marlowe take us on-site to Darfur. Using on-camera interviews with dozens of Darfur locals they let the people describe this tragedy in their own words.

The personal anecdotes that spill out are heart-breaking and appalling. The desert landscape is wind-swept and littered with bomb fragments.  According to the United Nations, 400,000 people have died in this stark land, and over 2 million were displaced before the world intervened. 

Chosen by Amnesty International as an educational tool for its members, the movie also provides a testament to the continuing strength and resilience of a people whose lives, homes, safety, and rights deserve to be protected.

Representatives from Hope for Darfur will be attending to answer questions and lead the post screening discussion. 

For more info see: www.HMBFilm.org

It’s easy to endorse John Moseley for the board of the Cabrillo Unified School District.  He has shown dedication to the board, puts the education of our children ahead of all other priorities, is easy to work with, and has managed to remain a centrist in a polarized environment.

John proved his level-headedness this summer, when he alone among the school board’s members voted against a resolution of support for AB1991—Half Moon Bay’s bailout bill that enriched a single developer by exchanging decades of environmental protections for cash. John didn’t express an opinion one way or the other on the bill, but he did say that the vote would unnecessarily polarize the community.  This is a commonsense position that demonstrates that John’s sole priority is the district and its students.

The job of the board is to hire and supervise the district’s superintendent. The superintendent runs the district and sets the policies, which should serve one purpose: the education of the community’s children. The board member’s fiduciary duty is to make sure the superintendent spends the taxpayers’ education money wisely. The board should be made up of smart, hardworking, representative people who are not confused about their duty and who—whenever possible—avoid running amok.

I recommend you vote only for John Moseley although there is one other open position on the board and two other candidates.

In the 2006 CUSD board election I said you should only vote for Ken Johnson if you felt the need to vote for every open position on the ballot. I’m more certain of this in 2008 than in 2006.  Ken is a better gadfly than he would be a board member. Ken has always been more ready to offer criticisms than concrete proposals for improving the schools, and that is my principal reason for not endorsing him. This year, he also showed poor judgment this year in squatting on the expired "electmoseley.com" domain with a website that suggested he was running with John Moseley, but that’s merely a sideshow.

Incumbent Charlie Gardner is a self-described "infrastructure advocate" who is on the board of a pro-development advocacy organization on the Coastside, plumped for the controversial Big Wave development while other CUSD board members were fighting for a parcel tax, has been working tirelessly for a wrong-headed highway bypass to solve traffic problems created in part by the school district, vigorously defends the CUSD’s divisive vote to support AB1991, has worked behind the scenes on various other development projects.  I don’t believe Charlie understands the depth of the conflict of interest between his desire for more development on the Coastside and the needs of our school district.

Vote for John Moseley on Nov 4, and feel good about your decision. And then ask yourself why don’t more qualified moderates run for our school board?

The Coastside Land Trust will hold our monthly Francis Beach restoration event this coming Saturday, October 25, 12:30 to 3 pm. We’ll identify native and invasive plants, discuss the strategies for fall seed dispersal, and selectively remove invasive plants to help our natives thrive.

Look for coyote cotton on the Coastside

Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilulari) covers our coastal hillsides and terraces. This time of year—late fall—female coyote bushes release their seeds. Each seed is attached to a white, feathery ball of filament so light in weight that it is very easily blown by the wind. Large mats of these seeds can be seen around the base of the bushes or where the wind has blown them into drifts.

Late fall is the time of year when the majority of our native plant species release their seeds. The first rain has come, and with the next rain the seeds will begin their journey to sprouting and growing roots through the cool winter months in preparation for the warmer spring days, when we will see them emerge from the ground as seedlings.

Many of our native plants are annuals, which means they survive only one year; others are perennials and live for many years. Because of the one-year life cycle of the annuals they are more vulnerable to seasonal drought and predation. Some annuals have developed a strategy to keep their seeds from sprouting the first year, just in case that year is a bad year for success. This multi-year strategy creates what we call the "seed bank," meaning that even if there are not seedlings of a species this year, they can emerge in subsequent years.

Please join us. Check in at the Francis State Beach kiosk at Kelly and the Pacific Ocean, and proceed north on the maintenance road to the maintenance sheds. Our properties are on the east side of the maintenance road. Refreshments, good humor and appreciation are provided for all ages and abilities.

Jo Chamberlain