SLO LIFE Apr/May 2012

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

About a year ago my family took a road trip to visit some old friends in San Francisco. While we were there, my kids had the opportunity to play video games on an xBox 360 with Kinect. The Kinect system actually “watches” you and tracks your movements to control the game; there are no remote controls. For example, if you are playing a baseball video game, when you make the motion of swinging the bat your avatar on the screen mimics the same motion. It’s Brave New World stuff.

On our drive home I could not talk about anything but the Giant’s game we had just attended. While the kids agreed that it was pretty cool – especially the Coca-Cola slide in the left field bleachers – they couldn’t stop talking about the Kinect system. And, for every time I mentioned some nuance about Buster Posey’s at-bat they would counter with “did you see my dance moves on the Kinect?” I think it was when we were crossing the Bay Bridge that the question first came up: “Mom, Dad… can we get a Kinect?”

Oh, boy. My wife and I dreaded this day. We had talked a bit about video games in the past, and thought about how we would handle it when the day came – we just didn’t expect it to be so soon (my kids are 8, 7, and 3-years-old). I’ve been pretty much dead-set against video games. Although, I grew up in the era of Atari, it was always my friends’ homes, not mine, where Pac Man was gobbling up his digital treats.

Our initial strategy was to stall, figuring that someday they would just lose interest. During those months, my wife and I continued our debate. Should the kids have a video game system? What does that mean for them? Would it really rot their brains? At some point during these talks we developed a brilliant strategy. We would tell the kids that, yes, they could get a Kinect - but they would have to buy it themselves. It was the parental equivalent of punting on 4th and inches. And, since they each earn a mere dollar per week if they do their chores, even if the three of them pooled their resources, it would be at least two years before they could afford the system. Plus, by then, their alliance would surely fracture and they will have forgotten all about it.

Once again, I was outsmarted by my kids, and they immediately went to work. Our lemon tree was emptied of its contents and a lemonade stand went up on the corner. They set out selling premium juice - $2 a glass, ouch! I suggested that they lower their prices, but they stuck to their guns in a way that would make a Starbucks executive blush. Next, we noticed that our avocado tree was not producing as it had in years past. Turns out that our neighborhood will yield a $1 for 2 avocados. This went on for about three months until they came to us and said, “Ok, Mom, Dad. We have enough for a Kinect.”

I was equal parts bursting with pride for their industriousness and terrified for the future of humanity as we walked up to the cash register. The kids handed the young clerk their Mason jar, which had been used to hold the savings. After ten minutes of sorting and counting loose change and small bills with the assistance of my wife and the store manager, the clerk triumphantly declared that our kids were now the proud owners of a Kinect system.

The kids spent that first day playing with their new video game system and congratulating each other on accomplishing their goal. The next day they played some more, but I noticed that it was not quite as much. At some point, and in part thanks to our “no screens until after 5 o’clock” rule, bike riding, tetherball, and actual (as opposed to virtual) baseball became the activities of choice once again. Thankfully, humanity, while it still has its problems, is back on track, and I am happy to report that no one’s brain has rotted as a result of playing video games.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to our advertisers, who make SLO LIFE Magazine possible. Live the SLO Life!

Tom Franciskovich tom@slolifemagazine.com

CONTRIBUTIONS:

Submit your story ideas, events, recipes and announcements by visiting us online at slolifemagazine.com

Contributions chosen for publication may be edited for clarity and space limitations.

ADVERTISING:

If you would like to advertise, please contact Tom Franciskovich by phone at (805) 543-8600 or by email at tom@slolifemagazine.com.

PUBLISHER

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Tom Franciskovich

Sheryl Disher

Jeanette Trompeter

Paden Followwill

Caitlin Emma Smith

Robert Frear

Mark Gvazdinskas

Giancarlo Campolmi

Gerry Eldred

Dennis Eamon Young

CIRCULATION, COVERAGE AND ADVERTISING RATES:

Complete details regarding circulation, coverage and advertising rates, space, sizes and similar information are available to prospective advertisers. Please call or email for a media kit. Closing date is 30 days before date of issue.

LETTERS TO THE PUBLISHER/EDITOR: 4251 S. Higuera Street, Suite 800 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Letters chosen for publication may be edited for clarity and space limitations.

DR. NOORISTANI AND THE PIER

Dear

SLO LIFE,

My sister sent me a copy of your magazine because of the story of Dr. Nooristani (he saved my father’s arm from being amputated this past fall) and the fabulous photo of the Cayucos Pier (my family owned a business there where the Old Cayucos Tavern is now located).

I went online hoping to view the picture of the pier and to share with others I know from the area. Unfortunately, the pier picture was not featured on your website.

I already put a link on my Facebook page to view your magazine but would still like to share the photo. Is there any link you can provide me to post on Facebook. I’ve had a number of friends asking to see the photo. Thank you, Lance Young Tucson, Arizona

Thanks, Lance, we’re glad to hear that your father is doing well. That Dr. Nooristani is quite a guy! Regarding the Cayucos Pier shot, we have received quite a few similar requests so we posted it on our Facebook page where you can access it. The address is www.facebook. com/slolifemagazine

HAVE DONATION, WILL TRAVEL

Hi my name is Paul, I live in San Luis Obispo, my number is XXX-XXXX, I really loved your latest issue, and I wanted to get a hold of the Noor Foundation that you had an article about. Could you call me and leave me their phone number? If you had an address that’d be great, too. I want to make a donation to them. Thanks for the great magazine. Talk to you later. Bye.

Hi again, Paul. It was good talking with you the other day. We thought we should share that information with everyone. Their number is (805) 439-1797, more info: noorfoundation.org

WHAT THE HILL!?

Well, where the hill do we start with this one?... We received more phone calls, emails, and comments about this subject than we have any other. And, clearly we didn’t know what the hill we were talking about in the last issue.

In the Earthen Oven article we made a reference to “Madonna Mountain.” While we ran a story last year [Places – Cerro San Luis, Spring 2011] explaining that the proper name of the hill we all love so much is actually “Cerro San Luis” even though many commonly refer to it as “Madonna Mountain.” The fact is, the proper name is Cerro San Luis.

And, if you are going to make a mistake, why the hill not make it a big one? In the “Choose Your Adventure” piece, our beloved Bishop Peak was referred to as “Bishop’s Peak”… astute readers quickly corrected us on the mistake: there is no possessive in the name. While it’s common to hear people call it “Bishop’s Peak” the actual name is “Bishop Peak.”

We sure as hill did not mean to offend anyone, and promise not to make the mistake again!

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

In the last issue’s “The Way We Live” feature we failed to give credit to the photographer who took those amazing shots of Dewey and Georgiana Peterson’s home in Barron Canyon Ranch. So, we would like to take this opportunity to correct the mistake by saying “thank you” to Elliott Johnson for a job well done!

FOOD CONNECTION

It seems that the Earthen Oven story struck a chord with many of you and we were thrilled to have received a letter from Kiko Denzer, who wrote the definitive book on building earthen ovens. She asked us to forward a message on to Roberto, and we thought you would get a kick out of the conversation that followed.

Dear Roberto, What a gorgeous piece of work! ... a wonderful, wonderful story. It really is the story that connects us all. I mean that generally and specifically. The stories of who we are and where we come from, and the stories of food and fire, hearth, earth, etc.

Anyway, I so liked your story that I wanted to ask if I could post it on my website, where I’m trying to archive oven stories and photos. It would be a great gift.

Right now I’m in MN to help celebrate my own father’s life, which ended recently after nearly 91 years -- I built him and his wife a couple of ovens, which they incorporated into a semi-annual craft fair that they’ve been holding at their pottery studio for years -- they had also lived in Italy for years, where they learned a much different connection to their food than they had had here in the US.

May you always have time and dough for bread/pizza and parties!

best wishes, -- Kiko Denzer Blodgett, Oregon

Hi Kiko, Someone at SLO LIFE Magazine just sent me a note that you wanted to contact me about the earthen oven article in the magazine. I’m a big fan of your books and used the “How to Build Your Own Earth Oven” book extensively while doing research for the project.

After the trip to El Salvador we took the plunge to build the big oven. I hired Jordan at www.ncredibleedibles.com to guide me through the whole process since my wife was nervous about me burning the house down. He was great to work with and very knowledgeable, but I still leaned on your book for many of the more technical details (door height to dome height ratios) and the insulation layer. I’m a mechanical engineer so many your design rules made sense.

The final product came out fantastic. Everyone is in love with the project. My only problem now is keeping up with the demand to hold oven parties.

The time elapsed video is kind of fun also [you can go to slolifemagazine.com to access the video].

Thanks for reaching out. Take care, Roberto Monge

MORE “BLURBS”

We received some more mail from Aileen Lehto/Papiro, who wrote “Chicago, My Kind of Town” in the last issue. There was a note attached to another short story which read: “HEY SLO LIFE, TNX.MILL. FOR PRINTING MY ARTICLE IN YOUR LAST MAG. I WAS SURPRISED!! AL/P” And, since many of you commented that you enjoyed reading her fun little “blurb” about

Chicago in the last issue, we are going to run another one:

“My

Take on Travel - Land, Sea, and Air”

By Aileen Lehto/Papiro

My very first commercial flight was a wonderful experience, discounting my seaplane flight on Lake Superior @ age 14, was on AirFrance from Los Angeles to Paris. It was probably my smoothest, neatest flight ever. Then right off to Madrid, Spain. Everything was lovely and exciting - the scenic beauty, fabulous art gallery and my very favorite, the Prado, the food and the people - loved it all. The bus trip to Malaga took us thru the gorgeous Costa del Sol area along the beach untouched by high-rises, etc. We hopped on the ferry past the famous Rock of Gibraltar to Morocco. I even rode on a camel - oops! Or was that on another safari when my daughter and I visited the Sphinx and the Pyramids in Egypt?? Fascinating!! This on our trek to Israel, Cyprus, Jerusalem, old Jaffa, Bethlehem, Nazareth, wailing wall, and running barefoot in the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. Wow! Awesome!! And inspiring!! But I digress. It was great fun visiting the beach and the city of Casablanca. Next came Marrakech, another awesome city - then came the Capital, Rabat, Morocco. After seeing so many mosques, museums, and the like, I decided to wait outdoors during the tour inside Rabat’s mosque. Instead, I took pictures of Moroccan ants. There was no discernable difference in facial expressions or demeanor from our American ants. I do hope no one was taking pictures of me taking pictures of ants. yikes!

WE REALLY SHOULD TALK MORE Please note that we have changed or phone number here at SLO LIFE Magazine from 805-553-8820 to 805-543-8600.

SLO LIFE

Jeffrey Armstrong

He grew up on a farm in rural Western Kentucky. His experience with the Future Farmer’s of America in high school deeply influenced him and he credits one of the teachers in the program for setting him on a path to attend college, making him one of the first in his family to do so. Today, he is one year into his tenure as President of Cal Poly. We sat down for a visit recently to get to know him a little better…

Tell us about where you grew up. It was the Bible Belt. The biggest point of diversity in Lyon County was defined by whether you were dunked or sprinkled when you were Baptized. Having grown up on a farm I had my own hay crew, and I worked in tobacco. Grew tobacco, sold tobacco. I paid for most of my school and I also know what it’s like to graduate with debt.

If you had to pick just one word to describe yourself as a kid, what would it be?

Talkative. My dad used to tell me, “You know, the Good Lord gave you two ears and one mouth. Use them in that proportion.”

I was always very talkative and inquisitive, not always perfect but overall, I think, a good kid.

Did all that talking ever get you in trouble in school?

Out of the six teachers in grade school - one for each grade - I was related to three of them, two of them were my great aunts. That was still back in the day when you were paddled and I have some interesting memories of the metric system, not just learning about it - one of my aunts liked to use the meter stick on a large number of us in the class [laughter].

Cal Poly is known as a learn by doing institution, tell us about one of your learn by doing experiences. I remember, I must have been about 5 or 6 years old at the time when my grandfather was managing a local farm and it was time to shear the wool off the sheep. The two male sheep, rams, were in a wooden stall. There was a small opening that I was able to slide a stick into to poke and aggravate the rams who started butting up against the door trying to hit me. Anyway, my grandfather

walked by and told me, “You need to leave those blankety-blank rams alone.” I waited until he walked off around the corner and I started doing it again. The next thing you know, he grabs me by the scruff of the neck and he opens the door and he throws me in. And the rams butt me down about three times. I’m crying. There’s sheep manure all over me. I’m bleeding but, not hurt. And then he got me out and said, “I told you to leave those rams alone, didn’t I?” Now, that’s learn by doing! I didn’t mess with the sheep again.

Aside from your grandfather, where else did you pick up some valuable lessons?

In high school I was involved in FFA (Future Farmer’s of America) and I’m convinced that without that program I would not have gone to college. That’s what motivated me, that’s what excited me. I loved the competition. I’ve always been very competitive. FFA

meant a lot and because we grew up on a farm, I wanted to do something agricultural. So, my career goals in high school were really clear. I was either going to be a veterinarian or an ag teacher in high school. That’s where I started, that was my world as I entered Murray State as an undergraduate, but I will be honest that I did not give it a great deal of thought at the time.

Who else influenced your early life?

I’ve got three brothers. Two older brothers, one didn’t go to college and stayed at home to manage a construction company, the other went on to earn a Ph.D. and was on the faculty at N.C. State, which is how I ended up there in grad school. Now he is the Executive Director of the National FFA. My youngest brother has Down’s Syndrome and lives in a group home there in Western Kentucky and he’s been a great inspiration in my life. He’s very focused on

his part-time job and his friends, and he cares about everybody. He wouldn’t even begin to think about saying something negative about a person. Growing up, the support services for him weren’t great –he actually had to go to another county for school. My mother died when I was in the 7th grade. Before she passed away, she would drive him to Paducah for school and take care of him. About 12 years ago he was able to move into the group home and that has been tremendous for him, it’s been lifechanging for him.

Tell us about your family. I met my wife Sharon when we were students at Murray State. She grew up in rural New Jersey. We have two kids, our daughter Jessica is in her residency as an OB/GYN. She married a Michigander, he’s a third grade teacher. He’s a very, very nice young man. And our son, Zack, is in his last year at Michigan State. He’s a finance major. He’s going to spend all summer with us. Of everything, I will tell you that Sharon and I are most proud of our kids.

What’s something that most people don’t know about you?

From the time I was a kid I’ve been mesmerized by outer space. I love Star Trek and science fiction. So, I have a whole collection of Star Trek ornaments. I’m not a Trekkie. I define a Trekkie as someone who dresses up and maybe learns Kligonese or something like that. I’m not that far out, it’s just not my thing. I just like all the Star Trek episodes all the way back to the originals. My favorite is Patrick Stewart and Jean-Luc Picard, that’s my favorite series.

Court Street

Recently, lifelong San Luis Obispo resident Giancarlo Campolmi wound his car all the way up the parking structure at Palm and Morro Streets to finally find an empty spot at the top. He looked toward Court Street to find a dramatic sky and the perfect opportunity to practice a new technique he was learning called HDR (high-dynamic range) photography. As usual, Campolmi had his camera and tripod in his car, so he set them up to take the exact same shot five times, one right after another which he then blended together. The result is what you see here – a rich and lifelike reproduction of the real thing. Says Campolmi, who grew up developing film negatives in his father’s print shop, “I found it to be an interesting juxtaposition of old and new – the Anderson Hotel [the brick building in the foreground] representing old San Luis and Court Street representing new San Luis.” SLO LIFE

Do you have an amazing photo to share? Email it to places@slolifemagazine.com

Meet Elise Kephart

In this installment of our “Meet Your Neighbor” series, SLO LIFE Magazine sits down for a conversation with Elise Kephart. She was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted by her parents when she was just a year old. She grew up in Nipomo and worked three jobs while attending school, later becoming a top performing car salesperson. After pioneering an innovative method for communicating with prospective buyers through personalized video messages, she was named the “YouTube Diva” of the auto industry. Today she can be found flying all over the country teaching dealerships how to harness the power of the internet. Here is her story…

Let’s start from the beginning, Elise, tell us where you’re from. I was born in Korea. My mom could have had more kids - my brother and sister are her biological children - but she had it in her head that she always wanted to adopt an Asian baby. We lived in Thousand Oaks until I was three then I was raised in Nipomo. There was one exit off of 101, no McDonalds, no Vons, no chain store of any kind. No bank, no Starbucks. If you wanted to go the grocery store you had to drive to Santa Maria or Arroyo Grande. They had a little Mesa Market there that my sister and I would ride our bikes to when we were little to check out the Teen Bop magazines.

Can you tell us about your

adoption?

When I’d look at the family picture, I’d say, “Wait, my brother and sister look the same as my mom and dad,” but here I am looking nothing like any of them. There was a little information sheet that came with my adoption paperwork that included a few other details, but not much.

Do you know your birth name?

Before I was adopted my name was Yeong Ja Lee. When I was adopted my parents named me Elise, but they converted my Koren name into one word and reversed the sequence to make Leeyeongja my middle name. My full name is actually Elise Leeyeongja Kephart. I recently had a translator print Leeyeongja in Korean characters and had it tattooed on my shoulder. As I get older, I think that it’s kind of cool to have that story about how I was adopted and I wonder if I was never adopted what things or what personality traits would be different about me? Or, is it more about how you are raised and the people that you surround yourself with that mold

you into who you are? When I was adopted my biological mother checked off the box stating that she didn’t want me to contact her. I’m sure I could find her if I really wanted to, but it’s not something that I really think about. My family is my family. I do want to go back to South Korea someday, just to take some pictures and experience it a little bit.

What else stands out for you about growing up?

My dad was in the car business when I was younger. I remember being the one who was at the computer making his little newsletters and mailing them out to his customers. I went to Arroyo Grande High School, graduated from there. Did a few classes at Cuesta. I was always working, juggling two or three jobs. My parents were very, you know, they raised me right – they always wanted me learn the value of hard work.

What did that look like?

When I graduated from high school I was working at Del’s in Shell Beach, at the Starbucks in Arroyo Grande, and I also had a paper route in Pismo Beach. I remember folding papers at two o’clock in the morning. But, I was still wanting to get together with my friends. I just couldn’t keep their schedule, so I would meet them at Denny’s after they would come back from the bars. They would be heading home and I would be going to work. So, I was able to catch up with them over breakfast before going out to deliver papers. The truck would drop off the papers somewhere in Arroyo Grande and I would pick them up and go park at a gas station where I would fold them, then do the route through Pismo Beach. After finishing up there, I would have my shift at Starbucks – it was the one right by the movie theater in Arroyo Grande. After that

What did she say?

Check-In on Facebook

Using the GPS on a smart phone you can let friends know exactly where you are. Your check-in will create a story in your friends’ News Feed on Facebook and show up in the Recent Activity section on the page for that place. In other words, you let people know where you are.

Autoresponder

An autoresponder is a computer program that automatically answers e-mail sent to it, much like a form letter.

YouTube Channel

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos. You can see her channel by going to youtube.com and typing “Sunset Honda” or “Elise Kephart.”

ended I’d have about an hour break and would go to Del’s where I was the hostess. I feel grateful that I did that because it really teaches you a good work ethic. Now, when I start thinking that things are tough, I realize, “Well, at least I’m not folding papers at two in the morning anymore!”

What is it that drives you to work so hard?

I don’t know, I’ve always been very competitive. I used to win all the sales competitions at my various jobs. Like, when I worked at Del’s, they would have a wine selling contest and I would win. It really didn’t matter what the winning prize was, I remember once it was a wine tour for the day. That was a lot of fun. Or, at Starbucks, they would have a contest to see who could sell the most coffee beans and my co-workers would say, “You need to chill out.” [laughter] Nobody else would care but I was always determined to win.

What came next?

I had lived in Nipomo my whole life. So, out of the blue, I decided that I wanted to move to San Diego. I’m 27 now so I must have been 22. I transferred to a different Starbucks, got a waiting job at P.F. Chang’s, and enrolled at the community college. Moving there was a really big experience for me. I didn’t know anyone there and my dad called one day and just kinda threw it out there and said, “Maybe you should try selling cars… you can make an okay living doing it and you’re good with people, and you’re working these three jobs. You might as well dedicate that time to one job.” So, I took his advice and applied to a few dealerships and wasn’t hired by any of them. It was the first time in my life that I had experienced real rejection. Then, I walked into a Ford dealership and we did a quick interview and they said, “Ok, we’re going to give you a shot.”

day. Within my fourth month there I was the top salesperson. You obviously learned very quickly. How long were you in San Diego? I worked at the Ford dealership down there for two years then moved back here to San Luis Obispo and was hired at Sunset Honda. I started on the sales floor, but after about three months I was moved to the Internet Department, which is where the dealership handles the leads and inquiries that come through the various websites where we post our cars for sale. My job was to get the customer who made the inquiry online to physically come in to the store because you can’t really buy a car through the internet. You have to come in and see it and test drive it.

And, how did you do that exactly? I really didn’t have much training, it was all so new. Everyone was trying to figure out how to use the internet effectively. So, I started the same way I did the first day as a salesperson at the Ford dealership, I became a mystery shopper. I created a bunch of different aliases and email addresses and started shopping online. And, that’s when I started to realize that most everyone was just using autoresponders and very rarely did anyone contact me personally. It’s so hard to create a relationship online because there is no body language, no tone inflection… it’s all words on a screen with some punctuation. So, that’s when I started to think, “Ok, what can I do to make this experience different?”

What did you do?

I started the Sunset Honda YouTube Channel and made some videos about some pre-owned cars. I made some fun little walk-around videos

What was your first day like?

I worked in a big auto parkway. I put street clothes on and walked on to all of the other neighboring dealerships pretending to be a prospective customer. I wanted to see how other people did it. I was really turned off by many of the salespeople I encountered and it got me thinking, “How would I want to be treated?” So, headed back to my dealership and I’m there waiting on the patio and nothing was happening. It was a very hot day in San Diego. And, I started thinking, “You know, if I don’t sell anything, I’m going to make less than I did before. Maybe this was a mistake.” But, at the same time, I knew there was so much potential. I learned how to filter out the negativity and focus on my ultimate goal. And, at first, for me, that was just to replace three jobs with one and not have to work sun-up to sundown every

showing off the cars, something with a little bit of personality. If you go back to that channel and look at the early videos you can see how it evolved. I started figuring out what was working and what wasn’t. Somewhere along the line I went from making videos about cars to making a personalized video for people that inquired about cars through the internet.

You made a personalized video for each person? That’s a huge undertaking! I learned video editing when I was younger and it’s always been something I’ve been really comfortable with and enjoy. A quick 30-second greeting to a customer would only take me about five minutes to put together, and I had a lot of it already pre-made in the software program. But, just from a value perspective I knew that was going to be a different way to

start to build a relationship with a prospective customer. Because, if you are a potential customer and you want some information about a car you don’t want to work with an autoresponder, you want a real person. So, if you are getting twenty emails that are pretty much the same from all the other dealerships, then you get a personalized video from an actual person, ultimately that’s going to be the one email that’s going to stand out.

What happened next?

So, as I was doing these videos other dealerships started catching on and pretty soon I had other salespeople and managers contacting me to ask, “How did you do that? Can you teach me?” Then, about a year ago Jim Ziglar, who is a sales guru and trainer in the automotive industry, started showcasing the Sunset Honda YouTube Channel at his conferences. That’s when things really started to take off. At first, I thought, “My job is to sell cars, so I don’t have time to answer all of these questions.” But, it just kept growing and growing. Then Jim asked me to come and speak at his conferences. He started introducing me as the “YouTube Diva.” People in the industry call me that now, it just sort of stuck. And, then recently, I accepted a job working with a firm that trains salespeople at dealerships all over the country. It was a very, very tough decision for me to leave Sunset Honda. You know, I had been there for about three years and had built relationships with all the people I had worked with and with my customers, but ultimately I got a full time position to train others to do what I have been doing.

How did this YouTube idea come to you?

I really don’t look at this as a groundbreaking idea, I just really wanted to do a better job. I guess I’ve always been more on the creative side of things, and I’ve always enjoyed video making, and photography, writing, so it came very naturally to me. I never could have imagined that making these videos was going to do anything other than help me to sell a car, but then it just spiraled into this big thing.

How’s it going so far?

I’m really enjoying it, I really like teaching people how to do this. I’m enjoying the traveling. I just got back from a dealership in Cheboygan, Wisconsin, of all places, yesterday. It was great. But, I know what is going to happen though, is I have to continue to be forwardthinking because something else is going to come along; there’s always something that you’re going to have to keep up with. Even the YouTube thing, that goes back three years now and in that time there are other forms of communication that you have to keep up with. It never stops.

Tell us, can these lessons be applied elsewhere?

Yes, definitely. For example, I just bought a T.V. and I went through a similar process. First, I went online and did some research. Then I went to BestBuy and nobody helped me. I still had some questions and needed a salesperson to sort of walk me through the different options. I hung out for a bit and then said, “Well, alright, I’m going to walk across the parking lot to Sears.” When I got there I checked in on Facebook and one of my old friends sent me a message saying that he is working there. I hadn’t seen him since high school, but he is now the assistant manager. He helped me and I had a great experience, which led to me walking out with a new T.V. Buying a car, or buying anything, it always follows the same process.

Well, we know you have a flight to catch, but it’s been great visiting with you, Elise. Thank you – it’s been really nice talking with you, too. And, having this conversation with you and reflecting on some of this stuff makes me realize - everybody has their rough times and their story to tell, I guess, but it just makes me so grateful for everything and all of these experiences because there is a lot of stuff on the other side of the fence, where it could have been different. SLO LIFE

Edna Valley View

PHOTOS BY GERRY ELDRED

The Davar Home

If 16th Century Venetians were able to visit the Edna Valley today, they would be proud of the home built by Saeed and Laurel Davar. Their home, carefully constructed over the course of two years by local contractor, Perry Irwin, is modeled after the architecture of Andrea Palladio who perfected 33 Italian villas nearly 500 years ago.

The project was also heavily influenced by the book, “A Pattern Language” by Christopher Alexander, which is a text on sustainable architecture and green living. Laurel, a semi-retired interior designer and artist, also found many opportunities to infuse the home with personal details, as did her husband, Saeed, a retired mechanical engineer.

In all the structure is 3,996 square feet with ample windows to take in optimal levels of natural light. Radiant floor heating was built in five zones and heat pump air conditioning is found in four zones for the most comfort and economical use of energy. Solar assisted hot water is another important energy saving component of the home’s construction.

The home is tucked neatly into a softly curving hill in Edna Ranch, a planned community of 51 homes on 1,600 acres of vineyard land, and every west and south facing space offers expansive views of vineyards and rolling hills. A well-conceived courtyard makes for a welcoming entrance and also serves as a windbreak for dining al fresco.

Bella Vista

Breathtaking views create a sense of escape and serenity.

BEAUTY IN THE DETAILS

the numbers

laguna lake

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

tank farm

cal poly area

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

Q1-2010 4 545,725 532,500 97.53 40

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

downtown

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

country club

Total Homes Sold Average Asking Price Average Selling Price Sales Price as a % of Asking Price Average # of Days on the Market

foothill blvd

johnson

ave

Q1-2010 3 474,000 456,333 96.27 54

Q1-2011 5 500,980 483,200 96.45 75

+/-25.00% 23.98% 22.32% -1.30% -26.79%

+/25.00% -8.19% -9.26% -1.08% 87.50%

Q1-2011 4 499,500 467,500 93.59 92

+/33.33% 5.38% 2.45% -2.68% 70.37%

Q1-2010 5 1,173,580 961,000 81.89 260

Q1-2011 4 543,750 542,625 99.79 32

+/-20.00% -53.67% -43.54% 17.90% -87.69%

Q1-2010 3 983,300 907,667 92.31 181

Q1-2011 0 0 0 0 0

+/n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Q1-2010 6 467,996 443,583 94.78 95

Q1-2011 10 552,575 538,145 97.39 48

+/66.67% 18.07% 21.32% 2.61% -49.47%

Q1-2011 9 527,656 504,222 95.56 112 by

Q1-2011 5 515,500 495,800 96.18 78

SOURCE: San Luis Obispo Association of REALTORS®

+/-28.57% -10.77% -9.26% 1.59% -50.94% *Q1 = January 1 - March 25

Beautiful Spanish Lakes Home with expansive views. This 4+ bedroom home has a large open floorplan and two master suites – one on the main level and one on the upper level. The other two bedrooms are downstairs, accompanied by the game room and study. This home also features a pool and spa with a cabana/studio with bath. Offered at $1,125,000.

John Somics

When he was seven years old, John Somic’s father took him fishing for the first time, and when he tied an oldfashioned wooden lure to the end of his line he was hooked for life. Today, Somic can be found in his “fun factory” on South Higuera designing and constructing distinctive and whimsical larger than life fishing lure art.

He takes direction from the natural grains and imperfections of the reclaimed wood to guide him in his art and the final product receives a name according to its own unique personality. The “Higuera Hopper,” a friendly looking oversized green grasshopper, is an especially popular one with visitors.

It takes about two months from start-tofinish to build a lure, but Somic says, “I never get tired - I’m in nirvana - it gives me a lot of joy to make people happy.” And, it’s been a particularly fertile period for the retired carpenter and life-long artist.

“I’ve been a hobbit since I’ve been here [in the new studio] and the energy to my art has been flowing like a river.”

PHOTO BY ROBERT FREAR

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Pismo Clam

BY JEANETTE TROMPETER, KSBY NEWS

There may not be a lot of clams around anymore, but there’s good reason to learn a bit about the little critter because the Pismo clam is yet another reason there’s No Place Like Home.

The clam that was once plentiful along the Pismo shore helped put Pismo on the map. The little mollusk was abundant here long before 1957 when Bugs Bunny set his sights on Pismo Beach “and all the clams we can eat” as seen in Ali Baba Bunny. And in 1967 Dragnet put the community in the spotlight again connecting it to this seaside delicacy, “The clams, man. The clams.”

Pismo’s connection to the clam is much older, though, than the city itself. The area was all Chumash Native American ground at one time, and the little mollusk was used not only as food, but currency as well. Later, the diaries of the rancheros also talk about going clamming and enjoying an abundance of clams here before the turn of the century.

“But then people were taking them by the thousands,” says Bob Pringle, owner of Pismo Bob’s Hardware. “You gotta remember when this was on a high, it was out of control. People were taking 1,000-1,500 at a time.”

The conception of this hoppin’ seaside community becoming a township started in 1842. That’s when a man named Jose Ortega received a Spanish land grant. By 1850, Juan Miguel Price, or “Uncle Johnny Price” purchased 8,000 acres of the Pismo Ranch that would become the City of Pismo Beach. The first effort to control the harvesting of clams came in 1915, when county supervisors put a limit of 12-13 inches in size. And they limited daily hauls to 75!

Pismo was enjoying a heyday born out of these

bountiful harvests from the sea. “It was truly the clam capital of the world,” Pringle points out.

By World War II, locals began to see the Pismo Clam was in danger, and clamming was prohibited in most areas. It did, however, continue to be harvested commercially by three different companies for years.

In 1949 when clamming was re-opened to the general public, the people poured in. It’s estimated that 25,000 people would come to dig a day, and they didn’t leave empty handed. Newspapers talk of 750 tons of clams being hauled out daily. But those clams became scarce again by the 50’s and 60’s and virtually non-existent by the 80’s.

The truth is, there aren’t many clams on this beach anymore. But it’s still legal to try to get some. And whether they’re here or not, the clam will likely remain the mascot of Pismo Beach.

Pringle says tourists still associate Pismo Beach as a great place to get your feet wet and give clamming a try. “As long as they have a license, you can take them if they are 4 1/2 inches or larger. Still we sell clam forks and clam gauges, but they’re not as prevalent.”

And even if you come up empty, it’s not a bad place to spend a day digging for Pismo Beach treasure. “The kids know because of the parents and grandparents, everyone wants to come back to Pismo Beach because Pismo Beach is like Mayberry and everyone remembers what it used to be, you know?” says Pringle.

No matter the case, the Pismo Clam is still more proof There’s No Place Like Home.

Jeanette Trompeter,KSBY News anchor and reporter,hosts the “No Place Like Home”series every Thursday evening at 6pm.

Choose Your Adventure

Sykes Hot

WRITTEN BY PADEN FOLLOWWILL

Springs: Hiker’s Paradise

Our community is a hardworking one, and we each hold dearly this “SLO Life” that allows us to enjoy the fact that we live where others vacation. However, when workloads mount and pressure rises, it behooves many to find a weekend escape within easy driving distance, but remote enough to fully unplug and rejuvenate both mind and soul.

Spring offers a great opportunity to explore popular destinations before the summer crowds have arrived and all the flora and fauna are in full swing.

Big Sur is a labyrinth of beautiful treks for all ranges of activity, but my favorite weekend getaway is the picturesque hike to Sykes Hot Springs. Just 10 miles each way from the Highway 1 trailhead, it makes the perfect weekend trip. After steady elevation gains and declines alternating in intensity through the 300-foot-tall redwood trees of the Pine Ridge corridor, hikers are rewarded each mile with a new vista overlooking the incredible Ventana Wilderness.

The trail begins within the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, tucked under coastal greenery and towering redwoods. The initial uphill section of the trail can be daunting, but each painful elevation gain rewards you with another incredible view.

Peaceful panoramic views of densely wooded hills, dotted in radiant greens and filled with cheerful melodies of little birds chirping, peak out from the trail. It is good to be reminded of the intoxicating energy in nature. Life seems so simple, so pleasant.

I love long treks, especially when there is an attraction at the end of the journey. At the end of this 10-mile expedition, just when you’re starting to want food and shelter, the road bends and twists and turns you down to the tranquil hidden gem you’ve been hiking for all day.

You find yourself in a deep valley, covered with dense green forest protecting the cool waters of the Big Sur River, which runs

alongside 100-degree pools. Sykes Hot Springs are boulder-lined and large enough to fit about six people. Depending on the water flow at that time of the year other smaller pools can sometimes be found between it and the river marked by cairns (stone markers) that previous visitors have left behind.

I have to warn the naturalists reading this, the origins of the geothermal waters are natural, but the pools you see are enhanced with manmade barriers holding the waters in perfect, rounded enclosures. It is still beautiful in its own right, but the pools themselves have been altered to capture the warm water and afford tired hikers with a rewarding soak at the end of a long day.

The Pine Ridge trailhead, where the hike to Sykes Camp and the springs begin, is behind the parking lot at the Big Sur Forest Service station, three miles south of the town of Big Sur. For those looking for a longer hike, no need to worry, the Pine Ridge corridor goes up ten miles to Sykes and then another fourteen miles beyond,linking with numerous other trails on the way.

In 2008 there was a large forest fire which closed the trail to Sykes for almost two years. The good news for locals is that it is open again and the area has recovered well.

It’s rumored that signs steering tourists to this tranquil destination occasionally get removed. So better to grab directions before you rely solely on signs to guide you.

You will need a permit to stay overnight so stop in at the ranger station at the parking lot by the trailhead and make sure you acquire one.

SLO LIFE

Inflamation

Experts now believe there’s a common culprit behind our most deadly diseases - inflammation.

Chronic inflammation can lead to a host of diseases, such as acid reflux, acne, asthma, diabetes, periodontitis, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis, cancer and more.

Under normal circumstances, inflammation is part of the immune reaction that helps the body heal when injured. When you slice your finger cutting onions, blood vessels near the accident scene expand. That clears the way for the entrance of white blood cells, good guys who annihilate any bacteria that sneak in on the knife blade. They also mend ragged tissue by ordering in new cells to seal the cut. By the time the signs of inflammation kick in - heat, soreness, and swelling - the wound is well on its way to healing.

Still, like an inconsiderate houseguest, inflammation can overstay its welcome. Medical researchers discovered long ago that certain diseases, such as lupus, Graves’ disease, and fibromyalgia, emerge when the immune system flips on and refuses to turn off. And a new theory paints an even broader picture of how other killers gain a foothold when inflammation runs amok.

Until the early 1990s, experts believed that heart disease, specifically atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), resulted when sticky plaque glommed on to smooth artery walls, causing the arterial passageway to narrow. A heart attack

was thought to be the end-case scenario, a blood clot finally plugging the last remaining opening in the dam. But, as it turns out, the process is more complex than that.

Experts now know that arteries aren’t smooth pipes lined with white globs of gluey fat. Instead they are dynamic, multilayered tissue structures. Arteries do absorb LDL (bad) cholesterol from the bloodstream. But instead of sticking to the artery wall, LDL seeps between the tissue layers and festers, like an angry plaque-filled blister. The body triggers an inflammatory response to contain the damage and the artery swells, constricting blood flow to the heart. Disaster finally strikes when the plaque bursts and debris barricades the artery.

As for diabetes, it’s often related to how much fat a person carries around on his or her frame. Fat cells ooze inflammation-boosting proteins called cytokines, so more fat equals more inflammation. Over time, too many circulating cytokines dampen the body’s ability to monitor insulin production. Eventually the body’s efforts falter, and the gate swings open for Type 2 diabetes. (It’s no coincidence that rates of the disease are nudging upward in unison with America’s belt size.)

Chronic inflammation in the body also causes cells to oxidize, which may trigger a cascade of cancerous mutations. In fact, Bruce Ames, a biochemist at the University of California at Berkeley and former board member of the

National Cancer Institute, thinks inflammation is responsible for up to 30 percent of all cancers. Scary stuff for sure, but fortunately, experts are also learning more about some simple ways to reduce inflammation. Exercise and stress relief are important, but the best defense, most researchers agree, is through diet.

Most foods either fuel the fires of inflammation or tamp them down. And fat is the crux of the issue. The goal is to eat a small amount of inflammatory fats (mainly omega-6s, as found in meat, eggs and dairy from grain-fed animals, safflower, sunflower, and corn oil) and a higher amount of anti-inflammatory fats (like omega-3s and omega-9s, which olive oil contains). But most people chow down on up to 30 times more inflammatory fats than anti-inflammatory. “The typical American diet is priming people for inflammation,” says Jack Challem, author of “The Inflammation Syndrome.” “It’s like sitting in a parked car with your foot on the gas. Eventually you’ll overheat.”

The good news is that dozens of foods, herbs, and spices are proven to rev up the body’s ability to stamp out inflammatory hot spots. For evidence, one needn’t look further than studies of rheumatoid arthritis.

In one published last January in Rheumatology International, patients who followed an antiinflammatory diet had a 14 percent decrease in joint tenderness and swelling compared to those who ate a typical Western diet. Omega-3 supplements goosed the results even further, bringing the final tally of those feeling an improvement up to 31 percent.

Get Friendly With Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic (EPA and DHA) are potent anti-inflammatories. Good sources are wild-caught fish and grass-fed meat. The body can make its own EPA and DHA from the omega-3 fat found in plant sources such as flaxseed, soybeans, and walnuts.

Embrace Your Inner Herbivore

For a simple way to make sure you’re eating enough plant-based foods, Melanie Polk, a registered dietitian at the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C., suggests using your dinner plate as a measuring tool. Ideally, two-thirds of the plate or more should be covered with fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and/or beans.

Cut Back On Refined Foods

Foods high in sugar are also a problem, especially when eaten between meals, since they cause a surge in blood sugar. To re-establish balance, the pancreas lets out a gush of insulin, which in turn switches on the genes involved in inflammation. This biochemical roller coaster is thought to contribute to the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

How To Find Out If You’re Inflamed

Take the test. Inflammation is measured by a marker called C-reactive protein or CRP. As inflammation creeps up, so do CRP levels in the blood. A blood test to measure levels of CRP is inexpensive ($25 to $30) and extremely reliable. Patients with autoimmune disease and cancer often have high CRP levels, but the test is making headlines for its ability to uncover heart disease in otherwise healthy-looking people. Those who have the most to gain from being tested are people at moderate risk (poor diet plus a lack of exercise) with otherwise healthy-looking cholesterol levels. If you already know you’re at high risk for heart disease, the test probably won’t tell you anything new.

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Antibacterial Overload?

the triclosan concern

When used in hospitals, health care settings, or for people with weakened immune systems, antibacterial products represent an important sanitary tool, but this may not be the case for daily household use.

The chemicals that antibacterial products use for bacterial killing effect organisms in a manner similar to antibiotics - and just as organisms have evolved resistance to antibiotic compounds, they have begun to develop resistance to antibacterial compounds, too. In fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that antibacterial soaps are not necessary in everyday use, and washing hands with ordinary soap and warm water is an effective way to ward off infections.

The most suspect compound in this emerging understanding is triclosan.

>>Triclosan (2,4,4’-trichloro-2’-hydroxy-dipenyl ether) is an antibacterial found in hundreds of household products including hand sanitizers, liquid soaps, bar soaps, toothpaste, acne ointments, deodorant, mouthwash, cutting boards and socks. It is marketed under the trade name Microban® when used in plastics and clothing, and Biofresh® when used in acrylic fibers.

Resistance Concerns

Laboratory studies with triclosan have found a number of different strains of mutated bacteria that are resistant to it. In fact, E. coli strains that are resistant to triclosan actually have increased growth rates - constant exposure to triclosan causes these resistant strains to tolerate it better, become increasingly hardy, and ever more resistant. Because antibiotic resistance has become an increasingly serious problem worldwide, it’s worth considering that widespread use of triclosan may compound antibiotic resistance.

Health Concerns

Using data gathered by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the massive CDC dataset of interviews and physical exams collected every few years from thousands of Americans, researchers looked for any evidence that triclosan is having an immune-disrupting effect. They found that up to 75 percent of Americans carried some measurable amount of triclosan in their urine, fat tissue and breast milk. And the higher the urine concentration of the chemical, the more likely that person was to have a diagnosis of allergy and hay fever. Here’s why that’s interesting: For more than 20 years, there’s been an evolving concept in immunology known as the “hygiene hypothesis.”

The hypothesis was first proposed in 1989 by David P. Strachan as part of an observation that hay fever and eczema, both allergic diseases, were less common in children from larger families, which were presumably exposed to more infectious agents through their siblings, than in children from families with only one child.

The newest addition to this theoretical framework suggests that there’s an inadvertent, undetected factor as well: that the pervasive distribution of triclosan, not just in commercial products but in soil and water, might be sterilizing our environments or our own microbiota enough to exert an immune-system effect that could be lifelong.

And, now some scientists are telling us that minute amounts of triclosan - amounts found in the majority of America’s streams and rivers - can be enough to disrupt thyroid function in frogs, and perhaps humans. Studies have shown that triclosan alters hormone regulation and has been found to hasten the transformation of tadpoles into adult frogs (Veldhoen 2006).

In addtion, there have been a number of recent concerns about triclosan and its link to dioxin. Dioxin can be highly carcinogenic and can cause health problems as severe as weakening of the immune system, decreased fertility, altered sex hormones, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer (Lores 2005). Triclosan is listed as “could be” and “suspected to be” contaminated with dioxins in the EPA’s draft, “Dioxin Reassessment.” That’s because, in addition to being formed during the manufacturing process, dioxin may also be formed upon incineration of triclosan. Researchers who added triclosan to river water and shined ultraviolet light on the water found that between one and twelve percent of the triclosan was converted to dioxin in the water, leading to fears that sunlight could transform triclosan to dioxin naturally. An even more serious health threat may stem from treatment of triclosan-tainted water at water treatment plants - sunlight could convert chlorinated triclosan into highly toxic forms of dioxin.

Overall, the FDA and the EPA have done little to warn consumers of the possible health and environmental effects of triclosan. European countries, by contrast, have taken a much different approach to this chemical. In 2000, the Danish EPA, National Board of Health, National Central Laboratory and the Danish Consumer Information Center issued a joint statement advising consumers against the routine use of antibacterial household and personal hygiene products, stating that their use is unnecessary for domestic use and potentially harmful to the environment as they “are extremely persistent and highly toxic in the marine environment.” Six Finnish public authorities also issued a statement urging consumers to not use certain antibacterial chemicals, stating they are unnecessary and that their growing use increases the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance in microbial populations. The joint statement, also issued in 2000, stated, “Even Finnish hospitals don’t use such chemicals for routine cleaning operations. In households we see more disadvantages than advantages.” That same year, soap and detergent manufacturers in Europe agreed to a ban on any increase in its use over 1998 levels. The following year, German environment minister Jurgen Trittin called on consumers to not use cleaning agents containing antibacterial agents and on industry to stop marketing and advertising the antibacterial qualities of their products, calling their use in households, “superfluous and risky.” He also demanded that industry stop suggesting to consumers that they are “surrounded by enemy germs which they had to fight aggressively.”

If this is enough to make you consider antibacterial alternatives, aside from soap and water, there are some essential oils that have antimicrobial properties, such as Australian tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract, and pine oil.

Antibacterial Overload?

the triclosan concern

When used in hospitals, health care settings, or for people with weakened immune systems, antibacterial products represent an important sanitary tool, but this may not be the case for daily household use.

The chemicals that antibacterial products use for bacterial killing effect organisms in a manner similar to antibiotics - and just as organisms have evolved resistance to antibiotic compounds, they have begun to develop resistance to antibacterial compounds, too. In fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that antibacterial soaps are not necessary in everyday use, and washing hands with ordinary soap and warm water is an effective way to ward off infections.

The most suspect compound in this emerging understanding is triclosan.

>>Triclosan (2,4,4’-trichloro-2’-hydroxy-dipenyl ether) is an antibacterial found in hundreds of household products including hand sanitizers, liquid soaps, bar soaps, toothpaste, acne ointments, deodorant, mouthwash, cutting boards and socks. It is marketed under the trade name Microban® when used in plastics and clothing, and Biofresh® when used in acrylic fibers.

Resistance Concerns

Laboratory studies with triclosan have found a number of different strains of mutated bacteria that are resistant to it. In fact, E. coli strains that are resistant to triclosan actually have increased growth rates - constant exposure to triclosan causes these resistant strains to tolerate it better, become increasingly hardy, and ever more resistant. Because antibiotic resistance has become an increasingly serious problem worldwide, it’s worth considering that widespread use of triclosan may compound antibiotic resistance.

Health Concerns

Using data gathered by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the massive CDC dataset of interviews and physical exams collected every few years from thousands of Americans, researchers looked for any evidence that triclosan is having an immune-disrupting effect. They found that up to 75 percent of Americans carried some measurable amount of triclosan in their urine, fat tissue and breast milk. And the higher the urine concentration of the chemical, the more likely that person was to have a diagnosis of allergy and hay fever. Here’s why that’s interesting: For more than 20 years, there’s been an evolving concept in immunology known as the “hygiene hypothesis.”

The hypothesis was first proposed in 1989 by David P. Strachan as part of an observation that hay fever and eczema, both allergic diseases, were less common in children from larger families, which were presumably exposed to more infectious agents through their siblings, than in children from families with only one child.

The newest addition to this theoretical framework suggests that there’s an inadvertent, undetected factor as well: that the pervasive distribution of triclosan, not just in commercial products but in soil and water, might be sterilizing our environments or our own microbiota enough to exert an immune-system effect that could be lifelong.

And, now some scientists are telling us that minute amounts of triclosan - amounts found in the majority of America’s streams and rivers - can be enough to disrupt thyroid function in frogs, and perhaps humans. Studies have shown that triclosan alters hormone regulation and has been found to hasten the transformation of tadpoles into adult frogs (Veldhoen 2006).

In addtion, there have been a number of recent concerns about triclosan and its link to dioxin. Dioxin can be highly carcinogenic and can cause health problems as severe as weakening of the immune system, decreased fertility, altered sex hormones, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer (Lores 2005). Triclosan is listed as “could be” and “suspected to be” contaminated with dioxins in the EPA’s draft, “Dioxin Reassessment.” That’s because, in addition to being formed during the manufacturing process, dioxin may also be formed upon incineration of triclosan. Researchers who added triclosan to river water and shined ultraviolet light on the water found that between one and twelve percent of the triclosan was converted to dioxin in the water, leading to fears that sunlight could transform triclosan to dioxin naturally. An even more serious health threat may stem from treatment of triclosan-tainted water at water treatment plants - sunlight could convert chlorinated triclosan into highly toxic forms of dioxin.

Overall, the FDA and the EPA have done little to warn consumers of the possible health and environmental effects of triclosan. European countries, by contrast, have taken a much different approach to this chemical. In 2000, the Danish EPA, National Board of Health, National Central Laboratory and the Danish Consumer Information Center issued a joint statement advising consumers against the routine use of antibacterial household and personal hygiene products, stating that their use is unnecessary for domestic use and potentially harmful to the environment as they “are extremely persistent and highly toxic in the marine environment.” Six Finnish public authorities also issued a statement urging consumers to not use certain antibacterial chemicals, stating they are unnecessary and that their growing use increases the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance in microbial populations. The joint statement, also issued in 2000, stated, “Even Finnish hospitals don’t use such chemicals for routine cleaning operations. In households we see more disadvantages than advantages.” That same year, soap and detergent manufacturers in Europe agreed to a ban on any increase in its use over 1998 levels. The following year, German environment minister Jurgen Trittin called on consumers to not use cleaning agents containing antibacterial agents and on industry to stop marketing and advertising the antibacterial qualities of their products, calling their use in households, “superfluous and risky.” He also demanded that industry stop suggesting to consumers that they are “surrounded by enemy germs which they had to fight aggressively.”

If this is enough to make you consider antibacterial alternatives, aside from soap and water, there are some essential oils that have antimicrobial properties, such as Australian tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract, and pine oil.

TRUTH about SEAFOOD

PHOTOS BY MARK GVAZDINSKAS

LIVE Truth About Seafood opening for Stone Temple Pilots in Avila Beach

MUSIC VIDEO

Last summer ended with a bang for San Luis Obispo-based band Truth About Seafood as they were invited to open for the Stone Temple Pilots concert at Avila Bay. And, as it turns out, the timing could not have been better.

The longtime, ever-popular Central Coast rock band was in the process of reinventing itself by merging together with another local group called Siko. Drummer, Wyatt Lund, and Justin “Pakes” Picot (vocals and guitar), who also both teach their craft at Music Motive in San Luis Obispo, had recently left Siko to join up with Truth About Seafood. Jeff Minnery and Brad Daane were excited to have the new blood and felt that the band was energized by the addition.

By all accounts, their opening act rocked the house and the band earned the respect of Stone Temple Pilots. But at the end of the day, the group was still stuck playing its old music. With the addition of two new band members it was time to create new music, songs that they all would have a hand in writing.

“Rehearsing is boring,” reveals Minnery, an attorney by day, “especially when it’s someone else’s music. We needed something that everyone felt excited about.” So, the band, who practices together every Tuesday night, set a goal for twelve new songs; one new song each session for the next twelve weeks.

“One thing we’re really good at is jamming,” explains Daane, who is also a graphic designer, “and we would jam until we heard a riff that we all liked and we’d keep working on it until a song came out of it.” The band, who draws its inspiration from a variety of groups ranging from The Beatles and Tom Petty to Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, was in a creative groove.

And while the music was coming together, Minnery would sing whatever lyrics would come to mind to go along with it. “What I write in the moment is almost always better than what I write afterward, I try to get the first verse down to the song. Then I can go back later and figure out the second and so on,” says Minnery.

In what can only be described as impeccable timing, as the band was finalizing the music for their new album, Eric Kretz, the drummer for Stone Temple Pilots called. He told them that he had a couple of open days in his recording studio down in Los Angeles and invited the band to come record their work. After two days and twenty hours in the studio the band was able to record their twelve new songs and is busy now putting the finishing touches on the album, which they expect to release sometime before this summer.

“We’re looking forward to having a product. We haven’t had a product in such a long time,” explains Daane. “We’ll play shows and then afterward people would ask us if we have a CD or something and we’d always just say ‘No.’ And, it kind of stopped right there. It’s cool how this has all come together.”

go to slolifemagazine.com and click on See our Commercials to watch “SLO Life” which was written and performed by Truth About Seafood

Growing up in urban Baltimore, Karen Krahl and her sister dreamed of horseback riding. Occasionally, they were able to talk their father into driving them outside of the city where it was possible to rent a pony for an hour. “We didn’t know what we were doing but we’d take off riding through the woods by ourselves - we loved it,” remembers Krahl, a chiropractor who owns and operates the Synergy Health Group in San Luis Obispo. It was that lifelong love of horses that brought her to the Central Coast, where the great weather allows her to ride four or five times a week. And, the unique bond she forms with the animal during her rides enables her to decompress after a long day at the office. “You’ve got a friend in your horse, and I’ve learned how their minds work,” says Krahl, “they have an intelligence that is really beautiful once you understand how they see the world.”

SLO LIFE

PHOTO BY DENNIS EAMON YOUNG

AUTHENTIC food

Say words like “organic” and “sustainable” and “farm fresh” in the presence of Jaime Harris and you will watch his brow furrow in frustration as he launches into a long, carefully constructed argument explaining why he feels those labels are misleading. Instead, he insists on replacing those words, which he calls “marketing labels” with one word, or rather one question: “Is it authentic?” And, it’s his passion for authenticity in food, particularly beef that has been a constant throughout his life and career. “It’s simple: I want to have legitimate, authentic, traceability of a product,” says Harris who pauses between each word for dramatic emphasis.

Harris grew up on a 7,000-acre cattle ranch in Argentina, a country with a long, proud tradition of producing high-quality, grass-fed beef. And, after spending time in the United States for his early education, he returned to his native Argentina where he managed several large ranches. During that time he also became an expert at training horses. His horsemanship skills developed to the point that he became a professional polo player, a sport whose competitions led him back to the States.

for a taste of Harris’ cooking turn to page

Today, Harris can be found in Atascadero building what he calls his Rancher’s Alliance here on the Central Coast. His objective is to help local ranchers as well as consumers understand the benefits of raising beef in natural, authentic ways, using the same practices he has learned over his lifetime growing and processing cattle in Argentina. Harris, who often serves as a consultant to ranchers, insists that our area, the Central Coast, can be a wholly self-sufficient food economy and stresses the health and economic benefits of going in that direction. “Sure, you will probably pay more for your meat, but who cares? It’s going to be healthier, taste better, have less impact on the environment and you will be supporting a local ranching family. That’s good for all of us - the rancher, the cattle, and the consumer,” claims Harris.

Of course, if there is one thing that is bound to stir the passions of a huge swath of society, it’s a discussion of the merits of raising cattle. Arguments have been developed over generations, and are seemingly hard-wired into our DNA. Food is culture, and Harris is no more a vegetarian than he is controversy-free. Although we were unable to find anyone to speak on the record about Harris and his practices, it was made clear in our conversation with him that he has been swimming upstream against the currents of traditional corporate cattle ranching, particularly as it pertains to the current guidelines of the USDA for processing and selling beef to American consumers.

“They’re just labels to sell stuff,” Harris warns about product claims such as “grain fed” on packaging of meat for sale in grocery stores. “People don’t understand what they are buying - they would be really surprised to know the truth,” he continues on with the earnestness of a missionary. And, it’s his passion for the subject that draws you in. Or, pushes you away. It’s impossible to not feel something when talking to Harris, but it’s going to be either a drink the Kool-Aid or a run for the hills moment - there is no middle road with this Argentinian cowboy who is fond of quoting his father’s simple admonition that, “Black is black, not gray.”

For all of his bluster and claims of being a splinter in the side of Big Beef, it’s hard to argue with Harris’ experience and credentials within the industry. And, it’s harder still, particularly as a consumer, to disagree with his insistence on authenticity in our food. In this age of pink slime (highly processed chicken parts used in fast food) who doesn’t want to know what we are putting into our bodies? Especially here on the Central Coast, where farmers’ markets are celebrated and people generally place a high value on pure, natural foods. Our area would seem to be about as receptive to Harris and his preaching as anywhere. To borrow a farming term, he has found fertile ground.

But, his is a message that is hard to hear and not quickly or easily understood. It’s difficult to imagine a bumper sticker that reads: “Is your beef authentic?” And, it is difficult, frankly, to stay focused on long, nuanced conversations about omega-3 versus omega-6 fatty acids ratios in beef; or the optimal percentages of water content found in muscle tissue prior to processing; or fat content as it relates to the speed in which cattle is weaned; or the amount of waste found in traditional USDA-approved processing. It’s just not sexy stuff. And, when presented with this point-of-view, Harris claims to have saved his best argument for last. “Then, forget about all that,” he waves

comment away with his right hand, and leans in as if to share a secret and

BIFES A LA CRIOLLA by Jaime Harris

2 lbs. 1/4” steaks cut from Eye of Round or Bottom Round

8 medium potatoes, sliced 1/4” thick (peeled or not)

4 bell peppers (any color)

4 medium onions

1 lb. carrots, julienned

1 1/2 lbs. tomatos (Romas are good for firmness)

diced garlic (to taste) pinch or two of oregano sea salt and pepper

olive oil (1/2 cup or more, depending on pan size)

1. Pour olive oil into deep soup or crock pot. Once hot add the garlic, and turn down heat.

2. Layer potatoes, then onions, bell peppers and beef, seasoning as you go. Repeat layers until the pot is almost full (approximately 2” below the rim). Add water to cover.

3. Heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour to an hour and a half.

4. Remove from heat and let stand for ten minutes.

5. To complete the meal, serve with a crisp salad topped with a vinaigrette dressing and fresh baked bread or crackers. Pair with a stout beer or red wine.

Art After Dark

April 6 and May 4

Downtown San Luis Obispo artsobispo.org

Every first Friday of the month, hundreds of visitors converge on downtown SLO to see new art exhibits and add to their growing collections. With dozens of galleries and nontraditional exhibit spaces, it’s SLO’s favorite night of the month to celebrate art for free!

Dinner with Friends

April 13 - May 6

San Luis Obispo Little Theatre slolittletheatre.org

Full of humor, warmth, insight and wisdom, Dinner with Friends is a funny yet bittersweet examination of the married lives of two couples that have been extremely close for years, and the impact felt by both couples when one relationship goes sour.

Wine 4 Paws

April 14 - 15

San Luis Obispo County wine4paws.com

Join the 4th Annual Wine 4 Paws. Wineries throughout SLO county have come together and will donate a portion of the weekend’s proceeds to Woods Humane Society. The weekend’s events are designed to help raise awareness and funds for Woods Humane Society in conjunction with the ASPCA’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.

Vaudeville Spectacular April 26 - June 10

Great American Melodrama americanmelodrama.com

Let the good times roll as we present a full night of Vaudeville Revue! We have taken the best of the best from years past and packed them into one night of high-energy entertainment. Whether it’s a classic comic routine or one of your favorite song and dance numbers you’re sure to have a good time as we travel down memory lane!

Bollywood Delicious April 28

Christopher Cohan Center calpolyarts.org

America’s premier contemporary Indian dance ensemble, Blue 13 Dance Company, renowned worldwide for its unparalleled artistry and commitment to authenticity and colorful theatricality, offers up an entirely new flavor with their Bollywood Delicious burlesque. A tasty tongue-in-cheek treat!

Season Finale

Christopher Cohan Center slosymphony.com

What better way to end the Symphony’s 2011-2012 Classics season than with two of the “Three B’s”? Beethoven’s passionate second piano concerto was actually written first, but published later after many revisions. Norman Krieger will bring the master’s vision to life and you’ll see that it was well worth the wait. Brahms joked mischievously that his second symphony was “so melancholy that you will not be able to bear it” but you’ll find that its bright cheerfulness will end the season on a high note!