Santa Barbara Revels founder and fifth-generation Californian Susan Keller moved to Canada with her new husband after graduating from Stanford but returned to California, sans husband, some years later. She is not only a lifelong stage and TV performer but has also earned a law degree from UCLA. She moved to Montecito in 1994 with […]
Lea másEverything is supposed to depend on how you look at things. Reality is simply what you tell yourself. But you have to be convincing. (The trouble begins when you stop believing your own lies.) A good leader (in my view) ought to do that job for you, e.g., by providing you with inspirational pep-talks – […]
Lea másRussian native Yulia Maluta has been teaching tango and other Latin and ballroom dances since even before she first moved to town 20 years ago, when she partnered with David Alvarez at the Santa Barbara Dance Centre, which kicked her professional and competitive dance career into a higher gear. After retiring from competition, Yulia began […]
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Salsa and cigars, rum and mojitos, music and the Tropicana nightclub, 1950s cars. Icons of Cuba. Christopher Columbus is touted to be the first tourist in 1492, but I don’t think he found a nightclub or cigars. My husband, Don, and I went to Cuba on our honeymoon in 2002 with the Museum of Art […]
Lea másKerri Murray, president of the Santa Barbara based charity, ShelterBox USA, had one of her more ap-peal-ing assignments the other day in New York. The popular nonprofit was selected to participate in the ringing of the bell opening ceremony at Nasdaq’s headquarters in Manhattan’s Times Square on Giving Tuesday, with Kerri doing the honors along […]
Lea másSanta Barbara Polo Club patron Ben Soleimani is front and center in the latest issue of the society glossy Town & Country. Ben, Iranian-born and London-raised, has been dubbed the “Mayor of Melrose” by the Los Angeles Times, given all the properties he owns on oh-so chic Melrose Avenue, including one of my favorite watering […]
Lea másMontecito’s Dance Fever Studio would like to congratulate Mariya Usanina for making the finals, out of 27 high-level couples, in Amateur Latin at the largest dancesport event of the year, the Ohio Star Ball located in Columbus, Ohio. Already this year, Mariya has won many titles as Open Amateur Latin champion at competitions including the […]
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Next Thursday, December 14, merchants in Montecito’s lower village will offer special savings and incentives during the Coast Village Association’s (CVA) first annual Shop Coast Village event. The event, which runs from 4 to 7 pm, will include more than 30 stores and businesses. “With the recent success of Ghost Village Road, when thousands descended […]
Lea másAs always, Festival Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker – at the Arlington on Saturday and Sunday – is performed by a huge cast and backed by a full orchestra conducted by Elise Unruh playing Tchaikovsky’s iconic score. Kids of all ages who are attend the company’s school are augmented in a big way by several […]
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Each painter has an objective with his or her subject. Some explore form, line, and curve while others seek an expression and interpretation of an object. For landscape and impressionist painter Richard Schloss, it has been a lifelong pursuit of the intricacies of light. His enchanting landscape works can be found in private collections around […]
Lea másBob Hazard‘s debunking of tax reform Myth #3 (Guest Editorial, MJ #23/48) was revelatory, but not debunking. His Myth #3 is “Removing the Federal Deduction for State and Local Taxes is Unfair to High-Tax States such as California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois.” Unfortunately, Mr. Hazard did not address a fundamental issue of […]
Lea másMaria Muldaur already had a decade-plus of experience in music that had spanned jugband to folk-rock to bluegrass, when out of the blue she scored a mega-hit in 1974 with “Midnight at the Oasis”. But as she readily admits, fame, and fortune beyond that blip wasn’t in the cards, nor something she desired. Eschewing pop, […]
Lea másJournal writer Leanne Wood‘s new book, The Power of Things Unseen: Tales of Choosing Crazy Over Normal, about a woman whose inner voice leads her on an enthralling and nerve-wracking journey pursuing what’s written in her heart, is being released as a paperback in February. But the tantalizing tome is also available in an e-book […]
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When the American Riviera was pummeled by the 1925 earthquake, the city of Santa Barbara decided on Spanish Colonial and Mission Revival as the prevailing styles of architecture when rebuilding the devastated city. Almost a century later, the wealthy community continues to stand by the Spanish design and architecture which, according to the Pearl Chase […]
Lea másEnsemble Theatre Company’s charming production of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is a real Yuletide cracker! The New Vic show, directed by Andrew Barnicle and written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, follows the colorful characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice two years later as they gather at Pemberley, the stately pile of Fitzwilliam […]
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Champagne and apple cider were flowing freely when the Ritz-Carlton Bacara threw a socially gridlocked reception for the lighting of the tony hostelry’s Christmas tree. The 11-feet-high fir was stunningly decorated by in-house designer Rosie Neely for the occasion, when Goleta mayor Paula Perotte threw the switch, watched by the 195 guests, many of them […]
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At this week’s SB Board of Supervisors hearing on Tuesday, December 5, First District supervisor Das Williams reappointed Montecito Planning commissioners (MPC) J’Amy Brown and Susan Keller to the MPC, each for another two-year term. The reappointment marks Brown’s eighth year on the commission and Keller’s third. More changes are in store for MPC in […]
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