Classical musicians don’t come much more ambitious and open-minded than flutist Claire Chase. The accomplishments of the soloist, collaborative artist, curator, and advocate for new and experimental music are numerous, including founding the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in 2001, which has premiered more than 800 works since its inception, while her recognition includes being named […]
Lea másBy the Numbers Congress declining to deal with border issues has permitted an “estimated” 11 million illegal immigrants into California. Trying to solve California’s shortages for funding for housing, education, road and bridges repairs and medical care will be like trying to fill a bottomless pit unless, and until, the ultimate number of people using […]
Lea másQ: Are burglaries in Montecito on the rise? Actually, break-ins are down since last year – but not gone – and it seems we citizens are leaving ourselves “wide open” by not locking our doors! According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Lt. Butch Arnoldi, assigned to the Montecito area, 30 of the 72 housebreaks in […]
Lea másDiet and exercise are the cornerstones of any healthy lifestyle, but where one’s body stores fat is largely genetic and not a measure of overall fitness. Even someone with a single digit body fat percentage can have fat accumulate in a problem area like the abdomen. Despite what many want to believe, traditional weight lifting […]
Lea másDid you ever eat at a restaurant where your breakfast came so fast you barely had time to unwrap your utensils? Well, it wasn’t in Ketchikan, Alaska! I was on my eighth coffee refill, babbling on about the anxieties of airline travel, like when you get to your gate and they announce your airplane is […]
Lea másOne surprising thing I have discovered lately is that everybody has a philosophy of life, and that most people, if you ask them, are quite willing to share theirs with you. Why does this surprise me? Somehow, I had assumed that having a philosophy requires deep thinking, which not everybody is capable of, or even […]
Lea másThe Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art is showing off its newest treasures this summer in “The Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collections,” through early August. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm and closed weekends and college holidays during the summer. For more information, please visit westmont.edu/museum or contact […]
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In December 1870, a traveler from Santa Barbara rented a horse and buggy and attempted to visit Colonel Bradbury True Dinsmore at his ranch in El Montecito, stopping first at the famous big grapevine. So frustrating was this experience, he was moved to write of his travails in the local paper. Although he considered the […]
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It was another successful and patriotic parade and barbeque last Thursday in Montecito, marking the 24th Annual Village Fourth, sponsored by the Montecito Association. Thousands of residents came out to partake in the festivities, lining the parade route on San Ysidro Road. Co-chairs Mindy Denson, Kathi King, and Trish Davis were once again at the […]
Lea másJulia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, originally self-published in 1991, grew out of the failure of her first feature film as a director called God’s Will, which earned scathing reviews.It’s safe to say that Artist’s Way has fared a lot better, as Cameron harnessed ideas in creative personal development […]
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Right in our own backyard sits one of the most beautiful and threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Gaviota Coast. “We should never take this 72-mile long stretch of coast for granted,” said Gaviota Coast Conservancy (GCC) board member Phil McKenna. We were gathered at the Santa Barbara Club for another Lunch & Learn […]
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The Garden Club of Santa Barbara recently celebrated the unveiling of the new and renewed Arizona (cactus) Garden at Casa del Herrero. This project began a year ago with the club’s Civic Project Grant Program and a lot of hard work by the horticulture committee’s three co-chairs, Amy Mayfield, Puck Erickson–Lohnas, and Sharon Bradford, and […]
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The shattering effects of last year’s Woolsey Fire are not immediately obvious when you stroll through Saddlerock Ranch. The 1,100-acre property along Mulholland Highway, home to the Semler family, is looking beautiful these days, especially after the bloom of spring, with its cavalcade of flowers and trees and a sweeping, undulating landscape of dramatic rock […]
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Montecito artist Joan Rosenberg-Dent is exhibiting her award-winning porcelain sculptural art in a few galleries downtown, following her works selected by the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art earlier this year. I met her on Friday, July 5 at her opening at 10 West Gallery on Anapamu, a contemporary multi-artist showcase location. There Joan is showing […]
Lea másOn a personal note, I remember Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli, who has died in Rome aged 96. I met the Oscar nominee a number of times with New York socialite Mary Mead Carter, a good friend of the helmsman of the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, and the 1999 gem Tea with Mussolini, starring […]
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After “kinging” as George III in the Village Fourth with Justin Bieber watching, for the seventh consecutive year with Dallas dynamo Charles Ward, Santa Barbara Polo Club promoter as George Washington, in his Mercedes convertible driven by British author Deborah Richards, I dashed off to the harbor to board former Santa Barbara Yacht Club commodore […]
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Hamburgers and hot dogs ruled the menu when the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission held its 11th annual Independence Day barbecue in the parking lot at its newly renovated property on East Yanonali Street. More than 300 homeless guests enjoyed 560 hamburgers and hotdogs, and 27 pounds of macaroni and potato salad, while quaffing hundreds of […]
Lea másLocal culinary whiz Michael Hutchings is about give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money! Michael is launching a new cooking show, The Santa Barbara Chef, on the Cox cable network, filming in the Flying A film complex, the original West Coast silent movie studio. The first 30-minute show debuts next month, featuring gourmet recipes […]
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It was a magical mystery tour when Friends of Santa Barbara Public Library hosted a Kinsey Trolley Tour, Talk and Treats, for more than 100 fans of the late local bestselling author Sue Grafton, known for her alphabet series of books with private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Grafton, a former Hollywood screenwriter who died two years […]
Lea másFormer International adventure racer, Santa Barbara’s Heather Bond is reuniting with an old friend, TV mogul and producer Mark Burnett, after more than two decades in what is described as the world’s most grueling expedition race, The Eco-Challenge. The ten-episode show, which will be held over three weeks in Fiji in September and airing on […]
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