Arod Around Again

After two years of pandemic restrictions, the Mary Craig Auditorium at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art echoed to the strains of music again when the Paris-based Arod Quartet, a Fab Four of players in their 20s, entertained. They shot to global fame – winning the coveted first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, having already taken first prize at the Carl Nielsen Chamber Music competition in Copenhagen.

Three years ago, the talented musicians undertook their first U.S. tour, which featured its inaugural Carnegie Hall, New York, performance – one of the only European chamber ensembles to make its debut at the hallowed venue on their first trip to America. With a program including Mozart’s “String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, Dissonance,” Bartok’s “String Quartet No. 1 in A minor,” and Ravel’s “String Quartet in F Major,” they couldn’t fail to please.

Ground Support

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry’s British actor fiancé, Orlando Bloom, has traveled to the Ukrainian border, where he’s on the ground supporting refugees fleeing the country following Russian president Putin’s invasion in February. The Lord of the Rings star, 45, is spending time in Moldova, a short distance from the war-torn country, helping families as part of his efforts with UNICEF. Orlando took to his Instagram account to share some heartbreaking photos of the moment he met a mother of three who evacuated Ukraine with her youngsters after their neighbors’ home was attacked.

Writing to his 5.7 million followers, he said, “They don’t know where to go next, but Mum just wants her children to be safe.” Orlando, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2019, says the supporters of the international nonprofit “are united for children and families seeking protection.” Bloom-ing good work…

Silver Screen Spy

The life of American model turned spy, Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones, could be heading to the big screen. The aristocrat, who died in 2017, aged 94, was the subject of a book, The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis, who is now in talks to make it a major movie. Aline, who I knew in Manhattan as the neighbor of a good friend, top realtor Charles Curkin – the father of my godson (also named Charles) and an editor at Elle Decor – wrote several books full of tales of her escapades, including tracing down looted Nazi art, being kidnapped outside a country club, and shooting a man at point blank range. The daughter of a printing press manufacturer, she was quite a gal!

Back to the Stars

Montecito actor Christopher Lloyd won’t be time traveling, but he is getting ready to step into a story set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Lloyd, 83, is joining the third season of the hit TV show The Mandalorian, which is set in the Star Wars Universe. The series is in the middle of shooting its third season in California. It follows a bounty hunter who stumbles across a child with the Force and becomes his protector.

Queen’s Rubgood in the Bathtub

Queen Elizabeth, who will be 96 next month, has launched her own brand of posh washing up liquid at around $20 a bottle. Her Majesty has just started marketing her pricey bubbles at her 20,000-acre Sandringham estate in Norfolk for about five times the cost of a bottle of Palmolive. The Natural Dish wash, which claims the scent of coastal walks, has the exclusive estate’s logo on the front of the 500 ml bottle, which uses the finest botanical ingredients.

It comes after the monarch – who celebrates her Platinum Jubilee in June, marking 70 years on the British throne – launched a Sandringham brand of dog shampoo and cologne for pampered pooches in February, with a “rich, musky scent with citrus notes of bergamot,” selling for around $15. Paws for thought…

In Makela We Trust

Craig Makela has become Lifetime Director of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, its highest honor. Makela, an eighth-generation local resident who descends from Presidio solider Luis Quintero, is known locally as the founder of the Santa Barbara Olive Company. He sold the business a few years ago and soon started a new venture, California Coast Naturals and Oleavicin, with wife, Cindy. The companies produce natural organic olive-based products. Makela previously served as SBTHP present and a board member for many years. He is also active at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. His son, Cody, is on the SBTHP board, and another son, Chad, is actively involved with the Maritime Museum.

Coming Soon:
Mineards on Ice

Our rarefied enclave was the focus of millions of French eyes last week when its biggest network, TF1, aired a 15-minute segment on our tony town with yours truly, Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and Desperate Housewives actor Jesse Metcalfe. A two-person crew for the show, 50 Minutes Inside, flew in from Paris and Miami when I gave them a guided tour of our unique community of 10,000 residents.

The show, which also airs in Belgium and Switzerland, also featured Ty Warner’s San Ysidro Ranch and Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar. Metcalfe memorably described Montecito as “Wisteria Lane on steroids!” I’m told the program got boffo ratings. Magnifique!

Fulfilling Dreams

Ventura local Marcy Ornelas, husband Donald, and their 13-year-old daughter Shoshanna are off to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, courtesy of Santa Barbara’s Dream Foundation. Diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer that has recently spread, music has always been a positive constant in Marcy’s life.

“I can leave somewhere in a terrible mood, put the radio on as I drive, and after a few songs my stress melts off and I can go home feeling good, acting as a better wife and mother,” she explains. She asked the foundation to help with a special family trip and will be traveling by train to Cleveland, with hosts from Airbnb donating a two-day stay in the city. Music to everyone’s ears….

Silver Screen Spy

The life of American model turned spy, Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones, could be heading to the big screen. The aristocrat, who died in 2017, aged 94, was the subject of a book, The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis, who is now in talks to make it a major movie. Aline, who I knew in Manhattan as the neighbor of a good friend, top realtor Charles Curkin – the father of my godson (also named Charles) and an editor at Elle Decor – wrote several books full of tales of her escapades, including tracing down looted Nazi art, being kidnapped outside a country club, and shooting a man at point blank range. The daughter of a printing press manufacturer, she was quite a gal!