12 Nov 2024
Camerata Acclaim
Camerata Pacifica’s latest show at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall was an absolute gem with works by Fukushima, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, and Schoenberg. Flutist Yoobin Son playing “Mei, for Solo Flute” opened the concert with Rachmaninoff’s “Moments Musicaux.” Stravinsky’s “Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet” with Jose Franch-Ballester was the penultimate performance, with Schoenberg’s […]
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What to Stream Next
Prince William and his younger Montecito-based brother Prince Harry have now found themselves on opposite sides of a media rivalry. The Prince of Wales’s latest initiative, focused on tackling homelessness, is the subject of a British ITV documentary, marking a significant step in his efforts to bring awareness to social issues. Slated to air in […]
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Walk A Mile In Someone Else’s Phone
It’s hard to break my heart these days. I’ve become so inured to hateful remarks. To bad manners. I know I’m not the only one who feels exhausted by the toxically divisive politics of this moment. The hubris we all bring to every conversation that treads whatsoever into politics. It all feels so depressingly… normal. […]
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5 Nov 2024
We Believe
Many years ago I was gamboling about the Peabody Charter school playground with my toddler, a redheaded sunflower (today a 6’ grizzled Viking). At a given moment, another little boy of about six years old approached out of the blue, stood before me, and without preamble began declaiming. “There’s no such thing as ghosts or […]
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Time Off
With more and more of our work now being done by machines, the question naturally arises, how are we to spend all that “leisure” time? One answer is “Recreation.” But what are we re-creating? According to the Old Testament account, which we call Genesis, the whole world was created by God in six days – […]
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New Beginnings with ‘The Boys’
For the last several years, New Beginnings’ annual fall fundraiser has moved beyond the typical wine-and-dine gala concept to actually put the focus on the longtime nonprofit’s areas of service – via presenting a theatrical event that mirrors themes of issues it works to combat. This year’s offering, The Boys Next Door, examines issues of […]
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Art & Letters Anniversaries
A couple of major theaters in town have been celebrating centennial anniversaries of a sort this year, while in February the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will turn 40. But in between, two well-established art galleries are also having 40th birthdays, and the city’s most enduring bookstore is marking a major milestone as well – […]
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Focus on Film
Trick question: Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – one of this summer’s hits –twice as good as the 1988 original? Not so much, which is why seeing Tim Burton’s now-classic 36-year-old Beetlejuice on Halloween seems like a special sort of holiday treat as it opens the Ojai Film Festival with a free screening in Libbey Park. The […]
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Don’t Suffer the Same Fate
I’ve lived in Pacific Palisades for 22 years, and lived through Caruso’s redevelopment of our downtown area into a modern shopping mall. He was clever in his approach – buying up and closing down local businesses for years so that when the time came to present his plans, much of our community supported it, because […]
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Clarification on Recusal from MPC Hearing
I’d like to clarify a couple of points regarding my recusal from last Friday’s MPC hearing. I did give an ex parte declaration at the beginning of the meeting as is required. I gave some specific names and also at the end said that I had also spoken with a great many neighbors, especially some […]
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Community on Board: Music Academy Hearing at the BOS
The Music Academy of the West will be in front of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors (BOS) on Tuesday, November 5th to review its request to update the Music Academy’s 2004 Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The key project changes being requested at this time include: 1. Eliminating the on-site retail shops and reintroducing […]
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In Conversation with Ritz-Carlton Bacara GM Bradley Cance
Since his appointment in June, Bradley Cance, General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, has been busily connecting with our town and redesigning signature luxury experiences at the resort; a project that includes the appointment of a new Executive Chef, Rebecca Tillman. Clearly one of the elites in hospitality management, Cance comes to us most affably […]
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101 Highway Updates – Yes, It’s Complicated
It’s not you, it’s them. You know, the construction on Highway 101. The once beautiful peaceful drive now best described by locals as, “Sorry-not-sorry I’m late [again], I took the 101, tried the side streets and well, it’s complicated. And yes, my car needs a daily bath.” That along with the recent logical rant, “We […]
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Fear: What Are We so Afraid of?
Before I became a mother, I had some pretty run-of-the-mill, irrational fears; snakes, heights, and flying cockroaches, to be exact. Well, not really heights, per se, but falling from great heights was a big concern. And did I mention the snakes? Many years later, when we had our first child, these irrational stressors I had […]
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Panamanian Bat Basket
HH has a lovely 10” tall Panamanian basket made by indigenous Darién Rainforest artists in the Wounaan tradition; you will see a lifelike bat design woven into the fibers. I would like to tell you that these naturalistic designs have been part of the tradition for thousands of years, but that would be misleading. Not […]
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Journey Through Santa Barbara’s Premier Vineyards
This summer I reveled in the opportunity to traverse the vine-strewn expanses of Santa Barbara Wine Country, a treasure trove of over 300 wineries, each catering to a diverse palette of taste buds. As a dedicated Santa Barbara wine writer, each visit to these local vineyards is both a discovery and a homecoming. The region, […]
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Christmas Festival Offers a ‘Dwelling Place’
Westmont celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Christmas Festival, a highlight for many in Santa Barbara during Advent, on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7 pm and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3 pm, both at the Santa Barbara Granada Theatre. Tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 4, at 10 am at westmont.edu/christmas-festival. For additional ticket information […]
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Talk to Explore Maternity Care Deserts
Hospitals have increasingly been closing maternity departments around the country, including in California. Stephanie Curtis, a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Westmont instructor of nursing, examines the issue of maternity care deserts in a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Delivering in the Desert: The Impact of Maternity Ward Closures,” on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 pm at the Community […]
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Warriors Race to PacWest Honors
Westmont senior Zola Sokhela finished fifth at the PacWest Cross Country Championships in Irvine to claim First All-PacWest honors. The men’s team finished in fourth place out of 11 schools in the 8K race. Westmont’s men in the conference 8K – a pair of All-PacWest athletes – led the Warriors to a fourth place finish. […]
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Volleyball Celebrates Seniors
The Westmont women’s volleyball team (10-9, 5-7 PacWest) will celebrate its seniors Kaili Hashimoto, Sara Krueger, and Taylor Distelberg on Friday, Nov. 1, at 7 pm prior to a match against Menlo College in Murchison Gym. Krueger leads the team with 179 kills. The Warriors have been stuck in the middle of the 14-team PacWest […]
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