Foam on the Range

Santa Barbara County firefighters are blazing a trail with their first Foam Fest in Carpinteria on Saturday, with a foam board surf contest followed by a benefit concert at the Padaro Beach Grill with local groups King Zero and Cornerstone.

The boffo beach bash, with costumes encouraged, is being organized by Santa Barbara district attorney Joyce Dudley‘s son, Sam Dudley, along with Hugh Montgomery, Ian Mather, Eddie Luparello, and Kelly Hahn.

“We’re trying to raise money so we can better serve our community by investing in our youth,” says event chairman Sam. “As firefighters, it’s our duty to serve our community 24/7, on and off the clock.”

An admirable sentiment.

By Any Other Name

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow won her Oscar for Shakespeare in Love at the age of 26.

And at 27, she got a rude awakening about her swollen head when her director father, Bruce, warned her about “becoming an a******e.”

Gwyneth, now 46 and married again to producer Brad Falchuk, says: “I was just believing my own hype, thinking that I was awesome,” when her father gave her a talking to.

“And he was like, ‘You’re getting weird. You’re acting like a d**k,” the Goop founder recalled.

“When you achieve the kind of fame I did by the time I was 25 or 26, the world starts removing all your obstacles because you’re now a “special person.'”

By way of example, she tells Marie Claire U.K.: “You don’t have to wait in line at a restaurant, and if a car doesn’t show up, someone else gives you theirs.

“There is nothing worse for the growth of a human being than not having obstacles and disappointments, and things go wrong. All of my greatest achievements have come out of failure.”

Rarified Air

Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second-eldest son, is no doubt breathing a huge sigh of relief now that the U.K.’s ITV has agreed to broadcast his daughter, Princess Eugenie‘s wedding on Friday.

The BBC, as I wrote here, turned down the chance to air her nuptials to wine merchant Jack Brooksbank, 32, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, because they thought it wouldn’t garner the boffo ratings of Prince Harry‘s wedding to Meghan Markle at the same location in May.

ITV’s show will run for three hours, giving viewers the chance to see the celebrity guests arriving and climaxing with the Queen’s 28-year-old granddaughter leaving the historic chapel in her wedding gown.

In the U.S., the cable channel TLC is also covering the event, which will be attended by all members of the Royal Family, live for three hours.

Sightings: Oscar winner Kevin Costner and family noshing at Olio Pizzeria…Rocker Alan Parsons checking out SOhO…Rocker Dave Crosby dining at Opal

Readers with tips, sightings and amusing items for Richard’s column should email him at richardmineards@verizon.net or send invitations or other correspondence to the Journal.

To reach Priscilla, email her at priscilla@sanatabarbaraseen.com or call 969-3301.