The Montecito foothills are more than a thousand miles from both the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and NASA’s headquarters in Houston – not to mention 234,000 miles from the moon – but the rolling greenery amounts to much more than a footnote for part-time Montecito resident Steven C. Barber spearheading a project to fashion […]
Lea másComing to the end of this tough, transformative year, we need to celebrate a new beginning more than ever. Although the first of January is a calendar event, it could be seen as part of a continuum that goes from the Winter Solstice to mid-January. Since early humans first noticed the sun cycles of light […]
Lea másHow do you gather food lovers together for a tour of downtown Santa Barbara’s most notable eateries in the midst of a global pandemic in which both indoor and outdoor dining are off limits? Taste Santa Barbara Tours seems to have found the answer: by offering safely social distanced walking tours featuring take-out food that’s […]
Lea másDo we, as the people of the United States of America, want to be a democracy? This is the fundamental question behind the several articles being grouped under the title “Escaping Minority Rule.” Historically we know the founders wanted to create minority rule and they went to great lengths to ensure that some people (primarily […]
Lea másSBIFF’s first Film Talk of the year features Paul Walter Hauser, who got his start as a stand-up comedian before turning to acting where he has enjoyed a number of noteworthy roles. In addition to a litany of TV series guest shots and a few recurring roles, he proved a scene stealer at the movies […]
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A new gourmet food boutique is slated to open for business this weekend, in the new commercial space next to Folded Hills Wine Tasting Room in developer John Price’s mixed-use building at Olive Mill. Jules Coast Caviar is an emporium for the finest foodstuffs from the West Coast and beyond, carefully curated by owners and […]
Lea másWhen I moved to Santa Barbara in 1993, I was struck not only by the area’s beauty – the opportunity to play volleyball daily on pristine East Beach, the nearby mountains – but also by the rich cultural opportunities. I was mesmerized by the extensive listings in what was then called SBCC Adult Ed (now […]
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The Carsey-Wolf Center’s Pollock Theater’s pandemic-pivot programming, which barely paused for the holidays, has jumped right back into the virtual fray with the start of the new year. The “Subversives” series gets going over Zoom on Thursday, January 7, with a discussion of Lingua Franca, written and directed by and starring Isabel Sandoval. The 2019 […]
Lea másDr. Mohamed Samir “Sam” Amer died at his second home in Punta del Este, Uruguay, on December 21, 2020. He was 85. Born in Tanta, Egypt, to Mohamed Mohamed Amer and Zeinab Hussein Saad Amer, Sam came to the U.S. in 1958 as a Fulbright scholar to study pharmacology at the University of Illinois at […]
Lea másDarkness Deepens, and Then Light It was the first Sunday evening of a gloomy 2021. We tried our best at making it seem like a “Happy” New Year, full of new hope and promise. But it was not. We had just returned from a dog walk through our Montecito neighborhood and it was usually lovely […]
Lea másHaving completed five years leading Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, Barbara Ben-Horin is leaving the pro-girl nonprofit. Since joining the organization in January 2016 it has expanded its Teen Center programming, overhauled its emergency planning, and advanced its advocacy efforts on behalf of girls’ rights and opportunities. “I deeply believe in Girls Inc.’s vision […]
Lea másWell, let me just say, “whew, what a year that was,” to 2020. Let’s see what 2021 has in store for us, and what we will make of it collectively as a community here in lovely Montecito. As usual, we are having lovely weather and the rain this past week was welcome for sure. More […]
Lea másOn December 31, the Montecito Trails Foundation (MTF) held its inaugural New Year’s Eve trash pickup event on local trails, with dozens of members fanning out along some 90 miles of trails in the front country above town as well as community trails within Montecito, Summerland, and Carpinteria. Because of COVID-19 concerns, the group encouraged […]
Lea másSanta Barbara Public Market is a culinary favorite for devoted foodies who come to sample the unique flavors of local chefs. The 19,400-square-foot gourmet food hall houses seven vendors with culturally diverse culinary offerings in a single location, and can now be combined in a single food order. Outdoor/indoor dining is not available but there […]
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As our community approaches the third anniversary of the 1/9 Thomas Fire Debris Flow, we find ourselves in the third consecutive disaster we’ve faced as a community, and this time it’s a global pandemic. This Saturday, we’d love to gather everyone, come together as a community, and remember those we lost in the early morning […]
Lea másComic Relief For the funniest line ever to appear in the Journal, the Oscar goes to: “As of press time, Jesus Christ was unavailable for comment due to commitments elsewhere.” LOL, LOL, LOL! Thanks Nick, I needed that. LeeAnn MorganMontecito Identifying Dangerous Mask Deniers How will public health officials, ambulance drivers, and the TSA distinguish […]
Lea másThanks to the extended lockdown laws on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, UCSB Arts & Lectures has scrapped its planned live events season slated for February-May in favor of continuing the House Calls and Race to Justice series online. (The updated virtual calendar hadn’t yet been released by our print deadline.) Meanwhile, two of the bigger […]
Lea másOjai Theater Veteran Takes Stark Approach to Male Sex Organ Twenty-five years ago, a then-little-known playwright named Eve Ensler turned the theater world upside down with The Vagina Monologues, comprised of a stark series of stories told in first-person readings that explore experiences with sex, body image, reproduction, menstration, sex work, and many other topics […]
Lea másLooking over my 2020 Filofax calendar (yes, I still use one of those) and reviewing the past year, it’s not nearly as full as previous years. 2020 stated out well enough: it went from meeting friends at Tharios’ Kitchen and Field + Fort, Sunday brunches at El Encanto, Miramar, Four Seasons Biltmore for an Edible […]
Lea másHappy New Year! 2021 is finally here and while I’ve never been more ecstatic to watch the ball drop in Times Square, I know a number does not a miracle make. As much as we crave instant relief from the dumpster fire that was 2020 and the pandemic that defined it, unfortunately none of the […]
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