Think of the Young Playwrights Festival as a reverse Launch Pad. The springtime program at Ensemble Theatre Company’s New Vic Theater gives aspiring playwrights ages 14-19 the opportunity to create a play that is produced and staged with professional directors and actors, and then presented as a staged reading at the theater. The Young Playwrights […]
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I’ve had many rabbis in my life – people who have given me spiritual counsel, friends, family members, and yes, clergy, who have been there with me and for me in life’s big and small moments – people whose wisdom I depend on when mine is hard to find. Rabbi Steve Cohen is the senior […]
Lea másMany years ago, in a land far, far away (New Hampshire), one of my neighbors told me that the reason his yard was so healthy was that he talked to his plants every day. I laughed. “Do they talk back?” I asked. “Ayup,” he said. I went home, locked the front door, and said to […]
Lea másMontecito just got a little more delicious. The latest gem to grace the neighborhood is Ospi – a California-Italian restaurant with a bold Brooklyn soul and an unmistakable Westside edge. It’s not just another opening, it’s an invitation to live la dolce vita, one forkful of rigatoni alla vodka at a time, which by the […]
Lea másWho do you think of when you hear the word “elites”? The term has come to mean “educated.” But 100 years ago, it was about economic power. And most people understood which party stood for the economic elites. Franklin Roosevelt made this point very clearly in his 1936 acceptance speech for the Democratic Party nomination: […]
Lea másThe Santa Barbara Bodhi Path Buddhist Center has been offering a high-quality curriculum of instruction in Buddhist meditation practice and philosophy ever since its founding in 1997 at the direction of Shamar Rinpoche. Generations of students have come to learn and practice in a modern, non-sectarian environment focused on authentic Buddhist teachings taught and practiced […]
Lea másBL, a budding Gen Z art afficionado, asked if the fine art print market is a good investment. A great question, and the answer is “YES!” for some types of prints created in select eras in certain styles (for example Pop Art is strong today). Let’s look at the world of prints, often called “multiples,” […]
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It wasn’t exactly what we’d planned for. My high school friend Annie joined me to celebrate our mutual June birthdays. We planned a trip to San Diego and Valle De Guadalupe, Baja. She took Amtrak from Union Station to Oceanside; I picked her up at the train station and we sped down to the recently […]
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Once upon a time, and for thousands of years, steelhead trout gamboled and bred in the dancing creek of Arroyo Hondo on the Gaviota Coast. By 1919, a tall train trestle and a beautiful open-spandrel arch bridge rose high above the stream bed near the ocean. Below these towering roadways, the trout continued traveling merrily […]
Lea másIf a crime could ever be called delightful, Abbi Waxman is its likely author. Her latest One Death at a Time will have readers laughing all the way to the final page. Julia is a former actress newly arrested for the murder of her sworn enemy who, most inconveniently, was found floating in her pool […]
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I used to call myself a sort of minor-league celebrity. Different people, I have found, have different standards for what they consider fame or notoriety. To some, in the old days of print media, it was a matter of how widely you or your photographed image appeared – nationally or internationally – in newspapers, magazines, […]
Lea másMy parents met at a serviceman’s dance in 1942. I’m grateful for having been born to a couple whose generation continues to suffuse me like gentle lamplight through drawn rayon curtains. Theirs was a world of scotch-and-soda, weekend bridge with the neighbors, dancing at the Officer’s Club, service to country, and music. We had one […]
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Led by bagpipes under overcast skies, about 340 graduates made their Last March from Kerrwood Hall down to Thorrington Field where they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas on May 3. Retiring professor and Commencement speaker Jim Taylor (’78) encouraged the graduates to do something unexpected – to pull out and use their […]
Lea másState Street Ballet closes out its 30th season with The Brilliance Program: Balanchine, Arpino, and Beyond, a title meant to characterize the works featured on the May 9-10 performances at the Lobero Theatre – but also apropos for the company’s spectacular season, the first full one under the leadership of Artistic Director Megan Phillips and […]
Lea másIn a strange situation for an often ballet-starved town, the Arlington Theatre is also hosting a prime example of the art form this week – for the first time since the local Festival Ballet’s annual performances of The Nutcracker last December – as the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine presents Sleeping Beauty on May 13. […]
Lea másThis year’s annual Santa Barbara visit by the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Friday, May 9, at the Granada not only closes out CAMA’s orchestral International Series for 2025-26, but also serves as the penultimate concert in president Mark Trueblood’s CAMA career after 27 years at the helm. It’s rather appropriate, as the LA Phil was […]
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Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights, UCSB Reads’ 2025 selection, is a New York Times bestselling collection of essays – written daily over the course of a year – celebrating small, ordinary wonders. Gay’s humorous, poetic and philosophical essays cover a wide range of topics, with vignettes that include such luminous oddities as sharing a […]
Lea másAt the recent Budget Workshops, County Health presented their 2025-2026 budget that included $119M in spending and 539 full-time employees. Given the scale, I thought I would sit with Director, Dr. Mouhanad Hammami to learn a bit more about what they do. Dr. Hammami’s urbane charm and dapper style – he really is the best […]
Lea másMothers’ Helpers, a local nonprofit serving low-income families with infants, will host a Mother’s Day Drive at Montecito Fire Department. Community members are invited to drop off new or gently used baby items from 11 am to 1 pm on May 10. Items most needed include infant and convertible car seats, strollers, pack ‘n’ plays, […]
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The C.A.R.E4Paws organization held a “Happy Tails Celebration and Fundraiser” event on Sunday, May 4, at the Cabrillo Pavilion. The event focused on celebrating the organization’s establishment 16 years ago this May, its mission, and the work it does for pets and their owners on the Central Coast. Starting with a silent auction during […]
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