Tag archives: Orlando Bloom

Birthday on the Backcourt
By Richard Mineards   |   November 2, 2023

Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry celebrated turning 39 in grand style – showing off her pickleball skills against British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom at the inaugural Light Up the Court event for her Firework Foundation, which she founded in 2019 with her sister, Angela Lerche. Racketeers galore turned out at the Montecito Club for the […]

The Creative Collier
By Richard Mineards   |   October 10, 2023

Five-time Grammy Award-winning music genius Jacob Collier, making his Santa Barbara debut, wowed the audience at Campbell Hall when USCB Arts & Lectures launched its 64th season. London-born Collier, 29, creates mesmerizing soundscapes using layered vocal tracks and sophisticated editing techniques. His multi-frame, multi-instrumental viral videos and impressive Grammy wins have earned him a devoted […]

Production in Progress
By Richard Mineards   |   August 22, 2023

Prince Harry and his actress wife Meghan Markle are planning a production of Canadian novelist Carley Fortune’s romance Meet Me at the Lake. The New York Times bestseller, Fortune’s second novel is a story about two long lost lovers whose paths cross by chance a decade after first meeting. Netflix or the Sussexes paid around […]

Fine Design in Theater
By Richard Mineards   |   August 1, 2023

My item last week on the historic Lobero Theatre being chosen as one of the world’s 11 most beautiful by society glossy Town & Country prompted a call from Montecito philanthropist Anne Towbes saying that another of the theaters on the list, Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida, was designed by Montecito architectBarton Myers, 88. The […]

Motown Magic
By Richard Mineards   |   April 11, 2023

The audience at the Lobero was transported back to the Swinging ‘60s when Los Angeles-based tribute band The Magical Music of Motown returned to the historic venue after appearing in our Eden by the Beach last May. The vibrant and colorful two-hour show paid homage to the legendary Detroit-based record label. Founded by now 93-year-old […]

An Ongoing Court Trial
By Richard Mineards   |   April 4, 2023

Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow, 50, is used to being in the limelight, but her current appearance in a Utah courtroom – where she is being sued for $300,000 over a 2016 ski crash on the slopes of the Deer Valley Resort in Park City – must be quite a new experience. Retired Soda Springs optometrist […]

Local Children to Attend School
By Richard Mineards   |   February 28, 2023

Prince Harry and former actress wife Meghan Markle are eyeing entering their two children, Archie and Lilibet, at a local private school, I can exclusively reveal. The Riven Rock twosome were spotted inspecting an institution’s campus last week, bringing them one-step closer to a decision. School fees in our area range from $6,000 to $50,000+ […]

Filling Empty Bowls
By Richard Mineards   |   November 29, 2022

Santa Barbara Empty Bowls celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Foodbank’s Hollister Avenue warehouse when 800 supporters and 50 volunteers, including Congressman Salud Carbajal and Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte, turned out to help raise around $100,000 for the cause. Soups From the Heart provided a selection of liquid refreshments, including Asian noodle, Tuscan whole bean, […]

A Birnam Birthday
By Richard Mineards   |   November 8, 2022

Social gridlock reigned at the Birnam Wood Club when real estate investor and inventor Ray Winn, 88, hosted a birthday bash for his partner of 34 years Peter Kavoian, who was celebrating the 16th anniversary of his half century, and Peter’s mother Anna who is 92. The tony twosome, who split their time between their […]

A Not-So-Saintly Night
By Richard Mineards   |   October 25, 2022

Beatification can have its drawbacks as this illustrious organ’s bridle correspondent Lynn Kirst, who has been Fiesta’s Saint Barbara for the last year, found out. She has now ditched her white go-go boots and ornate gown, celebrating with a boffo bash for 75 guests at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, a prize she won at […]

Arod Around Again
By Richard Mineards   |   April 5, 2022

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 […]

Slice of Life
By Richard Mineards   |   February 1, 2022

The Broadway run of the show Waitress may have ended prematurely because of COVID, but the American Theatre Guild’s touring production at the Granada served up a highly entertaining show. With music and lyrics by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles, the production, based on a 2007 comedy-drama film of the same name, is about a young […]

An Angelic Evening
By Richard Mineards   |   December 7, 2021

Santa Barbara’s Veterans Memorial Building was socially gridlocked when 600 guests turned out for the first Thanksgiving dinner organized by Adam’s Angels, a 20-month-old nonprofit founded by Montecito realtor Adam McKaig and fellow resident Crystal Iverson. “I couldn’t do anything with real estate during the pandemic, so I asked if I could help during this […]

Pure Class
By Richard Mineards   |   October 19, 2021

John Daly, the Santa Barbara Foundation’s 78th Man of the Year, and his wife, Marti, celebrated his accolade with a bash for 50 guests at their charming Samarkand home. John, who I’ve known for many years, founded the Key Class, recognized for helping high school students learn skills needed to create a lifetime of opportunities. […]

Music to our Ears
By Richard Mineards   |   April 1, 2021

Former Music Academy of the West fellow Jacopo Giacopuzzi is using his keyboard skills in his new profession as a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway in Montecito. Jacopo, who hails from Verona, Italy, moved to the Left Coast in 2013 to start his master’s degree at USC after being a fellow at the Miraflores campus. Since […]

The Rock Star Raffle
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 12, 2020

It takes not only a surfeit of talent but also a lot of moxie to go from singing in a church choir and performing gospel music as a teen to achieving international pop stardom as a young adult. Katy Perry, born in Santa Barbara in 1984 as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, surely has plenty of both.  […]

Welcome to the Neighborhood
By Richard Mineards   |   November 5, 2020

It was just four months ago that singer Ariana Grande splashed out $6.75 million for a Tudor-style home, The Porter House, consisting of two bedrooms and three bathrooms in two antique barns that had been imported from England, and just a month later Prince Harry and his wife Meghan spent $14.5 million for a nine-bedroom, […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   August 6, 2020

The Truth About Kelp I read with interest Mr. Zach Rosen’s article on Chris Goldblatt’s reef project. I am uncertain if Mr. Rosen was obtaining his information from Chris, but his initial statements are inaccurate under any circumstances. First, El Niño events are directly correlated with warm waters and heavy rainfall. Not, “droughts” as he […]

A Mighty Force
By Gretchen Lieff   |   July 30, 2020

Missing. The anguish never goes away. Missing something or someone, it’s one of the great common denominators. No matter who you are or what you have, such deep loss is irretrievable. Nineteen months ago my beloved border collie dogs, eight-year-old Daisy and her one-year-old puppy companion Diesel, disappeared from my ranch in rural San Luis […]

Hope is Here
By Richard Mineards   |   April 30, 2020

Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner has launched a new plush toy version to raise money for coronavirus relief. Ty, owner of the Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch, has been putting up New York medical workers free of charge at his five-star Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan, as I have chronicled in this illustrious organ. […]