It was Edward Gibbon – himself one of the world’s great historians – who said that History was little more than a record of “the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.” I don’t know about crimes, but you might put my own academic career, which included two degrees in History, among my personal follies and […]
While most of us in Montecito were making merry over the holiday season, former City of Santa Barbara Fire Chief, Pat McElroy, who is now Executive Director of the Partnership (Partnership for Resilient Communities), was pounding the halls of government, along with Montecito land use attorney Joe Cole, permitting guru Suzanne Elledge, and local government […]
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I love a good excuse. “Why can’t you go to the store?” “Be-cause-ah, dear, my bad front tire could blow and sound like a gunshot. Then the police would show up and I could get arrested for creating a disturbance and be put in a damp jail cell where I could catch pneumonia and die.” […]
One of the most famous pieces of literature in the English language is about a talking bird. No, it’s not a parrot or a mynah – and I don’t mean Edward Lear’s accomplished Owl who eloped with a Pussy-Cat, and could sing and play the guitar while operating a sailboat. The particular bird I am […]
Last year, a three-year-old video went viral depicting a sea turtle with a plastic straw ensnared in its nose. The tortoise video recorded 30 million hits, setting off a moral panic as teachers all over the country paraded elementary schoolchildren in front of elected officials demanding a straw ban. Film footage of the fabled Pacific […]
The Highway 101 corridor between the Ventura County Line and Santa Barbara is by far the most heavily traveled roadway in Santa Barbara County. Traffic estimates are that by 2020, some 100,000 cars and trucks will pass through Montecito every day. Many of these re-route through local streets, primarily on either the North Jameson frontage […]
You have to wear clothes, at least enough to cover your private parts. It’s generally the law, in most civilized places. In fact, such laws almost define civilization. “Naked savages” populate the lowest level of the social pyramid. But the garb of those on the upper levels, especially (for some reason) the female of the […]
To plan for the future, it is helpful to recall the past. Montecito’s relationship with the 101 highway dates back 92 years to 1927 when residents approached the State Division of Highways asking them to pave the two dirt lanes through Montecito. John Jameson led a crusade to design America’s first scenic parkway, using planted […]
Here and there in your life, you may have come across the expression “A Message to Garcia.” It’s one of those phrases useful in such a wide variety of situations that the original meaning has largely been forgotten. Those words became a cultural icon after appearing as the title of an essay, published in 1899, […]
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While keeping a wary eye on the weather this winter, residents of Montecito are watching their rainfall charts, fearful of a repeat of heavy storms and mandatory evacuation notices. Seared in our minds are personal memories of the 1/9 disaster when a massive debris flow destroyed or damaged 470 homes in Montecito, and brutally took […]
Brunhilda did not like our diversion, “Make a u-turn, Dummkopf!! A u-turn.” German GPS units can be quite touchy. We were on our way to Linderhof in the Bavarian countryside to see one of King Ludwig II’s many palaces. Ludwig was known as der Märchenkönig – the Fairy Tale King. He also held the titles […]
Why? Why should I do it? Because. Because why? Because They said so. And who are They? They are your Authority Figures, in the shape of your parent, your teacher, employer, minister, officer, judge, ruler – or even your spouse (remember that rash promise to “Love, honor, and obey”?). A powerful bunch, I must say […]
As far as I know, God never bothers about what’s right and what’s wrong. Even so, we’ve always been gifted with self-professed intermediaries, from the days of Moses descending Mount Sinai bearing holy commandments inscribed on tablets of stone, all the way to the “televangelists” of today, telling us in no uncertain terms how God […]
Nearly 400 years ago on August 5, 1620, two wooden sailing ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, set off from England headed for the New World. Unfortunately, the Speedwell leaked at 300 miles out, forcing both ships to turn back to England. The Speedwell’s passengers were rapidly transferred to the already overcrowded Mayflower, which finally […]
