“This too shall pass!” Until it does, how about some armchair traveling. You don’t have to get on a cruise ship, just a boat, to get to Catalina Island. It’s the only one of eight Channel Islands to have an incorporated city, Avalon. “Twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is waitin’ for me. Santa […]
Former Montecito funnyman John Cleese is not exactly raking in the big bucks. John, who rose to fame as a cast member with Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers, has revealed a paltry royalty payment he received for narrating the film Winnie the Pooh, stating that one check totaled all of 20 cents. John, […]
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The Santa Barbara Polo Club is delaying the start of its 109th season, which was scheduled to kick off on May 1, because of the coronavirus. Instead, the hotly anticipated initial equestrian event, the Folded Hills Pope Challenge, has been rescheduled for May 15, with the 12-goal schedule continuing through July 5. “The club is […]
Award-winning writer and producer Vicki Riskin, who wrote a delightful book about her parents, Oscar winning screenwriter Robert Riskin and King Kong actress Fay Wray, has been nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best biography, 2019. The awards, which were scheduled to be announced later this month, have now been postponed until […]
The elderly residents of Casa Dorinda, currently under lockdown because of the coronavirus, are waxing poetic! Longtime resident Linda Beuret says residents are watching movies and participating in exercise classes on Casa TV, while food is delivered to the doors of cottages and rooms. “Keeping six feet from anyone you pass is absolutely mandatory,” says […]
Billionaire L.A. real estate developer Rick Caruso is also doing his considerable best during this pandemic. Despite having now closed the Rosewood Miramar temporarily, he is still paying staff who work at the 124-room, 27-suite hostelry, which opened a year ago. In a further effort to support our rarefied enclave and thank the heroic first […]
Unity Shoppe (Unity) is offering free food and other essentials to Santa Barbarans who are now unemployed or unable to work due to the spread and impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. To meet the overwhelming need, Unity has consolidated its offerings to food distribution alone and now estimates it is serving more than three times […]
On a personal note, I mark the passing of movie cowboy Stuart Whitman, who has died at his Montecito home aged 92 after complications from skin cancer. A charming man, who I would speak to often at Pierre Lafond, Stuart was best known for co-starring with John Wayne in the 1961 movie The Comancheros. Stuart, […]
As if the coronavirus restrictions weren’t enough, Milt and Arlene Larsen, owners of the Magic Castle opposite the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, have had their computers hacked. “It really was an absolute mess,” says Arlene. “Whoever did it fixed it so we could not send out letters to let everyone know.” The dynamic duo have […]
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Montecito arborist and amateur opera composer Gene Tyburn is on a high note! A video of his opera Macbeth on YouTube has now achieved more than one million views. “It was all filmed in just one take by a friend,” says an elated Gene, owner of TLC Tree Services for more than 45 years, who […]
Direct Relief (DR) was a bustling place for International Women’s Day. Over one hundred folks gathered to learn and to help pack 2,000 hygiene kits for women. To begin the morning there was a baker’s delight of sweets and fruits of many kinds along with a variety of coffees all organized by Kelly Walker and […]
In the past several days, the so-called coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic has spread into California and registered its first infection in Santa Barbara. On March 13, Santa Barbara’s Organic Soup Kitchen announced it is expanding its delivery service to help people stay in and stay healthy during the health scare. “We produce soup and deliver […]
Despite coronavirus concerns, there were few cancellations when Elliot Wuu, winner of the Music Academy of the West’s solo piano competition, performed at Hahn Hall. The 20-year-old, an undergraduate of New York’s Juilliard School showing great finesse, won the recital and a future one at the Chicago Cultural Center on April 1, based on his […]
I was interviewed at Maison Mineards Montecito by KEYT-TV reporter Anikka Abbott on the impact of the coronavirus on cultural and entertainment events in our Eden by the Beach. At the time of the taping most social events were still in place with no cancellations, but after California Governor Gavin Newsom banned gatherings of more […]
