Grief is Good – Kim Cantin expresses why grief is a necessary mechanism for moving forward after tragedy, P.10
Mozart Mayhem – The Symphony’s Nir Kabaretti and the team are ready to release some Mozart on the audience, P.18
The SBMA Trustees prepare to host the 1st gala of its kind, page 14
Riskin’s Record – After a record-breaking year, Robert Riskin talks about what makes their services so special, P.20
Roy Lee is officially sworn in as 1st District Santa Barbara County Supervisor with the MJ’s Gwyn Lurie giving the Keynote Address (Read her full speech on page 5 and more about the ceremony on page 27)
From escaping L.A. to becoming kings of home furnishings, Mike and Garret are all about making your house a home, page 6
Raising Our Light
Montecito will never forget the 23 lives we lost… the community prepares to gather for the 7th anniversary of the 1/9 Debris Flow, page 11
For a ladies’ night... or any night ... enjoy easy eats and live music every evening
Beings & Doings – When Mike Gustason dreamed up a new life, quit town, and rebooted, he may not have fully anticipated “Mattress Mike.” Or a muchloved dynasty with a guy named Garret.
Brilliant Thoughts – Feel at home with Ashleigh’s musings on what it means to go back there
An Independent Mind – Jeffrey responds to Congressman Carbajal’s email asking what Congress should focus on in 2025
18 News Bytes – A New Year poem, plus new admission fees for the SB Maritime Museum, the annual bird count, hiking for CADA, and Crime in the ‘Cito
On Entertainment – The Symphony’s season is off to a movin’ Mozart start, Rubicon launches The Acting Company, and other musical mayhem
20 On Business – Riskin Partners set new records this year, and Robert Riskin has an idea why
22 Your Westmont – Multimedia art exhibit explores WILDLAND, and new nurses graduate Elizabeth’s Appraisals – “Hotel art” is no longer a derogatory term as these boutique lodges are now offering exhibit-quality works on their walls
26 Far Flung Travel – Through high tides and rowdy rookeries – Chuck and Holly walk along the Lost Coast
27 Local News – SBC 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee is officially sworn in with speeches and a jazzy fanfare
36 Calendar of Events – The films of Jacques Audiard get a retrospective, Couplets at AFSB, Ed Smith plays SOhO, and other happenings
38 Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales
39 Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles
Local Business Directory – Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer
by Gwyn Lurie
[Speech Transcript: Board of Supervisors’ Induction Ceremony, January 7, 2025]
Good morning. It’s a true honor to be here today. I still believe that public service, when done right, is one of the loftier things a human being can do. And I have the utmost respect for what all of you here have chosen to take on. None of you are getting rich off this. At least that’s the plan. It feels slightly poetic for me to be standing here today. It’s a matter of public record I was an “early adopter” of Laura Capps and also, we, the Montecito Journal, were the first to endorse candidate, now Supervisor, Roy Lee. So, Roy, congratulations on being seated here today. And congratulations to the Montecito Journal for its prescience.
And of course, congratulations and thank you to all the Supervisors, but particularly, today, to Supervisor Laura Capps for being the newly elected Board Chair. And to Supervisor Bob Nelson, Supervisor Joan Hartman and Supervisor Roy Lee for being sworn in as returning and new members of this very important body. Many people don’t know what Supervisors do, but so much that impacts the quality of our daily lives depends on your stewardship and leadership on this board.
I agreed to speak today and am honored to have been asked because this swearing-in somehow feels more important than any “normal” swearing-in. We’re at a moment when our governance, if not our republic, has never felt more precarious, at least not in my 40 short years on this planet. Did I
say 40? I meant 50. Or thereabouts.
Consider the bizarre context in which this swearing-in is taking place. Let’s look at the mere one week that’s passed since the Dumpster Fire of ‘24 gave way to the Dumpster Fire of just the first 24 hours of 2025. As Jerry Roberts said, quoting John McCain who was, oddly, quoting Chairman Mao when he said, “It’s always darkest… before it’s pitch black.”
Suffice to say, these are trying times and as Bette Davis said, “Fasten your seatbelts, we’re in for a bumpy ride.”
But I’m not here today to talk about the bumpy ride. I’m here to talk about why local politics matters and has never been more important. Why many of the things that affect us most in our daily lives are under the purview of this board.
I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that we’ve never needed courageous leadership more than we do at this moment… And so, the swearing-in of three supervisors seems like the perfect forum to discuss what good leadership can and should look like. These are things that are not in your job description, but I would urge you to keep them in your arsenal.
First and foremost, I think a good leader provides hope.
In fact, in the political arena, I think hope is tantamount to oxygen. It’s no coincidence that three of our last five presidents made hope a cornerstone of their campaigns.
- President Clinton, famously, campaigned as the “Man from Hope.”
- Barack Obama campaigned almost exclusively on “hope.” I think we all remember those Shepard Fairey posters.
- But even the wording of MAGA contains a hopeful promise: that America will, once more, be great. MAGA promises a bright future… albeit one that is steeped in the past.
If there’s anything the American electorate has made repeatedly made clear, it’s that hope is an essential ingredient of the American pie.
Hope allows people to believe that
Editorial Page 274
by Jeff Wing
any of our most inspiring origin stories begin with a guy frantically trying to get out of
L.A. This is one of those. “My dad and his best friend were doing life transition,” Garret Gustason neatly summarizes.
This is an article about a company called The Furniture Gallery by Mattress Mike, which is the mature iteration of an outfit once called simply “Mattress Mike’s.” On California’s Central Coast, the Mattress Mike’s tag is so familiar and beloved, it almost seems something that emerged alongside the mountains and sea. In fact, the pre-Mattress Mike epoch was defined by a couple of pals just trying to turn a page. “My dad and his best friend both had the same idea,” Gustason says. “They just wanted to change what they were doing. So when I was born my dad was like, ‘Okay – it’s time to get out of Los Angeles!’”
Garret Gustason’s dad, the legendary “Mike” (yes, he is flesh and blood and still walks the showroom floor like a relaxed Obi-Wan) was seeking a new business frontier and found it. “They knew a guy that was in the mattress industry,” Garret explains. “And he said, ‘…hey, I’ll advise you guys on how to get up and running, I’ll mentor you.” In the fullness of time, the two buddies would
each start their own mattress company. Determined to quit L.A., Mike Gustason began casting about for a California town worthy of his flag-planting, a place where growth opportunity and jaw-dropping natural beauty went hand in hand. By the end of the process, Gustason’s choices had boiled down to either Santa Barbara – or a peacock-plagued peninsula called Palos Verdes. These mesmerizing birds – exotic and imperiously graceful – strut around the lush PV environs like Harrah’s Lake Tahoe dancers circa 1968, regally arrayed in a spray of gorgeous plumage. Say, have you ever heard the sound a peacock makes?
“The business started behind Cal Taco in Goleta,” Garret says
“It was a 1,200 square foot warehouse, and when I was working there during the summers, I’d watch these dear older women slowly roll up and look at our store. I could see they were thinking, ‘I don’t know if this is the place...’”
At a glance, Mike’s digs may not have looked like the town’s long-awaited new mattress palace, but in a comparative jiffy locals figured out where the place was – and found being waited on hand and foot by mattress know-it-alls a pleasant buying experience. “You’d see them
drive around the block,” Garret says, “and then they’d come back around like ‘I am in the right spot….’ On the second approach they would see all the mattresses lined up, and they’d hesitantly get out of the car. And then they’d be greeted with a smile, and then the whole demeanor would change, right? They’re like, okay – we’re good!”
Mike and Debbie Bruce with hostess
Mary Gates, Anne Towbes, and host
Bob Gates (photo by
by Richard Mineards
Philadelphia-based South African conductor Andrew Lipke was in fine form when he led the annual Santa Barbara Symphony New Year Pops concert at the Granada featuring a mix of film scores, pop, rock and other hits, with Lipke even swapping his baton for an electric guitar.
Symphony board member Robert Weinman returned as honorary maestro to lead the musicians in the rousing “Thunder and Lightning
Polka” with American Idol contestant Micaela McCall from our Eden by the Beach adding her soulful vocals to the heady mix.
The packed audience, donning party hats after quaffing champagne in the theater lobby, listened to a 90-minute show including John Williams’ “Star
Page 344
MASTERSERIES AT THE LOBERO THEATRE
SEASON SPONSOR: ESPERIA FOUNDATION
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2025, 7:30PM
, piano
Since his historic triumph at the 1970 Chopin Piano Competition, Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as one of the greatest living interpreters of Chopin’s music.
PROGRAM: Nocturnes Op. 15:1 and Op. 9:3; Barcarolle Op. 60; Fantasy Op. 49; Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39; Impromptu Op. 36; and the Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 58
Principal Sponsor: Robert Castle
Sponsors: Alison & Jan Bowlus
Co-Sponsors: Nancy & Byron K. Wood
Concert Partners: Bob Boghosian & Mary E. Gates Warren
INTERNATIONAL SERIES AT THE GRANADA THEATRE
SEASON SPONSOR: SAGE PUBLISHING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025, 7:30PM
Sir Antonio Pappano, Chief Conductor Janine Jansen, violin
Community Arts Music Association and the Music Academy of the West co-present the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Antonio Pappano in his first concert in the United States as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
PROGRAM: BERNSTEIN: Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium MAHLER: Symphony No.1, “Titan”
We graciously acknowledge Linda and Michael Keston as the Lead Sponsors for this concert. CAMA further acknowledges these generous concert sponsors:
Principal Sponsor: The Herbert & Elaine Kendall Foundation
Sponsors: Anonymous • Bob Boghosian & Mary E. Gates Warren • Alison & Jan Bowlus Judith L. Hopkinson • Sara Miller McCune • Ellen & Peter Johnson • Ellen & Thomas Orlando
Co-Sponsors: Elizabeth & Andrew Butcher • Meg & Dan Burnham • Dennis & Frederika Emory Zegar Family Foundation
2024 was an incredible year! I am so grateful for the trust my clients and community have placed in me. Every home bought or sold came with its own story, and being part of those meaningful moments has been a true pleasure and privilege.
As we step into 2025, I’m looking forward to continuing to support my clients in making the best decisions for their future. Whether you’re thinking about selling, buying, or just curious about the market, I’d love to help.
Here’s to a New Year filled with opportunity! Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey.
by Kim Cantin
As this week marks the anniversary of the January 9th Debris Flow that killed 23 of our neighbors, friends, and, in my case, my 48-year-old husband, Dave, my 17-year-old son, Jack, and our family dog, I was deeply disheartened by the column entitled Brilliant Thoughts: Bad Grief by Ashleigh Brilliant . Flipping through the Montecito Journal , I naively thought the piece might address the profound and lingering grief that many in our community experience during this week of remembrance. The January 9, 2018, Debris Flow was a community tragedy that left no one in Montecito untouched – whether through the loss of loved ones, homes, or a shared sense of safety. However, upon reading the article, I was shocked and saddened to find the author dismissing grief as a “waste of time” and labeling it a “sickness.” Since the mudslide tragedy and my personal losses, I believe I have earned a PhD in grieving and have embraced the value of this painful journey toward healing as the necessary mechanism to move forward and be able to thrive in life. As someone who has endured unimaginable loss and navigated the long, arduous journey of healing, I can confidently say that grief is neither a weakness nor a burden to be rushed or dismissed. It is a universal human experience – an essential part of the process of loving and losing. Grief serves as a pathway toward healing, growth, and eventual renewal. To characterize it as “wasting time” diminishes not only the
emotional labor required to process profound loss but also the resilience it takes to continue living. Every individual grieves differently, in their own way and at their own pace. To belittle or shame the grief process is to disregard the deeply personal and transformative nature of this human experience.
Mr. Brilliant views grief as a pathological condition and has several recommendations to intervene. I respectfully challenge his suggestion to remove grief-stricken individuals from their familiar environment as a way to mitigate the grief experience. Grief is not something that can be escaped – it is an expression of love, and the sadness, yearning, and memories associated with loss can be triggered by countless factors such as the days of the week, scents, music, life events, and more, none of which are confined to a specific setting. Research, including works like The Body Keeps the Score, has shown that suppressing or ignoring these triggers can lead to harmful consequences, such as substance abuse, addiction, illness, and severe mental health disorders. Rather than displacing individuals from their environment, the focus should be on equipping them with meaningful tools and strategies to process their grief, navigate the pain, and ultimately move towards healing in a healthy, sustainable way.
Mr. Brilliant is correct about one thing. The cost of grief to society is staggering. According to a report published by Empathy.com in 2024, U.S. businesses lose over $100 billion each year to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and employee turnover related to grief. Dr. Jennifer R. Levin , a
traumatic grief expert and founder of Traumatic Grief Solutions , emphasizes that the most effective way to reduce the societal and workplace costs of grief is by creating programs that actively recognize and support grieving employees. She advocates for a shift in corporate culture to embrace the human realities of loss, allowing workplaces to address grief with compassion and understanding, ultimately minimizing disruption, and fostering resilience. She further states that: “Addressing the natural phenomenon of grief with validation, care, and planning for grief scenarios that will occur is more realistic than removing people from their environment or getting rid of grief.”
American culture stands to gain profoundly from embracing and learning from the diverse customs and traditions that other cultures have developed to cope with grief. Cultures worldwide have over the centuries developed different and varied rituals to help humans process and heal through the grief experience. For centuries, communities around the world have created meaningful rituals to help individuals process loss and foster healing. The ‘Raising Our Light: An Evening of Remembrance, Connection, and Hope,’ taking place on January 9, 2025, at Montecito Union School at 6 pm, represents such a profound ritual—one that has become uniquely significant for our community after enduring a devastating tragedy. Personally, I am deeply grateful for our community’s compassion and dedication to hosting this event, which provides a space for shared healing and reflection. And although seven years have passed since the tragedy, I suspect that, for many of us, attending this gathering will make it feel as though it happened only yesterday.
My grief will never be gone because grief has no timeline. Despite what
Jan 17
Mr. Brilliant says, my grief does, however, have a purpose. It is a way that I have been able to express my love for my husband and son. By allowing myself to grieve I have honored my humanity, fostered deeper connections with others, experienced new forms of personal growth, and fully engaged in the complexities of life.
Though I long for my family’s presence every day, I find solace in the way grief has helped me with healing, offering me strength and a way to express my love and the impact they’ve had on my life.
Executive Editor/CEO | Gwyn Lurie gwyn@montecitojournal.net
President/COO | Timothy Lennon Buckley tim@montecitojournal.net
Managing Editor | Zach Rosen zach@montecitojournal.net
MoJo Contributing Editor | Christopher Matteo Connor
Art/Production Director | Trent Watanabe
Graphic Design/Layout | Stevie Acuña
Administration | Jessikah Fechner
Administrative Assistant | Kassidy Craner VP, Sales & Marketing | Leanne Wood leanne@montecitojournal.net
Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Scott, Natasha Kucherenko
Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick
Proofreading | Helen Buckley
Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz
Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Chuck Graham, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye, Elizabeth Stewart, Beatrice Tolan, Leana Orsua, Jeffrey Harding, Tiana Molony, Houghton Hyatt, Jeff Wing
Gossip | Richard Mineards
History | Hattie Beresford Humor | Ernie Witham
Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri Health/Wellness | Ann Brode, Deann Zampelli
Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook
Food & Wine | Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie, Jamie Knee
Published by: Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108.
How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net
by Zach Rosen
January 9th, 2018, is a night that Montecito will never forget, yet nature has provided some unwanted reminders. In 2023, heavy rains, flooding, and evacuations all took place on the very day of the 5th anniversary of the tragic Debris Flow in Montecito that took 23 lives. Even now, as the community prepares for the 7th Anniversary of the 1/9 Debris Flow, we are hearing warnings of high winds and fire risk. And while these environmental threats continue to arise in the area, there is another force that is ever present in our community – our collective strength.
It is the memory of those 23 loved ones, along with the strength that is so intricately woven into the fabric of this community that we celebrate during Raising Our Light, this evening, Thursday, January 9, at 6 pm at Montecito Union School, 385 San Ysidro Road.
As Montecito Fire Chief David Neels puts it, “Seven years have passed since the 1/9 Debris Flow and the loss of 23 Montecito community members. It’s a date that will always be in our minds and those 23 people will forever be on our hearts. That’s why we invite the community to come together and remember what occurred, honor the lives lost and reflect on the resilience we have built in Montecito in the years since.”
This community event is a partnership between Montecito Association, Montecito Union School District, Cold Spring School District, Montecito Fire Department, Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, and the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness. Of the event, Montecito Association Executive Director Houghton Hyatt says, “We welcome everyone to gather in the MUS courtyard for a short program of speakers and a reading of the names. Bells will ring out 23 times from local churches and schools, Montecito firefighters will light 23 candles, and we will pause for a moment of silence together. A searchlight will be illuminated as a beacon of community support and solidarity from Montecito Union School.”
The bells will be rung in eight locations throughout Montecito with Summerland Church, La Casa De Maria, and Old Mission Santa Barbara being newly added this year to ring in solidarity. MUS Superintendent Anthony Ranii added, “MUS is honored to once again host this year’s Raising Our Light ceremony. Every time that beacon lights the skies and those bells chime across this resilient community, we all heal a bit more.”
The Bucket Brigade is one of the organizations formed in the wake of the Debris Flow as community members came together to organize a neighborhood relief response to assist public agencies in helping dig out the buried homes. Today the Bucket Brigade remains active and are metaphorically and literally building the paths that strengthen our community with their Walk Montecito project.
About this year’s event, Abe Powell, Co-founder and CEO of the Bucket Brigade, stated, “Losing 23 neighbors in 2018 created a very big wound, and January 9th is a painful reminder each year. Healing a big wound can take a long time. This event reminds us of the ways that we supported each other back in 2018 and shines a light on the ways we can still support each other as we continue to heal – as individuals and as a community.”
So this Thursday, let the evening’s quiet radiance and the connectivity that blankets our community warm our collective hearts as we continue to heal and remember what happened on 1/9.
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Join us today in support of the wonderful community we call home!
75 years of Preserving, Protecting, and Enhancing the Semi-Rural Character of Montecito.
Interested in what makes up the Montecito community? Make sure to fill out MA Annual Survey (see the QR code below). The will be running the results after the survey closes on January 17th
Add “Call Dan Encell” to your real estate checklist!
BY William Shakespeare
by Joanne A Calitri
As we continue with our January Wellness features, this week it’s all about detoxing your home environment, the products we use, and other external influences. No point in working on our healthy bodies with great food and exercise if there are external factors interfering with it.
With that, I interviewed Karen Bloom, who created her business in determining home environmental toxins in 2024. Bloom has a personal affinity for this area having dealt with home toxins affecting her health. In addition to her detox business, she is working on a networking group she calls, The Sustainable Living Business Network, that will cover businesses, information, and people in wellness.
With that, let’s dive into it:
Q. Share about what you do for homeowner and apartment renters to identify and understand about possible toxins in their living environment…
A. I founded Natural Haven SB to help families and individuals create healthy, non-toxic environments in their homes so they can have peace of mind and live vibrant, healthy lives. I share what I’ve learned on my own journey to help people create natural, low-tox living spaces that support their health without the anxiety and guesswork that could otherwise arise in the process. The typical home often contains a surprising variety of toxins, exposing people to harmful substances through air, food, water, and consumer products. These hidden toxins can be everywhere: from synthetic cleaners and artificial fragrances, to chemicals offgasing from rugs and couches – all of which can potentially cause respiratory issues, birth defects, hormonal imbalances, inflammation, and long-term health concerns like autoimmune disorders and cancers. In some cases, things like mold exposure, which is particularly rampant in Santa Barbara due to the high humidity, can further make it challenging for the human body to detox its already heavy daily toxic load. I understand the profound impact that a clean, low-tox living space has on overall health and well-being. Through personalized consultations, I guide homeowners through the process of identifying and eliminating these harmful substances, empowering families to create safe, healthy environments where everyone can flourish.
What is your personal experience with toxins?
My own personal health journey only amplified for me what a difference the products with which we surround ourselves can make to our health and development. What started as a broken ankle from a backpacking trip, became an inexplicable and debilitating illness that rendered me completely disabled, unable to work, and barely able to walk or drive. For almost a decade, I experienced multiple health symptoms, including crippling pain and overwhelming fatigue that made everyday life a challenge. It was only after I looked beyond traditional Western medicine to address the root causes of my symptoms – which included Lyme disease and mold toxicity – that I was able to return to a state of vibrant health. One of the ways that I maintain my health now is by exposing my body to a low toxic load which helps keep my inflammation down.
What is your background in wellness and environment?
I worked at the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, took numerous environmental courses in college and law school, participated in an Environmental Law Clinic, serving as a board member of the Sustainable Business Network of Washington. Of course, I also specialized in consumer products during my career as an attorney. My real education came from my personal stint in the School of Hard Knocks through my decade-long illness of being sensitive to and unable to detox toxins, chemicals, synthetics, and fragrances. I continue to educate myself through courses, such as those offered by the Building Biology Institute.
Our Town Page 344
M ARSHA KOTLYA R ESTATE
by Joanne A Calitri
In a most elegant fashion, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Board of Trustees will hold their 1st Gilded Gala black-tie fundraiser at the Rosewood Miramar Beach on Saturday, March 1. Society Invites is here with all the finer details of this signature “black-tie with a glimmer of gold” gala funding event, as I interviewed the SBMA Board of Trustees Event Co-Chairs Lynn Cunningham Brown and Carol Linn, their event committee of Jacquelyn Klein-Brown , Christian McGrath , Martha Townsend, Beth Wood, and Jennifer Zacharias; and SBMA Eichholz Foundation Director Amada Cruz. We met at the Ridley-Tree Gallery, which proved to be the best background for our conversation and photograph, as it launched a long-term exhibition titled, Modern Life: A Global Artworld, 1850 –1950, featuring SBMA’s renowned permanent collection with works by artists such
as Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, George Bellows, Joaquín Torres-García, Wifredo Lam, Auguste Rodin, Rufino Tamayo, Henri Fantin-Latour, and their peers.
Surrounded by these wonderful works of art, we selected the Monet wall as the backdrop for the photograph.
Next, I interviewed Brown and Linn:
MJ. How did the SBMA Board of Trustees decide on a single fundraising event for 2025?
Lynn Cunningham Brown (LCB). This is an SBMA Board event, and Amada and the Board were in lock step on this as a major fundraiser for the SBMA. This new funding event came about because we wanted to have a gala that would really put us forward into a new era; to show that the SBMA is going places in a new way, and we wanted a gala that would match that.
Carol Linn (CL). We wanted to have a formal black-tie event here as there are so few black-tie events now in Santa Barbara, and people are excited to attend it. This is
our one and only fundraiser for 2025, and we are excited to offer this experience at the lovely Rosewood Miramar Beach.
MJ. When did the committee begin working on the gala?
LCB. We started the gala process in June 2024 with a “whisper campaign,” by talking with people about it. And everyone asked to be counted in, and we began selling tickets till suddenly we found ourselves sold out at 270 people before the invitation went out the door.
MJ. I understand you are taking names for a Waitlist?
LCB. We are sold out and taking names for a Waitlist, and also extending invitations for people who are interested in table sponsorships, to underwrite and do something for the SBMA. Have your name on the Waitlist in case someone has to give up their table for some reason, you can take over the table sponsorship and attend the event.
MJ. What is the gala program featuring?
LCB. Attendees at the Gilded Gala can look forward to an artfully provocative evening filled with extraordinary food and libations, a live band and dancing, entertainment, and avant-garde activations around every corner. We are having exclusive live auction experiences, and fundraising opportunities will showcase the SBMA children’s education
programs supporting 25,000 children, teachers, and adults annually throughout Santa Barbara County.
MJ. Where are the funding proceeds being directed?
LCB. Proceeds from the event will benefit SBMA’s essential education and engagement programs, as well as the preservation, study, and exhibition of its diverse collections. The gala funds support the Museum’s vital education and engagement programs, for the care, study, and exhibition of its collections, and to bring art into the lives of all people.
411: https://gildedgala.org/ Waitlist: Karen Kawaguchi (805) 884-6428 | kkawaguchi@sbma.net
by Ashleigh Brilliant
Most of us these days, by the time we may be considered grown up, have lived in more than one place – sometimes in several different places, even in different countries. In a way, this can give a different meaning to what we call “Home” – despite the once popular notion that there is no place like it. For better or worse, there are now, for many people, many places like home. There used to be a cultural lifestyle recognized as “Nomadic.” But that often meant moving back and forth between the same two places or regions, year after year, usually depending on the season – just as some species of animals and birds migrate between poles and tropics.
Here in California, we are used to the phenomenon we call “Snow Birds” – people who live up north – perhaps as far as Canada and Alaska – but who regularly come down here when the weather decrees a shift. In fact, there are whole desert communities which are practically abandoned during the very hot months but come to life in what we call the winter. One remarkable thing is that such changes, owing to the
wide variety of our terrain, from oceanside to high mountain ranges, and broad valleys between, can all happen within our own State. People who become dissatisfied with all the sunshine (and so little rain except for a certain season of the year) often find themselves returning. The hit Jazz Age song made popular by New York entertainer Al Jolson says it best: “California, here I come – right back where I started from.”
The people known ethnically as Gypsies have, over the centuries, become so well known for their migratory lifestyle that their very name is now linguistically synonymous with nomadic characteristics.
Even today in America, and in many other modern countries, the main highways are heavily populated with large and small vehicles designed to be lived in on a more or less extended basis, and the roadsides are dotted with campgrounds and parking areas for what are generically known as “recreational vehicles.”
While there was still a western frontier, most of the movement tended to be in that direction, and the predecessor of the “RV” was the “covered wagon.”
by Jeffrey Harding
Thank you for your email of December 28 where you asked what I wanted Congress to work on in 2025. It’s an honor to be able to advise you on the important issues of our time. The list of 19 items you provided was very helpful to focus on specific issues.
So here’s what I think Congress should do in 2025.
There was one really important thing that wasn’t on your list that just about everyone says really needs Congress’s attention and that is federal spending and the deficit. I was surprised it wasn’t mentioned. There are dire warnings from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) about deficit spending. At a minimum, the CBO says if we keep overspending, Medicare and Social Security will have to cut services by 2036 and 2033, respectively, to avoid bankruptcy. Even the CBO says you can’t tax the rich enough to balance the budget. Yet if we keep going the way we are, it’s not an exaggeration to say that we’ll end up like Greece (bankrupt). Most economists say the
only solution is to cut spending. Perhaps you could support Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts. At least it’s a start.
Combating Inflation is a good suggestion. I can tell you that you can’t combat inflation by spending more, like the 1984-ishly entitled “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022” did. It was a huge $369 billion spending bill that contributed to inflation.
What causes inflation is “printing” money. Here’s how. When Congress spends more than it takes in, the U.S. Treasury borrows the money to pay for it (issued bonds). In 2022-2023 the deficit was $1.7 trillion and they issued about the same amount of new bonds. Because that is a huge amount, in order to keep the debt markets from exploding, the Fed bought the debt. But… they paid for it by “printing” new money (actually it’s done by a few computer keystrokes). From 2020 to 2022, to stabilize the debt markets, the Fed bought about $4.75 trillion of debt by creating new money. That was an
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First and foremost a home made of bricks
With a goddess to run it and a car like John Wick
Nine hundred horses and an engine like thunder
Streaming the Stones and Little Stevie Wonder
Symphony Number Seven by Ludwig Van B
How deep is the ocean, how glorious the sea.
Fabulous blue days and brisk chilly nights
Read me some Emily before you shut the light.
Every day, each moment is uninsurable
The desire to live is unendurable.
Teach me then Spirit, to know things at last
The world is made of water and so Tough to grasp.
You brought me my wife I followed her to the aisle
She asked me would I stay forever
By her side through any trial.
Order and silence, quiet and rule
A root beer float and a swim through your pool
Oscar Peterson just playing anything
A bullfrog’s foghorn and the first breath of Spring.
Desire and dreams within us only grow
The urge to create, to persuade and to know.
– Henry J Ohrtman
by MJ Staff
The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) updated its admission and membership rates on January 2. The rate increases are said to ensure the museum can continue to offer its engaging exhibits, dynamic educational programs, and world-class events for the community.
The new admission rates are:
General admission: $12
Seniors (65+): $8
Children (6-17) & Students: $6
Children age 5 and under: Free
SBMM members, active military and first responders showing a badge: Free
The listing of events and membership rates are posted on its website. In January, the SB Maritime Museum will have their book club meeting and a presentation on Coastal Conservation and Ocean Stewardship by speaker Greg Helms from the Ocean Conservancy.
411: https://sbmm.org
Carpinteria held its 15th Annual Christmas Bird Count on December 14. Within their prescribed 15-mile radius area and their allotted 24-hour period, the group counted 170 different bird species, including shore birds. The bird count is all volunteers; they had 60 people counting this year.
Look for MJ’s news correspondent Joanne A Calitri’s annual SB County Christmas
News Bytes Page 324
by Steven Libowitz
The Santa Barbara Symphony launches into 2025 with yet another first for the increasingly adventurous 72-year-old ensemble: a pair of weekend performances January 18-19 where the program is entirely different on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The prolific classical composer Mozart is the focus of affection for the weekend of wonder, which highlights four concertos featuring different instrumental soloists, plus two symphonies – No. 35 (“Haffner”) and No. 38 – and the Overture to The Impresario and the beloved “Eine kleine Nachtmusik.”
What’s more, all of the soloists for the two concerts are principal players with the Santa Barbara Symphony, an opportunity for the orchestra to both showcase and honor its own talented members, most of whom have extensive experience either recording for film and TV or touring and performing with other classical ensembles, or both.
Music & Artistic Director Nir Kabaretti carefully curated the programs to highlight the prolific and prodigious nature of Mozart’s work with the
piece intended to exhibit different facets of the composer’s brilliance.
“Mozart was an obvious choice,” Kabaretti explained. “He created so much music that still resonates today and he wrote a concerto for just about every instrument except cello, including the harp, which is rare. I had the luxury of picking pieces to fit our soloists, and to make programs that would be most attractive for our audience, since it’s the first time we’re doing something like this.”
Saturday night’s concert is bookended by the Overture and the “Haffner” symphony, with the “Concerto for Flute and Harp” (featuring Amy Tatum and Michelle Temple) and “Violin Concerto No. 4 in D” (with soloist Jessica Guideri, the ensemble’s concertmaster) as the tantalizingly meaty middle. On Sunday, “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” leads to the “Oboe Concerto” (with soloist Lara Wickes) and “Piano Concerto No. 23 in A” (with Natasha Kislenko, whose other roles encompass UCSB and the Music Academy), with “Symphony
Entertainment Page 314
by Tiana Molony
or the small but mighty team at Riskin Partners Estate Group, a luxury sector of Village Properties, success depends not on sales but on their clients’ happiness. If a home isn’t the right fit, the Riskin Partners team prioritizes finding the perfect match rather than pushing the sale. “It’s funny because it’s called a salesperson role,” mused partner Robert Riskin. “But I never feel that I’m a salesperson. I would be a terrible salesperson.”
Perhaps their candidness is what propelled them to unprecedented success in 2024. For starters, they had 8 sales of over $20 million, more than quadruple the previous year – bringing them to a total of $620 million in sales. What’s more, their team was also named the top-producing team by volume for 2024 by the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors.
Their biggest sale of the year, a 96-million-dollar transaction wherein comedian Ellen DeGeneres swapped homes with American Canadian billionaire Robert Friedland, was the highest residential sale in Santa Barbara South County history. According to The Real Deal, a real estate news site, DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi sold their mansion on Padaro Lane to Friedland for $96 million. In exchange, the couple purchased a home on San Ysidro Road for $32 million, which they reportedly sold to Friedland less than a year ago – it was the 5th largest residential transaction in the U.S. in 2024.
Renee Grubb, the owner and founder of Village Properties, was especially impressed with the group’s successful year. “We are so proud to support the #1 team year after year,” she said. “Over the past 28 years, I have watched them carve out and dominate a niche in the high-
end market. They are such a well-oiled machine, their dedication to excellence is truly remarkable and why they consistently earn their clients’ trust.”
If a home isn’t the right fit, the Riskin Partners team prioritizes finding the perfect match rather than pushing the sale.
Trust is paramount for the team, which sometimes necessitates being forthright with clients. Riskin acknowledges that this may involve discouraging them from pursuing homes he deems unsuitable. “I’m just always going to be super honest with clients about that,” shared Riskin. If one home’s location is off and another’s floor plan isn’t right, the Riskin team will find a home that checks off every box. It can be time-consuming and exhausting at times, but it’s worth the wait. “It’s not buying a stock,” Riskin pondered. “Or investing in a company. You’re investing in your life and where you live; where you spend all of your most important moments.”
The Riskin Partners team often shows homes as a group rather than individually. While this strays from the traditional real estate model, they believe that it is their biggest strength. “We feel four brains are better than one,” Riskin joked. Each of them has expertise to offer, and they believe that the client receives the best service if all four are instrumental in the sale. “With the four of us, you can plug any one of us in, and we’re knowledgeable on the listing,” said Riskin.
Riskin Partners prioritizes building long-term relationships with their clients, which they believe is a key factor
in their high client retention rate. Riskin shared a personal anecdote: he sold a property to a family last year, and his 10-year-old son subsequently became friends with the client’s son. “They’re just over the moon about the community and everyone they’ve met here,” shared Riskin about his client’s move to Montecito. “To me, that’s by far the most rewarding part of my job and when I feel most successful.”
Robert’s late mother and founding partner, Rebecca Riskin, instilled this philosophy in him. Robert shared that she’s somewhat of a real estate legend in Montecito. She started her career selling property in prestigious neighborhoods in Los Angeles before moving to Montecito in 1990. In 2004, she founded Riskin Partners and later brought on managing partner Dina Landi and partner Sarah Hanacek. “We were able to carry on what she had started,” he said of his mother’s legacy. “It’s been the four of us ever since.” Growing up watching his mom sell homes, it’s no surprise Robert became interested in real estate. And in 2014, he joined the Riskin team alongside Jasmine Tennis
Riskin noted that some of his clients hail from cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco and are searching for a more relaxed and laid-back lifestyle. They feel they’ve found that in Montecito. “The secret is out,” joked Riskin on Montecito’s recent popularity. “Some truly remarkable individuals are joining our community, bringing new energy and enriching what makes it so special.”
“My hope is that the people moving here and establishing new businesses also deeply appreciate what it means to be part of this community,” he shared. “They’re choosing to live here for the same reasons we cherish this place—and that choice speaks volumes. With so many options around the world, they’re drawn to Montecito because they recognize its unique charm, its natural beauty, and the unparalleled quality of life it offers.”
Robert and his team work diligently to ensure that his mother’s legacy endures, and hopes the group’s recent successes reflect her vision for the company. “I think she taught us so much,” reflected Riskin. “But she also just instilled this way of actively following the golden rule: doing right upon others and living a life full of integrity and gratitude. And also working really hard.”
Molony
An Evening with Esther Perel The Future of Relationships, Love & Desire
Tue, Jan 14 / 7:30 PM
Arlington Theatre
“The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.” – Esther Perel
Lead Sponsor: Heather & Tom Sturgess
Award-winning Palestinian-American Poet An Evening with Naomi Shihab Nye
Tue, Feb 4 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall
Justice for All Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey, Connie Frank & Evan Thompson, Eva & Yoel Haller, Dick Wolf, and Zegar Family Foundation An Evening with Tommy Orange
Wed, Jan 29 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall
FREE copies of Orange’s new book, Wandering Stars , will be available while supplies last (pick up at event, one per household)
Justice for All Lead Sponsors: Marcy Carsey, Connie Frank & Evan Thompson, Eva & Yoel Haller, Dick Wolf, and Zegar Family Foundation
Award-winning Historian Sir Niall Ferguson Why We Study History: Standing at the Crossroads of Past, Present and Future
Sat, Feb 8 / 4 PM (note special time) / Granada Theatre
by Scott Craig, photos by Brad Elliott
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features the multimedia creations of Ethan Turpin, whose works are grounded in the natural cycles of wildfire, devastation, and recovery and regrowth from January 9 – March 22. The public is invited to a free opening reception of WILDLAND: Ethan Turpin’s Collaborations on Fire and Water on Thursday, January 9, 4-6 pm at the museum.
“Turpin brings artists, scientists, and educators together to create powerful experiences that broaden perspectives and deepen awareness of underlying natural forces where we live in Southern California,” says Judy L. Larson, Askew professor of art history and museum director.
His personal artistic practice has explored ways of perceiving climate change, leading to 10 years of collaborations and the founding of the Burn Cycle Project, which focuses on the complex relationships between fire, water and ourselves.
“WILDLAND will engage with the paradoxical entanglements of beauty and risk present in the exhibit’s location, the Westmont College campus,” Larson says. “Using a wide range of immersive and participatory media, Turpin and his collaborators will share modes of orientation toward wonder and resilience within a mighty landscape.”
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm and 11 am to 5 pm on Saturdays. It’s closed Sundays and college holidays. For more information, please visit westmont.edu/museum or contact the museum at (805) 565-6162.
The fourth cohort of Westmont Downtown Grotenhuis Nursing graduates were celebrated at a pinning ceremony in front of friends and family December 12 at Montecito Covenant Church.
In his opening remarks, President Gayle D. Beebe addressed the energy and love the graduates developed with each other and their rapport with their faculty. “We’re grateful for the work that you’ve done to become nurses, to invest in one of the most amazing vocations, one that was totally under-appreciated until the pandemic, and then all of us developed a huge, not only appreciation, but deep respect for the role that you play in delivering healthcare,” he said.
Sadie Hill, a Westmont women’s soccer defender who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2023, was chosen as
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by Elizabeth Stewart
Over the holidays, my family treated each other to two nights of a bougie hotel experience in Encinitas, instead of forcing one family member to host Christmas. The pricey hotel experience featured the work of a choice local photographer as artist-in-residence; an ocean-loving surfing creative artist-athlete whose huge glossy canvases transformed the hotel’s corridors – along with appropriate poetry drawn from recent songs about Encinitas – to gallery spaces throughout the large three-story hotel on the beachfront bluffs. Hyatt’s Alila Resorts, headquartered in Singapore, comprises 17 such beach properties.
If you remember the generic landscapes that were glued or nailed to the walls of the old Holiday Inns of the 1990s and before – by contrast these art-themed luxury properties target as their market those ‘culture-mavens’ who demand the finer things in life, such as art. No longer nailing down their framed reproductions or common garden giclées, hoteliers now offer museum-grade art exhibitions. Art as a theme in business has found homes in hip office buildings, modern airports, unrented storefronts, even upon large international airplanes, such as Cathay Pacific’s brainchild of flying art called Gallery in the Skies
Many luxury destinations focus today on the local: local food, history, artists, colors, furnishings, and architecture. One hotel in Italy commissioned local artists who work ONLY in FOUND objects to create sculpture. This trend (sustainable and local), called “site responsivity,” introduces (and charges for) cultural reflections of a certain environment’s local history, traditions, and flavor. Various hotels have enough money and have discovered the importance of owning their own permanent collection of local art, supporting local creative types.
On the other hand, some marvelous hotels are situated inside of historic mansions, palaces, or country estates that have traditionally held their own collection of art and sculpture. For example, Ca’ Sagredo Hotel, Venice, is located in an Italian National Monument, canal-side, a 15th century palace once owned by generations of the Segredo family. The family were passionate collectors of fine art and great architecture from the 15th to the 18th century, commissioning paintings, sculptures, frescoes, murals, and prime stucco work. Today you eat your breakfast in a palatial room gazing up at a
mural titled The Defeat of Vices, a ceiling painting framed by ornate rococo stucco. The ballroom features a parade of frolicking gods of Olympus covering the four walls and the ceiling.
Last month I covered Art Basel Miami Beach, a gathering of art lovers and culture hounds. The Faena Hotel on the beach there showed numerous local artists’ temporary installations; one such site-specific installation featured a massive, commissioned sandcastle maze titled Journey Through the Algorithmic Self. Santa Barbara’s Belmond El Encanto has a sister hotel that MOVES. This property was acquired when Belmond noticed the rise in European night trains as an alternative to air travel. Belmond has re-introduced the luxury of the 1920s ‘Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.’ (Prices between some cities can set you back over $60,000 a night per person; the least amount you can pay for the Paris to Portofino line is around $4,000 per person; meals and champagne included!) Imagine 17 authentic beautifully restored 1920s carriages, and one bespoke, contemporary carriage of a special nature. Belmond has commissioned the ultracool photographer/graffiti/street artist JR to create a unique Oculus room, an observatory. JR is known for his activism and counterculture photographs, portraits, lithographs, and graffiti which began some 20 years ago in the back streets of Paris, on the walls of rundown buildings in disenfranchised neighborhoods. Lately his work includes a collaboration with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, mounting an interactive floor installation which is danced upon, and portraits upon the wall of an abandoned hospital on Ellis Island.
Belmond has asked JR to design and execute a carriage that will focus upon the art of stargazing. Imagine a sleeper car with marvelous surreal oculi overhead through which to see the moving stars, while hearing the clack of the rails. L’Observatoire, the bespoke sleeper carriage, will open March 2025, designed to encourage just such a delightful activity while lying upon your back. Art Net Magazine quotes the artist: “The interior flows through several micro-environments, from the bedroom, with a free-standing bathtub, a lounge, a library, and a hidden tearoom with never-before-seen oculus shaped skylights.” Design, craft, art; a holistic approach to space and location is the new creative economy for such elite hotels, aimed at capturing the very wealthy travelling creative class who are in search of – and will demand – a premier “bougie” experience.
My own part in this concession to wanderlust was to purchase brand-new from the factory what was then called a Sunrader Mini-Motor Home. It was no more than 18 feet long, so it could be accommodated in any regular parking space.
I hasten to assure you that this was some years past – in fact, about half my lifetime ago – when I was much more adventurous than I have since become. Sadly, my wife did not share my enthusiasm for this type of travel – though she would fly to Australia and back at the drop of a plane ticket. So most of my long-distance journeys in this vehicle were made alone.
But it did enable me to visit people who were fans of my work in various parts of the country, and to go back to places where I had lived many years previously. There is something about this kind of returning which can be both rewarding and unsettling. Sometimes you are forced to acknowledge to yourself that the people and places have changed less than you have.
One time, I returned to the neighborhood in Washington, D.C. where I lived for five years during World War II. To outward appearances, it was just about the same as I remembered. There was the building where my family had an upstairs apartment, at 517 Peabody Street. And not far away was Whittier Elementary School, where I stayed long
enough to graduate (the only actual graduation ceremony I ever attended – where we sang the Hawaiian song “Farewell to Thee”). And not far in the other direction was my next school, Paul Junior High, where I was only halfway through 8th grade when the War ended and my family had to go back to England.
You may think that there must have been something exciting about living in Washington, D.C. “Our Nation’s Capital.” But I was seldom taken “Downtown,” where all the important government buildings were. And the neighborhood where I grew up was probably not very different from the home territory of most other American kids around that time.
But going back can have a much deeper significance. As one of my epigrams said:
“If I can’t stay on earth forever, I’d at least like to have an occasional return visit.”
Ashleigh Brilliant born England 1933, came to California in 1955, to Santa Barbara in 1973, to the Montecito Journal in 2016. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots,” now a series of 10,000. email: ashleigh@west. net. web: www.ash leighbrilliant.com.
Moderated
Topic:
by Chuck Graham
The sounds and movements were more than familiar to us. The knocks, snorts, sneezes and galumphing led us to the most northern and newest northern elephant seal colony in California, and the world.
The Lost Coast in Northern California’s Humboldt County, and beneath the mighty King Range, offers refuge for lots of wildlife; seabirds, raptors, black bears, mule deer, river otters, and many pinnipeds along a rare and roadless stretch of rugged coastline. It’s also an incredible backpacking destination for its solitude, daunting cliffs, and convergence of gushing creeks with pounding surf.
While my girlfriend Holly and I were recently backpacking what is known as the classic, 25-mile-long Lost Coast route from Mattole Campground south to Shelter Cove, we were pleasantly surprised to find a couple hundred juvenile northern elephant seals hauled out and
thermoregulating on a remote nameless beach. We also ran into a graduate student studying the growing numbers of the second largest seal on the planet. She was monitoring the colony from the windswept marine terrace, but also educating day hikers and backpackers about why the elephant seals have picked yet another northerly location to breed, pup, and haul out – this time on the Lost Coast.
I thought the elephant seals made another wise choice for their most northerly rookery in California. Northern elephant seal pups remain where they were born during their first year. They just aren’t strong enough yet to make the journey north to the Bering Strait, their summer feeding grounds in Alaska. So, they stay put, grouping up in nurseries after their mothers leave them after only two months together.
unheard expansion of the money supply by a major economy (M1 +500%). The result is that we had 9+% inflation.
This is why deficit spending causes inflation.
You give two suggestions for farmers: pass a Farm Bill and support Central Coast farmers. Please don’t do that. These are just more unnecessary spending giveaways. The farm bill subsidies are welfare to farmers that arose out of FDR’s New Deal during the Great Depression. Ninety years later farm bills are just wasteful spending to appease the farming lobby run by large corporate farmers. My wife’s family have been small Central Coast farmers since the 1950s (lemons, avocados, and cherimoyas). They have never received government assistance. As a result they have had to respond to changing consumer demand without government help, for example, from lemons to avocados. Unlike us, subsidized farmers have a nice cushion and are less exposed to market risks. Nice work if you can get it.
The crops that get the most subsidies (ranked in order from the most) are: corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, and dairy. Not much of that here on the Central Coast. It’s not like we won’t find bread and milk on the shelves if subsidies are ended. I’m sure the subsidized farmers are happy to get the money, but more useless spending doesn’t help.
I’ll tell you what Central Coast produce farmers would like: less regulation. All the farmers that I know, mostly second or third generation, are environmentally conscious and do what they can to protect the land and the environment. They do complain about the arbitrariness of the huge amount of regulations federal and state governments impose on them. It’s a very challenging business for farmers.
You made suggestions about creating good-paying jobs, affordable housing, affordable childcare, affordable health care, affordable college education, etc. I believe these are all unaffordable spending programs. Government doesn’t create any of these things, only the private economy does that. If you raise taxes to pay for all these government programs you just remove capital from the private economy which does create jobs – and makes possible all the other things you
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Reillie Beauty, 4004 Modoc Rd, B, Santa Barbara, CA, 931101807. Idolina Guinto, PO Box 22736, Santa Barbara, CA, 93121-2736. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 2, 2025. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2025-0000012. Published January 9, 16, 23, 30, 2025
want the government to do. Most of the high cost of these things has to do with government programs and regulations anyway. I would be happy to provide information to point out which programs are wasteful and raise costs, but I’ll defer to the Department of Government Efficiency to do that for you.
Lastly I do wish Congress would fix the broken immigration system. The numbers vary widely because the Biden Administration doesn’t know how many immigrants they let flood into the country. Eight million? Ten million?
I’m sympathetic to immigrants who come to America to seek a better life. I would do the same if I came from a poor, corrupt, and violent country. I know a lot of immigrants, mostly “undocumented.” They all work hard, are honest, and do their best to succeed here. But there needs to be an orderly process and we don’t have one now. Here are some suggestions to start with. Revise and pass the Dream Act and let in those kids who came in with their parents plus youths who have graduated high school here and are good citizens. Let in people who have lived and worked here for 10 years, paid taxes, and have been good citizens. Let in qualified people who are willing to be trained and can qualify as caregivers. Let in all the smart doctors, engineers, computer whizzes, and scientists with degrees in specialties in demand here. Let in those willing to make substantial investments in American businesses. We need more skilled workers in America. Start working on a new bill that is good for America, not the billions of underprivileged worldwide. Salud, I sincerely hope this helps you focus on important issues for 2025. Good luck!
Jeffrey Harding is a real estate investor and long-time resident of Montecito. He previously published a popular financial blog, The Daily Capitalist. He is a retired SBCC adjunct professor.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Kansas Storage & Containers, 1027 E De La Guerra St, Santa Barbara, CA, 93103. PM & JM LLC, PO Box 1391, Summerland, CA, 93067. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on December 10, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0002885. Published December 19, 26, 2024, January 2, 9, 2025
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS
NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: M.L. Solutions, 515 Newport Dr, Lompoc, CA, 93436. Moriah H Roberts, 515 Newport Dr, Lompoc, CA, 93436. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on November 1, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0002579. Published December 19, 26, 2024, January 2, 9, 2025
there are better things to look forward to. That their participation and their existence matters. That there’s something to hold on to, and for. “The sun will come out tomorrow,” as Annie likes to sing.
People want to feel inspired. And engaged. And seen. They want to believe that you are their advocates. That you are offering them a future worth investing in. There are plenty of human wrecking balls on the American political landscape. The counterbalance is Hope so I think that’s a great place to start.
Another ingredient I think is important and SO undervalued, is The Lost Art of Compromise
Where did THAT go? How is it that we’ve somehow come to believe that we have to agree on everything in order to work together? Or, as linguist Deborah Tannen asked, “When did the word compromise get compromised? When did the negative connotations of ‘He was caught in a compromising position’ replace the positive connotations of “They reached a compromise?”
After all, the U.S. Constitution was born out of one of the greatest exercises in political compromise ever on display. Amidst our current winner-take-all political landscape, I decided to look into when “compromise” became such a dirty word? Because it certainly has not aged well.
The word has been around for eons, it comes from Latin and French and originally was a combination of “com” meaning “we” and “promise” which meant “promise to arbitrate.” Quite literally compromise was a mutual promise that each party agreed to give up something in order to create or achieve a greater good. At least that’s what the word meant for centuries.
The lauded statesman Henry Clay, known as the “Great Compromiser,” back when that was a compliment, was revered for his ability to broker compromise. Clay said, “All legislation, all government, all society is formed upon the principle of mutual concession, politeness, and courtesy – upon these everything is based.” That’s a long haul from where we are today.
The cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead said of compromise that, “We are a society which must be more committed to a two-party system than to either party. One must fight to the death… not for your party to win but for the right of the other party to be there too.”
I sometimes think about modern marriage, which of course is another institution that depends on compromise, in a similar way.
In our home, you could say we have a two-party system that (mostly) works. My husband and I have been married 21 years. And not to air too much dirty laundry, but unlike all the rest of you, I’m sure, there have been days in our marriage, rare though they are, when one or the other of us has not felt, shall we say, 100% in love. On the other hand, both of us are, every
day, committed to the marriage; in the Margaret Mead way – we may sometimes disagree profoundly, and even profanely –but we are equally committed to making a “more perfect union,” as the “compromising” framers of the Constitution once said.
Foundational to compromise is, of course, debate, which is essential to working through problems. Debate even helps us understand our own positions better. Especially when it’s built on respectful disputation. If, in our world, there could be more verbal sparring, not to win but to arrive at greater truths and understanding, imagine the bridges we could build.
I think it’s important to give credit here to this Board of Supervisors which has already done a great job of modeling a commitment to talking through difficult issues. The debate over taxation of cannabis is a fine example of multiple hours of respectful deliberation on a contentious issue. You’ve done the same, repeatedly, on housing – and recently you did so on the Agricultural Enterprise ordinance.
I point this out because this is not true of many local governments where electeds simply announce their opinions and then vote with scant if any deliberation. So, thank you for modeling for us the value of vigorous debate. And for your commitment to compromise. Because extremes play a role in framing an issue, but compromise is where most of us in the vast middle can see ourselves reflected.
The final ingredient of good leadership that I’d like to talk about today is what I call the unexpected value of Inexperience.
When Roy Lee announced he was running for the 1st District Supervisor seat, many questioned whether he was a seasoned enough politician to do the job. Whether he knew the ins and outs of the county and had the necessary political chops to win and serve as a Supervisor.
I submit to you that it was precisely because Mr. Lee was not seen as a “seasoned” career politician that he is here today being sworn in.
In many ways I see this election as a rebuke of politics as usual. I think this moment calls for us all to try getting out of bed on a different side. To think outside the box. To question some of the things we’ve long taken for granted.
I ask you to embrace what I call Supervisor Lee’s “invaluable inexperience.” To which I particularly feel a kinship because when I took the helm at the Montecito Journal, I’d never run a local newspaper before. You could say I wasn’t qualified. But in many ways, I came to see my inexperience as a great advantage. In fact, I attribute some of our important successes, at least in part, to what I didn’t know we couldn’t do.
To underline this point, prominently hung in our home is an iconic MAD Magazine cover which depicts Alfred E. Newman holding the severed branch of
a tree with one hand while he blissfully swings from a swing that hangs off the very branch that he himself is holding. Which is, of course, a physical impossibility! There’s no caption to the illustration but I always thought the caption should be “He doesn’t know what can’t be done – therefore he can.”
We constantly hear how government is not very nimble. How hard certain kinds of bills are to get through “congress.” It’s easy to give in to cynicism and momentum and the forces of political gravity, but I think Roy Lee will bring fresh air and ideas to the Board of Supervisors and I hope everyone recognizes that as an asset. And just as I hope and trust that you will thoughtfully and lovingly take him under your wing as he learns the well tangled ropes of this vaunted institution, I hope too that you will allow him to take you under his. And, I hope you all will occasionally embrace the spirit and the
power of not knowing what can’t be done
I challenge you to reach high… to know that you are only limited by the boundaries of your imaginations. And to understand that in order to truly win, sometimes we have to risk losing.
Santa Barbara’s natural and human bounty is unparalleled. Thank you for working to make Santa Barbara the beacon that can help lead us out of what sometimes feels like a very dark moment. We’ve got a great team to get us there. All we need is some imagination, some courage and a spirit of compromise. It’s not a dirty word.
I think it’s useful to remember the words of the Rolling Stones: “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.”
Good luck. I thank you for your service and for the privilege of speaking here today.
by Joanne A Calitri
In its first meeting of 2025, and its 125th convening, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors inducted into office three supervisors in an hour and half ceremony with much pomp and circumstance.
Newly elected to the BOS is Roy Lee, First District, and taking their second and third terms respectively are Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson, and Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann Current supervisors are Second District Supervisor Laura Capps, and Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino
The induction ceremony was held prior to the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting. Presiding and welcoming attendees was 2024 BOS Chair Lavagnino, who said, “Welcome to 125th convening of the BOS, and to a celebration of democracy as we install the 2024-elected BOS.”
The program commenced with the Presentation of Colors and Pledge of Allegiance by the SBC Fire Department Honor Guard. They were followed by the invocation by Anthony Rodriguez from Lady of Guadalupe Church. Rodriguez shared about his experiences as a person who was told he would not amount to much and proved them wrong. He asked for blessings on the BOS and their work.
County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato led the Oath of Office for Lee, Nelson, and Hartmann, and the meeting was officially called to order. Lavagnino led nomination and vote for the 2025
BOS Chair, which unanimously went to Capps. Capps then led the nomination and vote for BOS Vice Chair, which just as unanimously went to Nelson. It was time to pass the Gavel from Lavagnino to Capps. Capps accepted and said, “I don’t plan on using this much but if I do it will be in the spirit of those who paved the way for a woman like me to hold this office, and for generations of women who never had the opportunity.”
In his outgoing speech as Chair, Lavagnino said he wanted to focus on thanking the admin staff whose work supports the BOS in every way, from agendas to meeting broadcasts.
Capps provided her BOS Chair speech in a poignant and uplifting fashion, clearly
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by Melissa Petitto
Rainbow Swiss chard is so beautiful, with its gem-like colored stems and its rich nutrient density, and it’s available freshly picked from Roots Organic Farm right now. A part of the beet and spinach family, Swiss chard comes in white and rainbow varietals. High in magnesium, iron, potassium, and vitamins A, C, and K, this powerhouse vegetable is loaded with antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. Antioxidants help combat the cell damage caused by free radicals, decreasing our chances of developing certain chronic diseases. Swiss chard is also an excellent source of flavonoids (naturally beneficial plant compounds) such as quercetin, kaempferol, rutin, and vitexin. These flavonoids have many health benefits. Quercetin is an anti-inflammatory, helps reduce the risk of heart disease, has neuroprotective properties, and helps with diabetes by improving insulin resistance. Kaempferol is an incredible anti-inflammatory compound that has anticancer properties. Rutin is another anti-inflammatory antioxidant that benefits our cardiovascular health, combats cancer, is anti-diabetic, is great for skin and eye health, and helps prevent neurodegenerative disorders. Vitexin is yet another flavonoid in Swiss chard and is known for its ability to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and block the formation of blood clots. As you can see, this dark green leafy vegetable is not just pretty on the outside but offers insane health benefits.
Yield: 4 Servings
Curry Paste
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 inch piece fresh turmeric root, peeled
1 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled
1 each green chili
½ teaspoon ground cayenne
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes, rinsed and drained
½ cup cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Curry Laksa
1 tablespoon coconut oil
curry paste from above
2 cups brown mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
½ cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
½ cup broccoli, cut into small florets
3 cups vegetable broth
1 – 14 ounce can full fat coconut milk
8 ounces dried brown rice noodles
2 cups rainbow Swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon coconut sugar, optional
1 cup bean sprouts
¼ cup cilantro leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
1 lime, quartered
Directions:
1. In a small sauté pan over medium heat, toast the coriander, cumin, and fennel seeds until fragrant, about 2 minutes, tossing so as not to burn. Add to a spice grinder and grind to a coarse texture.
2. Add the toasted spices, turmeric root, ginger root, chili, cayenne, lemongrass, garlic, cashews, cilantro, and lime juice to the bowl of a food processor. Blend until a paste forms, about 1 minute. Reserve.
3. In a large stockpot over medium heat, add the coconut oil. Once hot, add in the curry paste and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for another 2 minutes.
5. Add in the carrots, bell pepper, broccoli, broth, and coconut milk. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, add in the rice noodles and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add in the Swiss chard and stir to wilt. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding the coconut sugar if desired.
7. To serve, ladle into bowls and serve with the sprouts, cilantro, mint and fresh lime.
Julia Bullock, soprano
Tue, Jan 21 / 7 PM
Lobero Theatre
Great Performances Suite Sponsors:
Fri, Jan 31 / 7 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall
Program includes Mozart, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, O’Carolan and contemporary arrangements of Nordic folk tunes
Event Sponsor: Anonymous
Great Performances Suite Sponsors:
G.A. Fowler Family Foundation and The Shanbrom Family Foundation
Double Grammy Nominee in 2024 Lakecia Benjamin and Phoenix
Fri, Feb 7 / 8 PM UCSB Campbell Hall
Saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin fuses soul and hip-hop with a strong foundation in the canon of modern jazz. Fans of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter and Ornette Coleman, listen up – there’s a new horn in town, and she’s ready to roar. An Epic Quintet Collaboration Imani Winds and Boston Brass
Sun, Feb 2 / 4 PM / Hahn Hall
Hear & Now Series Sponsors: Linda Stafford Burrows and Dr. Bob Weinman
Jazz Series Lead Sponsor: Manitou Fund
And as their numbers continue to swell, they’ll continue to seek out other rookeries suitable for a marine mammal species that travels far each year. San Miguel Island is their largest rookery, but their rookery in San Simeon has now grown to be the second largest in the world with at least 17,000 animals. By the late 1800s, elephant seals were hunted to near extinction for oil found in their blubber. Just a few animals remained on an island off Mexico. From approximately 20 individuals, northern elephant seals now number more than 175,000. It’s estimated about 40,000 births occur annually. The rookery on the Lost Coast represents an occupation of breeding grounds considered to be outside their historic range.
The rookery began forming in 2015. Just a few elephant seals arrived, just below the Punta Gorda Lighthouse. It’s a perfect spot for them. Perpetual northwest winds, billowing fog, offshore reefs, and beyond those reefs are deeper waters to feed. There’s little disturbance, especially from December through February when elephant seals are pupping and winter is full on. The King Range is California’s wettest location with rain totals exceeding over 100 inches each year. These are natural elements of the north coast providing for their survival. In 2024 roughly 270 pups were born and about 800 animals used the rookery.
However, these elephant seals also must deal with big tidal surges. King tides below the King Range can spell doom for baby elephant seals. Just imagine a heavy downpour and flooding in the 12 creeks along the 25-milelong coastal route. Imagine flooding occurring during the peak of those extreme high tides during a winter storm, coupled with heavy debris flows spewing from those creeks. All that
water must go somewhere, plunging out of the King Range, and leaving helpless pups possibly being separated from their mothers.
In between those creeks are a multitude of natural springs spilling from eroding shale bluffs. It’s good water to drink, but it also adds to the volume of water swelling along the coast. The good news is where the newest elephant seal rookery is located, the marine terrace is not sheer or high up with several paths for young elephant seals to escape to when the incoming tides aren’t manageable on the beach.
On the bluff trail just above the jostling juvenile elephant seals and below the Punta Gorda Lighthouse was evidence that they utilized this escape terrain. Scattered around the path were patches of their fur. Adult elephant seals molt from April through August, but newborn elephant seal pups that are born during winter have black fur. They shed that first coat after being weaned from their mothers.
As Holly and I continued backpacking south along the rugged Lost Coast and its low-lying marine terraces, we came upon the first of two stretches of coast known as “Impassable Sections.” The two sections of coast are four miles long, and depending on how high the tides are, it can force backpackers and day hikers to wait out the tides. There’s plenty of stories out there of folks getting trapped, pinned, and soaked against those eroding bluffs.
Our first day on the Lost Coast saw a midday, 6.7-foot-high tide that battered the shoreline.
That first section by Sea Lion Gulch required us to pitch our tent and wait for five hours until the tide was passable. No bother, there was much to marvel at while the tide surged. Sea lions just off the coast playfully wrestled on a natural ramp of rock repeatedly sliding into the refreshing north coast waters.
We heard them all afternoon. But, as the tide ebbed and began to recede, Holly and I trekked on until near dark. It was passable – eventually the Lost Coast always is.
the student speaker. She reflected on the journey of the nursing graduates, a diverse group with varied education backgrounds and prior careers, who all shared a commitment to nursing. Over 16 months, they faced challenges such as medication math exams and clinicals, bonded over shared experiences and ethical discussions, and developed a deep sense of compassion and professionalism.
into our jobs with these qualities in order to impact the culture and standard of care.”
The faculty speaker, Stephanie Curtis, a lead instructor and a certified nurse midwife, reflected on her career and the significance of her role in women’s health and maternal newborn nursing. She emphasized the importance of being prepared for emergencies and discussed the students’ mature and compassionate responses to challenging topics, such as teenage trafficking. She advised the students to aim high, ground themselves and offer their work to God, stressing the dignity and importance of all work.
“Offering my work to God helped me keep that standard high, no matter what,” she said. “And then at the end of the day, I could always have joy, because I knew that I was working for somebody who loved me. Your coworkers, they may not love you. Hopefully they do. Your patients may not love you that day, especially depending on their type of care. But if you can offer your work to God, you know you’re working for someone who loves you.”
Di Hoffman, nursing program director, gave the Healthcare Achievement Award to Salma Maciel. The award, which includes an engraved Littmann stethoscope, was created by alumnus Ron Peterson (‘71) to honor and encourage future medical students.
The new nursing grads include Hill, Maciel, Taylor Bush, Anissa Chacon, Blake Collins, Jade Esparza, Emily Farrah, Clarice Gil, Juan Gomez, Ana Gonzalez , Laura Gonsoski , Katie Grossman, Katie Langhorne, Deborah Milne, Amber Reyes, Gabriela Rico, Anna Robson, Natalie Romero, Brenna Sharpshair, Alejandra Supan, Ashley Vandeweg , Sofia Young , Jasmine Zavala, and Kelsey Zimmerman
I erroneously published a misidentified photo from the Westmont College Archives of Paul Heinrichs instead of legendary basketball player Tine Hardeman, who died Dec. 2 at the age of 92. Hardeman still holds Westmont’s single-game scoring record of 46 points.
Chuck Graham is a freelance writer and photographer based in Carpinteria, where he also leads kayak tours and backpacking trips in Channel Islands National Park
“By attending a liberal arts nursing school, we gained a holistic perspective towards nursing, allowing us to dig deep into scary and hard topics in order to care for patients in their entirety and not be jaded by the complexity of the human experience,” she said. “This has not only been emphasized through our learning, but modeled through our instructors.
“We’re not experts or professionals yet by any means, but we are critical thinkers, active learners and ambitious future nurses. With this energy and yearning, we have the opportunity and responsibility to go out
No. 38 in D Major” closing out the weekend.
“The idea was to match the concertos with symphonic pieces to make the concerts a little bit rounder as we explore Mozart,” Kabaretti said. “It’s a real privilege for both us and the audience because you do need some time to get into the specific style of Mozart, which has a certain kind of bowing technique, its own phrasing and sonority, and often the perfect, almost fragile, balance between the different instruments. Usually we perform Mozart as just one piece of the program. This gives us the time to work more deeply into the same concept of music, really get into what makes Mozart who he was, the genius whose appeal is universal.”
Kabaretti is particularly proud to be presenting the duo harp and flute concerto as it offers a rare opportunity to hear the harp as a melodic instrument.
“You don’t normally have a chance to hear the harp play a tune rather than just flourishes up and down the instrument,” he said. “But you also get to hear more of the range of the other instruments such as the oboe, and how Mozart pushed to the extreme possibilities of what it can do.”
After January’s program, the Santa Barbara Symphony will return to the usual pair of performances for February’s entry, this season’s concert with the orchestra playing in sync with a film screening. Guest conductor Lucas Richman will wield the baton for The Gold Rush, which features writer-director Charlie Chaplin’s own score for the silent classic, on February 15-16. The March 22-23 program, The Seven Deadly Sins, features singer Storm Large on the Weill-Brecht title work, plus pieces by Ibert, Still, and Jessie Montgomery, with guests The Hudson Shad Quartet.
Brahms’ A German Requiem is the anchor for the April 26-27 concerts, with Mahler’s “Three Rückert-Lieder” as an appetizer. The season comes to a close May 17-18 with another new concept for the symphony as violin superstar Gil Shaham will perform three different concertos over the course of the weekend – Tchaikovsky’s on Saturday, and both Bach’s “Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor” and the West Coast premiere of Avner Dorman’s “Double Concerto,” with fellow violinist (and Shaham’s wife) Adele Anthony. Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 8” closes both performances. Visit https://thesymphony.org for details and tickets
This week’s entries include another intriguing entry in the Santa Barbara Music Club’s 55th season of free community concerts at 3 pm on Saturday, January 11, at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Hope Ranch Annex. Composer Eric Valinsky will be joined by piano compatriot Pascal Salomon for the world premiere of Valinsky’s four-hand version of Wisperfal, a four-movement fantasy based on Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons that was originally commissioned by Ballet Santa Barbara (now the AD&M Performance Group) in 2010. The title came from abbreviations for the seasons, and Valinsky drew from Vivaldi’s use of ostinato, the repetition of musical patterns for musical effect, and sequence, the repetitive patterns that shift in pitch. Originally intended for several instruments, budgetary considerations constrained the work to piano solo, which the composer believed never quite did justice to his musical ideas. So 14 years later, he expanded the work to piano four-hands. Valinsky will also accompany oboist Adelle Rodkey in performing Strauss’s “Concerto in D Major for Oboe and Small Orchestra or Piano” and young contemporary Czech composer Lukáš Sommer’s “Impromptu.” Info at https://sbmusicclub.org. Later that evening, Mezzo-soprano, Tivoli Treloar, a 2022-23 vocal fellow at the Music Academy of the West, makes her Santa Ynez Valley debut in recital at St. Mark’s In-the-Valley Church in Los Olivos as part of the Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series. UCLA alum Treloar, who is currently working toward a master’s at Juilliard, will be accompanied by UCLA faculty pianist and director Lucy Tucker Yates in a program of pieces composed between the two world wars from Korngold, Obradors, Poulenc, and Kurt Weill, among others. Visit https://smitv.ejoinme.org/ SYVCSTickets.
The Santa Barbara Symphony isn’t the only local arts organization to try something new at the start of 2025. Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre is serving as launch partner for this season’s national tour by The Acting Company, the veteran ensemble co-founded in 1972 by John Houseman with the first graduating class of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School. The Company, which has served as a springboard for the careers of some 400 actors, including Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Rainn Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright, among many others, will be taking up residence at RTC to finalize its anchor production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, the seventh in the author’s ten-part series, The Pittsburgh Century Cycle, which include The Piano Lesson and Fences
The Tony-nominated Two Trains is set in a bustling diner at the height of the civil
rights movement of the 1960s, when the owner is deciding who to sell the business to, creating the backdrop for the diverse characters grappling with societal changes in a journey of hope, resilience, and the enduring human spirit. On the opposite site of the genre spectrum, the same cast will also offer three performances of a modern translation of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, a reimagined version of the hilarious misadventures of two sets of identical twins separated at birth in a wild ride full of mistaken identities, madcap escapades and the usual Shakespearean mirth. RTC will also produce a single showing of How I Learned What I Learned, starring Lance E. Nichols (RTC’s Driving Miss Daisy) in Wilson’s autobiographical play.
We caught up with Devin Brain, Producing Artistic Director of The Acting Company and director of Comedy of Errors
Q. This kind of repertory residency is rather new for Rubicon. How did it come about?
A. Our shows are designed to really move very, very fast around the country, and for the productions to be strong enough to withstand and sustain across that type of rigor – it’s really great to have a place where they can get their feet under themselves a little bit. Rubicon is our launch partner this time around while we build the show.
How do Two Trains and Errors fit together?
We really like creating work that inspires communication between different periods. So doing a classical text with the same actors that are also bringing to life our contemporary text can enliven both shows. August Wilson is one of the great American playwrights, who is brilliant at finding the epic and the eternal through the specific. There has never been a national tour of Two Trains Running, which is a beautiful play in which the characters discuss how a community evolves, how money and identity develop. With Errors, we were excited about the concept of comedy and something joyous in a moment like this. In a way, it’s also a story about sort of finding your place in the world, even though it’s a ridiculous and quite dumb plot. It’s about finding a home that’s defined by the people they love, which seems like a thing I would like to put more of out into the world. It is a real treat to watch these actors perform in both shows, and really highlights exactly how brilliant they are.
Speaking of that, are there any future superstars in the company these days?
I think this ensemble is truly remarkable right now. There are definitely a couple of these actors that I would expect to see in lights and on marquees before too long.
Two Trains Running performs January 15-February 2. The Comedy of Errors runs January 19, 21 & 28, and How I Learned plays January 27. Visit www.rubicontheatre.org.
Lucinda Lane, Santa Barbara’s self-described “IndieBossaJazzTwang” band formed as a duo a dozen years ago by songwriter-guitarist-singer Josef Woodard and jazz-pop vocalist Nicole Lvoff, has finally released its long-awaited debut album. The title Summer is Over is indicative of the delays in completing the recording, which features guest shots from the likes of local heroes including keyboardist Zach Gill, Bill Flores, blues harmonica player Tom Ball, saxists Tom Buckner and David Benny, trumpeter Nate Birkey, accordionist Brian Mann, bassists Randy Tico and Jim Connolly, drummer Austin Beede and percussionist Lorenzo Martinez. Tico, Beede and Buckner, along with yet-to-benamed special guests, join Woodard and Lvoff for the official album release show at SOhO on Tuesday, January 14, with an opening set from Paper Moon, the local harmony-filled trio that also jumbles up the genres. Visit www.sohosb.com.
Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage
Bird Count coming up! This year was their 125th year doing the count, held January 4 through January 7. Count coordinators are Libby Patten, Glenn Kincaid, Linus Blomqvist, Conor McMahon, Steve Hovey, Andy McGrath, and Wim van Dam They were specifically looking for the following birds: Ross’s goose, greater scaup, common merganser, northern pygmy-owl, northern saw-whet owl, red-naped sapsucker, mountain chickadee, violet-green swallow, northern rough-winged swallow, mountain bluebird, Cassin’s finch, red crossbill, lark sparrow, vesper sparrow, Baltimore oriole, tricolored blackbird, hermit warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak, and the brown creeper. 411: https://santabarbaraaudubon.org
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA) has scheduled its annual Summit for Danny Fundraiser, this year hiking New Zealand’s summits from Christchurch to Queenstown, March 24 to April 1. Members of the community are welcome and encouraged to participate. Climbs are uniquely designed for all skill levels.
At this time, CADA is asking for donations on the occasion of the summit. All climbers pay for the cost of the trip themselves, so every dollar people donate goes directly to the Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Center.
Since it opened in 2001, the Bryant Youth & Family Center has served 5,500 youth.
On May 23, 1995, Bob Bryant’s son, Danny, died of a drug overdose. Like many other parents who have suffered the loss of a child to alcohol and other drugs, Bob was determined to turn his tragedy into hope for others by raising funds to create an adolescent treatment center. In an effort to support the ongoing operations of the Daniel Bryant Center, Bob and Patty Bryant and a team of climbers successfully reached the peak of Peru’s 20,000 foot Mount Pisco in 2004. Since then, teams of climbers have gone to Ecuador, Bhutan, Patagonia, Mont Blanc, Bosnia, New Zealand, the historic Camino de Santiago in Spain, Norway, Dolomites, Southern Iceland, Switzerland, Whales, and last year Chile. 411: www.sfdinternational.org/donate
False Alarm / 800 block Cold Spring Rd
Monday Dec 23, 2024, at 22:00 hours
Reporting Party (RP) called law enforcement because she received concerning text messages from her estranged cousin she has not been in contact with over several years. RP stated her cousin texted her stating that he is close by and if she can smell him. Deputies responded to her location and cleared her residence. RP later advised that her cousin texted her stating that he was at Ledbetter beach. Deputies responded to Ledbetter beach to conduct a welfare check on him. Deputies located him after speaking with him, he stated that he was not suicidal or homicidal. Deputies determined he did not meet the 5150 criteria.
Prowler / 500 block Paso Robles Drive
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024, at 01:00 hours
Unknown suspect was observed prowling and peeping into the victim’s property. This was a violation of 647(h) PC and 647(i) PC. A partial shoeprint and some suspected saliva were found in the area where the victim observed the suspect. DNA swab of the saliva was collected, and the shoe imprint appeared to be a “Vans” shoe. Investigation is ongoing.
Telephone Threats / 600 block San Ysidro Road
Saturday December 28, 2024, at 20:57 hours
RP received two phone calls from a phone number from Poland. On the second phone call, the RP answered, and an unknown male subject stated he would kill the RP.
Burglary, Vandalism / 900 block Hot Springs Road
Monday December 30, 2024, at 11:17 hours
Victim (superintendent of construction project) reported an unknown suspect hopped the fence to the reported site on 12/27 and broke into a locked storage container which housed construction tools. The value of the tools is approximately $1,000.00. Video surveillance captured the theft. The victim reported his Makita tools are labeled with his initals, JZC.
following in the footprints of her mother, Congresswoman Lois Capps, who was present. Cogent points she made were, “To know me is to know I love Santa Barbara. And my determining factor for making changes and rules is their impact on our children. For 2025 my priority number one is on workforce housing that can be made at the place of work. Housing costs impact the workforce in Santa Barbara, and their ability to stay employed here. We need to continue to make use of vacant parking lots and other unused government land for housing. My other priority is on cannabis regulations. We need to stop the burden of its governance on the residents and make the rules and regulations for it at the government level. We know what works on the cannabis issues, and we need to enforce it.” She concluded saying, “Trust in government begins at the local level. We need to focus on results, not rules and regulations.”
Hartmann, after providing her thankyous to her family and team, spoke about why she serves as a Supervisor, stating, “We do this to be part of the organization that affects people’s everyday lives.” She mentioned her support of the BOS in their spirit of collaboration over the issues they are presented. Nelson’s statements included his thanks to God, family, and his children. He firmly stated that despite news to the contrary, there was much work done by the BOS on city infrastructure and the homeless issues, which will continue to be his top priorities.
Lee’s speech was succinct, thanking his wife, family and friends who have supported him. Lee adding, “I am honored and humbled to have your trust and confidence in me to be in this position to
be working for you. I plan to serve all residents in the county with transparency, dedication, honesty, and integrity. I will emphasize listening and valuing diverse perspectives. My key priorities for my term are cannabis policy reform, creating real affordable housing solutions for our local workforce, provide our workers with higher paying careers, and focus on our quality of life, how can we make our county a better place to live. I look forward to working with the BOS and everybody to achieve these goals. Thank you.”
The celebratory program had a poetry reading by McKenna Hall, a La Colina Jr. High School student who read her poem titled, “How Cool are You.” The music performance was by the La Colina Jr. High School Jazz Band Directed by Stephen Hughes They played “The Lady Knows her Cheese” and “Lucky Seven.”
The keynote address was by Gwyn Lurie, Co-Founder of The Giving List/ The Giving List Women and CEO of The Montecito Journal Media Group. Her 10-minute speech detailed her thoughts on the art of compromise and importance of local government, as well as the “unexpected value of the inexperienced [referencing Roy Lee].”
Noted attendees were the SBC Sheriffs Bill Brown, Richard Brittingham, and Brad Welch, and officers James Carovano and Oscar Covarrubias there to protect the scene. Also SBC Fire Department Chief Mark Hartwig, Jack Lorenz of Dignity Moves; former SBC BOS Susan Rose; City of Goleta Manager Robert Nisbet and Councilmember James Kyriaco, former School Board member Kate Ford, SBCC Trustee John Abboud
Initially, Mike Gustason’s place had a different name than the one to which Central Coast locals would later become endeared. Factory Direct for You arguably makes up in clarity what it lacks in musicality, but never mind. The increasingly besotted locals would in short order adopt and swarm Gustason’s start-up –warmly devising their own alliterative shorthand for the business.
“Yes, when my dad started, it was Factory Direct for You. And as he grew the business in the first couple of years the community created the name. And so then he transitioned from Factory Direct for You to Mattress Mike. It organically got cooked up by his customers.”
Soon the business moved to a space nearly three times the size of their original. Yes, the expansion was still behind Cal Taco. “We were at 3,300 square feet. And that was our first real showroom,” Garret says. “When we began working with furniture, we became Mattress Mike’s Furniture Gallery. And then when we made the transition here, we had a lot more furniture. So we decided to put that name first; Furniture Gallery by Mattress Mike.”
Here, by the way, is a sprawling (and exquisitely homey) 55,000 square foot showroom, located in the old Sears space at La Cumbre Plaza on upper State St. in Santa Barbara. Furniture Gallery by Mattress Mike is the largest furniture showroom on the Central Coast. They carry all the relevant major brands as well as more boutique offerings, with a price point continuum that runs from Ramen-eating university students to the higher-falutin. Living Room, Bedroom, Dining Room, Entertainment, Décor, Office – if it exists,
this counterintuitively cozy NASA hangar has it. But the humble mattress is the fuel that launched the rocket.
“We know our subject,” Garret says. “It’s about sleep, which truly affects one’s life. A lot of people think, you know ‘… it’s a bed. I’m only on the thing for eight hours!’ Well, that’s a third of your life. If you don’t get the right sleep, the other two thirds will not be that great.”
He’s right, of course. Peer-reviewed papers and researchers’ Sleep Studies are all over the subject. “Look,” Garret says. “It’s really important to find what works best for someone. The most expensive option isn’t always the best option, needless to say.” At FGMM they pride themselves on leaving the customer alone to wander the furnished acreage, and stand ready to answer any question. This is not a commission-driven pressure cooker, but the sort of family business where the newly-arrived customer is an immediate member of the Furniture Gallery clan.
Today, Garret is COO and General Manager. Did the old man dragoon him into working in the family biz or what? “As soon as I could, I got a worker’s permit. I started working summers in the shop, and then I was going to CC for about two and a half years, decided that it wasn’t for me. I’d been working the whole time, and I love Mattress Mike’s! I love what I do. So I said ‘Dad, I don’t know that I want to go to school anymore.’” Mike (dad) quite sensibly laid out the cards. “He said, fine –you just need to find yourself a job.” Garret grins in the telling. “Okay,” he replied. “I have one in mind.”
When you’re a town’s mattress king, things happen. “Some years ago, my dad took a phone call. ‘Hey, do you have 20
king mattresses?’ At the time,” Garret says, “we had stacks of S immons Factory Direct Seconds. So my dad’s like, ‘Yeah, I do have 20 king mattresses.’”
Reader, your hurried calculations are correct. We are talking about ~ 850 square feet of mattress. In the event, Gustason Sr. – Mattress Mike, after all – grabbed his keys and 20 king-sized mattresses and hit the road.
“He arrives at this property out in Montecito, and it’s huge, right? The assistant shows up, takes him to this big open lawn, and she says, ‘okay, just lay ‘em out right here!’ They ended up beautifully decorating them so everybody could just lounge on these king-sized beds in this outdoor setting.” Shades of ‘67s Summer of Love! Though we must charitably assume this village bed-in featured neither rampant nudity nor wild baying at the sun. What was the occasion, and who on Earth would dream up such a thing? “It was a certain wellknown figure hosting a – I don’t know what you’d call it. It was like a garden party?”
(The whims of our most beloved Thought Leaders are not always decipherable…)
The Gustasons rule, their showroom is homelike and enfolding, and this Garret guy is happy as a lark. What gives?
“My father and I love every minute we get to do this together. We’ll call each other after work. ‘Man, what a day! But wasn’t it fun?’”
Jeff Wing is a journalist, raconteur, autodidact, and polysyllable enthusiast. He has been writing about Montecito and environs since before some people were born. He can be reached at jeff@ montecitojournal.net
Long before Neil Armstrong made the history books, the first earthlings in space included tortoises, rats, rabbits, fruit flies, and a squirrel monkey named Miss Baker. The headline that topped the June 4, 1959, Santa Barbara News Press (RIP) says a lot about these early days of space exploration and Vandenburg AFB’s then-role as chief pet launcher. Roy Johnson, project overseer, explained in the article that the attempt to “inject” the mousecraft into safe re-entry was either “too low or too high or off to one side,” which does seem to cover all the aeronautical re-entry missteps. The unfortunate result was that the craft – Discoverer III – “was destroyed by air friction.” Yet another sacrifice by our mislabeled “lower animal” brethren.
Sixteen-year-old film
actress Mary Miles Mintner (Santa Barbara’s Juliet Reilly) was an up-and-coming starlet at SB’s Flying A studios when, in 1922, someone murdered debonair Flying A movie director William Desmond Taylor. The investigative tossing of Taylor’s bungalow revealed loved letters from Minter to Taylor (a man 30 years her senior), making the young lady a suspect – alongside her mother, who may have broken in and shot Taylor herself. The murder, which remains unsolved, was sufficient to end Ms. Mintner’s fledgling film career; and Mr. Taylor’s, needless to say.
What other projects are you working on for health and wellness?
I am in the initial stages of building a community to support those businesses in SB and the Tri-Counties that are working toward a more sustainable future. The Sustainable Living Business Network will connect, share resources and referrals, and collaborate to broaden our individual reach and unite our efforts.
Businesses that promote sustainable living, whether through environmental protection, promoting health, or both – businesses such as non-toxic living, green tech, organic food and farming, non-toxic products, waste reduction, holistic health, etc. – are encouraged to join. Anyone interested in learning more about this forthcoming community can reach out to me at hello@ naturalhavensb.com
Do you live in SB?
Yes, I do. I moved to Santa Barbara in 2020. I had been so sick for so long in DC... I needed a Big Change. I didn’t know where! So I sold my house in Virginia, rented a car in Seattle and drove down the coast to find my new home. The pandemic hit while I was on my journey which complicated things, but I eventually made it to Santa Barbara and Fell In Love. Not just with the incredible weather and the awe-inspiring views, but with the genuine, grounded people that live here – many of whom are working to make the world a better place.
Anything else?
Manufacturers need to do better and consumers need to demand better. As consumer demand for safer products grows, it is my hope that healthy, non-toxic options become more accessible and affordable through economies of scale, ultimately making it easier to find products that are safe, both for our families and the planet.
411: http://naturalhavensb.com
A warm welcome to our New Year 2025 First Baby, Esther Love Boyko! Esther was born on Wednesday, January 1, at 3:07 am at the Birth Center at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital (SBCH). Her stats are 19.5 inches long, weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces. She is the fourth child of Mariam and Igor Boyko. Igor works in Santa Barbara, and although the family lives in Ventura, they chose SBCH for the birth of their child.
Baby Boyko’s arrival marks not just the start of a new year but the beginning of a new chapter in the Boyko family’s lives.
The Birth Center at SBCH is committed to patient well-being, offering state-of-the-art amenities for a safe and comfortable experience. With a compassionate, family-centered team, SBCH provides specialized care and emergency support for mothers and newborns who need extra attention. In addition to SBCH’s resources, patients benefit from the expertise of Cottage’s Ob/ Gyn Clinic, offering comprehensive women’s healthcare services from wellness exams to high-risk pregnancy care. As part of Cottage Health, the clinic provides seamless integration with the network, ensuring easy referrals and access to a wide range of medical services.
411: www.cottagehealth.org/services/ womens-services
and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Former big band singer Ginny Mancini, Henry’s widow, once told me at a Beverly Hills dinner party the film’s producers wanted to delete the song from the film. One can only imagine what would have happened if they had been successful.
Always a cracking start to the New Year...
With Love, Meghan – the Duchess of Sussex’s long-awaited cookery and homemaking series on Netflix – launches on Wednesday (Jan. 15).
The series with her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard was first teased last March and shows Markle cooking in the Montecito kitchen of two good friends, Tom and Sherrie Cipolla, who split their time between their fiveacre property in our rarefied enclave and their estate in Rancho Palos Verdes.
The kitchen used in the eight-part series features a $20,000 Thermador range and a great deal of highly priced Le Creuset cookware, clearly setting the tone for the target demographic.
The Riven Rock resident is seen working in the garden and talking with famous friends such as restaurateur Alice Waters and chef Roy Choi while listening to The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Do You Believe in Magic,” with husband Prince Harry even making a cameo.
“I hope you love the show as much I loved making it,” she gushes.
Sharing some of her favorite tips and tricks for cooking, gardening, crafting and more, Meghan reveals how even last-minute details can help add beauty to our lives, and, most importantly “bring people together.”
“This is about connecting with friends,” added Meghan “We’re not in pursuit of perfection. We’re in pursuit of joy.”
The tony twosome’s dogs – a rescue beagle Guy and labrador Pula – also get screen time.
As this is the last project of the couple’s $100 million deal with Netflix, it is seen as a make-or-break project particularly after the failure of Harry’s project on the sport of polo, which was demolished by critics.
I see the New York Post lost no time in picking up my story about my contretemps with the Duchess of York when – at a Manhattan lunch to celebrate her new multi-million dollar contract with Wedgwood, the fine china maker, and Waterford, the makers of fine crystal – I had the temerity to ask if she would at last be moving out of Royal Lodge, the late Queen Mother’s former Windsor home; which prompted her to walk out of the event.
Prince Harry is teaching his son Prince Archie, 5, how to surf.
A photograph of the dynamic duo riding the waves was posted on social media and just as quickly deleted, presumably in the interests of privacy.
The pic was uploaded on a post of an Instagram reel by Tahitian pro surfer Raimana Van Bastolaer and taken at surfing star Kelly Slater’s surf ranch in Lemoore, 70 miles from Fresno.
But the image was later taken down with the surf coach captioning: “Don’t hate, but be happy!”
Harry and Meghan have rarely exposed their children, Archie and Lilibet, to the limelight, although a friend whose son is in the same school class as Archie tells me he is a delightful little boy.
As usual, tout le monde was at the New Year’s Day lunch thrown by affable gardening guru George Schoellkopf and international artist Gérald Incandela at
their magnificent Summerland aerie.
The tony twosome – who fly between their sprawling homes here and in the town of Washington, Connecticut –kicked off 2025 in splendiferous style with free-flowing vintage Bordeaux and Moët champagne, beef brisket that had taken three days to prepare in the baro-
nial kitchen, English trifle prepared by George (a particular favorite), and tiramisu & persimmon pudding.
Guests included Robyn Geddes , Barbara Woods , Sharon Bradford , Michael and Lorie Porter , Larry Feinberg and Starr Siegele , Mary Dorra, Allan Glaser, Trish Reynales, and David and Kendall Conrad
Always a glorious start to the New Year.
Montecito actor Billy Baldwin, 61, and wife Chynna Phillips are living back together again.
Singer Chynna, 56, is now deleting the message declaring they were living in separate homes and cities because they had an “allergy” to one another.
She set the record straight in a video published to her YouTube site on December 29.
“I am retracting that comment, and I am now saying that it is a very foolish, very unwise, very destructive, stupid decision because that’s not going to solve our problem with the allergy.”
The pair married in 1995 and will celebrate their 30th anniversary in September.
Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry and British actor fiancé Orlando Bloom welcomed in the New Year in a very Zen way.
Katy, 40, who revealed she dresses up as The Grinch and goes caroling at her neighbors’ houses in our rarefied enclave on Christmas Eve, shared highlights of her New Year’s Day on her website.
It showed her enjoying some inner peace in a yoga session with Bloom, 47, in Japan.
The tony twosome sat back-to-back in their hotel suite overlooking the Tokyo skyline.
“Sending love to all this year!” she told her 205 million followers. “The year is always a chance for transformation... We put the OK in TOKyo for the New Year celebration.”
Montecito actress Gwyneth Paltrow has become quite an advocate of numerology, the ancient art of numbers and their supposed energetic influences in our lives.
The Goop founder, 52, says she underwent a numerology reading which helped her deal with the death of her German shepherd Nero and the impact of her children Apple, 20, and Moses, 18, moving out.
The treatment involved using a “life part number” and detecting your “dating number” by using your full name.
The Oscar winner says the bizarre technique led her to discover 2024 had been “a year of goodbyes” and helped her “contextualize” emotional events.
“I’ve learned to loosen my grip on my thoughts and learn to let go,” says Gwyneth. “And also to understand that everything with change is for the greatest good, even if it’s super uncomfortable.”
On a personal note, I mark the move to more heavenly pastures of Aaron Brown, a former anchor on CNN and ABC, who has died aged 76.
I was a regular guest on his CNN show until he got poached by ABC.
Interestingly, his first day of broadcasting for ABC was the day the World Trade Center was attacked and Aaron broadcast for 17 hours straight, a heroic effort that won him the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award.
He was always quite cynical of the need for the British Royal Family in this day and age, but his interviews were always quite courteous and insightful.
Katy Perry and fiancé Orlando Bloom at the 55th birthday bash for Lauren Sánchez , partner of Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos , in Miami... Singerdancer Paula Abdul and friends at Olio Pizzeria... Maria Shriver at Pierre Lafond.
Pip! Pip!
From musings on the Royals to celebrity real estate deals, Richard Mineards is our man on the society scene and has been for more than 15 years
In honoring those we’ve lost, we find purpose each day— together, we stand stronger.
by Steven Libowitz
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10-FRIDAY, JANUARY 17
Jacques Attack – The 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival is less than four weeks away, but SBIFF’s new expanded year-round schedule jumps the gun with a special Jacques Audiard Film Retrospective, paying tribute to the French filmmaker-screenwriter over a full week’s worth of screenings. Known for his emotionally intense and stylistically distinctive films, Audiard’s 2024 opus, Emilia Pérez pushes the envelope further via an audacious fever dream that defies genres, employing song and dance to share the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico pursuing their own roads to happiness. While we’ll see stars Karla Sofía Gascón , Zoe Saldaña , and Selena Gomez during the festival, Audiard will be on hand to inaugurate the retrospective with a Q&A session following the special screening of the film that just won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical on January 10 at SBIFF Riviera Theatre (2044 Alameda Padre Serra). The rest of the retrospective will revisit Audiard’s acclaimed films Dheephan and A Prophet – both winners at Cannes – as well as The Beat That My Heart Skipped; Paris, 13th District; Rust and Bone; and The Sisters Brothers , all screening downtown at the new SBIFF Film Center.
WHEN: 7 pm
WHERE: SBIFF Film Center, 2044 Alameda Padre Serra
COST: $20
INFO: (805) 963-0023 or https://sbifftheatres.com
SUNDAY, JANUARY 12
Sunday Night’s Alright – The Tribe, a collective of LA-based session and touring musicians and vocalists, last showed up at SOhO just a month ago. That occasion was The Tribe’s annual holiday charity concert events for the Get Together Foundation, featuring a theme of “Christmas & Songs of Love Thru the Decades.” Now the ensemble returns to perform its tribute show to Elton John , featuring a run-through of his classic album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road , played in order from start to finish – from “Funeral for a Friend” to “Harmony,” and including massive hits “Candle in the Wind,” “Bennie and the Jets,” and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” along the way. As
Do You Know What I ‘Mean’? – Is Cady catty? Sure, but the newbie to public high school after years of homeschooling on a savanna in Africa, is also outgoing, adventurous, and ultimately open-hearted. That plus a finely-tuned cast featuring Lindsay Lohan – along with Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and a smaller role by writer Tina Fey – is what made Mean Girls such an enduring hit movie when it came out 20 years ago. Fey later smartly helped adapt the film into a Broadway musical that also proved so successful that the stage show was made into its own movie just last year. But you can see the official Broadway touring production starring an age-appropriate cast close out its two-night run at the Granada, kicking off the new year with a big, boisterous show full of singing, dancing and everything else that offers something for everybody.
WHEN: 7:30 pm Thursday, January 9
WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street
COST: $60-$135
INFO: (805) 899-2222/www.granadasb.org or (805) 893-3535/https:// artsandlectures.ucsb.edu
Illuminated Lanterns Still De-lighting – Christmas trees have already been recycled, New Year’s hangovers have healed, and everyone is back at school or work. Which means it’s a perfect time to go check out the Santa Barbara Zoo’s third annual illuminating and illuminated installation known as ZooLights. The holidays are but a bit part in the exhibition that shows off the Zoo in, ahem, a whole new light, as the place transforms after dark into a magical world of lights. Thousands of handcrafted, silk-covered lanterns come aglow with more than 50,000 LED bulbs, showcasing animal and nature scenes that represent wild places from around the world. A walk through the expansive environs of the hilltop haven shines with the interactive exhibits that shed light on underwater seascapes, beautiful birds in tropical forests, wild safari creatures on the prowl, and dozens of other animals – including an extinct animal showcase decorated with dinosaurs and many more critters. It’s all meant to create a larger-than-life immersive experience for visitors while the animal residents are safely tucked away. To keep everybody’s tummy in tip-top shape, seasonal snacks and warm drinks are available for purchase.
WHEN: 4:30-8:30 pm daily through January 12
WHERE: SB Zoo, 500 Niños Drive
COST: $20-$35
INFO: (805) 962-5339 or www.sbzoo.org/events-calendar
always, an array of stellar singers will join the core band of Steve Bauman (keyboards), Kevin Wachs (drums), Lou Castro (bass) and Michael Stern (guitar), including Grammy award winning mix engineer and musician John McNeely and the great Rosemary Butler , famed for his supporting roles on major albums and tours by Jackson Browne (“Stay”), James Taylor , Linda Ronstadt , Warren Zevon and many others.
WHEN: 7:30 pm
WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State Street, upstairs in Victoria Court COST: $25 in advance, $29 at the door INFO: (805) 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com
TUESDAY, JANUARY
Passion with Perel – Nominally, tonight’s event with leading relationship therapist and New York Times bestselling author Esther Perel would fall under the aegis of the second part of UCSB’s Arts & Lectures programming; that L word to the immediate right of the ampersand. But calling “The Future of Relationships, Love & Desire” a mere lecture would undersell the event, in which Perel interacts with the audience in a lively and constructive discussion about desire, heartbreak, and sex in an evening that has been described as an epic 2,000-person group date. Perel draws on her decades of work as a professional therapist to help people build thriving relationships. Her research into the myriad angles that comprise interpersonal chemistry –from gender roles to cultural and religious identity to child-rearing practices – explicates the way our quest for love and security often conflicts with our pursuit of adventure and freedom. Part of a cross-country tour that kicked off last April, tonight’s gathering is meant to shine a light on the cultural shifts transforming relationships, and help us rethink how we connect, how we desire, and even how we love.
WHEN: 7:30 pm
WHERE: Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St.
COST: $47-$157
INFO: (805) 893-3535/https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu or (805) 963-9589/www.arlingtontheatresb.com/upcoming-events
SATURDAY, JANUARY 11
Slingshot’s Trio of ‘Couplets’ – The gallery at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara opens Couplets, a new exhibition featuring the work of Slingshot/Alpha Art Studio artists Michelle Oliner, James Jasper, and Tom Neumeyer, covering the media of printmaking, drawing, embroidery and ceramics. Curator Jessica Schlobohm is the gallery director at Slingshot, a progressive arts studio that supports the creative practice and professional visibility of artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Santa Barbara County. The show takes inspiration from several series of prints by Oliner that are created by drawing into a foam plate with a dulled instrument such as a pencil, pen or sharpened dowel. After printing the plates, typically in black, Oliner adds colored pencil overlays to each successive print, creating novel versions, which are presented as mated pairs to highlight the rhythm and meter of their relationships. Jasper’s works on paper are methodical but economical as he completes each portrait without hesitation in a single sitting in permanent pen or thick, indelible charcoal. In contrast, his embroideries consist of concentric rings of linear stitches and patches of colorful texture, and are created sporadically over the course of many months or years. Neumeyer’s ceramic pieces are inscribed with strong glyphic markings that mimic and dissect their ceramic forms and contain intriguing hidden figures, cryptic messages, and tessellating geometry. While tonight is the opening reception, Schlobohm will return on February 8 to present an informal tour of the exhibition and an introduction to the studio’s progressive practices.
WHEN: Opening reception 1-3 tonight, exhibit through March 8
WHERE: 229 E. Victoria St.
COST: free
INFO: (805) 965-6307 or https://afsb.org
INFO: (800) CHUMASH (248-6274) or www.chumashcasino.com
SUNDAY, JANUARY 12
The Beat Goes on for SBJS – Ed Smith’s putative day job is Professor of Drums & Percussion and Director of New World Jazz Ensemble at Santa Barbara City College, but Smith has also long been an in-demand drummer, composer, arranger and studio musician as well as a producer in the greater Los Angeles area. His original compositions can be heard on TV shows such as The Good Place, Madam Secretary, Big Bang Theory, Animal Planet, Dexter, Cheer, Queen of the South, The Boys, Atypical, Burn Notice, Access Hollywood and many others, while he’s also placed songs in such feature films as Ride Along 2 and Pitch Perfect 3. His composition, “Tassajara,” was featured on Pete Escovedo’s Grammy-Nominated CD. Mr. E. Smith’s credits as a studio drummer and percussionist runs to more than 200 albums, including recordings by Michael McDonald, Dionne Warwick, Gerald Albright, Steve Tyrell, Grant Geissman, Keiko Matsui, Rick Braun, Rita Coolidge, and Ralph Carmichael – the latter encompassing four Big Band albums and three albums with the London Symphony Orchestra recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studio. He’s performed on stage with some of the world’s great jazz artists, including Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, Toots Thielemans, and Ray Charles, to name a few. Smith has also spun the dials in producing over 50 albums, including Tis the Season, Smooth Jazz Christmas, which rose to No. 1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Charts. Smith also received an Emmy Award for his arrangements and music production for ESPN’s NCAA Sports Promos featuring Robert Goulet. Today, Smith settles into SOhO for a return engagement for the Santa Barbara Jazz Society with a quartet that features keyboardist Geoff Stradling, saxophonist Tom Luer, and bassist Alex Smith. We’re told we’ll hear a number of Smith’s original contemporary jazz compositions along with more than a smattering of jazz standards to kick off the new year.
WHEN: 1-4 pm
WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State Street, upstairs in Victoria Court
COST: $35 general, $25 Jazz Society members, $10 professional musicians, singers and full-time students
INFO: (805) 962-7776/www.sohosb.com or (805) 687-7123/www.sbjazz.org or (805) 893-3535/https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu
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AUTOMOBILES WANTED
We buy Classic Cars Running or not. Foreign/Domestic Chevy/Ford/Porsche/Mercedes/Etc. We come to you. Call Steven - 805-699-0684 Website - Avantiauto.group
AVAILABLE CAREGIVER
Trusted, Experienced Caregiver, CA State registered and background checked. Vaccinated. Loving and caring provides transportation, medications, etc. Lina 805-940-6888
Local tile setter of 35 years is now doing small jobs only. Services include grout cleaning and repair, caulking, sealing, replacing damaged tiles and basic plumbing needs. Call Doug Watts at 805-729-3211 for a free estimate.
Timeless, elegance - Nightwear, robes, loungewear
www.shopglamourhouse.com 805-969 5285 Ann@shopglamourhouse.com
Beutiful renovated mid-century 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom with Ocean views in Santa Barbara foothills, Available Dec 15th - March 15th (646) 206-4391
Casa L. M.
Landscape hedges installed. Ficus to flowering. Disease resistant. Great privacy. Licensed & insured. Call (805) 963-6909
WATERLILIES and LOTUS since 1992
WATERGARDEN CARE
SBWGC
Do you need to get away for a weekend, week or more? I will house sit and take care of your pets, plants & mail. I have refs if needed. Call me or text me. Christine (805) 452-2385
Longtime Santa Barbara resident, retired, active woman. experienced with house sitting and dog sitting prefer small dogs or cats. Trustworthy, tidy, kind pet lover. Excellent local References upon request. (805) 451-3415
Carpet Cleaning Since 1978 (805) 963-5304
Rafael Mendez Cell: 689-8397 or 963-3117
EDC Mobile Sharpening is locally owned and operated in Santa Barbara. We specialize in (No-Entry) House Calls, Businesses, and Special Events. Call (805) 696-0525 to schedule an appointment.
Bilingual, responsible and honest retired senior is looking to help with organization of a home, driving to doctor’s apts & errands. Babysit children/pets. Teach Spanish. (760) 968-7101
It’s simple. Charge is $3 per line, each line with 31 characters. Minimum is $10 per issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email Classified Ad to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860. All ads must be finalized by Friday at 2pm the week prior to printing. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex (3% surcharge)
3 Kasandra Martell Still Life
Framed floral paintings, approximately 1985 or earlier.
Peonies 24” by 20”
Peonies 25” by 29”
Hydrangeas 27” by 31.25” Call Allen Braithwaite (805) 745-5533
DONATIONS NEEDED
Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary Menagerie 2430 Lillie Avenue Summerland, CA 93067 (805) 969-1944
Donate to the Parrot Pantry! At SB Bird Sanctuary, backyard farmer’s bounty is our birds’ best bowl of food! The flock goes bananas for your apples, oranges & other homegrown fruits & veggies.
Volunteers
Do you have a special talent or skill? Do you need community service hours? The flock at SB Bird Sanctuary could always use some extra love and socialization. Call us and let’s talk about how you can help. (805) 969-1944
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
K-9 PALS need volunteers to be foster parents for our dogs while they are waiting for their forever homes. For more information info@k-9pals.org or 805-570-0415
ByPeteMuller&FrankLongo
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