THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM

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V O L 4 ISS24 D E C 5 – 19

2015

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THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM SCIENCE K I D EL I S E U NR U H WA S B O RN TO CO N DUCT. IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME. (STORY BEGINS ON P.4)

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BRADEN R. LECK and DANIEL C. DAVID

P.3 Lanny’s Take P.4 State Street Scribe P.6 Beer Guy P.8 The Fortnight P.10 Biweekly Capitalist P.11 Man About Town P.12 The Local P.13 The Berry Man P.15 Plan B P.17 Up Close P.19 I Heart SB P.20 SYV Snapshot P.23 Cinema Scope

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015

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Lannys take

by Lanny Ebenstein

Lanny Ebenstein is president of the California Center for Public Policy

Why Not Move Adelante to Cleveland?

A

fter several years of basically plateauing, enrollment in Santa Barbara elementary schools is likely to decline in the coming years. Births at Cottage Hospital and in the County of Santa Barbara declined with the Great Recession and have not recovered yet.

The elementary school that is already losing students at the quickest rate is Cleveland. In 2011-12, Cleveland had about 445 students. This year, it has about 370, a decline of about 15 percent in enrollment. Similarly, Harding is down significantly, from 460 students to about 420.

Families, in particular Latino and lower socioeconomic families, are being forced out of the Santa Barbara rental housing market as a result of reduced supply and the increase in the price of rent. This existing decline will be compounded as lower enrollments as a result of fewer births starting in 2010 begin to kick in during the next several years.

It is likely that Cleveland will decline to as few as 325 or so students in the next five years. By way of contrast, Adelante Charter School, which is currently housed on Franklin, may grow to 315 students or more. Franklin, too, is likely to decline in enrollment, from about 580 students to about 520 students.

The likely change in enrollment in eastside schools during the next several years prompts this suggestion for consideration: Why not move Adelante Charter School to the current Cleveland Elementary School site and transfer the Cleveland attendance area to Franklin?

In this case, at Cleveland, Adelante could grow to 400 to 450 or so students. It currently has a waiting list and does not have a transitional kindergarten program as a result of space limitations. There is little question that there would be more children at the Cleveland site if Adelante were located there and allowed to expand than if Cleveland were to continue to remain an attendance area elementary school.

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

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Moreover, the area south of approximately Cacique Street in the Cleveland area is slightly closer to Franklin than to Cleveland. On the basis of my familiarity with this region, I believe that it would rather be in the Franklin attendance area, as I believe Adelante families could enthusiastically welcome the opportunity to have their own school site at the Cleveland campus.

It has long been the case that Adelante’s site at Franklin is pitifully small. The idea of charter education is to allow parents choice in the schools they enroll their children. I support this concept. The Santa Barbara Unified School District benefits from the diversity of its program, including charter schools, GATE programs, academies, and continuation programs.

The time has come for a school site for Adelante Charter School. This would also result in fewer elementary children on the Franklin site, since even though it would have Cleveland’s enrollment, Adelante would no longer be located there. In addition, more children from the new Franklin and current Cleveland attendance would be able to attend Adelante at Cleveland.

Since Adelante is already more of a commuter school, proportionately, than Franklin, location of Adelante at Cleveland would reduce traffic issues in the immediate Franklin neighborhood. It also might be possible for Adelante to obtain greater diversity of students if it were located at Cleveland.

Franklin as a single, neighborhood elementary school uniting the lower eastside would also have much to recommend it. This could influence layout of classrooms at Franklin and Cleveland.

Similarly, the issue of the Parma site on Montecito Street remains in the student housing mix. If this site were used for child development programs, the number of children on the Franklin site would also be reduced.

As the school district continues to consider facility issues in the coming weeks and months, it will be important to engage in long-range planning. As Dr. Dave Cash, superintendent of the Santa Barbara Unified School District, likes to say, “Every child, every chance, every day.”

Santa Barbara’s school facilities of the future should be in the tradition of the great schools built here in the past: Santa Barbara Junior High, Santa Barbara High School, La Cumbre, and others. It will be vital to evaluate the long-term future needs of the community. Certainly one of these is to provide better facilities for Adelante Charter School.

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015

W W W. S A N TA B A R B A R A S E N T I N E L .CO M

STATE STREET SCRIBE

by Jeff Wing

Jeff is a journalist, raconteur, autodidact, and polysyllable enthusiast. A long-time resident of SB, he takes great delight in chronicling the lesser known facets of this gaudy jewel by the sea. Jeff can be reached at jeffwingg@gmail.com

From STEM to Strings: Conductor Unruh’s Unlikely Route to The Nutcracker at the Arlington

D

ecember (sometimes called “The Holidays”) is rife with strange rituals made familiar through repetition. A large pine tree in the living room here, an eight-armed candelabra there; it’s as if the year-end religious posturing were a battle between Paul Bunyan and Liberace. It gets stranger. Nodding animatronic reindeer ablaze with incandescent light crowd our lawns and gardens; that strange, lyrically insistent song “Dreidel, dreidel dreidel!” is in the air, and obese men in red velveteen burst out in spontaneous laughter for no good reason and haunt the street corners like badly disguised pickpockets.

One of the stranger and more ravishing December traditions is the kaleidoscopic Tchaikovsky blowout that takes place at the dear, venerable old Arlington Theatre every year, she of the indoor vault of stars, cozy lamplit village, and threadbare Gone with the Wind lobby furnishings. They call this show The Nutcracker at the Arlington, and it has been flipping local wigs in that storied location for 41 consecutive Decembers this year; one of the longest runs in the U.S. of a Nutcracker production with live symphony orchestra. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (call him Pete) was a starcrossed artist – unlucky in love, intermittently blocked, jittery by disposition, and a friend to the nervous breakdown. His passions ran to either end of the emotional spectrum. Pete once threw himself into the freezing Moscow River in a fit of broken romantic pique, for instance. The music of The Nutcracker is, not surprisingly, achingly beautiful.

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Preventing Pandemonium in the Pit While Conducting Pete But mounting a show with a live symphony orchestra, particularly a complex and many-splendored extravaganza such as The Nutcracker, is a gamble. Musicians are an unpredictable lot. When the curtain rises, what’s to stop them from just excitedly launching a cacophony, sawing away at their strings, puffing out their cheeks and blowing into their fancy horns, or arhythmically banging the kettle drum with abandon?

The celesta player could just start Sugarplum Fairy-ing all over the map and wreck the whole show.

Enter Elise Unruh, for 28 years the baton-waving conductor of The Nutcracker at the Arlington. If you’re one of the lucky theatergoers who have seen this gorgeous production, you know Ms. Unruh well. She’s the nice lady in the pantsuit who appears like a genie next to Mixmaster-turned-Maestra Elise Unruh moved from the orchestra pit just as the pre-curtain Beakers to Ballet Nutcracker anticipation in the dusky Arlington house is nearing fever pitch. For some minutes, there will have been flickering movement in the mesmerizing space between the curtain and the stage as the cast frantically take their places behind the pleated 10-ton drape. Suddenly, the musicians in the pit cease their atonal instrumental murmuring. A lone figure materializes next to the pit, stage right. She is not a Promethean super-being throwing off light, but an attractive, composed lady in a seasonally festive pantsuit. Dwarfed by the proscenium, made miniscule by the cavernous Arlington house with its twilit puebla village and sky-high vault of electric stars and 2,000 seats, she is nevertheless riveting. People start shushing each other, as if she’s about to sing. But she is not going to sing. This mellow, grinning, unprepossessing lady in toned-down holiday garb is the freaking conductor, her powers finally as indecipherable as those of an astronaut, brain surgeon, or submarine commander. She has neither the striding bravado of Kirk arriving on the bridge of the Enterprise, nor the wild-haired expressionism of a conducting eccentric in tails. She is a lady in a pantsuit. But her appearance compels an almost audible communal gasp, followed by a hush that ripples over the audience like a breeze over a stilled pond.

“It’s the conductor!”

Ms. Unruh bows demurely and with another slight smile receives the intrigued, appreciative, and sustained applause of an audience to whom her skill set is approximately as mythic as the ability to soar around the room on gossamer wings.

Most people can imagine playing a violin or plucking at a harp, however ineptly, but to stand before a disparate group of willful musicians and wrest from them the hair-raisingly lovely music of the spheres – no one understands how this is done.

Now before 2,000 sets of staring eyes, Elise Unruh turns on her heel, descends the little stairway into the orchestra pit, nods to the gathered musicians in greeting, raises her little wand, and with a not-terribly dramatic gesture summons from that long, gently lit hole in front of the stage, the first heartrate-teasing strains of the evening’s Tchaikovsky. The Arlington house sighs as one. The conductor! Where on Earth do these creatures come from? What do conductors do when they get home?

What foods do they eat? Sandwiches? Pizza? Do they sleep with their wands tucked under their pillows, Harry Potter-style? Or how about this: what could they have been like as children? What sort of household produces a conductor, of all things?

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Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Passionato “There was always music in the family growing up. My mother was a church organist and had played clarinet in school, and my father had been in the choir.

There was a piano and an organ in the house to noodle around on. We listened to different kinds of music on records, and I remember sitting on the floor watching the Leonard Bernstein New York Philharmonic Concerts for Young People on TV.” Bernstein, maybe best known to the uninitiated as the guy who (with lyricist Stephen Sondheim) gave us the songs of West Side Story, hosted a TV series called Young People’s Concerts during the years he was conductor of the New York Philharmonic. The program featured the affable conductor-composer talking playfully to a theater full of kids about this or that classical music factoid, and then demonstrating the concept with a full orchestra; a hundred or so seated, balding virtuosos in suits, clutching their instruments and patiently awaiting their cues. Thousands of kids sat cross-legged on the floor watching the TV series, and it is credited with having launched a generation of musically literate youngsters. Some of them became composers, possibly. We can only guess. Ms. Unruh continues.

“It was just always expected that my brother and my sister and I would take up an instrument in school. As expected, I started clarinet in fifth grade and switched to bassoon in seventh. In sixth grade,” she explains, and here the cherubim can be heard twittering in the eaves, “the band director let me conduct a piece of music.

I got hooked on conducting. Subsequent sympathetic directors let me conduct quite a bit in junior high and high school.” Sixth grade! She caught the bug early, was positively reinforced, and clearly had a predilection besides. She was off and running!

Not so fast.

Young Would-be Conductor Torn

By Warring Hemispheres of the Brain “I was also very good in math and science in high school, so I was persuaded by various people – my teachers, counselors, my parents – not to major in music in college. One can always do music on the side, they said.“ Yes, quite right. On the side. Does this strike a… chord, with any nervous parents out there? Just curious. Ms. Unruh goes on. “I enrolled at UCSB as a chemistry major, but I immediately joined the orchestra and the band, where eventually I became the conductor of the student-run football and basketball pep bands. I took bassoon lessons and played in a woodwind quintet, too.” There was chemistry, all right, but not chiefly the kind that splashes around in a beaker. Is this the story of a STEM kid who found she was continually being drawn back to the band room?

In a word, yes. Was there a “Eureka moment” when she realized she had to follow her heart?

“It started during my sophomore year when I took Organic Chemistry, which I did not enjoy at all. A little voice in the back of my mind started saying, ‘Hey – you’re spending way more time in the music department than in the chem lab, and you are certainly enjoying it more over there.’ I realized that all the well-meaning advisors had actually pointed me down the wrong path, and I changed majors during junior year. “Wrong path! Changed majors! Junior year? Egads! Every parent’s nightmare! “I finished up my BA in music, not chemistry, then went on to get a Teaching Credential in music and finally an MA in music with an emphasis in instrumental conducting.”

From Reactants to Rostrum While conflicted scientist Elise Unruh struggled on campus to free her inner Maestra, a close collaborative relationship was forming between the Santa Barbara Symphony and UCSB’s Music Department, such that many of the symphony’s section leaders were UCSB music department faculty, and the SB Symphony and UCSB Symphony shared a conductor. “Several students from the University Symphony were invited to play in the Santa Barbara Symphony,” Unruh explains, “and I was one of them. This was even before I’d changed majors. After a year as a student member of the Santa Barbara Symphony, I became the regular second bassoon there and moved up to Principal Bassoon a few years later. I played in the Santa Barbara Symphony for 25 years in all.”

Then in 1978, Ms. Unruh was named conductor of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. Maestro Kojian became conductor of the SB Symphony and grew familiar with Unruh’s work as the Youth Symphony conductor, as well as her conducting work with the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera (SBCLO), whose performances he often attended as an audience member. A professional

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relationship formed, and an informal mentoring began.

“Since I was also a musician in the symphony, he started turning to me as a sort of unofficial assistant conductor, asking me to cover a symphony rehearsal now and then when he was out of town on other engagements.

In 1987, he had to miss both The Nutcracker and a Winter Arts Festival Concert, and he invited me to serve as his substitute.” In the late 1980s, the conductor of the Santa Barbara Symphony, Varujan Kojian, a LebaneseAmerican trained in Vienna, was sidelined with cancer. He had only arrived a few years before. Committed to carrying on as long as possible, he enlisted the help and support of his protégé Ms. Unruh in the acquittal of certain of his conducting duties.

“Later, when Mr. Kojian became ill, I stood by during his final Nutcracker performances, and then was asked to conduct the performances the following year after his passing. This was probably because I had conducted it before, and also because I had a strong recommendation from Jeanne Ullom (orchestra contractor for The Nutcracker) based on our work together at SBCLO.” Former aspiring chemist Elise Unruh has been conducting The Nutcracker at the Arlington ever since, to the wonderment of every year’s audience. Can Maestra Unruh shed any light on the rigors of conducting a Tchaikovsky score? Her years at the Arlington’s rostrum surely give her a privileged position from which to judge the proceedings? Unruh waxes technical, slipping into the nearly indecipherable conductor-speak of a highly trained music academic.

“Everybody in the pit likes watching the Gingersnaps take their bows – we’re not playing then. So cute!”

Santa Barbara Festival Ballet presents Nutcracker at The Arlington, with live, full symphony orchestra; Elise Unruh, conductor. Three performances – Saturday, Dec. 12 at 2:30 and 7pm; Sunday, Dec. 13, at 2:30 pm.

Arlington Theatre Box Office, 1317 State Street, Santa Barbara , (805) 963-4408 or www.ticketmaster.com Group tickets: contact Lori at (805) 331-2287. Saturday eve Reception & Alumni Gala: contact Julie at (805) 966-0711

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Join us December 17, 2015 from 5:30 to 7:00pm for a Wine and Beer Reception with catering by Lorraine Lim. We will unveil our new mosaic tile mural by Patti Jacquemain and new Children’s Gallery.

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015

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Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. Celebrates its Fifth Anniversary

A

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fills the dreamy minds of high school AGAJOHNRUGSSF.COM boys. Upon graduating high school AGAJOHNLAGUNA.COM in 1995, Jaime Dietenhofer was one of those who still had aspirations of a brewer. This thought stayed REPAIR becoming & CLEANING SERVICES AVAILABLE I with him through the years, as he slowly UP TO UP TO built a career in other places. In 2010, % Zach Rosen is a Certified Cicerone® and beer % the dream became a reality when Jaime OFF educator living in Santa Barbara. He uses his ON SELECTED OFF and his father, Jim, established Figueroa background in chemical engineering and the MERCHANDISE ON SELECTED arts to seek out abstract expressions of beer and Mountain Brewing Co. MERCHANDISE. discover how beer pairs with life.

Jaime did not spend the 15 years SUMMER ONLY, OPENPROMOTION MONDAY OPEN THIS SATURDAY between his high school days and THRU SATURDAY. AND SUNDAY the founding of the brewery idly. He A Celebratory Beer This November Figueroa Mountain interviewed brewers and honed the celebrated its fifth anniversary, and as concept and branding of his brewery.

Laguna Niguel 23811 Aliso Creek Rd Jaime contributes some of this patient breweries are wont to do, they released a STE-121 Laguna Niguel approach to the astounding success of this beer to commemorate the occasion. The CA 92677 business. This time allowed him to learn Fifth Anniversary Ale is a barrel-aged 949.643.2451 from others’ mistakes and observe what Doppelbock, a type of strong, dark did and didn’t work for certain breweries German lager. Jaime and the brewers agajohnlaguna.com – though he does feel that a good deal wanted to challenge themselves this year of their success has come from the by brewing a lager that was meant to be incredible luck they have had with hiring aged. As he notes, craft breweries usually talented and dedicated staff members. shy away from this style (and other Since opening, Figueroa Mountain has lagers) because they are costly, taking a expanded from their first brewery in long time to produce.

The beer spent about eight months in Buellton with tasting rooms located in five other cities and more locations in barrels, the majority of which originally the works. Their beers have received top contained rum (about 85 percent). awards, which has gained them notoriety The remainder of the barrels used in and established the brewery as a well- the blend came from a wide variety of sources. Bourbon barrels give the beer respected member of the beer industry.

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a dash of brown sugar to the raisin-like flavor of the rum barrels. A barrel that was originally used to age vanilla extract made up only about 3 percent of the blend but contributes a luscious Vanilla Coke-like character. A cherry bitters barrel was added, too, and laces a fruity undertone to the decadent flavors.

The base beer contained mostly German-style malts, though a bit of flaked barley was used so that it could retain some of its body during the aging process. The doppelbock went into the barrel at 10-percent ABV, and after aging the beer landed at about 12-percent ABV, giving it a powerful edge. Pick up a bottle from one of their tasting rooms, and you could try the anniversary beer on tap as well. The draft version is more streamlined and brisk than in the bottle.

The cocoa and other dark-malt flavors are more prominent with a gentler wood character and lighter body. It is scary how smooth this beer is on draft, as you could easily down a glass without realizing its potency.

One to Keep

The Fifth Anniversary Ale has been released in 22-ounce bottles with an ornate silver-and-burgundy label. The neck of the bottle has been dipped in charcoal-colored wax, giving it an elegant finish. Wax-dipped bottles have become

a popular trend. The traditional crown cap is the most common way of closing a glass bottle. If you think about it, though, the cap is really just metal pried over glass, which does not completely seal the bottle shut. It gets the job done, just not perfectly.

Minute amounts of oxygen slip through the space between the metal and glass. Although this small quantity of oxygen might not seem that big of a deal, over time these gas molecules can absorb into the liquid and cause detrimental effects to the flavor of the beer, leaving it tasting of wet paper, cloying honey, or sweet sherry. Cans and kegs are fully enclosed containers and don’t allow oxygen to enter, so they do not have such issues. To counteract this outcome, most bottle caps used in breweries are equipped with an oxygen barrier underlining. This polymer layer is exposed to the airspace in the bottle and adsorbs oxygen. This liner works wonderfully during the normal lifetime of a beer (six months); however, if a beer is intended to be aged the liner can become saturated, making it lose its effectiveness over time.

Dipping the top of the bottle in wax creates an extra layer of protection. A cork and cage bottle (think champagne) is the other common packaging option for beers that are meant to be aged.

While popping a cork has a classic appeal,

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

this type of bottling system requires its own set of equipment that the brewery might not have. Many breweries use a standardized 22-ounce bottle on their bottling line (including Fig) that is not designed to be used with a cork and cage. Wax-tipped bottles have become popular with craft breweries, because this format allows them to use their existing 22-ounce bottling system to produce a bottle that can keep the oxygen out and endure the test of time.

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The Next Five

With the exponential growth the craft beer industry is going through, even Jaime admits that he can not foresee where Figueroa Mountain will be in 2020. Only time will tell, but until then he wants to spend the next five years staying “true to the brand” and continue their “focus on quality.” If Figueroa Mountain sticks to that mantra, then the beer community can expect to keep drinking their diverse range of brews, tasting fun side products such as their line of hot sauces, and attending events such as the Real Ale Festival. There is even talks of establishing a brewery in Germany. With the incredible success that Figueroa Mountain has seen over the past five years, this goal seems like an exciting prospect and not just the empty dreams of a young school boy.

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015

W W W. S A N TA B A R B A R A S E N T I N E L .CO M

Bi-Weekly Capitalist

What’s happening this month!

by Jeff Harding

Jeff Harding is a real estate investor and a writer on economics and finance. He is the former publisher of the Daily Capitalist, a popular economics blog. He is also an adjunct professor at SBCC.

Why You Should Invest In Real Estate

I All Month Long!

Youth Interactive Pop-Up Shop Shop & Support this great cause!

Saturday, December 5th HOLIDAY FESTIVAL!

Santa Claus in The Kitchen

10:00am to 2:00pm Bring your camera! Free!

Sunday, December 6th HOLIDAY FESTIVAL CONTINUES! DIY Ornaments w/ Stabiles 10:30am to noon Tickets $35 Call (805) 770-7702

Food Tasting Passport

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10:00am to 2:00pm or while supplies last!

Holiday Arts & Crafts with Knitfit Live Music All Weekend!

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Holiday Desserts Cooking Class w/ Accidental Chef Leslie Thomas!

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Thursday, December 10th Holiday Story Time w/ Michael Katz

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Saturday, December 12th “POP FIZZ CLINK” Champagne Tasting 6:00pm to 9:00pm

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12/7: Al Vafa 12/14: Conner Cherland 12/21: Robert Catchpole 12/28: Kyran Million

love teaching my real estate investment course at Santa Barbara City College. Why? It’s a privilege.

First of all, I get to teach at one of the nation’s best community colleges (number 1 in 2014!). But the main reason is that I have a chance to change people’s lives by teaching them how to create a better future for themselves.

My course is Real Estate Investment (FIN 204 — 61449) and this will be my fourth year. It starts on January 19, 2016. It will be held once a week on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9:05.

It is a 3-unit college credit course. My classroom is located on the beautiful West Campus, where there is plenty of parking in the evenings. SBCC is on the semester system, and the course ends on May 10.

My former students tell me it’s a fun class. Comments range from “The best college course I have ever taken” to “I really look forward to coming to class every Tuesday evening.”

Why me? I’ve been at this business for 40 years as a real estate lawyer, investor, financier, developer, and manager. There isn’t much I haven’t done in real estate, so I have a pretty good idea of what it’s about. This is not a course about real estate theory. I have a lot of practical experience, and I teach students stuff that isn’t in the book.

Why real estate? For centuries, real estate has been one of the main paths to wealth and financial independence.

Business is one path. Banking and finance is another. And then there is real estate. Unlike the Warren Buffets and Bill Gates of the world, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do well with real estate. Real estate investing is something everyone can do and become successful. All you need are the right tools and a positive attitude, and that’s what the course is all about.

My students are a mixture of typical college undergraduates, as well as a contingent of members of our community, and they are all eager to learn the business of real estate investing and better their lives. Actually, the course is less about becoming real estate tycoons than teaching students to be successful people who invest in real estate. As I tell my students, this is a getrich slowly class. If I can give them a bit of a head start, it is all worthwhile.

These tools work. And to prove it, I regularly bring in successful real estate investors to talk about what they do and how they did it. I have found that all of them use the tools and methods I teach.

They are all inspiring in their own ways by demonstrating their rise from modest means to financial success.

If this interests you, I invite you to sign up, but you need to do it soon since the course usually fills up. You can apply online, www.sbcc.edu/apply/apply_to_ college.php or call 965-0581, ext. 7222, or 730-4450.

I hope to see you there!

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4289 STATE ST

Ugly Christmas Sweaters R Us!

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Renaissance • Wigs • Capes • Vintage Jewlery • Shoes • Theatrical Make-upDisco • M

40’s,

Disco • Mad Men • Flapper • 80’s Prom • Cocktail & Formal Wear • 1800’s-1980’s

• B

Speaking of youngsters in opera, the Music Academy of the West has announced that Matthew Aucoin, who is just 25, will conduct the opera for the 2016 summer festival, leading the Academy Festival Orchestra and fellows from the MAW Voice Program in a new

Early Bird Costume Sale!

Coming Next Summer

Sullivan, whose father, actor Barry Sullivan, appeared in several Western films and series. Another American Premiere follows with Sabina Berman’s eXtras, based on Marie Jones’s comedy Stones in His Pockets (April 13-May 1).

Two major stars from Mexico, brothers Bruno and Odiseo Bichir, play all of the characters in the production that also features original music composed by 17-year-old Maya Burns in Ranchero, Corrido, and Mexican surfer rock styles.

David Rintels’s Clarence Darrow arrives May 25-June 12, with RTC cofounder and artistic director emeritus James O’Neil, whose great-grandfather was Clarence Darrow’s cousin, stars in the one-man tour-de-force. The late summer show is still TBA, before the season closes with the October 26– November 13 production of Return to the Forbidden Planet by Bob Carlton, a campy send-up of the sci-fi film boasting a bevy of 1950s and ‘60s rock-and-roll classics, including “Wipe Out,” “Good Vibrations” “Great Balls of Fire,” “All Shook Up,” “Monster Mash,” and “We Gotta’ Get Out of This Place.” Call 6672900 or visit www.rubicontheatre.org for info or to purchase subscriptions.

Meanwhile, Christmas Carol has its run right now, December 2-20, and while no one can be expected to get all worked about this tired old chestnut, RTC’s offering is a world premiere adaptation written by company cofounder and producing artistic director Karyl Lynn Burns, and we’re told it’s got a much edgier and personal take than the standard versions. Broadway veterans Peter Van Norden (Scrooge), Joe Spano (Marley), Jennifer Leigh Warren, and Teri Bibb are among the 24-member cast, which is the largest ensemble ever for a play at RTC.

• Burlesque • Masquerade •

Concerts, holiday films, and more greet guests at the Granada this fortnight, as the elegant hall ushers in the holidays. The theater’s 3rd Annual Holiday Movie Day takes place this first Saturday, December 5, with Christmasthemed classics for all ages plus live performances by local groups. The Santa Barbara Dance Institute kicks things off at 11 am, followed by screenings of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Ice Age: A Mammoth Holiday; Santa Claus will also be on hand in the lobby from noon to 1:30 pm. At 3, it’s music from the Montecito Union Chorus, followed by White Christmas, before Incredible Children’s Art Network (iCAN) group Pacific Choir sings at 7 before the closing screening of Scrooged.

Free popcorn – which might be the biggest bargain of all!

The next afternoon at 3, it’s Fiesta-style fun in December, as the Granada hosts a Merry-Achi Christmas featuring Sol de México, led by the fifth-generation mariachi Jose Hernández, plus the all-female Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles. This concert, sung in Spanish, explores the joyful music and customs of Mexico’s Christmas traditions.

Finally, the young soprano Jackie Evancho, runner-up on America’s Got Talent, sings on Saturday, December 12.

The Rubicon Theatre Company (RTC) in Ventura operates on more of a calendar year for its season than the usual September-to-summer schedule of most arts organizations. So it’s brand new production of A Christmas Carol – more on that later – closes out its current season, while the details of the next one were just recently announced.

Entitled “Fair Ladies, Fine Gentlemen (and Others)”, the upcoming year’s offerings feature two American premieres, a beloved classic, a oneperson drama about an American icon, and a campy musical send-up of 1950s sci-fi films loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. See Rock City, the second play in the Nibroc Trilogy by Arlene Hutton, kicks things off January 27-February 14, and brings the return of director Katharine Farmer, who at 21 helmed the first show in the Nibroc Series last season, and earned an Indy Award for her efforts while the play received a nomination for an Ovation Award for best play.

Jethro Compton’s stage adaptation of the film classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance receives its American Premiere on the Rubicon stage March 2-20, directed by Rubicon’s veteran Jenny

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805.967.4626

big plus, so they’ll want to keep playing with you. Musicians so often end up doing things that don’t even come close to maximizing or capitalizing on their talents. The compelling nature of our music is that everybody has to be on their toes and concentrate to do it. You can’t phone in it. You have to stretch and grow, and that’s what they want.”

Kinda sounds like Sinatra himself, directing the studio band on “The Way You Look Tonight” in that old Michelob commercial. The Voice would approve.

4289 STATE ST

O

l’ Blue Eyes would turn 100 next Saturday, December 12, and there have been tributes going on near and far all year, including last winter’s regrettable, at least to these ears, offering from Kurt Elling at the Lobero. Things should be much more pleasant and adventurous when that venerable venue welcomes back one its favorite daughters on Wednesday, three days before Frank would’ve hit the century mark.

The Tierney Sutton Band’s concert is officially billed as a Sinatra tribute, but according to the lead singer, it won’t be that much different from the group’s usual offerings.

“You could just as easily called it a retrospective of the band and our 20-year history,” Sutton said from Seattle, where she was about to hit the sack to recover from jet lag after a quick visit to Israel.

“The vast majority of what we’ve recorded over our nine albums are songs that he also recorded at one point or another. So it’s a pretty easy show to put together.”

Indeed, Sutton did two Sinatraoriented albums in a row a decade ago, with the official one, Dancing the Dark, which featured ballads, followed by a live recording. I’m with the Band, that boasted quite a few of more up-tempo songs associated with The Voice.

“Some of our favorite songs are core Sinatra, so that will be the bulk of the show at the Lobero,” Sutton said.

But even if we’ve heard them before, that doesn’t mean we’ve heard them before. The songs will definitely be Tierney-ized, and the arrangements are open and fluid enough to allow for all sorts of flexibility with each performance.

“No good can come from doing a Sinatra tune, or any standard that iconic singers have recorded, with their arrangements. The ear of the listener can’t help to compare you to the originals, and you’re not going to win. So, it’s better to do something completely different.

You give the audience a place to hop off from, but you make it your own.”

Hopping off in any number of directions and with all the instruments is what has kept the band together for two decades, Sutton explained.

“If you play music that challenges them, and makes them feel like they have to work to do it, that lets them (show off) what’s great about them, it’s a

40’s, 50’s & 60’s Attire • Hats •

Sutton Sings Sinatra

production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride on July 29 and 31. Aucoin’s unprecedented seven-week residency also calls for the young American composer, conductor, pianist, and writer – the youngest assistant conductor in the history of the Metropolitan Opera and a composer of works for artists including Yo-Yo Ma – to teach a seminar on music and poetry, and help in the mounting of his own eco-themed youth opera, Second Nature.

9

Disco • Mad Men • Flapper • 80’s Prom • Cocktail & Formal Wear • 1800’s-1980’s e-up

with Mark Léisuré

Mark spends much of his time wandering Santa Barbara and environs, enjoying the simple things that come his way.

A show here, a benefit there, he is generally out and about and typically has a good time. He says that he writes “when he feels the urge” and doesn’t want his identity known for fear of an experience that is “less than authentic.” So he remains at large, roaming the town, having fun. Be warned.

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 2015

Obsessed With:

Local

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The Times They are a-Changin’

COMFY KID CLOTHING

W

e’ve been following local baby brand Brown Sugar Beach, and we love what we see! Harem rompers and pants sprinkled among cozy long and short-sleeve shirts and dresses make us a little jealous of the little ones who can rock designer (and mommy of two) Kelsy Hodge’s creations. We are currently squeezing into these Galaxy Rompers in our minds.

W

e’re with you – we can’t believe it’s already December. The last bits of 2015 are for the taking and in our creative and lively town, there are many opportunities left to embrace. For instance, holiday pop-ups are out in full force as seen in Sublime Spaces. We have Private Chef Robin sharing another special recipe, a thoughtful piece by Cory O’Neil of The Berry Man, music is our mistress with D.J. MacIntyre in On The Spot, and we’re obsessing over kids clothes we wish that we could wear.

Brown Sugar Beach Instagram: @brownsugarbeach brownsugarbeach@gmail.com www.brownsugarbeach.com

Have we told you lately that we love you? Keep writing in and show us what you got! megan@ santabarbarasentinel.com or on Instagram @santabarbarasentinel.com

ONTHESPOT:

LOST IN TRANCE-LATION

T

he art scene in SB wouldn’t be complete without reverberations

by D.J. MacIntyre. The subtlety of his sound entices people to the dance floor and keeps them there with his fluid transitions among light, dark, and intoxicating tunes. With appearances at Burning Man, Blind Tiger, and many festivals and clubs in between, he’s a dance-with-youreyes-closed-and-your-hands-in-the-air good time.

djmacintyre.com www.facebook.com/D.J.MacIntyre.EDM dj.beatport.com/dj-macintyre www.mixcloud.com/MacIntyre soundcloud.com/dj-macintyre

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BerryMan

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

11

CAUSE & EFFECT...

HELPING THOSE WHO HELP US

by Cory Clark

The Berry Man, Inc. is a wholesale produce distributor supplying produce and artisanal products to restaurants, resorts, institutions, caterers, and markets from Big Sur to Santa Barbara to Santa Monica. While sourcing worldwide, special emphasis is on the locally grown. Cory Clark is sales and marketing director of The Berry Man, Inc. and the voice of this sponsored column, The Berry Man.

IMPERFECTLY PERFECT

B

eing in the produce business, it is staggering to see the amount of waste generated because an item has a less-than-perfect appearance. In light of the drought and recent heat waves in California, I have been thinking a lot about the fate of our future food supply. At Berry Man, we are passionate about efficiency. We do our best to prevent waste. We try to educate our teams and customers about the importance of looking past scars or imperfections in our produce supply.

The demand for perfection in produce has a negative impact on all levels of the supply chain. Farmers sometimes abandon entire crops for blistering or peeling caused by the sun. The visible imperfections are rejected at the retail level. That means a farmer has no choice but to throw out sometimes thousands of pounds of food. I can’t tell you how my heart breaks when I see a case of apples returned because they are scarred or discolored.

We cannot sell returned product. Despite it being perfectly edible, it will be destined for the trash unless we beat the window of time to donate it to the facilities that feed those in need. To me, it is a crime to throw away perfectly edible food just because it’s not beautiful. I’m not going to lie, I have been guilty of favoring the shining, glistening stuff.

The demand for perfection in produce has a negative impact on all levels of the supply chain Working at Berry Man opened my eyes to perceive the world of flavor rather than eye appeal. I began learning about how such “defects” were actually nature’s way of protecting its offspring. In winter, artichokes become “frost kissed” by the cold. Ocean Mist brand artichokes has to do a tremendous amount of marketing to explain this unavoidable and natural annual occurrence. We also have to assure people that it is not a defect and that once cooked, the artichokes will return to their bright-green color.

I was amazed the first time I ate a misshapen, uneven scarred apple. It was one of the sweetest ever. That apple had a scar because it has been burned by the sun, resulting in more concentrated sugars, thus sweeter than others.

So, next time you are standing in the produce aisle digging for the best looking apples or reaching to the back because you think it’s better back there, do the opposite: look for the one that is not so pretty. If we are able to embrace the imperfections, perhaps we will realize that everything Mother Nature provides truly is beautiful and that we should respect and appreciate all of her gifts.

I really believe that if we stop pursuing perfection, we will reduce the waste in the world. Each of us can make a difference. After all, you know what they say: “Beauty is only skin deep.”

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fter 31 years of service to CALM, Cecilia Rodriguez is retiring as CEO. She joined the organization as a volunteer in 1984 and has played many roles, including CALM’s Child Abuse Prevention educator, and developed many of CALM’s critical treatment and prevention programs that have become models of care throughout Santa Barbara County. She has also served as one of CALM’s forensic interview specialists for more than 20 years.

In honor of Rodriguez’s retirement, CALM is establishing the Cecilia Rodriguez Child Abuse Treatment Fund. This trust will be used to treat victims of child abuse who have no other source of payment.

Thank you, Cecilia Rodriguez!

CALM – Child Abuse Listening Mediation 1236 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara (805) 965-2376 • www.calm4kids.org

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Local

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 2015

Local LIBATIONS CORBIN CASH BARREL RESERVE SWEET POTATO LIQUEUR

“I

wanted to make a sweet potato whiskey, and they wouldn’t let me,” David Souza says.

The fourth-generation sweet potato farmer started the Sweet Potato Spirits distillery in 2009 to make farm-tobottle spirits from his own crops. Fermented and distilled in the same way a whiskey distiller would – it can only be called “whiskey” when distilling grains – he filled oak barrels with his unique new spirit and let them sit and mature.

www.sweetpotatospirits.com

QUICK BITES B

ased on the Middle Eastern spread called Muhammara, this sweet and piquant dip is ideal to serve as an appetizer during the holidays. It’s acceptable to use jarred roasted peppers, but roasting your own adds a light smokiness that the jarred variety just doesn’t have. However, this is super-simple to make. Makes about 2 cups.

RED PEPPER AND WALNUT SPREAD Ingredients: 2 roasted peppers 1 slice day-old bread or ½ cup breadcrumbs (can use glutenfree) 1 cup organic walnuts 2 tablespoons pomegranate syrup 2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar Put the roasted peppers and all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse processor to chop and blend until mix is a bit chunky. Serve with breads, crackers, or fresh sliced cucumber.

FAVORITE BARTENDERS AND SERIOUS COCKTAILS

M

ike Gomez is a co-founder of Seven Bar & Kitchen, that little hidden gem – who features many local artists! – off Helena Avenue in the Funk Zone. When he’s not with his family (wife and two young boys) at their home near Ojai, he’s either in the surf or in the kitchen concocting dishes to keep the people coming back for more. This time, he took his skills behind the bar to make us The Lion’s Tail, a cool drink with a spicy side.

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2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons coriander 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 teaspoon chili flakes 1 teaspoon of A Taste of Ojai Fennel Sea Salt or your favorite sea salt ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Raising the Bar C

SPECIAL RECIPES FROM TALENTED CHEFS IN SB

Private Chef Robin (805) 284-4264 • www.privatechefrobin.com Robin Goldstein, known as “Private Chef Robin” to her clientele, cooks for special events and private parties. Find her salt infusions at A Santa Barbara Company, C’est Cheese, Isabella Gourmet Foods, the Santa Barbara Winery Tasting Room, Porch on Santa Claus Lane, and Viva Oliva in Montecito.

THE LION’S TAIL Ingredients: 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters 1/4 oz. Lime juice 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup

1/2 oz. St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram 2 oz. Apple Infused Bourbon

Directions: Place all ingredients in a pint glass and top with ice. Give a few good shakes. Strain into rocks glass, adding a long orange twist. Toast your friend. Take a sip.

Seven Bar & Kitchen 224 Helena Avenue, Santa Barbara • (805) 845-0377 @sevenbarkitchen • www.sevensb.com

FORD-WHEELIN’

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erry Ford offers a wide range of electrified vehicles that fit our Santa Barbara lifestyle.

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Perry Ford 440 Hitchcock Way (866) 942-2110 www.PerryFordSB.com

Local

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PLANB

by Briana Westmacott

When Briana isn’t lecturing for her writing courses at UCSB and SBCC, she contributes to The Santa Barbara Skinny, Wake & Wander and Flutter Magazine. Along with her passion for writing and all things Santa Barbara, much of her time is spent multitasking through her days as a mother, wife, sister, want-to-be chef and travel junky.

Writing is an outlet that ensures mental stability... usually.

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

HEALTHY RESOLUTION

OsteoStrong

ELLI BELLY

OsteoStrong (805) 453-6086 2277 Las Positas Road www.osteostrong.me

Then: Elli days after she was born in 2005

S

he was late. It took her 42 weeks to enter this world. After waiting14 days past my official due date, I was reluctantly induced. My labor lasted longer than a workweek, and at its end, Elli was born.

Elli came with a tan patch of color splashed across her abdomen. That tummy tattoo quickly led to the nickname, Elli Belly. I asked our pediatrician, Dr. Erb, about the bronze belly bolt at our first baby wellness visit.

“It’s a coffee stain,” Dr. Erb gave it a name and said it would probably fade as Elli grew up. A decade later, Elli still has that beige coffee stain brushed across her belly.

“My tummy is upset, Mommy,” Elli said to me two months ago. Between our two kids, we have seen a lot of tummy aches, but they always had a commonplace ending: It was something that was eaten, or a stomach bug that exited as quickly as it crawled in, or simple hunger pains. This time, things have turned out to be different.

EAST, WEST, AND EVERYWHERE BETWEEN Currently, we have been to see four different doctors – three in Santa Barbara and one in Los Angeles. Their philosophies range from Western Medicine to Eastern Medicine, with some specializing in Integrated Medicine as well. We have visited a family therapist, a counselor, and a psychologist.

Thanksgiving weekend culminated with an unwelcomed trip to the Emergency Room. Elli has been poked and prodded and scanned, and through all of this we still don’t have any answers. What we do know is that Elli’s belly is in pain.

Over the last eight weeks, we have spent countless hours tummy rubbing.

Clockwise. Counter-clockwise. Castor oil. Peppermint oil. When your kid is sick, you throw your whole life out the

13

M

aking a commitment to your health with OsteoStrong will allow you to have strong bones, healthy joints, and better balance and agility. OsteoStrong member Barbara Lanz-Mateo (with her grandkids Abby and Aaron), says her New Year’s resolution is for the grandchildren to be able to keep up with her. Call for a free bone scan and session.

And now: Elli 2015

door, and you dig down deep. You blame yourself: Was I feeding her the wrong foods? Did I let her get overbooked into too many activities? Is she in the wrong school setting? The questions never cease, and unfortunately for now, we still don’t have any solutions. At this point, I can’t think of anything worse than watching your child suffer and not being able to help. Nothing.

To date, we are following doctors’ orders and we’ve stopped the gymnastics and soccer teams. I’ve reconfigured our diet to be completely gluten- and dairy-free. We are using meditation, art, essential oil diffusion, walking, worry beads, and playing piano to ease the pains. We employ other medication when the pain gets to be too much for the aforementioned treatments. Some days are okay, but we are starting to see less and less of those. Elli has dark circles under her eyes and she’s dropping weight.

I’m praying that our next set of lab work will locate a parasite; Lord, I never, ever thought I would type those words.

BRIANA’S BEST BET

I

n our search to find solutions for Elli’s tummy trouble, we were directed to a tool that can be used by any and everyone. Elli’s favorite thing is the aroma diffuser that we now run in her room every night. In the apparatus, you mix water with essential oils that are then dispersed into the air. There are oils for just about any and every ailment, and even if you don’t have a condition, they are great for preventative care. Lazy Acres Market just started carrying a variety of diffusers and they have many options for oils that are tailored to your needs.

I have set a goal to have a diffuser in every room of our house.

PlantingRoots

by Frederique Lavoipierre Director of Education at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

SEEING RED

R

oger’s Red grape is a vigorous and decorative vine, at its best when the foliage turns to brilliant red in the fall. Now popular throughout California, it was discovered in 1983 in Sonoma County along a country road. Long thought to be a variety of our native grape, it was later found to be a hybrid cross of the native grape (Vitis californica) with a European variety, (V. vinifera ‘Alicante Bouschet’) used to add deep color to red wines. In the garden, it requires annual pruning to keep it in bounds, and can be trained over trellises, along fences, and even up large trees. Easy to grow, Roger’s Red grape delights us not only with its flaming autumn color, but is a wonderful source of late-fall fruit for birds, as it holds well on the vine. However, you may find that the birds will have to share – the fruit also makes an excellent, intense jelly.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara (805) 682-4726, ext. 111 • flavoipierre@sbbg.org WE JUST NEED TO FIND THE DAMN HOLE AND PATCH IT! I know that we are blessed. Up until now we have had healthy, happy kids.

I also know that there are many, many families who struggle with a child’s health their entire lives. My heart has, and always will, go out to those families who deal with health issues on a day-to-day basis. We are lucky that our diagnosis, thus far, has eliminated some of the biggest and worst beasts that could be lurking in Elli’s belly. This is a good thing, but I feel like I’m beginning to run flat. My painted smile is starting to fade.

How can we possibly fight a battle when

we can’t find our enemy? I’ve turned my closet into a safe room for sobbing.

When I locked eyes with Elli on August 6, 2005, my life was forever changed. That was the day I became a mother, and a bright soul joined this Earth. Her kindness and empathy for others have always been innate. She is pensive and sensitive and creative.

You could charge admission to see the world through her eyes. But right now, a mysterious pain is blurring her vision and dulling Elli’s soul. As a mother, I have one thing, and one thing only to take care of: I must figure out how to fix Elli’s belly.

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 2015

POINT VIEW

SPONSORED BY:

© John Brainerd

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PHOTOGRAPHER:

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UPCLOSE

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

15

by jacquelyn De Longe

Jacquelyn’s creative interests earned her a degree in fine art from Art Center College of Design, followed by years in the Los Angeles art world working for major galleries and prominent artists. She is regularly published in West Coast newspapers and magazines, in addition to working as a producer and director in the performing arts. She is an advocate for children’s art programs and, she is not afraid to dance down the aisle at the grocery store with her kids when Talking Heads plays overhead. Contact Jacquelyn at www.delongewrites.com.

Deck the Walls Scott Anderson, Farm Series #2 – Annabelle

Patricia Chidlaw, Echo Park

Meredith Brooks Abbot, Loon Point Karen Zazone, After the Rain

I

t is that time of year to deck the halls, and there is no better place to find some of new artwork that is perfect to hang year-round on your walls then at the annual 100 Grand exhibition at Sullivan Goss Gallery.

Created seven years ago, the show has been a growing success with 100 works of art available all priced at $1,000 or less.

Curator Susan Bush explains, “In 2008, when the economy was looking pretty bleak, he [Jeremy Tessmer] came up with the idea for the exhibition.

The thought behind it was that art makes people feel good. By keeping the prices low, people could take home an affordable, original piece of art to hang on the wall and be cheered by it every day. It was also a way to help the artists make some money during the recession. The economy has recovered, but we keep doing the show because, really, it’s a lot of fun to put together and the variety of artwork means there is something for everyone. Ultimately, it’s a terrific way for people to start their art collections or add some treasures to an existing collection.”

Bush selected the 90 artists featured in the exhibition, including all 14 living Sullivan Goss artists, most of

Phoebe Brunner, From the Seedling Series 2

The annual Salon-style exhibition 100 Grand at Sullivan Goss Gallery

whom are located on the West Coast.

These small-scale works feature various styles of abstract, representational, and figurative compositions, as well as bronze casting, assemblage, and prints.

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While the exhibition is up through January, the excitement is strongest on opening night when the gallery is packed, primarily with artists. It’s an opportunity to network, meet the artists, and kick-off the holiday season.

Producing a show of this size takes a lot of hard work, and Bush doesn’t forget to reward herself for the effort:

“Some of the artists create pieces exclusively for this show — meaning you can’t get work by them for $1,000 or under anywhere else! I end up purchasing at least one thing from this show every year. The 100 Grand has expanded my personal collection with some real masterpieces by local artists.”

Whether you are interested in starting an art collection, adding to your existing collection, or simply looking for an original gift, the 100 Grand exhibition at Sullivan Goss Gallery has got that special piece you’re looking for.

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DECEMBER 5 – 19 2015

5 ThingsYouDidn’tKnowAbout: THE JEWELRY MART

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ince opening its doors 23 years ago this month, the Jewelry Mart has become an Old Town Goleta staple. Store owners Jon Hazeltine and Alejandro Cardenas have since added Alejandro’s sons, Everardo and Alex Cardenas, to their workforce. The Jewelry Mart repairs jewelry, does custom work, and has an expansive collection of pieces from which to choose. Alejandro and Jon – both gemologists – work with each client to make the piece fit their specific needs. As customers say, their work is an art and the store brings sparkle into Goleta.

1. The most rewarding work we do is when we create a special piece of jewelry for a client who has come to us with a specific idea or thought and working with them to create a beautiful piece of jewelry that reflects the style and emotion the client wished to have expressed. We recently made an engagement ring for a young man who wanted to reflect the romance and beauty of the ocean.

We created a ring with a rolling wave pattern on the side, while the center stone was held in a delicate shell-shaped mounting. Our client was thrilled with the end result as we were, too.

the

Q&A TIM FOGARTY OF

EL TEN ELEVEN

T (doubleneck and bass guitar) and Tim

he Los Angeles duo of Kristian Dunn

Fogarty (drums) are supporting their 2015 release Fast Forward. The lead track off the album Peter and Jack debuted this summer on Spin.com The twosome will take the Velvet Jones stage on Friday, December 11.

Tim takes five to give us the lowdown:

2. It’s a very common misconception that in order to get high quality you have to shop at high-end stores or locations. We have in stock Certified Diamonds with both GIA and EGL certificates. if we don’t have exactly what you want we can obtain it though our jewelers trading network Polygon. We are a family run jewelry store, our reputation is paramount and our clients’ satisfaction is all that matters to us.

3. Located in Old Town Goleta, we have been in the same location for 23 years. Old Town may have lost bits of its luster, but it’s a great place to do business and is home to many of the areas most successful businesses. Our neighbor Paperback Alley is a gem of a bookstore, a real step back in time and has been located there for more than 30 years.

4. Our apprentice jeweler is Everardo Cardenas, the son of owner Alejandro Cardenas. He is working side by side with his dad to learn the trade and is attending GIA to obtain his gemology degree. We love to tell the story about how, at our grand opening, he was in a baby seat underneath the refreshment table while his mom was serving refreshments. That’s some history!

5. 2015 was the year of linear diamond designs, many geometric-shaped rings and pendants were the top of our sales for the year. We are an authorized distributor of Shy Creations, a manufacturer and designer of top quality linear designed jewelry in white, yellow and rose gold. This big difference with Shy Designs is the quality of diamonds that are used in the pieces. Bright white and clean diamonds are used in all pieces offering the most brilliant shine and reflection.

The Jewelry Mart 5850 Hollister Avenue, Goleta (805) 683-6468 • www.facebook.com/thejewelrymart

Sublime Spaces HEAD OF THE TABLE

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is the season to get our shop on and with so many pop-ups happening around town, things just got a little easier. We can always count on The Guilded Table to host a good time. On December 19 and 20, walk through the curtained lair to indulge in wine, food, music, and most importantly, all locally made goods to help get your shopping list checked off quick.

The Guilded Table 120 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara Instagram @GuildedTable www.guildedtable.com

Q. I was just talking to my writer friend about

how it feels to go over a finished piece of work. Has there ever been a song or songs you’ve recorded and looking back, wanted to tweak?

A. Oh my God, yeah. Every one.

Every one? Well, how do you make it “okay”?

(Laughing) I usually don’t. But there’s always playing it live, so we have that. The live versions of our songs are more of what they should sound like, for the most part.

To me, at least, songs are never really done.

Sometimes you have to just stop and record it. Kristian always makes fun of me because I’m constantly saying the songs aren’t done.

He’s like, “Dude. It’s fine.”

What was your first concert?

Johnny Cash.

Wow. You were blessed!

I know. I got lucky. It was in Cheyenne, Wyoming. My grandmother lives in Colorado. I was eight when she took me to the rodeo, and Johnny Cash was playing.

Velvet Jones 423 State Street, Santa Barbara (805) 965-8676 Instagram: @velvetjonesb www.velvet-jones.com

IHeart SB

Local

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BY Elizabeth Rose

I Heart SB is a social experiment in dating and relationships through stories shared with and experienced by a thirty-something living in the Greater Santa Barbara area. All stories herein are based on actual events. Some names, places, and timelines have been altered to preserve anonymity and, most of all, for your reading enjoyment. Submit stories (maximum 700 words) to letters@santabarbarasentinel.com.

HOW TO BE A CLICHÉ

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isten more and talk less, or viceversa. It’s one of those so-true statements that, when heard at the wrong time, will make you want to shoot the messenger.

But bless our hearts, clichés are clichés for a reason. The reason being (for the most part) people have been doing the same ridiculous shit over and over again to actually solidify phrases to be echoed for generations and generations. Time heals all wounds, when one door closes another opens, and horny as a three-balled tomcat. (Insert confused emoji face.)

The last phrase is a new one to me, but when it comes to dating, listen more and talk less couldn’t be more true.

We’ve got to train ourselves to embrace “awkward silences” as a good thing and to let go of the need to fill in the gaps in conversation. Just sit back for a moment.

Use that awkard silence as if you are dangling a carrot in front of your date to pitch in to the conversation. If you don’t, the results can be deadly. (Read: deadly as “mildly embarrassing”.)

Here’s an example of what not to do: let’s say you and your date are talking about favorite bands and types of music you enjoy. All is going smoothly, then it hits. Enter awkward silence. 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi...

If you let nerves take over by the third Mississippi, you’ll have jumped the gun and may find yourself chirping about how great the Neil Young show was at the Santa Barbara Bowl, and “Isn’t it nuts how much Auto-Tune is used

nowadays?” into the time you played trumpet in middle school and loved it, but man, those uniforms were itchy and – just when you think it’s safe – the word “kazoo” make an appearance out of nowhere.

It will be an exciting and ridiculous sequence of events spanning a whopping 60-second period of time, and the silence that follows will seem like 1000 Mississippi’s to eternity. You’ll find yourself sitting in amazement, wondering how the hell you dug yourself a hole to get there in the first place. Lord, help us (I’m not using this phrase as a cliché so much as a legit prayer.)

To quote the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” To break it down, the extra “filler” words we are using to keep the conversation going are really giant obstacles blocking our ultimate goal of getting to know the other person – it’s as if the more we speak, the less we are able to clearly communicate. It goes back to being mindful, as stated in this column several weeks ago (Sentinel Volume 4, Issue 22). But when it happens, handle it with kid gloves and don’t be too hard on yourself. We’re human.

The next time the silent-but-notdeadly moment presents itself, take a few breaths when the need to jump in pulls at you. If you take away anything from this read, just remember to chickitycheck yourself before you wrickity-wreck yourself, because ramblin’ on is bad for your health.

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SYVSNAPSHOT

by Eva Van Prooyen Keeping a finger on the pulse of the Santa Ynez Valley: what to eat, where to go, who to meet, and what to drink. Pretty much everything and anything situated between the Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains that could tickle one’s interest.

A Christmas Rose

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stablished in 1978, The Santa Ynez Valley Master Chorale, Youth Ensemble and Orchestra will perform their Holiday Concert Series, “Festival of Carols” on Saturday, December 19 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, December 20 from 3 to 5 pm at the Church at the Crossroads, at the intersection of Highway 246 and La Lata Drive, in Buellton.

The holiday program this year includes classic favorites such as “Silent Night” and “What Child is This?”, three renditions of “Ave Maria”, and the premiere of “A Christmas Rose”, a piece commissioned by the Smith/Broderick Trust, with music

by SYV Chorale music director, conductor, and composer Chris A. Bowman and lyrics by Catalina McIsaac.

Bowman is a multifaceted musician with credits as a conductor, arranger, organist, pianist, trumpeter, tenor, performer, and award-winning composer of many original works written for chorus and orchestra.

Mr. Bowman has conducted and directed orchestras, choirs, and various ensembles at The Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara and throughout the United States. As a tenor soloist, Bowman has performed with a long list of choral societies including the Los Angeles Master Chorale, I Cantori, and The Ventura Master Chorale. As an operatic performer, he has performed roles with Texas Opera Theater, The Viennese Volksoper of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Music Theater Company. He has directed the Master Chorale since 1998.

Accompanist John Ballerino, and the 75-member chorale, orchestra, and Youth Chorale bring the spirit of the season to music-goers with joyful, traditional, and ambitious choral compositions.

Tickets are $18 for adults, and $15 for seniors (65 years and older) and youth (under 18 years). Tickets may be purchased at the Book Loft, El Rancho Marketplace, from Chorale members, at the door, online at www.syvchorale.org or by calling (805) 350-4241.

Eva’s Top Faves:

My personal picks, best bets, hot tips, save the dates, and things not to miss!

Winemaker Meet and Greet

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ozy into The Good Life, a partially underground whimsical stone cottage craft beer and wine cellar, as they welcome Buellton winemaker Ryan Roark presenting his “small batches of wine that showcase variety, vintage, and place,” along side a delicious display of artisan breads, California cheeses, cured meats, nuts, olives, and delicious desserts. Yet another great reason to spend an afternoon tasting wines, meeting the person who made them, savoring local fare, discovering

hard to find wine and beer gems, and relaxing with friends.

When: Sunday, December 20, 4 to 6 pm Where: The Good Life, 1672 Mission Drive in Solvang Cost: $25 per person gets you all of this, plus discounts on by-the-glass and bottle purchases of featured wines. $15 per person for all “Lifers Club members” Info: info@thegoodlifecellar.com or (805) 688-7111

Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate

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andering Wine Dog owners say they “love everything do to with the holidays, especially popping some bubbly to really get into the mood.” Walk your friends and family into their tasting room this season and enjoy three half-glasses of festive sparkling wines from around the world paired with three delicious tasting portions of gourmet cheeses. And/or indulge in three half-glasses of rich, velvety red wines paired with decadent chocolate truffles. Wines are subject to change, but they usually pour a fresh and vibrant Prosecco from Sorelle Bronca Winery in Italy, our Bentley’s Bubbles Blanc de Blancs from the Wandering Dog label. No reservations necessary.

When: Every single day in December Where: November 20 – January 3, 2016 Cost: $25 per person for the cheese pairing, $20 per person for the chocolate truffles Info: wines@wanderingdogwinebar.com (805) 686-9126

Buellton Winter Fest

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ponsored by the Buellton Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, the Buellton Rec Center and the Buellton Historical Society. All-day events include: Breakfast with Santa: 9 am – noon at the Buellton Rec Center General Admission is $12, children 10 and under FREE – includes breakfast, photo with Santa, Make and Take activities.

Concert, Cookies, & Cocoa: 4:30 – 7:30 pm on Avenue of Flags Holiday Village: 4:30 – 7:30 pm on Avenue of Flags 20 Tons of snow, food trucks, vendors, beer, wine, and spirits Light Parade: (including bikes) 6 pm Mobile Light Parade starts on E. 2nd Street and ends on Avenue of Flags for the Tree Lighting (see map for route).

Christmas Tree Lighting: 7 pm on Avenue of Flags When: Sunday, December 6, from 9 am to 7 pm Where: All throughout Buellton, Ca Info: (805) 688-7829 To participate in the parade, log onto www.buellton.org or www.buelltonrec.com and complete an entry form.

Fresh Holiday Fruits, Roots, and Veg

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pples, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale are piled high. Grab your hot cocoa and sugar cookie, and make your way through the seasonal bounty of winter’s harvest ready for the picking. Just in time for your holiday feasts: breads made from wheat grown in Santa Ynez, local produce, flowers, nuts, cheeses, local meats and seafood, and fresh foods await you – rain or shine.

When: Wednesday, December 23 from 2:30 to 6:30 pm Where: Downtown Solvang, on First Street, between Mission Drive (Highway 246) and Copenhagen Drive Info: www.sbfarmersmarket.org

Mark the Date and Celebrate

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ecember is full of fun “National Days” to use as an excuse to celebrate the more indulgent and decadent aspects of the season. A casual stroll through any of the Valley’s tiny towns: Santa Ynez, Solvang, Ballard, Los Olivos, Buellton, and Los Alamos will reveal an abundance of opportunities to partake, but here are some of my picks: Saturday, December 12, is National Gingerbread House Day – The Solvang Bakery, 438 Alisal Road Sunday, December 13, is National Cocoa Day – The Valley Grind, 3558 Sagunto Street in Santa Ynez Tuesday, December 15, is National Cupcake Day – Enjoy Cupcakes, 2971 Grand Avenue in Los Olivos Friday, December 25, is National Pumpkin Pie Day – Pattibakes, 240 E Hwy 246, suite 109 in Buellton Friday, December 31, is National Champagne Day – Casa Dumetz Wines, 388 Bell Street in Los Alamos

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SANTA YNEZ VALLEY...Come For The Wine…Stay For The Shopping

Atmosphere Atelier

Comfortable Luxury for the home

wendy foster LOS OLIVOS FINE WOMEN’S APPAREL wendyfoster.com

www.insidesyv.com

2928 SAN MARCOS AVENUE InsIde

the

santa Ynez ValleY MagazIne

LOS OLIVOS

805.686.0110

WInter 2014/15

3

Treats Boutique

WWW.ATMOSPHEREATELIER.COM

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CINEMA SCOPE

by James Luksic A longtime writer, editor and film critic, James has worked

nationwide for several websites and publications – including the Dayton Daily News, Key West Citizen, Topeka Capital-Journal and Santa Ynez Valley Journal. California is his eighth state. When he isn’t watching movies or sports around the Central Coast, you can find James writing and reading while he enjoys coffee and bacon, or Coke and pizza.

DECEMBER 5 – 19 | 2015 |

enterprise is contingent upon one’s leniency toward Seth Rogen’s player in a druginduced haze, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s desperate duet with Miley Cyrus. With the exception of Michael Shannon, who tranquilly transcends his role as a life-long pothead and dealer, absurdities abound; the comedic conclusion is tantamount to coal in a Christmas stocking.

On the Ropes

Reels for Real

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heaters continue to swell with real-life stories, most of which are worth their cinematic salt. It’s no coincidence that one of the strongest years in the past decade has included a cornucopia of true tales. Meanwhile, parents and kids are on their own with such animation action as The Peanuts Movie and The Good Dinosaur. (My aversion stems not only from a lack of personal interest, but the notion of a grown man sitting solo in the 5th row, watching cartoons.)

Four Score

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his time around, no fewer than eight films had my undivided attention. It is with mild regret this page gives short shrift to Suffragette, despite an unspoiled, determined turn by Carey Mulligan as a turn-of-the-century British woman fighting for equal rights; the well-intentioned period piece feels as heartfelt (if stuffy) as its script is formulaic. Those adjectives don’t quite describe The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2, wherein Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) liberates and unites all citizens to fight President Snow (Donald Sutherland); it’s a modest improvement from its predecessor’s hunger pangs but missing the intrigue and freshness of the original.

Then there’s Trumbo, an homage to Hollywood’s supreme screenwriter (first name Dalton), embodied with uncanny instincts and precision by Bryan Cranston, from his quieter moments of scribbling scripts, to the cacophony of getting blacklisted as a Communist; it’s a tad on the bloated and long-winded side, while director Jay Roach’s spotless evocation of time and place is stylized to a fault. Last itemized but most effective is Brooklyn, whose simplistic title belies a complex, lovely throwback – bathed in glorious cinematography – to the romantic-comedies and dignified dramas of yesteryear; our young lovebirds (Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen) exude aptitude and chemistry that complement high-class veterans Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters.

Additional mentions, a few more honorable than others:

Write and Wrong

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potlight shines on The Boston Globe’s unveiling, circa 2001, of child molestation and sexual abuse – along with the Catholic Church’s conspiracy – committed by local priests. Diligent director Thomas McCarthy, rightfully acclaimed for The Station Agent and The Visitor, here has crafted his magnum opus – a no-nonsense, carefully crafted, and noble achievement. The filmmaker’s sturdy foot soldiers (Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci) march in step, none angling for special attention, thus sculpting a would-be lazy misfire into a modern masterpiece; the best newspaper film, by far, since All The President’s Men.

Holy (Moly) Night

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’m all for loose-cannon comedies to lighten the mood, but The Night Before takes it to a lower level, extending shallow jokes as children once furiously pulled Stretch Armstrong. The premise, concerning three amigos who reunite every Christmas Eve, doesn’t allow much wiggle room; one’s tolerance for this wet, frosty

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reed refers to Rocky Balboa’s most renowned foe, Apollo Creed, but also the late pugilist’s son (Michael B. Jordan of Fruitvale Station) who strives to overcome – cue the cliché – a self-destructive childhood by quitting his office job in favor of boxing gloves. He reaches out to Philadelphia’s favorite ex-fighter (Sylvester Stallone), who reluctantly agrees to train the emerging hero. The co-stars share some compelling, well-handled moments, while Tessa Thompson makes a name for herself as the perfunctory love interest. But inside the ring, many sequences leave something to be desired – namely better camerawork – while the reigning world “champion” displays a physique that suggests he hasn’t seen the inside of a weight room or confronted a punching bag in months.

Quiet Riot

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ecret in Their Eyes, an inferior reworking of the same-named Argentinian gem from 2009, involves an FBI agent’s (Julia Roberts) unbearable grief and yearning to avenge her daughter’s murder at all costs.

Plausibility goes up in flames, as does the van of the main suspect, a Federal “mole” at a nearby mosque; throughout the investigation and hand-wringing, Chiwetel Ejiofor makes frequent use of his furrowed brow, which boasts two expressions: anger and dismay. This uneven ride, with a twist or three en route to the finish line, gets the godforsaken finale it deserves: a white-collar gravedigger communicating telepathically with the bereaved.

SPECIALIZING IN ROLEX • CARTIER • TAG HEUER 30 YEARS EXTERIENCE • ALL BRANDS

El Andaluz 531 B Chapala

Public Open House Sunday 12/6 2-4

Pamela Taylor