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Yahoo!Yellow House Haunted?: Summerland’s Big Yellow House restaurant is scheduled to reopen next winter, with or without the ghost that once made it a home. The eatery will have a new name, the Yellow Rose of Summerland, so perhaps Hector the ghost will find that too cutesy and split.
Bernard Rosenson, who also owns the downtown Santa Barbara Wine Cask restaurant, says he’s going to remodel the landmark Summerland restaurant and reopen the old place, which is now closed. Rod Lathim’s 1975 book The Spirit of Summerland tells how the enclave was once a spiritualist town whose Liberty Hall temple was the scene of bizarre gatherings. Medium Harry Allan’s body was supposedly inhabited by not one but two evil spirits. “Harry Allan conducted his best séances while dead drunk,” Lathim wrote. A large home owned by a spiritualist became the Big Yellow House restaurant. “It is the theory of one of the surviving members of the family that there are spirits in the house which are earthbound,” Lathim said. In fact, while working there in the 1970s, Rod became aware of a spirit in the cellar. He named it Hector.
Another NP Lawsuit: The Santa Barbara News-Press, following its long tradition of zealously guarding parking spots outside its De la Guerra building, is suing the city. NP attorney Barry Cappello, surely Santa Barbara’s busiest lawyer, has filed a suit in Superior Court claiming that the city violated the Brown Act, which requires open public meetings, when the Transportation and Circulation Committee discussed a proposed redesign of the De la Guerra Plaza. As a reporter, I’ve always been a hawk on keeping meetings open, and I don’t know which side of this a judge will come down on. If the city’s wrong, it’s wrong. But the suit reaches the height of absurdity when it claims that Mayor Marty Blum wants the redesign so that she can avoid running into poison pen opinion page editor Travis Armstrong in the Plaza. If Marty wanted to avoid Travis she could just cross the street, as others do, instead of blowing dough on a makeover. Exactly how a redesign would prevent people from City Hall and the NP, which are just steps apart, from seeing and/or encountering one another is hard to imagine. Also, committee member David Pritchett says he’s never made comments to the effect that he wants to redevelop the Plaza so as to facilitate more anti-NP rallies, as the lawsuit alleges. “Believe me,” Pritchett told me, “I have no intent or desire ‘to stage demonstrations against the paper’ but the way they keep insulting the Santa Barbara community somebody will be inspired again as a response to the growing outrage. Whether the Plaza is redesigned will make no difference.”
Cops Bad Examples?: If Santa Barbarans don’t obey traffic laws, Paul Norton thinks it’s because law enforcement officers may be setting a poor example. “I think the problem is the lack of police and Highway Patrol [observance] of courtesy rules, for example, signaling. I see police and Highway Patrol cars not using their turn signals when turning, let alone changing lanes. I've pulled up alongside of Highway Patrol cars on two occasions to berate the officer for not having his turn signal on. At least the officers didn't retaliate. If those laws were enforced I think we'd see a noticeable improvement in traffic ambiance.”
I haven’t noticed that, Paul, but what drives me up the wall are regular drivers either not signaling or thinking they’re doing the right thing by signaling just as they turn. It’s irritating to wait for an oncoming car, with traffic lined up behind you, only to have the oncoming car turn without signaling or only as it turns.
Citizen McCaw: The Citizen McCaw documentary to be shown at the Arlington Friday at 7:30 p.m. is closing in on a sellout. Tickets are on sale at the Arlington ticket agency, 963-4408, for $15, plus a $3 fee. You can view the trailer -- short excerpts -- at the Citizen McCaw website.
Idiot’s Delight: Sure, Robert Sherwood’s 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning play shows its age, but it also comes with a zany mix of characters and a foreshadowing of impending war, blending pacifism and -- of course -- love. At UCSB’s Hatlen Theater through Saturday, Idiot’s Delight allows a solid Theater UCSB cast to strut its stuff. Actors must remember, however, to make sure their voices are heard when they are facing the “picture window.” The university’s production makes for an entertaining, well-acted night of theater, filled as it is with music, wacky tap-dancing tarts in wild costumes, strutting Italian officers, naïve Brit honeymooners, a fascinating, statuesque blonde (Erika Lee) who speaks with a Russian accent, and an American song and dance man (Brennan Kelleher) who might have known her back in Omaha. But the whole affair, which takes place in a mountain resort in Switzerland, is set against Sherwood’s warning of storm clouds gathering in Europe. A 1939 movie of the same title starred Clark Gable. (I’m looking for a copy of it.)
Nexus Scores: UCSB’s Daily Nexus won seven awards last weekend, including three first-place honors, at the annual California College Media Association competition. In the general excellence category it won third place while competing against larger schools, first place for its web site, and third place for design. It also received second place in the best breaking news online contest. Daily Nexus staff writer Benjamin Gottlieb took first place in the news feature category, while editor-in-chief Nick Dürnhöfer received first place in the news photo contest. Additionally, Daily Nexus Artsweek writer Cassie McGrath took third place for best arts and entertainment story. Jerry Roberts, former News-Press editor, is UCSB publications director for the Nexus and the yearbook.
Barney Brantingham can be reached at barney@independent.com or (805) 965-5205. He posts online columns Tuesdays and Fridays and writes a print column for Thursdays.
Double-clicking on any word or phrase in this story will open a reference window with definitions and links to other reference material.
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Thank you Barney for mentioning the Plaza restoration. It's about time! I wouldn't call it a "redesign" but a completion of the 1924 plan that was never completed. Eighty four years is a long time to wait! But that's Santa Barbara politics for you.
Of course, the Newssupress suit is whacko. Who can understand their angst about the Plaza plan when their parking lot is only 10 feet away from the disputed free Plaza spaces? Paranoia is not rational. But I don't think the Plaza plan will effect business at the Newssupress.
While I'm here, I would like to note that you have some "karma" to work on in relation to the Plaza.
As I wrote on Blogabarbara here's the way I see your situation:
"I would say, now that I am thinking about it, that there was one person inside the old Newspress who did a lot of harm to the Plaza. And that was Barney Bratingham. In his imitative Studs Terkel voice, this Barney impersonation (which he would do once a week for the Newspress), would of course often berate City Hall. What's more natural than that for a man with populist credentials, Chicago and Studs Terkel on his mind to carry on like this?
One particular whipping boy, Barney liked to pull out when gossip was slow, was to flaunt around the King Carlos statue given to us by the King of Spain, and another was the goings-on in Storke Placita. He could always get a rise out of his readers with that.
Barney Bratingham often used the Placita and King Carlos for the laugh lines in his repetitious column. The two things you could always count on in a Barney column were perky populist know nothings, with his old Valiant automobile for decor, and the snide remarks about King Carlos.
This long term abuse led to community disrespect for the Plaza.
I always thought of these remarks as signs of ignorance. But now that I think about it, I think Barney bred negativity for the Plaza, not to mention bad feelings for the fine statue of King Carlos--who after all, was King Carlos, the King of Spain and the King of Santa Barbara when we were founded. Nothing is more normal, than historic statues in Plazas. But not for Barney. Studs Terkel could never go for a King even if it was the historical truth.
He doesn't like the Presidio either. He's a purveyor of the Black Legend.
But Barney's been at it now for so long that he's a community icon. Like the old man who used to wave at drivers as they passed by on 101 in Laguna Beach, Barney just keeps on truckin'.
Now, I am not interested in getting rid of Barney, Barney's OK, I don't want to, "throw the baby out with the bathwater" but I do think he did us no good on some of these Plaza issues. He's changed his tune on the USS Ronald Reagan now. Good for him. Maybe he'll come around with respect for the Plaza and even King Carlos. Oh, yes, he still writes about the tacos at the food booths on the Plaza at Fiesta. Some riffs just go on and on."
DonJosedelaGuerra (anonymous profile)
March 4, 2008 at 8:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I still am not quite understanding the riff here again by Don Jose about Brantingham. King-Carlos-statue-gate indeed is a stupid paragraph in City history, then worthy of the commentary it received years ago.
As for my comment here quoted in this Barney website "column", the News-Press editorial published on 21 February took a wipe at me with this less-than-candid gem:
"One person on a city board has said closing the plaza to traffic will make it easier for him to stage demonstrations against the newspaper."
As I reviewed the video several times for the City Transportation Committee meeting on 25 Oct., I indeed commented about how the Plaza design could facilitate public gatherings of thousands of people, as has occurred throughout the history of Santa Barbara, but I never said or identified anything about WHO, including me, wants to stage any future demonstrations, nor did I mention anything about the purpose of any demonstration or rally, nor about who or what any demonstration would targeted for or against.
When the facts do not exist to support their spin, yet again representatives of the News-Press just fabricate their own to suit their own suits.
David_Pritchett (anonymous profile)
March 4, 2008 at 12:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
David Pritchett:
Certainly doesn't sound like you want to step right out there and defend the Plaza restoration with your remarks David! I am disappointed in you. Are you ashamed to talk about it now? (Brown Act violation aside.) Did you ever think that in your wildest imaginings that a chummy commission meeting with a few words about the Plaza would cause a legal suit by big bad Barry, the hammer, Wendy's enforcer? Better be careful what you say! Can taping your mouth shut be far behind?
You say: "King-Carlos-statue-gate indeed is a stupid paragraph in City history, then worthy of the commentary it received years ago."
I respectfully disagree. Paul Mills, former Director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Founder of the Flag Project, ...God rest his soul, would also disagree. But I digress.
Can you explain what you mean by your statement? Do you think King Carlos was stupid? His statue worse? The plinth ridiculous? Storke Placita absurd? Do you really believe that this entryway to the Plaza is worthy of using the dreaded "GATE" suffix! (as in WaterGATE, or IranGATE).
Really? Bad as that? Crap David.
Today, bring up Storke Placita and people cringe? Why is that? Was it a good idea to bring the Plaza conversation to this level?
The last three mayors have been trying to do something positive about Plaza de la Guerra. Are they nuts?
Why isn't public sculpture possible in Santa Barbara whether its King Carlos, Saint-Barbara, Don Jose de la Guerra y Noreiga, or even Mayor Blum? Does the state of public art in Santa Barbara bother you? It does me. The art cretins are on the loose.
As an observer of the scene for a long time, I must say David that one never quite gets what David Pritchett is for or against.
Travis and Wendy have got you on the run, you poor thing.
DonJosedelaGuerra (anonymous profile)
March 4, 2008 at 2:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Someone is a bit overly obsessed with that King Carlos statue thang.
Seems like Pritchett is not running from anyone, especially Travis and Wendy, and he most clearly knows what he is for and against.
Here are just a few examples recently published in the Independent:
http://independent.com/news/2007/may/02/...
http://independent.com/news/2007/apr/06/...
http://independent.com/news/2007/feb/21/...
http://independent.com/news/2006/aug/05/...
http://independent.com/news/2006/jul/20/...
FirstDistrictStreetfighter (anonymous profile)
March 4, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The latest David Pritchett--the organizer 'thang,' you posted streetfighter is May 2007. All this stuff you posted is about the Newspress meltdown and is fine and dandy and kudos to Pritchett for all that. It's March 2008, where is he on the Plaza? A community is more than the Newssuppress.
Got anything on that? I'd love to learn. Thanks.
DonJosedelaGuerra (anonymous profile)
March 4, 2008 at 5:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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