April 2006

Uncategorized By Molly Freedenberg

A Serendipitous Spoof

American Dreamz

Mandy Moore, Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Chris Klein, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Golzari star in a film directed by Paul Weitz.
American Dreamz doesn’t even pretend to be about something other than President George W. Bush and his chief of staff (Dennis Quaid plays the puppet president with Willem Dafoe as the silent mastermind), our involvement in Iraq (Sam Golzari’s character’s mom was killed in Baghdad), and American Idol (the only thing missing is the aging, bulimic, former pop star judge). And it doesn’t have to. The writing and acting are so spot-on that it doesn’t seem to matter whether the film is a spoof, a satire, a parody, or just a bit of really timely serendipity.

By Elizabeth Schwyzer

It Takes All Kinds

Artists’ Field Day at S.B.’s Museum of Natural History

As far as Lisa Thomas Macrum is concerned, art has the power to connect a community. To prove it, she’s launching Santa Barbara’s first Artists’ Field Day: a celebration of community and diversity through artistic creation. Housed on the grounds of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Artists’ Field Day is an open invitation for participation in the arts-an afternoon of performance, exhibition, and exchange featuring live music and dance, poetry, and visual art. And everyone is invited.

Uncategorized By Indy Staff

The Stars Are Aligned

STELLaR’s STELLAR: Imagine, if you will, a British alternative rock band from the early ’90s. Now add layers of delay and reverb to the vocals, effectively smearing neutra-sweet lyrics into a gooey sonic concoction. Feature a bouncy bass line weaving in and out of lush guitars. While you’re at it, forget the band was from England, because they’re from Chicago, and stop thinking of Feeder or Supergrass, because this is HELLEN STELLaR.

By Indy Staff

HOLLYWOOD APPEAL:

The California Supreme Court ruled that Jesse James Hollywoodaccused of masterminding the kidnap and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz in 2000gets another chance to prove prosecutor Ron Zonen should be recused from the case.

Uncategorized By Indy Staff

Quote of the Week

‘Waterfront landscaping is something that more properly belongs in the back of a 19th-century English gentleman’s home.’

-Harbor Commissioner Frank Kelly, on the unnecessary costs of grooming and landscaping the Waterfront District.

Uncategorized By Felicia M. Tomasko

Out of India

Father and Daughter Shankar Bring Raga to the Arlington

Anoushka Shankar’s lilting voice and accent-with alternating hints of London, SoCal, and the ringing melody of India-reveal her diverse upbringing across three continents as well as her current life as a world-class wandering minstrel. That life began a little more than 10 years ago when, at the tender age of 13, Anoushka Shankar leapt onto the world’s stage as the sitar-playing daughter of famous sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.

By Carlos Morton

Still Hurting

The Exonerated

Presented by the Actors’ Gang and directed by Tim Robbins. At UCSB’s Campbell Hall, Thursday, April 20.
One of the standard rules of playwriting is to avoid the use of a narrator, as the play will fall into the realm of the short story. Of course there are exceptions, like Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and recently performance artists such as Anna Deavere Smith and Cultural Clash have taken this hybrid form to a new level. So it is with the Actors’ Gang and their current production, The Exonerated.

By Gerald Carpenter

Ladies First, Last, and Always

WONDROUS WOMEN: This week I celebrate two extraordinary musicians, two extraordinary women. One is a composer and organist, the other a virtuoso pianist. I refer, of course, to Emma Lou Diemer and Egle Januleviciute.

Uncategorized By Nick Welsh

Knocking Down Silos or Tilting at Windmills?

Can Roger Heroux Fix What Ails the County’s Homeless Services?

When Roger Heroux walks down State Street these days, he doesn’t pay much attention to the $30 million new parking garage sprouting up by the Granada Theatre or the chichi boutiques selling $350 jeans. He’s too busy worrying about the clerks working in Santa Barbara’s many tourist shops. “How many T-shirts do you have to sell to afford State Street rents?” Heroux wonders. “And what kind of wages can the owners afford to pay their workers?” Heroux knows that this county’s growing legion of low-wage service workers live just one hard-luck story away from the streets. If and when the bad times come, Heroux fears these workers will join the 6,000 homeless men, women, and children who now call Santa Barbara County home. And when that happens, they’ll become his worry.