2006 - Page 6 of 269 - The Santa Barbara Independent

Arts & Entertainment By Elizabeth Schwyzer

Erotica Uncorked

Polly Frost Comes Home for the Holidays with Sexy Comic Readings

“I’m not looking to get into Oprah’s book club,” explained Polly Frost, the self-described erotic sci-fi and horror author whose X-rated comedy soap opera, Sex Scenes, has been making a splash at readings in New York City, “I love raw, pulpy stuff.” On December 28, Santa Barbara’s cooperative winery and tasting room, Cellar 205, will host a live reading of Frost’s Sex Scenes, transforming the Funk Zone into an erogenous zone.

By Charles Donelan

Strong and Ready

The Ballad of Billy Lee. At Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, Sunday, December 10.

As great American heroes go, George Washington enjoys a durable preeminence. He’s a double threat, as both a military commander and a statesman. The whole “first President,” “father of his country” mythology still packs a wallop. And even that wacky, apocryphal childhood story about the cherry tree has its charm. But the general has never been much of a buddy figure.

By Elena Gray-Blanc

Midweek Treat

Power Plays. At Victoria Hall Theater, Thursday, December 14.

Power Plays, the fifth installment in Victoria Hall Theater’s Theatrical Treats series, was all about sex-subtly and with unexpected depth in the first of Elaine May’s one-acts, The Way of All Fish, and perhaps too blatantly in the farce In and Out of the Light.

Opinion By Barney Brantingham

Barney’s On the Beat

Pro-Growth City: If there’s any doubt that Santa Barbara is a pro-development, go-go pro-growth town, check the 5-2 vote to okay the Veronica Meadows home project. (Or, drive along lower Chapala Street.) The City Council, after twice turning up its collective nose at Mark Lee’s 52-home project on Las Positas Road, liked it a lot last week. Even though Lee is now promising two “affordable” units, critics term it “oversized homes for people with oversized incomes,” in the words of The Independent’s Nick Welsh.

By D.J. Palladino

Some Film

Charlotte’s Web. Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, and Essie Davis star in a film written by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick and directed by Gary Winick.

Try to watch this film without thinking of Chris Noonan and George Miller’s Babe films. The pig talks. The cows wisecrack and fart. The sheep-led by our own John Cleese, as an elegantly literate and admonishing voice-deliver a conformist chorus.

Uncategorized By Indy Staff

Sonic Gift Guidance

Josef keeps tabs on the best music you have’t heard for the people you don’t know what to by for, including Ben Riley, Sonic Youth and Marisa Monte.

Uncategorized By Indy Staff

Art House Ghost Story

Volver. Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Due±as, and Blanca Portillo star in a film written and directed by Pedro Almod³var.

Among the many pleasures woven into the latest Pedro Almod³var-directed feast are a few familiar Almod³varan traits. The Spanish auteur has an uncanny knack for telling a story with his signature blend of cinematic panache, cheeky irreverence, and a romantic glow.

By Brett Leigh Dicks

Soul Survivor

Rickie Lee Jones. At SOhO, Monday, December 18.

Rickie Lee Jones knows a thing or two about the road. For almost 30 years, the musical veteran has been soulfully touring life’s highways and byways and encapsulating it all in song. Sliding behind the SOhO piano on Monday night, the Dutchess of Coolsville caressed and perplexed her way through an enchanting offering that explored these experiences.

By Will Engel

Wild Man Woody

Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band. At the Lobero Theatre, Sunday, December 17.

Having once remarked that “80 percent of success is showing up,” this neurotic New Yorker did that and even more with his New Orleans jazz band on Sunday at the Lobero. Sure, it was clear at this show that wild man Woody Allen is not a technically brilliant clarinet player.

Columns By J'Amy Brown

Goodbye to Bob and Dick

J’Amy tells us which two folks retired from the Montecito Planning Commission, explains why the MPC won’t be re-hearing the Westmont plan, gives some holiday tips on what books to buy, asks for you to send cards to the Montecito Fire District, and delivers a slew of other news about the village in this special holiday Montage.

Year: 2006