When Kris Kristofferson comes to the Lobero Theatre Thursday night, not only will he be offering up songs as personal as any you are likely to encounter, but they will be wrapped in a musical legacy quite unlike any other country artist’s. A Rhodes scholar who studied literature at Oxford, Kristofferson once intended to teach at West Point. Instead, he headed for Nashville.
Debra Ehrhardt’s sure-footed one-woman show is an immigrant story of a type many Americans are inclined to romanticize (if it is buried far enough in the past), or denigrate, especially if it involves people from the Caribbean or Latin America. The cunning, determination, and perseverance required of a Jamaican person immigrating to this country are not always easy to remember for those privileged enough to have been born here, and Ehrhardt’s courageously straightforward approach foregrounds these qualities throughout her play’s storyline.
With Best Of deadlines approaching and stress levels rising, The Indy’s editorial designer Ben Ciccati had to bow out early to welcome this little bundle of joy into the world. Meet Chlo» Bee, Ben and his wife Michelle’s first child.
John Sonsini’s portraits dignify the unseen individual. From out of a field of broad, confident brush strokes and thick applications of pigment, his subjects make eye contact with the viewer like identities trying to come into focus.
Beginning with the obvious: Michael Clayton is a great movie. Its effect dawns immediately and never lets up until the last seconds of the movie. People clap at the end. Most spectators note the intelligence of the script-particularly in its elegantly rich dialogue, which is vulgar and revealing. Clooney’s paradoxically calm but desperation-driven cadences, the brittle insecurities mouthed by a haunted Tilda Swinton, the great Tom Wilkinson’s romantic insanity, and young Austin Williams (who’s unbelievably touching as Clooney’s son), all make the film’s long, sure character loops and detours work.
Yes, the former Pixies frontman squints when he sings – even when he’s performing under his old moniker, Black Francis – but that doesn’t mean the man can’t hear you chitchatting when he’s explaining his top-notch new rock opera album, Bluefinger.
The annual downtown holiday parade is in search of businesses wanting to build eco-friendly floats, whether powered by hybrid vehicles or made from entirely recycled goods. This year’s theme is Sea Shells and Sleigh Bells, and the Downtown Organization hopes to showcase its commitment to keeping our waters clean and marine life healthy. Interested? Email info@sbdo.org.
Best of Readers’ Poll 2007 – Roof to Roots
Best of Readers Poll 2007 – Caffeine to Cocktails
The 1870s were, in many ways, a key decade as Santa Barbara metamorphosed into an American city. English became the language of public record, tourism grew into an important industry, Stearns Wharf opened the city to the world, a streetcar system began, and gas lighting came to State Street, to name just a few milestones. Another development was the appearance of sidewalks along the city’s main thoroughfare, a process that sparked a controversy that would last some 20 years.
