Tragedy of Errors
Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s Imperial Life in the Emerald City dissects postwar Iraq.
Year: 2007
Heart and Sole Aids Walk
The 17th Annual Heart & Sole AIDS Walk will take place Saturday, October 6, at the Chase Palm Park Soccer Field (at Garden and Cabrillo streets). The 6.2-mile route will take walkers along the downtown waterfront and will culminate in a celebration and awards ceremony that includes snacks, music, and free massages. Proceeds benefit Pacific Pride Foundation’s HIV/AIDS programs and services
The Jane Austen Book Club
The film version of The Jane Austen Book Club is an entertaining fairytale in which wandering spouses see the error of their ways, tech millionaires live in Sacramento tract homes, and book club members show up for meetings having actually finished the book. Fans of the novel will probably also enjoy the movie, but may be troubled by some of its modifications.
Give a Little
•City@Peace, a national youth leadership and outreach program, is looking for teenage and adult volunteers from Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, and Goleta to help facilitate meetings and assist in community service projects. Must be 13 years old or older. To find out more, or to volunteer, visit cpnational.org or email Joseph Velasco at jvelascocap@yahoo.com.
Bonkers for Botanical
Two of my favorite places to visit in Santa Barbara over the past 60 years have been the Natural History Museum and the Botanic Gardens…
Blanchett Gets Top SB Film Festival Honors
Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Cate Blanchett has been chosen as the Santa Barbara Film Festival’s 2008 Modern Master Award winner.
Pickin’, Grinnin’, and Thinkin’
CLAW-HAMMERED: From the Who Woulda Thunk files: Seventeen years ago, Bela Fleck-the uncommonly virtuosic and curious-eared banjoist-unveiled a strange variation on the fusion-band theme, involving twangy goodness and fiery jazz-rock-funky chopsmeister sounds. Rippling banjo mixed it up with Victor Wooten‘s thump-slapping electric bass and the digitized tones of a mutant e-drum invention called the “Drumitar,” which is played by the artist known as Futureman.
Margaret Mills
Margaret Mills exuded calm and strength as she stood by the piano in Karl Geiringer Hall on Saturday night. She bowed to acknowledge the audience’s welcoming applause, then immediately turned her immense concentration to three short works by Schumann: the Romances in B-flat Minor and F-sharp Minor (Opus 28), and Aufschwung (Opus 12).
Fresh Food at our Farmers Markets
Our farmers markets carry a surprising variety of Santa Barbara County-grown items. At the Saturday downtown market, I’ve found olive oils, walnut and pistachio oils, roasted, raw, and flavored pistachios, and walnuts. Lily’s Eggs (based in Carpinteria) sells fresh, tender organic chicken as well as eggs, and Healthy Family Farms has fresh duck, as well as goat cheese and goat yogurt.
Playing the Race Card
These are not just economic achievement gaps,” said California’s schools czar Jack O’Connell last August. “These are racial achievement gaps.” With this controversial statement, the California Superintendent of Schools presented public school students’ standardized test results. As usual, there were distinct differences between the scores earned by various ethnic groups, with Asians scoring very high, whites trailing them, and Hispanics and blacks bringing up the rear. Does that mean race plays a role in school success? A former teacher ponders what really makes kids achieve.
