Brit Swims Santa Barbara Channel
Londoner Kevin Murphy, 58, the “King of the English Channel,” brought his swimming crown to Santa Barbara on 9/23, when he swam the 24 miles across the Santa Barbara Channel.
Year: 2007
South Coast Home Sales Drop
According to the California Association of Realtors, home sales on Santa Barbara’s South Coast were down 22.7 percent compared to last August.
Week Spot Photo – I Madonnari Chalk Painting Festival
Santa Barbara’s Delphine Louie was awarded first prize in the Semplici (amateur) category at the I Madonnari Chalk Painting Festival in Mantova, Italy, on August 17. Above is her sketch for the award-winning piece, which transformed a work by Raphael to resemble Louie’s sister-in-law and niece.
Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra
Musically speaking, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra’s season-opening concert last week ruffled no feathers, with an entirely pleasing menu of a Bach Brandenburg Concerto and bookend serenades from those birds-of-a-Romantic-feather, DvoÅ¡k and Brahms. Instrumentally speaking, however, it was a disarming double-take affair, as only conductor-and noted violist-Heiichiro Ohyama might have plotted it.
A Delicate Balance
When Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance premiered, critics were divided. Some hailed it as great American theater, while others were less than enthusiastic. It’s easy to see why. Despite flashes of sharp wit and moments of emotional truth, Rubicon’s current production of Balance seemed unable to find its center.
Question: What were schools like in Santa Barbara after the Americans came to power?
On April 9, 1850, Santa Barbara became one of the first communities to officially incorporate as an American city by act of the California legislature. Local voters went to the polls to install a new Common Council (akin to our own City Council) in August. One of the first issues facing this new body was the question of public education.
Phil Lesh and Friends.
Take a fine Saturday evening on the cusp of autumn, add a dash of rain to clear the air, and set the most faithful of the currently touring bands to come out of the Grateful Dead on stage, and you have a recipe for some people’s idea of bliss. Phil Lesh’s bass guitar was the pulsing heart of the Dead for several decades, and his funky, syncopated, and melodic playing is as fresh as ever.
Pink Martini
Pink Martini was a great choice for the season-opening concert for UCSB’s Arts & Lectures, and the group brought their idiosyncratic and crowd-pleasing take on world music to a packed Arlington last Thursday. They opened with Ravel’s “Bolero,” a decision that bandleader and pianist Thomas Lauderdale acknowledged may have broken the law. Apparently, Ravel was bothered by some early adaptations of his most famous work and took an aggressive stance toward future non-standard arrangements.
Vonda Shepard Takes On SOhO
Going your own way is something a lot of artists in the music business pay lip service to, but few can really claim to have done. Vonda Shepard came up through an unusual set of circumstances and got a break-her featured role on the television hit Ally McBeal-that doesn’t fit with any formula. Today, Shepard is off television and on the mommy track with her 17-month-old son, whom she had with her husband, music producer and keyboardist Mitchell Froom.
