Across the burning Middle Eastern desert the outline of palms against the sky means not only relief from the incessant sun, but that water will be close to the surface to slake parched throats. These landmark trees are Phoenix dactylifera, the date palm. Most palms require plenty of water and these desert-dwellers are no different.
An hour before the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, the auditorium of Goleta Valley Junior High nearly burst with the energy of hundreds of students awaiting a long weekend of freedom-but, good kids that they are, they all stayed in their seats to hear the Westmont String Trio play Baroque and Romantic works.
When we pick up a handful of sand and let it run through our fingers, there’s something about it that feels ordinary, tangible, everyday. It reflects the simple, fluid nature of life, even though, as filmmaker Meena Nanji captures in View from a Grain of Sand, the passing of sand through fingers can occur amid war, violence, and oppression and in refugee camps far from one’s homeland.
Art Mankin, who died on May 13 at age 85, loved Santa Barbara passionately for the 36 years he spent here. He did his best to make it a better place and succeeded in many ways in doing so.
If you’ve always wondered what goes on behind the gates guarding the homes of your friends and neighbors, local artist and award-winning photographer Catherine Baker-Hall’s latest book, Gates, is not the book for you. If, however, the gates themselves are what intrigue you, then Baker-Hall’s latest photographic collection is right up your (wrought-iron-gated) alley.
Maybe you’ve heard of Bo Ramsey, but if you haven’t, you’d better tune into the music that his equally capable, guitar-strumming, songwriting son Benson is making with his friend David Huckfelt.
From the moment I first heard him on the phone, Alok’s patient and peaceful voice relaxed me. “Now is a great time because I am in my car, the air conditioning is on, and I am not going anywhere,” he assured me as my fingers eased up from fluttering frantically across my notepad. This weekend, Alok will offer a workshop called The Creativity of Non-Doing at Arts Alive! in Santa Barbara.
Throughout the month of June, the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara will display photographs by Jeffrey Sipress. Pictured above is Sipress’s photograph, “Joshua Sky.”
The Firing Line: Just when we thought things had cooled at the News-Press meltdown, Mayor Marty Blum, NP owner Wendy McCaw, her editorial writer Travis Armstrong, journalist Lou Cannon, and former NP editor Jerry Roberts all fired off blasts. At the same time, the feds filed a sizzling charge of wholesale unfair labor practices against the News-Press, setting an August 14 hearing here.
Abandoned by an unnamed drummer and facing a crowd of less-than-thrilled fans-most of whom had waited nearly two hours for entertainment that did not involve pre-recorded, remixed oldies-The Raveonettes had their work cut out for them. The band’s Thursday night performance at Velvet Jones was widely publicized as an “early gig.”
