Before her appearance last week in Santa Barbara, Amy Tan said the opportunity for a conversation with Pico Iyer was what made the invitation so appealing. It’s hard to see who wouldn’t want to sit and talk with the thoughtful and soft-spoken Iyer, whose warm introduction of Tan set her alongside Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway as the author of one of the great American Novels-The Joy Luck Club.
We lost a truly unique local sports legend last month with the passing of one of Santa Barbara’s most notable golf stars, Brian “Buddy” Allin. Buddy, as he was universally known, died at age 62 on March 10.
St. Augustine scolded readers for weeping for Dido when they should’ve been weeping for their own souls; but, he hadn’t seen the beautiful, pious, and devoted Dido played by Julia Teal Kermott in UCSB Opera Theatre’s production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
In rounding off a string of Southern California dates, Veruca Salt unleashed its saccharine-laced and hard-hitting version of power pop on Velvet Jones Friday night. With a slew of enthusiastic opening acts, including touring companions Poets and Pornstars, Veruca Salt emerged in the early hours of Saturday morning and charged through its set to a somewhat thinned assembly.
When Dos Pueblos High School football player Brad Ebner went down with a neck injury last season, only his closest friends and family ever thought he’d walk again. But just two weeks ago, Ebner was featured in The Independent taking some of his first steps toward the rest of his life, making everyone realize the end of Ebner’s story is far from being written.
Nights returns to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art this May through September. Get exclusive access to separate entrance and bar lines with the Luxe Pass and skip the bar line entirely with a mARTini card, which is now available to museum members.
Walking among the noisy, uplifted crowd coming out of Campbell Hall last Wednesday night made one thing very clear: The Soweto Gospel Choir knows how to celebrate. From the first rich and inviting note to the very last gracious bow, the renowned, award-winning South African group of singers, dancers, and musicians reminded everyone present of the pure happiness that can be found in the simple celebration of song.
28K Gallons
I love watching dance-I’ve made a career of it. But I’ll also readily admit that sometimes, dance can look stilted. Really, I understand why the very idea of a dance performance-especially an amateur or pre-professional one-makes some people squirm.
Getting to the heart of the problem with this self-dizzying suspense yarn may require thinking on its own terms. Computer-related angles of chatting, on-line hookups, and false on-line identities play into the tangled plot of murder, deceit, and the male/corporate power elite, and the film itself seems ultimately done in by the dangers of multi-tasking.
