Barney discusses the ongoing debate on the changing face of downtown Santa Barbara, as well the roasting of former News-Press editor Jerry Roberts, the inaugural Jim Ryerson Environmental Memorial Award, and an opportunity for those familiar with Abbot and Costello to dine at a discount.
Barney reports on a March 13 roast for Jerry Roberts at AT&T ballpark in San Francisco, talks about the editor’s news “friends of” website, gives some insight into what tomorrow’s Wake Up Wendy Wednesday rally shall feature, and also provides two YouTube videos of Larry Nimmer’s interview with John Zant. And much, much more, of course.
According to Barney, 
the best way to enjoy our recent spate of warm weather might just be spending the weekend relaxing in Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. But for those dead set on going out, Santa Barbara offers a good weekend full of activties, from theatrical productions on stage to Oscar nominees on screen.
White Rose Resistance: Six leaders of the storied White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany were executed by guillotine, but George Wittenstein managed to evade the Gestapo and survived to become a Santa Barbara surgeon.
New Orleans may be Bacchanalia on the Bayou, but this year’s Mardi Gras celebration is also tinged with a gritty determination to overcome the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. The good times are rolling in the French Quarter, largely untouched by 2005’s Katrina, but blocks and blocks of homes in surrounding neighborhoods are boarded up.
Craig McCaw buys in S.B.; Mark French gets PO’d; more on Zant; and praise for Arts & Lectures
The best of this weekend, according to Barney, includes everything from the special “third weekend” of the Santa Barbara International Film Festical to meaty eats at places like the Cities BBQ and Woody’s Bodacious BBQ.
With a perspective only a former News-Press long-timer could provide, Barney Brantingam discusses the past week’s events at the paper, including the mass firings and the protests the now-former employees have been staging for the remainder of the week.
Barney’s all Grossed out about the Super Bowl Debacle and gung ho about the Film Fest. He dishes on Gore, Guggenheim, Apted, Feigon (pictured), and other potentially overlooked gems.
Writers’ Roundtable: When Helen (The Queen) Mirren was asked at the Arlington the other night how she went about choosing a role, she replied: First she read the script. Then she checked out the director. Writers have long been the low man and woman on Hollywood’s totem pole, but at a Saturday screenwriters’ panel, six of them got cheers and rousing applause when they walked onto the Lobero stage.
