SOLAR CELEBRATION: A small problem: Despite publicity and popularity among frequenters of the Santa Barbara music scene, the Dreamtime Continuum is a bit of a mystery to this music columnist. It can be said without hesitation, however, that this cooperative of musicians and spiritualists will offer a respite from anything that most people have come to recognize as typical downtown fare.
FIGHTING WORDS: I love the language of lawyers, and the more weirdly remote, the better. In a recent letter sent out to as many as seven local merchants, attorney Barry Cappello charged that the pro-union posters in their business establishments could generate “obloquy” toward News-Press owner and publisher Wendy P. McCaw-against whom the current Teamsters Union drive is directed.
In an unusual end to typical post-Thanksgiving dinner activities, 78-year-old Santa Barbara resident David Wass spent the night in jail. In Wass’s view, he merely emerged from his apartment to investigate a gunshot, then ended up detained under suspicion of being the shooter.
The state’s top prison official visited the county this week at the request of outgoing Sheriff Jim Anderson, to help promote a project that they hope will prepare more felons to lead law-abiding lives after they are released back into society.
On a day when it seemed more than likely that the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors would pass the proposed Uniform Rules changes-the ordinances that govern some 550,000 acres of privately owned local land currently under the Williamson Act contract-late-hour accusations claiming conflict of interest on the part of 3rd District Supervisor Brooks Firestone forced the board to once again punt the controversial decision.
Homegrown blues hero Kenny Sultan takes a step towards “legend” status with the production of a Martin-brand custom-edition guitar bearing his name. What’s more: Those in the know consider Martin guitars among the best money can by.
UCSB professor David Siegel is the scientific equivalent of the seasick sailor: He’s a green-about-the-gills oceanographer. Twenty years after the fact, Siegel-now 47-still shudders to remember the horrors he suffered during a five-week scientific ocean-faring expedition with Scripps Institute back when he was a UC San Diego student.
Peter Lance empathizes with those who think the federal government was involved in 9/11. “After all the lies about WMD, after Iraq, after Katrina,” he said, “I think it’s understandable that many Americans are very, very angry with the Bush administration, and their anger has led them to some dark places.” But after five years of research, Lance said he hasn’t uncovered “a single shred of evidence” that the government knew about 9/11 or helped it happen.
Appearing recently at the Brewery Arts Center in downtown L.A., Santa Barbara dancer and choreographer Stephanie Nugent shifted into a whole new realm of power, taking command of the stage and devouring space with more impact than her slight frame suggests should be possible. In the opening piece, “In the Shadow of the Red Brick,” Nugent explored the ways in which her family legacy has formed her personality, using playfulness to probe her own habits, preferences, and compulsions.
For dance lovers, The Nutcracker is as central to the Christmas tradition as Miracle on 34th Street or Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” In fact, it was seeing my hometown Nutcracker as a kid that inspired me to become a dancer. The story was mesmerizing, the costumes beautiful, the music captivating, and the dancing exquisite-so seemingly effortless, so breathtaking.
