Livin' Kevita Loca

HIT THE ROAD

ANTS TRANCE

TIME FOR MORE OFFICERS WHEN HOMELESSNESS LEADS TO VERBAL ASSAULTS AND DRUG DEALS, P. 5

FOND MEMORIES OF SMALL INSECTS TURN TO WAR WHEN THEY MARCH ON GREENJEANS’ DINNER TABLE, P. 28

SANTA BARBARA

friday to friday fortnightly

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LIVIN’ KEVITA LOCA

WE VISIT KEVITA’S HUMMING HEADQUARTERS; BUTTONHOLE CEO BILL MOSES, THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BOTTLES...

FOMENTING FERMENTATION

Q

by JEREMY HARBIN

uick: what do you want to drink? You’re at Whole Foods, and there’s a yoga-pants population hovering so close you can smell the tea-tree oil. It’s time to decide on a beverage or get pushed into the craft beer section.

Soda is obviously out of the question. (Sugar is poison, duh.)

Among your many remaining options – teas, pressed juices, cold-

AWW, FRACK IT PAGE 6

DEAR SHARON… PAGE 7

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filtered coffees – there’s KeVita. You look at the bottle: non-GMO, low-calorie, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan. “Probiotic,” the label reads, and you like the sound of that. But despite those descriptors, you still might not have any idea what this drink actually is.

“It’s a lactobacillus ferment. What that means is that we inoculate with a non-dairy kefir grain or crystal.” That’s KeVita’s co-founder and CEO Bill Moses. He likes to say things like that. The other day from his factory in Oxnard, ...continued p.14

JUICE > COFFEE PAGE 16

GET SOME SAMA PAGE 32

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Content

COVER

In Business – Jeremy Harbin pays a healthy visit to Bill Moses, cofounder and CEO of KeVita, all bottled-up in Oxnard. We’ll drink to that.

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P.5

S haron’s Take – Sharon Byrne traverses State Street and questions its safety, particularly since Chief Sanchez’s wife reportedly didn’t feel safe there. It’s time for more officers and ordinances.

P.6 P.7

The Weekly Capitalist – Jeff Harding is mad as hell about Measure P and just can’t frack it anymore. He dissects the pros, cons, and fear-mongering.

P.8

an About Town – Mark Léisuré reviews a lecture by author Michael Lewis, M and touches on swing dancing, Open Streets, theatrical performances, the Awakened World Film Festival, and more diversions

P.9 P.10

Beer Guy –Zach Rosen gets real and gazes across the Atlantic to whet his whistle with UK brews – the cure for what “ales” him

L etters – An anonymous senior citizen takes Sharon Byrne to task about medicinal marijuana and the writer replies; John Kelley approves Measure P; and Matthew Hubbard doesn’t say “yes” to S

15 Days a Week – Want to know about the upcoming Chowder Fest?

Farmers Market? First Thursday? The Veterans Day Marathon and Half?

Jeremy Harbin’s comprehensive calendar has you covered.

P.15

Santa Barbara View – It is Sharon Byrne’s favorite time of year, and her enthusiasm for upcoming events is proof. Meanwhile, Cheri Rae explains that whooping cough is nothing to sneeze at, then sounds out tricky English words.

P.16 P.22 P.25 P.26 P.27 P.28 P.30 P.32 P.33

Holistic Deliberation – Allison Antoinette raises her morning cup of hot brew and asks: is coffee helpful or harmful?

Up Close – If you appreciate art, writes Jacquelyn De Longe, you must Feast Your Eyes on the latest Arts Fund Gallery campaign

Thanksgiving Nov 27 ! th

In The Zone – Tommie Vaughn catches up with singer and old friend Leslie Stevens, originally of Zeitgiest Auto Parts but still making music as a solo artist

Girl About Town – Julie Bifano found a Carpinteria evening in full bloom, thanks to the second annual campaign courtesy of Girls Inc.

Shop Girl – Kateri Wozny takes the path less traveled and discovers Christy Martin’s hidden treasure, ENCANTO Boutique I n the Garden with Mr. Greenjeans – Randy Arnowitz doesn’t have ants in his pants, but he’s ant-sy to reminisce about his childhood and ant farm

Stylin’ & Profilin’ – Megan Waldrep has a ball of the Red Feather variety during the United Way of Santa Barbara’s crusade at the Coral Casino

Food File – Christina Enoch satisfies her voracious Indonesian appetite with what’s dished out at Sama Sama Kitchen

Plan B – Briana Westmacott keeps everyone abreast of what young ladies are wearing (or not wearing) around Isla Vista, and the remedy will require more than pasties or a Band-Aid

1106 State Street

Santa Barbara

AndersensSantaBarbara.com

P.35

Keepin’ It Reel – James Luksic was on the road (actually in the air) but managed to see a flurry of films, three of which – Fury, Stonehearst Asylum, and St. Vincent – are worthy of a matinee ticket

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by Sharon Byrne

take

Sharon’s education in engineering and psychology gives her a distinctive mix of skills for writing about and working on quality-of-life, public safety and public policy issues. Her hyper-local SB View column can be found every other week.

A Shout-out to State Street

A

few months back, councilman Randy Rowse started trying very hard to do some things to help State Street. You may agree with these things or not. But the situation on State had devolved to such a state that somebody had to do something, darn it.

Always home to a fairly large number of homeless, State had seen new lows in poor behaviors in recent years. The efforts to take back “the Brick” in front of the Habit revealed a particular pain point of verbal abuse and drug-dealing that had festered for far too long. Chief Cam Sanchez’s wife was rumored to have said she didn’t feel safe going there.

If the wife of the biggest gun in this city doesn’t feel safe downtown, well that’s saying something. And it’s something really disappointing. This is not Chicago or New York. It’s a small town, and if you’re a cop here, you’re going to spend a lot of daylight hours dealing with the homeless. And for too long, people have been asking: where are the cops on State

Street?

Officer Corbett was assigned to the State Street beat a couple of years ago and diligently tried to tackle some of the most serious problems. She wrote tickets for illegal behaviors and unlicensed dogs. Lots of them. She also had to bite her tongue as well-meaning folks wandered up, offering to help pay for the ticket. She hovered over the crew at the Brick at lunch. It didn’t bust them up. They just recited their constitutional rights to her, loudly.

Only fencing that thing off fixed the problem. It needs to be moved, and the artist needs to face that reality. It’s a sad legacy for one’s art to host an ongoing hostile crowd that drives people away from it.

The “yellow shirts,” or communityservice liaisons didn’t work out well on State, either. We had better results with them on Milpas, as ours grew up on the Eastside, so they felt a sense of ownership of the neighborhood. They were also quite responsive to requests to

focus on “hot” spots. We also had two Eastside-based beat officers who seemed to be everywhere in the community, and a super-responsive Tactical Patrol team focused on problematic areas. The Casa Esperanza golf-cart patrol makes frequent runs. Some of our merchants are active neighborhood watchers and engage when they see poor behavior. In short, we have a neighborhood-centric authoritative presence, and it works.

In contrast, on State, the “yellow shirts” program floundered. Some left, and weren’t replaced, further weakening their eyes on the street.

To the merchants of State Street: Milpas feels your pain. It was our pain, too, for years.

Councilman Rowse came up with a solution of using $150,000 of budget surplus monies to look at hiring some sort of privatized force to deal with State Street – a problem the SBPD could not get control of. A key question is: why not?

Hiring guides or downtown security forces is not a new idea. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) across the U.S. have been doing it for years.

Their focus tends to be on dealing with the homeless and to stop minor illegal behaviors that the police don’t seem to have time to address. Usually, BIDs pay for this service.

The SBPD probably didn’t like this idea a whole lot. It’s a vote of no-confidence for

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them. But downtown had gotten to such a state that locals swore off it on newssite comment boards in droves. Tourists complained. Cruise ships complained. It moved from nuisance to outright hostility and, at times, truly dangerous situations.

Something had to be done.

Why not get another cop, and dedicate that officer to State Street? SBPD recently placed Officer Hons on State, on a bike, and that is one excellent cop. But the concern, as recently borne out on the Eastside, is that cops dedicated today will be moved around in the future to address a more pressing concern.

The proposed solution is a new category of non-sworn officers – seven of them – strictly for State Street. No guns, but full citation powers. Our new city attorney, who seems to be fully capable and loaded for bear, is also cooking up new ordinances to address some of the more egregious forms of active panhandling and sit-lie issues. All geared strictly for State.

We sure hope this works. Even a 50-60 percent reduction of the problem is a win.

And when you get to where you’re just dealing with a few remaining chronically homeless individuals, give Milpas a call.

We’ll suitcase over the Milpas Outreach Project, a focused, community-centric approach that can get solid results with folks living on the streets for a decade or more.

Until then, Godspeed and good luck!

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The Weekly Capitalist

by Jeff Harding

Jeff Harding is a real estate investor and a writer on economics and finance. He is the former publisher of the Daily Capitalist, a popular economics blog. He is also an adjunct professor at SBCC.

Frack Measure P

W

hat the hell kind of result do you get when issues are based on politics when they should be based on science?

Measure P, the anti-fracking initiative for Santa Barbara County, is a good example of how bad policy is made. On the face of it, it is a liberal vs. conservative political issue, and as far as I can see the arguments from both sides don’t have much to do with science or economics.

So, if you’re liberal, you’re going to hate Measure P. If you are conservative, you’re going to hate it.

I know people pro and con on this issue.

If they are pro-oil company folks, I know what they are going to say. If they are green geeks, I know what they are going to say. As readers of this fair journal well know, I am not a scientist but rather one who writes about economics, so I am not a fracking expert. But… just like you and the Measure P proponents and opponents, I too can dig into things to try to make sense of the issue. I readily admit that my approach to any issue is one of skepticism.

So for whatever it’s worth, here is my take on fracking in Santa Barbara: there is fear mongering on both sides.

The Pro P advocates bring the specter of environmental disaster.

The Pros’ arguments are propaganda, not science. Before you reach for your rotten tomato crate, let me say that I’m not a “denier.” For the record, I think the main issues regarding climate change are: (1) what is man’s true contribution to climate change, and (2) what can be done about it? These are complex issues that I’m not going to discuss here. But I am skeptical of claims that man is a virus who is destroying the planet. There is an anthropogenic contribution to climate change, but there are credible issues to how much that is. The issues about what we should do about it are even more complex.

Getting back to fracking: the science that the Pros drag up is dreadfully lacking.

Their fear-mongering is not based on good science. Everything they bring up: water pollution, earthquakes, water depletion, are things that could or might happen, but there is no good science that proves it is happening. The studies that are dragged up are not controlled or even remotely related to what is or could be considered to be fracking in Santa Barbara County.

Some studies don’t even support the Pro’s claims. It’s propaganda, fear tactics, apples versus oranges – not good science.

Yet their material continuously refers

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to fracking as “risky” or “dangerous” or “extreme.” Fracking has been used in oil production for 50 or 60 years, so we have a pretty good idea about it.

For examples, earthquakes “might” be caused by water injection, the process whereby treated waste water is disposed of by injecting it back into the areas where oil extraction occurred. According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, if they are caused by this process, they are too small to be felt. The USGS believes that some larger earthquakes may have been caused by it. They also say, “the USGS hopes to increase research efforts to understand the causes and effects of injection-induced earthquakes.”

Air pollution? “Minor risk” per one

“The county staff analysis prepared for the board of supervisors says Measure P would shut down existing operations. But a subsequent analysis by county counsel says it wouldn’t.”

EU based study. Certainly no worse than existing drilling techniques which the Pros don’t criticize.

Water pollution? According to an MIT study, “there has been concern that these fractures can also penetrate shallow freshwater zones and contaminate them with fracturing fluid, but there is no evidence that this is occurring.”

Again, most of the dangers cited by the Pros are not related to modern already heavily regulated drilling practices. For example, when “dangerous chemicals” are mentioned in relation to oil production, there is no credible evidence cited to say that they have actually harmed us.

I got most of my information using Wikipedia and by following up on the cited papers and links. Also, I recommend the site Ballotpedia.org for good information about Measure P. I’m not suggesting there aren’t environmental issues with oil drilling. Of course there are. I just don’t believe they outweigh the need for energy or can’t be properly managed.

The Anti P forces say they will be shut down, and there will be serious economic impacts as a result.

The “Antis,” like the Pros, provide almost zero facts to back up their claims that Measure P will shut down oil production in Santa Barbara. Most of their argument is based on a perceived

total shutdown and the loss of all onshore oil jobs and tax revenue.

Why do they say that?

The county staff analysis prepared for the board of supervisors says Measure P would shut down existing operations. But a subsequent analysis by county counsel says it wouldn’t. Linda Krop, a pretty damned good lawyer at the Environment Defense Center (definitely Pro P), says it won’t. Who do you believe here?

First of all, the oil companies say they aren’t fracking. But they say the initiative is so poorly written that it could be construed to include their activities and thus be shut down. Krop says that’s just not true.

Even though I am a lawyer in recovery, I can’t answer that question. But I do have a reasonable suspicion that the Pros will eventually use this legislation as a wedge to try to stop current onshore production.

If that were not the case, why would oil companies spend $7 or $8 million dollars to defeat the measure? They believe in the wedge.

As well, litigation is what the county is afraid of and why they believe Measure P will lead to years of expensive litigation.

The Antis provide almost no information on environmental impacts of fracking.

Well, why should they? Likewise, the Pros dismiss any potential economic impacts.

This is all about getting oil out. Oil, according to many environmentalists, is the problem with the environment and if we can just stop even a little bit of fossil fuel production, the planet will be a better place. That premise, of course, ignores things like economics and human behavior.

They present their anti-oil campaign as one related to water safety or health.

The measure is titled, “The Healthy Air and Water Initiative to Ban Fracking.” It’s almost as if they are saying, “Well, normal oil drilling is just swell, it’s that goshdarn fracking that is bad. We have to stop these ‘high-risk’ techniques – fracking, acidizing, and steam injection – that are causing environmental destruction, water contamination, and health impacts in California and elsewhere.’” That’s a crock.

They want to shut down oil production and will pursue any path to do it. I’m not talking just about Santa Barbara. I’m talking about a wedge – they want this to go worldwide.

I like fossil fuel. I am grateful we have it. In my last Sentinel article, I discussed how capitalism and fossil fuel led to the greatest health and longevity jump in mankind’s history. The problem with many environmentalists is that they believe they can stop fossil fuel production and that would lead to some Nirvana on earth. They would be wrong. It would lead to massive poverty. All such legislation like Measure P will do is ultimately raise the cost of fuel for the entire world. Maybe you Prius drivers will be fine, but poor countries will remain poor and polluted as a result.

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Letters

Although you might not believe it, we actually want to hear from you. So if you have something you think we should know about or you see something we've said that you think is cretinous (or perspicacious, to be fair), then let us know. There's no limit on words or subject matter, so go ahead and let it rip to: Santa Barbara Sentinel, Letters to the Editor, 133 East De La Guerra Street, No. 182, Santa Barbara, California 93101. You can also leap into the 21st century and email us at tim@santabarbarasentinel.com.

Attention: Sharon Byrne

Y

ou wrote that the legislation permitting the use of marijuana for medical purposes has led to widespread abuses by people without medical conditions.

No, it hasn’t.

You see, anyone who wants to use marijuana for recreational purposes has no trouble whatsoever getting it on the street. I have grandchildren who will attest to that.

I’m 78 years old and have never in my entire life used drugs, except perhaps the same drugs you use, such as alcohol and tobacco in my youth. Now I’m suffering from terminal cancer. I thank God that He created marijuana, because it is the only thing that controls my nausea and gives me an appetite.

So, Sharon, if you are going to pontificate about the drug called marijuana, I suggest you refrain from all drug use yourself, including wine with dinner or beer with pizza.

What’s that, you say? Alcohol is a “legal” drug? Well, so is marijuana for people in my condition. Or would you rather I puke my guts out from the chemo and waste away, just so you can have your way and deprive me and other cancer sufferers of an inexpensive and effective remedy for nausea and cachexia?

Anonymous Santa Barbara (Sharon Byrne responds: I actually wrote, “The Compassionate Use Act fooled many Californians into thinking they were allowing dying cancer patients to use marijuana for pain relief. They had no idea they were passing a toe-hold to drug legalization.”

So let’s dial down the hyperbole, please.

The use you describe for your cancer, to alleviate suffering, is what the Compassionate Use Act was intended for. However, drug legalization proponents had another agenda and used this initiative to weaken arguments against marijuana as a toe-hold to legislation.

The marketing moved from “Pot can alleviate suffering, so let’s not criminalize dying patients” to “Pot is medicine, and is good for you!” One of CSA’s main proponents, Scott Imler, went on 60 Minutes in 2007, thoroughly disgusted over the proliferation of pot shops selling indiscriminately. That was not what he advocated for the CSA back in 1996, and he felt betrayed. See it here: www. cbsnews.com/news/the-debate-on-californiaspot-shops/.

That was seven years ago. If you have followed medical pot in this state in the news over the past decade, you’d know that what we created was a state of quasi-legalization, worse than legalization – a no-man’s land where the rules are unclear, nothing is regulated, and a whole lot of pot-preneurs

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EVENTS • BAR • LOUNGE

moved in to cash in. People were getting a doctor’s recommendations to use medi-pot over Skype. Does this sound like legitimate medical practice to you?

I am sorry to hear of your illness and suffering, and am glad this works for you, to alleviate that suffering. You are a legitimate user, as the act intended. But a whole lot of other folks weren’t, sorry to say. – S.B.)

Would Measure P be Bad for SB County?

There have been lots of mailers and TV ads opposing Measure P. These mailers and ads claim the measure would be bad for Santa Barbara County. So what is Measure P, who is supporting it, who is opposing it, and what will our decision on this measure mean?

Oil production in the U.S. has been in decline because our remaining oil deposits could not be extracted using conventional production techniques. Now, risky oil production techniques like fracking, acidizing, and cyclic steam injection are being used to extract some of this previously inaccessible oil. Unfortunately, using these techniques to scrape the bottom of the metaphoric oil barrel causes numerous negative impacts.

Measure P proposes to ban new applications for high-risk oil production in Santa Barbara County. The purpose of Measure P is to prevent negative impacts such as toxic oil spills, permanently contaminated surface and groundwater, increased local air pollution, new below-ground fractures increasing the risk of earthquakes, and expanded greenhouse gas emissions, from happening in our communities.

Many concerned citizens and local organizations are supporting Measure P to protect our communities from these impacts. Supporters include local water board members, nurses and physicians’ organizations, teachers and school board members, businesses, farmers, and vintners.

Measure P is endorsed by civic advocates like the Citizens Planning Association, the Carpinteria Valley Alliance, and Santa Ynez Valley Alliance. It is supported by environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club, EDC, and CEC, and by many political organizations including the League of Women Voters and the Democratic Party.

Among our elected representatives, there are five times as many who support the measure as oppose it, including our state Senator, state Assemblyman, many current and former co unty supervisors, and city council members from Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Lompoc, and Santa Maria. ...continued p.17

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Thriller dancers at Open Streets

with Mark Léisuré

Mark spends much of his time wandering Santa Barbara and environs, enjoying the simple things that come his way.

A show here, a benefit there, he is generally out and about and typically has a good time. He says that he writes “when he feels the urge” and doesn’t want his identity known for fear of an experience that is “less than authentic.” So he remains at large, roaming the town, having fun. Be warned.

From the Page to Stage

A

uthor Michael Lewis enthralled a sold-out Granada Theatre in midOctober with a bunch of stories and anecdotes that were even more breeze than his famous books on inequities in finance and sports. At one point, he talked about the genesis and aftermath of The Blind Side and Moneyball – the two sports books that were turned into hit Hollywood movies.

It turns out that Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A’s who was the hero of Moneyball, was kind of annoyed with Lewis when he saw the book a few days before publication. Not because Lewis has revealed his secret for exploiting the undervaluation of baseball players, but because of the language – his mom would be upset that he “cussed so much.” Lewis said he was stunned by the revelation, but it turned out to be accurate. He was doing a reading in San Diego and everybody seemed to be enjoying it except for an elderly woman in the back of the room,

who came up later to tell him, “My son doesn’t talk like that.”

That left us laughing. But more impressive was Lewis’s insistence that despite his apparent prolific tendencies, he’s actually quite lazy. He explained how he won’t do anything if it doesn’t make him happy, most of which comes from attempting to satisfy his curiosity.

If he loses interest, he abandons a project. And the steps are incremental.

“I wouldn’t get out of this chair to walk to the front of the stage, because that would be work,” he said. But if there were Snicker bars, he said he’d crawl to pick up each one and then look up and realize he’d gotten to the other side of the stage. That’s how it is with his writing, Lewis said. “I don’t envision a book, just a good story I want to tell.” The next thing he knows, he has a book, he said. No work involved.

“Although I suppose it’s work to pick up my hands and put them on the keyboard to type.”

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...continued p.8

Hannah-Beth Jackson on enviro bike at Open Streets

According to that theory, I’m a workaholic, too.

Open Wide

What were those big metallic box spewing exhaust fumes and rumbling with some speed down Cabrillo Boulevard on a recent Saturday afternoon? Turns out, they’re something called automobiles.

It would’ve been hard to imagine just six hours earlier, but after Santa Barbara Open Streets successfully closed down the thoroughfare for a second annual peoplepowered celebration it seemed strange to see (and hear) cars cruising Cabrillo once again when 4 o’clock rolled around.

Indeed, after immersing with all the skateboarders, bicyclists, runners, unicyclists, roller skaters, and bladers – not to mention the practitioners of yoga, various dance troupes, healers, flash mobs, and other participants – who collectively turned the four-lane street into the city’s longest park, it seemed like space in front of Chase Palm Park and East Beach should always be like this. The event was grand, with the only real issue being the sparseness down at the east end, where you had to traipse a couple of tenths of a mile between the booths.

We also got to witness the Thriller flash mob the previous weekend in a benefit for BASSH, the community-based dance performances featuring various teachers and groups in town. After a bunch of sneak previews and special routines inside the trendy new restaurant-nightspot the Piano Lounge, revelers spilled outside to get zombified by then Thriller-etttes, who took over Anapamu Street outside right in front of the Courthouse Sunken Gardens (where the official performance

took place on October 24), for a full fiveminute-plus run-through that must have mystified a few motorists. Good things the cops didn’t drive by. Permit? What’s a permit?

BASSH itself gets its second go-round as an independent production November 14-15 at the New Vic.

On the Boards

The Heiress, which sports a truly impressive stage set, gorgeous costumes and some terrific performances, closes out its run at SBCC’s Garvin Theater on Saturday, November 1, while the musicalcoming of age-concert performance piece known as 2 Pianos 4 Hands continues through Sunday, November 16, at the Rubicon in Ventura.

Meanwhile, Out of the Box Theater Company kicks off its new season with Bare: A Rock Opera, a musical that tells the story of two gay teen students at a Catholic school struggling with issues of identity, sexuality and relationships. The show, which stars a number of actual teen actors from area schools, plays November 6-16 at Center Stage... SBCC roars right back hot on the heels of The Heiress with a student production of Ten Red Kings, November 12-22... BOXTAILS celebrates its 20th anniversary with a mini-festival reprising some of its most popular and important works that encompass storytelling, movement, and music in a four-day run at the Lobero November 13-16... UCSB’s theater department gets in the game with another entry from Will Eno – who had three of his plays produced in the area just last season. Middletown plays at the campus November 14-22. ...continued p.24

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9

by Zach Rosen

Tasting Real Beer

I

f you tuned into the last column on Samuel Smith’s and its Yorkshire Stingo, then you can probably tell that I like English beers. Although not enough examples of English beers get transported over the pond to our shelves, the English beer styles are a personal favorite of mine.

Their beers are uniquely full-flavored but gentle and easy drinking. And when you are talking about UK beers, you are talking about “real” ale.

I highly recommend Cellarmanship by Patrick O’Neill for any of those interested in learning about the art of caring for real ales. This small handbook is considered the standard text on the subject and provides everything you could possibly want to know on cask ales and their care.

Real Flavors

Real ale is best when it is fresh. The beer is exposed to oxygen, since it is being

Zach Rosen is a Certified Cicerone® and beer educator living in Santa Barbara. He uses his background in chemical engineering and the arts to seek out abstract expressions of beer and discover how beer pairs with life.

naturally dispensed from the cask. The presence of oxygen greatly reduces the lifetime of the beer and means that a cask ale should be drunk within a day or two of being tapped. It can be risky having a ...continued p.23

Island’s brewmaster Ryan Morrill pulling beer from an engine

Being Real

Decades ago the macro brews tried to move into the UK territory. The Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) was founded in 1971 and fought like a hooligan to keep real ale preserved in the pubs. CAMRA won the battle, and real ale has been established as part of the heritage of the UK. Real ale is defined as a beer that is matured and conditioned (carbonated) through secondary fermentation in the container in which it will be dispensed.

Although technically bottled beer can be considered a “real ale,” this term usually refers to beers found in wooden or stainless steel casks. This is different than a standard keg, which uses an external gas tank to dispense the beer. The secondary fermentation develops the flavors of the beer and the natural carbonation results in a distinct, soft mouthfeel. In fact, the use of nitrogen and widget cans (think Guinness or Boddington’s) are trying to reproduce the mouthfeel effect of real ale.

Since there is no external pressure, cask ale can be dispensed either by gravity or a beer engine. With gravity, the cask is put on its side using chocks. The cask has an initial angle and is tilted, called stooping, as it empties so that the beer can continue to come out at a smooth pace. There is a skill to stooping the cask. Too little of an angle will cause the beer to dribble out, and too much of an angle will result in the sediment drifting toward the tap and mucking up both the beer and its line.

A beer engine is basically a pump that pulls beer out of the cask. The cylinder pump and its linkage are most often contained in a wooden box that has a large handle (the handle height helps with leverage) coming out of the top. The oversized ornate handle of a beer engine has become iconic of English ales and the pub. The server will draw the beer out of cask with a few pulls of the handle, and oftentimes a vented orifice called a sparkler is attached to the outlet. This device helps draw out the dissolved gases from the liquid and provides the characteristic creamy head of a real ale.

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15•Days• a•Week We Ain’t Got Nothin’ But Love, Babe…

by Jeremy Harbin

Want to be a part of Fifteen Days A Week?

Space is limited, but if you have an event, exhibit, performance, book signing, sale, opening, trunk show or anything else interesting or creative that readers can attend, let us know at 805-845-1673 or email us at tim@santabarbarasentinel.com. We’ll consider all suggestions, but we will give extra consideration to unusual events and/or items, especially those accompanied by a good visual, particularly those that have yet to be published.

Saturday

Monday

Run for Love

Monday Funday

November 1

So are you finally tired of ghosts and cobwebs and horror movies and palm oil-laden candy? Do you have all the pseudo-scary celebration out of your system? “Yes,” I hear you say, “I’m ready to start this new month off with a little positivity.” It’s great to hear you say that, because I have just the event for you: Domestic Violence Solutions’ 5K Walk/Run for Love. It’s the organization’s first-ever event of this kind, and it takes place in Goleta Beach Park. Go to www.dvsrunforlove. org for more information and to register.

Sunday November 2 Chow Down

When it’s starting to get a little chilly outside, what’s better than a big bowl of chowder? I’ll tell you: a dozen or so little cups of chowder from every restaurant in town that thinks it has what it takes to compete in the fifth annual Chowder Fest. What’s not to like here? You go to a nice locale – this year it’s the Bacara (8301 Hollister Avenue) – you drink beer or wine or both, and you go from booth to booth collecting diminutive ramekins of hot, creamy stew. It’s from 1 to 4 pm today. Head to www.santabarbarachowderfest.com for tickets and more information.

November 3

Maybe this is cliché, but clichés are sometimes clichés for a reason (oops, I think that’s another cliché): Mondays are depressing. It seems like only a few hours ago you were released from the life force-draining grip of your day job into the weekend. Your big plans for Friday night were a bust because you fell asleep halfway through your first and only margarita. You would have enjoyed Saturday if you weren’t running the errands you didn’t have time for during the week. Then there was another tragic Sunday; you knew you should have tried to relax and enjoy yourself, but you were overcome with the dread of knowing that you had to wake up and turn yourself right back over to the bizarre un-world of paperwork, looking busy, watching the clock, and “working hard or hardly working”-level banter that makes you want to run to your car, drive to the Grand Canyon, and make your way back when you feel like it. You don’t do this because you know you’d get fired. Then you think maybe you should because you know you’d get fired.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be this way. You can take some semblance of control of your life in this slow march toward death that is the nine-to-five. Here’s a very practical, very small way to feel like you’re getting a slice of your life back: go to lunch. Don’t bring your own and eat it there in record time like they want you to. Go, get a sandwich from Panino (834 Santa Barbara Street), and walk over to the County Courthouse lawn (1100 Anacapa Street). Sit down with your sandwich, enjoy the weather and the view, and eat at a natural human pace, chewing and tasting your food. Isn’t that nice? See, you live in Santa Barbara, one of the most pleasant, beautiful places in this country; you’re doing great and your life is on the right track. Now go back to the office 30 or 45 minutes late. If your boss even notices (he/she probably won’t), tell them that you got held up taking care of some personal matters, that everything’s fine now, and then thank them for their concern. If this person presses you on it, throw a computer through a window and storm out.

Tuesday November 4

I am the Farmers Market

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We’re all supposed to be getting to know the farmers at the farmers markets, right? Isn’t that part of the contemporary back-to-the-earth, back-to-life, back-to-reality movement?

It is, I think, part of what’s being sold by those telling us how we can live forever by simply buying GMO-free, hormone-free, free-range, vegan, grass-fed, fresh, not frozen, local, raw, lightly brushed with extra virgin olive oil, not too much salt, the good kind of fats, whole grains, no grains, seasonal, small batch. That we can know what it is to really experience life and love and beauty if only we elect the right guy, drive the right car, pull down the right item from the Whole Foods shelf that has just the right packaging with just the right font printed across its label: relationships. Relationships with those who tilled the earth and planted seeds and then did whatever else it is that farmers do. Yes, that’s the promise of the farmers market, that we can develop these meaningful connections that will make each bite of roasted Brussels sprouts burst with the flavor of community, connectedness, and harmony. Think of a world there we know personally the people who farmed our food: more invites to our parties, more folks who maybe wouldn’t mind babysitting for us this Saturday, plenty more people with trucks we could ask to help us move. But more than that, the community thing. By getting to know our farmers, we could blur the lines of identity altogether; am I me eating a string bean or am I Gaia? Are we all Mother Gaia

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at the farmers market? Or is that just an impression left on my brain by some marketing geniuses with PhDs in farm-to-consciousness studies? Either way, we still need food, and that’s why I’m going to the State Street Farmers Market on the 500 to 600 blocks of State Street today at 4 pm to stock up my pantry, introduce myself to some farmers, and see if I can tap into the cosmos.

Wednesday

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Add Dan Encell to your team of trusted advisors!

November 5

Your Best Bro Recommends

You haven’t been to the Santa Barbara Public Market (38 West Victoria) yet? Bro, c’mon, bro.

Bro. You can’t be serious. You’ve got to get down there to check it out. Dude, you can get some steaks from Belcampo Meat Co. and then bring ‘em back to the apartment and grill ‘em up. You can get your girl a bottle of wine from Wine + Beer. Yeah, I know, it’s not a very creative name for a wine and beer store, but hey, that’s what it’s called. Bro, do you juice? Then you gotta get some juice from JuiceWell. I know you like coffee, right? Am I right? Dude, that Green Star coffee down there is pretty good. It’s all at the Public Market, my man, so get yourself down there. Bro, it’s open today from 7:30 am to 10:30 pm.

Thursday November 6 What Day is it?

Get your calendar out and do the math. It’s First Thursday, and everybody, I mean everybody who’s anybody knows that what happens on First Thursday happens every First Thursday and if you’re not there for it, then you’re just not… wait, where am I? Sorry, everybody, I think I got lost in that sentence. My point is this: it’s First Thursday. So get yourself downtown at 5 pm and explore what the shops, art galleries, restaurants, and museums have to offer on this most special day. Hint: it’s usually deals and discounts and art on display (in the case of the art galleries) and music, among other things.

Friday November 7

Arts Fund Party

The Arts Fund Gallery (205 Santa Barbara Street) has openings every few months, sure, but this one seems big. It’s called Feast Your Eyes, and it features work from more than 200 area artists. So if you like painting, photography, collage, or anything else, they’ll be selling those works tonight for lower prices in order to raise funds. Expect also a silent auction, music, and food trucks. Go to nightout.com and search “feast your eyes” to buy tickets.

Saturday November 8 Rare Art

Like a comet or eclipse or something else “scientists” would have you believe you need to get up out of bed at 3 am to see because “it only happens once a century” or some other “fact” like that, Second Saturday only comes two days after First Thursday once every seven years.

(Don’t believe me? Well, look it up.) So for that reason, you should really attend today’s Second Saturday Art Walk in the Funk Zone from 1 to 5 pm. Just hop down to Santa Barbara’s premier art district and wander around, taking in all the art and artists and then, you know, drink a beer at Fig Mountain once you’ve got your fill.

Run.Eat.Sleep

There’s nothing like the battle between fellow athletes as they pound the pavement over the course of the 26.2 miles that is a marathon race. Actually, some might say that it’s a battle with yourself, against your own body and willpower. Do you have the strength? The perseverance? Do you have ...continued p.12

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...continued from p.11

the necessary training under your belt? Do you have one of those belts with multiple water bottles and mid-run refueling snacks attached to it? If so, do you also have an armband for your iPod, a GPS watch, professional-level shoes, sweatbands, compression socks, dri-fit top, spandex shorts, hydration backpack rig, handheld water bottles, arm warmers, and custom T-shirt with your face on it? Then you’re ready for the Santa Barbara Veterans Day Marathon and Half! If not, then you’re ready to stand around and watch the people who aren’t lazy slackers cross the finish line with their hands raised in the glory of setting and achieving fitness goals. Speaking of the finish line, there’s lots of buzz surrounding the re-engineering of the course this year. Apparently, not only will spectators not be blocked off from seeing their friends and family complete the race, but: food trucks! And who doesn’t love food trucks?! So if you’re running, don’t stop when it’s over; just head straight for Georgia’s Smokehouse, elbow your way to the front of the line yelling “finisher coming through!” and grab yourself a BBQ sandwich. Onlookers, get there early for some breakfast burritos. It’s a good time for everyone, and the festivities all go down at Shoreline Park. As always, the last mile is dedicated to veterans. The half marathon starts at 7:15 am and the marathon at 7:30 am. (The first 25.2 miles are for Lily. Lily, you’re the greatest! Good Job!)

Sunday November 9 C’est Queso

Head to church this Sunday, the church of cheese, that is: C’est Cheese (825 Santa Barbara Street).

They’re holding a class over there today at 3:30 pm and 5 pm that will take students through the cheeses of Spain. It costs $20, and prices go up from there depending on whether or not you’d like to pair your Spanish cheese with wine. Go to www.cestcheese.com for tickets and more information.

Monday November 10 Movie Night

Go see a movie today. You’ve got Metropolitan Theatres all over town to help facilitate that process, but you also have another invaluable tool (no offense, James) right here in this paper: movie reviewer Mr. Luksic. His Keepin’ it Reel column appears over on page 35. James Luksic writes ‘em up as he sees ‘em, and he’s over there, bi-week after bi-week, making sure you steer clear of celluloid duds. Last week, he thrilled to Annabelle, enjoyed The Judge, was cool on Gone

Girl, and didn’t bite when it came to the melodramatic Dracula. What’s he recommending this week? Flip on over to find out, then go get yourself some popcorn.

Tuesday November 11

Food at the Foundry

The word “foodie” is a lot like “hipster;” I suppose you could try to say it or take it as a compliment, but it’s almost always pejorative. Both terms imply an eye roll and come with a thick air of hostility and condescension – and all in just a two-syllable utterance. They are each their own argument against a thing, whatever that thing might be, that relieves the speaker from having to say any more in his or her defense. I don’t want to hang out with her… I mean, she’s such a hipster. I don’t want to eat there… too foodie. This confluence of the English language and contemporary culture seems like magic. The only problem: no one can actually agree on what they mean, thus, they mean nothing. Is a hipster my barista neighbor who rides a bike and has chunky glasses? Or is a hipster my cousin whose life as seen through Instagram appears to be set in a Mumford and Sons video? Is someone a hipster whenever he or she has seen or heard or read something I haven’t?

Is it someone in an expensive shirt? A shirt from the thrift store? Now: is the person who wants to try a hot new restaurant just because it’s hot a foodie? Or is a foodie someone who’s fascinated by the gastronomic techniques employed by a chef somewhere in Denmark? Someone fascinated with old-world techniques, then? Someone who’s concerned with what’s happening in the food world and has opinions on name chefs and how they’re impacting the dining scene? Someone who really, really likes to eat? Because these aren’t all the same person, but many different types of people who have completely different relationships to food. These words are but two completely worthless shells that signify everything and nothing, no one and everyone, depending on the person who thoughtlessly chooses to say them. If anything, they speak more about the speaker than the spoken about. I once heard someone say that a hipster is someone who intimidates the person using the word. I like that. A foodie, then, might simply be someone who’s more interested in food than the person saying “foodie.” And that’s totally fine. We don’t all always speak with complete accuracy. Every day we rely to some extent on these types of shortcut words that get our points across. But regarding these two words in particular, I put forth the notion that it might be time for us to move on. Let’s refuse to say them, and instead articulate our thoughts in a more meaningful way: I don’t want to hang out with her because she’s pretentious yet overly concerned with frivolous, superficial things that I find dull. I don’t want to eat there because it’s a bit stuffy and expensive, and I never know what I’m getting because I’m unfamiliar with half of the ingredients.

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Or just use them – that’s fine – but at least shake your head whenever you see them in print.

They should be banned words in any publication. So think about all of this as you interact with your fellow hipster-foodie types at Foodies at the Foundry’s A Movable Market Feast. They’ll be serving up an autumnal menu paired with regional wines tonight starting at 4. It’s at the Santa Barbara Art Foundry (120 Santa Barbara Street) in the Funk Zone (epicenter of area hipsterdom). Get tickets by calling Jenny at (805) 324-4230.

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IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...

Wednesday November 12 Help for Artists

Artists are special. These delicate geniuses can’t be expected to keep receipts or financial records.

If you ask me, they shouldn’t have to. They should be ever free from the IRS or any other governing body who would make them quantify their art – as if that were even possible – or pay taxes. Why? Because they are artists, sir or madam, and artists make the art that makes life worth living. It’s too bad that it’s not up to me, and that America’s noblest and bravest citizens are forced to deal with the excruciating minutiae of money. It’s a farce; haven’t they given enough already – the gift of their art? They put their soul on canvas, yet our government wants its cut. A shameful reality, but a reality nonetheless. That’s why Art Without Limits is presenting Two Indispensables in Life: Art and Taxes, a talk in which artists can have their money questions answered from 5 to 7 pm today at Union Bank’s Community Partners Center (11 East Carrillo Street). Only $15 to attend.

Thursday November 13 Chaos Panel

Friday November 14

Odyssey for You and Me

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In an effort to not alienate my readership, I tend to shy away from taking hard stances on political issues here in 15 Days. But some things I just won’t stand for. So here goes: I stand firmly against the intelligent design, reverse engineering, or otherwise creative display or pronunciation of organizational acronyms. SABER, or the Santa Barbara Executive Roundtable, clearly offends, and on two counts at that. First, it should be called SBER. I do not appreciate the liberal usage of SA to stand for Santa. You can’t just decide you want to use the first two letters of one word and then only the first letters of other words. Second, the “executive roundtable” part was clearly chosen only to form a cool sounding word like saber. I understand these people have a right to name their group whatever they’d like, but to be clear, I believe that right should be taken away. But how would that work, you’re asking me, wouldn’t that be ungovernable? Who would decide what names are appropriate? Well, I would. I would head an organization that approves names for all organizations that wish to have acronyms. It would be called the Board of Acronym Design and Agnomen Style Standards, or BADASS. With that out of the way, here’s the reason I bring this up: SABER, as they refer to themselves, is hosting a panel discussion that’s actually called “How the Chaos Around the World Will Impact the Central Coast.” And even though the panelists are experts on the Central Coast more so than on global chaos, it seems like an interesting discussion for anyone who wants to know more about real estate and the economy.

It’s at the University Club (1332 Santa Barbara Street) at 8 am.

You know what I like better than theater? Family-friendly theater. Yes, I like my on-stage thrills and chills clean, thank you very much. The Boxtales Theatre Company from right here in Santa Barbara performs such a service, and tonight at 8 they’ll perform that service while performing The Odyssey. It’s at the Lobero (33 East Canon Perdido Street), and tickets are available at lobero.com.

Saturday November 15

Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes

I picked up an old book of medical advice once at a junk store. The only entry I remember is this, which was apparently meant as real advice from a doctor: “The man who eats a pancake for lunch and half of a hardboiled egg for dinner can do at 60 what the college athlete can do.”

Never minding the hyperbole at the end there, here are my questions: Just one pancake? For lunch? Half of a hardboiled egg? What’s the worst that would happen if I went ahead and ate the whole thing? And that’s my whole dinner, half of a hardboiled egg? That seems one or two notches away from how cartoon hobos are always cutting their last baked bean in half with a knife and fork. And what about breakfast? I assume that’s when you get your vegetables. I say we all forget about this quack’s advice and eat our pancakes for breakfast, like real Americans, and then eat whatever the heck we want for lunch and dinner. To help us with the breakfast part, the San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop, a non-profit cooperative preschool, is throwing a pancake breakfast today from 8 to 11:30 am at Community Covenant Church (5070 Cathedral Oaks Road). For $8 for adults and $5 for kids, you can help them raise funds. See www.smpcw. org for more information.

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INBUSINESS

by Jeremy Harbin

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Non-dairy kefir crystals comprise the base of KeVita’s proprietary blend of probiotics

Shelf stable: The key to the effectiveness of KeVita’s probiotics is keeping cultures alive through temperature control systems

he sat in his own conference room and answered questions about his life and work. Over his right shoulder hangs an oil painting depicting a serene landscape as seen through the heart-embossed bottom of a KeVita bottle. Next to that, a framed copy of Beverage Industry Magazine with a shot of him on the cover. But here was the man in person, with his deep-set eyes and manicured beard, shifting from the small talk about KeVita’s entry into the Santa Barbara market. “So, do you guys have any questions in particular?”

I want the story behind the man behind KeVita. This is a beverage company founded in 2009 that had bottles in local stores a few months later. A strategic plan to systematically expand across the country was put into place – and then bypassed in 2010 when Whole Foods called to take the brand national. Now, KeVita has inked a distribution deal with the likes of PepsiCo, and as a result is seeing its sparkling beverage – and its new lines of kombuchas and tonics – in even more new markets. It’s a company taken from a farmers-market home brew to an available option stocked – in a wide variety of trendy flavors – alongside your Naked Juices and your G.T.’s Kombuchas.

It’s a drink that had little-to-no consumer awareness, and now it’s a mainstream product that’s still growing. It’s the house that Bill Moses built.

So who is Bill Moses?

Fermentations

Asked about his life pre-KeVita, Moses wields an almost politician-like knack for steering back to the message he wants to get across. That message? One key point: “Ultimately, the value proposition to KeVita’s lineup is that we optimize and maximize your digestive track in absorbing nutrients and eliminating toxins so that correspondingly, your immune system – where seventy percent of it resides – is improved.” His answer to a question about his college years ended with him mentioning the “combination of fermentations” used in a new line of what they’re calling “tonics.” After a particularly diplomatic response to a question regarding his competition, he took a breath as if coming up for air and received some knowing laughter from a couple of nearby colleagues. It’s not that it was difficult to get Moses to talk about himself, but he clearly preferred the conversation to focus on his business.

“How do we make it into a compliant product,” Moses asked himself, “that we can manufacture and distribute through a supply chain with a profit margin?”

And can you blame him? He’s been interviewed, but by reporters from within the beverage world who prefer quotes about branding and trend tracking and the state of the industry – and they never ask personal questions. He’s good at giving those quotes – very good; it’s clear he knows his work inside and out – but Bill Moses is a businessman, not a celebrity or artist trained in fielding questions from the media.

There was a time when his life could have gone in that direction. “In college, I did a lot of theater and I wrote, directed, and produced a full-length feature film,” Moses told me. “And I played guitar and played piano.” He grew up in Ohio, got his English literature degree from the University of Virginia, and set out for New York City to live the life of an artist.

That didn’t last. “I was looking for a job,” Moses explained, “and my father said, ‘Why don’t you learn the money game?’”

So he did. After more than a decade on Wall Street, Moses had played that game so well he could retire from it.

Casa Barranca

Settling in Ojai (“I came to visit a friend who moved from the Bay Area, and I just went ‘Wow.’”), he began the West-Coast

chapter of his life with viticulture. He started by planting grapes and eventually moved into producing organic wine.

“And then I partnered up with Chakra [Earthsong, KeVita co-founder] and employed my winemaking skills and my knowledge of fermentation to KeVita.”

Not so fast, Bill, let’s talk about this wine business for another minute here.

He still owns Casa Barranca in the Ojai Valley. He says it was the first certified organic winery on the Central Coast.

To make the wines, he uses some estate grapes, but gets most of them from right here in Santa Barbara County.

His interest in fermentation goes back to a college semester abroad in the south of France, where he stayed with a winemaker. Later, his mother’s fight with colon cancer would cause him to focus his attention on digestion and lead him to learning the science behind wine and the effect it has on the body, particularly the gut. This is a subject area Moses doesn’t mind dwelling on; he’s knowledgeable and – you can tell from the tone of his voice – believes in what he’s selling.

“I know that everyone has their prerogative on aspects of organic or biodynamic wine versus non,” he started out carefully, getting into the specifics of wine and digestive health, “and I’m not here to argue against anybody’s perspective, but I do know that potassium metabisulfite happens to kill the bacteria in your stomach. And if you have any free SO2 floating around in a [non-organic] wine, the healthy bacteria in your stomach is going to die.”

A discussion of how the 2009 financial crisis affected the organic winemaking business evolved into a history lesson. It was the only time during our conversation that he allowed himself to digress: “It’s not a digestive aid after you sterile filter it, you hit it with a lot of preservatives.

It’s not really what it was intended to be generations ago, whether it was in Europe or in Turkey where wine has a long heritage.” Now this, I thought, is interesting; this man is working to course correct an entire industry, to right a wrong of industrial capitalism. “But that’s another topic for another day,” he said, before getting into talk of varietals used

by Casa Barranca.

Moses sees his venture into probiotic beverages as a fitting, if unintentional, progression. “It wasn’t that conscious,” he said. “Just all of a sudden, here I was, using some of the things I learned in the winemaking world and in the business world to launch this national brand.” It makes sense. “On one hand, I make wine that doesn’t have the stuff that kills the bacteria in your stomach, and on the other hand,” he summed up, “I make KeVita that actually puts the good stuff back in.”

Then, half-jokingly: “So after you down a great bottle of pinot noir that was recently bottled and you’ve got tons of free SO2 in it, why not have a KeVita?” ...continued p.34

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Santa Barbara’s Online Magazine, Published Twice Daily

sbview.com

It’s Getting Dark Out There.

Let’s Have Some Fun!

C

ontinuing on with my favorite season, autumn, there are some great things going on in the community. You can certainly participate without having to live or work in the Milpas area. We take all comers and welcome you as honorary Milpaserenos! Check these out:

Light up the Night

W

e’re heading into the darkest time of the year, when days are short and nights are long. If you’re a bicyclist on the street after 5 pm, you’ll be biking in the dark. On unlighted streets like Gutierrez, that’s super dangerous unless you’re lit up like a power plant. So Bici Centro, a wonderful Eastside neighbor, is giving out lights and safety manuals to low-income cyclists in the area to make them more visible at night time. It’s free and geared for Spanish speakers. Bici Centro is looking for volunteers. Speaking Spanish is not necessary, as they’ve got solid bilingual team leads.

The program runs five nights: Milpas – Monday, November 3

Carpinteria – Tuesday, November 4 Old Town Goleta – Wednesday, November 5 Westside – Thursday, November 6 Milpas – Friday, November 7 For more info, go to www.bicicentro.org.

Day of the Dead – Sunday, November 2:

1. Casa de la Guerra – 11 am to 4 pm – Benefit for Adelente Charter School 2. Casa de la Raza. 5-10 pm ne of the best things about America as a nation of immigrants is the importation of culture that broadens us and expands our possibilities as a nation.

The melting pot has its sweet spots, certainly. It’s also the American way to innovate and re-invent traditions from the Old Country (whichever one yours happens to be). When my parents grew up long ago in the north of England, All Hallows’ Eve was decidedly not fun. It has a history in the British Isles as the night when evil spirits walk the earth. Better lock up your farm animals and bar the door. In contrast, we Americans dress up

O

Sharon Byrne

Sharon Byrne is executive director for the Milpas Community Association, and currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the Salvation Army Hospitality House and Santa Barbara County Alcohol and Drug Problems.

sbview.com little children as the things that go bump in the night and send them out to get treats. Make fun of what scares you, and play with the dark side, rather than fear it. Brilliant.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, my all-time favorite holiday imported from Mexico, has a similar connotation.

Don’t think zombies and graveyards. Day of the Dead is a time to get out pictures and keepsakes of relatives that have passed, put them on an altar, inviting them to be part of the family again, celebrating them with family and friends. Death is presented not as something sad, or to be feared, but to be embraced, as a part of life.

Adelente Charter School’s celebration of Dia de los Muertos at la Casa de la Guerra downtown features food, music, art and dance. I’ve seen some of the children’s art going into the event, produced by the Incredible Children’s Art Network, and it’s gorgeous. This is a

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fundraiser for the school and should be a lot of fun for families.

The evening celebration at la Casa de la Raza is a stunning array of community, light, and life. The altars the Casa staff put together are breathtakingly beautiful. It’s one of their best events, and before you ask – no, you don’t need to speak Spanish or bring your passport for admission.

Their doors are open to all, as a Mexican cultural heritage organization, and they want you to come in. Really. They are very warm and welcoming.

If that isn’t enough, let me further tempt you: they have great food at the event, and a bustling Mercado where you can get all kinds of cool Day of the Dead items.

There’s something warm, comforting, and healing in this particular holiday.

I hope you’ll come out and enjoy the experience for yourself.

Déjà-vu All over Again (Cough, Cough)

by Cheri Rae decade ago, my healthy, strong second-grade son contracted pertussis, a.k.a. whooping cough. He had been fully immunized against this bacterial disease, but he got it anyway. Of all the childhood colds and flus, aches and pains, accidents and infections, the bout with whooping cough was by far the worst – and the aftereffects went on forever. ...continued p.21

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HOLISTIC

DELIBERAT ON

by Allison Antoinette

Owner and principal presser of The Juice Club – a local, organic, cold-pressed juice delivery service – a yoga teacher, and tonic herbalist. Her nutritional wisdom is rooted in Eastern traditions, years of mindful eating, and an inquisitive brain that seeks to absorb all available health information.

Coffee: Helpful or Harmful?

T

he Department of Health and Human Services has dubbed coffee, “the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive substance.” Everyone I know has enjoyed a coffee habit at some point, and judging by the amount of Starbucks locations in the U.S. alone, (in 2012, there were 10,924!) it’s clear that we have an addiction.

Some research praises coffee for its ability to boost your metabolism, improve exercise performance and protect against Alzheimer’s, while other research has concluded the opposite – coffee is bad for your health.

Recognizing the widespread love for this morning pick-me-up, I thought it was time to ask the bigger question. Is coffee helpful or harmful?

For many Westerners, coffee is the primary source of antioxidants in their diet. It’s true that coffee contains vitamin B2, B5, manganese, potassium, niacin,

and magnesium, but if antioxidants are what you are after, then I would look at a glass of fresh vegetable-based juice (nutrient equivalent of two or three salads) weighing in with far more nutritional value. As the owner of a juice company, it’s clear that I have a bias on this topic, but alongside that are good reasons why I sell juice and not coffee. That aside, I am fairly certain the antioxidant count is not the reason that more than 75 percent of Americans consume coffee on a daily basis.

Caffeine is the jolt that most coffee lovers go back for. You can work with more focus and play with more energy, and with today’s fast-paced culture and overbooked schedules it’s no wonder that we need to be “jolted” into our day. Caffeine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and releases adrenaline into the bloodstream, identical to ®how our body responds to stress.

However, the function of adrenaline is to trigger when we’re in danger and need to respond quickly, not to help us write emails. If you feel depleted from the stresses of life, coffee will only exacerbate that fatigue until it becomes a chronic condition where morning brain fog and lethargy are the norm. These feelings often drive one to caffeine in the first place, and therein lies a vicious cycle.

Caffeine is also a strong diuretic that can increase fluid flushing through the kidneys, causing the frequent need to pee, leach valuable minerals, and dehydrate our system. Take that one step further and we learn that dehydration can actually lead to weight gain in a roundabout way. When we are dehydrated, the body has a strong need to replenish water, but our brains seem to mistake this signal for the feeling of being hungry. So we reach for a snack (often a salt-laden one, making dehydration even worse) when what we really need is more water. Something to consider if you are on a weight-loss plan.

On the flip side, coffee has a romantic quality that brings a twinkle to the eyes of its lovers. The anticipation alone of one’s morning cup can stimulate positive feelings, and current research confirms that coffee may lower the risk of developing depression. One Harvard study found that women who drank

four or more eight-ounce cups per day had a 20-percent lower risk of becoming depressed. Another study found that coffee is linked to slowing cognitive decline and motor deficiency associated with aging.

It’s no wonder that your spouse or coworker will playfully say, “Don’t talk to me yet, I haven’t had my coffee.” Coffee helps us to take on the world!

There is something to be said for having just one “vice,” and for many people that is coffee. If trading in your cup of Joe is a scary thought, and the idea of a more nutrient-dense alterative like fresh juice is unappealing, then I have a few baby steps to offer. Upon waking in the morning, delay your coffee consumption an extra hour to give your body the opportunity to react to natural stimulants. Or, grab 20 minutes of morning cardio to rev your system sufficiently and start with some lighter green tea. See how “awake” you feel before grabbing your usual latte an hour or two later. You might find that just one cup does the trick that day, instead of the usual two or three.

At the end of the day, I stand firm that coffee is more harmful then helpful, especially once a dependency sets in alongside chronic fatigue. At the very least, one should break from coffee on occasion to prevent these forming from happening and re-engage their bodies natural process for waking up.

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...continued from p.7 Clearly, Measure P has broad local support; however, it is opposed by a wellfunded and highly organized campaign.

Some say this is just another battle between South County environmentalists and North County business interests.

Actually, the “No on P” campaign is led by an alliance of oil companies that wants to expand risky oil development.

There is a huge disparity in campaign funding. As of early October, the “Yes on P” campaign had raised about $284,000 from local individuals. In contrast, the “No on P” campaign had already raised $5.6 million – about 20 times as much – from the oil industry and their allies.

The “No on P” campaign has used this massive funding advantage to spread misleading propaganda. Their ads and mailers claim Measure P will shut down nearly all oil and gas production, cost our county millions of tax dollars, and result in the loss of well-paid jobs for working

families. Let’s examine these claims.

Will Measure P shut down nearly all oil and gas production, thus costing our county millions of tax dollars? No, as county supervisor Salud Carbajal has stated, “Measure P would allow existing oil operations and all new conventional oil production to continue, while mitigating the air-quality impacts and public health risks associated with new high-intensity oil development.”

Will Measure P result in the loss of well-paid jobs for working families? No, as Santa Barbara businessman Dennis Allen points out, “Ninety-eight percent of the oil industry jobs are in drilling, and most of these jobs (80 percent) are taken by nonlocals who have specialized expertise.”

Measure P opponents also claim current regulations on the oil industry are sufficient. Actually, the California State Water Resources Board recently revealed compelling evidence that the oil industry

has already illegally injected nearly three billion gallons of toxic wastewater into central California aquifers.

As Goleta Water Board member Lauren Hanson reminds us, “The state agency charged with monitoring oil and gas activities is not staffed to deal with a massive increase in high-intensity oil activity, and it operates on a complaint-driven basis.

That means that when something bad is brought to its attention, that ‘something bad’ has already happened. That’s not protection; it’s too late at that point.”

We have a clear choice in this election.

If we vote no on Measure P, the oil companies will pursue thousands of new wells, threaten our environment and water resources, and increase greenhouse gas emissions. If we vote yes on Measure P, the dirtiest, hardest-to-extract oil stays where it is, we protect our communities from contamination, and we do our part to combat climate change. Stop risky oil

Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2014 and Winter 2015

Find Yourself at Pacifica Saturday, Nov. 15 A One-Day Introduction to Pacifica’s Graduate Masters and Doctoral Programs in the Tradition of Depth Psychology

The Pacifica Experience

The 8:30am–6:00pm program on November

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development. Vote for Measure P. John D. Kelley Santa Barbara

No on S

One-third of a billion? How many desalination plants could that buy? Pay off school loans, fight cancer, diabetes, and re-open Casa Esperanza.

Like politics and religion, education is big business. The chancellor of the university got a 20-percent pay raise, $400K with benefits. For doing what? A recent retiree of the university made $300K a year with benefits. For doing what?

Thirty-three different vice presidents, each earning $200K a year/$110 million lost last year; I’ll bet half of that was spent on all the paperwork going back and forth between all these vice presidents.

Wall Street: “Greed is good.”

Matthew Hubbard Santa Barbara

Attend the November 15 Pacifica Experience and Join us for a Complimentary Salon on November 14

Our One Wild and Precious Life What Depth Psychology Can Teach Us About

15 is a comprehensive introduction to Pacifica

Vocation and Why It

Graduate Institutes’s unique academic features.

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> Tour Pacifica’s Two Campuses

with Jennifer Selig, Ph.D.

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> Meet Pacifica Alumni, Students,

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SANTA BARBARA | Fernald Point | Offered at $24,000,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Maureen McDermut 805.570.5545, Bob Lamborn 805.689.6800, Ron Brand 805.455.5045 Maureen and Bob represented the seller. Ron represented the buyer.

CARPINTERIA | Villa Sevillano | Offered at $21,500,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Suzanne Perkins 805.895.2138 Suzanne represented the seller.

SANTA YNEZ | Award-winning Contemporary | Offered at $6,950,000 Santa Ynez Valley Brokerage | Laura Drammer 805.448.7500 Laura represented the seller.

SANTA BARBARA | Mission Canyon Charmer | Offered at $6,725,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Jennifer Berger 805.451.5484 Jennifer represented the buyer.

MONTECITO | Panoramic Ocean Views | Offered at $5,395,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Peggy Olcese 805.895.6757 Peggy represented the seller.

SANTA BARBARA | Birnam Wood | Offered at $5,375,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Suzanne Perkins 805.895.2138 Suzanne represented the seller and the buyer.

VENTURA | Custom Oceanfront | Offered at $5,195,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Janet Caminite 805.896.7767 Janet represented the seller.

MONTECITO | Exquisite Montecito Home | Offered at $4,395,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 Cristal Clarke represented the seller.

MONTECITO | Heart of Montecito | Offered at $3,949,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Nancy Hamilton 805.451.4442 Michael Calcagno 805.896.0876 Nancy and Michael represented the seller.

MONTECITO | Miramar in Montecito | Offered at $3,425,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Caroline Santandrea 805.452.0212, Vivienne Leebosh 805.689.5613 Caroline and Vivienne represented the seller.

MONTECITO | Timeless Elegance | Offered at $3,350,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | M. McDermut 805.570.5545 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Peggy Olcese 805.895.6757 Maureen and Peggy represented the seller. Peggy represented the buyer.

MONTECITO COAST VILLAGE ROAD BROKERAGE | 1106 Coast Village Road | Montecito, CA 93108 | 805.969.9993 MONTECITO UPPER VILLAGE BROKERAGE | 1482, 1470 East Valley Road | Montecito, CA 93108 | 805.969.5005 SANTA BARBARA BROKERAGE | 1436 State Street | Santa Barbara, CA 93101 | 805.963.1391 SANTA YNEZ VALLEY BROKERAGE | 2900 Nojoqui Avenue | Los Olivos, CA 93441 | 805.688.4200 Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc.

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SANTA BARBARA AREA SIGNIFICANT SALES July, August, and September 2014

SANTA BARBARA | Historic Estate | Offered at $3,249,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Michael Calcagno 805.896.0876, Nancy Hamilton 805.451.4442, David Mires 805.705.8986 Michael and Nancy represented the seller. David represented the buyer.

SANTA BARBARA | Mesa Magical Views | Offered at $3,050,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Melissa Birch 805.689.2674, Rich van Seenus 805.284.6330 Melissa and Rich represented the seller.

MONTECITO | Gated Montecito | Offered at $3,000,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Ron Brand 805.455.5045 Ron represented the buyer.

MONTECITO | Serene with Privacy | Offered at $2,850,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 Cristal represented the seller.

SANTA BARBARA | Don Peterson Designed Home | Offered at $2,822,088 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Ron Dickman 805.689.3135 Ron represented the buyer.

MONTECITO | Mediterranean-style Home | Offered at $2,795,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Joye Lytel 805.452.1979 Kevin Schmidtchen 805.689.6877 Joye represented the seller. Kevin represented the buyer.

MONTECITO | New Custom Montecito Home | Offered at $2,750,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | M. Calcagno 805.896.0876, N. Hamilton 805.451.4442 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 Michael and Nancy represented the seller. Cristal represented the buyer.

SANTA BARBARA | Elegant and Inviting | Offered at $2,749,000 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Marilyn Rickard 805.452.8284 Marilyn represented the seller.

MONTECITO | Prime Montecito Location | Offered at $2,650,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Laura Collector 805.451.2306 Laura represented the buyer.

SUMMERLAND | Summerland Heights | Offered at $2,500,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Sandy Stahl 805.689.1602 Sandy represented the buyer.

SUMMERLAND | Chic Country-style Home | Offered at $2,400,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Frank Abatemarco 805.450.7477 Frank represented the buyer.

SANTA BARBARA | American Riviera at its Finest | Offered at $2,395,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Tiffany Doré 805.689.1052, Cathy O’Neill 805.886.7760, Paula Goodwin 805.451.5699, Barbara Green 805.452.9003 Tiffany and Cathy represented the seller. Paula and Barbara represented the buyer.

sothebyshomes.com/santabarbara sothebyshomes.com/santaynez

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SANTA BARBARA AREA SIGNIFICANT SALES (cont.)

July, August, and September 2014

MONTECITO | Montecito Urban Living | Offered at $2,350,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 Montecito Coast Village Road Brokerage | Maureen McDermut 805.570.5545 Cristal represented the seller. Maureen represented the buyer.

CARPINTERIA | Cape Cod-style View Home | Offered at $2,350,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Cristal Clarke 805.886.9378 Cristal represented the seller.

SANTA BARBARA | Spacious Luxury Residence | Offered at $2,300,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Michael Calcagno 805.896.0876, Nancy Hamilton 805.451.4442, Kevin Schmidtchen 805.689.6877 Michael and Nancy represented the seller. Kevin represented the buyer.

SANTA BARBARA | Spacious Luxury Residence | Offered at $2,300,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Michael Calcagno 805.896.0876, Nancy Hamilton 805.451.4442 Michael and Nancy represented the seller.

SANTA BARBARA | Rural Living in the City | Offered at $2,295,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Paula Goodwin 805.451.5699 Paula represented the seller and the buyer.

SANTA BARBARA | Spacious Luxury Residence | Offered at $2,250,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Michael Calcagno 805.896.0876, Nancy Hamilton 805.451.4442 Michael and Nancy represented the seller.

Other Noteworthy Significant Sales BUELLTON | Buellton Beautiful | Offered at $2,950,000 Montecito Coast Village Road | Tobias Hildebrand 805.895.7355 Tobias represented the buyer.

MONTECITO | Charming English-style Cottage | Offered at $2,179,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Christine & Fal Oliver 805.680.6524 The Olivers represented the buyer.

SANTA BARBARA | Riviera View Home | Offered at $2,249,000 Santa Barbara Brokerage | Larry Martin 805.895.6872 Larry represented the seller.

OJAI | Rancho Matilija Estate | Offered at $2,195,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Sandy Stahl 805.689.1602 Sandy represented the seller.

ASSOCIATION

HOPE RANCH | Historic Campanil Hills | Offered at $2,100,000 Montecito Upper Village Brokerage | Christine & Fal Oliver 805.680.6524 The Olivers represented the buyer.

Darcy Gamble

SANTA BARBARA BROKERAGE darcy.gamble@sothebyshomes.com 805.509.5346 CalBRE#: 01956441

They say you are known by the company you keep. We are fortunate to be known for the exceptional agents that distinguish us in communities all over the world. Today in our Santa Barbara Area Brokerages, we are pleased and proud to announce several new exceptional associations.

Greg Tice, Senior Vice President and Brokerage Manager, is delighted to welcome the new members of our team. Welcome.

Jenny Hall

MONTECITO COAST VILLAGE ROAD BROKERAGE jenny.hall@sothebyshomes.com 805.705.7125 CalBRE#: 01937474

Joanna Slott

MONTECITO COAST VILLAGE ROAD BROKERAGE joanna.slott@sothebyshomes.com 805.335.0158 Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc.

CalBRE#: 01930699

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...continued from p.15 In all the heated discussion about vaccines and anti-vaccines, here’s a little light: no one hears about the broken ribs, the weakened immune systems, the damaged bronchial tubes, the lost stamina, the time away from school. The amount of time it takes to fully heal.

Because his bronchial tubes were so damaged from the weeks that turned into months of coughing spasms, my son was left with “reactive airway disease” and was under the care of our community’s asthma guru, Dr. Liebhaber. For four years, he had inhalers – one at home, one at school. He took Advair and Singulair, and sometimes, when his breathing was bad, he had to take doses of Prednisone. The humidifier was our best friend; dry, hot weather our worst enemy. During the ashy, particulate-filled days of the Tea, Zaca and Jesusita fires, he had to leave town.

There were ugly side-effects to the powerful drugs, but he needed them to get better. It was a long, tough journey back, and now that strapping high school senior is a picture of good health.

But here come the news reports that vaccine-preventable whooping cough is back in Santa Barbara. A disease that was nearly eradicated nationwide has taken hold across the state and far beyond – and there have been a few additional breakouts in town in the past 10 years.

I’ve been keeping track, because it was such an unexpected and traumatic upheaval in our lives that included a period when our family was quarantined in our home. I researched whooping cough. Wrote about it. Spoke out about it years ago on The Today Show, and just last year I flew across the country to appear on a medical show on public television called Second Opinion.

In short, I know more about whooping cough than any parent ought to.

In the past 10 years, a few things have changed: The FDA approved a booster shot for whooping cough, and it’s supposed to be given to every incoming high school student. But now, more parents have learned about “Personal Belief waivers” and have declined to immunize their children.

Despite widespread scientific evidence debunking the link between autism and vaccines, the myth continues out of the mouths of politicians and celebrities, and Internet anti-vaxx “experts.” And we also know that the concept of herd immunity requires individuals to take responsibility for public health, and collectively vaccinate – to protect our own children and the community at large.

But still, incidents of this awful disease keeps rising. And it is awful, long after the 100 days of coughing finally subside.

These new cases of whooping cough will once again raise the voices of the organic, holistic, homeopathic-for-everything, believers in the notion that thinking positive thoughts and lots of fresh air and sunshine will keep the negative things in life away. They won’t want to listen to the fact that Bordetella pertussis is one highly communicable and nasty germ that

attacks anyway, no matter how pure your diet or your thoughts.

Unless and until we change our thinking and our actions, now that it has taken hold again, it’s never going away.

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Read/Dread

by Cheri Rae hen you first read the headline, did it rhyme? Or did it sound like “Reed/Dred?”

How well would you do in the classroom – where reading is everything – if you couldn’t figure out the sounds that letters make?

“Just try harder.” “Just concentrate.”

“Just care more.” That’s what struggling readers are told often told.

Or even better, “Just sound it out.”

Right. In fact, sound out the word right, tight, might. If you can’t remember that gh is silent, it’s not much help. Then if you do remember that gh is silent, it’s not much help when you encounter words like rough or tough or cough (oh, and by the way, rough and tough sound the same but cough doesn’t). Because in those words, the gh sounds like f.

Remember that, too.

F like in the Feeling of Failure that surrounds so many students in school today. F as in the grade too many of them receive. Kids who are smart, motivated, and curious. Kids who have a neurological difference in their brains that can make the typical classroom tasks, like remembering all the rules of spelling, silent letters, and sight words, reasons for no end of their misery.

Compounding their difficulty is that they may be able to tell you a richly detailed story, but writing it is problematic – so their assessments rarely reflect their knowledge or their intelligence.

That’s the dilemma faced by one in five students who must to be taught to read in a different way from the rest of the kids.

The kids with dyslexia. And if they’re not taught with a multi-sensory, multi-modal, research-based reading program proven to work, their ability to read will plateau off at about a third-grade level and stay there.

Until some adult figures it out, and helps them get the specific help they need.

But parents, teachers, and administrators are often baffled by these kids who work hard and have the reputation as “slow readers” or kids who “don’t test well.”

Far too many of these kids manage to underachieve all the way through the school system and show up at SB City College, where they finally get tested and learn the reason for their difficulties: an undiagnosed learning disability, with processing issues, oftentimes dyslexia.

Too often, they don’t find out until they are adults working to help their own children who are struggling to read. Count the financial wizard Charles Schwab (and Santa Barbara High School graduate Class of 1955) and the brilliant director Steven Spielberg in that group.

For more information, contact Cheri Rae at TheDyslexiaProject@gmail.com.

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UP CLOSE

BY JACQUELYN DE LONGE

Color and texture are primary in Maureen Troy’s painting

Our former restaurant reviewer takes a closer look – as only a 3rd-generation SoCal native can – at the people, places, and things that make Santa Barbara so unique. When she is not working for us, she keeps herself busy with various writings, chases her two young children around, and practices yoga and Pilates for some sense of sanity.

For Your Eyes Only

B

eautiful people, bright spotlights, valuable artworks, live music and a silent auction at a classy party: This is no Bond movie coded with dangerous secrets and hidden weapons. It is the exciting upcoming fundraiser, Feast Your Eyes, happening Friday, November 7, at the Arts Fund Gallery in the Funk Zone. I met up with Brad Nack, executive director of the Arts Fund, and Marcello Ricci, program director, to get the details of this first time event.

With over half of the tickets already sold, there are still some general admission tickets remaining for the event and a handful of specialty VIP passes for those who want to have first dibs on the artwork. Regional Santa Barbara wineries and breweries will be present and complimentary beverages will be served. The new Shop Café

Arts Fund executive director Brad Nack

airstream food truck and pizza from California Wood Fired Catering will be available to satiate any appetite. The local DJ, Zac Pike of Dynamic Pressure and Marcello Ricci, program director of the Arts Fund A meticulous painting by contemporary realist Dorothy ChurchillJohnson

MONTECITO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT A vacancy on the Governing Board of the Montecito Union School District was created on October 20, 2014.

The Governing Board will be filling the vacancy by making a provisional appointment until the next election in November 2016. Any person is eligible to be a Governing Board member providing he/she is 18 years of age or older, a resident of the school district, and a registered voter.

Interested community members are invited to complete an application and submit a letter to the Superintendent, Tammy Murphy (385 San Ysidro Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108), indicating their interest and willingness to serve in this significant public capacity. The application and letter must be accompanied by a personal resume. The application can be found on the Montecito Union School District website at www.montecitou.org or applications are available at the Montecito Union School District Office at 385 San Ysidro Road between 8:00am-4:00pm.

The final date for submitting applications is 3 p.m. on November 12, 2014. Candidates will be interviewed individually at a public meeting of the Board on November 20th 2014, at 4:00p.m.

The person selected will join the Board at their regular meeting on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.

The person appointed shall hold office until the next regularly scheduled election for district Board Members in November 2016.

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The Sandollar Sound, will perform his personal version of a musical history lesson, as he blends ska, reggae, soul, and rock steady into an upbeat tempo to the pleasure of party-goers.

There will be notable artists and patrons present, showing their support for our growing local art scene, and helping to further the teen mentor program at the Arts Fund which has been running for more than 20 years.

The show will include 250 individual works of professionally exhibiting artists of Santa Barbara and participants of the mentorship. A few of the major artists include Penelope Gottlieb, R. Nelson Parrish, Dorothy Churchill-Johnson, Susan Savage, Blakenly Sanford, and many others too numerous to list. The evening will be hosted by honorary chairs Tony and Barbara Askew, whose dedication to arts and education has EARTHQUAKE RETROFITTING 50 + YEARS EXPERIENCE - LOCAL 35+ YEARS

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been a memorable commitment.

This is a great opportunity to support a worthy cause, as well as snag a fabulous original work of art for only $300 on opening night. All pieces will remain on display for the length of the exhibition. The 11x14-inch canvas is the uniforming platform for all the various paintings; landscape, figurative, representational, abstract, and conceptual pieces. Within the limited format, expect artists’ creativity to reign supreme with branching out into drawings, assemblages, and collages.

The Arts Fund is an important establishment here in Santa Barbara.

For more than 30 years, its Community Gallery has been a valuable stepping stone for emerging artists, providing a professional space to take their careers to the next level. The other impressive program they run is Teen Arts Mentorship. That is where high school students get the opportunity to work one-on-one with a professional artist, build a portfolio, develop their craft, and gain real-world experience exhibiting and working in a gallery. This is especially priceless when a student is just beginning to find his or her creative voice.

Obviously, I am passionate about art.

It is important and powerful, and we have all been touched by it. I’ve said it once before: Art is the language of Ideas. It is more than decoration or a form of self-expression, both of which have their place in society; it is also a way to get across ideas that sometimes lack the words for delivery. There can be great historical reference and compelling personal opinion behind the various types of work that are made. Art affects the artist and the beholder. It is those creative ideas that pop in the mind, bubbling up when an artist least expects it, that can create powerful change.

Supporting the Arts Fund is an important way to inspire a new generation and keep creative ideas moving forward. So, if your walls are hungry for something fresh and new, and your mind thirsty for inspiration and knowledge, then Feast Your Eyes has what you crave.

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...continued from p.9 cask ale in a bar or restaurant, because you do not know how long the cask has been tapped. This is why the festival setting (at least in America) is usually the best place to try real ales. So when Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co invited me to attend its first Real Ale Invitational Festival, hosted at their Buellton brewery, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to try the different real ales available along the Californian coast.

It is always wise to go to a beer festival on a full stomach, and fortunately there was a four-course beer pairing luncheon that people could buy a ticket for before the festival. The food was provided by Chef Beto, who will be providing the food for their new restaurant in the Buellton brewery that is set to open in early 2015.

Each dish was paired with a cask ale from one of the festival invitees. The courses were introduced by the brewers with an acoustic band playing in between and providing a mellow timbre to the scene that worked well with the softer mouthfeel of cask ales.

The sunny day was started by a citruscured Alaskan halibut with taro chips.

This was served alongside Pizza Port Brewing Co Jetty IPA with jalapeno and pineapple in the cask and freshly hopped with Equinox. The velvety mouthfeel of the beer complemented the delicate fish and provided a nice contrast to the crisp, taro chips. Equinox is a new hop that

Roasted squash with Noble Ale Works Double IPA

has a lemon-lime, papaya character that enhanced the citric notes of the dish. The jalapeno was subtle and livened up the other flavors.

The second course was the most tasty and aesthetically pleasing of the offerings. The dish was a cornucopia of colors consisting of roasted squash adorned with smoked bacon, pecans, pomegranates, deep-fried sage leaves, and a white balsamic glaze.

These fall flavors were paired with Noble Ale Works Double IPA that had been single-hopped with the tropical-flavored New Zealand variety, Nelson Sauvin.

The dry-hopping brought a strong grassy character to the beer. The small dash of acidity from the pomegranates helped cut through the beer’s malts, and the balsamic glaze worked with the white grape, passion fruit flavors of the Nelson Sauvin hops.

The bacon was cut into large cubes which

scattered large savory bites of smoke and grease throughout the flavors.

I found the third course to be the most successful pairing. Corn-tortilla tacos with duck confit carnitas, black beans, and charred salsa were paired with Figueroa Mountain’s own Davy Brown Ale that had a hefty dose of cinnamon in the cask.

The cinnamon added a warmth to the richness of the duck and complemented the toasty notes of the salsa. The Davy Brown provided a sweetness that helped support the beans while a radish and parsley garnish contributed a spicy-bitter accent that tied together the other flavors.

The meal was wrapping up and the festival was about to start. The scene erupted into applause as the staff carried the casks through the dining tables to the brewers’ booths. Our excitement was beginning to build, and it did not wane as they brought out the final course of beer-braised short ribs with roasted root vegetables and fingerling potatoes. These fall flavors provided a backdrop to the El Segundo Brewing Co Hyperion Imperial Stout with vanilla. The lush, chocolatey flavors of the beer embraced the rich, savory sauce and were supported by the charred notes of the vegetables.

The lunch was officially over, but the crew came around with a surprise of freshly baked cookies to go with the remains of our stout.

Of the beers there, many of them were

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IPA derivatives that had been dry-hopped in the cask, though some of the offerings were a little more exotic. Central Coast Brewing in San Louis Obispo brewed a Berliner Weisse with kaffir lime leaf and Thai basil. The basil aroma was strong and provided an interesting context to the tart-salty quality of this German-style sour wheat beer. Libertine Pub out of Morrow Bay brewed a unique Sour Pumpkin Pie Spice Porter with cranberries. The beer was a single note of acetic acid (think vinegar) and clove, with the cranberries accenting the other flavors. Our Island Brewing brought a cask of Jubilee Ale with Sailor Jerry. The spiced rum gave a toasty, brown-sugar quality to this malty beer loosely based off of the Scottish ale styles. Probably the most intriguing beer there was, Islander IPA brewed with Starbursts from Coronado Brewing Co. The sugars from the candy fermented out, so the beer was not overtly sweet but still provided a distinct juiciness to the beer.

Overall, the festival offered the spirit of English cask beers with a sunny American flare. When the festival was over, we did not get too far. Firestone Walker’s XVIII Anniversary Ale was being released on the same day, and we popped into the nearby Barrelworks facility to sample the new brew. It turned out we weren’t the only ones to think of it. Many of the festivalgoers ended up there and started the party all over again.

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...continued from p.8

Swing Thing The local swing dance community, which already has a few ongoing opportunities to satisfy the swing beast, but just a couple of locations, expanded its reach last weekend into new territory downtown. There were about 20 couples getting their Lindy Hop on over at Savoy Cafe & Deli’s covered back patio on a warm Sunday afternoon, braving both the concrete and the toasty climate to step lightly to recorded songs from the Big Band Era and beyond. Gotta love it!

Wake up

A few tidbits gathered at last week’s inaugural Awakened World Film Festival, the first spiritual and social consciousness film event of its kind in the area, sponsored

by Santa Barbara-based Association for Global New Thought.

Silver Screen The pioneering film What the Bleep Do We Know? opened in its first regular movie house on the same day that Facebook went live. At least that’s what co-producer/director/writer Betsy Chase told the audience following the film’s 10th anniversary screening at the Lobero. Bleep was the first film addressing metaphysical questions that reached a mass audience, playing for months at special theaters in Los Angeles before rolling out across the country in the fall of 2004.

The movie was updated a couple of years later as What the Bleep: Down the Rabbit Hole and now, in celebration of the first decade milestone is enjoying a new, four-DVD deluxe re-packaging, with both films – and a special feature that lets viewers mix up the scenes, either randomly or by choice – plus a new 20-minute follow-up that has some of the original participants answering questions about what the film got right and wrong, and what’s changed.

So the creators – spearheaded by Will Arntz, who lives part-time in Montecito – made a pretty penny on What the Bleep.

I’m guessing returns for the founders of Facebook haven’t been too shabby, either.

Down to Earth Chase’s latest project, Song of the New Earth, isn’t in the festival, but the film – about sound healer Tom Kenyon, a modern-day mystic who transformed himself from an aspiring songwriter and session player in Nashville into a sound alchemist – played in town a few times earlier this year, and comes out on DVD in mid-November.

More Than Words Speaking of success entries in the spiritual/self-help genre, Oregon-based publishers/distributors Beyond Words were there for The Secret, the massively popular book and film that brought The Law of Attraction to the masses. Beyond Words had a big presence at Awakened World, and they’re also the publishers of the film The Power of the Heart, which had its world premiere at the Lobero on Tuesday. Directed by The Secret’s Drew Heriot, the movie calls upon such experts as The Alchemist author Paul Coelho, Power of Now creator Eckhart Tolle, poet Maya Angelou, physician-healer Deepak Chopra, and many others to examine the wisdom and life-changing force that resides in the heart. The audience gave the film a standing ovation at the end, and at least one attendee with a history in the biz bought 100 copies of the DVD to give to friends and colleagues. So we’re inclined to believe Beyond Words when its members say this will be the next big thing in the genre.

More Spirituality

If Tolle’s The Power of Now rocked your (inner) world, you might also enjoy

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The Now Effect: How This Moment Can Change the Rest of Your Life, a similarthemed book by Elisha Goldstein, PhD, psychologist-author who also wrote A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook. Goldstein will be on hand for Sunday services at Unity of Santa Barbara on Sunday, November 2, and then stick around for a 1 pm workshop on the subject.

Want to mark some music or mirth time with Mark? Here’s where you might find me this fortnight: Saturday, November 1: The Santa Barbara Blues Society benefit concert with good time blues stalwarts Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan at the New Vic followed

by San Francisco psychedelic-jam band Moonalice – featuring Jefferson Starship’s Pete Sears, a couple of veterans from Phil Lesh’s band, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Roger McNamee on guitar and vocals – across the street at SOhO. But there’s also the Plaza Playhouse Theater’s final “Underground Comedy Night” with L.A.-based funny folks Erica Rhodes, Jake Baker, Chris Cope, James Frey, Joe Dosch, and David Sharp in Carpinteria, and the Day of the Dead concert with Cafe Tacvba, Ozomatli and others at the Bowl... Sunday, November 2, brings the Santa Barbara return of sophisticated singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, this time at UCSB’s Campbell Hall, plus another visit from former Santa Barbara now Bay Area-based jazz flutist Rebecca Kleinmann at SOhO... No conflicts on Monday, November 3: It’s the quirky “super group” Omaha Diner – with Steven Bernstein on trumpet, Charlie Hunter on sevenstring electric guitar, Bobby Previte on drums, and Skerik on tenor saxophone – at SOhO... If you’re not hunkering down with the Israeli contemporary dance company Batsheva at the Arlington on Tuesday, November 4, then head out to UCSB Pollock’s Theater to see an advance screening of The Theory of Everything followed by a Q&A with screenwriter Anthony McCarten and producer Lisa Bruce. The film opens in general release three days later.

It’s a battle of the M’s on Wednesday, November 5: folk-blues maven Marcia Ball at a Tales from the Tavern concert up at the Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez, or The Moth Mainstage’s all-star true-life tales at UCSB.... Saunter over to UCSB’s

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Peter Feldmann (far left on banjo) might have sold the Old Time Fiddlers Convention and Festival that he founded 45 years ago more than 15 years back, but he still shows up at the annual event at the Stow House to jam with friends and colleagues old and new.

Lounging with Léisuré

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Fiddling Around

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MultiCultural Center on Thursday, November 6, for a double dose of Angel Lebron, the New York-based Puerto Rican salsa superstar, who participates in a panel discussion at 6 pm followed by a dance party from 8 pm to 1 am... Cambridge Drive’s pastor musician Roy Donkin takes the stage with his wife Alexis as opening act for Bev Barnett & Greg Newlon in a Concert Series show on Friday, November 7, which is also when the Plaza Improv Players present “The Very Early, Super Silly, Uber Cheesy, Huggable, Lovable, Wonderfully Tacky Christmas Show & Holiday Pageant” at the Carpinteria venue... Three terrific choices complicate Saturday, November 8, night’s offerings: singer-songwriter Mason Jennings at SOhO, veteran finger-picking acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke at the Lobero, and Christopher Rountree’s way-left-of-center classical concert “Wild Up” at Hahn Hall via UCSB. (Wild Up also does a popup style show for free in the galleries at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art on Friday afternoon, so that might ease the congestion.)

After a day off on Monday (we’ve got to sleep sometime, right?), Dorado Schmitt and the Django Festival AllStars bring jazz a Le Hot Club of France, with a twist, to the Lobero’s series on Tuesday, November 11. What a way to vibe on Veterans’ Day!...

Classical or classic folk: choose between singer-songwriter Michael on Fire at a TFTT Maverick show or the fascinating Telegraph Quartet at the Museum of Art on Wednesday, November 12... It’s Hammer time on Thursday, November 13, brings: yes, you got it, M.C. Hammer does his classic rap thing at the Chumash. Double time!

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INtheZONE

with Tommie Vaughn Tommie adapted her love of the stage to the

love of the page. As lead singer for the band Wall of Tom, she created This Rock in My Heart and This Roll in My Soul, a fictional book series based loosely on her experiences in the L.A. music scene. Now she’s spending her time checking out and writing about all things Santa Barbara. Reach Tommie at www.TommieV.com or follow her on Twitter at TommieVaughn1.

A Song All Her Own

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e called her LaLa. Actually, I think her full pet name was LaLa Damage or just “Fluff” back in her punk rock days with the uberhot Zeitgiest Auto Parts (ZAP), an L.A. underground punk/pop band fronted by three of the coolest musical women I am lucky enough to call friends. Leslie Stevens played lead guitar and belted out songs like “Runaway Romance” and “Parking Enforcement”, tunes that would leave her fans in a whiskey-soaked frenzy, amazed not only with her unforgettable voice, her electrified fluffy hair, but lost within her wicked play of the spoken words.

I never doubted that she had talent.

It was so evident back then, with the feedback infused guitars and hysterical drums on fast-forward. But I never knew her immense talent could reach into my cynical soul, plucking at emotional heart strings, holding me spellbound with a smile as tears rushed down my face. That was exactly what happened when I went to her show as a solo artist. A solo country artist.

You recently became a mother. I know how hard it is to balance a career in music and motherhood. How do you do it, and how has being a mom affected your songwriting?

I do not know how to put into words the wonderful gift that was becoming a mother for me. Motherhood has been, and is already by far the best thing I have ever done. Ann Lamont says, something like, “When you have a baby, you get kind of shabbier, you don’t care so much about your dress and your hair because you have this clarity to see what really matters.” I really feel that, and that’s great for show business.

You know it’s also been incredibly difficult. I think many people were excited about my potential, and I think they feel that I kind of let them down. Many responded to my choice with downcast eyes, while some actually said aloud, “Oh, no!

Most were just against me having a baby, but didn’t want to say that they were. I thank them for not saying anything.

You just cannot listen to all those idiots out there who want to tell you what you should do. And sometimes for me, that idiot is inside my own head! Ha ha.

From the Ashes

ZAP had bitten the dust just like a lot of bands do, but they left a trail of rabid fans who followed Stevens to her new band called “Leslie and the Badgers”, an alt-country project that threw punk fans a country curveball, with heartbreaking songs spawned directly from Stevens’s naked soul. I remember the album they were touring for was “Room Full of Smoke” and that it knocked me off my chair, and those songs made me cry… over and over.

Stevens, now completely solo, has achieved success on her own terms, her own way, and on that path she has carved out quite a name for herself – gaining comparisons to the late great Patsy Cline and Emmylou Harris – with a baby-doll voice so unforgettable, and songs cleverly penned with a twisted lyrical wit and a slight country drawl, they will ruin you forever.

Q: You went from Punk/Pop princess in Zeitgeist Auto Parts to an alt-country angelic solo artist. How did that happen?

A: Country and punk are seen as opposites, but they actually have a lot in common. They are both genres of the people and though punk has more antiestablishment rebellious connotations, and people think of country being

damn – it’s beautiful.” That’s pretty much everything I’m getting at, in most of my songs. Though some of them are just about heartbreak, or about people that talk too much and don’t realize how they hurt your feelings. There’s one called “Everybody Drinks and Drives in Heaven” – I’m really into certain aspects of spirituality and also enjoy offending people. Oh, I had the band Leslie and The Badgers and now I’m simply Leslie Stevens. So, this next record that will come out will be a Leslie Stevens record that Jonathan Wilson produced. He is a real name to drop around L.A. Watch your feet.

traditional and more conservative, both are often just three chords and a heartfelt expression! (Although I would say that generally in country and roots music, you can understand the lyrics a lot better.)

Tell me about your new album. Are these songs different than your last few?

It makes me really happy to write, so I keep kind of digging and getting more deeply into the same themes record after record. I always find my music saying, “Life is the saddest thing that ever was, but

If there’s one song that you have written that really resonates to your soul, which would it be and why?

I wrote a song called “Sinner” that I really think expresses something. (Here’s a link to a video: vimeo.com/9388157.) There is a lyric in it – “There’s bad in the best of us, there’s good in the rest of us” – that kind of sums up the way we are all kind of trapped in the human condition. And sort of equalized by that experience. No matter who we are, this human condition is one we can’t control, one where we have to make selfish decisions sometimes, and there are also all of these forces acting

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upon us, so none of us is perfect. None of us gets to be perfect or in control. It’s not that we are not whole or perfect, sort of mystically speaking – I believe we are – but rather there is this something, no matter how good we are or how good we want to be, there is some common thread in all of us... There is always this part of us that messes up some of the time, even when our intentions are the best.

Where to See

Leslie Stevens will be gracing the stage at Fig Mountain Brewing Company in the Funk Zone on Friday, November 7, from 6-9 pm and at Bombay Bar and Grill in Ventura on Saturday, November 8, at 8 pm. If you want to hear your future favorite artist, plan on catching her at one of her shows, or both – because knowing LaLa, she’s bound to get under your skin. lesliestevensandthebadgers.webs.com

An Evening of

Where: Corks n' Crowns 32 Anacapa Street In the Funk Zone When: Friday, November 21 5pm-8pm What: Indulge in a special flight of six sparkling wines and half a dozen oysters. All featured sparkling wines available for presale with special, one-night-only discounts!

Raffle prizes include magnums of champagne! Other sparkling and non-sparkling wines, as well as beer, available by the glass.

Visit our facebook page to RSVP and purchase tickets

facebook.com/corksandcrowns

Corks n’ Crowns

Tasting Room and Wine Shop 32 Anacapa Street In the heart of SB’s Funk Zone Monday-Sunday 11am-7pm

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with Julie Bifano Ms Bifano is drawn to micro-fiction and is currently writing her first novel – The Grace Below. She has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in writing from the University of San Francisco and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing, also from the University of San Francisco. More of Julie’s stories and poetry can be viewed on her website juliebifano.com.

An Evening in Bloom Since 1987

Christina Prins, Kristin Roberts, and Ivan Van Wingerden are excited to support Girls Inc. of VOTED Carpinteria PLACE

FR E E y Cou r tes IansTire.com e Rid Fi Wi& President of Board of Trustees, Clyde Freeman, honorary board member, Betty Brown, keynote speaker, Graciela BEST Se habla español Vice President Board of Trustees, Stefanie Herrington, and executive director, Victoria Juarez enjoy TORodrigues, Mon-Fri 7:30am-5:30pm celebrating Girls Inc. Since 1987 GET TIRES!!!

Sat 8:00am-3:00pm FR E E y Cou r tes • Results Guaranteed Susie Panizzon, IansTire.com e id R Maureen • Four Wheel Fi DeMaio, and Joe iW & VOTED BEST Se habla español Alignments Shoulder are PLACE TO happy to attend Mon-Fri 7:30am-5:30pm GET TIRES!!!

Sat 8:00am-3:00pm

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trolling down the red carpet to enter the Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s 2nd We Sell • Results Guaranteed Annual Fundraiser, I couldn’t noticed All Major rows of delicate purple and blue orchids Brands • Four Wheel Of Tires Alignments inside. Entering Westerlay Orchids, I had the chance to meet the approachable and friendly honorees of the event, Ed Van Wingerden, owner of Ever-Bloom, and We Sell Win Van Wingerden, owner of Maximum All Major Nursery and honorary member of Girls Brands Inc. of Carpinteria’s board of trustees.

Of Tires Nearby were the president of the trustees board, Clyde Freeman, and vice Wetzel and Matt Mooney take a quick break president Stefanie Herrington. Stephanie Jessica from perusing the enticing silent auction items expressed, “This event is really special because it showcases our community at its been from Carpinteria.”

I remembered how instrumental Girls finest. Carpinteria’s flower growers have been instrumental supporters of Girls Inc. Inc. had been in my life through a variety and we love having this event in an orchid of creative activities. Gymnastics, cooking greenhouse.” Clyde added, “Girls Inc. is a classes, and art projects helped plant seeds gem in the Carpinteria Valley. Out of 18 of imagination.

It was particularly moving to see National scholarships for girls, five have

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Charismatic master of ceremonies, Andy Scheaffer, Westerlay Orchids owner and sponsor, Joe Overgaag, and vice president on the Board of Trustees, Stefanie Herrington, together before the presentation

4299½ State St. · Santa Barbara

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FR E E y Courtes Ride & Wi-Fi

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front or 4 wheel alignment

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With this coupon. Not valid with other offers or prior purchases. This is an in-store dealer promotion.

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It’s a cheerful check-in to An Evening in Bloom with Megan MacKelvie and Cheryl Wright

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Ian’s Tires & Auto Repair attendees wearing buttons on their lapel,

each with a 5/7/14 photograph 1:18 PMof a different Girls Inc. member. Public Relations With this coupon. Not valid with other offers or prior purchases. This is an in-store dealer promotion. representative Daniella Alkobi explained where prohibited. Offer expires 7-11-14.

Ian’s Tires & AutoVoidRepair how the buttons were part of the fundraiser.

4299½ State St. • Santa Barbara Each button was $50, and there was a 683-0716 1-in-100 chance that an attendee would win three nights at a Club Med location.

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and a trip to Italy.

After a tasty dinner buffet, and delectable blueberry cheesecake dessert were served, the presentation began with keynote speaker, Graciela Rodriguez embodying the Girls Inc. mission statement: strong, smart, and bold. Graciela explained how after countless struggles in her adolescence, the organization was her “lifeline”. Among Graciela’s achievements: being the first member of her family to attend college at UCSB, and graduate school with a Master of Education Credential at Azusa Pacific; she is now on the National Advisory Board of Girls Inc. and a first-grade teacher at the Adelante Charter School on the Franklin School campus.

Graciela’s message that anything is possible, and that anyone can make something positive out of his or her struggles, was moving and poignant. It occurred to me that individuals, like flowers, could bloom into something beautiful given the care from organizations like Girls Inc.

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GIRL

by Kateri Wozny Kateri is an award-winning journalist with a

background in print, online, radio and TV news. A native of Minneapolis, MN, she has written for the Chicago Sun-Times Media Group, Pepperdine University and Acorn Newspapers. She works full time as a public relations manager locally and loves exploring the Santa Barbara fashion scene. Follow her on Twitter @kitkatwozny.

ENCANTO Boutique: All Things Beautiful

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hile on a date recently, I looked around the La Arcada shops.

Tucked away in the corner next to the restaurant was ENCANTO Boutique.

How could I have missed this after all my days of shopping in Santa Barbara?

My wallet and I entered a world of serenity with jazz music playing, as owner Christy Martin was greeting.

“It’s a lifestyle shop,” Martin said. “I always loved beauty and had to be involved with something creative.”

And beautiful it is! Opened in November 2010, ENCANTO started off as Martin’s interior design studio (she has won numerous American Society of Interior Designer awards and even worked on singer Linda Ronstadt’s home) and later grew into a clothing boutique.

“I had a rack of clothes, then got two more and it just blossomed from there,” she said. “I love anything made by hand, as it takes time to make.”

Martin went on to explain some of the more exclusive items for her upcoming line called Modern Romantic, which includes espadrilles, made of Fortuny fabric. The price point is still to be determined.

“We take the espadrille and add one of the world’s most coveted fabrics (Fortuny), creating something very different and special,” she said. “I like taking something classic and making it modern.”

Other designer lines in ENCANTO include Subtle Luxury, Love Sam, Hartford, Johnny Was, Margaret O’Leary, Pipsqueak Chapeau, and Khadi and Company. I found a cute, warm redspun scarf by Subtle Luxury. Prices range from $80 for a hand-embroidered shirt made in India to $2,860 for a Rhonda Ochs crocodile tote. An array of rare jewelry pieces are also carried, including European lines from Italy, Greece, and Turkey; and U.S. designers from Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ojai. Prices range from $60 to $2,000.

“We feel great design can be found in a range of price points, granted they are well made and of good quality,” Martin said. “We like to think that things bought at Encanto are not things you’d toss after one season, but things you will have for the rest of your life.”

Perfected Service

To show appreciation for her lovelies, Martin sends out two emails a week that

Owner Christy Martin with her employee and niece, Maria DiPaolo

Enchanting pieces: a variety of clothing, bags, jewelry, and accessories

showcase new items in five ways to wear them with the models she uses. To be on the exclusive list and sign up, you need to visit ENCANTO. “We have over 1,000 customers and the emails inspire them to get dressed,” Martin said. “ ENCANTO also hosts trunk shows – usually on First Thursdays – with style salons. To celebrate its four-year anniversary, the boutique will have a style salon from 1 pm to 4 pm on Thursday, November 6, followed by a fortune teller and gypsy jazz music from The Idiomatiques from 6 pm to 8 pm. Even Martin will be singing some jazz, as she has been singing for 15 years.

Proceeds will be donated to the Lobero Theatre.

Lovely Future

Down the road untraveled, Martin sees herself expanding her Modern Romantic line as a leader in the fashion world.

“I would love to expand it into wholesale distributorship and have it keep growing for the whole world to enjoy,” she said.

ENCANTO Boutique is located at 1114 State State, suite 22 in the La Arcada shopping area. Hours are 11 am to 6 pm from Monday-Saturday, and noon to 5 pm on Sunday. For more information, visit encantosantabarbara.com. Don’t forget to like the business on Facebook and Pinterest!

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In the Garden with

Mr. Greenjeans

by Randy Arnowitz “Mr. Greenjeans,” as he is known around

Santa Barbara, is a gardener, horticulturist and writer. He particularly enjoys working with roses, orchids and sharing the day with his golden retriever Peaches, who faithfully accompanies him in the field.

Contact him at greenjeansmr@gmail.com

Ants: A Memoir

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hen I was a kid, I had many pets. At any given time, my ever-tolerant mom stoically suffered through and shared our home with everything from a de-scented, yet still musky skunk to one irritable iguana that dozed lazily on the kitchen counter and silently scrutinized her every move.

Whether she was packing our school lunches or baking a cake, he rarely moved – his spiny, Jurassic presence almost daring her to draw near in the event that the baggies or powdered sugar infringed too closely on his personal space.

Eventually, the large lizard escaped into the wilds of New Jersey but was soon replaced by countless rats, parakeets, mice, sea monkeys, and unfortunately even a real and exceptionally amorous squirrel monkey that insisted on courting our cat.

Sasha, however, refused to date outside of her species and almost always managed to spurn his persistent and lewd advances.

For my 10th birthday, I received my

first Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm. It was with this “educational toy” that I began to acquire a love, respect, and empathy for all animals and insects in particular.

I remember wondering what it would be like to be those ants in there working on that little farm.

I can remember sending in the coupon voucher to this Uncle Milton in order to redeem my “special” harvester ants. I then waited patiently for the unrelenting winter to end, so the bugs could be safely shipped to me without freezing their little ant butts off.

Looking back now, I remember being a somewhat skeptical and suspicious child.

Apart from doubting whether there really was a future in ant farming, I couldn’t help wonder whether this Milton guy really was my Uncle – and if he was, why I had never run into him at my cousins’ Bar Mitzvahs or other family functions.

The ants arrived in the spring, and I faithfully fed them a few drops of sugar

For my 10th birthday, I received my first Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm. I’m just now working through my “ant karma.”

I’ll have to eat quickly before the ants come back. I’m having limited success with these traps.

water each day. Although they didn’t actually raise crops or “farm”, per se, they did work, toil and tunnel like, well, ants.

Once, when they had almost completed their entire labyrinth of squiggly passageways, our border collie, Sheba inadvertently knocked the whole thing to the floor with her enthusiastic propeller of a tail. I watched in amazement as the devastation went from rescue to recovery.

The diligent workers buried their dead and painstakingly began to rebuild like tiny coal miners after a disastrous cave-in.

Another time, my best friend’s little brother came over and mistook the whole farming operation for an Etch A Sketch.

He shook it this way and he shook it that way until the tunnels were gone and the canvas was again clean. I was reasonably upset but also somewhat sympathetic. I could understand the confusion, as both toys were frame-like in appearance, of similar size, and contained sand.

Secretly though, I was a little relieved, as I had grown weary from all that farming and stashed what was left of it away in my closet. I bought a newt.

All these years later, my “ant karma” has caught up with me and now, indeed, I know what it’s like to live in an ant farm.

Like many of you, I am now sharing my kitchen with approximately 11 billion ants.

At first, I was understanding and patient. I reasoned, “Okay, we’re having a drought, and they’re coming in for the moisture and food. They help aerate the garden. They help out when a moth dies on my floor and they carry it away for

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ALITRUNK

HEAD

Scutellum Pronotum Occiput Compound eye

Metanotum

Mesonotum

PETIOLE Propodeal spiracle

Metathoracic spiracle

Mesothoracic spiracle

GASTER

Metapleural gland Bulla Orifice

Propodeum

Postpetiole (III)

Petiole (II) (IV)

Funiculus Scape Frontal lobes

Tergite Anepisternum

Antennal fossa Clypeus

(V)

Sternite

(VI)

Katepisternum Coxa

Mandibles

(VII)

Trochanter Ventral process

Sting

Femur

Tibia Tarsal claw

Tibial spurs

me.”

I became less patient after months of this home invasion, and I bought those Terro Liquid Ant Baits. Some days, they feast on them and then they disappear for a while. Usually after a few days, they come back. I put more traps down and the same thing happens. I am tolerant when there are a few “scragglers” cleaning up after me on my kitchen counter or in the crock that holds my drinking water. I am intolerant when I have to ask permission to use the kitchen because there are literally droves of them on my floor, counter, cupboards, and walls. I’ve taken – with much satisfaction and delight – to vacuuming them up when I have to clear a path to my toaster or cutting board, or trying to eat my eggs and toast.

Tarsus

The pest control guy told me that in addition to these sugary, carbo-loaded poison traps, I have to buy a proteinbased bait that the worker ants will take back to the queen and breeder ants, as they apparently don’t indulge in sweets.

For now, I’m still vacuuming but am finding it increasingly difficult to hold the vacuum, the butter knife, and my fork at the same time. I’m also not convinced that those persistent little devils aren’t finding their way out of the vacuum cleaner bag during the night and returning to the scene of the crime.

Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center, 415 E. Gutierrez Street (805) 963-7825

Randy’s Quick Pick Okay... without turning this space into a “Best Of” this or that, I’d like to just mention how much I like and rely on Santa Barbara’s Home Improvement Center (SBHIC). They’ve been here in SB as long as I’ve been – and even before I got here. In fact, the business was started way back in 1967 by one Kenneth Simpson, Jr. This is why I like them. Even though I have a running list for plants that I need at the nursery and another list of things I need at the irrigation store, and yet another list of miscellaneous things that are not at either of those places, I always have another catchall list for the hard-to-find, odds and ends that I know I can find at the SBHIC. I go there.

I take out my list. I find all my stuff. I go home and start the list again.

Also, a shout-out to Rick in the nursery, who is one swell guy. He’s knowledgeable, patient, always in a good mood, ready to assist, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, thrifty, brave, clean – oh forget that, that’s the Boy Scout’s creed.

Nevertheless, he’s a good guy and I appreciate the dedication he shows in everything he does. Plus, he puts up with me and I’m generally difficult. I probably don’t have to tell you they are located at 415 E. Gutierrez Street and at www.sbhicace.com/index.htm.

Join us for some warm Irish hospitality, authentic food and excellent pints.

$8 daily lunch menu featuring over 13 items.

18 E ORTEGA ST., SANTA BARBARA • 11:302:00AM EVERY DAY 805-568-0702 • www.dargans.com •

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by Megan Waldrep With over ten years in the industry designing for

her own label, she began writing because “it just felt good.” In addition to writing, Megan is currently the head designer and creative director for Mew Kids, a children’s clothing line, as well as a co-author of the much loved children’s book Spice & Little Sugar. You can say she wears many hats. Which is fitting. For a fashion writer and all. Discover her world at www.mewkids.com.

Having a Ball, Red-Feather Style

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ive-inch heels and a red jumpsuit were my dates for the evening. The Coral Casino was my wingman.

Upon entering the Red Feather Ball, I was ready for a night of people watching and picture taking. I left with greater sense of the big-hearted community that is Santa Barbara.

The Red Feather Ball is one of United Way of Santa Barbara’s biggest fundraisers of the year and its 18th year was no exception. The organization has had a finger on the pulse of the needs of the community since 1923, more than 80 years of giving back.

The last 12 years have been focused on dramatic growth through partnerships and programs – such as Fun in the Sun, a summer learning platform which received national recognition from Johns Hopkins University for the nation’s best summer learning program.

Their secret to success? Listening.

In 2009, they invited the community to speak out. At least 6,000 people attended and unanimously voted for three important goals for the next decade: educational improvement, reading at or above at every grade level, and on-time high school graduation. The people spoke and the United Way of Santa Barbara took action.

“My board adopted the goals, and we go out and make it happen,” explains president and CEO Paul Didier. “That’s our goal here tonight. To support many

Montecito Journal writer Lynda Millner and her handsome date, Don Seth, bring Hollywood glam to the casino

Cynder Sinclair’s shawl and Dennis Forster’s coat are winners

Inaugural Red Feather Ball coordinator Karen Knight with president and CEO of UWSBC Paul Didier (Photo by Flannery Hill)

Matt Weise and Alison McClure voted Best-Looking Couple. By me.

different schools and a number of nonprofit organizations all doing reading, writing, and arithmetic programs with us.” Every penny raised at the 18th annual Red Feather Ball goes directly to the students – and with 5,000 students a week in programs, every penny counts.

The 2014 Abercrombie Community Excellence Award was presented to Jean

Serving Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties since 1990 Multi-Residential, Commercial, Office, Industrial & Warehouse Properties Single Family Homes Bilingual staff, efficient, professional & friendly service Cutting edge web-based software, online reports, easy rent payment options CA Brokers License #004003028 Mary and John Cochrane, Owners

“Call to find out how we can better manage your investment property!”

(805) 965-2887 x117 john@cochranepm.com

www.cochranepm.com

The County of Santa Barbara honorees: Joe Holland, Salud Carbajal, Tom Parker, Glen Russel, Mona Miyasato, Ben Romo, Katie Torres, and Paul Didier receive a 2014 Abercrombie Community Excellence Award (Photo by United Way of Santa Barbara)

Schuyler in acknowledgment of her philanthropic work for more than 40 years. She’s been involved in more than 20 local organizations and was even on the United Way board who elected Didier to office. Full circle.

I asked Didier what the most gratifying

experience has been. He explains, “When moms or dads come into my reception area with no appointment saying, ‘I have to say thank you to someone here at United Way for all the wonderful things you’ve done for our family.’ That’s really touching.”

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Family-Friendly Events:

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Photos by: Fritz Olenberger, Britt Rawcliffe, and Danny Postawa

Marathon • Parade • Flyovers • Concert

SATURDAY

Marathon

Cheer runners on the final “Veterans Mile” Shoreline Park to Leadbetter Beach 8:30 am - noon SUNDAY

Parade & Vintage Aircraft Flyover

Parade starts at noon • State & Sola to 112 W. Cabrillo

Afternoon Concert

First Presbyterian Church • 21 E. Constance Ave. • 3:00 pm

(805) 259-4394 www.PierreClaeyssensVeteransFoundation.com

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by Christina Enoch

Don’t forget to try their creative and refreshing drinks. Bourbon, jasmine sweet tea, and lemon.

Their cocktails are not super-sweet.

Sama Sama, Sama Sama – a New Mantra Chef Ryan Simorangkir and Tyler Peek. They ran a restaurant in Bali for two years.

Friendship like this is worth traveling the world for.

M

y dear friend Rika, a beautiful Polynesian costume designer, is in Indonesia and has been tormenting me via Facebook with all the photos of food. My dad traveled all around the world by himself when he was young.

Although I inherited his travel itch, I haven’t been able to make it a reality as he did. (The closest I get is watching Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown.)

I soothe my travel itch by going to Sama Sama Kitchen, an Indonesian-inspired restaurant run by talented young chefs Ryan Simorangkir and Tyler Peek. Ryan was born in Indonesia and they both have lived in Bali, running their own restaurant for two years.

Ryan and Tyler went to school together studying business law, and their passion for

food led both of them to Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. They got an opportunity to run Warung Kayu, one of top 30 eateries in Indonesia.

Back at their stomping ground, the friends opened a restaurant where they can be limitless in their creativities with their unique experiences in Bali. Sama Sama was born.

“Being trained in classic French cuisine, I didn’t know a lot about how to cook Indonesian food. So I asked my mom, grandma, and aunties to teach me how to cook,” Chef Ryan smiles.

When in doubt in the kitchen, always ask mom and grandma; they will show you how things get done. Authentic recipes from Ryan’s family in Indonesia with his own classic culinary twist. The

After years of working full time for an ad agency, Christina found her passion in cooking and food.

Now armed with her newfound title, “Culinary School Graduate Food Blogger,” she writes and shares her passion for food, cooking, restaurants, photography and food styling in her popular blog, black dog :: food blog. Christina’s a proud mommy of not one but two shelter dogs and lives here in Santa Barbara with her husband. She’s also an avid Polynesian dancer, beach lover, traveler, swimmer, snowboarder and most of all, a lover of anything edible and yummy. Check out her ramblings here and at www.blackdogfoodblog.com.

Mie Goreng: noodle stir fry with Asian greens, cabbage, shiitake, and scallion top with soft scramble

Corn perkedel and smoked cod: corn fritters, banana leaf-smoked local cod and grilled corn puree, and fried shiitake

Jidori Chicken Wings (ayam kecap) with sweet soy tamarind glaze. Perfect combination of sweet, tangy, and sour.

Steamed whole branzino with ginger, leak, and shiitake mushroom in soy broth

Garden of Eatin’. The most creative dessert I’ve ever had.

newly redesigned place is hip, clean, earthy, bright, and purely gorgeous. In the evenings when the light dims, the outside seating area comes into life.

And there is the Indonesia-inspired food!!

Jidori chicken wings (ayam kecap) is glazed with sweet soy tamarind sauce.

Perfect combination of sweet, tangy, and sour. Make sure you wash you hands before eating these, because you will find yourself licking your fingers over and over.

What a flavor!

Corn perkedel and smoked cod (corn fritters, banana leaf-smoked local cod,

grilled corn puree, and fried shiitake) taste as good as it looks. Chef Ryan said this dish is the “most Indonesian” on the menu.

Mie Goreng is noodle stir-fry with Asian greens, cabbage, shiitake, and scallion top with soft scramble. One of my favorites.

Oh, and their dessert, Garden of Eatin’.

How unique and fun. Yuzu custard, chocolate crumble, meringue, market berries, Pandan-lime granita, Imlak’esh cocoa nibs, and mint. I never had anything like that.

Well, I can’t get a plane ticket and fly to Bali today, but at least we can get some Indonesian food on our own State Street.

Thanks, Ryan and Tyler, for bringing a little Indonesia to Santa Barbara.

Salemat makan!

Sama Sama, 1208 State Street • (805) 965-4566

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Plan B

by Briana Westmacott When Briana isn’t lecturing for her writing courses

at UCSB and SBCC, she contributes to The Santa Barbara Skinny, Wake & Wander and Flutter Magazine. Along with her passion for writing and all things Santa Barbara, much of her time is spent multi-tasking through her days as a mother, wife, sister, want-to-be chef and travel junky. Writing is an outlet that ensures mental stability... usually.

Ghosts, and Goblins, and BOObies… Oh, My!

I

t has been a consistent evolution over the past decade: women’s Halloween costumes are shrinking. Skirts have crept higher and higher. Shirts have vanished altogether. Skin, apparently, is in. Girls have gone from sluttifying each and every profession and storybook character to now wearing nothing. You may or may not find this ghastly, but in Isla Vista this year there were gals running around dressed “up” with two tiny pasties on their boobs complimented by a pair of briefs. That’s it.

Nothing more. The horror!

To be clear, pasties are defined as: small round coverings for a woman’s nipples worn especially by a stripteaser (MerriamWebster). How is it that I know about these young women trouncing down Del Playa Street au naturel on Halloween?

Well, because my husband was with them.

No, my husband Paul is not a creepy 40+ year-old voyeur roaming IV on Halloween to take in eye candy (thank God), each year he is contracted by the sheriff’s office to film all the merriment and mayhem that happens on the IV streets. With a bit of prodding, Paul gave me the inside scoop. I now know what the college girls are wearing, or rather not wearing, and as a mother of two girls of my own, I am officially terrified.

Besides the occasional addition of tassels hanging off those nipple stickers, all you’ve really got for the “pastie” ensemble is skin from the waist up. This is quite disturbing, and I recognize that I am considered among the aged to feel this way, but I must declare: pasties should not be allowed on the streets of IV (or any place for that matter) as a “Halloween costume.” No matter how beautiful that body may be; no one should hit the pavement disrobed with a set of BandAids on their boobs. This is not a good idea – it just isn’t. It’s asking for trouble, and lord knows IV doesn’t need any more trouble. I say this as an IV veteran.

There’s No Place Like Home – Especially in IV

In 1992, I moved into the dorms in IV as a UCSB freshman at age 17. The year 1992 holds the title as the largest year on record for its Halloween attendance with 40,000 people descending into the twomile radius of streets. (Go Gauchos!?)

I dressed up as a cowgirl that year, completely covered in long jeans, a flannel shirt, boots, and a hat. I may have lost my 10-gallon hat somewhere on Trigo Road during those ghoulish festivities, but not an inch of my skin was bared. That year

1992 and every gal in our gang was totally clothed

My garden costume with my hose housemate

went down as one of most disruptive Halloween celebrations in IV. The following year, I moved into a duplex on Del Playa Street with 14 girls. That Halloween, I was a fairy. My costume consisted of a thrift store slip dress that draped down to my knees and was complimented by some handcrafted tin-foil wings. Thick white tights kept my legs warm. I may have misplaced my tinsel wrapped fairy wand somewhere on Sabado Tarde that frightful night… but still, no skin. The numbers decreased to 25,000 IV partiers that year, and police deemed it a success.

In 1994 I moved ocean side Del Playa Street and I was a garden. Not a slutty one I might add, (I’m not quite sure how

Briana’s Best Bets My garden Halloween costume in 1994 was crafted from what was growing in our yard strung together with a great deal of dental floss. I didn’t dress up as a garden this year, but I did just plant my winter crop in our backyard. Yes, it’s time to plant! I put lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, and garlic in the ground. The folks at La Sumida Nursery were helpful with selecting my starts and suggesting good nutrients to add to my dirt. For $42, I got my winter crop planted, plus some snapdragons for my wine barrel and window boxes. Get your winter garden going at La Sumida, 165 S. Patterson Avenue.

you would be a slutty garden), but that Halloween I was completely covered in greenery. One of my roommates did make things more interesting when he decided he should dress up as a hose to compliment my foliage. Inappropriate?

Possibly. Indecent? Not in a “skin” sort of way. I did drop dried flowers and leaves all over Embarcadero Del Mar. That was my last IV Halloween and residence for that matter.

Much like girls’ skirts, the number of partygoers in IV has continued to creep back up since the early 2000s. There is no

doubt that college students are passionate.

For them, every door has a dream behind it. Ambition runs like wildfire. When you gather all that energy together in one place, it can create quite a commotion.

So can topless 20-year olds. Here’s a thought, since it’s impossible for gals to physically remove any more clothing from their “costumes”: next year maybe the pendulum will swing the other direction.

Cover it up, ladies! Be original. Smart is sexy, and so is the unknown. Make the guys use their imagination a bit and keep those boobies in a shirt.

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W W W. S A N TA B A R B A R A S E N T I N E L .CO M

...continued from p.14

Marketing KeVita’s new line of Kombucha. (below) Original Sparkling Probiotic Drinks offer light and refreshing flavor profile.

60 Days to Make it Happen

Chakra Earthsong used to brew KeVita – or the stuff that would become KeVita – in her kitchen and bring it to the farmers market. That’s where Moses found it. “I was really fascinated with it,” Moses relayed once we started talking about the origins of his company. “And I was watching what was going on with kombuchas, as well.” This is where those business smarts of his came in: “How do we make it into a compliant product,” he asked himself, “that we can manufacture and distribute through a supply chain with a profit margin?” He answered that question, taking up in his winery to brew, and eventually bringing in a specialist from UC Davis to help him, as he put it, “tune in the fermentation process.”

Here’s where Moses starts to hammer his other big talking point. To paraphrase:

KeVita is KeVita because it’s compliant, because it’s mass-producible without the problem of alcohol-content spikes, which some other fermented drinks suffer from.

They have a lab where they test the drink – and test the drinks of competitors – so they know exactly what’s in the bottle. Other fermented beverage producers, according to Moses, don’t have their alcohol content under control. But if regulators showed up at the KeVita factory, they’d be welcomed in with open arms and handed a bottle of lemon cayenne.

And it’s this attention to the product, this “intelligence around fermentation,” as Moses put it, that’s made KeVita what it is and what it will become. It’s the reason Whole Foods called Moses to its headquarters in Austin in 2010 – after a different brand of kombucha was pulled from its shelves due to non-compliance – and told him it wants to

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take KeVita national. “Of course, they asked me, ‘Can you do that? Can you make that happen in 60 days?’” he remembered. “And I’m in the back of a kitchen the size of this boardroom, having no idea how to fulfill on that promise, but we said yeah, and we did, and that’s how we got our nationwide launch.”

“This isn’t Ouija-board stuff,” Moses wanted to make clear. He pointed out there are empirical studies surrounding the positive health benefits of probiotic bacteria in KeVita. Still, there is a bit of magic to the presentation. It’s right there in the name: vitality. It’s a vivid enough word to help inspire a purchase, but it’s vague enough to keep lawyers away. I ask, perhaps naively, where that word came from. “Marketing guys,” Moses blurted with a smile, as if to say, let’s be realistic here.

So, let’s: marketing plays no small role in all this.

“Who buys KeVita?” I asked. Moses told me that the demographics skew toward millennials and females. Earlier in the day, I was shown KeVita’s new line of Kombuchas and told that they’re being marketed more toward males. The label’s colors are bolder, its lines thicker and angular. Moses, it seems, isn’t satisfied.

He wants to take KeVita further – to put it in more stores and in more digestive tracts. He wouldn’t be much of a CEO if that weren’t the case.

So, did you decide? If not, hold your ground in front of the Whole Foods beverage cooler and read some more labels.

KeVita will be there. And Bill Moses will be in an Oxnard factory planning his next move. www.kevita.com

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Office of:

Richard Barthel, M.D. 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite F Montecito, CA 93108 (805) 455-3819

8 0 5 . 8 4 5 .1 6 7 3 | 1 3 3 E A S T D E L A G U E R R A S T R E E T | N O.1 8 2 | S A N TA B A R B A R A

by James Luksic A longtime writer, editor and film critic, James has

worked nationwide for several websites and publications – including the Dayton Daily News, Key West Citizen, Topeka Capital-Journal and Santa Ynez Valley Journal. California is his eighth state. When he isn’t watching movies or sports around the Central Coast, you can find James writing and reading while he enjoys coffee and bacon, or Coke and pizza.

Four More, with One Failure A

s I recently traveled to Arizona, time slipped away like Mojave sands in a souvenir hourglass. That means I had neither the hours nor proclivity to witness another soggy romantic-comedy such as The Best of Me (suggested new title: The Worst of Cinema). Conversely, it also means My Old Lady was spry enough to elude my grasp.

On the holiday horizon are Christopher Nolan’s space trek Interstellar, a journey that clocks in at nearly three hours, and Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, whose unnerving trailer alone has my undivided attention.

A quartet of movies currently showing have dissimilar stories but similar quality, except for a certain horror flick to be shamed later:

Tanks, A Lot

I

n Fury, Brad Pitt spearheads a small, allied tank crew on a mission – in the diminishing days of World War II – to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany. Our heroic sergeant doesn’t hesitate to lead his out-gunned troop against larger enemy factions; the upshot is a mixed bag of authentic violence and human interest, akin to Saving Private Ryan and The Big Red One. Pitt provides an uneven effort; at turns, he’s caught acting or posing – not merely embodying. But when the camera veers from him, our attention goes with it. Shia LaBeouf, who became a Hollywood pariah last year after allegations that he plagiarized a screenplay, resurfaces before the cameras with a quality turn as a solemn soldier.

Writer-director David Ayer has stitched together an honest and gritty effort on a tired subject. The historical narrative’s bones remain unbroken, as we’re treated to a smattering of powerful moments, including an exceptional sequence inside a halfdestroyed apartment complex where two soldiers befriend a pair of lovely German ladies. Ayer’s enterprise gets partially eroded by a lack of editing in the battlefield trenches and hackneyed banter that sounds as if it’s culled from bad action thrillers (“I thought you were dead.”)

It’s A Mad World

A

ccording to one character, Stonehearst Asylum is a “madhouse in the wilderness” – one where Ben Kingsley presides as a devious doctor and breathtaking Kate Beckinsale resides as a “patient.” Our heroine might just be part of the crew that masterminded a hostile takeover from the facility’s superintendent (Michael Caine), now hidden away. When the lady isn’t tickling a piano’s ivories, she takes a keen interest in an apprentice (Jim Sturgess) who arrives to observe and learn from the master’s methods.

Kingsley, whose visage comes across as naturally sinister, has become too comfortable in bad-guy or serious roles (most recently in Ender’s Game). That said, the actor is endlessly watchable, a spectacular menace. His bristling tête-à-tête with Caine is a quick but authoritative exercise in how to express oneself without over-emoting.

Director Brad Anderson (Next Stop Wonderland) concocts a macabre, enigmatic brew with a credible crew that, by and large, pulls it off. It’s all handsomely and economically

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photographed in muted, turn-of-the-century tones.

Although the tale – adapted from an Edgar Allan Poe story – lacks an adequate dosage of droll humor, it’s a thought-provoking and absorbing round-robin mystery.

Ouija Bore

Y

et another supernatural would-be thriller, Ouija strives to be an old-fashioned spook story, though jolts prove less visible than any ghosts. The perilously thin plot – involving a group of friends whose classmate might have killed herself – and shallow discourse unspool in a becalmed manner: this movie’s idea of suspense is moving one’s hands on the titular board and looking for spirits through a magnifying glass.

It’s difficult to blame its young and hungry cast, in light of the skeletal script.

Simple, primitive shocks can succeed (Annabelle and The Conjuring proved as much), but here Stiles White’s fumbling and by-the-book direction comes up short in the scares and logic departments.

He’s No Saint

I

n St. Vincent, shot in Brooklyn, Bill Murray portrays the headliner: a retired, alcoholic killjoy who lives next door to a single mother (Melissa McCarthy) and soon befriends her son (Jaeden Lieberher). The forlorn hero, an inept and in-debt gambler, also fools around with a pregnant stripper (Naomi Watts, surviving a Russian accent), often feeds his loyal cat, and soon takes the young boy out on the town.

One could go infinite ways with such a premise, but untested director Theodore Melfi keeps things limited with just enough variety: the unlikely male friends – much to mom’s chagrin – venture to dive bars and race tracks.

An excursion to a nursing home sprinkles in apprehension and intrigue, as does an emergency after money collectors pay a visit.

There’s already Oscar buzz about Murray, who gives a virtuoso solo, though he doesn’t always mesh with other cast members.

Among those who click, McCarthy stands out – but not because of the actress’ typical antics; this time she plays it straight, an approach that’s a heartening sight for sore eyes and sound for sore ears.

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