The Canyon Chronicle - January 21, 2022 (Volume 3, No. 1) - www.thecanyonchronicle.com

T o p a n g a’ s I n d e p e n d e n t Vo i c e S i n c e 19 7 6 January 21, 2022 • Vol. 3, No. 1

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The house rises like a tree house. Walls of glass bring you out to the abundant greenery, and welcoming decks. A fireplace warms the open rooms. Stone bound paths lead to a creek. The state park beckons steps away. Tower bedrooms gaze across the canyon, sunshine filters through spectacular Oaks. Walls of books tell stories of the writer that breathed life into these walls. Gardens tell the story of the tender care given by a passionate gardener.

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Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01991628. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but has not been verified. Changes in price, condition, sale or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to the accuracy of any description. #1 Topanga agents status based on total closed transaction sides. All measurements and square footage are approximate.

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January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

Thinking Out Loud

Publisher / Editor Flavia Potenza Creative Director Nira Lichten Senior Reporter Annemarie Donkin Creative Consultant Eiffel Nazaryan Contributors Linda Ballou Joel Bellman Kathie Gibboney Paula LaBrot Kait Leonard Amy Weisberg Copy Editor / Distribution Ellie Carroll Contact US

PHOTO BY ERIC FITZGERALD

Eric Fitzgerald took this shot of Dix Canyon after the deluge last month. Further downstream, he said, “Owl Falls was roaring.”

editor@thecanyonchronicle.com General inquiries: info@thecanyonchronicle.com Advertising inquiries: ads@thecanyonchronicle.com P.O. Box 1101 Topanga, CA 90290 (310) 460-9786 Follow us on Instagram @thecanyonchronicle, & Facebook and twitter @CanyonChronicle

Right as Rain Our stalwart Fernwood Rain reporter, Eric Fitzgerald is happy to be back in the game again with this photo he captured in Dix Canyon. “You should have seen Owl Falls,” he wrote. It’s good to have the rain and Eric’s Fernwood Rain Report back with catious rainfall numbers (Page 15).

Located on the property where Brian Gibson’s Jalan Jalan Imports does business, the historic Owl Falls is a three-story, spring-fed waterfall that runs all year long. The property served as a primary drinking source and an important gathering place for the area’s indigenous population for thousands of years. Add that to your list of places to visit, especially when it rains. Brian welcomes visitors even if you’re not in the market for a giant Buddha.

In case you didn’t notice, The Canyon Chronicle was on hiatus for the first part of January. It was a working holiday of sorts with restorative interludes of nature walks and catching up with friends. Oh, and training Birdie, the Border Collie. She’s been exploring Wild Walnut dog park at the junction of Old Canyon and Mulholland Highway, developing social skills with other dogs and learning how to get out of the way when the big dogs get rowdy.

Our cover and related story, “Art Integrates Life in Akumal” (Mexico), is one of those surprises that present themselves with perfect timing. This came to us via a press release from Topangan Kim Zanti. She received a grant (See Page 10) to make a documentary film about this year’s communitybuilding arts festival in the Mexican pueblo of Akumal (population 2,000) that Zanti attended in 2018. The town was transformed through a process of “creative placemaking” that relies on “radical trust.” (Pages 8-9) To donate: everybodydancenow. org/donate#fiscalsponsorships.

We were delighted to hear that Zoe Mack, who has studied ballet since she was seven, was invited to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow for six months. The 16-year-old left a week ago accompanied by her mother for the first three weeks. We’re encouraging her to keep a diary and send us occasional dispatches. (Page 5) To donate, visit: gofund.me/17334309; or follow @zoesimonemack.

In “Topanga Before Today,” historian Pablo Capra honors the life of Thais Rust Sykes (19252021), who passed on December 30, 2021. She grew up in Lower Topanga and “was possibly Topanga’s last living connection to the 1920s,” he writes. (Page 11) In the News. Free COVID test sites; EV Batteries; Snow Night Recap; Town Council Update; Clean up Your Apps; and the astrological forecast for a Valentine’s Day that sizzles.

All that and rain! It doesn’t get much better.

—Flavia Potenza

The Canyon Chronicle is an independent community newspaper published bi-weekly by Canyon Media, Inc.©2020. All rights reserved. thecanyonchronicle.com

Brooklyn-born, New York City-based painter and muralist Danielle Mastrion (@ daniellebknyc) painted this mural on a home in Akumal, Mexico, as part of the first Akumal Arts Festival in 2018. In the Mayan language, Akumal means “place of the turtles.”

Endangered green sea turtles are central to the region’s ecology but are threatened by tourism, development, and the climate crisis. The mural is rich in symbolic meaning.The purple hibiscus flower has many potential meanings, including the cultivation of joy and hospitality.

Mastrion returns to Akumal this month for the 2022 Festival.

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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NEWS Free Covid Testing at L.A. Pierce College

By Chronicle Staff On Tuesday, January 18, the government website went live online in an early launch for free at-home COVID-19 test kits. To order: COVIDTtests.gov, click on “Order free at-home tests,” to be directed to special.usps.com/testkits.

Pierce College is currently hosting a drivein COVID testing center run by the nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) that announced it would expand COVID-19 testing capacity in Los Angeles amid surging cases due to the Omicron variant.

According to L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin’s website, “With the Omicron variant quickly spreading throughout the region— driving up the number of new cases and hospitalizations—testing locations and hours of operation have once again been expanded to accommodate the needs of Angelenos and all L.A. County residents. Testing is available to anyone who is experiencing symptoms, has been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 or is not vaccinated. To find a free testing site today, visit Coronavirus.LACity.org/ Testing.”

At the Pierce testing site, members of the public will perform a self-administered shallow nasal test. No appointments are needed, tests are first come, first serve, but please pre-register at https:// forms.flowhealth.com/access/Core-PierceCollege.

Once you’ve registered, take the following steps.

1. Arrive at the testing site 2. Show your patient ID to the onsite team 3. Complete your self-administered PCR test 4. Receive your results in 24-72 hours through the Patient Portal.

To obtain your test results you must login to

Topanga Women’s Circle (TWC) ‘Saturday Open Bin’ Events During January and February TWC’s donation requests focus on personal care products (shampoo, lotions, etc.) and non-perishable foods. This is an opportunity to change lives for the better. When TWC furnishes a transitional apartment, the formerly homeless family rises from despair to hope simply by knowing there is dinner in the house. Items such as pasta, marinara sauce, mac ‘n’ cheese, tuna, beans, canned veggies and fruits, breakfast cereals, oatmeal, PB & J, pancake mix, syrup, cooking oil, salt & pepper, ketchup, mayo, mustard, tea, coffee, crackers, soups (dried or canned), sugar, etc. Note: Products must be within “Use By” date.

Personal Care Products: Every apartment gets a “fresh start” with a full range of personal care items, such as bandaids, deodorant (men and women), floss, toothpaste (no toothbrushes), sanitary products, shampoo and conditioner, shave cream, Q-tips, emery boards, Baby shampoo.

Reminder: we do not accept clothing or furniture.

Thank you from Topanga Women’s Circle and the families we serve (topangawomenscircle.org).

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January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

PHOTO BY JAKAYLA-TONEY

Free COVID testing locations expand during omicron surge. (unsplash.com/s/photos/covid-test)

the Patient Portal at https://app.flowhealthlabs. com/patient/login, If you cannot access your test results, email support@flowhealth.com and include the following information: Test date; legal name; testing location; phone number; and address.

There are no out-of-pocket costs for testing at a Flow Health public site—your insurance or Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) will be billed for the cost of your test. The tests are open for the entire community and located on the Pierce College campus in the northwest corner of Parking Lot # 7 along Victory Blvd.

The testing center is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entry and exit are reached via Mason Ave. and Victory Blvd.

L.A. Pierce College is located at 6201 Winnetka Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.

Important note for Pierce College students and employees: if you need to take your “baseline” test, or are required to test weekly, it is mandatory to schedule an appointment with BIOCEPT via the Cleared4 platform. BIOCEPT is located in the North Gym, Room 5600. Do not have this testing done by CORE as it will not be entered into the system.

Will the Rush to EVs Cause Battery Supply Chain Delay, Damage to Environment?

By YCC TEAM Many countries and automakers have ambitious plans to transition to electric vehicles, e,g., cars, trucks, and buses ,within 10 to 20 years.

“Demand for batteries is growing at an incredible rate,” says Andrew Miller, chief operating officer at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. The company analyzes the supply chain for the lithium-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles.

Battery production starts with mining lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which can be costly and environmentally destructive.

And Miller says the markets for these raw materials remain relatively small, so they’ll need tremendous scaling up to keep pace with demand.

“So that requires a huge amount of investment,” he says.

“It requires the development of new technologies to extract

PHOTO BY RUDOLF SIMON

these raw materials.” And it takes time. Miller says that developing new mining operations can take five to 10 years “and that’s going to cause some real bottleneck issues and turbulence in these markets over the next few years.”

After mining, materials need processing before they can be used in batteries and most of the raw material processing facilities are in China. That puts other

countries at risk of supply chain disruptions.

So to meet targets for rolling out electric vehicles, he says countries around the world must invest in all stages of the electric vehicle battery supply chain.

For information: https:// yaleclimateconnections.org; benchmarkminerals.com.

Reporting: Sarah Kennedy/ ChavoBart Digital Media

TheCanyonChronicle.com

Spotlight Zoe Mack Invited to Train at Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow

By Flavia Potenza

When COVID-19 closed down the Westside School of Ballet where 16-year-old Zoe Mack had been training since she was seven, she switched to the Russian style of training. Little did she expect to be invited to study in Moscow at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.

O

n Thursday, January 13, Zoe Mack and her mother, Mariam, boarded a plane to Moscow, where Zoe will be training at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy (BBA) for six months.

Last summer she completed two programs: a six-week BBA summer intensive in New York through the Russian American Foundation (RAF), a government-funded scholarship program of rigorous ballet training for serious ballet students (ages 15-22 years), and the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y), a State Department-funded scholarship program run by RAF. It was here PHOTO BY SAM ZAUSCHER that she was invited to Moscow. (nsliforyouth. Zoe Mack in a performance with the Youth American org/languages-and-program-experience/russian) Grand Prix (YAGP) competition in May of 2021.

“When COVID hit,” said Zoe, “I began training with my current private teachers, and NSLI-Y program where she “learned quite Katya Viola and Alla Khaniashvili and spent a a lot of Russian. I’m sure, in Moscow, when we year with Crystal Peterson at Classical Ballet go out to a restaurant and order food, or go Academy. I am now at Marat Daukayev School shopping, or need to ask for directions, we’ll of Ballet where I’ve been training with Marat for be able to practice. Our teachers only speak six months.”

Russian, so I should come back pretty fluent.”

In New York, students still had to follow CDC Zoe also liked learning to write in Cyrillic script. and NYC guidelines, wear masks at all times “It was fun. It’s cursive and it’s really pretty.” except in their dorms with their roommates.

She doesn’t know if her training schedule will “At first we tested weekly but then it changed allow her to do much touring. “They posted a and vaccinated kids didn’t need to. I was lucky sample but it was all in Russian. It looks like my to be vaccinated. In the studio we always had days will be about four to six hours depending to wear masks, use hand sanitizer and wipes. on the day. I’ll only have Sunday off and maybe “Dancing with masks is really awful,” Zoe said. go around Moscow a little bit. Maybe, after Because of COVID, classes in partnering Saturday classes, we can take the bullet train to and pas de deux, essential to a dancer’s training, St. Petersburg and that would be really cool.” were excluded from the curriculum. COVID While in Moscow, she has to take three also delayed her visit to Moscow. classes—history science, and math—in order “If it weren’t for COVID I would have gone to graduate, but due to California’s home to Moscow after three weeks in New York schooling laws, she has to take three additional to study there for six weeks but it was online classes to make up for the fact that she’s not in [for overseas students] and more of a language school. As a student at Pali High, she’s enrolled learning thing.” in the school’s virtual academy.

So she stayed with the New York intensive “I’ve been doing this for two years now.

PHOTO BY RAINER MACK

Zoe Mack as Polichinelle and children from the 2021 Nutcracker performance at the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet.

For graduation I would have to take just three classes and then the rest of the time I could focus on what I’m trying to accomplish in Moscow,” Zoe said. “Pali has been helpful and lightens the extra classes through an online program with lectures and films called College and Career Excellus. I think Pali should have its own virtual teachers who create the course for the student to put on Schoology, the platform we use for grades and assignments.”

It sounds like a lot of pressure to put on a 16 year old.

“We want to give Zoe an escape hatch while she’s there,” says her mother, Mariam, who will stay in Moscow for the first three weeks.

“The most important thing is for her to take advantage of the time that she’s there. Pali High’s curriculum isn’t designed for people like her who are doing the intense effort she is. The last thing we want is to have her thousands of miles from home and have this added pressure that we want to avoid. We try to stay flexible.”

Mariam introduces their cat, Mocha, who decided to make an appearance on the Zoom screen and we all laugh about our cats.

Asked about her goals as a dancer, Zoe is realistic. “I think my goal as far as the end of this program, would be to be invited back for their three-year diploma program. At the end of it, I’ll get a certificate that says I graduated the Bolshoi Ballet Program.

“As far as a career, I would like to dance in Russia but American dancers are not that common in Russian ballet companies. I would love to dance in the English Ballet company, but more realistically, with American companies, such as San Francisco, American Ballet Theatre, Colorado Ballet, Houston, any major company.

“I don’t think you can be specific in your vision because anything could happen, things change. Maybe in five years I might realize I like contemporary dance, might go into modern and not want to be a classical ballet dancer. There are a lot of options that are not professional ballet companies. I need a variety of skills and have my eyes on other things.”

When you think of Zoe’s determination to pursue her passion and overcome the obstacles in her way, you might say the world is her oyster and you might be right. But if one day you are fortunate to see her perform, underneath the beauty and grace of ballet is the soul of an athlete who navigated a bumpy road in her journey to get there.

One thing Zoe never forgets is to express her appreciation to those who have supported her along the way. “I am eternally grateful to all of my teachers, my parents, and those who gave their support throughout my ballet career. I am so excited to begin this new journey!”

“It’s a life-changing experience,” Her dad, Rainer observes.

With Russia’s president threatening war with Ukraine, Zoe is one of many providing a counterpoint to war through culture. As Michael A. McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow (2012), observes, “The Russian American Foundation’s continued contributions to cultural, educational, and sports programs in the United States and Russia help foster greater understanding between the people of the United States and the Russian Federation. Such programs highlight the things that the American and Russian people have in common.”

Zoe will celebrate her 17th birthday next month in Moscow.

Want to participate in Zoe’s journey? Donate: gofund.me/17334309; @zoesimonemack.

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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NEWS

Topanga Town Council January 2022 Report

By Annemarie Donkin

A

ll eyes were on traffic, crime, and fire safety when Town Council President Carrie Carrier and Vice President Alisa Land Hill opened the January 12 Zoom meeting with updates from the Sheriff ’s Dept., CHP, County Fire, and guest speaker Ryan Ulyate of the North Topanga Canyon Firesafe Council (NTCFSC).

Sheriff ’s Department Briefing.

Sheriff ’s Deputy Michael Cerveny provided an update on law enforcement in Topanga: “For November and December 2021, we had one assault, two grand thefts and two petty thefts,” he said. “Year-to-date, we had 66 crimes versus 52 crimes end-ofyear 2020, a 22 percent reduction in crime.”

California Highway Patrol.

CHP Officer Wes Haver updated progress on Operation Safe Canyons. “For street racing, in November we had nine different deployments in the Santa Monica Mountains and San Fernando Valley. We issued 91 citations, impounded 11 vehicles, and made six arrests,” Haver said.

“In December, we had seven

deployments with 122 citations.

We impounded 10 vehicles and made six arrests.”

To report unsafe driving in Topanga and the Santa Monica Mountains, please call CHP dispatch at (323) 259-3200.

L.A. County Fire Department.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Drew Smith provided a year-end summary: “We had a passive fire season, actually normal, with fewer Santa Ana events. Mother Nature provided us with 200 percent of rainfall (about 14 inches) and, as vegetation becomes lush, we are looking favorable so far. Things will only improve if we get more rain in January and February, traditionally our wettest months.”

He assured the group that despite rumors, there was “no loss of service from any Engine Company, paramedics, or any other service we provide due to the COVID surge.”

Chief Smith took a moment to honor Los Angeles County firefighter Jonathan Flagler, a 21year firefighting veteran who died after suffering injuries during a house fire in Rancho Palos Verdes on Thursday, January 6, 2022. “We lost a veteran firefighter,” Smith said. “It’s the first loss of life in a

structure fire in 30 years. What your firefighters do sometimes comes at a price.”

Featured Speaker Ryan Ulyate of North Topanga Canyon Firesafe Council. Ulyate gave an informative presentation about the latest in-home hardening measures that people can take to help their residences withstand a wildfire. “You must create a zero to five-foot noncombustible zone around your house,” he said. “Don’t have plants next to your house; clean out underneath the decks. Remove planters and wooden fences from within five feet that could bring a fire straight to the house.” Ulyate said his firesafe presentation is full of information about fire safety zones and products to harden your home from wildfire.

Ulyate has offered to give the presentation anytime upon request. For more information: https://cafiresafecouncil.org/fsclocation/north-topanga-canyonfsc.

Library Report. Library Manager Ashley Abrams reported that due to Covid, in-person programs have been suspended to the end of January or February. “You can sign up for virtual events, including Storytime, and we have activity kits for schoolage children,” she said. “Our hours have not changed and, as a reminder, we are offering sidewalk service to pick up your holds or pick up materials. We also do online printing that you can pick up at the print station.”

Request for Homeless Count volunteers. Given the current surge in COVID-19 cases the annual homeless count has been postponed to February 22-24.

Additionally, TCTC received approval to postpone the Youth

Count to February 23rd–March 4.

“It is our understanding that this count could help secure additional funding for our area to address homelessness,” Carrier wrote.

“Regardless of whether we meet the threshold needed for more funding, it is crucial that we have an accurate count so that the proper policies and interventions can be developed to make real progress on this serious challenge.

“We still need a few good volunteers. Because the count starts between 6-7 a.m., early birds are encouraged to participate.

Please email the TCTC at contact@ topangatowncouncil.org to join.

“A special shout-out goes to the Sheriff ’s HOST team, TAR, T-CEP and the SAGES for all the heart and help they have offered on this front over the years.”

Topanga Access Cards—It’s time to renew your cards online. Firsttime cardholders should call to arrange an appointment at (310) 455-3001, then press 0 to leave your name and phone number. Call Lindsay Zook for an appointment at (310) 569-8931 or purchase online at: topangatowncouncil.org.

Become a Town Council volunteer.

TCTC is looking for volunteers to help on various activities. For more information, email: contact@ topangatowncouncil.org or call (310) 455-3001.

RESOURCES Third District Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s Office—Contact Tessa Charnofsky at TCharnofsky@bos.lacounty.gov; Phone (818) 880-9416 State Senator Henry Stern— Contact Jeremy Wolf at Jeremy.

Wolf@sen.ca.gov; Phone (818) 876-3352 Assemblymember Richard Bloom—Contact Tim Pershing at Tim.Pershing@asm.ca.gov; (310) 450-0041 Topanga Canyon Town Council—Formed in 1977 in response to needs unique to the mountain community, residents created the TCTC to serve as a liaison with Topanga’s official governing body, the Los Angeles County Supervisor’s Office. For information: onetopanga.com/ topanga-town-council; (310) 455-3001.

TheCanyonChronicle.com 6

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

Spotlight Topanga’s Annual Snow Night Warms the Holiday Season!

By Annemarie Donkin

I

t was truly a “White Christmas” when about 20 tons of snow was blown onto the parking lot at Pine Tree Circle for the Annual Snow Night and dinner on Sunday, December19.

To the community’s great delight, Nathan Daneshgar, owner of Pine Tree Circle, hosted the event and provided cold snow, hot food and a festive brass band to celebrate the season.

Daneshgar has carried on the tradition started by former Pine Tree Circle owners Steve and Leslie Carlson more than 22 years ago. This season’s Snow Night was most welcome after the beloved event was canceled last year due to COVID-19. No sooner had the snow settled around 4 p.m. than the little kids began running, slipping and sliding, and throwing icy snowballs.

The local shops stayed open throughout the evening while folks gathered around a giant fire circle to eat and warm their hands.

Dr. Doug Roy and Topanga’s AllAmerican Howling Coyote (Jingle Bells) Brass Band played cheerful holiday music from the balcony of Pine Tree Circle as many Topangans sang along! For dinner, folks lined up to enjoy piping hot pies from L.A. Pizzeria Mobile Woodfire Pizza (lapizzeriaco.com), and tasty

PHOTOS BY ANNEMARIE DONKIN

Snow blower transforms Pine Tree Circle parking lot into Snow Night and snowball fights!

From left, Rob Evans and his son, Donavan, 4 ½, attended Snow Night with Ramy and Jaspreet Katrib and their son, Leo, 4½.

Dr. Doug Roy and Topanga’s All-American Howling Coyote (Jingle Bells) Brass Band and carolers bring Christmas spirit from on high to Snow Night 2021 on Sunday, Dec. 19.

dishes from Newrish Healthy Foods (newrish.com).

Families also enjoyed vegan

plates from Flower Child foods (iamaflowerchild.com) and topped it all off with sweet treats from the

Recess ice cream truck! (recesstruck. com).

One family who arrived early and enjoyed the evening with their friend, Rob Evans and his son Donavan, 4½, were Ramy and Jaspreet Katrib with their son, Leo, 4½.

“It was our first Topanga Snow Night and we look forward to many more,” Jaspreet wrote. “Leo and his buddy Donavan were so excited. Leo wants you to know that ‘we got to have a snowball fight and I got hit in the face two times! After that we got to eat some tacos!”

Pine Tree Circle is located at 122 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.

1250 Will Geer Rd. $2,795,000 REDUCED

Beautiful Contemporary home located on almost 9 acres in Topanga’s exclusive Mesa neighborhood. This light infused 3 bedroom, 4.5 bath home features bamboo floors, French doors, and high ceilings throughout. The kitchen contains a large center island, Granite countertops and stainless appliances. The ground floor master has a large walk in closet, spa like bath with dual sinks, over size shower, jetted tub and granite counters. The other two on-suite bedrooms are located upstairs with panoramic views of the State Park and Saddlepeak.

Lisa Saver CalBre Lic.#01203202

310.455.2540 Mobile 310.804.8607 TopangaHomesOnline.com

2336 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd $459,000 Beautiful approx. 3.36 acre building site with canyon views. Located behind custom electric gates with two other Architectural estates, Paved street, utilities close by. Room for spacious estate, horses, guest house, or barn. fifteen minutes to PCH and 10 minutes to the 101.

Out of Coastal. gentle upslope.

APN # 4434-012-011.

Sotheby’s International Realt y and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully.

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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Akumal-based artists Rory Eade (@rory_eade_art) and Jake Klone (@klonism) transform concrete walls into vibrant murals awash in color, symbolism, and mesmerizing details. Eade’s mural (background) portrays the Mayan serpent god K’uk’ulkan, or “the plumed serpent,” which, among other qualities, suggests the shedding of skin. Klone’s resplendent toucan might symbolize boldness and taking action.

In the far background, a third artist paints the wall of a home.

Ecuadorian artist Maria Castillo (@TooFly) was raised in New York but years ago when NYC became too expensive. She paints walls and makes

Art Integrates Life in

By Kim Zanti

D

uring the last week of January, the fourth Akumal Arts Festival will welcome approximately 100 artists from 13 countries to paint murals in this tight-knit community on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Mural festivals are held in many places around the world, often in specially designated commercial, industrial, or arts districts. In Akumal, invited artists, selected through an “open call” application process, will paint concrete walls of homes, schools, businesses, the medical clinic and police station, even the ball court. Most prominently, they will paint the largest walls located on the bridge over Federal Highway 307 that runs from Cancun to the border with Belize.

Although many of the visiting artists started out as graffiti artists, often deemed by society as subversives, vandals, and, at worst, criminals, their work in the festival will be carried out in daylight and embraced by the community. Roughly 2,000 people live in Akumal, in the state of Quintana Roo, where tourism has spawned the proliferation of mega-resorts that pamper humans to a degree that tortures the natural environment and its inhabitants. A marine refuge in Akumal Bay for the endangered green sea turtle helps keep this small town small, while encouraging ecotourism, but the larger economic pressures are real.

Getting creative about finding balance within humanity and the larger web of life requires practice...intentional practice. Integrating art into the core of civic life—education, commerce, justice, public health and safety, parks and recreation, and community empowerment—is one way that relies on radical trust. Radical trust with a global, nomadic tribe of highly skilled artists and with each other.

I had the opportunity to experience this extraordinary festival in 2018, its first year, when I was invited by my longtime arts and culture colleague and Akumal Festival co-producer, Marti Johnston. Experiencing more than 25 years in this arena, I’ve seen and/or participated in many

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different models for integrating art and artists into communities but I’d never experienced a top-to-bottom, soup-to-nuts, A-to-Z community engagement phenomenon built around art that ripples out positive impacts like pebbles dropped in a pool.

Four years and three festivals later, Marti invited me back to see what changes had occurred and suggested that I tell a story in the form of a documentary film. I loved the idea and saw it as an extension of our working process at the Centers for Research on Creativity (CROC), which had a second-floor office for many years in Pine Tree Circle. The difference is that rather than the deliverable being a written report, it will be a creative product, a film. I asked Marti what point of reference could provide the broadest and most meaningful context. She immediately replied, “creative placemaking.”

I wasn’t familiar with the phrase, yet it resonated with what I observed and heard from people during the first Festival. Digging deeper, I learned that the phrase has been in use since the 1960s. The National Endowment for the Arts defines the practice: “Creative placemaking integrates arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. Creative placemaking requires partnership across sectors, deeply engages the community, involves artists, designers, and culture bearers, and helps to advance local economic, physical, and/or social change, ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change.”

The first creative placemaking act in Akumal was a conversation between a civic leader and a business owner. Similar to Topanga, Akumal is unincorporated. It exists within the Tulum Municipality, one of eleven municipalities within Quintana Roo. The mayor, or delgado is a governmental representative elected by citizens, who advocates for funding for public services such as utilities, street lighting, traffic control, parks and public gardens maintenance, and management of cemeteries.

The mayor in 2018 was Romel Iran Beltran

Chan, or Iran for short, a native Akumalian and one of the longest standing residents. The business owner is Jennifer Smith, whose Turtle Bay Cafe & Bakery is located on the playa. She employs dozens of people from the pueblo who have to cross Highway 307 on foot to get to work. Her question for the mayor was, “How could the town get more light on the bridge to ensure safety?”

Instead of a straightforward, practical solution, they began to brainstorm. Brainstorming led to the thought of beautifying the bridge, which led to the idea of beautifying the town, which began to unify the town, which motivated Jen to assemble a producing team to manifest the festival. They began to reach out to the community—would people welcome artists painting murals on their homes? Turns out they did. And they were willing to volunteer and engage directly in programming.

I do know that Akumal Arts Festival gives residents a sense of pride in their unique identity.

This was particularly evident after the 2018 Festival, when several murals on the bridge were tagged, or defaced. Most of the artists had already left the country. So the community united to repair the damage with painstaking brush strokes and spray paint.

Other changes motivated by the Festival that I saw take place in 2018, include the municipal purchase of playground equipment and lights for the local central park. Children who had no arts curriculum in school became engaged in projectbased learning by painting more than 1,000 flags, which were hung in the parks and civic spaces.

The spray paint cans were not thrown into the refuse stream, but recycled for children to use to make their own art; the community center that had been closed indefinitely reopened its doors.

Festival artists provided workshops for children and adults, such as mask making and coloring, and others in practical creativity, such as generating electricity from commonly sourced materials repurposed as crude batteries. And...Turtle Bay Cafe & Bakery stopped using styrofoam.

These types of actions strengthen the web of life in Akumal and prepare this generation and

PHOTOS BY KIM ZANTI AKUMAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2018

t moved back to Ecuador about nine Akumal Doctors—Dr. Nestor Mendoza, Jr., of Akumal Medical Center ,poses with s art for a living. colleagues in front of a mural of a needlefish on the wall of the clinic. All three agree that the 2018 festival improved public health, not only because of a civic focus on trash clean up, but also because the vibrant murals and contributions by artists of paintings, workshops, and conversations, lift people’s spirits or, to use a cliche that in more modern terms might be referred to as “contributing to their mental and emotional health.”

n Akumal the next to adapt to think and act creatively, i.e., generate many divergent ideas and to try new things. Cultivating these qualities and skills are essential building blocks to adapt to the changes that are currently happening in the region due to the climate crisis. Within the next few years, significant sea level rise is anticipated.

Considering that the land is mostly flat, the impacts will be widespread, sustained, and endured by people, plants, animals and creatures on land, in the sea and in the sky. Cultivating creative actions and responses to systems that are in accelerated change is not only enriching, it is sustaining.

Akumal isn’t the only community to activate its core for transformative change. Another example is the Flint Public Art Project in Flint, Michigan, which became famous as the home of General Motors and infamous as the city north of Detroit with poisoned drinking water.

That label marked the town as dysfunctional and haunted its residents, until a handful came together across sectors to show that there was more to Flint than attention-grabbing headlines.

As the work continues to clean up the city’s failed system of pipes, an all volunteer group reclaims the fullness of the city’s identity by inviting artists into the process to paint murals

This young man shows off his beautiful art made in Santa Ana-based artist Dino Perez’s Coloring With the Community Workshop (@coloring_with_ the_community). Perez was funded by Community Engagement of Orange County to paint a mural and facilitate the workshop. Children are introduced to the necessary tools for expression (markers, crayons, paper, and sketch books) and given the space and permission to use them to colorful effect.

and engage in the resulting actions that keep the project vital and relevant.

Medellin, Colombia, the favela Communa 13, once known as that city’s most dangerous place, transformed itself through vibrant murals, street art, and the inclusion of modern modes of transportation, inspired by the influx of art that created a local economy that did not exist before. Telling the stories of places that could have easily succumbed to apathy but chose a more creative path, is a way to inspire people to more deeply appreciate the complex beauty of our extraordinary world and to act on its behalf.

That’s why I’m making this film.

The Akumal Arts Festival Documentary To document the Festival’s impact on the community, Marti suggested that I write a funding proposal to Jonathan Webb, President of the Board of Directors of the Orange County-based organization, Community Engagement (communityengagement.org).

This non-profit organization is committed to creative placemaking and offers direct support to artists, including those selected to paint in the first and subsequent festivals.

This year, Community Engagement expanded their giving to include a contribution to Akumal’s library, Hekab Be Biblioteca, which provides extensive after-school programming for the pueblo’s 1,000 children. I, too, benefited from their largesse in the form of a $10,000 grant towards a $20,000 budget.

My role is producing director.

I’ve produced and directed short videos mainly in the context

of grant applications, but this is my first documentary. I am incredibly fortunate to work with two visionary filmmakers, Melissa “Zippy” Downing of COLabs and Joe Schipani, Executive Director of Flint Public Art Project (flintpublicartproject.com). Native Topangan, world traveling poet, and former Canyon Gourmet staffer Joe Gutesha will join me as an assistant producer from New York, where he will be in the midst of new writing adventures. Longtime Angeleno and soon to be Topangan Joey Jones will bring his visually poetic, cinephile’s eye to the editing of the film. Several other Topangans have supported its development: David Dayan Fisher, Elizabeth George, Kyle Ruddick, and Nora Slattery, as well as Honorary Topangan Oleg Kagan.

My creative team is brain storming all the questions, nuances, perspectives, and stories

we can capture in ten days on the ground in Akumal. I wonder what has changed since the first festival and what hasn’t? Has the Festival had an impact on some of the more entrenched issues such as public access to the beach, the increasing presence of drug cartels in the region, or preparing people for working together to adapt to climate change? In what ways does reflecting the lives of residents in vibrant public murals affect mental health? There are many questions that we’re distilling to the most essential.

In addition to submitting the film to short documentary film festivals, I plan to develop a series of talks for delivery in libraries, at conferences, and to audiences who are hungry for vibrant, colorful stories that connect us all as an endangered species. Yes, I feel that humanity has endangered itself by not attending to our home,

our planet, and not respecting the fragility of our interdependent lives and communities. This film illustrates one way we can live up to our cooperative, interdependent potential and reshape the future.

What will I discover in 2022?

This remains to be seen. What I do know is that the process of discovery is in itself a great reward.

Donations are welcome.

I continue to fundraise to pay for the remaining postproduction costs of $5,900. To contribute, do so through our fiscal sponsor, Everybody Dance Now! (everybodydancenow.org/ donate#fiscalsponsorships).

Contributions are tax deductible and all contributor names will appear in the end credits. Contributions of $2,500 or more receive a producer credit.

—Kim Zanti

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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THE ARTS Contrasts in Style

By Sari Scheer

M

onochrome Realism and Colorful Expressionism juxtapose at the Topanga Canyon Gallery when visitors have a unique opportunity to see two very different yet complementary solo shows, “Pounds” by new Gallery acrylic artist Ksenia Sadavodava and “Unequivocal” a first-time collection

by Gallery veteran photographer Patrick Ramsey.

Patrick Ramsey’s collection is the first show of his black and white photography together. Patrons may be familiar with his past collections like “Woman at Work” and “Fragile Links.” This body of work includes only monochromatic work driven by a strong perspective. The show is arranged around several themes— social/political commentary, intensity of women, poetry of city dwelling—and the uncompromising nature of each image.

“Black and white is my preferred medium because it brings the entire focus to the subject,” states Ramsey.

“The subtleties of the infinite shades of gray, which is what we call black and white, gives form and dimension without distraction.”

All of Ramsey’s work has a strong narrative; it is what motivates his art. His interest is in people, often those one might otherwise not notice or even see, captured in their daily state of being. Every image has a story, which he intends to be open to the viewer without explanation.

For “Unequivocal” Ramsey is sharing the background of each image, to enhance the experience.

Ksenia Sadavodava’s work is an interesting contrast to Ramsey.

“Solo Final New York,” by photographer Patrick Ramsey, is part of a first-time collection of his black and white photographs.

Her acrylic canvases are colorful, harmonious, and energetic. She reconstructs the world in her work, isolating things from their context, parts, and elements. Her intent is to reduce everything to what is essential, so that the subject will look as if it had been there for a long time, natural, expecting to be seen as she has created it.

Sadavodava is new to the gallery and comes to Los Angeles from Belarus. Her show, “Pounds,” is a statement of clarity—like pounding on a table to assert her point of view.

“Godfather,” acrylic on canvas, by gallery newcomer Ksenia Sadavodava.

“In an environment and time where art goes hand-in-hand with social rhetoric and narratives, I create something that does not carry a message of protest or satire,” explains Sadavodava.

“Simplicity is valuable to me. Ideas come from everywhere, but they grow best in solitude. Awareness is important, also the way you think and observe the world. I like contradictions, and I think freedom is not something we can achieve; it is what we choose to have from the start in creating

unconventional distinctive works.”

The shows run January 28 to February 13 on Fridays 2-7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 12-5 p.m.

Opening reception on the outside deck is January 29, 4-7 p.m.

A safe environment is provided: masks are required with distancing enforced inside and on the heated outside deck.

The Gallery is located at 137 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd. Topanga, CA 90290, Topanga, CA 90290.

Catalyst Muse Awarded $10,000 Grant to Make Documentary Film

C

ommunity Engagement of Orange County, CA, has awarded Topangan Kim Zanti of Catalyst Muse a $10,000 grant to make a short, documentary film about the Third Annual Akumal Arts Festival (AAF) on Mexico’s Caribbean coast. Public festival programs will be held January 28-30, 2022.

It all started in 2018 in Akumal, a small town situated between the beach and the jungle. A conversation about safety between a business owner and a civic leader led to talk about better lighting on the bridge over the main highway, which led to the thought of beautifying the bridge, which led to the idea of beautifying the town, which began to unify the town.

All of this led to a community-wide festival that quickly tapped into a global network of street artists. One hundred and twenty artists from 12 countries are scheduled to paint murals throughout the town.

Community Engagement is a longtime supporter of the festival and proponent of “creative placemaking.” According to the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, creative placemaking is the practice of “integrating arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities.”

Artists engage the community on many levels.

Festival themes are woven into in-school and

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after-school curriculum and activities, and artists will teach youth and adult workshops.

Arts-integrated education is but one benefit of the festival. An increase in public health, mental and emotional well being, youth engagement, and economic activity that directly benefit residents are more of its positive impacts. The

Documentary filmmaker Kim Zanti.

PHOTO BY WENDY SKOLFIELD

documentary will investigate the full power of the festival that has transformed this sleepy pueblo into an engaged powerhouse of change! Through the lens of creative placemaking, Kim Zanti will direct the film. She will collaborate with AAF coproducer and longtime colleague Marti Johnston,

who originally suggested that Catalyst Muse submit a proposal, and videographers Melissa “Zippy” Downing of COLabs and Joe Schipani of Flint Art Project in Michigan. A Dream Team!

Our plan is to share the untitled film with audiences who care about community empowerment through the arts, with those who are curious about this visionary practice, and with documentary film festival audiences.

Community Engagement’s $10,000 grant covers 50% of the film budget. The project needs to secure an additional $10,000 to cover production and post-production expenses. All donations are greatly appreciated and will be acknowledged in the film’s end credits. Donations of $2,500 or more receive an additional producer acknowledgment in the end credits. If we raise more than budgeted, we will donate a percentage of funds to the vibrant local library, Hekab Be Biblioteca.

NOTE: In accordance with the IRS tax regulations, donations will be received by a 501c3, tax-exempt fiscal sponsor. We’re thrilled to welcome our new fiscal sponsor, Everybody Dance Now!, a Los Angeles-based organization that uses hip hop and street dance to inspire, educate, and build community. You will receive a confirmation letter from Catalyst Muse so that you know we received your contribution.

TOPANGA BEFORE TODAY Thais Rust Sykes—1925-2021

by Pablo Capra

W

Thais’s house being moved to Brookside, 3427 Topanga Canyon Blvd., in 1932.

Clayton Rust’s gas station in the 1920s, where Oasis Imports is today.

Thais sitting on a 1935 Ford Coupe at Brookside, circa 1945.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SYKES FAMILY

ith the passing of Thais Rust Sykes, 96, on December 30, 2021, Topanga lost possibly its last living connection to the 1920s.

Thais’s father, Clayton Rust (18861974), from Oklahoma, worked as a surveyor on the Topanga road to the beach, rebuilt in 1915 to handle cars.

Thais’s mother, Ina Thrasher (19011988), descended from pioneers of Van Nuys. In the 1920s, the Rusts moved to Lower Topanga, where Clayton ran the Topanga Service Station and Ina had a restaurant called Rust’s Barbecue.

The Rusts were joined by about 20 family members. Others owned the store that would later become the Malibu Feed Bin, and a hamburger stand called Paxson’s Café, where Mastro’s Ocean Club is today.

Thais was born on April 5, 1925, and grew up in a two-story house behind the Topanga Ranch Motel.

She could remember seeing the German Graf Zeppelin fly by on its 1929 trip around the world.

In 1932, her house had to be moved a half mile up the canyon to Brookside to make way for the construction of the current bridge across the lagoon. (The motel was also moved to its current location, a few dozen feet inland.)

One of Topanga’s worst fires burned Thais’s bedroom in 1938, but the rest of her house survived.

The house was the only one selected for historic preservation when State Parks bought Lower Topanga in 2001 and bulldozed over 50 others.

Unfortunately, State Parks didn’t maintain Thais’s house, and it fell into disrepair, and had to be bulldozed as well.

As a child, Thais was a fearless swimmer, in an ocean dotted with 1930s gambling ships.

“We were at the beach probably from eight or nine in the morning till five or six at night. It didn’t matter how large the waves were, we just had fun…. One day, Marilyn and I went with Ida Lee and her dad [Ottie] to the beach. The three of us got out beyond the waves, not knowing that there was a strong riptide. When we couldn’t get back to shore, Ottie called the Santa Monica lifeguards to rescue us. We were picked up just before Sunset Blvd. We were having a great time but Ida Lee’s dad was frantic.”

Marilyn Kays was Thais’s cousin, and Ida Lee Carillo was the niece of actor Leo Carrillo, both living in Brookside.

During World War II, Thais scanned the sky for enemy planes from a lookout tower that was across the street from today’s Getty Villa.

The Coast Guard had a headquarters at Sunset Blvd., and patrolled the coast on foot every evening, passing

by Topanga Beach with bayonets and German Shepherds. Machine gun nests were placed on dirt mounds on either side of the lagoon, and

Thais with neighbor John Foundoukos, a Greek fisherman, on Topanga Beach, where the lifeguard station is today, circa 1928. “One day John gave me a live lobster to take to my mother. He taught me how to hold it and I carried it to our house where my mom was shouting at me to drop it and was furious with John for giving me a live lobster.”

the army sometimes closed the beach to play war games. Thais first became engaged to Las Tunas Beach neighbor Bob Talmadge, the son of actors Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge, before deciding to marry Jack Sykes (1935-2017), another neighbor, instead. They raised two daughters, Lori (b.1958) and Lisa (1961-2018).

Because of the war, Thais and her mother both began working in the aerospace field. Thais got her first job at Douglas Aircraft, then went on to work at the RAND Corporation and the Planning Research Corporation.

In 2006, Thais was the subject

Thais and husband Jack Sykes, Thanksgiving 2014. Photo by Thais’s daughter, Lori Sykes Ardis.

of a Topanga Historical Society presentation that is now posted on YouTube with the title “Lower Topanga in the 1920s-30s.” Her photos can be viewed at topangahistoricalsociety.org/ archive.

Author’s Note: In 2005, former Topanga Messenger editor Susan Chasen and I drove to Orange, CA to interview Thais and her husband Jack Sykes about growing up in Lower Topanga.

Thais and Jack told their stories with such detail and humor, and generously shared so many photographs, that the discovery

still remains my biggest thrill as a historian. At 26, I also experienced a moment of growing up that imbued me with a responsibility to preserve and pass on rare historical knowledge.

Susan and I published their stories in the Topanga Messenger article, “Thais Sykes: A Lower Topanga Girlhood” (November17, 2005); in “The Topanga Story: Expanded Edition” (2012); and in my own book, “Topanga Beach: A History 1820-1920s” (2020).

Topanga is indebted to Thais and Jack for enriching its history with their contributions.

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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RUDE INTERRUPTIONS

Pandemic in the Year 2022

by Joel Bellman

I

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only half the newly diagnosed cases end up in the hospital, that’s still more people hospitalized. With more healthcare workers falling ill and leaving facilities understaffed, those still on duty are burning out more quickly, putting the whole healthcare system at risk of breaking down and increasingly unable

health measures, which seem to be straying further and further from any sensible and consistent public health principles. It started in mid-May 2021 with the CDC’s incoherent new policy of recommending that vaccinated people no longer needed to mask up indoors— with nothing beyond “the honor system” to ensure that un-maskers were, in fact, properly vaccinated. It was instantly apparent that the first people to go without masks were most likely to be unvaccinated (already lacking in both social responsibility and common sense), while those retaining their masks were more likely the hyper-cautious, fully vaxxed and socially responsible ones. The Biden administration compounded the problem with its precipitous “mission accomplished” triumphalism, brushing aside concerns about verification or mixed messages.

Less than a month later, the Delta variant emerged in the U.S., and soon after, new infections of this highly transmissible and potentially more serious strain surged. Despite the fact that existing vaccines were effective against Delta, stubborn anti-vaxxers still refused to take their shots. By the end of July, the CDC had reversed field and urged everyone, vaxxed or not, to once again mask up indoors.

Just after Thanksgiving, we got hit with the Omicron variant, even more transmissible yet less severe, especially for those vaxxed and boosted. But experts point out that with cases more than doubling from winter 2020, even if

to treat other patients. In the midst of all this, fluctuating CDC guidance about shortened isolation periods and more frequent testing—when tests may not be available, and delays in results can leave infected and infectious people out on the street—only adds to public frustration.

Worse, it creates fresh opportunities for Republican mischief to undermine the government’s credibility and throw shade on Biden administration efforts to wrestle the pandemic under control.

Moreover, the faltering COVID response is not confined to the US. The World Health Organization has warned that more than half of Europe could become infected with the Omicron variant within the next four to six weeks—a shocking estimate that could perversely lead governments to simply surrender on restrictions and control measures altogether, declare the virus endemic and something we’re just going to have to live with, and leave people to manage their own risk…or not.

ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH GRILLO/AXIOS

’ve been thinking about Brady Sluder lately.

You may not remember his name, but you know who he is: early on in the pandemic, he was the face and voice of reckless youth, the young Florida spring-breaker from Ohio who asserted defiantly in a CBS news interview that, “If I get corona, I get corona. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let it stop me from partying.”

Pivoting from anxiety to outrage, the media went berserk, and within days young Brady reappeared on Instagram, properly chastened, for his auto-da-fé, posting that he “can’t apologize enough,” and vowing to “use this as motivation to become a better person, a better son, a better friend, and a better citizen.”

Brady was one of the pandemic’s first heretics, and then its first penitent.

Whether he was sincere, or just got some good crisis PR advice, today he looks like a paragon of maturity and personal responsibility compared to the 25% of Americans who remain entirely unvaccinated, the 37% who are only partially vaccinated, and the 78% who are not yet boosted.

Nor does it speak well of the judgment and accountability of red-state officials like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who not only refuse to implement vaccine mandates, but enact laws or issue executive orders expressly prohibiting government from issuing vaccine passports or businesses from requiring them. And who then turn around and attack Joe Biden—who oversaw the distribution of more than 500 million doses of vaccine and signed into law a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill—for not doing enough to end the pandemic (as they ungratefully spend the relief money from the federal legislation they had previously opposed.)

Brady also came to mind because I’m struggling with a millennial son experiencing pandemic burn-out.

After spending his entire first year of graduate school on a laptop, isolated in his bedroom—which surely would have driven me insane, I freely admit— his campus has finally reopened to in-person learning again. Free at last!

Free at last! He’s able to meet, work and socialize with his professors and fellow students. He’s moved out and is sharing an apartment downtown with two grad-school roommates, discovering what it’s like to be young and living independently in an urban core bustling with activity. “Liberating” doesn’t begin to cover it.

He’s sanguine about the on-campus requirements for proof of vaccination, frequent PCR testing (the more accurate one), and indoor masking. I remind him how universities must go above and beyond to reassure anxious students and

their even more anxious parents that schools, acting in loco parentis, are fully and directly responsible for the lives and health of their students.

But off-campus, he’s fed up and chafing under the continuing restriction and inconvenience of constantly changing f ederal, state, and local public

••••• After his ritual apology, young Brady Sluder vanished from the news cycle as quickly as he appeared. But we would be in a far better position today had more people, including government policymakers, simply taken note of his humble and wise words back in March 2020, when the first lock down was less than a week old. “Life is precious,” he posted. “Don’t be arrogant and think you’re invincible like myself.”

ALL THINGS CONNCTED

While Norton 360 is a well-known, respected anti-virus program, it has embedded it with a crypto-currency mining component. If you’re not into crypto currency, you might want to opt out.

Clean Up Your Apps!

By Paula LaBrot

H

appy New Year, Dear Readers!

Finally, 2022 has arrived. What better to do than clear out the clutter of the past? Start cleaning up your phones and computers by taking any apps or programs you are not using OFF! Why, you ask?

Because these “helpful,” often free, little platforms are sometimes loaded with software that are able to take advantage of your data, your computer power, and your electricity.

What is At Risk?

Any time you install software onto a device, you are at risk for virus infections and other invasive malware designed by hackers. According to Ryan Dube, writing for Lifewire.com, the purpose of viruses and malware is to “steal personal information from your computer files that steal bank or credit accounts, and other login information using keyboard logger software. These turn your computer into a “bot” to perform email spamming attacks, randomly pop-up ad windows while you’re using your computer or popup ransomware threats to get you to send money.” There are a lot of nasty viruses and malware hidden in downloads and websites you visit.

Sandra Gyles of vpnoverviewe.com explains, “The goal of a virus scanner is to protect your device from viruses and other types of malware. It does this by comparing whatever threat it encounters to a blacklist. All viruses known to your antivirus program are on this blacklist.

As soon as the virus scanner encounters something that has been blacklisted, the program will stop the file and try to delete it.”

Each virus scanner has its own database of known viruses and malware, but the scanner can also detect if a file

is acting strangely. Gyles reports that, even if something is not on the blacklist, your virus scanner can use predictive techniques known as “hueristic” or “threat protection” to counteract suspicious programs.

Virus scanners can protect you from threats coming into your device, and they can protect you from having your information sent out of your device by monitoring your network traffic. Kind of like that old Roach Motel commercial, “they get in but they can’t get out.”

A good anti-virus program is a must!

Well, yes, but… (Is there never an end to cyber invasiveness?)

Norton 360 Norton 360 is a well-known, respected antivirus program. Many people have it on their devices. Well, guess what? Along with the anti-virus software is now coming a cryptocurrency mining component! What?!

In July, 2021, Norton rolled out its crypto-miner. It is embedded in their antivirus program for Android devices. So, anyone who installs Norton Anti-Virus gets this mining program with it. How ironic.

Once installed, the program prompts the user: “Turn your PC’s idle time into cash.”

So, in all fairness, you do have a choice and Norton does give a monetary incentive to turn it on.

But...by activating the crypto-miner, you become part of a pool of users mining for Ethereum and, yes, you share in the rewards but...there’s another but.... Let me unpack this for you.

Crypto-currency is a new kind of currency that is digital. It doesn’t exist in the form of a bill or coin. It exists in electronic form. You keep track of it on the blockchain.

Just like there is a limited supply of gold in the world, there is a limited supply of Bitcoin or Ethereum or other crypto-currencies. To mine for gold, you dig or pan streams. To

mine for crypto-currency, you solve super difficult math puzzles.

Crypto Mining To be successful as a digital miner you must have two things: power and speed. Bitcoin miners use more electricity annually than whole countries, like Argentina, the Netherlands and the United Arab Republic.

Because whoever solves the math puzzle or “hash puzzle” first gets the coin or token; speed is of the essence.

According to PopularMechanics. com, “Miners use high-end graphics cards, or GPUs, because these pieces of hardware are already made to churn through computer math as quickly as possible and with a lot of calculations running at the same time. Like a highway with more lanes, this reduces congestion and travel time. It also heats up your PC, usually requiring high-end fans to cool it.” It’s all super expensive.

Norton’s Little Plan By adding its crypto-mining software to its antivirus program, Norton hopes to network the power of thousands of customers’ computers when idle, as well as their electricity. In return, customers get a share of whatever rewards are mined.

It’s just that Norton takes 15% off the top, customers pay the electricity, customers’ computers get the wear and tear, and it is not always so easy to convert the rewards to cash. Norton could make millions.

Customers….not so much.

Get Your Cyber Broom Going The point is, any app or software you download onto your computer can be embedded with components you either do not want or, worse, may lead to data breaches on your device. Get rid of any app you don’t use! A new year, a clean start!

Vamos a ver!

January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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Astrology With the Lovers Conjoined in the Sky, Valentine’s Day Sizzles Kait Leonard

O

n a personal level, February is a month of fated unions and karmic progress. Whether you’ve been hoping to take the next step in your romance or turn dreams into reality, this is the month for you.

For the United States, the sky is not looking so chocolates-and-roses.

Before we get into the big news for the U.S., let’s jump into Valentine’s Day. First, Venus, the planet of love, ends its retrograde cycle on January 29th and will move direct through February. This means we’re done with all that re-thinking and re-working, and we know how to proceed. Expect to hear plenty of “I dos” this month, as relationships can finally move to the next level.

To add a cherry to this Cupid’s day delight, the karmic North Node is making a harmonious aspect to deeply transformative Pluto on the 14th, so unions happening around this time will have a fated feel to them, as souls meant for each tie the knots of love. For those of us not looking to form a personal partnership, this is still an important aspect taking place in the earthy signs of Taurus and Capricorn. Wherever these signs fall in the natal chart, expect profound change that will help you move toward your destiny.

As if all this weren’t enough,

beginning around the second week of February, the planetary lovers, Venus and Mars, will unite in the sky and stay together in close relationship until Venus begins to move on in late March. This is a period of harmonizing opposite energies, balancing the

Jennifer deSpain,

Yin and the Yang. During this time, we will be passionate, but with this happening in the sign of Capricorn, we will ground those passions in reality. Artists will produce art.

Dancers will perform. Lovers will… you get the idea. Some of you should decide what color you want to paint the nursery. Happy February!

There’s no talking about love and all things emotional without considering the Moon, since it rules the emotions. Remember how last month had two New Moons? Well, in our time zone, February has no New Moons, making it a month of letting projects launched in January have a little time to pick up speed. It’s fine to foster things already in progress, but we don’t have that New Moon energy to support initiating new plans. The Moon shines full in Leo on February

16th. This placement asks us to find balance between romance and friendship.

Another big February event occurs from the 17th through the 21st when expansive, lucky Jupiter forms a positive aspect to forward-thinking Uranus. This occurs in imaginative Pisces and practical Taurus.

Wherever these fall in your chart, you’ll discover that you suddenly know how to make real those farfetched, creative, even wacky ideas you’ve been entertaining. During these days, you might write ideas down, sketch them out, whatever it takes to capture your thoughts.

This month isn’t the best time for project launches, but exploration and planning will pay off big time.

Everyone excited for passionate, creative February? Hold on tight to that feeling because the United States will experience its first ever Pluto return on the 20th. This is the time when the God of the Underworld and ruler of wealth, returns to the exact position he held when the country was born.

Pluto is about deep transformation, especially in the areas of power structures and economics. Pluto’s return is happening in Capricorn, the sign that represents the government and the status quo. During this period, we could see profound power struggles. Pluto also brings to the surface anything that has been buried.

It’s very possible that previously guarded information could come to light. We might also experience some kind of extreme economic turmoil.

For anyone into this kind of thing, you can see what Pluto returns have looked like for older countries. You might take an internet deep dive into the Pluto returns of Rome and England.

Or maybe resist that urge, and instead whip up some hot cocoa, stack logs on the fire, and snuggle with your sweety. Happy Valentine’s Day!

CPA, CFP®

Business/Personal Tax & Financial Services Tel. 818.883.4800

Photo by Miriam Geer.

T o p a n g a’ s I n d e p e n d e n t Vo i c e S i n c e 19 7 6

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A DV E R T I S E W I T H U S ! for Information, email ads@thecanyonchronicle com CanyonOakFinancial .com January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

Environment Fernwood Rain Report 2021-2022 Season

By Eric Fitzgerald

R

ain has returned to Topanga and the southland in a big way this last December. Over 10 inches of rain pelted the Canyon, including one storm that dropped over five inches of precipitation in one 24-hour period. That is about the same amount of rain we received all last year! While this wonderful rainfall has gone a long way to recharge the water tables in the Santa Monica Mountains,

Tonga Tsunami Space Image

the region is still reeling from last year’s drought. Fortunately, this rain has fallen at a relatively steady and moderate rate that has given this life-giving moisture a chance to soak in. As usual we have received a lot more rain than the surrounding low-lying areas. Our season total of 13.47 inches of rain surpasses the 9.93 Inches of precipitation that has fallen on Los Angeles Civic Center as well as the meager 5.43 inches of the wet stuff that Fullerton has recorded to date.

This satellite image, taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite, shows an undersea volcano eruption at the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, January 15, 2022, sending large waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground (Japan Meteorology Agency).

A tsunami advisory was issued for the U.S. west coast from California to Alaska where, according to the National Weather Service, the biggest tsunami wave, as of mid-morning, was 3.3 feet in King Cove. For before and after videos of the eruption and the devastation on Tonga, https:// videos.space.com

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THE MARKETPLACE Serving Your Business through Ours • Small Ads for Big Ideas • Affordable — $60/month • We will design for you Contact us: ads@thecanyonchronicle.com 310.460.9786 The Canyon Chronicle P.O. Box 1101, Topanga CA 90290

YOUR AD HERE! January 21 • Vol. 3 No. 1

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