Adrian Wright 818.939.6415
adrian.wright@compass.com DRE 00935559
We have had the joy and pleasure of helping so many wonderful people in our community this year, and we are grateful for every one of you! We’ve helped many buyers realize their dream of moving to our amazing canyon, and joining this incredibly special community. And we’ve helped many sellers to move on to new dreams, whether continuing their journeys in Topanga, or beyond. We are grateful for your support! Here’s to new beginnings and new adventures for our friends and clients!
We are grateful for our growing family! Jordan’s sweet daughter joined the family one year ago, and we were thrilled to get Jordan’s brother’s toddler twins together with Jordan’s kids for a fun (and loud!) Thanksgiving! We are so looking forward to the holidays with our friends and family, and hope you are too!
You all make our world a better place, and we are happy to be of service to our community. The constants for us are the truly special people who are a part of this magical place, and this beautiful canyon, itself! Here’s to a safe and happy season, and a new year that brings opportunities and blessings for us all.
Thank you, Adrian and Jordan
Jordan Wright 818.746.6987
jordanwright@compass.com DRE 01952694 @thewrightwayteam
Nothing could have been more festive than this year’s Sages Holiday Dinner to officially begin the many ways for us to celebrate the season of light and joy.
The Canyon Chronicle has a selection of holiday events to brighten your holiday (Page 14). Kathie Gibboney’s “A ‘Bah, Humbug’ Christmas Carol for 2022” actually has a happy-ish ending (Page 13), and if you want an escape from the holiday frenzy, Sarah Spitz offers a play, Academy Award press screenings, and a film festival at MOMA at the Hammer Museum (Page 10).
Our center spread, “In Faith Hope Rises,” we are reminded of the deeper meaning of the season with stories of everyday miracles that you might not notice except through faith. (Pages 8-9).
Reminding us that ordinary life goes on is an invitation to Know Your Town Council (Page 4); Paula LaBrot’s cautionary tale about Cryptocurrency (Page 12); Help for women athletes who want to stay active (Page 6); and a new book of poems, “QuarantineHighway,” by Millicent Borges-Accardi.
The Canyon Chronicle has one more edition for this year, December 23, where, among other things, Astrologist Kait Leonard will look to the stars for a world view of anticipated events for 2023. After that, we go on hiatus until our first edition of 2023 appears on January 20.
We wish everyone the best of the season and into the New Year.
Publisher / Editor
Flavia Potenza
Creative Director
Nira Lichten
Senior Reporter
Annemarie Donkin
Advertising Manager
Jenise Blanc-Chance
Creative Consultant
Eiffel Nazaryan
Contributors
Linda Ballou
Joel Bellman
Pablo Capra
Kathie Gibboney
Sarah Spitz
Paula LaBrot Kait Leonard Amy Weisberg
Kim Zanti
Copy Editor / Distribution
Ellie Carroll
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Topanga, CA 90290 (310) 460-9786
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The Canyon Chronicle is an independent community newspaper published bi-weekly by Canyon Media, Inc.©2020. All rights reserved. thecanyonchronicle.com
“Celebrate The Holidays Together,” painting by Valerie Walsh. “My favorite theme for the holidays. It includes the four biggest holidays: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Feliz Navidad, with all the symbols and elements of each holiday.” Valeriegallerie.com
The Topanga Town Council (TTC) and its hard-working volunteers provide an essential service that keeps the lines of communication open with our government and the agencies that serve our unincorporated mountain community.
We at The Canyon Chronicle recommend that residents keep its website, onetopanga.com, on hand and sign up for its online newsletter with civic news and information, solutions and resources that are there...for us. For example: Did you know Waste Management (WM) 0ffers customers bulky item pickup services for a nominal fee? Things like mattresses, sofas, cabinets—WM will come get them! Learn more: wm.com
OneTopanga.com also has the most extensive calendar for holiday and year-round events in Topanga and surrounding areas. TTC continues monthly meetings via Zoom, making it convenient for everyone who wants to attend.
Meetings are the second Wednesday of the month, starting again on January 11, 2023, when they will introduce our newly elected government representatives. Here are two examples of important resources found on onetopanga.com
Through a collaboration among Los Angeles County public safety agencies, the Board of Supervisors Third District office, and cities of the Santa Monica Mountains, residents can now see the official Zone Map used for emergency operations and evacuations. Knowing your zone is an important part of disaster preparedness.
The Fire Department has altered the Topanga Evacuation Zone Map to follow more of the natural boundaries and neighborhoods of our
community. Using the Zonehaven AWARE platform, first responders and residents will refer to the same set of zone maps used for planning and conducting evacuations; some residents may now be living or working in a new zone number. Beginning with the Santa Monica Mountains region, residents can now have access to information about emergency services in their zone, see real-time zone status updates and shelter options. To find your zone, enter your
address into the interactive map on Zonehaven AWARE ( https://community.zonehaven.com). Before, during, and after an evacuation you can check the status of your evacuation zone and access incident information in real time (https:// aware2.zonehaven.com) where the data comes straight from your local officials.
Household Hazardous Waste/E-Waste is any product labeled as toxic, poison, combustible, corrosive, flammable, irritant or is electronic. The health and safety of our families, neighborhoods and environment is threatened when household hazardous and electronic waste is stored or disposed of improperly.
Benefits of recycling (EPA.gov):
• reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
• conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals
• reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
• increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials
• saves energy
• supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources
• helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the U.S.
To see December drop-off dates and location: pw.lacounty.gov
Used Oil
Unused Medicines
Sharps/Medical Needles
Mercury Thermostats
Paint and Related Products
Batteries
Lawn & Garden Products
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Cell Phones
Televisions
Stereos
Radios
Printers
Microwave Ovens
DVD and CD-Players
Computers and Monitors
Small Household Appliances
California Dreaming where Palm Springs meets Topanga. An elegant one storey mid- century home in the Viewridge Estates with resort-like grounds. Close to shopping and dining and steps from the trails. The views to the south and west will knock your socks off. This 6 bedrooms and 3 baths 2690 sf house sits on approximately 19,000 sf of land. A Majestic double door opens to 10’ ceilings, spacious living room with a movie projector, floor to ceiling windows, and informal dining area. Oversized sliding glass doors give easy access to an entertainer’s dream backyard. A large sparkling salt water pool and spa are perfect for a refreshing swim on warm summer days. It’s complete with an outdoor shower to wash off the sand after a day at the beach or before you jump in the pool. The outdoor patio has an overhang with exterior blinds that offer plenty of shade and sun protection for the delicate ones. Watch the sunsets or the morning light brighten the mountains across the canyon. Or sit around the gas firepit when the cool nights set in to gaze at the moon and the stars. And Stunning Architectural Home 4BD, 3 BA WITH OFFICE AND BONUS FAMILY ROOM | SOLD AT: $1,955,000 | Representing the buyer
Kim Pierpoint, is a retired healthcare administrator and avid sprint triathlete. She did her first sprint at age 54 and was immediately hooked but out of shape.
“As I started training harder,” she writes on her website, “I experienced embarrassingly visible bladder leaks. Running track was nearly impossible and at times I had to stop and go home.”
At first, she says, “the bladder leaks were a minor annoyance. I leaked when I sneezed, coughed, or jumped on the neighbor’s trampoline.”
For a long time, she tolerated it in silence and tried every product she could find—disposable pads, incontinence underwear, and athletic apparel claiming to absorb and hide minor leaks. “Nothing worked for me but I wasn’t about to give up. The mental and physical health benefits of exercise far outweighed my personal discomfort. I vowed to come up with my own solution.”
She launched Prickly Pear Sports and designed shorts and leggings that feature a mesh brief—just like those you see in most running shorts—with a padded gusset that’s soft next to sensitive skin, absorbs and wicks moisture away from the body, and conceals urine leaks during athletic activity.
While common, bladder leaks are not normal no matter our age, fitness level, or whether we’ve borne children, and up to half of us will experience urinary leakage during our lifetime. Over 40% of elite female athletes (kick-ass women out there blasting stereotypes) experience bladder leakage during athletic activity. Older women aren’t the only ones with leaky bladders. Up to 45% of elite female high school and college athletes complain of bladder leakage during athletic activity (over 60% for gymnasts).Worst of all, about 20% of us give up doing what we love to do because of the embarrassment.
The condition is called Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI), the involuntary release of urine during activities such as running, weightlifting, jumping or even just sneezing. (Read More About SUI: pricklypearsports.com/how-they-work).
Pierpoint is determined to share the information she gleaned from her own research and experience in her blog. “Through education, behavior modification techniques, strengthening exercises, stretching, biofeedback, electrical stimulation, and
other techniques according to individual need, they can help you get your pee-free life back.
We strongly encourage women to consult a pelvic floor physical therapist or urogynecologist to diagnose and treat the problem that’s causing the incontinence to begin with. Judging from their growing presence on social media,” Pierpoint writes, “Pelvic floor physical therapists and urogynecologists have a thriving practice of grateful patients who are regaining health, function, and a return to normal physical activity free from bladder leaks. Pelvic floor PTs and urogyns are experts in the evaluation and treatment of pelvic floor disorders.”
Prickly Pear Sports’ mission is to enable active women—and women who long to be active again—to run, jump, laugh or lift without the embarrassment of visible bladder leaks. We want you off the sidelines and back doing what you love to do. Find out what’s causing your bladder to leak, seek treatment, and stay active while you’re at it. Go the distance with confidence.
Pricing: Leggings: $75; Shorts: $65. For more information: pricklypearsports.com; Instagram: @ pricklypearsports; Facebook: @pricklypearsports.
To find a physical therapist trained in pelvic floor health, visit the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy website at https://aptapelvichealth.org/ patienteducation
Consult a urogynecologist, a physician who has received special training to diagnose and treat women with pelvic floor disorders: Find one near you in the American Urogynecologic Society’s provider directory: voicesforpfd.org/finda-provider.
Quarantine Highway by local poet Millicent Borges Accardi, is a collection of poetry that strikes an important balance between rejection and criticism and latterly, the everyday interactions and passing encounters that make up human existence at large.
From the very start of this collection Accardi seeks to engage the reader beyond the concrete, and simultaneously, beyond the realm of mere possibility. “All was if and maybe and meanwhile” encapsulates the sentiment that Accardi manages to drip to the reader throughout. Accardi questions the impact of quarantine and the pandemic through the lens of the mundane made extraordinary. Examples of this can be seen with “a mere description of how it was not supposed to be” in relation to the U.S. census. Accardi compliments the strangeness of the pandemic with the musings of the mundane that spill over into food orders and social distancing jarring: We pray and we dream, to dominate, born only to distinguish, our weird worldly support system gone, all, within six feet of social distance and water droplets.
Accardi grapples with the constraints and restraints that tested our collective humanity’s ability to endure the confines that resulted from the emergence of the pandemic. Accardi presents her own trials and errors that overlap with the pandemic but also with the emotions and actions and experiences that make the human experience so emotive, so raw and complex: We drift in this new future in the now of the stopped moment
of where we are as we are being lost now, again, inside out and stuck in deep stagnancy,
The awe-inspiring imagery and emotional depiction that Accardi so talentedly presents engages the reader beyond merely the words on the page and instead presents a world seldom considered; the thoughts and workings of the inner mind that are often in a world of their own: And, I am ashes, turning over to extinguish the inevitable. My civility, apparent, having a total hold on reality, shaken to ice once again.
Such imagery engenders a sense of unique introspection that transcends this collection and highlights the bold tenacity of Accardi and her whimsical words. As a whole, “Quarantine Highway” is not a collection that is centered on the pandemic but a collection that speaks to the isolation, fragility and contrasting darkness and light that exist within all of us. This collection is one that should be savored on dark nights of the soul where one seeks to truly understand their mind. This collection wrestles with the intimate and the banal and makes the reader all the better for ruminating in its genius.
Quarantine Highway is available from Flowersong Press (flowersongpress.com).
Topanga poet Millicent Borges Accardi is an awardwinning Portuguese-American writer, and the author of three full-length poetry books: “Injuring Eternity” (World Nouveau, 2010), “Only More So” (Salmon Poetry, 2016) and “Through a Grainy Landscape” (New Meridian Arts Press, 2021). Among her awards are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), California Arts Council, and Barbara Deming Foundation, “Money for Women.” She tweets: @TopangaHippie.
A.R.Salandy is a Black Mixed-race poet and writer who has spent most of his life in Kuwait jostling between the UK and America. He has three published chapbooks, “The Great Northern Journey” (2020, Lazy Adventurer Publishing), and “Vultures” (2021, Roaring Junior Press), and a novel, “The Sands of Change” (2021, Alien Buddha Press). His chapbook, “Half Bred,” was the Winner of the 2021“The Poetry Question” Chapbook contest. Salandy is editor-inchief of Fahmidan Journal and Poetry Editor at Chestnut Review. Twitter/Instagram: @arsalandy; arsalandywriter.com.
Gorgeous newly built 3 bedroom, 3 bath, plus a bonus room home in Topanga Canyon. Enjoy panoramic Canyon and City views from the over 900 sq. ft.
Entertainment deck! Beautiful spacious chef’s kitchen with custom shaker cabinets, large center island, quartz counter tops, and stainless appliances. Gated community features a pool, spa, gym, recreation room, and a playground. Located just minutes from shopping, restaurants, hiking trails, and Malibu’s most beautiful beaches!
Every drop is sacred
A blessing and a promise.
A rain, big or smallIt’s the intent that matters.
Cleansing, new growth, fresh starts.
A gift of the Heavens.
Manna for the soul. Life, birth, redemption
The Cosmos in a drop, Shares herself with herself And her children.
—Alan J. Adler
Christmas is upon us and I look forward to this season. The Nativity scene, the trees and lights, getting together with family and neighbors and meeting new ones. My husband John and I have been married for 45 years, are blessed with seven kids, and soon, grandkids.
While growing up, my home life was completely unstable. My mother was married five times and my father was married six times. So from a young age, I felt very insecure, lonely and fearful no matter the season.
One day, when I was 12 years old, I noticed in my older sister, Linda, a real change in her life; I saw a joy and peace within her that I had never seen in her before. I asked her what happened and she shared with me the simple Gospel: How Jesus came to earth, and that He died a brutal death on a cross, and paid the price for all our sins, and that anyone who believed in Him, will have life everlasting. Linda shared with me how she prayed and asked Jesus to forgive all her sins, and to come into her heart, that she wanted to follow Him forever.
When I heard the story of a loving Father giving up His only Son for me, I bowed my head and asked Jesus to come into my life and for Him to take over. And He did! My sister gave me a Bible, and I began to read it, the Holy Spirit was inside of me now and helped me to understand His Word. Honestly, if you read the Gospels you will fall in love with Jesus. You see His heart poured out for all of humanity! I began to go to church and my life
began to thrive. I felt the peace and the love of God in amazing ways.
Sadly for many, Christmas brings many feelings of regret, heartache over broken relationships, struggles at work, and many feel so alone. But did you know that Jesus is familiar with being rejected, wounded, betrayed, and misunderstood, even by those who walked with Him for over three years, whom He called His friends?
The Bible says in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin.” This verse declares that although Jesus was God in the flesh, born of a woman, and when He walked on this earth,
He faced every temptation you and I have ever had, yet without sin! So when you are feeling weak, depressed, or fearful you can go to Him; He loves and understands you and will help you.
Do you know that Jesus designed you with a purpose, and has gifted you to accomplish all that He has for you to do? Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He prepared before the foundation of the earth.” There is not another person on this earth with your attributes and abilities. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope.”
I hope this Christmas you will experience our Father’s greatest
gift of all: The peace of God that surpasses all understanding and the joy that comes from knowing that all your sins are forgiven. You will now have the power to love and forgive others, who have wounded you. All it takes is a sincere prayer for your life to totally turn around.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The next time you see a Nativity where the angels are singing, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth Peace and Goodwill toward men,” remember that Child was born for you.
Throughout the world there and call upon us to bring the understanding.” We invited Rabbi of the Chabad of Topanga, the and a spiritual therapist, to share“Big Rain or Small—Every Drop Counts!” Photographer Alan Adler caught the beauty of rain in his yard. You don’t have to go far to find “The Cosmos in a drop.”
are those who walk different paths of faith the message of “The peace that surpasses all Rabbi Mendy Piekarski and Rabbi Dovid Weiss the wife of our Christian pastor, a neighbor, share their stories of miracles through faith.
was 1944 in the Buchenwald concentration camp, and S. B. Unsdorfer was getting ready to celebrate Chanukah. Despite the harsh conditions in the camp, all he could think about was how he would be able to celebrate Chanukah this year. He decided with his friends that they will do anything to make it happen.
The big question at hand was how would they be able to get oil and wicks to create a menorah. Grunwald, a good friend of Unsdorfer, decided to step in and help. He managed to convince the S.S. Officer who was in charge of the factory in which they worked, to give him a can of oil for the week to oil down the machines at the factory so they can work faster. Now, for the wicks. When evening arrived, Unsdorfer unraveled a few threads from his thin blanket which he used for sleeping and created a wick. That is when Unsdorfor realized they were missing one last item. A match. The next day during dinner time, Unsdorfor and Grunwald decided to save up the extra soup from dinner, and exchange it with Chef Joseph for a box of matches. So far, everything went smoothly. But will they be able to light the menorah on Chanukah? Only time will tell.
A few days passed and the fateful time arrived. On the eve of Chanukah, after a long day of work, Unsdorfer and Grunwald sat down at the foot of their bed to light their crafted menorah: a bit of oil and a wick inside an empty half of a shoe polish tin. As they lit the menorah, the power of the moment overtook them. They realized that they had just lit the candles that their ancestors have been lighting for thousands of years. For a brief moment, it almost felt that the dark and cold winter in the concentration camp did not exist. The light shined ever brighter and warmed their hearts.
Suddenly the silence was broken as an S.S. Officer stormed the room. He shouted, “I smell oil!” as he gazed around the room, his eyes fell on
the two men huddled around the oil menorah. There was no turning back. This would be their last Chanukah alive. As the officer reached for his pistol, a siren went off in the air. It was an air raid. All the lights were suddenly off in the camp, and everyone started running toward the open ground, including the S.S. Officer. The men’s lives were saved. Another Chanukah miracle.
Chanukah is not just a tale from the past. Chanukah is the story of our lives. It is what carried us through any hardship, from generation to generation. Whenever we are faced with a challenge, a darkness that seems to negatively affect our lives,
we can always look deeper into the light within us. The everlasting menorah within each of us is an eternal flame that can outlast any darkness. So shine your light, and spread it to those around you.
Happy Chanukah!
On Dec.19, 4 p.m., a Community Lighting of the Menorah will take place, with a children’s program, latkes, donuts and more, music, and a Juggling show. Free Admission. Chabad of Topanga is located at 1459 Old Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. CA 90290. For information: (310) 4551597; rabbiweiss@hotmail.com; chabadoftopanga.com.
During one of my recent client sessions with a woman who is going through an advanced stage cancer diagnosis, she was sharing how grateful she is for her three sons’ steadfast love and support through her journey of treatment.
In my first remote session with Karin she invited her husband and sons to be present so they could understand the type of holistic support she would be receiving from me through treatment. At the end of the session I guided us all through a meditation, calling in all sources of Love and Light to support her through her journey. Even through the moments of doubt and fear, Karin has remained in her gratitude and love, which is the most powerful healing energy.
During our most recent session, with tears of joy she shared the good news that her tumors have shrunk 28% to 30% and her tumor markers were down 68% to 70%. Karin continues to nurture her Self, first through good nutrition, exercise when she has the energy to do so, sitting outside in the morning sun, meditating and saying prayers and allowing her body to rest and recover when she feels fatigued. Being a woman who always has taken care of others before herself, Karin needs to practice the resting part more.
At the end of our session I recorded another gratitude meditation for her and her family to be shared with them over the holidays. At the end of that meditation these words came to me: Living in the energy of miracles is love and gratitude.
Spiritual therapist Dianne Porchia of Porchia’s WISH* uses principles of mindbody medicine and spiritual practices such as meditation, mindfulness, qi gong, and yoga to effectively reduce stress, support immune function, and bring the body, mind, heart and soul back to balanced wellness. *W.I.S.H. stands for Whole Integrated Self Healing and is Porchia’s program for healing, loving and living consciously. She is featured in “HEAL Documentary” (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video). PorchiasWISH.com.
How the ancient story of Chanukah is relevant through the centuries and to our lives today.
ItIt was Chanukah 2021 during the pandemic and everyone had to stay home. Rabbi Weiss and his son-in-law Rabbi Mendy Piekarski, drove around Topanga in a pickup truck carrying a lighted Menorah—A Mobile Menorah—to spread light and joy to people’s homes, where they delivered packages of Chanukah gifts, such as dreidle and gelt for the children, and a mini-menorah with candles. Everyone was overjoyed to find the package right by their front door!
A play, an Academy Award press screening, and a film festival at MOMA are all good escapes from the holiday frenzy.
What happens when a former prisoner tries to find a job?
Mostly they’re shunted from one employer to another, being rejected at every turn. But what happens when a former prisoner opens a truck stop diner and only hires former prisoners? Great premise for a redemptive ending? Life doesn’t really work that way, though, does it.
But it doesn’t mean you can’t make a comedy out of that situation. That is just what Lynn Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer Prize drama winner, has created in Clyde’s , now onstage at the Mark Taper Forum. Nominated for five Tony Awards, and the single most-produced play in America this season, Clyde’s was originally titled Floyd’s , but in deference to the Floyd George murder, Nottage changed it.
In this comic drama—ostensibly about second chances but a lot about sandwiches—you might expect sunshine and roses. And instead you get Clyde, who may just be the devil incarnate, judging from the actual flames that appear on stage with her.
Great staging, by the way, a typical bare-bones industrial kitchen where four characters fantasize about the perfect sandwich, as the lighting shifts from fluorescent to rosy-glowing dreamy, with music that could accompany a meditation retreat. They let their imaginations run wild with combinations of ingredients, flavors, textures and surprises.
Until Clyde dings the bell in the pass-through and calls out for grilled cheese on white bread.
Clyde (Tamberla Perry) is one ice-cold mama, whose endless costume and wig changes emphasize her curvaceous body and fabulous face, while hiding her dark heart. She taunts and insults the employees, who know they have nowhere else to go. But there’s also something shady about the diner, never fully explained but hovering just below the surface.
The cooks include mystical Montrellous (Kevin Kenerly), whose Buddha-like Zen-ness is the moral center of the play; single-mom Letitia (Nedra Snipes) who is inspired to dream; Latin lover Rafael (Reza Salazar, from the world premiere production and the Broadway cast) who considers other options;
and late-comer, white-supremacytattooed Jason (Garrett Young), who just wants things to be quiet, no confrontations, please.
The stories of how they came to be incarcerated are slowly revealed. Rumor has it that Montrellous went to prison out of principle. Montrellous is the peacemaker, even as he attempts to tempt Clyde with his sandwiches, to which she begins to succumb but ultimately refuses to bite. Grilled cheese and burgers are all she wants to know about.
The play is non-stop witty repartee with sharp banter, some conflict, some romance, some idealistic moments of regret, but with recognition that the cooks’ situations are what they are. I won’t give away the ending but I will say that a night out at Clyde’s is a theater night well spent. It’s onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through December 18. Tickets: centertheatregroup.org/tickets
International film contenders for the upcoming Academy Awards are holding press screenings around town. I just saw Austria’s official entry, Corsage, which translates as “corset,” and that’s what Empress Elisabeth (Vicky Krieps) forces herself into to maintain her wasp waist—18 inches at its widest—with tremendous pain.
As the movie opens, she’s turning
40 and obsessed with her looks as apparently everyone else is.
This isn’t a bio-pic (some facts have been changed) but rather a psychological portrait of a woman who was both ahead of her time and trapped in it. Known for her beauty, she was imprisoned by it, eating anorexically and exercising maniacally. She’d been shunted aside, considered merely a ceremonial figure. Which is a shame because she’s an intellectual with political smarts. She acts out her wild nature with horseback riding and wanderlust travels, but with her imperiousness, rumors of affairs and some of her personal quirks, including her scandalous cigarette habit, she is viewed with resentment.
In its way, it’s a feminist take on the repression of women. Corsage won Krieps Best Performance award at Cannes Film Festival’s “Un Certain Regard,” and it’s an Indie Spirit Award nominee. Opens in Los Angeles on December 23
There’s a terrific film festival underway in Westwood at the Hammer Museum, “The MoMA Contenders,” spotlighting influential and innovative films from the past 12 months.
By the time you read this, just four of the ten films remain to be
screened in the Billy Wilder Theater, with special introductions and postscreening conversations featuring filmmakers, cast and other guests. All screenings begin at 7:30 p.m.
Find tickets and more info at: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programsevents/2022/moma-contenders-2022
Monday, December 12 Sr., Robert Downey Jr.’s documentary about his filmmaker father, Robert Downey Sr., and a post-screening discussion with Chris Smith, Robert Downey Jr., and Susan Downey.
Tuesday, December 13 Women Talking, Sarah Polley’s searing new drama, features special guest, Claire Foy.
Wednesday, December 14 Bones and All, a lonely cannibal tale by Luca Guadagnino, screens on with star Taylor Russell.
Thursday, December 15 . The series ends with Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, introduced by the director himself.
Sarah A. Spitz is an award-winning public radio producer, retired from KCRW, where she also produced arts stories for NPR. She writes features and reviews for various print and online publications.
This story begins in Perris, California, the morning after a long night spent sleeping in the back seat of a car.
The situation was pretty simple. We drove up a road late at night, hung out for a while and then as we made the journey home we returned to that same road and found it blocked off. After a long night of hitting dead ends and at one point driving over a few holes of a golf course, we all went through various stages of grief as we realized nobody was going home that night, the four of us leaned back into our seats to get some rest.
The following morning we woke to find the path sealed off and the car battery dead. It’s worth noting we were all freshman in college so nobody was missing curfew but that being said, we all had class at 1 p.m., so when the sun came up and the path was still blocked, we set out on foot in search of civilization and cell service.
We took a few steps onto the green of a nearby golf course.
“Dude thank god I’m not still living at my mom’s” murmured Lainey in between exhausted huffs. “If I got home right now, after having been out of touch all night, I’d be getting la chancla”
“You’d what?” I asked.
“I think it means her mom hits her with a shoe,” Jazzi chimed in.
“Your mom hits you with a shoe?” I asked? “That’s messed up.”
“No, it’s not like that,” Lainey continued. “It’s a Hispanic thing... sort of like tradition.”
“It’s tradition that your mom hits you with a shoe?” I continued. “At my house we do like Thanksgiving dinner.”
We stopped for a moment to take a beat as we aimlessly kicked golf balls around the putting green under our feet. Suddenly, shots rang out all around us. Gunshots and lots of yelling.
“Lainey!” Cody, the owner of the stuck car, spoke up. “Is it possible your mother traded in her slippers for a machine gun?”
Suddenly, a voice cried out from behind a treeline, “Meeeeeddiiiiccc! I need a medic!” Followed by a second voice, low and harsher, “No! Shut up! You’re dead!”
We all exchanged confused looks as we approached the treeline. We pushed our way through vegetation, breaking the treeline. Looking down over a cliff we could see the second hole of the course, covered in 50 or so men dressed in Civil War-era soldiers’ uniforms, firing blanks at each other. (Normally I would have said “men and women” but we did not encounter any female soldiers in either regiment).
The bangs continued, smoke and flashes burst from gun barrels and prop cannons, people ran at each other with bayonets, stopping a few feet from their enemies before flailing their arms up into the air
“Arhhhhgggg… you’ve got me,”
one solider cried out.
Also, it never occurred to me until years later as I was writing this article, who attends a civil war reenactment in northern California?
Anyway, I swear to Gd this is actually true, but I genuinely saw one solider hit the ground before shakily reaching his wounded arm into his jacket pocket to pull out a letter, handing it to the man who had just bayoneted him. “Give this to my best gal back home,” he said before positioning his head comfortably on the grass to “die.”
By the time our brains had caught up to what was happening, the marching beat of footsteps could be heard making its way up the dirt path behind us.
An outfit of men, maybe ten of them, approached us, all dressed up as Civil War infantry but with various degrees of effort; one guy was wearing a cavalry jacket over a purple Blink-182 T-shirt. A few of the guys had shaved their beards into side burns. The soldiers were confederates.
“I surmise you fellas ain’t with the war effort,” one asked.
“You ain’t a Union man, are ya boy?”
“Uhm...any of you guys got jumpers? Our car’s dead. Or could you just point us to the nearest road or…Denny’s,” one of us asked.
“Road? If your lookin’ for civilization there’s an outpost down this way. That’s where General Lee stays.”
One of the men then whispered “It’s where our families and stuff set up lawn chairs so they can watch.
My friends and I all exchanged looks. Lainey shot me a sharp glance, being half black, half Puerto Rican, she was less than amused with the situation.
To be continued...
Long Distance Listening Party Vol. 21
This playlist is available on Spotify. Search my user name, Mileserickson++-354.
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Studmuffin96, Alex Cameron. Okay, remember when I did that segment discussing songs written about underage girls and how the songs fetishized and infantilized them in problematic ways? “Studmuffin96” is like the final boss of that genre,
the Apollo Creed of sexualizing minors. The lyrics made me genuinely uncomfortable. I really wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, googling his age to see if maybe he was also a minor when he wrote the song, only to find out the man is 32 years old!!!
If print journalism allowed for it I’d include a skull emoji here. Anyway, in defense of this song, you could definitely make the argument that Alex Cameron is doing a parody of artists like Bret Michaels and songs like “Kiss from a Rose.”
Blankets, Craig Finn. Craig Finn is one of those singers whose voice is immediately recognizable, like Tom DeLonge or Iggy Pop. I Need A New War feels like a much more mature album than anything he made with The Hold Steady rock band. This is more like Craig Finn doing late era Leonard Cohen, which I find interesting considering Stay Positive, The Hold Steady’s most popular album, basically sounds like a record made exclusively of songs that didn’t make the cut for a Bruce Springsteen album. So I’d say this is a welcome change.
Miles Erickson is a recent grauate of CalArts and a published author.
Long Distance Listening Party’s vague intention is to discuss topics framed in the context of what he’s currently listening to.
As a documentary filmmaker I learned very quickly that real life is more fascinating than fiction. Nothing illustrates this more than the true tale of the fall of crypto’s golden boy, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). Huddle up, dear readers, this story is a corker!
Sam Bankman-Fried, son of two Stanford professors, went to MIT where he encountered the Effective Altruism (EA) movement. Essentially, the EA idea is to make a lot of money for the purpose of giving it away. Using wealth for good became SBF’s talk, “My goal is to do as much good as I can for the world.” His walk turned out to be quite a different path.
After college, SBF headed to Wall Street. He became bullish on crypto. He made a ton of money buying cheaper crypto in Asia and selling it for higher prices elsewhere. Big profits! He founded Alameda Research to make the crypto trades. Two years later, he founded FTX, his Futures Exchange. FTX established its own digital coin called FTT.
Crypto Exchanges are online platforms where you can exchange one cryptocurrency for another cryptocurrency (or for fiat currency). Cryptocurrency Funds are pools of professionally managed cryptocurrency assets. These are
strictly for investment and are managed by people like SBF.
Charming, folksy, “altruistic” SBF, wearing hoodies, scruffy shorts and often appearing in bare feet, became the darling of crypto. He had zoom meetings with investors during which, unbeknownst to his customers, he played video games while negotiating for millions of venture capital dollars to be invested in FTX. He had meetings with Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, celebrity CEO’s…a lot of biggies. No one ever checked to see he had no board of directors, no chief financial officer to hold accountable for their investments. The elite capitalists just liked the little swindler. They gave him their money.
The Middle—The Fallacy of Celebrity SBF used his customers’ assets to fund political donations ($5million to Joe
Biden’s campaign), to buy properties ($300 million in mansions and beachfront vacation homes for SBF, his parents and senior executives), and for sports investments (paid $135 million for naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena) and lots of other projects, including his brother’s foundation. So far, it looks like he used $8-10 billion dollars of his customers’ money. And…this little fiend got some of the most famous people in America to hustle for him!
Using wealth for good was SBF’s pitch. Validated and celebrated in Vogue and The New Yorker magazines, SBF became a media darling. You know who supported him? People like Tom Brady, Shohei Ohtani, Larry David, Stephen Curry, Trevor Lawrence and others.
But I say, “SBF, how dare you involve my beloved Shaq?! Now, you are on my permanent villain list, SBF, because Shaq is the kindest, most loving, generous, most walk-thewalk-for-good celebrity on earth, and I know he will take this betrayal hard, because so many people got hurt.”
People who invested in FTX lost their money. Big and little people. The top 50 investors alone are owed $3 billion dollars. There is no FDIC insurance like banks have. And not just investors lost. Employees, who believed in the mission for good, had taken their salaries in the now worthless FTT coin FTX created and had held for them or had siphoned off to the Alameda Research Group.
The crypto world is un-regulated. What is so ironic is that SBF was the
darling of the Congress last summer, testifying about the crypto industry and touting the need for more transparency and regulation. You know what SBF calls ethics? “A dumb game we woke westerners play.”
You can’t make this stuff up!
Last October, in Riyadh at the Davos in the Desert financial summit, SBF was trying to hustle funds from wealthy investors who attend the affair. In some private meetings, he trashed ChangPeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, another crypto exchange…actually, the largest in the world. At one time partners, now the two men were about to shake the crypto world to its core.
SBF made derogatory remarks about Zhao in private meetings. On Nov.4, Substack published a sort of “anonymous” crypto researcher called Dirty Bubble Media who essentially questioned if FTX were solvent. According to The Guardian, on Nov. 6, Zhao set off alarm bells among investors when he tweeted, “...due to recent revelations that have come to light”, Biance would liquidate its holding of FTT tokens. “We are not against anyone, but we won’t support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs.”
FTX could not pay. SBF had drained its assets. And poof, FTX collapsed.
The fall of FTX has resonated throughout the crypto world. A crisis of confidence in the crypto market has emerged. The lack of regulation, a failure of management, and the destruction of investor trust have impacted the entire crypto industry. My feeling is that digital currencies are here to stay, but require careful thought and skillful management if you are going to invest in them.
Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried is under supervision in the Bahamas and has resigned as CEO of FTX. FTX has filed for bankruptcy and investors are suing. The FTC is trying to put together criminal charges…at least, they say they are. But it’s kind of a “ya pays your money and ya takes your chances” situation.
The Sam Bankman-Fried movie is already in development. For real.
Vamos a ver!
By Kathie Gibboney
Last year at this time, the Beleaguered Husband, knowing my deep and abiding love for Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” purchased tickets for us to see a production at the Ahmanson.
“How elegant,” I thought, imagining us in plush seats, picturing the Old English set, the thrilling arrival of Marley’s Ghost, the journey to redemption, I might even cry a little bit at the end whispering along with the final words, “God bless us, everyone.”
Then, alas, the Christmas pudding collapsed. We received notice, that due to COVID, the event was canceled. Believing the Ahmanson an admirable intuition, we, ignorant reindeer in the headlights, assumed we would automatically receive our refund. With all the flurry and fanatical fun of Christmas around us, we did not carefully read the fine print (Of Course We Didn’t), informing us that for the charge to be credited back to our account we needed to have applied within ten days, not to the reputable theater box office but to the sketchy ticket agency through which my husband had unknowingly purchased the tickets.
Sometime in January we realized the error of our ways and after many attempts to request a refund we were stuck with a credit. That might not have been so bad but, let’s just call it, Ick-etsales.com, seemed to offer tickets to limited and what I deemed unappealing events, such as an Iron Maiden tribute band, Disney on Ice, and more Disney on Ice, or the Three Stooges Big Screen Event.
Okay, I admit there might be some wacky amusement to be had at an immersive Stooges fest and I bet those in attendance would have come dressed as their favorite Stooge; the camaraderie of Moe alone might have been worth it. But when there was something we wanted to see like Steely Dan, Chili Peppers, Martin Short, the prices were astronomically inflated for really bad seats; I’m talking the worst seats in the house, the very back row at a large arena, or
seats with a partial view of the stage. Did I mention their sales site has a one-star rating?
I recently read the customer reviews, a collection of bad times being had by all, with the word “scam” appearing over and over. I believe I even heard the Grinch laughing as I scrolled through the woeful tales of tickets that never arrived, hidden, undisclosed fees, and all those crying children unable to attend Disney on Ice. Oh, shame on you Ick-etsales. com
Yet Christmas is about faith and what am I supposed to do with the gosh-darn credit which haunts me like the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future?
Now, being the holiday season once again, I’d like to find a festive Christmassy activity to attend. Mind you, not the standard fare but I’d like to range a bit farther afield,
Topanga Actors Company presents a staged reading with music of A Christmas Memory, by Truman Capote, featuring Buddy, “my cousin,” Queenie, the dog and 30 fruitcakes. Directed by Paula LaBrot. At the Topanga Library Free/Open Seating topangaactorscompany@ theatercompany.org
something new and innovative, perhaps the Hip Hop Nutcracker, or A Christmas Carol Rap. However, no such exotic selections are offered so it’s the classic presentation of either, The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol, although for a moment I’m tempted elsewhere: What says Christmas better than An Evening with Pauley Shore? Unless it’s, An Evening with Pauley Shore on Ice?
Oh, I love the music of the Nutcracker Ballet, that lilting, lively, haunting, melodic journey around the world, complete with transportation courtesy of a Swan Sled, but it is A Christmas Carol we choose. After all, that’s what we missed seeing last December and it is that book I read faithfully each year, conjuring up the sound of my mother’s voice, soft and low as she read aloud to my brother and me all those many years ago. Little brother
and I would moan when she stopped reading and said, “And that’s all for tonight.”
In the old book, published in 1939, I can still see the small pencil check she made to mark the place so we could find where to continue the next night, I pass my hand across them. One such mark comes just as Scrooge is talking to the Ghost of Christmas Past, who asks a penitent Scrooge, “What is the matter?”
“Nothing,” said Scrooge. “Nothing. There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. I should have liked to have given him something; that’s all.”
The Ghost smiled thoughtfully and waved its hand: saying as it did so, “Let us see another Christmas!”
What a perfect place to pause.
The book is now held together with tape, some pages darkened from when I dropped it in the mud walking home from school where I’d brought it for Show and Tell. But it still shines for me. Especially in that it had been a present to my mother’s son from a former marriage, a young boy who sadly drowned in a Pennsylvania creek at age five. So, in addition to the check marks, I cherish as well, the brief inscription on the front page, To Dear Philip, Christmas 1942. I like to think somehow, at this time of year he knows I think of him. And hold his book dear.
There are, I believe swirling through the ethers, certain stories, pieces of music, art or ideas, that are bestowed by our watching angels on worthy or lucky mortals, so as to better our weary world. In hubris I lament not having written “A Christmas Carol,” but I am so happy Mr. Charles Dickens did. I have heard he laughed and cried over those sixty-six pages he composed, as do I each time I read them.
When purchasing the tickets, I am charged an additional handling fee of $80. It does not surprise me; I was prepared for some such Hum Bug. Along with the money we will have to spend on gas to drive all the way to Costa Mesa, we are investing much. All I can say is that Tiny Tim better be good.
God Bless Us, Everyone!
n Saturday, December 10, 4-7 p.m. Topanga Canyon Gallery’s Artists reception with food, drinks and a new collection of contemporary fine art. The second annual Small Works Holiday Show runs through Friday, December 23. This is a curated selection of new small works from over 30 local Los Angeles artists. Start a collection or find a perfect holiday gift from the exhibit of limited-edition photography prints, sculpture, glass works, ceramics, original oil paintings, acrylic, watercolor, digital art, and mixed media.The Gallery will be closed Christmas Eve for the Holidays and reopens January 3, 2023 with two new solo exhibitions from member artists Kate Browning and Debbi Green. Topanga Canyon Gallery is located at 137 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga, CA 90290. For information: info@topangacanyongallery.com; @ topangacanyongallery. Gallery hours: Friday, 1-7 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday: 12-6 p.m.
n Saturday, December 10, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Theatricum Holiday Family Faire. Enjoy a day of Artisan Holiday Marketplace, Festive Food & Drink, Take a photo with Santa & Mrs. Claus; Special Performances of Harry Nilsson’s The Point! with Kiefo Nilsson and Kate Micucci; Aerialist Lexi Pearl; Winter Holiday Storytelling; and Caroling and Singing Madrigals. Theatricum.com/
HolidayFamily Faire; (310) 455-3723.
n Now through Friday, December 30, Holiday Road LA at King Gillette Ranch. Stroll along the Holiday Road walking trail among one of the most festive light displays in L.A. with larger-than-life holiday installations, thousands of Christmas lights, Santa & Mrs. Claus, elves, countless candy canes and a souvenir shop. Then find the food truck of your choice for the evening meal and your favorite beverage at the 21+ bar. Tickets: $24.99- $39.99 per person. On-site parking: $5.99-$9.99 per car. Reservations: tixr.com/groups/ holidayroadusa. Located at 26800 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302.
n Sunday, December 11, 7:30 p.m. Love on the Other Side of Death Mary Guillermin’s late husband, film director John Guillermin, saw death as a final end. Her play traces the story of his post-death change of attitude and how she truly feels a two-way love on the other side of death. Guillermin’s narration of the dying process and the question of life after death is woven in with her poetry and art of how these experiences changed her life. Tickets: eventbrite.com/e/love-on-the-other-sideof-death-a-magical-tale-of-grief-lossjoy-tickets-429856641787. The Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046.
Mary Guillermin, LMFT, is also Editor & Co-author of “John
Guillermin: The Man, The Myth, The Movies,” Bronze medal winner of 2022 IPPY Independent Publishing Book Awards, and Bronze medal winner 2022 Living Now Publishing Book Awards. thefemininityproject@ gmail.com
n Sunday, December 18, 4-8 p.m., 32nd Annual Snow Night & Community Potluck Play in the snow with your friends and neighbors, enjoy the potluck feast and shop local. All stores are open late. Bring food to share. Pine Tree Circle, 120 S. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
n Sunday, December 18, 2. p.m., A Christmas Memory Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago. ‘Oh, my’ she exclaims, her breath smoking the windowpane. “It’s fruitcake weather! She is “my cousin,” and the narrator is “Buddy,” also known as the famous writer Truman
Capote. The staged reading with music and sound effects is directed by Paula LaBrot, who dedicates this show “in memory of our dear friend, Joanne Martinez, a most loving and beloved soul.” Join Topanga Actors Company and stay for fruitcake (or cookies!). FREE ADMISSION. Suitable for children 10 years and up. Questions? Email: topangaactorscompany@ theatercompany.org. For information: topangaactorscompany.weebly.com TAC is also on Facebook.
n December 18, 6 p.m., Heart Medicine Concert & Sound Healing. A Shamanic Healing Journey with Annmarie Soul, Reya Manna and healing artist Evan Perman to invite winter solstice energy for an evening of heart opening music to lift and nourish the spirit. The evening begins with a Heart Medicine offering of sacred songs mantras and prayers, followed by a shamanic sound journey with indigenous musical instruments accompanied by Dave Norwoods on tabla and hand pan, and Dov-G on the violin. The music of Heart Medicine is a combination of sacred songs and melodies inspired by nature and spirit. Bring a cushion to sit on. $33 reserves your place via Venmo: Annmarie Soul (2794) or Paypal: annmariesolo@yahoo. com (Please use friends/family tab, important). Hosted by Helena Kriel. For information: helenakriel77@gmail. com.
