Santa Barbara Independent

Jerry Roberts' recent opinion piece (“ Short, Brutish and Cruel “ ) slighted Salud Carbajal for “pussyfooting with MAGA pals,” suggesting he stop reaching across the aisle and lean more left because he's in a deep blue district. Has Roberts forgotten that Carbajal represents all residents in his district, not just those that voted for him? Has he forgotten that Santa Maria, not Santa Barbara, is the largest city in the 24th Congressional District and that North County is conservative? That Salud does not take for granted that the majority of voters in his district vote Democratic is a good thing and explains why it's difficult for a Republican candidate to mount a winning campaign against him? We need more legislators to reach across the aisle, not less. That's what representative democracy is all about.

Marilyn Kirby Welsh shown with Josh, the last of nine. | Credit: Courtesy CURB YOUR HUMAN: When I was a kid, my mother had a “Shirley Chisholm for President” bumper sticker plastered to her car. That was 1972. Chisholm, then a congressmember from New York, was the first Black woman to run for president . She was a genuine badass. My mother was a genuine badass. All the way around, it was a good fit. Chisholm wound up with 300,000 votes in the primary. I think she got on the ballot in maybe 14 states. Back then, my mother posted signs reading, “I support the right to arm bears” over our kitchen sink. She was also a big believer in “ZPG,” shorthand back then for Zero Population Growth . By then, my mother had given birth to nine children It was that kind of house. Fifty-two years later, and another Black woman just ran for the White House. Different circumstances, I admit, but despite my foolhardy, optimistic predictions a few weeks ago, Kamala Harris didn't make it either I guess I owe you an apology. Right now, I'm focused on keeping my own house from burning down . Especially with me in it. Especially with me as the match. For all of you facing a similar challenge, self-immolation is never a sexy look . If nothing else, it makes your carbon footprint look fat. Right now, I find reading the news impossible . My eyes bounce off. I have to read the same paragraph three times. Then I give up. It's a common symptom for people bludgeoned with an ax handle I have taken to wearing a T-shirt I had made a few months ago that reads, “Fuck that noise.” It was part of a self-help regime I was then pioneering. I sent one of my shirts off to Anne Lamott , the great evangelist of radical self-care, self-love, and all that other Christ-infused radical self-stuff. I sent along a note explaining I was not a nut Strangely, Lamott — who spoke in town this week — never wrote back. In that same vein, I also made a T-shirt reading, “Love is the last light spoken,” a line I stole from the famous Welsh drunk — and poet — Dylan Thomas . I don't quite know what it means yet, but that's poetry. Back before he drank himself to death, Thomas spent some time at UCSB, where he famously ran off with the wife of a high-ranking English professor , inspiring yet another English professor to write a short story about it. Out of that drama, the College of Creative Studies was born. Or so I was told by my baby sister who went there. The moral of the story? Drunks and poets make history So do we all. But maybe right now, we need to exhale and inhale a few times . Gather our thoughts. Stop sputtering so much about him. And them. Maybe it's best to focus a little more on us and what we could do better. Last I checked, apoplexy was classified as a terminal disease that slowly renders its victims so boring that anyone within earshot flees Yes, we need to examine why nine million fewer of us voted for Harris than Joe Biden four years ago. How many times were we told that this was an Existential Crisis , the Death of Democracy ? Why weren't we alarmed when the Democratic Party opted not to hold a primary? Kind of a big deal when you consider it. There's a lot of necessary self-flagellation now taking place: How did the Democrats become the party of the educated, Tesla-driving elites and the Republicans the party of blue-collar workers and Latino men ? How is it Democrats could not feel — or even acknowledge — the economic pain so many are experiencing? This ground is currently being strip-mined by accomplished analysts. We will inevitably discover it's all Bill Clinton's fault — what isn't? — even though, ironically, Clinton was an absolute genius when it came to feeling other people's pain. Right now, the voice that haunts me most is that of Babatunde Folayemi , a longtime social justice advocate and Santa Barbara's first and only Black city councilmember . He died in 2012 — ancient history by Santa Barbara standards — so his name is not well-known. Folayemi was not a great councilmember, but his real genius was being a great human being . When the powers-that-be wanted to pass a gang injunction to stop youth violence then percolating in some parts of town, he suggested that we treated the kids causing the grief as if they were human beings . Maybe then they might respond in kind. Radical stuff, right? But when he said it, you felt it. It had the impact of revelation . One day, Babatunde and I were talking about another activist in town who was busy calling out all the other activists in town for not being radical enough, Black enough, or Latino enough. “I know what makes him mad,” Babatunde said, shaking his head. “But I still don't know what he loves .” At the risk of impersonating Anne Lamott: That is the question We've got four long years ahead of us. And they will be dark. And yes — to steal a line from a movie — they will drink our milkshake. To get through it, we need to focus on what we love It's not a matter of high-minded, preachy moral grandiosity. It's not about love-your-enemy. It's about survival We got four years. Hate's a luxury we can't afford Mostly, I don't want to burn myself up. I'd like to be able to read newspapers again. It's necessary for my job. Besides, I'm addicted to the funny pages. What do you love? It's the badass question. Thu, Nov 14 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Nov 23 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 28 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 4:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 6:00 PM Virtual Wed, Nov 13 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 9:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 14 4:00 PM Lompoc Thu, Nov 14 5:00 PM Carpinteria Thu, Nov 14 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Nov 23 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 28 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 4:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 6:00 PM Virtual Wed, Nov 13 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 9:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 14 4:00 PM Lompoc Thu, Nov 14 5:00 PM Carpinteria Thu, Nov 14 7:30 PM Santa Barbara

Tuesday’s protest offered Goleta students an opportunity to vent about topics such as reproductive rights, immigration, and education.

Nomad Tango brings Tango and Ballet together for a uniquely gorgeous collaboration.

Opera Santa Barbara's production of ‘Pagliacci', November 9, 2024, Lobero Theatre | Photo: Zach Mendez Opera Santa Barbara , the treasured and resilient cultural institution, has long proven itself more than adept at delivering the goods on both tragic and comic ends of the opera repertoire spectrum. Rarely, though, has OSB successfully wrestled with a tragicomic and paradoxical beast on the order of Pagliacci , which opened OSB's new season at the Lobero Theatre last week with great panache and, yes, gnashing torment. In Leoncavallo's 1890 tale of a fierce cuckolded clown, the circus element comes to town and to the stage in the giddy and gag-lined opening of Act II. All the gushing and clowning mirth of the scene, duly captured in stage director Octavio Cardenas' fascinating staging, shifts abruptly into dark and murderous dynamics. Our spirit of comic glee is effectively wiped off our face as the gods of operatic tragedy descend to the bitter end. But enough with the sly allusion to last week's election night. Opera Santa Barbara's production of ‘Pagliacci', November 9, 2024, Lobero Theatre | Photo: Zach Mendez OSB, which does a stellar job of making opera a valid art form in our midst — by whatever means necessary — has triumphed once again. The company's season-opener boasted an impressive ensemble of singer/actors — especially the robustly voiced Robert Stahley as the tortured clown whose show must go on and his unfaithful wife Nedda, the gymnastic passion juggler boldly realized by soprano Alaysha Fox. Her lovers and betrayers Silvio and Beppo were also assuredly embodied by Benjamin Brecher and Matthew Peterson, respectively. (Pop culture trivia note: Canio's famed Act I closing aria “ Vesti la giubba ” has been oft-repurposed in many pop/commercial contexts, including a Rice Krispies commercial I can't now unhear: “no more Rice Krispies, we're all out of Rice Krispies…”) A flexible and supportive orchestral sound rose from the orchestra pit, crisply conducted by OSB's multitasking leader Kostis Protopaspas, and kudos were deserved for the suitably vintage and flamboyant costumes (managed by Stacie Logue), the work of scenic and projection designer Daniel Chapman and lighting director Helena Kuukka. But wait, there's more: this production was distinguished by a clever and well-suited staging scheme, which airlifted the original opera's 19th century comedia dell ‘arte setting to the realm of Italian cinema circa the mid-20th century neo-realism period. The first sound we heard in the Lobero was not Leoncavalo's overture, but the rickety whir of a period projector, as the curtain opened on a '50s -era Italian film set. The natural fourth wall framing of the Opera, with its teasing narrator Tonio (Ben Lowe) explaining away the drama's magic tricks, worked perfectly in cinematic garb. Studio lights and a bulbous vintage pickup truck set the stage alongside a mock vintage camera, occasionally used to film and project live footage of characters in action and in song. Further stage setting arrived as snippets of archival cinema flashed by — including Buster Keaton and Giulietta Masina from Fellini's La Strada . The whiff of Fellini ambience offers a foreshadowing of the second act's tragicomic abandon at the circus — as seen in the final scene of Fellini's In the theatrical balance of the many elements in this entrancing OSB concoction lies a framework which both draws us into the characters' angst and murderous impulses while distancing us from the grit and blood of the story. We can empathize with the opera's emotionally wrought characters, while settling back into the detached observer mindset, with its handy mantra “it's only an opera/movie.” Touche, OSB. Thu, Nov 14 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Nov 23 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 28 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 4:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 6:00 PM Virtual Wed, Nov 13 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 9:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 14 4:00 PM Lompoc Thu, Nov 14 5:00 PM Carpinteria Thu, Nov 14 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Nov 23 2:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 28 12:00 PM Santa Barbara Sat, Dec 14 7:00 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 4:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 6:00 PM Virtual Wed, Nov 13 7:30 PM Santa Barbara Wed, Nov 13 9:00 PM Santa Barbara Thu, Nov 14 4:00 PM Lompoc Thu, Nov 14 5:00 PM Carpinteria Thu, Nov 14 7:30 PM Santa Barbara

Buellton, CA – SYV Community Outreach (SYVCO) is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its new building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 , from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM . The new facility is located in the former Buellton Library, right next to SYVCO's current facilities. Following the ribbon cutting, we invite the community to join us for a free Thanksgiving lunch from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM . To RSVP for the lunch, please call The relocation to this new space is a significant milestone for SYVCO, enabling us to expand our services and better serve the Santa Ynez Valley community. The new building includes a spacious dining room where seniors can gather to enjoy meals, connect with others, and foster a sense of community—an essential step in combating loneliness among older adults. Beginning December 2, 2024 , this dining room will be open to seniors from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Monday through Friday In addition to the dining area, the new facility will feature: A dedicated medical room for essential health services, including blood pressure monitoring, diabetes screenings, and other vital care resources. Expanded space for “Logan's Room” , our dedicated area for survivors of domestic violence, which includes an intake area and a specially designed recovery room to ensure maximum safety and comfort. Additional office space to support our growing administrative needs, made necessary by our expanding service offerings. Pam Gnekow, CEO of SYV Community Outreach, shared her excitement about the move: “We are so excited to move into this new building. The new space is aligned with our vision for the future of SYV Community Outreach as we plan to continue serving our community more and more. A big thank you to the City of Buellton, we couldn't have done this without them!” This exciting transition has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the City of Buellton, the County of Santa Barbara, Chumash Foundation, and The Wood-Claeyssens Foundation. We are deeply grateful for this community support, which empowers us to continue our vital work and expand our services for those in need. Thank you for being part of our journey. We look forward to serving the community from our new home in Buellton and welcoming everyone on November 20th to celebrate this new chapter together.

Fernando Velez, Sr., of Santa Barbara, California passed away on November 8, 2024 at the age of 96. He was

Mission: Implausible?Eight-Story Housing Project Proposed Behind Santa Barbara Mission Developers Look to Build Giant Residential Building Under California’s ‘Builder’s Remedy’ Law

Tudor Revival homes have left their mark on Santa Barbara.