Posted by toni-s on: February 07 2010
We attended a screening of "That Evening Sun". It was shown Friday night and Saturday morning at the Metro 4 as part of the Santa Barbara Film Festival. It played to a well-deserved full house. Taken from the short story by William Gay, who writes sensitively about the south, this movie was poignant and exquisitely crafted. Hal Holbrook beautifully plays the complex character, Abner Meecham, an old farmer, who finds himself alone in a nursing home environment he did not choose. Determined to go "home" he makes his way back to his farm, to find that his son has rented the place to the family of Lonzo Choat, who Abner views as "good-for-nothing" white trash. As Abner makes his choice to stay on the farm, against the wishes of everyone involved, he is presented with several opportunities to help or hinder. As the movie progresses we learn that Abner is feisty, unflinching and unwilling to reach out to any of the helping hands that are offered to him. Ray McKinnon plays Lonzo Choat, a man who has always been a "failure" and still struggles to transform himself and the life of his family, who tries and fails, and still tries to do the right thing. Carrie Preston's performance as Ludie is nuanced and touching as a wife who has watched her husband fail, has suffered his abuse, but who still loves him. Mia Wasikowska is the daughter, Pamela, who reaches out in friendship to Abner, who has also experienced abuse at her father's hands. Her performance was lovely in it's tenderness and confusion.
The rest of the cast, Walton Goggins as Abner's neighbor and Barry Corbin as Abner's son Paul, are perfectly pitched and satisfying complex, in this story of the south that vibrates with the beauty of place and human conflict.
Directed by Scott Teems, music by Michael Penn, Produced in part by Santa Barbara local, Laura Smith.
Posted by toni-s on: January 18 2010
Today Santa Barbara celebrated the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Despite the literally drenching rain, a good-sized group gathered for the "Pre-March Rally" at De la Guerra Plaza, and listened to songs, a prayer and the Santa Barbara Ring Shout Project. There were music, umbrellas and old time music. At ten, over two-hundred people gathered and marched up State Street, escorted graciously by the Santa Barbara Police department. They sang 'We Shall Overcome', 'This Little Light of Mine" with the beautifully blended voices of black, brown and white folk, Jewish, Christian, people of peace and good-will marching to commemorate the marches of the 1960's with Dr. King.
The program at the Arlington highlighted the words and ideals of Dr. King, and was expressed by way of music, dance, prose and poetry from the winners of the young people's essay contests. Rep. Lois Capps and Salud Carbajal presented the MLK Jr. Committee with honorary declarations, Mayor Helene Schneider made brief remarks to the large crowd in the audience. There were stirring speeches and moving performances by children from several local schools including Cesar Chavez School, a Marymount choir and The Inner Light Community Gospel Choir.
Afterwards, as the sun finally came out, people gathered at the First United Methodist church for a free lunch of soup, bread and fellowship. It was a memorable day to celebrate the man who was determined, gifted, who desired peace and justice for all people.
And as he famously and truly said, "We must live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools."
Posted by toni-s on: January 12 2010
Day of Service - January 16th, 2010 - This year's beneficiary is the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics. Santa Barbara's first Day of Service honoring Dr King.
Show up for service at the Westside Clinic, Saturday, January 16th, 12:30 pm to wash windows and help clean carpets.
There are many other ways you can serve!
Make a Cash Gift for four wrought iron benches, one to be in front of each clinic.
Collect books that young patients can take with them to ease the trauma of a visit to the doctor.
Knit or buy infants blankets.
Collect $1 bills for Diabetes test strips (a client can use up to 8 a day).
Have a drive for the Dental Clinic, they are $2000. short of buying a slow speed hand drill.
Give a car wash for Neighborhood Clinics
High School Students and others, go in to your nearest Neighborhood Clinic and volunteer for fulfilling your service hours at a clinic. Say you are a MLK Jr. Volunteer!
Volunteer in the office (walk in and fill out a form) for Diabetes and Nutrition Advocate become a trained technician.
Site Maintenance - if you have electronic, construction, painting, roofing, gardening skills.
Call Bonnie Campbell at 805-617-7853 and say you are a MLK Volunteer!
Benefitting Santa Barbara's Neighborhood Clinics
Eastside Neighborhood Clinic, 915 N. Milpas St. SB, CA
Eastside Family Dental Clinic, 923 N. Milpas, SB, CA
Westside Clinic, 28 W. Micheltorena St, SB, CA
Isla Vista Clinic, 970 Embarcadero del Mar, IV, CA
For drop-off's call Bonnie Campbell and tell her why you are calling
For further information call Barbara Sachs 805-563-0989
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, "Make it a day ON not a day OFF" Everybody can serve!
Posted by toni-s on: November 06 2009
Community Forum Event Name: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF SANTA BARBARA NOVEMBER COMMUNITY FORUM HOW BUDGET CUTS WILL IMPACT LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICES Location: Louise Lowry Davis Community Center, De La Vina and Victoria Streets, Santa Barbara Speakers: Bonnie Campbell David Selberg Kathleen Riel SPECIAL GUEST: Description: The recession and health care reform debate have thrown national social policy issues into sharp relief. This forum will feature local leaders and their perspectives on the way budget cuts have trickled down to affect us here in Santa Barbara County. Brown bag lunch; coffee and cookies provided! For further information call E-MAIL: tonischultheis.lwv@gmail.com
Wednesday November 18, 2009
12:00 PM
Louise Lowry Davis Center
Nancy Lapolla, MPH
Director, Emergency Medical Services Agency, SB County Public Health
Deputy Director, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics
Executive Director, Pacific Pride Foundation, Nicole Champion - Pacific Pride Foundation
Program Manager, the Independent Living Resource Center
Kathy Gallagher
Social Services Agency Director
Beth Pitton-August, 805-453-8266
Posted by toni-s on: September 19 2009
An earthquake rocked Mindoro, Phillipines on Friday caused by movement in the "Manila Trench".. The Phillipine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake had a magnitude of 6.1 and occurred at 2:24 p.m. The quake was felt in Manila, at an Intensity 3. Their volcano, Mayon, spewed ash from its "perfect cone". It erupted last in 2006.
Santa Barbara California felt it's own jolt early Saturday morning on the 19th of September.
See the original article in Inquirer Headlines/Nation
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=earthquake+9/19/09&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Posted by toni-s on: September 19 2009
What was it. about 8:35!! Saturday, September 19, 2009!
Posted by toni-s on: August 26 2009
I once stood behind Ted Kennedy in a long line at the Kennedy airport. He was a very large man, and given his stature and public position, he could have requested and received special attention and privileges. He stood quietly and patiently with the rest of us waiting for his turn at the counter.
Listening this morning, to an NPR discussion about the career of Ted Kennedy, many commentators mentioning his many legislative accomplishments, one person called in to mention Chappaquiddick. The way the caller referred to this incident, was as if one spectacular failure in lifetime, was enough to negate the part of the life that was lived well, and was studded with worthwhile work. It is interesting that people who see themselves as guardians of the morality of our society seem to focus exclusively on the moments of failure, and behave as if that were the only thing that matters.
Without knowing the heart of another person, how does one know enough to condemn them for one or two significant failures in life, without knowing what might have gone on inside the mind, heart and conscience of the "guilty" person. Whether there was regret, shame, penance, forgiveness or rehabilitation. It is a narrow and harsh judgement to reduce a life so public and so filled with accomplishment to a one-dimensional condemnation.
Any life lived in private or public, deserves a look and evaluation that makes room failure and success. A fair evaluation should include a full look at the life being remembered, and a realistic dose of compassion for the difficulty of living as many years as Ted Kennedy lived. I honor him for his many successes and I allow that no life is without sobering and regrettable failures.
Posted by toni-s on: August 16 2009
Our well-known local poet, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle signed copies of her new collection of poems, Black Street - Poems. This book "seemed to come together in a fairly short time" Sojourner told me, "five weeks from when the Center for Black Studies Reasearch agreed to publish it in time for my annual Langston Hughes reading on April 3, in fact" she says, "I had been working on it for quite some time. I first had the idea for the book shortly after I recorded a cd by the same title three years ago. The cd only had three poems, Black Street, Millenium Poem, and The Queen I Am, but I knew I wanted to create a companion book which included other poems I had written on the Black experience. Some of these poems likeThe Blues That Set Me Free, were written and published nearly 20 years ago. Sweet Home Hallelujah was actually turned into a one-act play and was produced in 1996. Milllenium Poem was written ten years ago when we were all summing up the past century and stocking up for Y2K."
On that Thursday evening at Chaucer's, she says "I was elated throughout the reading and signing. I was in one of my favorite places - a bookstore - surrounded by my friends, supporters, and the staff at Chaucer's - all gracious and complimentary."
Her poems are full of visual and musical imagery that vibrate with color , rhythm and sound. Many are history, such that even reading them, sound like they are stories being told aloud. I asked her if she had any favorite lines or poems and she told me, "of course, this is like asking me to choose among my loved ones. I feel so strongly about most of the ideas expressed in the collection of poems. There is more to say but I feel this set stands for what it stands for. Each poem is a response to some call. The title poem, Black Street, represents a certain coming out firmly and forthrightly to all who, through the years, consciously or unconsciously, subtly or explicitly, negate or subjugate the Black experience in America. I am proud to have produced this "speaking-up" poem."
She says that she is "just as proud of 'Inseparable' which I read at the unveiling of a commissioned painting of Barack Obama and again at a pre-inaugaration event held at Trinity Church. If I had to choose a line which I would like history to remember it would be this:
Each breath infinitessimally mingled; each drop of dew a composite.
It is often said that everything we write is autobiographical. I tend to think that is true with a few exceptions. In my case, I believe that my history is everybody's history. We all live on Black Street."
In the poem "Sweet Home Hallelujah" she evokes Harlem throughout the years, from it's Renaissance to it's sad decline, and great rising up, but still recalls the "rafters where our voices sang and closes with a great "Hallelujah, AMENhotep!'
One of my favorites, of which there were many, is about family. The poem, Grace, about her grandfather, begins,
"I had forgotten how good a word is grace
It's curvature and elegance;
simple and timeless. "
The book was dedicated to the poet Langston Hughes, and she quotes him, as he says,
"My seeking has been to explain and illuminate the Negro Condition in America and obliquely that of all humankind".
Later on in her collection she seems to speak back to him in her poem, Standing on the Place Where Langston's Ashes Reside.
In humble apropos
Standing within the circle
That holds in loving care
All that lies between-
All the tellings
All the signifyings
All the ironies
All the justifyings.
In silent repose
A boundless legacy.
Threads in the fabric
Of all that cloaks us -
A variable perfume
A mutable augur.
Sojourner says proudly in A Poem that Ends in Love, that "I Am a Black Poet". She is also a community activist, peacemaker, has taught poetry in our schools and in prisons, she is the Community Liaison for The Center for Black Studies at UCSB.
Santa Barbara is richer for her uplifting and creative presence here!
For more information about the book, Black Street, visit
http://research.ucsb.edu/cbs/publications/books/blackstreet.html
(Photo by Rod Rolle)
Posted by toni-s on: July 02 2009
The Rental Housing Roundtable invites all tenants and concerned individuals to join us at the County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 7th, for the first full hearing on an ordinance that would provide tenants with greater protections. Time TBA.Who:The Rental Housing Rountable is a group of community organizations and concerned individuals working toward social justice in our community to address the lack of legal protections for Santa Barbara County renters in order to end unjust evictions and unfair treatment of tenants, increase the number of rental units available, and develop cooperative ownership.Where:Santa Barbara County Administration Building, 4th floor, 105 East Anapamu, Santa Barbara, CA. Remote location: Santa Maria Betteravia Complex, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria, CA.Why:Since 2006, more than 6th mass evictions have taken place in Santa Barbara County. The negative impact on people's lives as a result of tenant displacement coupled with the court's inability to ensure justice for all parties demonstrate the absence of adequate laws in both the cities and county to ensure a consistent, fair, and respectful relationship between tenants and landlords.It is time to remedy the problem through Tenants' Rights Ordinances, which guarantees dignity and justice for both renters and landlords in our community!For more information contact the Rental Housing Roundtable at 805-882-2484.
Posted by toni-s on: May 13 2009
Last night, in a lovely antidote to the terrible days of fire and evacuation, the Santa Barbara Chamber Player Series presented two selections in the Fleischman Auditorium at the Natural History Museum. Trevor Handy played Bach's Suite for Solo Cello No. 3, and Schubert's Octet in F major D.803 was played by Amy Hershberger, Elizabeth Hedman, Heiichiro Ohyama, Jacqueline Greenshields, David Young, Michael Grego, Judy Farmer and Jenny Kim.
I allowed myself to feel the cool, fire-free breeze at the Natural History Museum, and irrespective of reality, to imagine the helicopters swinging their red buckets through the air, circling to the Bach Bouree and the Schubert Menuetto.
I hope that the music, in some way, signaled the finale of this destructive fire, and a homecoming for some, and courage and rebuilding for those who sadly lost their homes.
The concert season finale will be May 19th at 7:30 at the Lobero Theatre. You will hear a World Premier of Romance for Cello and Orchestra by Gordon Chin, Cello Concerto - Frederich Gulda and Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by Beethoven.
Posted by toni-s on: May 09 2009
A few weeks ago, almost like a prelude to the Jesusita Fire, we had a small home fire caused by a faulty vacuum cleaner My husband found the fire in clouds of thick smoke, put it out with a garden hose, and called 911. The firemen came, made sure the fire was out, bashed in a wall, knocked some of a ceiling out, to be certain that we would all be safe after they left. They were businesslike and calm as we watched them work. They were solicitous and thorough asking and answering questions.
I went in to the hall where it started after a few days and most of the shock had passed, when the smoke was mostly cleared out, and the walls were still black and there was what was left of my Hoover melted on the tile floor. The fire had also burned a small desk in that hall, coated family photos with soot, and the one thing I couldn't find was a little old brass bell I had brought home from a trip to England as a memento. I pushed around in all the fire residue, moved wood and soot and I couldn't find the bell. I guessed that it had gone the way of the other contents in that hall, incinerated and coating the walls.
A couple days later a fire engine pulled up my drive again, and three handsome and kind firemen jumped down from the cab and walked towards me, one with the bell held out in front of him. I didn't even get their names, I said thank you, they said I was welcome and they went back to work.
Even when all the world seems to be on fire, and ESPECIALLY when it seems that way, there are always moments of reprieve when people act in kind and generous ways for no other reason than complete kindness. I am so touched by that particular act, and all of the other acts of generosity between people during the Jesusita Fire.
I know of people taking in friends who were ordered to evacuate, helping each other in so many kind ways, from taking time out to pass out masks, to volunteering to help at the shelters. People have saved animals, taken in horses, dogs and cats. We get to see the very best of our neighbors at the worst of times.
Thank you to all people and organizations who went out of their way to help someone in need. It is a thing of beauty!
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