Moving beyond ArtWalk

Let me preface this post by saying that I’m a big fan of ArtWalk, I’ve been to nearly every one and I always have a great time. I also try to buy something original if I can and encourage others to follow suit. I will be in attendance this weekend for the Harvest ArtWalk. I [...]

E.P. Foster Day

Sunday Sept. 5,  is E.P. Foster Day. For those of you who don’t know who he was, Foster was one of Ventura’s pioneers, a generous man who donated huge amounts of land to the city for public use. The fairgrounds, beautiful Foster Park, Dennison Park, Camp Comfort and E.P. Foster Library as well as the [...]

Conspiracy theories and downtown Ventura’s nightlife

Violence, drinking problems, encounters with the “authorities.”
No, it’s not my teenage son—it’s the fear and loathing in downtown Ventura of late.  I heard tell that it’s all part of a plot by a certain developer to take over the city’s nightlife by sabotaging competing venues.  Actually, it was more like the paranoid fantasy of a [...]

Calendars and resistance to change

From the time I was about 12 until my early -mid ’20s, every Sunday morning (whether morning was at 8 a.m or 3 p.m.) I would furiously flip through the delicious layers of the Los Angeles Times to find the Calendar section.
Back then it was all about music critics Robert Hilburn (loved and hated by [...]