Daily paper turning yellow? (Not because it’s been on the doorstep for two weeks)

We’ve all noticed the changes, some of them quite severe, to the Ventura County Star in the past 6 months or so. Sections cut, thinner editions overall and to their credit, a reorganized Web site with a lot of fat trimmed away. But leaner, it seams has also turned meaner, and as an editor for [...]

New Art City vs. New Bar City

In the midst of decreased funding for the arts in Ventura (the “New Art City”) and the subsequent slow death of ArtWalk, the local music scene is, as I’ve reported previously, exploding. At the same time, the bar scene–if you can call it a scene–has recently been plagued by violence which has led to what [...]

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 [...]

The Zeitgeist Movement

Something about this movement resonates with me. What has lingered about my consciousness since viewing it last night is this: There is no independence in nature. Everything is inter dependent. When you really absorb this, it changes everything.

Racism is alive and well in Ventura

Last weekend my 14 year-old son volunteered at the Obama booth during ArtWalk. There was a life size cardboard cutout of our man Barack on display. He reported that more than one person dropped by the booth armed with stupidity and the n-word. Sigh.