The city of Santa Monica's newest recreational facility, Historic Belmar Park, will be officially opened on February 28th. The park honors the memory of the black community that lived in the area, and who were displaced in the 1950s to make way for the Santa Monica Civic Center.

...To Know Which Way The Wind Blows

Santa Monica residents helped clean up the mess left by gangs of looters, and within a week, the boarded up storefronts were home to a variety of colorful images, and mostly optimistic messages.

The USAF Thunderbirds air demonstration team were scheduled to fly over Santa Monica beaches on Friday, May 15th, but no-showed, leaving a lot of disappointed folks who’d been patiently waiting.

Santa Monica College announced on Thursday, April 30, that classes in the coming fall semester will be held online as part of the college’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The main campus, and all the satellite campuses will remain quiet through the end of 2020.

The English Premier League (EPL), like all the other leagues around the world trying to cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, is still trying to figure out how to finish the 2019-20 season gracefully. 

Beaches are closed, social distancing is now the norm, and the usually busy and colorful Venice Beach seems unusually tranquil.

Santa Monica Beach, and in the distance the Santa Monica Mountains, on the first day of business closures due to the Coronavirus pandemic, in Santa Monica, California, on Monday, March 16th 2020.

Rummaging through my pantry this morning, I found a bag of borlotti (aka cranberry) beans, which I use in my family's recipe for pasta fagioli. Thinking I'd try something different, I found a delicious looking recipe online that married the beans with another of my favorite foods: polenta. I had all the ingredients except the polenta, so off to Ralph's I went.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), was an influential artist during the Italian Renaissance, and a new exhibition at the Getty Center -- "Michelangelo: Mind of the Master" -- brings together over 28 of his drawings, many of which have never been seen outside of Europe.

Two days after the Democratic debate at Loyola Marymount University, Senator Bernie Sanders held a rally at Venice Beach on Saturday, December 22nd.

In 1973, museum curator and art collector Sam Wagstaff moved away from acquiring paintings and sculptures, and began buying photographs. By the early 1980s he'd assembled one of the largest private collections in the world. He'd begun by collecting 19th and early 20th century photographs, and with the help of a young photographer named Robert Mapplethorpe — Wagstaff's protegé and lover — he turned his attention to more contemporary work.

In 1984, the Getty Museum created their Department of Photographs and inaugurated the exhibit with the acquisition of several world-famous private collections, including over 26,000 prints that Sam Wagstaff had assembled. The Getty's dramatic entry into collecting photography immediately established it as a major center for photographic art.

The Getty Villa had encouraged students to wear a toga or stola (a Roman gown) to the event, and a number of the attendees went along with the theme. All the period clothing looked stylish, and enhanced the ambiance of the event.

Known as the outer peristyle, the Villa has an area with a long reflecting pool, attendant flower beds, and fruit trees. The pool was decorated with floating, illuminated colored lights, which produced a festive feeling.

Santa Monica College's (SMC) Theatre Arts department presented E.M. Lewis's play "Infinite Black Suitcase" in the Studio Stage in the Theatre Arts complex. Directed by Carl Anderson, the performances took place on Oct. 25 - 27, 31 and Nov. 1-3.

The Skirball Cultural Center recently opened an exhibition of Stanley Kubrick's photographs made in the years 1946 to 1950, when he worked for Look Magazine. Kubrick is better known as a film director, helming such classics as “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “The Shining.” Titled, “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs,” the exhibition opened Oct. 17 and runs until March 8, 2020.

My birthday is in October. Most years I reward myself for still being among the living by spending a long weekend in my favorite place. New York City was my home for nearly four years in the early 80's, and for me it was pretty much love at first sight.

Blues guitarist, Samantha Fish, played to a sold out crowd last Friday at The Troubadour. On tour to promote her new album, Kill Or Be Kind, which was released on September 20th, she played back-to-back nights at the West Hollywood venue.

The 35th Abbot Kinney Festival took place this past Sunday, September 29th, on Abbot Kinney Blvd., in Venice. The festival featured over 350 vendors, including local businesses of all types, craft booths (art, clothing, jewelry, etc.), and a variety of kids' rides and games.