Editor, I am grateful for the thoughtful and supportive letter from Bolton Colburn about the Laguna Beach Film Society (“Origin of the Museum’s Film Society,” Letters, April 5). With the development of a closer relationship with Laguna Art Museum, the future of the film society is brighter than ever. Here’s why: *In conjunction with the [...]
Veteran surf filmmaker Jack McCoy’s “A Deeper Shade of Blue” screened at 400 theaters around the country this past Thursday, a one-night performance but a major splash for an indie movie. The film recounting surf culture’s evolution was buoyed in part by local film consultant Sharon Keiko Mori Beatie, who played a behind-the-scenes role promoting [...]
Editor, Mace Morse (“A View Embellished by Trees,” Letters, Feb. 22) writes some stinging code in response to the Parable of the Top Hat: “Before he congratulates himself on his metaphoric genius, his analogy is false”. Quite an assertion, but let me help you understand where the top hat analogy holds water. A theater seat [...]
Editor, I would like to comment on a recent letter to the editor wherein a writer compares his interrupted view to the sea as similar to that of an interrupted view to a movie screen, when a fellow in a top hat has unwittingly sat down in front of him (“The Parable of the Top [...]
My friend, Laguna’s blithe spirit January Olds, created her own skincare line January Labs. She rolled out the line about 18 months ago and now has gained national distribution. Last summer she gave me several bottles of her product and insisted I prominently display them in my bathroom for immediate use. There they stayed for [...]
Editor, There was an especially good movie showing at the local theater, so I ventured out. When I arrived, the line was very long; however I succeeded in getting to the ticket window, paid $10 and took the last available seat in the theater. The riveting movie had just begun when the man sitting in [...]
By Robin Pierson, Special to the Independent Niki Smart is living, thriving proof that transformation is possible and that a horrendous childhood can be overcome. Molested by her grandfather at 9, drinking by 12, having sex at 13, all the while living with a bizarre, scandalous, mentally ill mother incapable of mothering, Smart plunged [...]
When I was growing up, I didn’t have any famous female role models. Of course, I wanted to help people like my social worker mother, do everything perfectly like my Aunt Ona, and be on time and classy like my grandmother. As far as someone in the news, it just wasn’t happening. Gloria Steinem spoke [...]
The new Port Theatre in Corona del Mar opens Friday, July 20, with films including “Bernie,” “Safety Not Guaranteed,” and “First Position” during its first week. After nearly 15 years of hiatus and extensive renovations, the theatre intends to provide a best-in-class movie going experience with the latest in digital projection, a quality assortment of [...]
By Justin Swanson, Special to the Independent The Laguna Beach City Council authorized spending $5.6 million to build a new lifeguard headquarters and public restrooms on Main Beach this week. Since last year, about $1 million has already been spent on design and construction of the project, budgeted for $8.1 million, which has been in [...]
By Howard Hills Our critical response to art implicates subjectivity Kant called “judgment of taste,” so others obviously are free to disagree, but my wife and I think this year’s Pageant of Masters is the most compelling, dramatic and entertaining ever. This season’s exposition is the intellectual and moral equivalent of a brilliantly presented university [...]
The average museum or gallery goer spends less than a minute sizing up a painting. That’s enough time to take in a toothpaste commercial or maybe a movie poster. It certainly isn’t enough to catch the nuances of a painting such as Clarence Hinkle’s “Outdoor Still Life,” a complex composition in the current Laguna Art [...]
No one loved Laguna Beach more than Andy Hedden. He was born on May 4, 1957, in Long Beach, and had to wait three interminable years before moving to Laguna for the rest of his life, a proud 52 year resident of what he considered Heaven on Earth. He attended virtually every school in town, [...]
Local Author Releases her New Book New York Times bestselling author and Laguna Beach resident Alyson Noël’s new book, “Fated,” will be released on May 22. Fated is the story of Daire Santos, who travels the world as the daughter of a make-up artist on movie sets. Noël is the author of the bestselling Immortals [...]
Film Director Screens Work on Arts Medalist Laguna Canyon Studios will host a special screening Wednesday, April 11, of a documentary on artist Will Barnet by Dana Point filmmaker Dale Schierholt, who will lead a panel discussion after the 7:15 p.m. showing. President Obama recently awarded the National Medal of Arts to Barnet, [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
