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Buena High School choir releases brand new holiday album

Buena High School student and recording artist, William Boyd singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Students at Buena High School have been learning the ins and outs of the music recording industry with their Not-So-Silent Night, Volume 4 project. Utilizing their on-campus recording studio, the Buena High School Choir has selected various secular, holiday, and winter-themed songs to record and release for digital download, available across the world. This past year, their previous albums (Volumes 1-3) have been heard in 42 different countries, from the Netherlands to Qatar.

“It amazes me that our songs get heard so far away,” says junior Paige Goldman.

The fantastic thing is this happening at a time in the music industry when artists continue to struggle to make a living. Due to the increased popularity of streaming music, and the minimal payout artists receive per stream, which can be less than one-tenth of a penny per stream, depending on the platform. The best way you can support your favorite artists is by actually buying and downloading their music, rather than merely streaming it for “free.” When their patrons support artists, they can continue making the art and music that their audience loves.

Choir director, Kevin Downey, states, “I am so proud that our students are getting this opportunity to release their music and learn about the recording industry when it is almost impossible to make a living beyond minimum wage as a musician, even if you get signed with a record label and experience some minor success.”

According to Tim Frantz, Buena’s Audio Engineer from Mountain Dog Musicworks “This album is excellent. This is college-level stuff.”

Do not miss a great opportunity to support the arts in our local public schools, and fill your holidays with joy by downloading the Not-So-Silent Night, Volume 4 album. Just search “The Buena High School Choir” on iTunes, Amazon, or Google Play Store. If you prefer live music, though, you can also watch the students perform live at their benefit concert on December 19, in the Buena High School Library Media Center from 6-7:30 pm, located at 5670 Telegraph Road.

For more information, contact Buena’s choir director Kevin Downey at [email protected], follow their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts @buenahschoir, or visit their website at www.bitly.com/buenahschoir.

E. P. Foster Library events

Thursday Jan 2
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Open Mic Night – Free and open to the public! Open Mic night hosted by Phil Taggart. Enjoy a featured poet, then share your own work with the group. All are welcome to just sit and listen as well.

Tuesday Jan 7
3:30 – 5:30 pm
Virtual Reality – Tuesdays @ 3:30-5:30 pm on the 2nd Floor. Explore the virtual world with these different gaming VR platforms: Gear VR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. All VR Platforms are for ages 13 and up.

Thursday Jan 9
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Open Mic Night – Free and open to the public! Open Mic night hosted by Phil Taggart. Enjoy a featured poet, then share your own work with the group. All are welcome to just sit and listen as well.

Monday Jan 13
7:00 – 10 pm
Ukulele Jam – Join folks of all ages and experience levels to jam out on your ukulele! Beginners welcome, every 2nd and 4th Monday.

Tuesday Jan 14
3:30 – 5:30 pm
Virtual Reality – Tuesdays @ 3:30-5:30 pm on the 2nd Floor. Explore the virtual world with these different gaming VR platforms: Gear VR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. All VR Platforms are for ages 13 and up.

Thursday Jan 16
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Open Mic Night – Free and open to the public! Open Mic night hosted by Phil Taggart. Enjoy a featured poet, then share your own work with the group. All are welcome to just sit and listen as well.

Tuesday Jan 21
3:30 – 5:30 pm
Virtual Reality – Tuesdays @ 3:30-5:30 pm on the 2nd Floor. Explore the virtual world with these different gaming VR platforms: Gear VR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. All VR Platforms are for ages 13 and up.

Thursday Jan 23
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Open Mic Night – Free and open to the public! Open Mic night hosted by Phil Taggart. Enjoy a featured poet, then share your own work with the group. All are welcome to just sit and listen as well.

Monday Jan 27
7:00 – 10 pm
Ukulele Jam – Join folks of all ages and experience levels to jam out on your ukulele! Beginners welcome, every 2nd and 4th Monday.

Tuesday Jan 28
3:30 – 5:30 pm
Virtual Reality – Tuesdays @ 3:30-5:30 pm on the 2nd Floor. Explore the virtual world with these different gaming VR platforms: Gear VR, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. All VR Platforms are for ages 13 and up.

Thursday Jan 30
7:30 – 9:00 pm
Open Mic Night – Free and open to the public! Open Mic night hosted by Phil Taggart. Enjoy a featured poet, then share your own work with the group. All are welcome to just sit and listen as well.

Friday Jan 31
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Opera Santa Barbara – Come enjoy a free noontime concert presented by members of Opera Santa Barbara’s Chrisman Studio Artist Program. One of our most popular events. See you in the Topping Room!

Closures This Month January 1 New Years Day January 20 Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In this New Year, taking measure Ventura-style

by Visit Ventura

Every New Year we take measure. This is a good thing. It sees us slow down, think things through, see beyond the daily blur that sometimes constitutes our days. The underlying question is both simple and grand. What do we want to do with the time we have?

This is an important question for a simple reason. The time we have is limited.

If we are very lucky, we have choices regarding how we spend the time we have. And where. If you are reading this from your home, and your home is touched by the sea, then it may be that you are so very lucky to call Ventura home. If you are lucky enough to be visiting Ventura, well, that is lucky enough.

Our town is something very special. This is not a sales pitch. It’s just the truth. We have improbable amounts of sun and warmth, and pretty rolling hills, and a glittering sea that doesn’t serve as a backdrop at all; it’s a world-class playground, and we should all play as much as possible. Right. Because the time we have is limited.

But Ventura is not just about meteorology and geography. If you are lucky enough to live here, you know this. If you are visiting, you will discover this in short order. The smiles you see are genuine, the kind that aren’t just a stretch of the face, but rise up from some deep, warm place. The kindnesses bestowed — an elaborate set of directions, a Samaritan who walks you to the restaurant and then comes in to introduce you to the owner — those kindnesses come from the same deep, warm place. The easy acceptance? You be You has been adopted as a slogan by our Visitors Bureau, but slogans, without the truth behind them, are pointless. Let’s be honest. It can be a divisive world. Not everyone is helpful, pleasant and accepting. Not even in Ventura.

But it is also true to say that, in Ventura, acceptance triumphs over the narrow-minded, and pleasantness smothers discord.

This is a very special place. Venturans walk through their days carrying this knowledge in their heads and their hearts. It hangs in the sunshine, almost as real as the salt-laden air. Venturans care. Again, not all — but most. We have seen this caring in good times, and, more telling, in bad. Ours is a town that looks out for each other. Sometimes fiercely. There is also strength in the warmth deep down inside.

Not long ago our Visit Ventura team attended the Ventura Chamber’s annual Poinsettia Awards. Every town (hopefully) has similar awards. The Poinsettia Awards are given to the givers, the people who work to make the world better. One by one, the award winners came to the stage. It was their moment in the sun. Without exception, each stood at the podium and spoke of others. Teachers who changed their lives. Mentors who provided help and example. Parents who gave everything.

The message was clear.

See the gifts we’ve been given. Then give them to others.

What to do with the time we have? The decision is yours.

And that in itself is a very lucky place to be.

Happy New Year from all of us here at Visit Ventura…

Vol. 13, No. 6 – Dec 18 – Dec 31, 2019 – Mailbox

Breeze:

I was saddened to hear that the Catalina Casino (Avalon Theater) will stop showing movies, according to your publisher S. Brown.

I must confess that I never actually supported the place by viewing movies there, mainly because it is a long swim from Ventura to Catalina, even when the ocean is calm.

But I have a very fond memory of seeing a movie at that venue: It was l966, and 20th Century Fox took me out to the Casino–which was a magnificent edifice and an architectural landmark.  I felt like I was stepping back in time and was at some regal theater in a European capital. The ocean views were spectacular–but alas, the film “Morituri” was not too terrific and frankly was a bit of a box office flop.

But on the same evening after seeing the film, we got the opportunity to meet and chat with  a scruffy looking gent, who was surprisingly amiable: A fellow named Marlon Brando, who I believe made a handful of movies that really did well and was considered a rather good actor!

Ivor Davis

Ventura Breeze

Starting Jan. 22, 2020, the T.S.A. will ask all travelers who don’t have a driver’s license from a compliant state or a state that has been granted an extension to the compliance deadline (this means that residents can continue using their noncompliant license for federal purposes while the state continues working to be in compliance) to provide an alternative form of acceptable identification. Travelers won’t be able to pass through security without this acceptable identification.

And, as of Oct. 1, 2020, all air travelers will be required to have a Real ID-compliant driver’s license or alternate acceptable identification to fly domestically.

Thanks

Mike Merewether

Dear Editor:

Just caught the President discussing toilets. I think he has discovered how useful they are. I’m not sure he knows, that men, and women ,use them differently, but he is concerned, about the lack of discipline, in how many times, and how often, toilets get flushed.

He is worried about wasting water during our climate change worries(he said people flush 10-15 times each time). He wants us to be aware of how much water is wasted, by flushing more than we need to. 

I’m not sure what he is recommending: how many flushes are needed for sit-down uses, or stand-up uses. No matter. Watching how much water is used, during our bathroom breaks, is important, and it behooves, all of us, to be frugal, anytime, we

need to use the “potty:”

I am so relieved that the President is talking about important stuff. 

Relieved, but frugal,.
Esther Cole, Ventura,

Cartoon by Evin England. If you are an amateur cartoonist who wants to be published send us a few of your cartoons for consideration. [email protected].

If you don’t like the way I drive, get off the sidewalk.
~ Lotus Weinstock

Volunteers needed to assist in annual homeless count in Ventura County

Community volunteers are needed for the annual count and survey of homeless persons in Ventura County. The 2020 Ventura County Homeless Count has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 29.

The annual Homeless Count is coordinated by the Ventura County Continuum of Care and County of Ventura, in partnership with community partners and cities.  The survey data will be collected through a mobile app called “Counting Us” by Simtech Solutions.  This data provides a Point-In-Time (PIT) “snapshot” as to what the homeless population in Ventura County looks like during a single day to help community leaders better understand who is homeless, why and for how long. The survey data helps our community gain access to state and federal funding, as well as determine the greatest priorities to prevent and end homelessness in Ventura County.

In order to conduct a full and accurate count, the Ventura County Continuum of Care is seeking 500 volunteers.  Volunteers are required to attend a training in their community in mid-January 2020 and will be paired up with another volunteer on the morning of the count to canvass areas seeking persons to survey.  Volunteers will be asked to download the free “Counting Us” app to their mobile device for data collection. Download the mobile app here: http://pointintime.info/.  Interested volunteers can register online at https://ventura.pointintime.info/.

For more information on volunteering, please contact Jennifer Harkey at 805-658-4342. For general inquiries on the Continuum of Care, contact Tara Carruth at 805-654-3838.

 

Ventura Unified School District embracing its families this holiday season

The Cheers for Children campaign, which is entering its 67th year, is designed to help children and families of the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD). Cheers for Children began in 1952 when teachers and an administrator identified a student and his family in need of food over the holidays. Cheers for Children has grown to a community campaign to assist 350 families over the holidays and assist with additional needs, as they are identified throughout the year. The Ventura Unified School District is requesting the community’s help with this year’s campaign. There are three ways interested parties of all ages may participate; through donations of canned food or money, assisting with the sorting and boxing of holiday food boxes, and participating in the Cheers for Children Silent Auction.

All VUSD schools are currently collecting canned and dry goods for holiday food boxes. A list of items can be found at www.venturausd.org. These items can be delivered to any of our VUSD schools or the District offices located at 255 W. Stanley Ave. until December 19. The District is also accepting monetary donations, which will assist in the purchase of holiday hams and will go towards additional family needs throughout the year. Checks may be made payable to Cheers for Children and mailed to Ventura Unified School District, Education Service Center, c/o Dr. Roger Rice, Superintendent, 255 West Stanley Avenue, Suite 100, Ventura, CA, 93001. There is a tremendous amount of work that goes on “behind the scenes” to make this event a reality. The community is invited to help with sorting and boxing the food drive items for distribution. Bring your friends and family on Friday, December 20, from 2-5 pm to Balboa Middle School, located at 247 Hill Road in Ventura. Children are welcome but must be accompanied by an adult.

If silent auctions are more your speed, the District will be hosting its Annual Cheers for Children Silent Auction. This silent auction is open to the public and is being held at the Education Service Center at 255 W. Stanley Ave.

“It is our hope that through the Cheers for Children campaign we can bring joy, through a warm meal, to our students most in need. We hope you will consider assisting us as we embrace our VUSD families this holiday season,” stated Dr. Roger Rice, Superintendent.

For more information, contact the VUSD Superintendent’s office at 805-641-5000.

Oxnard Performing Arts Center slated for closure gets help from recording star.Paak

Carolyn Mullin Executive Director and Hip Hop artist .Paak hope to keep PACC open.

by Richard Lieberman

Anderson .Paak a well known rapper and singer recently took a one hour tour of the Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center. He was there to give support to the center scheduled for closure December 31, 2019. “I want this to be a hub for creativity,” said the recording star.

He added he wants to house his nonprofit foundation at the site. .Paak a Grammy winner said he sees young people recording music, rehearsing plays and having boxing matches at the center.

.Paak has not made a monetary commitment to the city-owned facility. ” there’s a bunch of stuff I want to invest in” he said. He also urged his fans to donate by texting “saveopacc” to 44321. His nonprofit foundation the Brandon Anderson foundation said the money raised will be set aside for the performing arts center.

.Paak put on a free concert last year at the center to celebrate the release of his album “Oxnard”. Mayor Tim Flynn presented .Paak with the key to the city at the event.

A mere six months later the city announced that the performing arts center, which receives a subsidy from the city of around $1 million on an annual basis would have to close. The community reacted and demanded the center be funded. The city kept the center open for an additional six months in order for center management to find an outside operator and to keep the centers commitments for the 2019 season.

Six months have passed and still the center has not been successful in acquiring an outside operator.

Carolyn Mullin, executive director of the center took .Paak on a tour of the facility. Mullin joined the center two years ago and has been in touch with .Paaks foundation to build a partnership. She said, “I always thought his foundation should be in his hometown. He’s a native son that’s done good.”

.Pakk was born in Oxnard and grew up in both Oxnard and Ventura. He said he remembers going to church functions, plays and beauty pageants at the center. He said there is a lot of local talent here and the performing arts center can be an incubator.

On the tour .Pakk watched a rehearsal from Hip Hop Mindset, a youth performance group that rehearses and performs at the center.

“I’m super amazed” said Ricardo Rod Rodriguez, 12 “To have a famous singer and rapper come to watch us dance, it’s an amazing feeling.”

The December 31st deadline is approaching fast and Board members of the performing arts center, said they are meeting with Alex Nguyen, City Manager to discuss the future.

Editor: Even though this facility is in Oxnard many Venturans attend the wonderful events there from Beethoven to doggies to Ventura Music Festival concerts which is why we have included this in the Breeze.

Vol. 13, No. 6 – Dec 18 – Dec 31, 2019 – Movie Review

by Cindy Summers
Richard Jewell

Breeze rating from 1 to 4 palm trees, 4 being best.

 

 

 

 

Richard Jewell is based on true events involving the bombing that happened in 1996 at the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and shows how media misinformation can cloud the truth and destroy people’s lives. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Directed by Clint Eastwood, Written by Billy Ray, and Starring Paul Walter Hauser as Richard Jewell, Kathy Bates as Bobi Jewell and Sam Rockwell as Watson Bryant.

Richard Jewell got a job as a security guard at the Olympics in Atlanta after numerous failed jobs in law enforcement and related positions due to his overzealous enforcement and inappropriate authoritative attitude. He was very conscientious but socially awkward and spent his time studying penal codes and learning about guns and other military weapons.

After an altercation with some drunk teens, Jewell noticed an unattended backpack underneath the bench next to the sound booth tower and immediately contacted other law enforcement officers on the scene. Jewell was often thought to be too much by the book and the others played off the incident at first, but ultimately called a bomb specialist and discovered 3 large pipe bombs in the backpack.

Jewell and the other security staff feverishly tried to move the crowd away from the area, and at that same time, a call came in to 911 “There is a bomb in Centennial Park”. The bomb went off minutes later, and though people were wounded many lives were saved due to the keen site and heroic efforts of Richard Jewell.

For several days, Jewell was heralded as a national hero on television and everywhere he went, but due to the fact the FBI had no good leads, they turned to looking at Jewell as the prime suspect. The FBI decided that Jewell was a “false hero”, that fit their “hero bomber” profile due to recent similar events involving other bombing and fires.

Information regarding this direction in the FBI investigation was leaked to the local press, and Jewell was thrust into a “trial by media” and now hated by the public and chased by the media unrelentingly. Jewell sought the counsel of Watson Bryant, a previous coworker and attorney with his own firm.

Due to his somewhat simple mind and respect for law enforcement, the FBI was able to manipulate Jewell into false testimony and trick him into following their storyline. Fortunately for Jewell, Bryant was a pit bull and defended Jewell feverishly, as well as helping him to find his center in the chaos that swirled around him.

The FBI spent 3 months trying to find, and seemingly at times fabricate evidence to support their belief that Jewell was guilty, all the while the press kept falsifying and exaggerating the facts. Jewell was finally dropped from the investigation and six years later Eric Rudolph was found to have been the bomber.

Paul Walter Hauser did a superb job embodying the persona of Jewell and kudos to Clint Eastwood for sharing the true count of events of this sadly diminished hero.

R (for language including some sexual references, and brief bloody images)
129 minutes

Vol. 13, No. 6 – Dec 18 – Dec 31, 2019 – A View from House Seats

by Shirley Lorraine

Plaid Tidings hits all the right holiday notes

The holiday season is a time to enjoy familiar tunes, tons of laughter, friendship and all things red, green and festive. The Rubicon Theatre Company brings all this and more to their stage as 2019 comes to a close.

Plaid Tidings, a special holiday edition of the popular musical Forever Plaid, tells the story of a quartet of lovable, slightly nerdy musicians whose careers are cut short in an auto accident one fateful night. They are given the opportunity to come down to Earth to perform the holiday show they couldn’t complete in life.

And what a show it is. Written and directed by the Original Creator, Stuart Ross, Plaid Tidings is simply heavenly from start to big finish. It has warmth, an abundance of humor, great harmonies, toe-tapping choreography, and four highly multi-talented young men with sparkles in their eyes to delight the audience throughout. For me, it is one of those shows I didn’t want to end, it was so captivating and enjoyable.

All four of the Plaids come with extensive theater credits and it shows. Sean Bell, Adolpho Blaire, Zak Edwards and Joshua David Cavanaugh each bring a wide range of skills to delight and amuse. They each shine in their solo areas as well as complementing each other beautifully.

Interspersed with holiday tunes are familiar refrains from the 50’s and 60’s such as “Hey There,” “Fever” and “Matilda” (with a twist). The Plaids even geta little heavenly help from Rosemary Clooney and inspiration from Perry Como.
A three-minute rendition of an entire Ed Sullivan Show features well known elements and much hilarity as the four frantically pack in more than one would think possible. It’s great fun and a bit nostalgic.
Accompanying the quartet is a piano and a bass, led by Musical Director Andrew M. Chukerman. The seemingly simple setting is like a magician’s box of tricks, with props and details appearing in surprising ways. The entire theater is strung with holiday lights, adding to the beauty and the general festivities to sustain the holiday mood.

Ross made some alterations to the ever-in-progress script to customize some areas for Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre, adding a quite personal element to the performance. The actors speak directly to the audience at times and even enlist the assistance of a few to move their story along. He also makes use of some of the actor’s special talents, such as Edwards on accordion, a soft-shoe for Bell and more. As Ross relates, he enjoys “creating a special and unique production” for each cast and the theater in which they perform.

If you love holiday music and can attend only one holiday performance this season, I heartily recommend this one. Take your family. Share it with a friend. Enjoy.
Plaid Tidings runs through December 29. Performances are Wednesdays at 2 and 7 p.m. Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Rubicon Theater, 1006 E. Main St, Ventura. (805) 667-2900 for tickets. Prices vary.