Local News | Community Calendar | Classifieds | Business Directory | Real Estate | Weather | Home Commercial messages, profane language or allusions, libelous comments, excessive or continuous negative comments about any person or business, racially derogatory remarks, license plate numbers, prominent use of all capital letters, empty message body, use of anothers or similar screen name as your own, reference or clues to another users identity, use of your own real name, consecutive or repetitive messages from the same person, classified ads, and lost/found notices are not permitted. See Guidelines. Messages are removed at the webmasters sole discretion. Correspondence with site administrators may be posted to this forum. ©1995-2010 Sweet Pea Communications. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. http://topangaonline.com/forums/list.php?6 Thu, 17 May 2012 02:39:28 -0700 Phorum 5.2.9a http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6188,6189#msg-6189 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6188,6189#msg-6189 TheThinker Topanga Talk Mon, 14 May 2012 20:43:16 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6188,6188#msg-6188 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6188,6188#msg-6188
------------------------------------

$100-million pot farm destroyed in Topanga State Park raid
May 14, 2012 | 3:50 pm

Authorities have uncovered a 34,000-plant marijuana farm in Topanga State Park -- the largest such operation found in the Santa Monica Mountains in seven years.

Law enforcement officials raided the site Friday after park rangers found a plastic-lined earthen dam diverting water from a Topanga Creek tributary to a marijuana cultivation site deep in the park’s backcountry, said Craig Sap, Angeles District Supt. for California State Parks.

Officials destroyed an estimated $100-million worth of marijuana, mostly young plants about 1 to 2 feet tall. The raid was carried out by a team of state park rangers, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and officials with the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority.

No arrests were made, Sap said, though three men were seen fleeing the scene.

Authorities also removed more than 500 pounds of trash and supplies left behind by pot farmers, including propane tanks, decaying batteries, fertilizer and pesticides that are banned in California. They said they also found hunting traps and a dead fox.

The growing operation was divided into 13 plots distributed throughout the steep chaparral, Sap said. It caused extensive damage to the soil, watershed, native plants and animals. It could take years for the environment to recover, he said.

“It takes so much effort to catch these guys,” Sap said. “The goal really is to get rid of the drugs and restore the site.”

More pot-growing sites have been cropping up in the Santa Monica Mountains in the last few years as increased enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border has made smuggling more risky, Sap said.

In 2009 authorities discovered a marijuana-growing operation 25 feet behind the Los Angeles Police Department's Topanga Station.]]> TimBuk2 Topanga Talk Mon, 14 May 2012 17:41:07 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6186,6187#msg-6187 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6186,6187#msg-6187 City News Service
Posted: 05/11/2012 06:59:19 AM PDT
Updated: 05/11/2012 07:05:55 AM PDT

MALIBU - Authorities today identified a woman who was killed when the car she was driving careened off Malibu Canyon Road in Malibu.

The crash was reported shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday about a mile north of Pacific Coast Highway, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Quvondo Johnson.

The victim was 46-year-old Jennifer King of Topanga, said Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. King died at the scene of the crash, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.

She was driving a Mazda Miata north on Malibu Canyon Road when she lost control of the car, which tumbled off the side of the roadway, Villalobos said. King, who was alone in the car, was ejected in the crash.]]> Julie Topanga Talk Fri, 11 May 2012 17:06:41 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6186,6186#msg-6186 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6186,6186#msg-6186 Wire Services
Posted: 05/10/2012 02:36:29 PM PDT
Updated: 05/10/2012 02:37:52 PM PDT

MALIBU -- A woman was killed today when the car she was driving crashed off the side of Malibu Canyon Road in Malibu.

The crash was reported shortly before 10 a.m. about a mile north of Pacific Coast Highway, said county fire Inspector Quvondo Johnson.

The 46-year-old woman, who was from Topanga, died at the scene, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos. Authorities withheld her name pending notification of her relatives.

The woman was driving a Mazda Miata north on Malibu Canyon Road when she lost control of the car, which tumbled off the side of the roadway, ejecting her, Villalobos said. She apparently was alone in the car, he said.

Malibu Canyon Road was closed between PCH and Piuma Road while an investigation was conducted into the circumstances of the crash, the CHP reported.]]> Dogwood Topanga Talk Thu, 10 May 2012 17:21:14 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6185#msg-6185 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6185#msg-6185 topangagirl Topanga Talk Mon, 07 May 2012 14:45:09 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6184#msg-6184 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6184#msg-6184 -------------------------------------------------------
> Someone I know missed being under the cement truck
> by about 2 or 3 seconds. Dangerous place those S
> curves.

I sometimes think about it when driving down there and it's raining, how that giant boulder just dropped onto the road. At some times during the day, the chances of crushing a passing car would have been huge. When I was very young, a friend who lived up the street from me lost his father when a boulder hit his VW in Malibu Canyon. One morning he said "see you tonight" and within an hour he was gone.

It reminds me to appreciate every minute of life.]]> topangamom Topanga Talk Sun, 06 May 2012 20:52:31 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6182,6183#msg-6183 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6182,6183#msg-6183 -------------------------------------------------------
> Big Moon tonight... : )
>
> The rising full Moon will coincide with it's
> closest orbital distance to Earth at 8:34 this
> evening. Skies are especially clear now so there
> should be a good rising view from the Park.


And, indeed, it was glorious!]]> topangamom Topanga Talk Sun, 06 May 2012 11:43:28 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6182,6182#msg-6182 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6182,6182#msg-6182
The rising full Moon will coincide with it's closest orbital distance to Earth at 8:34 this evening. Skies are especially clear now so there should be a good rising view from the Park.]]> Edenite Topanga Talk Sat, 05 May 2012 14:34:52 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6181#msg-6181 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6181#msg-6181 TheThinker Topanga Talk Fri, 04 May 2012 22:05:43 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6180#msg-6180 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6180,6180#msg-6180
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_20549687/topanga-canyon-at-pch-closed-after-fuel-spill]]> topangamom Topanga Talk Fri, 04 May 2012 20:19:02 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6179,6179#msg-6179 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6179,6179#msg-6179
tia

Tim]]> tpnga Topanga Talk Fri, 04 May 2012 17:19:17 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6178,6178#msg-6178 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6178,6178#msg-6178
---------------------------

TOPANGA (CBS) — A massive multi-agency wildfire drill set for this Saturday will call upon residents in Topanga Canyon to evacuate their homes.

KNX 1070′s Ron Kilgore reports county officials are hoping the exercise will highlight the canyon’s various transportation challenges.

The drill is expected to test residents’ response to an emergency in a neighborhood that has only one major roadway by asking them to actually vacate the canyon.

“Let’s see if we can evacuate that community and simulate a fire that is impinging on that community and we need to protect people by evacuation,” said Anthony Whittle, Assistant Fire Chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department and incident commander for the exercise.

Residents will be asked to drive out to either the Red Cross Evacuation Centers at Taft or Palisades High Schools during the drill, with updates expected to come through ALERT-LA phone lines or by subscribing to the emergency notification service by text messaging the word “EVACUATION” to 888777.

The mock scenario will simulate a fast-moving fire blocking the canyon’s north end — a scenario that Whittle said could potentially be a threat to communities beyond Topanga Canyon.

“The wind-driven fire based on that 2-to-6-hour window can go from the 101 corridor all the way to the ocean,” he noted.

The exercise is scheduled from April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents will be able to hear “evacuation” updates throughout the day on KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO.]]> Julie Topanga Talk Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:22:02 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6176,6177#msg-6177 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6176,6177#msg-6177 Dogwood Topanga Talk Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:22:12 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6176,6176#msg-6176 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6176,6176#msg-6176
----------------------------------------------------------

Vehicle Chase ends in Woodland Hills
Daily News Wire Servicesdailynews.com
Posted: 04/12/2012 07:04:52 AM PDT

WOODLAND HILLS - The southbound lanes of the Ventura (101) Freeway -- one of the region's major arteries -- were reopened today after a nightlong closure prompted by an investigation into the fatal shooting of a 19- year-old Winnetka man by Los Angeles police officers at the end of a car chase. | Video of the pursuit: KCBS/KCAL | NBC4

The shooting occurred on the freeway in Woodland Hills shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday, triggering a probe by investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department's Force Investigation Division and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Until the southbound lanes were re-opened at 8 a.m., motorists were diverted at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and allowed to re-enter the southbound lanes at Winnetka Avenue, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Los Angeles police have not said whether the man who was shot and killed by officers was armed. The man's family identified him as Abdul Arian and said he was unarmed. An uncle said the young man both wanted to be a police officer and feared police, and he wondered aloud if officers could have used non-lethal force. A graduate of Taft High School in Woodland Hills, Arian was attending Pierce College.

The man, who was suspected of reckless driving, was shot after exiting his car on the southbound 101 Freeway at the end of a chase, said Officer Gregory Baek of the LAPD's Media Relations office.

Officers from the LAPD's Devonshire Station first stopped the suspect's car around 9:50 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Plummer Street and Shirley Avenue in Northridge, said Officer Karen Rayner of LAPD Media Relations. The man sped away from the stop and drove recklessly, running red lights, before getting onto the freeway, she said.

He exited the freeway at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and re-entered on the southbound side, LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said.

The chase ended on the freeway at Canoga Avenue with the suspect fleeing through the passenger side door of his car, which was turned sideways in the middle of lanes. A squad car was driven into the driver's side door.

The suspect could be seen in television footage pointing at officers as he ran, but it was unclear if he had anything in his hand. Either way, the gesture was followed by police fire, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.]]> topangamom Topanga Talk Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:06:17 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6170,6170#msg-6170 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6170,6170#msg-6170 Witnesses told police that a vehicle ran a red light before the crash on Ventura Boulevard at Topanga Canyon
By Jonathan Lloyd and John Cadiz Klemack
NBC4 - Los Angeles

| Wednesday, Apr 4, 2012 | Updated 2:11 PM PDT

Pedestrian in Critical Condition After Crash

Four people were hospitalized after a crash involving two cars and pedestrians Wednesday in Woodland Hills.

One of the pedestrians was hospitalized in critical condition after the crash on Ventura Boulevard near Topanga Canyon. The victim was identified as a 45-year-old man.

The victim was in the crosswalk when he was struck, according to authorities. Witnesses told investigators that the driver of a silver sedan ran a red light.

Aerial video showed a silver Toyota Corolla on a sidewalk and a matte black Porsche Panamera, which was parked, with rear-end damage. The driver of the Porsche also was hospitalized.

The driver of the sedan was identified as an 85-year-old female who was with her daughter. Both were hospitalized.]]> TimBuk2 Topanga Talk Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:26:43 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6169,6169#msg-6169 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6169,6169#msg-6169 040312_Emily_Wells
Music
Posted April 04th, 2012, 9:04 AM by Brandon Kim

Emily Wells retired to a cabin on a Topanga Canyon horse ranch to record her forthcoming album, “Mama.” And in the same kind of one-woman show spirit, the multi-instrumentalist (keyboards, violin, drums, cello), directed this video of herself for its first single. “Passenger,” Wells told us, “is a collection of short videos taken while touring, moving postcards of light and wind, me banging on drum, and many experiments with stop motion and my homemade buffalo.”

“Mama” is out on Partisan April 10th, and Wells’ alluring collaboration with Dan the Automator, called “Pillowfight” will follow later in the year. Watch the “fleeting nature of all the places encountered” on Wells’ journey. Then give her the keys, she wants to drive.

See the photos at http://www.ifc.com/fix/2012/04/premiere-emily-wells-passenger]]> Julie Topanga Talk Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:03:45 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6167,6168#msg-6168 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6167,6168#msg-6168 topangamom Topanga Talk Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:50:29 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6167,6167#msg-6167 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6167,6167#msg-6167 By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: April 2, 2012

Charles Lockwood, whose 1972 book, “Bricks and Brownstone: The New York Row House, 1783-1929,” both chronicled and furthered the row-house revival that transformed many New York neighborhoods, died on Wednesday at his home in Topanga, Calif. He was 63.

The cause was cancer, said Patrick Ciccone, Mr. Lockwood’s collaborator on a newly revised edition of the book, tentatively scheduled for publication next year.

The architecture critic Paul Goldberger, in his introduction to the revised edition of 2003, said “Bricks and Brownstone” gave the row-house revival “a kind of moral impetus, making it clear how much genuine architectural and urban history lay within these buildings, and how much the row houses of New York are, in fact, the underlying threads of the city’s urban fabric.”

While the book concerned New York, such revivals occurred in many cities. After the Great Depression and World War II, old brownstones had ceased being symbols of middle-class stability and affluence. Often carved into multiple dwellings, they had instead become emblems of decay, desperation and overcrowding.

Mr. Lockwood was not the first to rediscover their beauty and importance, but he and the photographer Robert Mayer documented them in exceptional detail. Mr. Lockwood placed the houses in historical context and sorted them by style and era, explaining how architectural features can give away a building’s provenance. In the Dec. 1, 2003, issue of The New Yorker, Judith Thurman called “Bricks and Brownstone” a “bible for buffs, architects and preservationists.”

Charles Lockwood was born on Aug. 31, 1948, in Washington. His mother, Allison, survives him, as do his brother, John, with whom he wrote “The Siege of Washington: The Untold Story of the 12 Days That Shook the Union” (2011), and his husband, Carlos Boyd, whom he married last September in New York.

“Bricks and Brownstone” was born in the summer of 1969, between Mr. Lockwood’s junior and senior years at Princeton University. At a New York Public Library branch, he asked where he could find a book about brownstones. (The term is often used as a synonym for row houses, even for structures clad in limestone or brick.)

“We don’t have one,” the librarian answered. “It’s never been written.”

That was all he had to hear. Buoyed by “youthful enthusiasm and more than a little naïveté,” Mr. Lockwood said, he decided to write his senior thesis on brownstones, with the hope of publishing it as a book.

While preparing the thesis, he and Mr. Mayer happened to be on West 11th Street on March 6, 1970, photographing a Greek Revival doorway, when a tremendous explosion tore through a nearby house that had been covertly turned into a bomb factory by the radical Weathermen group. They took a picture of the burning building that was published the next day on Page 1 of The New York Times.

That was Mr. Lockwood’s first appearance in The Times, but not the last. He wrote more than two-dozen articles and essays for The Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as Smithsonian magazine and The Atlantic. He moved from New York to California in the late 1970s and wrote several books there, including “Suddenly San Francisco: The Early Years of an Instant City” (1978) and “Dream Palaces: Hollywood at Home” (1981).

But “Bricks and Brownstone” was his favorite, he said in the foreword to the 2003 edition. Working on it again, he wrote, was joyful and exhilarating — “for I will never tire of exploring New York’s historic neighborhoods.”]]> TimBuk2 Topanga Talk Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:04:30 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6166,6166#msg-6166 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6166,6166#msg-6166
The California State Parks system recently announced a partnership with Stater Bros. Charities and Coca-Cola Refreshments to raise much-needed funds during a time of challenging budget cuts.
01 April 2012 04:41 PM

The California state parks system recently announced a partnership with Stater Bros. Charities and Coca-Cola Refreshments to raise much-needed funds during a time of challenging budget cuts.

These partners team up for a short, intense campaign every spring to help protect local assets important to the community and improve state parks for families that enjoy them for recreation. Called Preserve Our Parks, the program is a six-week campaign with the goal of raising up to $1 million to support Southern California parklands.

The campaign encourages customers to support the region’s state parks while shopping at Stater Bros. Supermarkets. Shoppers can make a $1 or $5 tax-deductible donation to the Preserve Our Parks campaign at Stater Bros. checkout lanes through April 24, or they may donate online at http://www.preserveourparks.info.

Additionally, Coca-Cola Refreshments will donate one dollar when consumers buy $10 worth of participating Coca-Cola products at Stater Bros., including branded soft drinks, vitaminwater, vitaminwater zero, smartwater, Powerade ION4, Powerade Zero, Fuze, Dasani, Gold Peak products, Minute Maid products, Simply juices and Honest Tea products. The Coca-Cola products promotion runs through May 8.

This is the fourth year that Coca-Cola and Stater Bros. have initiated an environmental stewardship program for parks. The previous campaigns combined raised nearly $2 million that was used to plant one million trees in parks damaged by wildfires, support beach cleanup and dune restoration at popular state beaches and provide trail maintenance at Southern California state parks.

“Protecting and preserving our local California state parks is a priority for the Stater Bros. supermarket family,” says Jack H. Brown, Stater Bros. chairman and chief executive officer. “We are proud to be a part of a program that helps safeguard Southern California’s natural assets for local residents and future generations.”

“We are grateful for our partners at Stater Bros. and Coca-Cola for supporting Southern California state parks,” said Ruth Coleman, director of California state parks. “These funds provide critical dollars toward enhancing visitor experiences during challenging budget times.”

All monies raised during the campaign will be donated to the California State Park Foundation. Educational facts, Preserve Our Parks program details and the ability to share the campaign via social media platforms are available on the Preserve Our Parks website and the Facebook cause page.

Preserve Our Parks directly benefits iconic Southern California state parks and that partial list includes: Malibu Creek State Park and Topanga State Park in Los Angeles County; Huntington Beach, San Clemente and Crystal Cove state parks in Orange County; Anza-Borrego, Cuyamaca Rancho and Carlsbad state parks in San Diego County; Silverwood Lake and Chino Hills in San Bernardino County; and Lake Perris and Mount San Jacinto in Riverside County.

Information: www.preserveourparks.info]]> Dogwood Topanga Talk Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:41:47 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6161,6161#msg-6161 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6161,6161#msg-6161 Edenite Topanga Talk Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:36:05 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6159,6160#msg-6160 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6159,6160#msg-6160 countryteaser Topanga Talk Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:40:08 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6159,6159#msg-6159 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6159,6159#msg-6159 TheThinker Topanga Talk Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:49:57 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6157,6158#msg-6158 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6157,6158#msg-6158
------------------------------------------

Dante Torres, Malibu Kite Surfer Possibly Vacationing From Dubai, Dies in Tragic Kelp Accident
By Simone Wilson
Tue., Mar. 13 2012 at 12:30 PM

​A young man who may have been visiting Los Angeles from Dubai died while kite surfing as the Daylight Saving's sunlight faded on Monday night.

Dante Torres, 28, became entangled in a bed of kelp as he surfed the waters of Malibu's Topanga County Beach -- just off Pacific Coast Highway -- says Assistant Chief Ed Winter at the L.A. County Coroner's Office.

And a spokesman for the L.A. County Fire Department adds that Torres was "apparently in distress in the kelp bed" ...

... when paramedics received a 911 call, around 6:20 p.m., of a man drowning off Topanga Beach Road. According to the Fire Department, Torres was not breathing once he'd been dragged to the beach some 20 minutes later.

L.A. County Sheriff's officials tell City News Service that "a lifeguard who was watching Torres and another kite surfer ... saw the victim hit the water. Moments later, his rig became airborne, but the kite surfer stayed down."

One kite-surfing website recommends that only "experienced" riders launch from Torres' beach of choice:

"Kites are launched on the northern part of Topanga beach, just south from the beach houses. The beach is quite small, depending on tide and season it can be rocky and the buildings cause a wind shadow which makes the launch a little more tricky. I only recommend this spot for experienced kiters. Once in the water, stay north of where the surfers lineup. Topanga can be a good wave riding spot. Beware of rocks close to the shore in the shallow waters. It often starts blowing early, between 1 and 3pm, but is also shuts down earlier than further out in Malibu. Be prepared for some dusty gear, the beach sand is mixed with dust and dirt, especially when you get closer to the street."

An iconic American Apparel store sits right at the tip of the surf spot, located at the intersection of PCH and Topanga Beach Road.

We haven't been able to confirm Torres' place of residence yet (the Coroner's Office is still working on that, despite an Associated Press report), but Assistant Chief Winter does say that the victim's race is Pacific Islander.

​A Facebook user with the same name, race and age -- who apparently loves outdoor sports, including extreme cycling and kite-surfing -- appears in photos arriving at LAX on Saturday. He's listed on Facebook as a native of the Philippines who now lives in Dubai. This man also participated in a bike ride from Tibet to Nepal last summer.

From a foreign newspaper's account of that feat, headlined "Cycling Over The Roof Of The World":

"On the third cycling day Dante Torres suffered a frightening attack of Acute Mountain Sickness and had to receive emergency oxygen. But a day later he was back on his bike and raring to go."

Strangely, on the same morning that Torres drowned, another dead body was discovered in Malibu -- that of 44-year-old Pepperdine University athletic chaplain Maurice Hilliard. When we called the Fire Department for more information on Torres, the public-affairs officer kept getting the two cases confused.]]> Dogwood Topanga Talk Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:10:38 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6157,6157#msg-6157 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6157,6157#msg-6157 The Associated Press
Posted: 03/13/2012 01:31:35 AM PDT
March 13, 2012 8:31 AM GMT Updated: 03/13/2012 01:31:35 AM PDT

MALIBU, Calif.—A 28-year-old man who was kite surfing over the Pacific Ocean off Topanga State Beach has died after being pulled unconscious from the water by a lifeguard.

City News Service reports that rescuers were called to the beach south of Malibu at about 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Lt. Robert Wiard of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Malibu/Lost Hills Station says a lifeguard who was watching the man and another kite surfer saw the victim hit the water.

Moments later the victim's rig became airborne, but he stayed down.

Wiard says the lifeguard paddled out and found the man face-down in the water.

The lifeguard brought the victim to shore and performed CPR until Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics arrived and took the man to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The man's name wasn't immediately released.]]> TimBuk2 Topanga Talk Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:29:44 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6156,6156#msg-6156 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6156,6156#msg-6156
If you go
What: ‘Tortilla Curtain’ (based on the novel by T.C. Boyle)
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays, March 17-April 8
Where: Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown San Diego
Contact: (619) 544-1000 or sdrep.org

By Pat Sherman

Following on the heels of La Jolla Playhouse’s production of “American Night: The Ballad of Juan José,” San Diego Repertory Theatre will further examine the dreams, fears and apprehensions surrounding Southern California’s trans-border experience with a stage adaptation of “The Tortilla Curtain.”

The production, based on T.C. Boyle’s gripping novel of the same name, explores the issue of illegal immigration through the viewpoint of two couples living in close proximity to each other in Topanga Canyon. They include the affluent and idealistic Kyra and Delaney Mossbacher, and Cándido Rincón and his pregnant wife, América, homeless immigrants camping in the canyon below the Mossbacher’s gated community.

As the story unfolds, Cándido and América, who entered the U.S. illegally via the so-called ‘Tortilla Curtain,’ unwittingly and repeatedly collide with the Mossbachers as they search for work and an apartment to raise their child. The resulting miscommunication and misunderstanding between the couples begins to challenge Delaney’s liberal worldview.

“He goes through such a radical transformation,” said playwright Matthew Spangler, who adapted the novel for the stage. “At the beginning of the book he’s a liberal environmentalist and takes all the liberal, progressive lines on almost any issue you can imagine, but by the end of the book he’s sort of the neighborhood vigilante trying to hunt down Cándido with a gun.”

Kinan Valdez and Vivia Font in San Diego Repertory Theatre’s production of the ‘Tortilla Curtain.'

Though each of the characters goes through a psychic shift, the Rep’s artistic director, Sam Woodhouse, said Delaney’s is the most pronounced. “It’s not so much (a shift in) who he his, but what he is capable of doing,” Woodhouse said.

Before paring Boyle’s 355-page novel down to a 90-minute script, Spangler had discussions with Boyle, whose works also include “Drop City,” and “The Road to Wellville,” which became a film staring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Broderick.

“He’s been very generous and supportive,” Spangler said. “When I’ve asked him things like, ‘Is this important to you? Can I cut this or change that?’, his response has always been, ‘Do what you think is right. You’re the playwright; I trust you.’ That’s kind of inspiring to hear the author say.”

In both the novel and the play, immigration is addressed from three distinct viewpoints, that of Mr. and Mrs. Rincón, and of Delaney Mossbacher.

“I found that really exciting, so I’ve written the script as monologues,” Spangler said. “Three main characters speak directly to the audience, so you’re constantly shifting points of view.”

Through the course of the fast-moving “Tortilla Curtain,” the Rep has the challenge of delivering a rape, car accident, forest fire and landslide.

“It’s a tricky piece to adapt,” said Spangler, who teaches playwriting and immigration studies at San Jose State University. ”There are these epic things that happen, but I think that’s kind of the magic of theatre, because so much of that will ultimately happen in the audience’s imaginations.”

Spangler and Woodhouse both said they read the novel shortly after its 1995 release, immediately envisioning it as a play.

“Immigration is a topic that gets a lot of political discourse in our society, but I think there’s relatively little of that in art, and especially in theatre,” Spangler said.

For Woodhouse, one of the most evocative passages in the book (now a scene in the play) involves Boyle’s description of coyotes howling in the canyon.

“It’s an extraordinarily evocative sound,” Woodhouse said. “It’s sensual and scary and seductive and primitive and wise all at the same time. The coyote is a metaphor for a lot of things. … It’s that bugle call of change.”

Spangler, who also adapted T.C. Boyle’s short story, “Killing Babies,” for the stage, said the author’s literary voice and use of dark humor lends itself nicely to the theater.

“Almost all of his works rely on a kind of a satirical, dark and humorous take on his characters,” he said. “He’s like other writers, too, that I think work well on stage, (including) Flannery O’Connor and John Cheever.”

Woodhouse noted the irony of entering 2012 with a production that highlights the struggle of the haves and have-nots, given last year’s deluge of “Occupy” demonstrations.

He said he hopes the audience will walk away questioning how they would react in a situation similar to what unfolds at the conclusion of ‘Tortilla Curtain’s’ 38 scenes.

The production stars Mike Sears (Delaney), Lisel Gorrell-Getz (Kyra), Vivia Font (América) and Kinan Valdez (Cándido), with music by French-Mexican musician and composer Bruno Louchouarn (“A Weekend with Pablo Picasso”).]]> TimBuk2 Topanga Talk Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:23:40 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6155#msg-6155 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6155#msg-6155 -------------------------------------------------------
> I guess we would miss the post office- I'm stil
> bent out of shape about my lost European mystery
> package :)


Julie: I guess the good news is that it could have been anthrax... or is that bad news? I can never tell. ;)]]> Julie Topanga Talk Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:32:47 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6154#msg-6154 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6154#msg-6154 topangagirl Topanga Talk Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:31:33 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6153#msg-6153 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6153#msg-6153 -------------------------------------------------------
> I had a bad experience there- beyond the usual
> grubbiness. I got a note from the mail carrier on
> my door saying he had tried to deliver a package.
> The note told me the date by which I must pick it
> up. I took the slip to the Topanga Post Office 3
> days before the deadline, but they couldn't find
> the package. After about 10 minutes of searching,
> the postal woman said "Oh, it seems that we sent
> it back ". She didn't have the name or address of
> the sender and she had sent it back 3 days before
> the deadline for me to pick up. She was only able
> to tell me that she "thought it came from
> somewhere in Europe". How could she notice that
> but have no other information. I suspect it was
> picked up by someone working at the post office.
> Use USPS (especially the Topanga office) at your
> own risk!
> And yes, it's dirty. And someone is always eating
> behind the counter.

Julie: like Timbuk2 said, we're going to have people even more unhappy when USPS goes under and the cost of mailing a letter sized item goes up to 3 or 4 dollars. I hope everyone who feels angry about occasional problems like yours is thinking about the consequences of having no USPS. Yes, it needs to be overhauled.]]> Julie Topanga Talk Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:50:17 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6152#msg-6152 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6148,6152#msg-6152 Use USPS (especially the Topanga office) at your own risk!
And yes, it's dirty. And someone is always eating behind the counter.]]> topangagirl Topanga Talk Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:36:55 -0700 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6151,6151#msg-6151 http://topangaonline.com/forums/read.php?6,6151,6151#msg-6151
By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The funniest question Alexander Payne said he was asked Sunday evening, after winning his second Academy Award, was in the press room just after collecting the trophy.

“Somebody asked me, ‘What did you say to your mother in Hawaiian?' ” Payne recalled at lunchtime Monday from his Topanga Canyon home in Los Angeles.

True, “The Descendants,” for which Payne won his adapted-screenplay Oscar, was set in Hawaii.

But his parents are of Greek ancestry. In dedicating his award to his mother, Peggy, who accompanied him to the award show, Payne said, “Se agapao poly,” which in Greek means simply, “I love you very much.” He's not fluent in Greek, but he knew she'd appreciate the gesture. His father stayed in Omaha.

And what is the nicest thing about winning your second Oscar?

“I think I was less freaked out this time,” he said. “I was able to look into the audience and be a little more relaxed and personal in my remarks, I felt. You don't have all that crushing sense of all those people watching on television.”

In fact, he said, unlike at other award shows, the lights are kept up on the audience at the Academy Awards. When he thanked his mother and George Clooney, a best-actor nominee for “The Descendants,” he could look directly into their eyes while delivering his acceptance speech.

Winning, by the way, feels just as great this time as it did the first time, he said.

How did the Academy Award show go from Payne's perspective?

“I don't know how it felt watching it on TV, but we liked the show. We thought it was funny and zipped along at a pretty good pace.”

Payne said he started Oscar Sunday with a long walk, alone, through Topanga State Park near his home.

At midday, longtime Omaha friends joined him and his mother at his home to enjoy the evening together. Dr. Ann Beeder, now of New York City, grew up with Payne. So did Hal Koch, who was accompanied by his wife, Ashlee.

The group arrived at the Academy Awards nearly two hours early, at about 3:45 p.m., in an SUV. (“Better too early than too late,” Payne said, since security and limo lines take time.) Payne, who has avoided the red carpet in the past, strolled it with his mother this time. They took pictures but didn't do interviews.

Was it agony waiting nearly two hours for his category to be called?

“I was surprised it came up so soon,” he said. “The show went by quickly. Really, a part of me wants it to come up quickly and another part hopes it never comes up.”

Afterward, his mother retired for the evening while the Koches and Beeder joined Payne at a parade of after-parties.

First it was the Governors Ball, with fancy eats by chef Wolfgang Puck. Then a party thrown by Fox Searchlight, the studio that produced “The Descendants,” and a separate screening party for the film's crew. The night was capped at the Vanity Fair party and one thrown by Madonna.

Payne said he couldn't recall a single interesting encounter with a celebrity that night, “though everybody says congratulations.” His entourage arrived back home around 5 a.m. Did he have to rise early today for more press or events?

“No, no, no, no, no,” came the instant reply. They slept till 11, then joined his mother for some coffee and the morning papers.

Oscar, he said, was resting on the kitchen table, “and I have no idea what I'm going to do with them.” His first Oscar has been hiding in a drawer. (“In case somebody walks through the house, you don't want them too tempted.”)

Asked if there was more promotional work ahead for “The Descendants,” Payne was quick to say, “I'm finished. I'm now staring into the abyss.”

But the timeline is not quite set for his next film, titled “Nebraska.”

“I'm still trying to cast it,” he said. “I'd be ready to start filming by 4 this afternoon, but I don't know yet when that will happen.”

Maybe a little rest first, after the crush of award season?

“I don't want to. I want to get to work.”]]> Julie Topanga Talk Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:45:11 -0700