The Presence of Her Absence

lingers on

I'm sorry to see that musician Michael Towers has died but fondly recall seeing him as part of the duo Vance Or Towers in Santa Barbara ...they were playing a big promotion upstairs in an old brick building on lower State St, circa 1970s

Vance Or Towers..Glen and Michael were one of the first bands in Santa Barbara to get a big record company to produce their first album. There was quite a buzz in SB back in the day...Glen and Michael's "the Presence of Her Absence" remains a fine and moving song from an excellent album

I tried to team up with Glen after Towers left, he expressed some interest, but nothing ever happened...damn..I think I was intimidated by their talent! 

"Vance Or Towers were a truly odd West Coast duo with a line in Sparks-style pop eccentricity and 10cc-esque satire. Though absolutely forgotten, the concept behind these two well-groomed cuties was that teenage girls could choose which one they liked best: Vance OR Towers. Pretty lame as concepts go, the band’s 1975 album on A&M is a different story, boasting both keyboard and guitar-driven rockers that anticipate much of the style and sound of the Quick as well as slick McCartney-style ballads. Far too good to be so unknown, the Vance Or Towers LP is prime fodder for a timely Revola/RPM reissue. Interesting trivia: this song, "Education Blues" is performed in the prom sequence of ‘Carrie.’ Yes, THAT ‘Carrie;’ look close and you’ll even see Vance Or Towers.

it was a wonderful time in Santa Barbara! 

RIP Michael Towers

Walkin' on Sunshine

I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa

There are many beautiful bike paths in America...they are not intrusive, they weren't squeezed into places where they don't fit, trees weren't chopped down to pour tons of concrete above and below ground...

Country path looks good!

simple and good

NICE!!

so I think the County of Santa Barbara and City of Carpinteria are completely confused as they attempt to build bike paths that simply don't belong. Putting city or urban bike paths in country areas is stupid!!

In Amsterdam, the people ride bikes everywhere...they don't need special paths with bells and whistles

bike path construction by the Salt Marsh...very bad

I say this as I watch Caltrans pour tons of concrete and God knows what else into the dirt for an urban-type bike path between Santa Claus Lane and Carp Ave Exit...8-million-dollars for this abomination....aided and abetted by the County of SB and City of Carp 

The Modoc Preserve bike path is an on-going issue until a resolution is found, but whatever the County has up its sleeve can't bode well for the beauty of the area...

She Talks to Angels

Says she talks to angels

Said they call her out by her name

Kymberly Herrin, Playboy Playmate From 'Ghostbusters', Dead at 65

outtake from 2013: of course, Kym used to be a Playboy model and boy oh boy was I surprised when I found out she was living on the Young Ranch (June Young practically invented Santa Claus Lane and the Big Yellow House) in Carp when I was renting a little funky place up there in the 1990s....I'd sit out in the yard reading Fritz Perls Gestalt therapy and water science books on my days off...

I gave Kym a ride one morning to Kim's Market and, well, she was a real fine girl, a real nice babe and I was the perfect gentleman...helping a neighbor out..she was dating the ranch owner's son at the time...

I chanced to see Kym again at the Court House last year, took her picture and the guy who emailed me has a blog called Noblemania, and wanted to use that picture...so I said "sure" and say "hi" to Kym for me...

https://santabarbaranewspressblogcom.blogspot.com/2013/07/pearl-necklace.html

RIP KYM HERRIN

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

We're Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 🎶

We hope you will enjoy the show 🎶

Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 🎶

Sit back and let the evening go 

🎶 ♫ 🎶

Yesterday's Papers

who wants yesterday's papers, who wants yesterday's girl?

so, the News-Press has stopped delivering papers via paperboy but since Wendy McCaw bought the News-Press with her big divorce settlement, the News-Press hasn't been delivering the news either, so what's the difference?

Wendy's a Trumper and a Birther...she'll never evolve and the 2020 wasn't stolen..at least not that I'm aware of

ok, so how many trees does it take to make a newspaper? too many! but now Wendy has switched to delivering papers by that dreaded gov't agency, THE US MAIL!! the USPS?? I voted by mail but who knows where the ballot will end up...

and it looks like Wendy jumped on the MODOC Save the Trees campaign with an actual News-Press editorial written by Wendy herself...now I have to wonder what she's up to...first she was against the Channel Islands Restoration, then she was for it, giving money to the Center for Biological Diversity which in turn applauded the Channel Island plan...never mind all the animals that were slaughtered, the plants that were poisoned and trees chopped down so now I'm supposed to believe she cares about some palm trees on Modoc Rd which the County wants to cut down to make way for an 8-million-dollar bike path...this may be a passive-aggressive hit job on Gregg Hart..not that I mind, I'm against any and all concrete bike paths, esp funded by Caltrans, and I hope the County gets the message and I hope Gregg Hart loses the election...but Wendy, how's about some consistency from now on

and speaking of 8-million-dollar sidewalks, the new section in Carp between SCL and Carp Ave is already seeing gay guys walking their dogs off leash!! (not that there's anything wrong with that)

when the City or County of Santa Barbaras say they are going to "restore habitat" that means trees are gonna get cut down and the City of Santa Barbara will remove three beautiful Ash trees on the Mesa for simply being labeled "non-native and/or invasive" a catch-all they use to demonize the trees they want to destroy....bio-nativism is a pseudo-science!!!

and same with eucalyptus which are NOT invasive in any way, shape or form..."Eucalyptus species are not invasive, having been planted commercially in Florida since the 1960s without spreading from managed plantations. EG and EA, along with Corymbia torelliana (CT), also may be used as windbreaks for citrus and vegetables. This circular describes potential applications and presents planting guidelines for these species."

see? the eucalyptus trees are beautiful if you open your eyes and for every ash tree they cut down, I will roam the hills and by-ways to plant another ash tree somewhere...

and no one will ever know