Karen Lindell

Ventura County Star Andy Warhol was ___. Easy fill-in-the-blank, right? He's that pop artist guy with the silver-white hair who painted Campbell's Soup cans, Marilyn Monroe, and said something about 15 minutes of fame (actual quote: "In the future,…

The freight terminal at LAX is bulging with cargo destined for Southland holiday gift-getters. One shipment that arrived this week — ultimate destination Ventura County — was exceptionally large, rare and Russian. On Monday, Kathleen Noblin,…

Ventura County has a new leading musical man who began his theatrical career in “The Music Man.” But Patrick Cassidy’s first thespian role was a decidedly non-leading one. As a Beverly Hills High School student, Cassidy played “Salesman #5” in “The…

The Oxnard Jazz Festival isn't just all about jazz. The third annual festival, taking place Saturday at Oxnard Beach Park, features musicians known for their jazz chops, including Pete Escovedo (Latin jazz), Mindi Abair (jazz, rock, blues), Rick…

Nature can be a drag for kids. The following dialogue might sound familiar: Mom: Video games off. Whiny child: Why? Mom: Because we are in a national park. It is amazingly beautiful. That very real conversation opens the 8-minute documentary,…

On the road again / Goin’ places that I’ve never been. — Willie Nelson Telling a personal story, even if we remember the details intimately, can take us to places inside ourselves we’ve never actually been. And the most interesting stories are…

Moths, aflutter and flustered as they fly toward light and flame, are just trying to find their way in the dark. The same could be said of storytellers. And human beings. “We’re compelled to share significant experiences that have changed us, and…

Sometimes even William Shakespeare has to settle for second billing. The title page to the play “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” first performed in 1613 or 1614, says it was “Written by the memorable worthies of their times: Mr. John Fletcher and Mr. William…

Macaroni has tempered the “Star Trek” vs. “Star Wars” rivalry. And the man who played Captain James Tiberius Kirk helped lead the sci-fi franchise truce. Peace might outshine “Wrath” when William Shatner comes to Thousand Oaks on June 24. First, a…

The Ojai Music Festival revels in questions, which can be so much more revealing than answers. The festival’s 2018 music director, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, has been asking questions about music — and defying musical tradition — ever since she started…

“Things in life have no real beginning, though our stories about them always do.” ― Colum McCann A boilerplate storytelling lesson plan starts with this tidy tripartite rule: Include a beginning, a middle and an end, in that order. Real life is…

Dennis Miller has written four best-selling books with “Rant” in the title (“The Rants,” “Ranting Again,” “I Rant, Therefore I Am” and “The Rant Zone”), so what’s he ranting about these days? Well, his rant zone has diminished, at least by Miller…

George Christie rehearses his new one-man play called "Outlaw." It's about his life as the leader of the Hells Angels Even as an outlaw, George Christie has always been an outlaw. Most prominently as a member and now exile of the Hells Angels…

The young and the nestless need your help, or more specifically, your untrimmed trees. Without vegetation to build their nests in during spring, bird parents are left without a home to raise their babies. California nesting season (from around…

The Civil War transformed the United States from plural to singular. According to historian Shelby Foote, speaking in Ken Burns’ PBS documentary “The Civil War,” before the war, people grammatically referred to the United States as a collection of…

Elmer Ramsey was a Conejo Valley dad many times over. He and his wife, Elaine, raised five children in Thousand Oaks. But the conductor, trumpet player, composer and teacher was also a founding musical father. Ramsey lovingly led and nurtured a…

The live show will take place Feb. 21 at the Ventura Harbor Comedy Club. Yazmin Cruz Cabinets are a stiff-but-nonjudgmental audience. Linda Lowe, of Camarillo, has discovered the advantages of using her cupboards as an audience as she prepares for…

Love is all you need, until Valentine’s Day rolls around, when you need an extra paycheck to fund whatever red, floral, lacey, scented, glittery gift or experience you want/feel pressured to give your loved one. Valentine’s Day does not need to be…

The girl and tomboy Scout swings into our hearts on a rope. In the 1962 movie version of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” we’re introduced to 6-year-old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, clad in denim overalls, as she zooms…

When credit cards, patience and tolerance for holiday carols are maxed out, the next winter-break quandary sets in: How do you fill those nebulous days between Christmas and New Year’s? Especially if you have restless relatives or out-of-school kids…