By Andrew Edwards, Press-Telegram
The Catalina Island Film Festival is set to return to its seaside venue on Wednesday.
“You have this Hollywood reverence and history on this beautiful gem of an island,” festival director Ron Truppa said. “It’s the closest thing we have to the Cannes Film Festival in the United States.”
Catalina Island’s history as a location for film shoots dates back more than 100 years. D.W. Griffith’s “Man’s Genesis,” was filmed on the island in 1912, according to the Catalina Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau. It’s virtually impossible to venture around the island city of Avalon without seeing black-and-white photos of old-time movie stars at local businesses.
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Category Archives: Visitor Guide
Summer Report Card Shows 90% of Beaches Earned “A” and “B” Scores
By Ashley Cordes - Long Beach Post
Beach waters in Long Beach were healthier than ever this summer, according to Heal the Bay's most recent End of Summer Beach Report Card.
Of the 15 beaches monitored weekly by the Long Beach Health Department, 14 received "A" and "B" grades for the period between Memorial Day through Labor Day, meaning more than 90% of beaches received excellent marks. Last summer, only 77% of Long Beach waters received "A" and "B" grades.
The one beach that faltered from the positive scores this summer was the testing site at 55th Place, which received a "D" for its exceedance above state water quality standards. Nelson Kerr, Manager of Long Beach's Bureau of Environmental Health, says that the location received weekly "A+" grades until June 25 when a single bad sample earned it a "D."
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California: A cruise for craft beer lovers
By Jane Engle - Sun Sentinel
Connoisseurs of craft beers can lift a glass with the experts on a West Coast cruise during the “California Beer Festival at Sea” aboard the Celebrity Century.
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Guests will learn about industry trends and how to make their own beer at a roundtable with Lagunitas Brewing Co. of Petaluma, Calif., and Ninkasi Brewing Co. of Eugene. Ore. “It’s like Brewing 101,” said Vincenzo Giammanco, president of the California Beer Festival, the program’s organizer.
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... Escape to Catalina
By Doug Hansen, Special to the U-T
This mid-September trip to Catalina doesn’t even compare with the last one I did, 25 years ago. What’s different this time? Everything. My wife and I have been traveling a great deal, and I’m familiar with 75 countries, but I have to tell you that our four-day stay in Catalina rivals any trip we have done.During my last visit to Catalina, I made the mistake that many do — of just walking around Avalon, shopping and eating, spending the night and then leaving.
Continue Reading... ...DVD Review: A History Of The S.S. CATALINA Part 1, 1924-1975
Maritime Matters: By Shawn J. Dake
Among those who love ships and the sea it is not unusual to form a deep connection to one particular fleet or vessel. David Engholm is such a man; one who is passionate about a ship that was affectionately nicknamed “The Great White Steamer” but was best known by her true name, s.s. CATALINA. For 51 years, with only a break for the second World War, this ship was a fixture in the harbor of Los Angeles and the lovely port of Avalon, on Southern California’s island resort of Santa Catalina, just twenty-some miles across the sea.
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Long Beach, Los Angeles beaches are cleaner than ever according to Heal the Bay report
By: Greg Yee - Press Telegram
Southland beaches are clean in time for Labor Day, according to a report released by Heal The Bay on Thursday.
The nonprofit organization releases two annual reports, including the so-called End of Summer Beach Report Card, which gave 96 percent of California’s beaches an “A” or a “B.” The report marks the seventh consecutive summer that California beaches received high water-quality scores overall.
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West Coast of North America to Be Hit Hard by Fukushima Radiation
Radiation Levels Will Concentrate in Pockets In Baja California and Other West Coast Locations
An ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre is bringing Japanese radiation to the West Coast of North America: Continue Reading... ...CityDig: Catalina Island’s Lost Landmark, Sugar Loaf Rock
LAmag.com
In 1929, dynamite forever changed the look of Catalina’s Avalon Bay.
Long one of Catalina’s most prominent landmarks, Sugar Loaf Rock was a volcanic monolithrising some 50 feet above the harbor where Avalon’s iconic Casino building stands today. Early 20th-century guidebooks described the Sugar Loaf as Avalon’s “sentinel rock,” and picture postcards—like the one above from the Catalina Island Museum’s collections
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Ocean Recreation Water Quality Warnings and Advisories: August 20
Time: 4:35 p.m.
Date: August 20, 2013
Closure and Posted Warning Status Report
Danapointtimes.com
Closures:
No closures at this time.
Posted Warnings:
Bacterial levels in ocean and bay recreational waters exceed health standards at the following locations:
Huntington Harbour
• Seagate Lagoon.
San Clemente
• 150 feet upcoast and 150 feet downcoast of Poche Creek at Poche Beach.
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Under 600 Miles
Hello Westward Fans!
We've been busy since our last post. At the time of writing, we have just under 600 miles until our finish, so just a few days left!
We have seen a little bit of everything in our last day and a half or so. Westward and her crew have successfully weathered squalls, lulls, big waves, calm seas, blistering sun, and cold. We have done a few gybes, always trying to sail closest to rhumb line (most direct course to the finish). Our crew work has improved quite a bit.
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