Noteworthy 5/27-6/3/26: GOOD
By CHARLES ANDREWS WILL STEPHEN COLBERT HAVE THE LAST LAUGH? I sure hope so. But he had the laugh on me when I watched the first of his last four shows and panned it. There […]
SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica’s Coast Is About to Change Forever. Most Residents Don’t Know It’s Happening. Part 1.
If you live in Santa Monica and have ever wondered why the city seems to have so little control over what gets built near the beach, the answer traces back to a bureaucratic failure that […]
Curious City 05/22/26: BLUE WAVE? NO, WE NEED A NEW WAVE
By Charles Andrews I DIDN’T START OUT THIS WAY I was a good kid. Stayed away from trouble. But I was a lousy student, despite scoring high on aptitude tests, was a National Merit Scholar, […]
SM.a.r.t. Column: Santa Monica Isn’t Rebounding Yet. It’s Replacing
Santa Monica officially reports numerous new business openings, often highlighted by the media as signs of economic recovery. However, a walk through the streets tells a different story; it appears less like a revival and […]
Noteworthy 5/13-20/26: SUMMER MUSIC HAS BEGUN!
By CHARLES ANDREWS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Final Performances -“BLUE KISS,” Ruskin Group Theatre – I hope you’ve taken the opportunity to experience this all-around excellent two-actor play, a most unusual story slowly revealed like layers of […]
SM.a.r.t Column: Get Into the Weeds With Us
Walk down Ocean Park Boulevard, and you can feel something coming. Development signs announce seven- and eight-story buildings that will tower over local shops and restaurants. Almost 1,000 mostly luxury units. Across Santa Monica, neighbors […]
Curious City 05/08/26: HUMANS NO LONGER WORTH A NICKEL
By CHARLES ANDREWS NOW, THAT’S JUST SILLY With all that’s going on in the world, you’re going to use this precious space to complain about… sports on TV? (Hang with me on this.) That was […]
Noteworthy 5/6-13/26: INT’L JAZZ FEST IN SM
By CHARLES ANDREWS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: TONIGHT! – VERDI “FALSTAFF,” L.A. OPERA – Drink it in, the incomparable Romantic Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi borrows a really good story from the British Bard. Expect comic mayhem, […]
SM.a.r.t column: More bull? More B.S.!
Attached is an article SMa.r.t. wrote in 2018, and short of a brief comment, I’m not going to edit or alter it, as it is prescient to what we are no doubt about to experience […]
Noteworthy 4/29-5/6/26: JAZZ FEST COMES TO US
By Charles Andrews FRIDAY, MAY 1, A NATIONAL STRIKE, TO RESTORE SANITY You know what to do…nothing. No work, no school, no patronizing of corporations, shop if you must at mom & pop businesses (and […]
Sweet Laurel Bakery Will Not Reopen in Palisades, Closes Santa Monica Pickup Spot
Sweet Laurel opened its flagship store in Palisades Village in 2018 and built a strong following across West Los Angeles....
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SM.a.r.t. Column: Santa Monica Isn’t Rebounding Yet. It’s Replacing
Santa Monica officially reports numerous new business openings, often highlighted by the media as signs of economic recovery. However, a...
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