It was a busy eight days for the Newport Beach Film Festival, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019 with a record attendance of 58,000 people. The Festival opened on Thursday, April 25 with the West Coast Premiere of “Luce” starring Naomi Watts, Octavia Spence, Tim Roth...

Orange County has long been a hotbed of creativity, especially in the music department. We had an explosive punk rock movement in the late 1970s and early 80s, which is when I was playing drums in a band called Desperate Living while managing other local bands and producing demos...

With more than 3,000 films submitted to the Newport Beach Film Festival ever year, who determines which films make the grade and which ones get two thumbs down? According to festival co-founder and CEO Gregg Schwenk, he and his team of programmers make the rounds of the top film...

For our anniversary, my husband and I decided to celebrate 10 years together in Tahiti. Or more specifically, Moorea. Moorea is an island in French Polynesia, part of the Society Islands. It’s known as “the magical island,” although the word Mo’orea means “yellow...

The Palladino Family ( Mike and Deirdre, their daughter Marissa and son Matthew) visited Yosemite National Park in April. Yosemite in April and it snowed! Perfect for us since we have never been there before.  We enjoyed two seasons in less than four days.  Wow, what a beautiful...

Sri Lanka, known as Ceylon until 1972, is a culturally diverse island nation in the northern Indian Ocean.  It is often called  the pearl of Indian Ocean because of its pristine beaches and lush forests and hills. Steve and Shelly Morefield toured the Island for two weeks on...