Herbert M. Conrad, Ph.D., a 44-year resident of Pacific Palisades, passed away July 24 surrounded by family. He was 82. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Cornell and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from USC, Herb later pioneered experiments as the principal investigator in the NASA Biosatellite Program. An internationally known consultant on water quality and treatment, he was also founder and president of Ecological Systems. Herb was a member of the Plato Society, an avid bridge player, grand schmoozer, world traveler and an extraordinary husband, father, grandfather and friend. His appetite for life, curiosity, intellect, generosity, warmth and charm, not to mention his sweet tooth, will be solely missed but surely never forgotten by his family and many friends. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Judy; his devoted children Allison, Leslie (husband Richard Karliss) and Jon; and his adoring grandchildren Conrad Karliss and Lia Conrad. Donations may be made in Herb’s memory to the Committee of Concerned Scientists, The Plato Society at UCLA, or the American Cancer Society.
Fielding Caters to All Tastes With ‘Secret Ingredients’
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
When she was a development executive for The Ladd Company (‘Braveheart’) and Lynda Obst Productions (‘Sleepless in Seattle’), Lisa Fielding got used to the long gestation period required to get movies made. Now, Fielding is applying the same tenacity and meticulousness that she exhibited in Hollywood to her new Pacific Palisades-based catering business, Secret Ingredients. ‘With cooking, it’s like falling in love with a story,’ Fielding says. ‘It’s an organic narrative. A great meal really is like the escape one gets going to a movie. Food has that potential.’ Four months into catering, Fielding is building a clientele devoted to her prowess in the kitchen.   ’Lisa cooks like an artist,’ says producer Wallis Nicita (‘Mermaids,’ ‘Six Days, Seven Nights’).   Laura Clark, a Mandeville Canyon resident, notes Fielding’s grilled shrimp pasta with roasted cherry tomato and orange confit: ‘I don’t even know what a ‘confit’ is, but it’s other-wordly.’ ‘I cook everything, from traditional American, authentic Mexican, country French and Italian, and East Indian,’ Fielding says. ‘But I am partial to Mediterranean flavors: halibut fillet, fragrant olive oil, sal de mer, heirloom tomatoes, burrata, and home-baked pissaladi’re.’ Professionally, Secret Ingredients represents Fielding’s second take at a food-related venture. From 2005’07, she intended to open Picnic, a Palisades gourmet food store. Fielding was no stranger to the waiting game, having attempted to produce a film based on the book ‘The Villa Golitsyn’ by Piers Paul Read for over two decades. Attached to Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons, the project ultimately fell part. Similarly, complications arose with Picnic. Fielding, fellow Palisadian Nancy Sanders, and Daniel Nolinger intended to open the shop at 1017 Swarthmore (now occupied by Madison). But Fielding had a falling out with Sanders, and a succession of new partners failed to bring Picnic to fruition. After upgrading the storefront and acquiring the necessary permits and trademarks, Fielding says she lost $170,000 in the ill-fated investment. ‘The store was supposed to be fun and exciting, but what a nightmare!’ she told the Palisadian-Post in 2007. Fortunately, Secret Ingredients is off to a smoother start. Fielding told the Post half-jokingly that she has already envisioned a reality show emerging from her adventures in catering. As she says, ‘Food is drama!’ On Monday evening this week, Fielding catered a dinner party for eight at a Paseo Miramar home with a breathtaking view of the Pacific, clear out to Catalina. As dusk filled the Palisades sky with an ice cream-swirl of orange and lavender, guests gathered at the dinner table, including Wendy Plumb, owner of the Cottage on Swarthmore; Palisades-based trainer J. J. Janda; Brentwood resident Lisa Chadwick; and Suzanne Barzman, daughter of screenwriter Ben Barzman (‘El Cid’). ‘When I was six years old, I pulled a step stool up to the counter where my grandmother was baking pies and rolled out my first pie crust!’ Fielding says. ‘My grandma Rodriguez, on my mother’s side, is Mexican, and there was always a fresh warm stack of homemade flour tortillas and chili on the kitchen table. But it was my mom who really set the bar for great meals. I would follow her around as she cooked while listening to Frank Sinatra and Chet Baker.’ ‘Her food is par excellence,’ says Fielding’s mother, Helen. ‘She also does the flower arrangements. And she bakes!’ Fielding’s peripatetic childhood exposed her to international cuisine as her late father’s job (in banking) meant growing up in Germany, Lebanon, and southern France before the family returned to her birthplace, San Francisco. She attended UCLA, where she double majored in sociology and pre-law before entering entertainment. Currently working on TV projects, Fielding believes that catering complements her screenwriting: ‘I finally have the time to pursue both of my passions.’ As Fielding served a tray of bruschetta on Monday, Barzman took partial credit for Secret Ingredients, recalling that ‘Lisa was at a crossroads in her life and I said, ‘You’re such a good cook, you need to do this professionally.” That crossroads included the breakup of a long-term relationship, which helped encourage Fielding to blaze a new path. ‘My cooking is organic,’ says Fielding, who frequents farmers’ market for fresh ingredients. Catering a recent West Hollywood party, she paired salmon in a honey glaze with roasted asparagus and a summer salad. Her repertoire of baked goods includes cupcakes and pumpkin cheesecake with a praline bottom crust. ‘I’m really lucky I get to bring so much joy to people through great food and companionship,’ Fielding says. ‘Life without either is rather colorless, don’t you think?’ Fielding opened Monday’s meal with a green salad with pancetta and lemon vinaigrette, accompanied by California ros’, before serving lasagna with a chicken rag’ and a white B’chamel sauce. By 9 p.m., the guests gathered around a table on the deck. As dessert was presented”peach-and-blueberry cobbler ‘ la mode, accompanied by mint tea and French-press chicory coffee”the full moon illuminated the ocean view, partly obscured by a middle-ground silhouette of palms and busy hillsides, that could have passed for Casablanca. A big believer in karma, Fielding places her faith in life’s ecosystem of positive energy. She has not given up on her retail dream and still holds the storefront’s lease: ‘If Picnic has a second chance, it will come through this.’
Fish, Fowl, Game
Getty Villa Studies Food in Ancient Rome
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Ancient Roman foods relied on five liquids: oil, wine, vineger, honey and fermented fish sauce, with attention to harmony, balancing the sweet with the bitter. But it wasn’t always so. In fact, had it not been for the advantages of conquest, Romans could have easily remained ‘porridge-eating barbarians,’ before they discovered Greek food toward the end of the tird century B.C. According to Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger, who described the culinary pleasures of the Roman Empire in a recent lecture and tasting at the Getty Villa, Eastern (Greek) cooks, some of them prisoners of war, introduced the Roman elite to the new seasoning and flavors of the eastern Mediterranean. Romans took to this nouvelle cuisine of 2 B.C. and thus found one more way to display their wealth. The Getty, in its study of the ancient world, includes food and wine in its purview and is home to an extensive collection of Greek and Roman cooking utensils, wine vessels and festival accoutment. As with all societies, classical social life revolves around food and drink, and what we know of foodstuffs, preparation, recipes and social groups comes from ancient texts and archaeological evidence. In their book, ‘The Classical Cookbook’ (J. Paul Getty Museum), Dalby and Grainger explore the cuisine of the Mediterranean in ancient times, from 70 B.C. to A.D. 50, beginning with the ‘Odyssey’ (circa 70 B.C.) and drawing heavily from the recipes of the Roman culinary text ‘Apicius,’ which codified the cookery of the later Roman Empire by uniting Greek and Roman traditions. Dalby has written for numerous food history and classics journals and is the author of a book on food in ancient Greece. Grainger, a professional chef with a degree in ancient history, regularly organizes Roman banquets. For the poor, bread was and remained the staple’barley for the Greeks, wheat for the Romans. For wealthy Greeks, the menu reflected the bounty of the land and sea. At a men’s dinner party, always absent wives and children, guests reclined on couches, each with a small table. As in Greece, Roman houses had a special dining room, the triclinium (‘three couches’). The couches, each large enough for three diners, were arranged in a U-shape surrounding a central table. ‘The dining room often afforded a view of both the inner and outer peristyles, as well as an opportunity for the owner of the villa to display his wealth,’ according to Getty Education Specialist Ann Steinsapir. The food was prepared by male slaves, who served a sequence of dishes. According to Ginger, dips were very popular and the easiest method to eat for Romans who were accustomed to reclining on one arm and eating with their fingers. The meal would begin with appetizers, followed by a sweet aperitif, mulsum, a mixture of honey and wine. Gringer and Daby cite a religious dinner attended by Julius Caesar, at which 16 hors d’oeuvres ranged from sea urchin and clams to vnison and wild boar. These appetizers could be more varied and costly than the main course, though not bulky. The main courses were accompanied by bread and wine and delivered and removed by servants, who also supplied perfumed water for the participants to rinse their fingers. In both Greek and Roman households, the tables were then cleared away and clean tables took their place for the dessert course, known as ‘second tables,’ consisting of cakes, sweetmeats, cheese, dried fruits and nuts, and a variety of fine wines. At this point, the dinner party in Plato’s time became a symposion, a drinking party, where men discussed philosophy, literature and mythology, while slowly dissolving into drunken debauchery. Women of the household would be out of sight, though dancers and flute girls, hired for the occasion, might be often seen in the dining room. While wine was a key ingredient in the social life, the Greeks always mixed it with water, because it was considered bad manners to get drunk too quickly, according to Karol Wight, the Getty Museum’s senior curator of antiquities. Greek wine was fashionable in Roman Italy, just as Greek comedies swept the Roman stage and Greek customs became more natural than homegrown customs. In Cato’s manual on running a farm (De Agri Cultura or ‘On Farming’), which includes sidelights on country life in the second century B.C., he offers practical instructions for the wine from a particular harvest or crop. The marvelous year for Italian wines was 21 B.C., Grainger and Dalby quip. In researching the variety of Greek and Roman life and food, Grainger has been able to recreate ancient food, noting the called-for ingredients and offering the best guess as to how they were combined. ‘Cooking is an instinctive art that could never be an absolute science bound by precise quantities times and temperatures,’ Grainger writes. ‘Fortunately, Greek and Latin poets and agricultural writers occasionally provide clues as to how a dish looked or tasted and the manner in which ingredients were prepared and stored. These are invaluable aids to interpreting ancient recipes.’ For us in Los Angeles, where so many of the herbs and spices are familiar, a couple of surprises are worth mentioning. The first, fish sauce (garum) is not dissimilar to the more familiar Thai bottled nam pla, which can easily be substituted by those cooks who prefer not to salt a whole fish and let it ferment for up to three months! Two remarkable spices that were known to Greeks and Romans and used for medicinal purposes as well as seasonings are unknown in today’s kitchen. Silphium was grown only in what is today Libya, and was so highly prized that the Roman state treasury stored it with gold and silver. A victim of overgrazing, silphium became extinct. In its place, a relative of fennel called asafoetida was substituted and recognized in the West as an ingredient in Indian cookery (it is often listed as an ingredient in ready-made poppadoms and nans)’and rumored to be one of the secret ingredients in Worcestershire sauce. Finally, two erbs, lovage and rue, while easily grown in temperate climates, are not as familiar in today’s recipes. Romans used lovage at least as commonly as a modern cook might use parsley. It had a bitter sharp flavor that was useful in everyday cooking and especially good in fish and legume dishes, the authors suggest. Its flavor is fundamental to authentic Roman food. Rue is another culinary herb that was once quite popular, but is now used rarely. Its unusual bitter flavor is still valuable in the kitchen, and it has had a great reputation as a medicinal herb, Ginger says. Spices and herbs, staples in gardens of ancient Roman homes and grown for religious ceremonies, cooking and medicines, are cultivated in the herb garden at the Getty Vila. Fruit trees bearing plums, apricots, figs and peaches are arranged on the south end of the garden, along with a range of plants from catmint and spearmint to sage and chamomile, and a grape arbor. For those eager to learn more about how food and wine were prepared, stored and served, a 30-minute video tour focuses on food-related objects in the Getty Center museum’s permanent collection.
Moonday to Host Ludwin & ‘Raindog’ August 10 at 7:30
Moonday features poets Peter Ludwin and R.D. Armstrong (aka Raindog) on August 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore Ave. Guests are encouraged to come early to sign up for open reading. Ludwin is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Trust Literary Fellowship. He was also a finalist for the Muriel Craft Bailey Award, and is the second prize winner of the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award for Poems on the Jewish Experience for 2007-2008. His first book, ‘A Guest in All Your Houses,’ was released in 2009 by WordWalker Press. Armstrong, published in nearly 300 journals, magazines, anthologies and E-zines, published four books in 2008. For the past 14 years, he has operated the Lummox Press which publishes the Little Red Book series (59 titles to date.)
Don’t Miss Topol’s Farewell ‘Fiddler’ Tour
Actor Chaim Topol received a warm welcome on opening night of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Topol, who has played Tevye in more than 2,500 stage productions worldwide and starred in the 1971 movie, entered the stage to a round of applause. When he broke into his first song, ‘Tradition,’ the audience excitedly started singing and clapping along. At 73, Topol is on his farewell tour, and he’s as vibrant as ever. The show will be playing at the theater until Sunday, and it’s the last chance to see this legend perform locally. Living in the Russian village Anatevka in 1905, Tevye contends with his three daughters who want to marry for love rather than settle for an arranged marriage. The nearly three-hour musical is based on the stories of Sholem Aleichem and features music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and a book by Joseph Stein. No other actor could play Tevye, the impoverished Jewish peasant who struggles between tradition and the changing ways of a new generation, with the same humor and sensitivity. First appearing in ‘Fiddler’ in London’s West End in 1967, Topol was nominated for an Oscar in 1972 for his performance in the movie and Broadway’s 1991 Tony Award as best actor in a musical. Topol effectively connects with the audience, making a point of over dramatizing wisecracks to solicit a reaction. When he sings, Topol fills the theater with his gravelly baritone voice as he shuffles his feet and swings his arms to the rhythms. The pit orchestra, led by David Andrews Rogers, provides the perfect accompaniment. Supporting cast members deliver notable performances. Tevye’s three daughters (Rena Strober, Jamie Davis, and Deborah Grausman) have pristine singing voices. Susan Cella skillfully plays Tevye’s stern yet loving wife, while Erik Liberman is humorous as the timid suitor. Tickets: www.broadwayLA.org or 1-800-982-ARTS (2787).
BBQ, ‘Movies’ in the Face of Threat of Will Rogers Park Closure
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Saddle up, cinephiles! The Will Rogers Ranch Foundation (WRRF) will host an outdoor movie event at Will Rogers State Historic Park on Friday, August 14 at 7:30 p.m. The 4th annual ‘Movies in Will’s Backyard’ will present the 1935 comedy ‘Doubting Thomas,’ starring the Foundation’s namesake actor/cowboy philosopher and co-starring Billie Burke (good witch Glinda from ‘The Wizard of Oz’). Attendees are invited to picnic on the lawn at the free event. The WRRF will provide popcorn and drinks. ‘Movies’ is the latest WRRF event staged in the face of a statewide crisis. During the magic hour on the evening of July 3, on the cusp of what turned out to be a robust Independence Day celebration in Pacific Palisades, the WRRF held a barbecue at Will Rogers Park. But this was no mere picnic or walk in the park: it was a fundraiser prompted by the threat of the state park’s closure, with the additional purpose of increasing membership. ‘That was the first time they held it for the race and parade sponsors,’ says WRRF president Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry, Will Rogers’ great-granddaughter, who, on the following morning, sounded the horn to commence the 32nd annual Palisades-Will Rogers 5/10K Run. The barbecue proved to be a nexus of WRRF and Palisades Americanism Parade supporters. ‘The genesis of the thing is that Brian Shea had asked me to help him put on the event,’ says co-organizer Jimmy Klein, whose father, Bob Klein, started the race with Shea over three decades ago. ‘We got my peers, Palisadians, and we only had a month to put the whole thing together.’ The goal was ‘to raise awareness of the dire state the State’s in regarding the closure of the parks.’ ‘It was nice to see some young people get involved,’ Shea says. Klein adds that Rogers-Etcheverry, WRRF board member Trudi Sandmeier, Lynette Hernandez, park services superintendent for the Topanga sector (which includes Will Rogers Park), and Corpus Christi School were instrumental in mounting the barbecue, which attracted 400 guests (including 100 new WRRF members). Among those greeting new members: Todd Vradenburg, executive director of the Will Rogers Motion Pictures Pioneer Foundation; Sandmeier, whose grandparents were personal caretakers of Will and Betty Rogers; Wyatt McCrea, grandson of actor Joel McCrea; Rogers-Etcheverry’s daughter, Meeghan Etcheverry; and Bob and Jim Klein. ‘It was nice to see new faces,’ Rogers-Etcheverry says. ‘But I was overwhelmed by how many had never been through the house.’ Tours of the Will Rogers house, adorned with art by Charles Russell and Howard Chandler Christy, were conducted between servings of chicken and beer. ‘We raised approximately $10,000,’ Rogers-Etcheverry says. ‘We’re already talking about holding the event again.’ In the meantime, Rogers-Etcheverry is looking forward to the ‘Doubting’ screening. Her cowboy/philosopher great-grandfather starred in some 71 movies (including 50 silent films) before his death in 1935. ‘The event began when the WRRF was in its beginning stages,’ Rogers-Etcheverry says. ‘The Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma, hosts an annual event on August 15 marking the anniversary of Will Rogers’ death. We wanted to have our own annual event. Fox had just released four Will Rogers movies on DVD and we thought, Why not show a movie on the lawn? ‘We like to think of it as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the community and foundation members for all their support. The Will Rogers Motion Pictures Pioneer Foundation has graciously sponsored the event for the past three years and California State Parks donates their time for the event.’ In previous years, ‘Will’s Backyard’ has screened ‘Ambassador Bill,’ ‘Steamboat ‘Round the Bend,’ and, last year, ‘Life Begins at 40”’all starring Rogers. Rogers-Etcheverry summarized the plot of this year’s selection. ‘Paula (Burke) plays Rogers’ wife, who craves the life of stage lights,’ she says. ‘Thomas (Rogers), bound on keeping his wife home with the family, puts a plan into action by hiring a vaudeville player to impersonate a Hollywood director who’ll dash her hopes…by signing Thomas to a studio contract instead!’ So how does Rogers-Etcheverry feel about her famous ancestor’s films? ‘My grandfather, Jim [Will’s youngest offspring], always said, ‘Dad wasn’t much of an actor,” Rogers-Etcheverry says. ‘I have not seen all of Will’s films, but as for the ones I have seen, I find him funny. He always comes across as himself. I believe that is why so many people liked him. My personal favorite is ‘In Old Kentucky.” Last year, Rogers-Etcheverry had the chance to attend an Oklahoma event, which featured a screening of ‘Lightning,’ starring Will Rogers and Joel McCrea, grandfather of WRRF board member Wyatt McCrea. Rogers-Etcheverry: ‘It was so much fun to watch it together and see that, after 75 years, the family friendships have remained and are working to carry on the families’ legacies. ‘And nice to know that so many people remember who Will Rogers was!’ Admission: Free. Parking: $8. Contact: www.willrogersranchfoundation.org
Thursday, August 6 – Thursday, August 13
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s weekly Family Fun Campfire Night, featuring nature tales, campfire songs, games and, of course, marshmallows, 7 p.m. in Temescal Gateway Park. Parking is $7, but the campfire is free. Former newspaper reporter Deirdre Shaw discusses and signs ‘Love Or Something Like It,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Shaw’s insightful first novel (published by Random House) depicts a woman in her 30s redefining her life as she moves from New York to Hollywood, where she and Toby, a TV writer, share a Laurel Canyon cottage.”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7
Ricardo Means Ybarra reads ‘Scratch & the Pirates of Paradise Cove,’ 6:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. In this swashbuckling tale written for youngsters ages 8 to 12, Means Ybarra cleverly weaves an exciting story about a young boy’s love for his family and friends. Young readers will be whisked away on a high-seas adventure featuring pirates, cannon balls, treasure and a lucky cat named Scratch.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8
The sixth annual Movies in the Park series continues with ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ 8 p.m. on the Field of Dreams at the Palisades Recreation Center. Free admission.
MONDAY, AUGUST 10
Sunrise Senior Living hosts a free Alzheimer’s support group on the second Monday and fourth Wednesday of each month, 6:30 p.m. at 15441 Sunset. RSVP: Bruce Edziak at (310) 573-9545. Moonday features poets Peter Ludwin and R.D. Armstrong (a.k.a. Raindog), 7:30 p.m. at’Village Books on Swarthmore. (See story, page 11.)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 11
Story-Craft Time, ‘suggested’ for ages 4 and up, 4 p.m. at the Palisades Branch Library, 861 Alma Real. The Temescal Canyon Association’s summer evening hiking group will explore the now-upscale Venice canals, with the option of dinner at one of the many nearby restaurants. Meet in the Temescal Gateway parking lot at 6 p.m. for carpooling. No dogs! Expect to be back by 9 p.m. Information: temcanyon.org.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
Monthly meeting of the Palisades AARP chapter, 2 p.m. at the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford. The public is invited. Refreshments are served.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13
Chamber of Commerce mixer, hosted by Technology for You! and its owner, Ramis Sadrieh, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Aldersgate Retreat Center, 925 Haveford. Admission is free for Chamber members. Non-members: $25. Leigh Court reads from her book, ‘Secrets Volume 27: Untamed Pleasures,’ 7:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. Her stories are erotic and she will be raffling off sexy dice, chocolate- covered cherries, small bottles of champagne and the like.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
Fun Family Friday Nights, a summer series hosted by the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Simon Meadow in Temescal Gateway Park. This week’s theme is ‘Pirates and Princesses.’ Costumes are encouraged and there will be numerous theme games and activities. As always, Fiesta Feast will be selling dinners, but picnics are welcome. Admission is free; parking in the adjacent lot is $7.
Pali Blues Poised to Repeat
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. That has been the mantra of Pali Blues Coach Charlie Naimo ever since the season began and now, three months later, his squad is poised to win its second consecutive W-League championship.
Like they did last year, the Blues will have to travel across country for the finals and they hope for a similar result. The Blues (11-0-3) play the Washington Freedom (13-1-1) on Friday at the Maryland SoccerPlex–a game to be televised live at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Fox Soccer Channel.
“We’ve had great success on the road,” Blues General Manager Jason Lemire said. “We’ve gotten it done all season and we’re looking forward to doing it one more time.”
The Blues showed signs of vulnerability early in the season, tying three games while the roster was incomplete. However, Naimo didn’t panic. One by one, key players were added to the puzzle and since getting all the pieces in place the team has played at a level no opponent has been able to match.
“It took us awhile to get going at the beginning of the year, but all that matters is how you end the season,” Naimo said. “It is humbling to be around this group of girls, and I am happy to see them achieving this kind of success.”
Naimo has possessed the ‘Midas Touch’ in the W-League. Friday will be his fourth title game as a head coach and second straight since moving to the West Coast. According to Lemire, luck has nothing to do with it.
“We’ve got the best coach in the country,” Lemire said. “He prepares better than anyone and his record speaks for itself.”
Many of the Blues’ best players will miss Friday’s final, including Palisadian Ali Riley, who had to report to Stanford to begin her senior season. Naimo, though, anticipated the conflict in the college and W-League campaigns and had a contingency plan.
“We have our work cut out for us after losing some amazing players to college preseasons,” Naimo said. “But I have the utmost confidence in the group that will make this trip east.”
So the Blues will still take the field with a strong lineup, led by Mexican national team star Iris Mora, former Stanford standout Leah Tapscott, Jenny Anderson-Hammond (who started the spring with Sky Blue FC of the WPS), New Zealand national team star Kirsty Yallop, Oregon State alum Jodie Taylor and Yale teammates Adelaide Gay and Becky Brown.
In last Friday’s semifinals the Blues beat the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues, 4-0, in Newburgh, New York. Goalie Ashlyn Harris made several key saves early before Taylor struck from 30 yards out in the 14th minute. Just before halftime, Mora scored off of a feed from Christen Press for a 2-0 lead. Mora passed to Kelley O’Hara for the Blues’ third goal early in the second half, then set up Lauren Cheney for the final tally in the 65th minute.
“We saw when they came out that they were motivated,” Mora said after the game. “We knew we had to stay composed and defend on both ends of the field. We played like a team and a unit out there, and I’m just so proud of all my teammates.”
The win extended the Blues’ unbeaten streak to 28 games over two years. Washington beat the Ottawa Fury 3-1 on penalty kicks in the second semifinal on Saturday.
The Freedom won the W-League title in 2007 and will look to avenge last year’s 2-0 semifinal loss to the Blues, who then rallied late to clip FC Indiana, 2-1, in the final at Virginia Beach.
Blues midfielder Nikki Washington, who tallied five goals and two assists in nine games, was named to the 2009 All-League squad on Monday.
Lemire has organized viewing parties at both Barney’s Beanery on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and Mogan’s Cafe on Palisades Drive. Fans are encouraged to wear blue and arrive early. Prize giveaways will include merchandise and an autographed Blues jersey.
Cranston Masters Maccabiah Games
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Practice has certainly paid dividends for Pacific Palisades resident David Cranston, who recently returned from the Maccabiah Games in Israel. An environmental attorney at Greenberg Gusker in Century City, Cranston was the only athlete in the 50-and-over age division from the United States to complete the road race. To prepare, he rode the streets of Pacific Palisades and Los Angeles, even pedaling to and from work as part of his training. “The road race was in Ashdod’a beautiful sweeping seven kilometers out and back,” Cranston said. “We had all heard the course was flat but it wasn’t. It finished with a steep but relatively short climb (a few hundred meters) and it was very windy and hot. We also learned that the 30s, 40s, and 50s age groups were all racing together. All the strategizing went out the window.” Cranston tried to stay near the front of the pack for the first few laps but ran into trouble on the climb of the third lap when his bike chain started slipping between the small and big chaining and by the time he corrected the problem he had lost ground. “Our three-man chase group turned into eight and we worked very hard to get back to the front group,” Cranston recalled. “We finally caught the pack with about five laps to go. Working together with riders from seven different countries to catch the pack was one of the best parts. The other great part was having my family and other American spectators cheering us on at the turn-around at the top of the climb.” With three laps to go, Cranston had more problems when his chain dropped and it took a few seconds too long to re-engage it, leaving him a significant gap going into a heavy headwind. “I rode as hard as I could but was eventually caught by an eight-man group that I finished the race with, well ahead of them on the sprint up the hill,” Cranston said. “When it was over I just lay on the ground. It was the hardest and fastest race I’d ever done. We averaged 23 miles per hour and given the hills, length, wind and small groups of riders it was pretty fast. I was 10th in my age group and about middle of the pack among all the masters categories. I was elated just to have been able to participate and compete with some of the best cyclists in the world.”
‘Shotgun 21’ Is A Blockbuster Hit
Spadea Survives Semifinal Scare to Win Star-Studded Unisex Tournament at PTC
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
Never has there been a greater assemblage of pro talent on the courts at the Palisades Tennis Center than there was Sunday afternoon. Add to the mix a who’s who of celebrities, the area’s top junior players and an enthusiastic crowd and what you have is the community’s second annual “Shotgun 21” Championships. Park patrons were treated to more than seven hours of pinpoint passing shots, strategic lobs, booming overheads and friendly banter in a unisex, drop-hit event unlike any other in the sport. When it was over Vince Spadea, in town to play this week’s LA Tennis Open at UCLA, had defeated fellow ATP Tour veteran Ramon Delgado in the finals, pocketing the winner’s share of $5,000 and a new Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. “First off, I’d like to thank my coach Jon Lovitz,” joked Spadea, who ad libbed a few verses upon being playfully urged to rap for the spectators by Palisadian and tournament organizer Steve Bellamy. “This is a great concept, there were a lot of great points and I’m thrilled to have won.” Lovitz was one of many celebrities invited to participate and he entertained until the end, spouting one comedic gem after another despite expressing that his first-round loss to WTA pro Ashley Harkleroad was “no laughing matter.” “It’s great to hit against a real professional,” said Lovitz, who served as chair umpire for the PTC’s 10-year anniversary “Racquets, Stars and Guitars” event with brothers Mike and Bob Bryan in 2006. “She was just having fun with me–she can hit it anywhere she wants.” The biggest surprise of the tournament was PTC junior Clay Thompson, who came within one point of upsetting Spadea in the semifinals. Thompson led 20-18 before falling 21-20. Earlier he had eliminated pros Wade McGwire and Devin Britton and former pro Chuck Adams, who grew up in Pacific Palisades. “I’ve been Spadea’s warm-up partner at some challenger events so yeah, I’ve played him before,” said Thompson, who turned 17 in May and still has another year of high school at Santa Monica Crossroads. “I’m surprised I made it this far. There are awesome players here. Having to serve underhanded really levels the playing field.” Thompson is ranked in the top 15 in the nation and in the top three in Southern California in the Boys 18s, but was not expected to reach the final four in a field that included ATP pros Donald Young, Robert Kendrick, Taylor Dent, Alex Reichel, Kevin Ullyett and last year’s “Shotgun 21” runner-up Phillip King, who lost to Young in the quarterfinals this year. “I play about four or five times a week and sometimes I play in the clinics here,” said actress Donna Mills, who lost a close match to Tennis Magazine writer James LaRosa in the first round. “I played live ball against the Bryans at the event a few years ago and my partner [WTA pro Jill Craybas] and I were the only ones to knock them off the King’s Court. That was a big moment in my tennis career.” Movie star Elisabeth Shue brought serious game but lost to Spadea, actor Vince Van Patten fell to pro Andre Sa and actor Chad Lowe lost to Dent while WTA pro Alexandra Stevenson beat retired beach volleyball legend and Palisadian Sinjin Smith. “It’s so hard to compare because I don’t play tennis at the highest level but both sports require a high degree of mental toughness,” Smith said. “I’d love to have played more tennis when I was younger. I think I could’ve been pretty good.” Stevenson was looking forward to playing against the men and got her chance, hitting several clean winners despite losing to Reichel in the second round. “Things like this are really great for tennis,” Stevenson said. “Steve [Bellamy] is very creative, very innovative and he has done a lot for our sport. I love events like this that promote the game and give the fans something they don’t normally see.” Qualifying preceded the main draw and PTC juniors Walker Kehrer, Robbie Bellamy, Blake Anthony and Brandon Michaels earned spots in the main draw. Returning to the courts he grew up playing on, Kehrer, who begins his collegiate career at Stanford in the fall, defeated Harkleroad in the round of 16 before falling to Delgado in the quarterfinals. “That was my sixth match so I might’ve been able to win a few more points [against Delgado] if I was fresher,” Kehrer said. “It was a good experience. Live ball would be my game. You can’t really feed and go to net against these guys or you’ll get passed.” Having survived his semifinal scare, Spadea took an 8-2 lead in the finals and led 11-4 when the players changed sides after 15 points. After the chair umpire called a ball in that Spadea thought was long, he called to Delgado across the net, “Ramon, was that in?” Delgado just shrugged, feigning indifference, to the delight of the crowd. Play continued and, on match point, Spadea hit a passing shot that clipped the tape and crept over the net. Delgado sprinted but was unable to dig it out and, with that, Spadea had succeeded Alex Bogomolov as tournament champion. “It’s great because you can play a whole tournament in a single day,” said Delgado, a Paraguayan who played 12 years on the ATP Tour and was ranked as high as No. 52. “I played World Team Tennis with the Newport Beach Breakers and it’s something a little different.”
