January 4, 2007 - VIP Funny

Yesterday was a big day in the life cycle of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF). It was the day that the chrysalis of planning and organization broke through its cocoon of secrecy, showing the world that it is in fact a beautiful butterfly about to take flight. The butterfly released today, like the silkworms we all watched in Kindergarten, will only be here for a short while. In fact one month from today, it will all be over.

Today's event, in case you can't see the Forest Whitaker for the trees, was the annual press conference at the Hotel Santa Barbara where Captain Roger Durling announced the attractions of the eleven-day event that starts on January 25th. Will Smith will be there, along with Al Gore and a bunch of other VIPs.

Click Here to the full press release of events and movies.

Yesterday's Wednesday Where Is It (WWII) picture was of the letters VIP. It's possible that these letters are somehow related to the Film Festival. It could also be that our photo only captured some of the letters. Maybe the whole word was VIPER, or some other word containing the letters in our picture. (Actually VIPER was the only one we could think of. As a little game today, we challenge all dedicated subscribers to send in others). But, the VIP in our picture was neither film-related nor truncated. The farmy-font letters were used to signify VIP parking at the Earl Warren Showgrounds for last year's Fair & Expo. After the Fair ended however, no one removed them.

Today, bettors at the OTB use the VIP parking.

Now that we have taken you from the Film Festival to the Showgrounds, we will take you back again. One of our favorite Santa Barbara stories is the one about the horse statue in the front parking lot of the Showgrounds – the one with Earl Warren's name on it in big bold letters. As Edhat found out years ago, the man on the horse is not the former Governor and Chief Justice. Santa Barbara eccentric Duke Sedgwick created the statue. And, the story says that the face on the rider is the face of the artist himself.

Scott Grieve, CEO of the Showgrounds, told the dedicated staff on Wednesday that the model for the body of the rider was someone named Lefty McPeters. Grieve got his information from a reliable source, the owner of Jedlicka's.

Okay, but wait. Here's the tie to the Film Festival. Duke Sedgwick happens to be the father of Edie Sedgwick, whose tragic life is the subject of this year's Opening Night Film, Factory Girl. In fact, as we said last time, the horse statue is even mentioned in the definitive book about Ms. Sedgwick by Stein and Plimpton. Edie called it, "that stupid horse sculpture".

In yesterday's contest, Juan coffee, Ladybird, Peg S, QueenWhackamole, and Rabbiez were the five subscribers who recognized the VIP when they saw it. The Edhat Dog, a Very Important Dog (VID), was called into action to break the first tie of the New Year. Five Jerky Strips were hidden around the room, each with a contestant assigned to it. Faster than Lassie or Rin Tin Tin, the Dog located each of them, ate them, and licked the floor clean. Ladybird's treat was the first to go. The lady wins a t-shirt!

We want to hear from you ... read/post comments on this article

Want to get instant fame and cool prizes? ... enter today's contest