11.14.2009

Film Festival Hits Dowtown

Today from 11 a.m. until midnight, downtown Santa Monica will host its annual Santa Monica Film Festival. The Ocean Avenue Screening Room will host entries from filmmakers, both local and international, in a competition that will have Feature Film, Documentary, and Short film Categories.

Henrietta Roe, the festival organizer, said that the day is going to be “picturesque and intimate.”

With efforts to promote new films and filmmakers to the movie industry and locals, a breakfast meant for networking and introductions will be held at 11 a.m.

One local entry, entitled “Work to Surf,” is a documentary about former Z-boy Sarlo during his days as a local skateboarder and surfer in the 1970’s.

There will be an award ceremony and VIP party that will begin around 9 p.m.

Woman Gives Birth in Laundromat

Patrons at the Clean People Coin Less Laundry, were in for quite a surprise Friday afternoon.

Just minutes after returning from UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, expecting mother Nancy Jimenez began to feel ill. Nancy had just returned from seeing her doctor at UCLA regarding her pending child birth procedures.

Nancy came to the Laundromat to visit her cousin, Rosalva Jimenez who is employed in the Laundromat’s fluff and fold section. Shortly after complaining to her cousin, Nancy entered the bathroom and began to scream. Rosalva jumped into action, first seeing what was the matter with Nancy. After realizing that Nancy was in fact going into labor, Rosalva gathered some towels and called 911.

While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Rosalva delivered a healthy baby boy around 1:30 p.m.

The mother and child were taken to UCLA medical center and are both in good health.

Get Your Kicks on the Pier

Wednesday November 11^th, marked the 83^rd anniversary of the historic Route 66. It also was the day, that the Santa Monica Pier became the official end point of the historic highway.

Route 66, the historic route from Chicago to Los Angeles, has unofficially ended at the Santa Monica pier for some time now, as the route ended at Santa Monica and Ocean Ave. Some believe that the history behind this, stems from a Highway sign put up as a movie prop. The original sign vanished about 50 years ago, but is now replaced by an official sign put up by the Route 66 Alliance.

On Wednesday there were 66 vintage cars and motorcycles in a procession that began on Lincoln and Santa Monica, and ended at Santa Monica and Ocean.

The Route 66 Alliance, an organization that works to preserve and promote the highway, has been working closely with the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp., in order to make this possible.