January 2010

Avatar’s Local Angle

After being hired as head animal trainer for James Cameron’s Avatar, Kele Younger ended up with a role in the new 3-D movie that has been widely touted as groundbreaking in the film industry.

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT

Bob Mackie - A Talent for Theater

Bob Mackie staged a few triumphant New York Fashion Week shows, bowing out with a razzle-dazzle fall/winter catwalk salute to Broadway in 2002. It was an ebullient show after a long decade of...

Bob Mackie: An Original

Bob Mackie, who will receive a Steve Chase Humanitarian Award during the Feb. 27 event benefiting Desert AIDS Project, has added sheen and shine to all the stars of every generation for the last...

ROD STAFFORD HAGWOOD

Demystifying Port

Port — wine fortified with brandy — typically conjures up an image of a debonair Alastair Cooke wearing a smoking jacket and holding a pipe while introducing Masterpiece Theatre from the seat...

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT

Designs on Saturday Mornings

While motorcycles zipped down Palm Canyon Drive for bike weekend in October, about 20 people gathered in the courtyard of The Corridor with serenity in mind. They wanted advice on how to create a...

Ducati: The Lifestyle

Motorcycles line the curb outside Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on El Paseo in Palm Desert. A la Sgt. Esterhaus, Kevin Gettmann instructs the riders to be safe out there. But these are not cops, and their...

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT

Editor's Letter - January 2010

The Coachella Valley’s premier red-carpet event, widely considered the official start of “season,” will be a powerful affair this month. Transcending the star-studded Palm Springs...

By Steven Biller

Horoscope - January 2010

2010 ushers in the rare and serious Saturn Pluto square, a couple of Saturn Uranus squares, and eventually Uranus and Pluto will square off. This series of alignments is unprecedented. For most of...

BY SHERRYL NOVA

In the Heat of the Night

Like the shoemaker’s elves, bakers at Panera Bread work while you sleep. So even if you walk into the café and store when the doors first open each day, you’ll find an array of fresh breads,...

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT

Intelligencer - January 2010

Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert in Rancho Mirage was among the first four Good to Grow! Museums by the Association of Children’s Museums. The Rancho Mirage museum, as well as museums...

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT

Pairing Ports

Each Port house has a distinct style as to the level of sweetness, fruit, and acidity in its wines. However, in general terms, Paul Mugnier of Premium Port Wines in San Francisco says reserve-level...

BY JANICE KLEINSCHMIDT

PSST - A Man of Stature

Art looks out across the Sandpiper condominium grounds in Palm Desert. At 9 feet tall, with bug eyes, mismatched feet, and a hole in the middle of his tattooed chest, he cuts an imposing figure.

PSST - Word Association January 2010

Janice Kleinschmidt, deputy editor of Palm Springs Life, has — under the pen name Jan St. Louis — written a romantic comedy science fiction reality-questioning adventure musical in 37 acts.

The Canadian Connection

But the lure of the desert region is powerful for many Canadians, who have traveled here for nearly as long as American movie stars, artists, naturalists, and wayfaring entrepreneurs. Always...

BY JOANNA DEHN BERESFORD

The New Financial Literacy

As an investor, you must speak the language CNBC pundits spout hourly. More importantly is to understand what your wealth advisers and financial planners are saying.

BY ELLEN PARIS

Then & Now

Art for all tastes (and price points) prevails this month, as galleries from Palm Springs to Indian Wells open exhibitions featuring paintings, sculptures, limited-edition lithographs and...

BY STEVEN BILLER