Firefighter Cyclists Passing through Malibu Today for Cancer Awareness Ride

Suzy Demeter of Suzy Demeter Photography happened to be on PCH in Malibu today when these firefighters came cycling by from the north. They were escorted by a fire truck from Malibu Fire Station #99, the westernmost fire station in Los Angeles County.

This was a group of firefighter cyclists that are part of the National Fire Velo Cycling Club that were on a one week ride from San Francisco Bay to Los Angeles as part of a "Fire Service Cancer Awareness" ride. Today is the final day of their ride, which ends at the Santa Monica Pier.

Visit their Facebook page to learn more, or visit www.firevelo.com.

"Sitting Pretty: Portrait Photography" Exhibit at Museum of Ventura County Aug 22 to Nov 29

Dr. Manual Antonio Rodriguez de Poli (MVC Collection)

Sitting Pretty: Portrait Photography from the Salon to the Selfie features long-hidden treasures from the Museum of Ventura County’s collection of photographic and painted portraits.  It will open on August 22nd and will be on display through November 29, 2015. 

Formal, framed portraits of well-known city pioneers, such as Dr. Cephas Bard, Dr. Manuel R. de Poli and Mrs. Concepcion Sepulveda de la Guerra, as well as lesser-known names were culled from the Museum’s storied permanent holdings.  The works on view range from elaborately framed formal portraits to light-hearted depictions of children, many of which are from the studio of John Calvin Brewster, a Ventura portraitist who established a studio on Main Street in 1875. The exhibit also offers a chance to see rare daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes, including one of Jose de la Rosa, the first notable California printer who settled in San Buenaventura in 1880.

The range of photographic processes shown in the more than 30 works spanning 120 years, explores the technical evolution of photography.  The advent of the roll film camera and digital technology have changed the roles of the professional portrait photographer. Also, the relative affordability of the photo gave a broader range of people the opportunity to own an image of themselves and loved ones, a luxury previously reserved for the wealthy who could afford to commission an artist to render a painting.

The current “selfie” craze makes everyone a photographer in the moment, without replacing the need for the trained photographer who has something we could never have—objectivity. 

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 E. Main Street, Ventura. Visit www.venturamuseum.org for more information.

Dr. Cephas Bard (MVC Collection)

Conejo Valley Days Parade Photo From 1963 Captures Relations with Cuba at the Time

Photo from 1963 Conejo Valley Days Parade

Here's a throwback photo from the 1963 Conejo Valley Days Parade in what the following year would officially become the City of Thousand Oaks. An entry with "Care Package for Castro" with a missile with the caption "Y's Men" (which I suspect is in reference to the Y's Men, a service group that helped construct the original Conejo Valley YMCA building in 1964). 

Just months prior, in October 1962, was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union over the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. After intense negotiations between President Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviets agreed to remove the weapons in Cuba in exchange for public declaration that the U.S. would not invade Cuba.

My how times have changed since then, with the United States in process of re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Family Admission to the Los Angeles Zoo Saves You Time and Money

If you and your family visit the Los Angeles Zoo at least two times a year, the Family Membership is a no brainer. Not only does it save you money for a family of four or more when you visit the zoo at least twice a year, but it saves you time by bypassing lines into the park. Los Angeles Zoo membership also saves you 10% in shops and restaurants and gets you free or discounted admission to over 170 zoos and aquariums around the country.

The current cost of a one year family membership is $134, but there's a limited opportunity to purchase it at the discounted price of just $90 at THIS LINK!

Gentle Giraffe

Restful Rhino

Reggie the Alligator

Hippos relaxing

Grinning and Bearing it

The Conejo Grade in 1970

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Conejo Grade 1970 (Photo by Frank Knight; Image courtesy of Conejo Through the Lens, Thousand Oaks Library)

Here's an aerial photo of the Conejo Grade from the Frank Knight collection in 1970, looking towards Newbury Park. Things look quite a bit different today. Click here for other historical photos of the evolution of the Conejo Grade.

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In this shot from slightly further away, you can clearly newbury park high school, which opened in 1967

"Red Skies" Theme of Conejo Valley Sunset Last Night

As The Fixx said "Red Skies at Night. Red Skies at Night. Oh, oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" It was one of those nights last night as the clouds came in and the sunset turned shades of red.

Recover From Identity Theft with Help From IdentityTheft.gov

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has tracked data breaches since 2005. In the first seven months of 2015 (through July 28th) there were 450 significant data breaches in the U.S., with over 135 million reported records breached. And in the majority of breaches, the number of exposed records is not even known. 

Breaches can be caused by insider theft, hacking, data on the move, subcontractors/third parties, employer errors/negligence, accidental web exposure and physical theft. What breaches have in common is that they usually compromise personal identifying information, such as Social Security number, credit/debit card number, email/password/user name and/or protected health information. And this information is easily read by thieves because those entrusted in protecting your personal data have not encrypted (e.g. concealed so that the data cannot be utilized so easily).

I don't know about you, but I'm getting overwhelmed with warnings about my personal information being breached by large organizations that one would think would have adequate safeguards in place. Target, Anthem, UCLA Health, to name just a few. One source for helping alleviate this feeling is IdentityTheft.org.

IdentityTheft.gov is the federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims, providing checklists and sample letters to guide you through the process of recovering from identity theft.

The website is simply laid out to help you quickly address the following matters if you believe your identity has been compromised:

What Should I Do Right Away? In order to quickly address issues resulting from identity theft, there’s a checklist that covers 1) calling the companies where you know the fraud occurred; 2) placing fraud alerts at the major credit bureaus; 3) reporting identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission and 4) filing a report with the police.

What Do I Do Next?  The next steps in the process include 1) closing accounts opened in your name; 2) removing fraudulent charges from your accounts; 3) correcting your credit report; and 4) requesting extended fraud alerts or credit freezes with the credit bureaus. The site provides a variety of form letter templates to help expedite this process for you.

What Other Steps Should I Take? There are a variety of other actions highlighted that may apply to your situation, including 1) resolving tax-related identity theft; 2) reporting misused Social Security numbers; 3) responding to debt collectors trying to collect on debts that are not yours; 4) replacing government IDs, like driver’s licenses, passports and Social Security cards; 5) resolving the particular issues of child identity theft; 6) resolving medical identity theft and 7) clearing your name of criminal charges if the thief used your personal information while committing a crime.

And there’s a section covering additional steps that might be needed for identity theft used to initiate utilities, checking accounts, student loans, investment accounts and bankruptcies filed in your name.

Visit www.IdentityTheft.gov to learn more.

Now, if you want to cut off one type of identify theft in it tracks...credit theft, strongly consider doing a security freeze!