Studio Movie Grill at the Simi Valley Town Center Makes a Great First Impression

Studio Movie Grill Simi Valley opened its doors to the public tonight at the Simi Valley Town Center and I got to check it out!

The theater is located on the east side of the mall behind the new Buffalo Wild Wings. It is beautiful both inside and out.

There are nine screens in the facility with varying sizes and over 950 seats in total.

The stadium style seats look a bit airline-ish but were surprisingly comfortable and supportive and the serving trays pivot for comfort. Tons of leg room too!

When I first saw the seats I thought they didn't look very comfortable. But when I sat down, I realized I was wrong.  I usually squirm in movie chairs with my aging hamstrings, but these chairs were very supportive. I also noticed they don't seem to recline too much, but that was also a non-issue for me during the movie.

Each of the stadium style seats have trays and buttons to press for food service. Pretty darn efficient. I ordered a blended margarita and it was excellent.  A movie with a margarita, chicken nachos, tasty flatbread, burgers and more.  Everything we tried tasted great!

There's a special deal on the menu; $25 for 1 appetizer and two entrees. The price seemed pretty fair to me for the solid quality.

Enjoying a blended Cadillac margarita at the show. Plenty of mixed drinks, beer and wine available at the press of a button.

The trays can be maneuvered around to be closer or farther away from you, which was a nice convenience you don't find on, say airline seats. I was also impressed by the extraordinary leg room/distance between rows, allowing for attendants to scoot by without you having to scrunch up into your chair.

There's also a full bar and eating area in the front of the theater. A bit on the loud side in there but it was really buzzing!

My initial assessment is that the Studio Movie Grill Simi Valley will be very successful. Reasonably priced, great service, tasty food, full bar, nicely appointed and comfortable. Larn more and buy tickets at www.studiomoviegrill.com.

There are some special offers next week highlighted HERE.

Support Our Troops Through the Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program

At Halloween, many of us anticipate massive stockpiles of sugary sweets in our households.

As an alternative to consuming all this candy, consider donating it to our troops overseas. You may think, do we really want to send all that junk food to throughout the world? Sure! Everyone enjoys a treat! And truth be told, the troops themselves don't eat all this candy...much of it they enjoy sharing in the communities they patrol.

The Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program has partnered with Operation Gratitude and local dental practices to channel your candy stockpile to our troops. Local dentists "buy" back Halloween candy in exchange for cash or other items. The candy is shipped to Operation Gratitude and other U.S. Military support groups and in turn it is sent overseas, to children of deployed service members, wounded warriors, veterans and first responders.

There are nearly a number of local Ventura County dental practices participating in this program. Just visit www.halloweencandybuyback.com and enter your zip code for these or other locations throughout the L.A./Ventura County area.

Each practice has their own buy-back incentives. so make sure to call to learn more about their program and related time frames (usually the first several days after Halloween).

Ventura County Area Schools in U.S. News 2015 Ranking of Nation's Top High Schools

In May, U.S. News & World Report published its 2015 ranking of the nation's best public high schools. The rankings were based on data from 29,070 public high schools and from that total, 19,753 schools with high enough enrollment and sufficient data to be ranked.

As in 2012, 2013 and 2014, schools were ranked based on: (1) how well students tested in state-level reading and math proficiency*, taking into account disadvantaged student scores (who tend to score lower on tests); and (2) college readiness index (CRI), based on how well schools prepare students for college-level work.

* However, in 2015, the threshold for determining performance was reduced from 1/2 to 1/3rd of a standard deviation about the average school; this was done to reduce year-over-year volatility of the rankings.

The median CRI, measured on a scale of 0 to 100, was 19.42 (it was 18.17, 14.8 and 16.3 in 2014, 2013 and 2012 - looks like a positive trend). A CRI of 100 means that all 12th graders took and passed at least 1 Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test.

There were 2,199 California high schools and over 2 million students enrolled during the 2012-2013 survey period. To be ranked in California, schools must receive either a gold (top 500 nationally) or silver (top 501 to 2,527 nationally) medal, representing schools with CRI values at or above the 19.42 median.

Rankings of local high schools in the Conejo Valley, Ventura County and adjacent areas and summarized in the table above. There were 17 local schools that received gold or silver medal status and thus were ranked nationally and in California.  

Topping the local school rankings was Malibu High School at #68 in the state, leapfrogging Westlake High School (#76) and Foothill Technology High School (which was the top local area school the last two years). Rounding out the top 5 were Oak Park and Moorpark. 

Overall, our local schools did great. Aggregate College Readiness scores jumped by 4 1/2% as compared to the previous year.

While the rankings and underlying detailed information are interesting and informative, before coming to any conclusions, do check out the detailed school information available at www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california.

Harbor Cove Beach at Ventura Harbor

Harbor Cove Beach (also referred to as "Mother's Beach") is located at the west end of Spinnaker Drive near Ventura Harbor Village and across from the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center. It is a "still water" beach protected by jetties that is considered one of the safest family friendly beaches in the area.

Waterfront activities include kayaking, kite flying and watching the boats come in and out of the harbor Restrooms and showers are available. Free parking! 

Across the street is the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park.

Visit www.venturaharborvillage.com/ventura-harbor-village-beaches.htm or call 805.642.8538. Address is 1878-1998 Spinnaker Drive.

COMPILATION OF BEACHES STRETCHING FROM MALIBU TO CARPINTERIA

First Rainstorm of Fall 2015 Brings Rainbows to Ventura County

Kevin Herold of Oak Park captured this promising looking full rainbow in Oak Park yesterday, the 2nd and final day of clouds and light rains here in the Conejo Valley, Ventura County area. Although this fickle weather we're seeing is forecast to jump towards triple digit heat yet again towards the weekend, we were happy to see the rain and rainbows and hopeful for much more to come.

Children Eating Lunch at British School Surprised by Opera Performance

Sacla Italia, an Italian pesto and pasta sauce brand, served up a great surprise at a Buckinghamshire, England elementary school were served up lunch and an operetic surprise when four opera singers broke into a selection of works from Verdi, Puccini and Rossini. Fun to see the reactions on the kids' faces!