Virtual Performances By Well Known Singers During the Coronavirus Stay at Home Order

We’ve been in a “Stay Well at Home” order in Ventura County since March 20th that has been extended to May 15th. All places of gathering have been closed and in my case I was looking forward to seeing Kansas perform at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center Thousand Oaks the day before the order was put into place (the concert has been postponed).

A number of well known singers have taken to the Internet from their homes to entertain us during this bizarre time. Enjoy them!

Bonnie shares a message of hope during the COVID-19 pandemic and a performance of the song "Home," which first appeared on her 1977 album, Sweet Forgiveness....

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If you like this then listen to Dennis DeYoung and Julian Lennon sing "To The Good Old Days" from Dennis DeYoungs' upcoming album "26 East" on Frontiers Reco...

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Neil Diamond sings "Sweet Caroline" with updated lyric for safety during Covid-19 pandemic. Stay safe out there!

Neil Sedaka has been performing daily mini-concerts on his YouTube channel since April 6th.

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Carole King shares words of encouragement along with a slightly revised version of "So Far Away" during these challenging times. Listen to Carole King: https...

On Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020), by invitation of the City and of the Duomo cathedral of Milan, Italian global music icon Andrea Bocelli gave a solo perfor...

The Highly Interactive MOXI Museum in Santa Barbara

The MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation opened in a beautiful building adjacent to the Santa Barbara Amtrak Station on State Street in February 2017.

I took several pre-teen kids to the museum and the key word of this museum is --- INTERACTIVE! Every exhibit is made to be touched and experimented with. If you have kids, this is a local area must-do.

The moment you walk into the first floor of MOXI you are drawn to a gigantic handprint globe, gigantic guitar, magnet exhibit, sound studio and more.

The handprint globe exhibit near the entrance to the Museum.

Then outside in the first floor courtyard are some really fun activities involving wind propulsion, spinning devices, magnetic fields and a massive collection of see-through tunnels. Very fun!

But the fun just gets started on the first floor as the second floor of MOXI immediately brings back memories of Pinewood Derby - build a car and race it down a high tech track. Or do a jump shot, build a marble roller coaster, use your mind and compete in a game of Mindball and more.

You'll find light-driven exhibits on the other side of the second floor, with a gigantic "Lite Bright" type exhibit, a color mixing machine, light waves and more.

On the top of the building after picking up your jaw that just dropped at the panoramic views towards the ocean, State Street, adjacent Amtrak Station and mountains, there's even more to experience.  The "Whitewater" exhibit allows everyone to help move water down the line. Make music with the Weather Orchestra. Try the five observation scopes. And more!

Tickets can be purchased online for $25 (ages 13+) and $20 (ages 3-12) (as of July 2025); 2 and under are free. Or if you plan to visit several times a year, consider a family membership. More information at moxi.org.

To get there from Ventura County, take the 101 to the Garden Street exit (96B) and turn left. Take a right on Yanonali Street to State Street and you'll see MOXI. You can park in the train station parking lot or any local lot. 

Another idea to consider to make your visit more of an adventure is to take the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak train from Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Moorpark or Simi Valley to the Santa Barbara Station adjacent to MOXI and the Reagan Ranch Center Exhibit Galleries. Fun!

Plenty of Snow Seen From the Conejo Valley on the Saturday Before Easter 2020

It's pretty rare to see this much, if any at all, snow in the Los Padres National Forest and Topatopa Mountains in the middle of April. Then again, it's pretty rare, actually, unprecedented, that income tax returns are not due until July 15th of this year as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Nature is working with us I guess. This nice pack of snow won't last too long so I just had to capture some of it while out on a run on Lynn Road in Newbury Park this morning.

Rainy Week Ends in Colorful Ending in the Conejo Valley This Good Friday 2020

This past 3rd week of Ventura County “Stay Well at Home” orders was a very wet one, with six straight days of measurable rain. The week ended on Good Friday with clouds giving way to blue skies and this colorful rainbow signaling something positive is in store for us .

Photo Credit: L. David Irete

Photo Credit: Steve Hunter

Photo Credit: Nick Goldstein

Photo Credit: J. Stewart

Jungleland Tiger Trainer Mable Stark of Thousand Oaks on What's My Line, August 27, 1961

Mable Stark was a world famous tiger trainer who began her long career in the 1920s and finished her career at Jungleland in Thousand Oaks until 1968. She was severely mauled numerous times by lions and tigers over the years but bravely continued on in her 50+ year career.

Here’s an August 27, 1961 episode of What’s My Line, with a panel that included Jerry Lewis. The panel was completely stumped as to Mable’s line of work.

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers' Favorite Coronavirus Stay at Home Order Games

In a recent drawing on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Page, we asked folks to tell us their favorite games to play while quarantined at home during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. Let’s take a look at the most frequently mentioned choices. Perhaps this will give all of us some ideas for new games to try out.

Games mentioned at least 4 times:

• Uno - 18

• Monopoly - 15

• Yahtzee - 7

• LCR - 5

• Scrabble - 5

• Ticket to Ride - 5

• Cards Against Humanity - 4

• Apples to Apples - 4

• Candyland - 4

• Mexican Train Dominoes -4

• Phase 10 - 4

• Rummikub - 4

• Sorry - 4

Games mentioned 2 or 3 times:

• Charades - 2

• Clue - 3

• Hedbanz - 2

• Jenga - 3

• Life - 2

• Loteria - 2

• Mario Party - 2

• Nerf Gun Wars - 2

• Pictionary - 3

• Poker - 2

• Puzzles - 2

• Quite Game - 3

• Scattergories - 3

• Trouble - 2

• War - 3

• What Do You Meme? - 2

Other games mentioned:

• Authors Card Game

• Bananagrams

• Beat the Parents

• Blokus

• BS

• Bunco

• Chutes & Ladders

• Code Names

• Colorku

• Connect 4

• Crazy Lego

• Cribbage

• Dominoes

• Don’t Step In It

• Family Feud

• Farkle

• Five Crowns

• Go Fish

• Guess Who

• Hi Ho Cherry O

• Hide and Seek

• Jackbox

• Kings in the Corner

• Mafia

• Mancala

• Memory Game

• Ninja Turtle Monopoly

• Old Maid

• Outburst

• Parcheesi

• Pop the Pig

• Race to the Treasure

• Rummy Tile

• Shifty Eyes Spies

• Ship Captain Crew

• Snoopy Monopoly

• Taboo

• Texas Holdem

• Upwords

• Words with Friends

• Zingo

Yahtzee is one of our personal favorites.

Wonderful Messages in Sidewalk Chart Art Posted by Thousand Oaks Resident

Now how cool would it be to be neighbors with sidewalk chart artist Dawn Wagner in Thousand Oaks. She tagged us on Instagram with these photos of her fantastic chalk work in Thousand Oaks.

Words of wisdom:

"Enjoy the little things in life."

"Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So, today is my new favorite day."

"Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

Really strikes a chord today as we enter our third week of statewide “Stay at Home” orders.

Dawn’s work really resonated with folks on Facebook today at THIS LINK. Refreshing to see such positivity!