The Topanga Film Festival returns this Labor Day weekend, September 4-6, at the Topanga Community Center. This year’s theme is “Reframe”, and the festival is showcasing a smorgasbord of amazing films, plus musical guests, a DJ’ed dance party, and a reality bending salon on AI in film. In our special film festival issue, TNT contributor Chloe Chapman sits down with the Topanga Film Society’s Scott Bremner and Adam Noble Roberts, the event’s organizers, for an in-depth discussion on page 9. Saori Wall interviews TFF musical guest Will Worden, who shares his thoughts on his own film project, an inspired tribute to Will’s grandfather, Apollo 15 astronaut Colonel Al Worden—the film, Broken Wings, directed by Archie Macpherson, will be screened at the festival. We have all the details and the full schedule for all three days in our TFF guide that you can view and download. (Please be patient with the download as it is a large file!)
Cover Art & Design by Scott Bremner
In 1939, a tropical storm made landfall in California, killing 45 people and causing widespread flooding and wind damage. Since then, there have been 13 other major tropical systems that have impacted the area but there hasn’t been another direct hit. The cooler water off the Southern California bight has always deterred hurricanes from barreling up the coast, slowing them down and diffusing their energy. This summer, with water temperatures around 80 degrees as far north as Orange County, and some weather watchers are predicting that our luck may be running out.
Karina, the most recent tropical system, has moved out into the Pacific, away from California, bringing only big surf to the local coast and leaving blessedly cooler temperatures behind her. It’s the next storm in the lineup that has weather watchers on alert.
This El Niño-fueled tropical system is showing signs of spinning into a full-fledged hurricane, and unlike the previous systems this season, this one could, potentially, make a run for the California coast, arriving right in time for Labor Day weekend.
It is far more likely that this storm, like its siblings, will head out into the Pacific, leaving just big surf behind. There’s also a chance that the system could bring some rain and winds—hot winds, and more hot, humid weather. Although the news media is currently full of hurricane speculations and dire predictions, the odds of this system spinning itself into a major hurricane and smacking into the Southern California coast remain relatively low. However, peak hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific doesn’t end until October, and the season runs until November. With the strongest El Niño on record we are potentially in for a very strange autumn this year.
The southern swell generated by this succession of storms is a gift for surfers, but it makes the beach dangerous for the inexperienced. A swimmer went missing at Westward Beach in Malibu this past weekend and is presumed to have drowned. An experienced 41-year-old bodysurfer died at Laguna Beach last week.
Lifeguards are expected to have their hands full this Labor Day weekend, as Angelenos head to the beach for the last holiday weekend of the season. Record heat has drawn record crowds all summer, and the number of rescues is up, too. The big surf is dangerous on its own, but it also erodes beaches, causing dangerous changes to the near shore ocean floor, and it can generate potentially deadly rip currents. The surf is expected to be big this Labor Day weekend. Swimming near a lifeguard tower, or opting to stay out of the water if the waves are too powerful are good options, especially for inexperienced swimmers and families with small children.
The weather isn’t the only issue on the local radar this week. Poison Free Topanga is reporting that sightings of sick and dying bobcats are coming from the Post Office Tract on the edge of Topanga State Park. The cats are developing a painful and lethal form of mange that is directly linked to rodenticide exposure. PFT reports that, “In one case, animal rescuer Susan Clarke shared that the bobcat mother’s cubs were wailing nearby while she died. [Susan] could do nothing for her, at that stage in the slow poisoning it was too late.”
Rodenticide poisoning is documented to take a terrible toll on mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks, and even raccoons, and it can also sicken or kill pet cats, dogs, and sometimes even children, which is why these pesticides are banned from throughout much of the Topanga area. Unfortunately, someone seems to be unaware of the ban, or simply doesn’t care. Please don’t poison our neighbors!
Labor Day this year brings the Topanga Film Festival to the Canyon. We have all the details and a handy schedule in this issue of TNT, we also have interviews with this year’s organizers, and a feature on a remarkable film made by Topanga neighbors. It’s going to be a great festival, rain or shine, and we look forward to seeing you there.
September 12 is Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New year. The ancient Hebrew calendar is closely tied to lunar astronomy. Rosh Hashanah always coincides with the new moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox.
It may feel like this summer, with its weeks of oppressive heat and unusually high humidity, will go on forever, but autumn is almost here. Labor Day, a new holiday in the scheme of things, and Rosh Hashana, a very ancient one, are reminders of that.
Stay safe, be well.
