WITH TALES OF NAUGHTY DOGS sure to be told around the country with the opening of the film "Marley and Me," I thought I'd recount a canine story of my own. Ventura County's own version of Marley, a yellow Labrador retriever named Trigger, really takes the cake - and he ingests everything else, too.

Trigger is the semi-beloved pet of the towheaded Tappin clan, a family blessed with a great capacity for forgiveness and a sense of humor. Beth Tappin has even written a short manuscript on her dog's many escapades.

The Oxnard family of four lives in a house set up with a system of baby gates and locks to deter their food-stealing animal. But this canine, who has been dubbed "Garbage Gut" by his veterinarian, knows no rules. He has yet to determine what is actually food.

Now I thought I had it bad the day my own dog ate the notebook containing all my Internet site passwords, but I really do feel sorry for the Tappins.

THE FAMILY FIRST NOTICED something was amiss with one particularly bad habit. Basic biology teaches us that what goes in must come out, but in Trigger's case what goes out goes back in too... "The first time we witnessed this habit," Beth Tappin said, "my only thought was, 'And this dog kissed my kids!' We read about this online and rushed to PetSmart to buy the products they suggested. The gentleman at the pet store said, 'Oh, don't worry, these tablets will make his business taste like ****, no wait, it must make it taste worse than that.' "

Later, the Tappins heard a comedian talking about a neighbor of his who had a dog with this same habit. "He would call his neighbor and ask to borrow his dog for a few hours to clean up his yard," Beth said. "I know it's gross, but I had to wonder if there was money to be made with Trigger."

But Trigger has a very varied palate. He has eaten two couches, acrylic paint on a paper plate (paint, plate and all), the entire contents of many Easter baskets and Halloween bags, cat food cans (whole can, pop top and all, chewed and swallowed), one four-pack of food dye on the area rug (very colorful dog and rug), entire batches of freshly made cookies, whole loaves of bread in their wrappers, cooking utensils, half a can of coffee, seven bottles of Terro ant killer (it apparently only kills ants), one bag of Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Jelly Beans (bag, drawstring and all), four or five soft-sided lunch boxes, two new bags of marshmallows (they came back up in much the same form), and the list goes on and on. He's made numerous runs in the pantry, eating everything from the third shelf down.

THE TAPPINS NEVER KNOW what they will find when they come home or awaken in the morning. "I find myself yelling, "No! No! No! Not the (fill in the blank)," Beth said. "Usually as soon as we get into the hallway you begin to see the problem. It begins with a few scraps of something.

"I am not always the calmest person in the face of disaster," Beth confessed. "I really don't like to admit this, but once I even said, 'I am going to kill you dog!' But that was after five quarts of home-made Albondigas soup was spilled all over the kitchen floor and I had carrots, peas, green beans, corn and meatballs from cabinet to cabinet and in between every mini-blind.

"It took 45 minutes and a shovel to clean that one up."

The rather portly yellow lab is amazingly nimble when leaping from nearby chairs to kitchen counters. "I have even seen him eyeing vegetables in a basket that we hung from the ceiling!" Beth said. One day in desperation the family tried to deter him from the counter by putting masking tape all along the edge with the sticky side out. "That just left us with a dog with eight yards of tape all over his front half," Beth said.

If you put him outside, he digs, roots through the compost bin and snacks on dead gophers and the aforementioned "business." He has gone through four metal trashcans.

SO THE TAPPINS HAVE DECIDED to view life with their soft and gentle-natured eating machine as a character-building experience. What have they learned?

1. A body can process way more than trace elements of aluminum.
2. When life gets you down, raiding junk food is very good.
3. Sometimes there is a very fine line between wanting to hug a pet and kill the pet.
4. Stay away from dead and/or rotting things. They rub off and make you smell bad, too.
5. Your family will still love you when you make a terrible mess of something.

My thanks to Beth for letting me borrow from her very funny manuscript. Happy holidays, everyone!

IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE shopping Downtown in the next few weeks, be sure and drop by the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau and the nearby Museum of Ventura County's temporary headquarters to look at the beautiful hand-painted chairs from local artists that were donated to the Ventura Musical Festival's auction.

Every year Festival organizers ask local artists to hand-decorate various items for their annual fundraiser and the results are always stunning. This time simple wooden chairs were transformed into wow by our resident creative types. Many of the artists were inspired by the Russian theme set by this year's Festival.

Half the chairs will be displayed at the VVCB, 10 S. California St., and the other half at the Museum of Ventura County, 89 S. California St., through Jan. 11. The collection will then be broken up and displayed separately in other locations throughout the county.

The "Musical Chairs" will be auctioned off on Saturday, March 14 at the Festival's White Russian Nights event at the Four Points by Sheraton Ventura Harbor. Festival organizers say the funds raised by these works of art provide an integral part of the Festival's operating revenue. Tickets for the event go on sale in January. Call (805) 648-3146 for more information or visit www.venturamusicfestival.org.

The Ventura Music Festival has become a renowned signature event for our city and has certainly helped put us on the map as a cultural tourist destination.

IN OTHER ART NEWS: Community Memorial Hospital has now officially become part of our "New Art City" with an exhibition by more than 60 local artists in the public areas of the ground floor of the hospital. The exhibit runs through March 1. It is a joint partnership between Community Memorial Hospital, Buenaventura Art Association, Leadership Ventura (Ventura Chamber of Commerce) and Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation. All the work is for sale and benefits the CMH Community Foundation as well as Buenaventura Art Association and the artists.

WE'VE TAKEN ONE MORE big step toward shedding our image as a "cow town," as one former local politician once dubbed Ventura. We now have our own Film Festival. And it's shaping up to be quite an event.

The event will run March 27-29, 2009 at the reconstituted Elks Lodge in Ventura, a venue which is part of Project Encore's efforts to revitalize both our Downtown and enhance our local arts scene. Two screening rooms will be set up there.

"We're trying to elevate this concept of home-grown festival, but it's not an amateur thing," explained festival organizer Lorenzo DeStefano, who is himself a filmmaker. "It's trying to blend local voices with global visions," he said.

I've posted a preview on top from one of the festival's featured filmmakers, Andrew Huang, a Los Angeles video artist. It's a nice piece of work. He's a USC film school graduate and hugely creative. "Doll Face" has received more than 2 million hits on YouTube. He'll be on hand to explain his vision along with the other featured filmmakers.

Another interesting entry is a film called "The Women's Kingdom," about a matriarchal society in China. Now this one really caught my attention!

THE FESTIVAL IS ALSO giving local filmmakers a chance to showcase their work, DeStefano said. The work of Brooks Institute students will be featured, plus "we're encouraging other people who aren't filmmakers to tell their stories on film," he said. These folks will be working with CAPS-TV's production capabilities.

The event has a pretty stellar lineup of locals behind it, too, people who are very good at getting things done in our town. I wish them much success and hope it becomes an annual event. DeStefano is also hoping to launch a Ventura Film Society from it.

As with any other event, it takes money to put it on, so the Ventura Film Festival is planning a fundraiser for this Sunday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. at the Candlelight Kitchen & Bar, 211 E. Santa Clara St., in Ventura. A $20 suggested donation will be taken at the door. Students with I.D. are $10. The event will feature previews of the festival lineup, guest directors and speakers, food, drink and a silent auction. Ojai/Ventura singer songwriter Emy Reynolds will entertain. For more information please visit www.venturafilmfest.com

"People are really geared up," DeStefano said, "I think Sunday's going to be something else."

ONE OF THE THINGS many women often neglect in their lives is friendship. In the bustle of kids, jobs, housework and volunteer duties, sometimes there just isn't the time to nurture relationships with other women.

Jonell McLain probably wasn't thinking much about forging friendships when she first spied a $37,000 diamond necklace four years ago in the window of Van Gundy Jewelers in Ventura. She definitely wasn't thinking about book deals. But she's ended up with both thanks to a necklace she and her friends have named "Jewelia."

The fancy bit of bling caught McLain's eye right away but the price tag was a bit offputting. "Oh my God, who would spend $37,000 for a piece of jewelry?" she recalled thinking at the time.

But McLain saw in that necklace a higher calling. So she rounded up 11 friends, each putting in $1,000, and offered the store $12,000. The store's owner sold it to them for $15,000, provided they include his wife in their group. "She was going through a rough time because her sister just died and she had cut herself off," McLain explained. They happily agreed.

McLain and her friends represent a vibrant segment of America: the Baby Boomers. Now entering their 60s, they refuse to go gently into that good retirement. McLain is a whirlwind of activity with 20 plates spinning in the air at once. And when it's her turn to wear Jewelia for a month, it shares space around her neck with a gold peace symbol necklace a friend gave to her in the '70s.

THE WOMEN OF JEWELIA have a definite philanthropic bent. "We aren't just women who wanted a necklace," McLain explained. Their combined energy has produced more than friendship. It's raised money for many charities including the Coalition to End Family Violence, CareGivers, Easter Seals, the Salvation Army, Miracle House and an orphanage in India.

They recently "adopted" a homeless woman who spends all her time Downtown and helped turn her life around, even convincing a local dentist and oral surgeon to restore her missing teeth for free.

These ladies are pretty good with their own public relations, too. They landed a book deal with Random House detailing the whole story. "The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives," by Cheryl Jarvis, is being released on Sept. 9.

"It's about being 60 years old, what's missing and what you've done," McLain explained. The life of each woman in the group is examined and woven together in a look at friendship.

THEY'RE GOING ON A cross-county tour to promote the book next week. McLain's excited. "It really will be kind of a lark!" The ladies kick off the tour with a Sept. 9 book signing event at 7 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore on Telephone Road in Ventura. This weekend they're taping interviews for "Good Morning America."

What's next? McLain is working to organize a volunteer and part-time cadre of Baby Boomers in Ventura to provide a workforce for the social services.

The generation who helped change the world is not going to leave it sitting down.

Update: Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave the book glowing reviews! Click here for her review.

ANYONE HEADING DOWNTOWN on Sunday should stick around until 7 p.m. when well-known contemporary swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is scheduled to play at the foot of City Hall and march with a percussion section in tow all the way to the grand opening of the Watermark restaurant at Chestnut and Main.

Once there, they'll play from the open rooftop bar in a event somewhat reminiscent of when the Beatles played from the rooftop of Apple studios. Music fans take note; the show is free.

I went to the "soft opening" of the Watermark on Monday night. Owners Mark and Kathy Hartley and Jim Rice have a hit on their hands. If you want to go, better make reservations. I predict it will be packed. The food is great and the three dining levels are remarkably comfortable and full of historic ambiance. My favorite spot is the rooftop bar W20 with its retractable roof, comfy banquets, fireplace, aquarium and great views. A private dining room with its own terrace is tucked in the back.

Hartley, a musical agent who represents many top acts, was a major force behind the recent Kevin Costner event Downtown and promises to bring even more great entertainment our way.

The Watermark is a much-anticipated and welcome addition to our bustling Downtown.

EVEN WHEN THEY live so close to Tinseltown, it's still easy for Venturans to get excited about an old-fashioned movie premiere in their hometown.

Our laid-back city got a big dose of Hollywood glamour with the premiere of Academy-Award winning actor Kevin Costner's new Disney movie, "Swing Vote," and a wonderful free concert afterward that drew thousands.

The stage, set up at the intersection of California and Main, faced City Hall and thus created a natural amphitheater with concertgoers spread up the hill and out onto the side streets. It was a mellow evening of kids and dogs milling about and great music from Costner's band, "Modern West."

The congenial actor is also a pretty decent singer and guitarist and has assembled a band of talented musicians. He made a grand entrance through a delighted crowd after a montage of his films ran up on the the stage.

What was the most fun was listening to his candid and often heartfelt patter between sets. He clearly has a great affection for the city he grew up in. "Thank you, Main Street," Costner said to the crowd. "I went to junior high right over there at Cabrillo. My whole life's wrapped up here."

But he couldn't resist putting in a big plug for his film, "We have a deal here," he told the crowd. "You came free, so I expect you to go see the movie."

NOW THE FIXATION of many adoring female fans, he recalled his Buena High School days when it wasn't always that way. "I wasn't much with the girls. I wanted to be. The only dances I went to were Sadie Hawkins ones where the girls asked the guys."

Costner was also apparently confronted with his old high school yearbook picture a few times during the day. "I was really small back then. But thank you for sticking that in my face 100 times today," he joked to classmates in the crowd.

He also invited his mother and father to the concert. "I'm so thankful they're alive to see this."

Kudos go to Costner's childhood friend Tim Hoctor, a Ventura realtor, for convincing Costner to stage the event in his former hometown. "Tim said to me, 'If we die and never do something for our hometown, we will have missed out.' "

The guy with the magic wand today was local entrepreneur and music agent Mark Hartley who helped pull off the whole event. The showpiece of the day was Hartley's new restaurant, The Watermark, which was the setting for the $500-a-ticket charity premiere party. I have already fallen in love with the remodeled building and its classy interior, but was still curious about the menu. The artful and enticing spread out in the adjoining reception tent left no doubt this will be a first-class epicurean endeavor.

HOPEFUL CELEBRITY WATCHERS at the premiere party might have been a bit disappointed. Costner was quickly spirited up the stairs for an interview with "The Insider" host Pat O'Brien. Some of the high-profile co-stars of the film such as Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper and Nathan Lane, didn't attend. But actress Virginia Madsen, a Ventura County resident, was in attendance along with "Swing Vote" co-star Madeline Carroll.

I had a chance to speak with The Watermark's interior designer, Kathleen McMullen Coady of Tower Designs. The interior was a collaboration between her and Hartley, who has taken on many projects Downtown and has a talent for transforming buildings. Whose idea was the cool jellyfish tank on the third floor? "That was Mark's," she said. "He's very creative."

I want the booth underneath that tank when I go back there.

Since the two-plus hour concert was such a resounding success, I hope very much we can do it again with another act some time. It was a community-building effort and a great way to show off our thriving Downtown.

Kudos also go to both City Corps and Peace Through Music, who put on a great side event at the City Corps headquarters in front of City Hall. The musical lineup was stellar and the City Corps kids made wonderful volunteers at the Costner event.

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE VISITING a laid-back tropical country to help you find a little perspective. My family had the good fortune to rent a house on a very secluded stretch of beach in an area called Playa Grande, Costa Rica.

It's so secluded that the leatherback turtles have been coming to exactly this spot for millions of years to lay their eggs and then return to the sea.

As a blogger, I am perhaps a little too tuned into technology. Nine days without my computer was good for me. I recommend everyone take a little time off this summer to lay back and enjoy the sunshine somewhere pleasant. If you can't, I'm posting a few photos I took for you to enjoy:

Right, sunsets don't get any better than this. The low tide offered an amazing reflection of the sky and first-class beach-combing opportunities. Shells are considered a national treasure in Costa Rica.

I took more photos of the local wildlife than I did of my family. We encountered a family of howler monkeys in a nearby saltwater estuary also inhabited by crocodiles and tree-hanging snakes. The male howlers make a terrible racket, but this female seemed to be posing for me.

Domesticated animals roam the roads in Costa Rica, posing a hazard to drivers. I met this horse on the bumpy road up to the amazing Monteverde Cloud Forest. She is probably used to tourists taking her photo by now.

Nature's first green is gold, / Her hardest hue to hold. / Her early leaf's a flower;/ But only so an hour. / Then leaf subsides to leaf. / So Eden sank to grief, / So dawn goes down to day. / Nothing gold can stay. -- Robert Frost

There is a show going on just north of Ventura that you don't want to miss. It is, quite simply, breathtaking.

Naturalists say this is one of the best years ever for wildflowers. But you don't have to drive to Gorman or Anza-Borrego to find them. Just take a leisurely drive up Canada Larga Road off Highway 33. Along this meandering, pastoral road is a dazzling display of wild mustard that covers the hills like a carpet of molten gold.

A good friend and I took a drive back there the other day and pulled over to a turnout just to drink in the scenery and listen to the quiet. Sometimes it's good to take some time out of our busy lives to stop and look at the mustard.

Local lore says that Father Junipero Serra himself brought the mustard seed from Spain and planted it to mark the trails leading to his missions. The sunny yellow blooms cover the coastline this time of year from San Diego to Sonoma, where a Napa Valley Mustard Festival is held annually.

But wild mustard's bloom time is short. So go up and take a look. Nothing gold can stay.

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THERE ARE THINGS that happen to us every now and then which make us realize just how quirky and delightful this town really is.

My daughter and I are inveterate shoppers of Ventura's Downtown boutiques. Our favorite is Le Monde Emporium on Main Street, home to great fashion and equally great prices. It's located in an old building which has housed many businesses over the years.

Several months ago, while picking through the sales racks in the very upper reaches of the second story of the store, we heard an eerie noise coming from the wall. It was an odd kind of sound, sort of like somebody screaming at us from down a hall.

Returning to the bottom floor of the store, I mentioned the noise to the saleswoman. "I think you have a ghost up there," I joked.

"I know," she said, and proceeded to tell us about purses that fell off racks by themselves, merchandise which was found out of place overnight and a carpenter who "felt something pass right through him" when he was working on the upper floor.

In fun, I mentioned to the woman that I knew of a ghost hunter who lived in town and that maybe I could convince him to check the place out. Giggling, we walked out into the sunshine and ran smack into our local ghost hunter, Richard Senate, coming out of Tipps Thai Cuisine.

IT WAS FATE.

Now I know Richard a bit from the various local historical groups I am involved with. He's a delight and one of those folks who just makes life more interesting for the rest of us. If you haven't taken one of his ghost tours arranged through the City of Ventura, do it. He weaves interesting local historical tidbits in with the ghostliness and it's fascinating.

Richard, always amenable to a ghostly adventure, agreed to accompany us back to Le Monde. Once entering the door, he told us of the history of the building and of a certain spirit who has been making appearances in that very spot for years.

Now I'm not sure I really believe in all this stuff, but it's fun nonetheless. Where else but in Downtown Ventura would you get a ghost story thrown in with your shopping?

And it's just one more reason why I love this town.

On Saturday at 8 p.m., Richard Senate will be giving a special ghost tour of City Hall. Tickets can be purchased by calling Community Services at 658-4726. The tour will start promptly at 8 p.m.