Quote of the Day
If the world were all logic, poetry would starve to death.
– Terri Guillemets
This Day in History
December 14, 1977: Saturday Night Fever gets its world premiere and launches musical juggernaut. In a 2008 interview on BBC Radio 4, Robin Gibb confessed to making it through only the first 30 minutes of the world premiere, and to never having seen the rest of the picture in the decades that followed. Millions of Americans did, however, make it through the film that made a movie star out of 23-year-old John Travolta and propelled the already famous Mr. Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, to a level of superstardom rarely achieved before or since. The film, of course, was Saturday Night Fever, a pop-cultural juggernaut that had its world premiere at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on this day in 1977.
Well-cast, well-acted and well-directed, Saturday Night Fever earned positive reviews from many critics, including the late Gene Siskel, who called it his favorite film ever. But whatever its other cinematic merits, even the film’s strongest proponents would agree that it was the pulsing disco soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever that made it a work of lasting historical significance. From its iconic opening sequence featuring John Travolta strutting down a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, sidewalk to the tune of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive,” to its unforgettable dance numbers set in the fictional 2001 Odyssey discotheque, the music complemented the action in Saturday Night Fever as perfectly as if it were written for the movie, even though most of it wasn’t. In fact, other than “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever,” every song that appeared in Saturday Night Fever had been written, recorded and in some cases released before the film ever went into production. Among those songs were: The Trammps’ “Disco Inferno” (1976); KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Boogie Shoes” (1975); Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven” (1976); and the Bee Gees’ own “You Should Be Dancin’” (1976).
Two songs the Bee Gees wrote shortly before hearing about Saturday Night Fever – “If I Can’t Have You” and “How Deep Is Your Love” – would be among the four #1 pop hits launched by the movie’s landmark soundtrack album. “How Deep Is Your Love” was the debut single from the album, released fully a month before the movie itself and hitting #1 on the Billboard pop chart just a week after the movie’s opening. This now-familiar approach to marketing a movie through its soundtrack, and vice versa, was highly innovative at the time. Indeed, the promotional synergy between the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and movie is widely credited with helping to revolutionize both movie and music marketing.
Ojai Weather
Cloudy – High 66 / Low 39
Accumulated rainfall for the season – 3.82 inches
Friday, December 14, 2018
2:15 p.m.
Apologies for the late update; I’ve been working in the background trying to get everything back up and running properly. The All Listings page is now back to being legible, while I’m still working on getting the photo galleries to render properly. Meanwhile, here’s your update for today:
There is a new listing on the market:
- 1975 Maricopa Highway #31 – $179,000.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 511 El Paseo Road – back on the market (had been cancelled) and reduced from $899,000 to $835,000.
- 401 W. Aliso Street – sale pending (had been off the market, cancelled).
- 681 Vine Street – sale pending.
- 413 Buena Vista Drive – sale pending.
- 95 Apricot Street – sale pending.
- 1919 Tiara Drive – sold for $755,000 (originally listed for $770,000).
- 1975 Maricopa Highway #32 – this listing has expired.
We’ve added a new BBIO video for this week (top of right side panel); teammate Sheryl Whipple offers free guided walking tours and hikes in and around Ojai!
Here’s the list of things to do in and around Ojai.
Have a great weekend and we’ll see you tomorrow with the updated open house list.
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Thursday, December 13, 2018
5:45 p.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
- 565 Pala Drive – $1,250,000.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 201 Chico Road – sale pending.
- 11999 Ojai Santa Paula Road – sale pending.
- 135 N. Lomita Avenue – this listing has been cancelled.
~ Ray
4:20 p.m.
Hello everyone – I should have an update to you in an hour or so. As you’ve probably noticed, we’re still working through issues with the website. The All Listings page is a bit messed up if you’re using Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers; however, it appears to work fine on Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer (and cell phones). Additionally, our listing photo galleries are down. I probably won’t get those items fixed before the end of the day, but I’ll at least get you an update.
~ Ray
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
4:20 p.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
- 474 N. Arnaz Street #14 – $71,000.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 514 Vista Hermosa Drive – back on the market (had been an expired listing).
- 681 Vine Street – back on the market (had been taken off the market and advertised as a rental only).
- 1979 Silver Spur Circle – sale pending.
~ Ray
10:00 a.m.
- No changes yet for today.
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
5:20 p.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 1202 Loma Drive #66 – reduced from $167,500 to $156,000.
- 915 Bryant Place – sale pending.
~ Ray
10:05 a.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
- 200 E. Oak View Avenue – $579,000.
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 10, 2018
3:50 p.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
- 40 Ojai Drive – $469,500.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 410 Church Road #55 – back on the market (had been a pending sale).
- 1605 Daly Road – this listing has been cancelled.
~ Ray
9:30 a.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 1885 Maricopa Highway #1 – this listing has expired.
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Saturday, December 8, 2018
12:10 p.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 82 Don Antonio Way – this listing has been cancelled.
The open house list has been updated. Our listing at 1003 N. Drown Street will be open today from 1:30 to 4:00 and tomorrow from 12:00 to 3:00. Stop by and see this cute home with beautiful studio, all on .44 acres in the heart of Ojai!
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Friday, December 7, 2018
1:05 p.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 138 Mountain View Street – reduced from $599,900 to $579,900.
- 10470 N. Karen Avenue – sold for $540,000 (originally listed for $569,000).
- 170 N. Arnaz Street – sold for $494,900 (originally listed for $525,000).
- 12490 MacDonald Drive – sold for $2,100,000 (originally listed for $2,299,000).
- 108 E. Summer Street – sold for $1,100,000 (originally listed for $1,220,000).
Here’s the list of things to do in Ojai!
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Thursday, December 6, 2018
6:05 p.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
- 95 Apricot Street – $469,000.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 605 E. Oak Street – reduced from $1,850,000 to $1,749,000.
- 1182 Woodland Avenue – sale pending.
- 240 France Circle – sale pending.
~ Ray
11:15 a.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 257 N. Encinal Avenue – back on the market (had been an expired listing).
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
4:40 p.m.
- No other changes for today. Stay dry!
~ Ray
11:35 a.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 1577-1575 Kenewa Street – reduced from $2,895,000 to $2,650,000.
- 257 N. Encinal Avenue – this listing has expired.
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
5:10 p.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 1273 S. Rice Road #34 – sale pending.
- 1159 Spring Street – sale pending.
- 465 Santa Ana Blvd. – sold for $380,000 (originally listed for $427,000 with a different realtor). Congrats to our client/buyer who closed on this home today, and congrats to teammate Rob Perron who brought this deal to the table!
While using the drone today I snapped a photo as the sun was setting; what a beautiful valley we live in!
~ Ray
12:20 p.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 413 Buena Vista Drive – back on the market (had been a pending sale).
- 850 Baldwin Road – reduced from $2,349,000 to $2,195,000.
- 138 Mountain View Street – reduced from $619,000 to $599,900.
- 848 Woodland Avenue #11 – this listing has been cancelled.
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 3, 2018
3:40 p.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 1979 Silver Spur Circle – back on the market (had been a pending sale).
- 751 Fernando Street – reduced from $569,000 to $535,000.
- 929 Devereux Drive – sale pending.
- 381 Avenida De La Vereda – sale pending (congrats to our clients/buyers who had their offer accepted on this home)!
- 606 S. Rice Road – sold for $225,000 (originally listed for $300,000).
It’s early December, so that means that the Ojai Market Data for the month of November has been updated/completed. Check it out!
~ Ray
10:25 a.m.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 227 Prospect Street – sold for $527,500 (originally listed for $578,500).
- 410 Church Road #21 – sold for $545,000 (originally listed for $575,000).
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
Saturday, December 1, 2018
5:55 p.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
- 74 Feliz Drive – $769,000.
Changes to the All Listings page:
- 170 N. Arnaz Street – sale pending.
- 1318 N. Drown Avenue – sale pending. (This is a new listing that had an accepted offer on it before it was entered into the MLS.)
- 608 E. Ojai Avenue – this listing has expired.
- “Shangri-La” 3 land parcels – this listing has expired. (The Ventura MLS link will show as “no longer available.”)
The open house list has been updated! One of the other site issues I’m trying to work on is the need to refresh the browser or reload the pages in order to see the changes I’ve made. This didn’t used to be the case, that is, until the site was upgraded to a more secure site a couple of months ago. So if you visit the site and it seems as though an update is later than usual or missing, you might just need to refresh the page. I’ll try to get that fixed some time next week.
Did you see the hawk and the small (or baby) screech owl at Caravan Outpost today, during the Ojai Holiday Market shindig? Makes us want to adopt one…so darn cute!
~ Ray
Pic of the Day
11:50 a.m.
While working to try to speed up the website a glitch occurred, which meant we were offline for a few hours this morning. I usually update the Open Houses page on Saturday morning, but due to me having to fix the aforementioned issue (and the fact that we have to leave for a showing appointment in about 15 minutes) I don’t have time to do a proper update or to update the open house page. I will come back later today and do a full update and put up the open houses for Sunday.
Meanwhile, here’s the list of what’s out there for open houses today: 1003 N. Drown Avenue – 1:00 to 4:00; 211 S. Fox Street – 12:00 to 3:00; and 257 N. Encinal Avenue – 12:00 to 3:00
We’ve also added a new BBIO video (see the right panel), in which Maria (and friend) talk about events going on this weekend and beyond.