Dan Aykroyd to Sign Bottles of Crystal Head Vodka at the New Total Wine & More in Thousand Oaks on Friday, April 15th

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The brand new Total Wine & More, located in the old Office Max 23,000 sq ft store next to Best Buy at 394 N. Moorpark Road, opened two weeks ago. This Friday, April 15th, from 4 pm to 6 pm, Dan Aykroyd will be at the store for a special in-store bottle signing of Crystal Head Vodka. Dan is co-founder of Crystal Head.

This premium vodka is produced using a filtering technique using Herkimer diamond crystals.  These crystals are said to contain special, magical properties that give the vodka an extra layer of purity. This vodka comes in a very unique, skull shaped bottle! Take home your own specially-signed bottle with the purchase of Crystal Head Vodka.

I called the store. Retail price of a 1.5 liter bottle is $74.99. The 750 ml bottle is $42.99.

For more information, visit www.totalwine.com or call the store at 805.494.0108.

Learn more about Crystal Head Vodka at www.crystalheadvodka.com.

Wachovia at Janss Marketplace Closes and Combines With Local Wells Fargo in Thousand Oaks

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The "Available" signs were the first clue that the old Wachovia Banking Center at the Janss Marketplace (adjacent to Toys R Us) has been closed. The sign on the door says the operations of this location will be combined into the Wells Fargo located at 140 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, across from The Tipsy Goat. This is not a complete surprise, given Well Fargo purchased Wachovia several years ago.

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From my vantage point, this would be an OUTSTANDING location for a kids indoor play area/birthday party venue, given its proximity to Toys R Us! But of course it would have to be popular enough to pay the rent.

The Tipsy Goat Irish Pub and Restaurant in Thousand Oaks

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The Tipsy Goat is located at 159 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, in the old Enrique's Mexican Restaurant (for you old timers) and adjacent to Outback Steakhouse. With its unique name, The Tipsy Goat brought a lot of curiosity in the months leading up to opening its doors on March 14, 2011, just in time for Saint Patrick's Day.

I made it over to The Tipsy Goat for the first time on Thursday, March 31st during happy hour and was pleased with what I experienced.

First off, there is plenty of parking available behind the restaurant, so just drive to the back via the driveway to the left.

If you walk in through the back, as I did, you'll first see a room with two pool tables (bring $1 per game) and several TVs.

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Then as you walk towards the front you'll see a shuffleboard on the left, then the next room has a dartboard and several tables, leading to the large outdoor patio of the restaurant.

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The most popular areas when I was there was the outdoor area and the bar, which has probably 10 to 12 smaller tables with barstools. Then there's one more room full of comfy leather couches.

Mind you, as a busy dad, I don't consider myself a bar expert anymore, but this place was fun and low key. The servers were laid back and we enjoyed the cold beer and tried several appetizers - the pulled pork sliders and the chicken wings. They were bargain priced before 7pm (only $5) and hit the spot.

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Loved the sliders, which came with cross-cut fries. I'm not a big wing guy but I liked these because they were large wings, plenty of meat, not overly messy (I got enough messes to clean up at home :>). Otherwise, the menu seems to have a decent array of tasty sounding items, including Irish themed goodies like Shephard's Pie and corned beef and cabbage.

So we enjoyed hanging out, played a few games of darts, one game of pool, ate, and had a good time. I also noticed it was family friendly, with several kids and families. We left around 8:30 p.m. and the crowd was changing by then as us geezers realized it was bedtime.

Visit www.tipsygoat.com or call 805.494.9996 for more information.

Easy Come, Easy Go, FroYo - Hello Luna Blu, Goodbye Blizz

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And now for a FroYo breaking news update. As some of you may know, my kids and I are voracious consumers of Frozen Yogurt (and click here for a list of 80 or so FroYo joints around Ventura County).

I've discovered that the long-awaited Luna Blu frozen yogurt cafe opened its doors at the Simi Valley Town Center last week. I walked by the storefront late last year as it was under construction and it looks like a cool place. Good luck, Luna Blu!

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But on a not so happy note, I recently was informed by a fellow Twitterer via this Tweet that Blizz Frozen Yogurt at The Lakes is no longer there. I have independently confirmed this fact. :>

So consider yourself up to speed and let us know, Yo, of any other additions, changes or deletions to the master list of FroYo on the down low in Ventura County, you know.

Free Public Outdoor Wi-Fi Service in Downtown Ventura is Now Available

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Free Public Outdoor Wi-Fi Access in Downtown Ventura

The City of Ventura announced last week that free wireless broadband service has been launched in the public spaces of Downtown.  Residents and visitors can stay "connected" through the network, provided by the Downtown Parking Management Program, to access the Internet, retrieve e-mail, or surf the Web without being connected to network cables.

The network, "Downtown Ventura Wi-Fi", offers wireless broadband service outdoors along Main Street beginning at Fir Street and continuing to the Museum of Ventura County between Poli and Santa Clara Streets.

Service is available daily during the hours of 6am - Midnight.  Users can access the service for a total of one hour, to assure use by the maximum number of persons at any given time. No special settings, user names or passwords are required.

Locate the network icon on your wireless device to connect.   Users must agree to accept the Terms and Conditions of use before connecting; the agreement also identifies and warns users of the potential security risks associated with the use of a non-secure public network.

Visit www.cityofventura.net for more information.

Perhaps It's Not a Good Idea to Post Your Whereabouts in Facebook and Twitter

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This Ventura County Sheriff's Department news release is a case study in why you don't want to tell people where you're going in Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere on the Web! Though in this case, it was a friend of the victim who made that mistake. But the good news is...the GPS system in the computer's software allowed Sheriffs to recover the computer from the culprit. Nice!

On February 18, 2011, Sheriff’s deputies from the Moorpark Patrol Station responded to a residential burglary call in an unincorporated area outside of Moorpark.  Suspect(s) had entered the residence and had stolen a laptop computer.

Moorpark Station Detectives interviewed the victim and learned that a friend of the victim had innocently posted on FaceBook that the victim and his family were visiting Universal Studios on the day of the burglary.  Detectives also learned that the stolen computer was equipped with a GPS system embedded into the computer’s software.  Through the use of the GPS, Moorpark detectives were able to track the stolen computer to a hotel room in the City of Ventura.

With the assistance of patrol deputies from the Headquarters Station, Moorpark detectives contacted the suspect, Arnold Ikeda, at the hotel room, and arrested him for possessing the stolen computer.  Ikeda was also charged with several drug related offenses, as a subsequent investigation showed that he was also involved in narcotics sales from the hotel room.  During the investigation, a second suspect, Desiree Lovio, arrived at the location and was also arrested on drug related charges.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is reminding everyone who uses social networking websites to do so responsibly.  Be cautious of the information you post on these sites as criminals have the ability to learn of your daily activities and use the information to facilitate their crimes.

Local Storm Related Rescues This Weekend by the Ventura County Sheriff's Aviation-Search and Rescue Unit

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On 03/20/2011, at about 4:45 PM, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office began receiving calls of overdue hikers in the Ventura County backcountry. It was quickly determined that many of these missing individuals were all associated with a professional hiking group - the “Los Padres Sierra Club.” The reporting parties said the club members had not returned from an overnight camping trip in the Los Padres National Forest. The number of missing club members was believed to be around 20 to 30 members.

As the information developed further, it was learned that this group of hikers set out into the forest on Saturday morning, 03/19/2011, in the face of the on-coming storm. The club then split into three separate groups, with each group being led by a Sierra Club “team leader” and each group hiking in a different area of the forest. The information as to exactly where these three groups planned to hike was limited. According to the reporting parties, their plan was to spend the night in the mountains and then hike out Sunday morning.

Through interviews with concerned family members, it was determined the three groups were likely in or around the Middle Matillija, Middle Lions Camp, and Potrero John areas of the Los Padres National Forest. All three of these areas can be accessed off of Hwy 33, above the City of Ojai. Sheriff’s personnel were also able to obtain vehicle information from the reporting parties, so Search and Rescue (SAR) resources were immediately deployed to the above-mentioned areas to try and locate the missing vehicles at the various campgrounds and/or trailheads that dot the area. A Sheriff’s helicopter was also dispatched to assist with the search, however the helicopter was unable to access the mountain areas due to the high winds, rain and poor visibility generated from the powerful storm system.

The Upper Ojai Mountain Rescue Team was able to locate several vehicles believed to belong to the Sierra Club hiking parties in the areas of Lion’s Camp and Potrero John. The SAR Team checked the immediate area around these locations, however they were unable to hike down the trails due to swollen and treacherous water crossings that had developed due to the heavy rains and large amount of storm run off. As a result, and due to safety concerns, the decision was made to suspend further rescue operations until the next morning.

As the Ojai SAR Team was leaving the area, the SAR Team Captain (Bill Slaughter) noticed some lights coming from a ridge top. The area where the lights were coming from was on top of a steep cliff. Believing the lights to be associated with some of the missing Sierra Club hikers, a ground based search and rescue operation was immediately initiated. Members of the East Valley Mountain Rescue Team responded to assist the Ojai SAR Team with the rescue. SAR members were given assignments to try and access the area on foot. At about 11:00 PM, SAR members made contact with (4) four of the missing Sierra Club members – all of whom were in a very precarious situation. The four members ex

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