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Ford, the Chambers of Commerce and Cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance and Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors present the 2009 International Surf Festival July 31 through August 2. Area lifeguards and youth compete in challenges include bodysurfing, sand volleyball, paddleboarding and a 2-mile run.

Find out which events take place where and when here including the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier swim and the Velzy-Stevens Pier-to-Pier Paddleboard Championship. The site also has photos and results from past events.

Looking for something to keep your kids busy this summer without breaking the bank? Check out some of these summer movie programs geared toward kids.

AMC Theaters runs $1 movies during its "Summer Movie Camp" every Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Southbay Galleria 16 in Redondo Beach and the Del Amo 18 are participating this year. Here's the schedule:

June 17: Space Chimps
June 24: Kung Fu Panda
July 1: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
July 8: Tale of Despereaux
July 15: Horton Hears a Who
July 22: The Spiderwick Chronicles
July 29: Nim's Island
Aug. 5: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Promenade Stadium 13 in Rolling Hills Estates participates in Regal Cinema's "Free Family Film Festival." Every Tuesday and Wednesday during the program, movies are free at 10 a.m. for kids and their parents. Here's the movie schedule:

June 23-24: Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G)
Inkheart (PG)

June 30-July 1: Everyone's Hero (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)

July 7-8: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

July 14-15: Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G)
Igor (PG)

July 21-22: Doogal (G)
Surf's Up (PG)

July 28-29: Space Chimps (G)
Hotel For Dogs (PG)

Aug. 4-5: The Tale Of Despereaux (G)
Nim's Island (PG)

Aug. 11-12: Charlotte's Web (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)

Pacific Theaters don't have a kids program, but they do have Monday Morning Mommy Movies at the El Segundo theater each week at 11 a.m. Here's the spiel:

Moms, Dads and Caregivers - here's your chance to see a first run adult-themed movie...with your baby! No one will mind if your baby cries, everyone will have a baby and all babies cry. So pack up your diaper bag and stroller, and we'll see you at the movies!

The City of Torrance screens family movies in some city parks for free on Saturday evenings during the summer. Bring your own popcorn, lawn chairs and blankets and see a flick under the stars. Follow the links for more info. Here's what's showing:
July 18: Back to the Future
Aug. 1: Singin in the Rain
Aug. 15: Ratatouille

Redondo Beach also sponsors a similar Outdoor Family Classic Film Festival. Here's the line-up:
July 24: West Side Story
July 31: On the Waterfront
Aug. 7: The Searchers
Aug. 14: Breakfast at Tiffany's

RELATED LINKS:
Database of fun stuff to do with kids in the South Bay
Database of South Bay restaurants with kids eat free deals
Calendar listings for family-friendly South Bay events

The Los Angeles County assessor Monday again warned property owners about companies offering to find ways to lower property assessment rates.

County Assessor Rich Auerbach says his office continues to receive calls from property owners regarding such solicitations.

"Neither Los Angeles County nor any government agency approves or endorses these companies' services," Auerbach said. "Furthermore, companies offering to lower property taxes must show clearly that they are not a government agency, and failure to do so is a violation of California law."

"Don't get ripped off," county Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "You never have to pay for a review of your property's assessed value. The L.A. County Assessor's Office does this service for free."

The county is conducting an automatic review of about 500,000 single-family residences, with the list of properties included in the review posted on the County Assessor's Web site.

Property owners who disagree with the results of the review may contest the outcome through Dec. 31.

Tash, the blogger at Palos Verdes Daily Photo, has been documenting life on the Palos Verdes Peninsula for about a year as part of the City Daily Photo network.

Tash describes herself as "almost an LA native," moving to Los Angeles from Yugoslavia in 1970 when she was 12. She grew up and became a Boeing engineer and married a man from the hill and moved to Rancho Palos Verdes in 1987. She shares her home with a teenage son, a golden retriever and a couple of cats.

Here's our Q&A with Tash:

When and why did you start the blog?
I started the blog in May of 2008. I found out about blogs from a close friend about a year before that who started a dog picture & haiku blog. At that time, I didn't have anything I wanted to post. In spring of 2008, I searched for information on my home town in Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia) of Tuzla, and found the Tuzla Daily Photo and the City Daily Photo community. After following a few of the City DP sites for a month, I decided to start a PVDP to show off this part of the world in photos.

A photo a day is kind of a big commitment. Do you shoot every day or do
you have archives you pull from?
I shoot every day and take a lot more photos than I could possibly post since the "rules" for CDP posts are one photo a day. Also a lot of the photos are in the snapshot category so they never make it to the blog.  Usually I post the most recent photos but at times I do pull from archives if the subject for that day feels appropriate. Blogging does take a lot of time, from taking the photos, to selecting what to post, and then to looking at other blogs and making comments. I have done it for almost a year now and do find
it very rewarding to connect with people from all over the world.

Do you set out to shoot something specific or do you just carry a
camera and wait for inspiration?
The camera is always by my side since the changing light or an interesting shot can be found at any time. (I get a bit of flak for that from family and friends.) But I do also go
to shoot specific subjects. I've been interested in Palos Verdes historical buildings and those I will go out and shoot specifically. Also, the coastline photos, I will make a special effort to go shoot interesting clouds or sunsets.

Do you have a favorite place to take pictures?
I really enjoy taking photos is at and around Malaga Cove Plaza because of the history
associated with that area. But there are so many other beautiful views on the hill that I enjoy so it's pretty tough to choose just one spot.

What has been your most popular post?
My most popular posts were unusual photographs of sunsets - a more recent one of the a dark road (PV Drive East)  with the full moon in the front and a colorful sunset caught in the side mirror of my car, with a car's headlights heading toward me.

Is there anything you've posted that you later regretted?
I have posted a photo of a wall with interesting colors and shadows that had the name
of a ubiquitous coffeehouse. I immediately got two very negative comments and replaced the post. Blogging is a balance of individual expression and what the blog visitors like to see, so I do shy away from unpopular posts or subjects.

What kind of photo equipment do you use?
For now, I've been very happy with my high end point & shoot Canon PowerShot SX100 IS (8.0 megapixels). I've learned from a couple of really good CityDailyPhoto
photographers (Dusty Lens from Minnesota's Twin Cities area and
Babooshka of Ramsey Daily Photo) and later from reading books such as
The Digital Photography Book by Scott Kelby to shoot in highest pixel
mode and invest in a large memory card. Maybe next year I will upgrade
to an SLR. The point & shoot cameras are just so handy and easy to
carry around, so it will be a tradeoff between convenience with low
cost and quality with high cost.

Do you have any tips for budding photographers?
To improve one's photography, nothing beats looking at other photographers work. I
mentioned two blogs already, but some other amazing ones are Arona
Every Day, Seattle Daily Photo, and Helsinki Daily Photo. However,
blogging is only one part photo - the other part is the write-up that
goes with the photo. Some of my other favorites are A Yankee in
Belgrade DP, Birmingham, Alabama DP, South Pasadena DP, Pasadena
Adjacent, Altadena Hiker, and two other South Bay blogs: Creative
Vignettes and Taste With the Eyes. My other tip would be to just to take a lot of photos, of the same subject, from slightly different angles or location -- because the best photo may not be the one that
initially seemed to be great, and with digital photography, mistakes are free!

What is your favorite thing about the Palos Verdes Peninsula?Location, location, location and the natural beauty of the place. I really do20
feel very fortunate to be able to live here. I think that it's a
wonderful community to live in.

What drives you crazy about living here?
I really don't like all the development that seems unchecked that is going on, especially the non-residential development since we have a lot of empty retail space already. I am grateful for the Land Conservancy Organization that's preserving at least some of the original landscape of the peninsula.

Do you sell your photos?I am very much an amateur photographer so I'm not sure anyone would want to buy the photos. But if there is anyone, I'll be happy to sell them.

Name three blogs or Web sites you love.
City Daily Photo (a portal of all 800+ daily photo bloggers), Big
Orange Landmarks, who is
"exploring the landmarks of Los Angeles, one monument at a time" and
Astronomy Picture of the Day. But
there are so many more blogs that I think are noteworthy and these can
be found under My Profile - Blogs I Follow.

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Girls' Guide to San Pedro

Local bloggers on South Bay's beauty and national politics

Daily Breeze columnist John Bogert, the sage of the South Bay, revealed a bombshell in his Jan. 8 column, "Too many are in the 'know-nothing' party." Among the startling revelations:

• The average score on a quiz administered by the American Civil Literacy Program, www.americancivicliteracy.org, was 49 percent out of a sample of a little more than 2,500 test-takers?
• This score was merely six (!) points lower than the average when said test was given to college educators -- people who had graduate- or doctorate-level scholarship in these subjects and later go on to teach this to the rest of us.
• The American Civil Literacy Program has mathematical proof verifying the Peter principle. A sample of 164 elected officials, on average, scored five points less than the general population.

Bogert, who admits to a "Jeffersonian" score when he took the test, provides a few questions to prep before taking the exam.

Now, tax your American knowledge. It's 33 multiple-choice questions and open-book, but there is the option of entering your ZIP code, income and education level.

Feel free to boast about your score in the comments.

Redondo Beach has launched a Web site to draw visitors to the pier, King Harbor and International Boardwalk.
The site promotes hotels, restaurants, shops, parks and boating services, among other amenities, and makes suggestions for weekend getaways and family vacations.
Check out maps, photographs and videos from residents and images from a beach Webcam at www.redondobeachresort.org.

Only 22 percent of readers who took our online poll said they were planning to shop on Friday. If you're one of them, here's a list of mall hours and links to coupons and deals that will help you plan a strategy.

Del Amo Fashion Center deals
5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Manhattan Village deals
9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but Macy's is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Promenade on the Peninsula deals
9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

South Bay Galleria deals
5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

SouthBay Pavilion in Carson deals
8 a.m. to 9 p.m., but several stores will be opening early, including Old Navy at 5 a.m.

If you're planning to go farther afield, here's a list from the Daily News' Bargain Hunter blog about malls in the Valley.

It's a bummer to get the kids all spiffed up for Santa, then get to the mall and find out he's on his lunch break. Waiting around does not make for good pictures. So here's our annual guide to Santa's office hours in the South Bay:

Del Amo Fashion Center
310-542-8525

Santa will be at the mall during business hours through Dec. 24.
Those hours are:
Mon to Fri: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Sat: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breaks from 1 to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Sun: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Breaks from 2 to 3 p.m.

Galleria at South Bay
310-371-7546

Santa will be there through Dec. 24.
Now to Dec. 14:
Mon to Sat: 10 or 11 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m.
Sun: noon to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Dec. 15 to Dec. 23: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dec. 24: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
See the Web site schedule because there are many minor variations on the hours and break times.
The Web site also has a detailed list of photo packages and prices.

Manhattan Village Mall
310-426-9899

Santa arrives Nov. 28 and stays until Dec. 24.
Mon to Sat: 11a.m. to 8 p.m., breaks at 1-2 p.m. and 4:15-4:45 p.m.
The Web site has a list of packages and prices.

Promenade on the Peninsula
310-541-0688

Pictures with Santa, on three Saturdays only: Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 20, 1-4 p.m. each day.

Plaza El Segundo
310 647-3431

Santa has parked his sleigh next to Toy Jungle. For every photo with a border you buy, Toy Jungle and Vision Trust will donate $4 to buy toys for at-risk children.
Dec 11 to 13: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 14: Noon to 6 p.m.
Dec 18 to 20: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 21: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dec 22 to 23: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 24: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

South Bay Pavilion at Carson
310-366-6636

Santa arrives on Nov. 28 and will hang around until Dec. 24. He'll be there from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There may be slight variations in the hours but he will be there all day most days.

Check by phone or on the Web site where information on photo prices will be available in a few days.

Mervyns, a venerable name in retailing, announced it is writing the final chapter on its legacy as a department store — Chapter 7. The chain's owners announced that all of its 149 stores will be liquidated by the holidays, including three local stores in Redondo Beach, Torrance and Westchester. See the Daily Breeze article and South Bay Biz Waves item.

Once Mervyns departs, most of its stores will leave behind what retail enthusiasts — there is such a subculture, we kid you not — call a "labelscar," a faded marking of the logo once the sign has been removed.

Labelscar, is also the name of a blog about the history of retailers. The impending demise of Mervyn's is dominating the chatter among the retail enthusiasts.

Labelscar also tracks the whereabouts of past and present retailers and publishes reviews of malls throughout the country, including a write-up of the South Bay Galleria.

Where's the Bubbler blogger Mary Ruth posts the first pic of the season of how her Halloween decorations are coming together. So elaborate.

LA Farm girl reports that Ishibashi farm now has pumpkins.

And, this isn't a blog item, but I thought I'd throw it in because when I think of pumpkin patches, I think of the Cottone patch. If you missed it Saturday, here's the obit for Tony Cottone, who started pumpkin and Christmas tree lots in the South Bay in 1959.

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