With more than 1,000 cleanup sites throughout the state, California’s Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday featured the most locations since beginning in 1985. Los Angeles County gathered nearly twice as much trash as last year and Orange County reported collecting even more than its neighbor to the north.

The event is billed as “the state’s largest annual volunteer event” and is part of the International Coastal Cleanup held each September. Part of the reason for the growth of California sites is the increasing number of events held inland, both along waterways and trails. All but three of California’s 58 counties participated.

Heal the Bay, which helped coordinate the cleanup for Los Angeles County, reported nearly 37,000 pounds of trash collected by 12,967 volunteers at 72 sites. Orange County had fewer volunteers — 7,267 — but picked up more trash, 44,000 pounds at 40 sites, according to the lead group there, Orange County Coastkeeper.

In tallies from the 75 percent of the cleanups reporting statewide, 53,000 volunteers participated and gathered 367 tons of trash including nearly 36,000 pounds of recyclables, according to the California Coastal Commission, statewide coordinator of the event.

“We had a fantastic day along our coast and inland waterways that flow to the ocean from every corner of the state” said Jack Ainsworth, executive director of the Coastal Commission. “In only three hours, tens of thousands of Californians removed hundreds of tons of trash from our environment. It’s truly amazing what we can accomplish when we work together to protect our coast and ocean.”

Most unusual

So many oddities are collected that the Coastal Commission now runs a Most Unusual Item contest. In Southern California, the winner was a Coca Cola can from 1963 picked up in Los Angeles County. In Northern California, the honor went to a painting of a marsh … found in a Marin County marsh.

Heal the Bay reported picking up chainsaws, wedding rings and live mice, although few details were immediately available about the rodents.

“The mice were found at Malibu Surfrider Beach,” said Heal the Bay spokesman Matthew King. “All I know is that they were ‘rescued’ from 3 separate glass bottles.”

One of the larger cleanups took place at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach, where 385 volunteers who removed 334 pounds of trash.

Countywide breakdowns of the type of trash gathered were not yet available on Monday, but among the top items gathered at Dana Point’s Salt Creek Beach were plastic straws (925), plastic bottles caps (750), cigarette butts (161), plastic food wrappers (150) and  plastic bottles (115), according to Rick Erkeneff, chairman of the South Orange County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Citing past cleanup data, the Coastal Commission reports that “75 percent of the debris that volunteers removed today was composed of plastic, a material that never completely biodegrades and has numerous harmful consequences in the environment. Plastic debris can kill wildlife, leach toxins into the environment, and even introduce them into the food chain.”

Participants in the cleanup can fill out a short Coastal Cleanup Survey at coast4u.org and receive a free taco from Rubios as well as be entered into a drawing for prizes.

The have the meats, and now they’re offering ink to anyone willing to show their love of sandwiches,  permanently.

Fast food sandwich chain Arby’s is offering free sandwich-themed tattoos on Saturday Sept. 22 at Long Beach’s Port City tattoo shop from 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.

The tattoos were designed by Port City artist Miguel Montgomery and include American traditional-style images with sandwiches, Arby’s logos and mottos.

You can choose things like a traditional panther biting on a sandwich, or a dagger piercing through a sandwich with a banner across it that reads “We Have the Meats,” the company’s motto.

There’s also an bald eagle with a container of  Arby’s curly fries on its chest and a simple banner that reads “Sandwiches por vida, (for life).”

Port City Tattoo is at 4290 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. To see all of the options downtown the banner here.

The Pulitzer Prize for drama is given, when it is given, for a piece of theater which reflects something elemental to understanding an aspect of American culture. Rarely has that seemed a more apt designation than the 2017 prize handed to playwright Lynn Nottage for “Sweat.”

A portrait of the disintegration of the traditional manufacturing towns of the midwest, it answers for the uninitiate multiple questions about the elements of malaise which have infected that part of the country, from amplified racism to opioid abuse. That it does so without preaching or reaching for easy answers, and with considerable humor, makes “Sweat” a gift to watch.

The play is set in Reading, Penn., where the struggles between union and management have led to at least one long-extended walkout, and — at another factory — tensions are simmering regarding the future of an industry which has generationally been a definition of life in the town.

At the neighborhood bar, where both the longtime connections and current tensions are liberally amplified by alcohol, a picture of a town wrestling with coming to terms with crisis, looking for escape, and searching for someone to blame are narrowed down to a few shop-floor friends.

The powerfully ensemble cast ably peels gradual layers off their characters to illustrate the dissolving of veneer caused by the ripped expectations and sense of powerlessness the sea change in their community brings. Mary Mara, Portia and Amy Pietz center the play as the three factory-floor friends whose unified sense of identity is tested and torn by issues of addiction, race and ambition as the union-corporation conflict grows. As the sons inheriting the disaster, Grantham Coleman and Will Hochman create young men whose actions frame the storyline and thread the rest of the play together.

Michael O’Keefe, as the injured factory worker now tending bar, provides a link to the working man’s heritage. John Earl Jelks offers up the increasing degradation of a people too proud of that heritage to accept its lessening impact. Peter Mendoza creates the outsider character whose choices underscore what the others have lost, bringing out the casually ugly side of this insular community. Kevin T. Carroll, as a probation officer, becomes the occasional guide through the tragedies to come.

Director Lisa Peterson has created a pacing and a visual presence for the play which underscores the disconnect between the world of the characters and the world outside. Using Yes Eun Nam’s excellent projections and Paul James Prendergast’s evocative sound design and original music, drama happens on Christopher Barreca’s remarkably evocative set even when the characters aren’t onstage.

The pacing is clean, seamless and keeps the tension building as it should, even as it makes room for the necessary and very human moments of humor which make these people real. Emilio Sosa’s costumes absolutely define character differences, sending messages in visual shorthand.

Still the best of this is that all the above operate in service of a truly important play. What one can hope is that many who see “Sweat” will finally have that “aha moment” when they begin to understand — not embrace necessarily, but understand — in a more visceral way the terrible boiling pot of racial tensions, abandonment sentiments, and destroyed expectations which have led to some of the ugliest current scenes in our country.

There are no solutions offered up here, as that would be too easy, but the final scene does offer some hope if people can come back to their better selves. One can only hope that some do.

Frances Baum Nicholson has been reporting on the Los Angeles area theater scene for more than 35 years. To read more of her reviews, go to www.stagestruckreview.com.

‘Sweat’

Rating: 4 stars

When: Through Oct. 7, 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays (no 1 p.m. performance Sept 30)

Where: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

Tickets: $30-$99

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission

Suitability: Teens and older due to language, intensity of content, and one moment of somewhat graphic violence

Information: 213-628-2772 or www.centertheatregroup.org

After peeking in a few days ago, I am excited to visit the new Pho 10. It has a variety of pho choices — the filet mignon and brisket pho, in particular, looked yummy. There’s also banh mi sandwiches and vegetarian options. I may have to try the Avocado Smoothie.

Buy one entree and get a free egg roll or soda. This offer is good through mid-October.

Pho 10 is in Huntington Beach at 21210 Beach Blvd. near Atlanta Avenue. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; closed Monday. Information: 714-594-7838.

Inland Koi

My friend Laura has a beautiful koi pond that starts in her courtyard and ends inside her home. The koi fish are so colorful, and fun to watch.

If you have koi, or are thinking of buying them, check out Inland Koi in Fountain Valley. Here you’ll find a wide selection of Japanese koi from 5 inches to about 30 inches, and all the supplies necessary to keep them well fed and happy. Need advice on anything related to koi? Just ask.

Inland Koi is at 18122 Mt. Washington St. near Talbert Avenue. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday. Information: inlandkoi.com or 714-438-0087.

New gym in town

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new fitness gym F45 Training is set for Saturday, Sept. 22, at 11:15 a.m., followed by refreshments and vendor displays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

F45 Training is in Huntington Beach at 180 Fifth St., Suite 100, near Pacific Coast Highway. Information: 858-252-1800.

Space for lease

The Deals & Steals discount store at 16514 Beach Blvd. near Heil Avenue in Huntington Beach has closed. There’s now a “For Lease” sign out front.

In front of more than 86,000 screaming fans in Norman, Okla., the UCLA defense temporarily quieted the crowd by stopping Oklahoma on its first drive. But in the seemingly safe confines of the Rose Bowl against Fresno State last Saturday, the UCLA defense couldn’t get off to the same start. The Bruins instead committed a face mask penalty on the second play of the game and gave up a touchdown on the first drive.

The first defensive drive set an ominous tone for a 38-14 loss to Fresno State that dropped UCLA to its first 0-3 start since 1971.

“I wouldn’t say we underestimated our opponent, but I would say we weren’t to the level of mental preparation where we wanted to be,” safety Quentin Lake said.

Perhaps the team’s lack of early focus showed most in the penalties, 11 in all and seven in the first half. Fresno State took a 13-0 lead after the first quarter in which UCLA rushed for just 38 yards and had 40 penalty yards.

The Bruins did both things head coach Chip Kelly said they would work to improve. They committed the procedural penalties from their season opener against Cincinnati, including two illegal formation calls and an illegal motion. They tacked on more costly penalties with holding and pass interference calls, the type of fouls Kelly said the team had to clean up after the loss to Oklahoma.

Three of the penalties Saturday negated positive plays on offense for the Bruins and four others gave Fresno State first downs. Lake’s third-down roughing-the-passer call in the third quarter of what was then a two-point game extended a Fresno State drive that resulted in a touchdown and a two-point conversion. It was suddenly a two-possession game.

“You always want to get the big hit on the quarterback,” Lake said of the penalty, “but it’s kind of a gray area of when you should let off and when you should really keep going.”

The Bruins rank 95th in the country in penalties per game (7.67). During the Jim Mora era, they never ranked higher than 86th and were 100th or lower in each of the other five seasons under Mora.

“You can’t have that many penalties and expect to be in a football game,” Kelly said.

David Koma has been obsessed with Pedro Almodóvar’s films for a very long time. “All About My Mother” was the inspiration behind his very first collection — at age 14. For this season, he rewatched “Talk To Her” and “Volver” and was moved to explore Spanish dance, specifically the dynamic flamenco, as the starting point for his spring offering.
Koma put his own, minimal, all-out sexy spin on the drama, ruffled skirts and polka dots associated with the dance, refining ruffles into structural peplums and translating dots into sheer spot mesh or shimmery plexi embellishments, which winked along the edges of shoulder seams, cutouts and hemlines.
Carmen Amaya, the late Romani flamenco dancer who would wear trousers in her performances to emphasize movement, was the inspiration behind the lineup’s terrific trousers. Also calling to mind styles worn by matadors, they were cut high on the waist, with a soft flare created by split hems.
His palette, as always, was on the noir side, freshened by white and lilac. Pieces in neon yellow or bright green looked better head-to-toe rather than paired with or trimmed in black, which made those looks seem a bit labored.
Unusually for such a specific reference, the best looks here

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Emilia Wickstead explored a lot of new territory for spring, adding tailoring and a whole lot of drama to her usual repertoire of pretty florals and feminine dresses.
It was a risk worth taking. Inspired by Eighties classics like “Working Girl,” Wickstead went on to create her own “feminist fairytale,” bringing a refreshingly new energy to her catwalk.
“I started with the setting and the vibe of the late Eighties and early Nineties, which saw this huge rise of feminism in the working place,” said the designer.
A series of both long and short tailored looks came in chic neutral tones — they channeled the boldness of the Eighties with big, structured shoulders and mini briefcases, but were also given a softer Wickstead touch by adding an array of cute, oversize hair bows.
Further down the line some more familiar silhouettes made a flash appearance in the form of ruched, flowing midi dreses featuring bright shades of red and pink or signature floral patterns. But Wickstead toughened them up here, reworking them in patent leather or rubberized fabrics to add a more modern flair.
A pleated patent sack dress, in a sugary pink shade, was a highlight. It was paired with a bejeweled headpiece that

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Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos transported their guests to a glamorous far-off Polynesian fantasy for spring, staging their show in the tropical environs of Trader Vic’s tiki bar under the Hilton hotel on Park Lane, a descendant of the original Trader Vic’s, founded in the Thirties in California.
The setting imbued the collection with a tropical vibe, with a palette of joyously lurid tropical hues, from sunset peach to rainforest green, violet, fuchsia, royal and sky blues, acid yellow, seafoam, vermilion and marigold yellow — all shot through with flashes of gold and silver.
But the collection’s inspiration came via a less exotic source: the works of French Art Nouveau glass artist Émile Gallé, who made use of a miscellany of botanical forms in his sometimes iridescent or frosted floral patterns. The duo translated this source into a collection that was as sophisticated as it was fun.
There were hints of colonial splendor in touches like the frogging closure that fastened a sharply tailored striped pantsuit, the tassels that swung from rope belts around floral gowns or from pearl-encrusted bags, and in the twisting fez hats done in shimmering fabrics. There were nods to the silhouettes of the Thirties and Seventies, and

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Roksanda Ilincic knows how to create clothes that are both elegant and friendly to women.
For spring 2019, she continued to tell the same story, with a lineup that had ease and fluidity at its core.
Her signature billowing blouses, flowing satin midi dresses and roomy culottes were back on the runway, updated with lightweight linens and crinkled cotton fabrics — the idea being to mirror the textures on a series of tapestries by famed architect Le Corbusier.
Ilincic, whose flair for modernism is heavily informed by architecture, was also inspired by the illustration of “beautiful, round female bodies” on the tapestries. She translated them in the form of embroideries added all over A-line midi dresses, as well as patchworks printed on everything, from skinny satin scarves to a dramatic maxi skirt and a column gown.
An expert colorist, Ilincic also offered a range of loosely tailored, striped pieces and satin dresses in graduating shades of red and yellow that aimed to reflect spicy, natural shades.
“The color palette was connected to sand and to the desert, it was very much about sunsets and spice and colors that recall turmeric, poppy, limoncello — we gave them all these yummy names,” she said backstage.
Movement and practicality reigned

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As female empowerment messages continue to thrum through fashion, trust Christopher Kane to give his a scientific and subversive edge.
“Sex in nature,” David Attenborough intoned over the throbbing beats as Kane’s models stalked the concrete underbelly of the Tate Modern in one of his most glamorous and focused collections to date. It featured prominent shoulders, leggy silhouettes, praying mantis T-shirts — the female sometimes eats her partner after coitus — and more lace crotches than in all the strip clubs of Soho.
The latter he agglomerated into armor-like bodices on little black dresses or ones with long pleated lace skirts. Despite the lurid source material, they made for striking and unabashedly steamy clothes and high-heeled shoes, the latter with crotches as tongue-like vamps lapping over the instep. (Crocs, the unsexy and ungainly footwear Kane recently paraded, made a disappearing act.)
Kane has a habit of spinning out too many ideas. Here he kept them on a tight leash, sticking mainly to jewel-toned brocades and lace, some prim white cotton and glossy silks. Bands of crystal outlining shoulders, arms and bodices added more glitz. There was a soft edge to this collection, too, in the form of a fluttery white dress pieced together from small

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