Matthew Mercer returns behind the screen for Critical Role's bleak new Daggerheart adventure
Critical Role's next nightmare begins with the first Age of Umbra trailer
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Age of Umbra: Sallowlands, the latest tabletop role-playing miniseries from the minds of Critical Role, is almost upon us. After months of various teasers, the creepy, gothic series trailer has been revealed exclusively to Polygon — and we’re happy to share that it’s just as spine-chilling as the previous Age of Umbra series.
Critical Role revealed its five adventurers at the heart of the miniseries in mid-June. They are Sister; Dillwyn and her companion Badger; Caguama; Alphonse; and Mercy, played by Critical Role co-founder Laura Bailey, Jennifer English, Abubakar Salim, Vico Ortiz, and Zachery Renauldo, respectively. Matthew Mercer, who took a break from serving as Critical Role’s Dungeon Master during Campaign 4, will return to guide these new players in this Daggerheart miniseries.
As revealed in the Sallowlands trailer, the five survivors will explore the perilous Halcyon Domain. What was once a glorious, celestial landscape of the old world, ruled by the God-King Oethedias, has become decayed and joyless. The gods are gone, communities are shattered, and people are quickly losing hope. What makes matters worse is that the dead are often reborn as twisted nightmares, bringing destruction and rot that plague the land.
That changes when a rumor surfaces about a “gargantuan metropolis appearing out of nowhere.” The possibility of a new place, teeming with life and magic, fills our survivors with hope of a new world that could bring them salvation — and the first true sign of something glorious.
The official description of Sallowlands on the Daggerheart website notes that players will “encounter brutal adversaries and high stakes in this dark and emotional actual play, which explores themes of desperation, survival, and love in the face of overwhelming odds.”
Image: Critical Role
We expect plenty of violence in this grim fantasy world, but Critical Role is known for stories about finding hope even in darkness. Critters will see how much light the series offers when the first episode of Age of Umbra: Sallowlands debuts on July 9. %!s()
High court ruling 'magnificent vindication' of the Daily Mail’s journalism, publisher claims
We are getting a statement through from the Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail, which celebrates the judgment ruling in its favour and says it will seek to recover costs. The statement, attributed to a spokesperson, reads:
…
double quotation markAssociated Newspapers welcomes today’s judgement, which is an overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalists, and for a free press generally.
“Mr Justice Nicklin today cleared the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, and dismissed every single one of the 97 allegations made by the claimants. In every case, the Judge accepted the honesty of our journalists’ evidence on how they sourced their stories.
“This isa magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail’s journalism.
“For some of the most outrageous allegations made when the case was launched in a blaze of publicity four years ago - placing bugs in people’s cars and homes, listening to calls as they were made and illicitly accessing bank accounts - no credible evidence was ever presented.
“As we said at the time, these allegations were ‘lurid’ and ‘preposterous’, and were a fishing expedition by the claimants and their legal teams in a politically motivated campaign to muzzle the free press.
“The reputations of our decent and hard-working journalists were terribly impugned, and today they have been exonerated.
“As the judgement clearly shows, every single article was legitimately sourced.
“Associated Newspapers thanks Mr Justice Nicklin for the patience and wisdom he has displayed throughout this misguided legal action, which has wasted so much valuable court time and more than £50m in legal costs.
“We will look to resolve outstanding issues, including the recovery of the costs we have incurred while defending ourselves against this egregious litigation.
Key events
7d ago
Closing summary
7d ago
Judge said claimants could not rely on 'suspicion' to prove allegations
7d ago
High court ruling 'magnificent vindication' of the Daily Mail’s journalism, publisher claims
7d ago
Prince Harry and claimants lose case against Daily Mail publisher
7 Jul 2026
Buckingham Palace says Harry can no longer stay at royal residence on UK visit
7 Jul 2026
Ruling expected in Prince Harry's court battle with Daily Mail publisher
Closing summary
Prince Harry lost his high-profile case against the Daily Mail’s publisher ANL for alleged unlawful information gathering in yet another blow to the estranged royal as he begins a fraught five-day trip back to the UK. A written judgement by the High Court published following an 11 week trial earlier this year said the “claimants failed to prove their pleaded allegations... the claims are therefore dismissed”.
In an emphatic ruling that is likely to signal an end to new litigation relating to the phone-hacking scandal era, the high court dismissed all the group’s claims, stating that the claimants had not proved that any information had been obtained unlawfully.
The Duke of Sussex’s and others claims against the Daily Mail’s publisher over allegations of unlawful information gathering “should never have been brought to trial”, editor Paul Dacre has said. Following the judgment, ANL’s editor-in-chief Dacre described the ruling as “a momentous victory for the Mail” and “an overwhelming vindication of our journalism”.
Prince Harry and six other prominent figures now fave a legal bill of up to £50m after losing the case. ANL will try to recover its costs from the mammoth case. It potentially leaves the claimants with a bill of as much as £50m. It said the verdict represented “an overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalists, and for a free press generally”.
Other claimants in the case were Doreen Lawrence, the mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence; the singer Elton John and his husband, David Furnish; the actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost; and the former Liberal Democrat minister Simon Hughes.
In a comprehensive victory for the publisher, all the claims were dismissed by the court. The claimants’ case was seriously damaged after a key witness, Gavin Burrows, a private investigator turned apparent whistleblower, said before his trial that his witness statement was a forgery and that he had not carried out illegal activity for the Mail titles.
The Mail case is the last to be brought against newspaper groups by the prince, who is coincidentally in the UK for a series of charity engagements. He has been at the forefront of legal attempts to hold British newspapers to account for alleged past wrongdoing. He previously won substantial damages in his hacking case against the Daily Mirror, in which the judge found that 15 out of 33 articles related to Harry put to the court were the product of phone hacking or unlawful information-gathering.
Jessica Welch, partner in the reputation protection team at Simkins LLP, said: “This is a widely awaited decision given the subject matter and the claimants involved, but I don’t believe that the application of this judgment to privacy law generally should be overstated.
“Mr Justice Nicklin was clear that the court’s findings relate specifically to the 57 articles that formed part of the claim and the evidence available to the specific claimants. Much of the claimants’ case rested on inference from decades-old conduct – the kind of covert activity that, by its nature, arguably leaves few direct traces. In the end, the Judge found that given the seriousness of the allegations, the claimants failed to reach the higher evidential burden required to prove them.
“However, the Judgment does not disturb the underlying privacy law framework established in earlier privacy case law, as well as the finding against Mirror Group Newspapers in 2023 of “widespread and habitual” phone hacking and the public apology and settlement from News Group Newspapers in previous phone hacking cases, all of which stand as precedent that such claims can succeed.”
Simon Hughes, who lost his claim against Associated Newspapers (ANL) over claims of unlawful information gathering, said in a statement following Tuesday’s ruling: “The judgment in the case against ANL is naturally very disappointing for me, and I am sure for all other claimants.
“I shall take time to consider the lengthy judgment in detail and plan to make no further comment in the near future.”
Gideon Benaim, partner and head of the reputation protection team at Simkins LLP, said: “This is an important judgment, particularly given the profile of the parties and the allegations involved, but it appears on an initial reading to be highly fact specific.
“The court has concluded that the evidence before it didn’t meet the threshold required to prove that unlawful information gathering took place. As Mr Justice Nicklin said in his judgment, “suspicion, even understandable suspicion, is not proof”.
“Most privacy cases will continue to depend on whether the information is private, whether publication was justified in the public interest and, ultimately, the evidence available to the court. I don’t see this decision fundamentally changing that position.”
Dacre concluded: “Today’s verdict is not just a victory for Associated’s magnificent journalists – several of whom have had a terrible toll imposed on their health and lives – but a free press generally.
“Make no mistake. This was a conspiracy, supported by Hacked Off, to destroy a paper.
“Financed by the orgy-loving, racist Max Mosley and involving the actor Hugh Grant, it was also a sinister bid to resuscitate Leveson Two and impose statutory regulation on the press which, even now, is rearing its ugly head in Labour’s Media Green Paper.
“Some of the allegations made by Harry’s lawyers against the Mail involved Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein.
“They were rejected by the Court. But remember it was the power of the Mail’s journalism that, not once, but twice, resulted in Mandelson being sacked as a minister.
“And it was the Mail on Sunday’s exclusive picture of Prince Andrew, with his arm around 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre in Ghislaine Maxwell’s home, that, ultimately, resulted in justice for Epstein’s underage victims.
“Such justice only happened, as with Stephen Lawrence, because of the actions of a free press.”
In a statement after the ruling, Associated Newspapers Limited’s editor-in-chief Paul Dacre said: “Four years ago, lawyers for Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence and Elton John accused the Mail, in a blaze of publicity, of placing bugs in homes, cars, cafés and landline phones.
“We described these charges – some related to stories that were over 30 years old – as ‘lurid and preposterous’.
“Today, in what was a momentous victory for the Mail, the High Court dismissed every single one of the 97 claims. That is an overwhelming vindication of our journalism.”
He added:
double quotation markThe Mail’s famous front-page naming five thugs as Stephen Lawrence’s “MURDERERS”, could have seen me jailed for contempt of court.
Instead, it triggered the Macpherson Inquiry and the eventual jailing of two of the killers. Stephen’s father, Neville, says he owes the Mail everything.
Why Baroness Lawrence – for whom we have always had profound respect and sympathy – chose to turn on both the paper, and the brilliant reporter who campaigned for justice for her son for over two decades, is something I will never be able to comprehend.
PA Media is reporting that Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne was seen entering Chatham House in central London to meet Harry on Tuesday afternoon, after the duke lost his case against the publishers of the Daily Mail.
Michael Savage
The claimants presented the court with 55 articles published between 1997 and 2015, and three incidents that did not lead to articles, that they claimed demonstrated unlawful information gathering.
A series of extraordinary claims of illegality at the Mail were made by the claimants’ legal team, which alleged “habitual and widespread” wrongdoing.
They included claims of phone hacking, landline tapping and bugging via private investigators, as well as making corrupt payments to police. All the claims were dismissed by the court.
You can read more here:
Hacked Off, a group which has long campaigned for tighter regulation of the British media, has reacted to today’s high court judgment. Hacked Off board director and phone hacking victim Jacqui Hames said:
double quotation markThe stories and conduct which formed the basis for the claims against the Mail were devastatingly intrusive, and included medical details, information about children, and other deeply invasive behaviour and coverage.
The Mail’s conduct fell well short of professional standards in the press, yet nothing has changed in the last twenty years and news publishers like the Mail still remain outside any independent form of regulation. Action to address standards in the press is long overdue, andmust be a priority for the incoming administration.
The courts are not the appropriate vehicle for investigating the allegations of wrongdoing against the Mail in their fulness, and the judgment was clear in stating that, focusing on a handful of individual articles, the court had not made findings on whether illegality was widespread at the Mail.
Now only a public inquiry can get to the bottom of what really happened.
Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which publishes the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Commenting on the overall evidence prince Harry gave during the trial in January, Mr Justice Nicklin said in his judgment:
double quotation markIn assessing Prince Harry’s evidence overall, it was apparent that he wished the court to understand the personal impact of the matters in issue.
At times, this led him beyond giving factual evidence into advancing arguments on the issues, and exchanges followed with Mr White KC (Antony White KC, for Associated) in that vein.
As I indicated to Prince Harry at the time, that is not uncommon: many litigants feel a strong instinct to argue their case themselves.
However, when giving evidence, that is not a burden they are required to carry. The responsibility for advancing the party’s case rests with the advocate.
Prince Harry hasn’t given a reaction to today’s judgment yet.
As we reported earlier in the blog, he arrived at an event for the Invictus Games in London’s Chatham House shortly before the judgment was published this afternoon.
Prince Harry arrives at Chatham House in central London on 7 July, 2026. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
According to Sky News, he has been speaking since the judgment was published but has not mentioned the ruling, sticking to his pre-prepared script.
“What brings us together is far more important than what sets us apart,” he said.
“Each country represented here is writing its own chapter”.
The event is bringing together members of the Invictus community, leading experts and policymakers to discuss issues affecting injured and sick service personnel and veterans – all those eligible to take part in the paralympic-style games.
Judge said claimants could not rely on 'suspicion' to prove allegations
In the judgment, Mr Justice Nicklin acknowledged that the allegations were “serious”, noting that they included claims of dishonesty, unlawful conduct and deliberately false evidence.
Because they were civil (not criminal) claims being brought against Associated Newspapers Limited, he explained that the legal test was whether the allegations were proved on a balance of probabilities.
“The more serious and less likely an allegation is, the more convincing the evidence must be before a court can find it proved,” he wrote, noting in the summary that the claimants could not rely on “suspicion, even where understandable”.
“The claimants had to prove that the information complained of had been obtained unlawfully. The court rejected the argument that, simply because information was private, and because Associated could not positively explain how it had been sourced, the relevant article must have been unlawfully sourced,” the judgment read.
Michael Savage
In a ruling that is likely to signal an end to new litigation relating to the phone-hacking scandal, the high court dismissed all the claims, stating the claimants had not proved information had been obtained unlawfully.
The written verdict from Mr Justice Nicklin said the court could not simply infer a story had been obtained unlawfully if there was a legitimate and realistic legal way in which they could have been sourced.
You can read more on the significance of the ruling from the Guardian’s media editor, Michael Savage, here:
In the summary, the judge said that a hearing will now take place on 29–30 July to hear arguments on “any points of dispute as to the consequential orders to be made” following today’s judgment.
The verdict potentially leaves the claimants with a huge bill for the case, which is thought to be as much as £50m.
High court ruling 'magnificent vindication' of the Daily Mail’s journalism, publisher claims
We are getting a statement through from the Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail, which celebrates the judgment ruling in its favour and says it will seek to recover costs. The statement, attributed to a spokesperson, reads:
double quotation markAssociated Newspapers welcomes today’s judgement, which is an overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalists, and for a free press generally.
“Mr Justice Nicklin today cleared the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, and dismissed every single one of the 97 allegations made by the claimants. In every case, the Judge accepted the honesty of our journalists’ evidence on how they sourced their stories.
“This isa magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail’s journalism.
“For some of the most outrageous allegations made when the case was launched in a blaze of publicity four years ago - placing bugs in people’s cars and homes, listening to calls as they were made and illicitly accessing bank accounts - no credible evidence was ever presented.
“As we said at the time, these allegations were ‘lurid’ and ‘preposterous’, and were a fishing expedition by the claimants and their legal teams in a politically motivated campaign to muzzle the free press.
“The reputations of our decent and hard-working journalists were terribly impugned, and today they have been exonerated.
“As the judgement clearly shows, every single article was legitimately sourced.
“Associated Newspapers thanks Mr Justice Nicklin for the patience and wisdom he has displayed throughout this misguided legal action, which has wasted so much valuable court time and more than £50m in legal costs.
“We will look to resolve outstanding issues, including the recovery of the costs we have incurred while defending ourselves against this egregious litigation.
Clarkson University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can uncover the mathematical equations governing complex and chaotic systems directly from data. The technology, called KANDy—short for Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks for Dynamics—is designed to help scientists understand systems that are difficult to describe using traditional methods because they are noisy, nonlinear or highly unpredictable.
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Most AI models excel at making predictions but often operate as "black boxes," offering little insight into why they behave as they do. KANDy takes a different approach. Rather than just providing predictions of future actions, KANDy aims to understand the equations governing the phenomenon.
Researchers can feed KANDy data from a complex physical system, and the model attempts to identify the mathematical rules driving that system's behavior. The result is an AI model that is both predictive and interpretable.
The new framework builds on a class of neural networks known as Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks, or KANs. By adapting the technology specifically for dynamical systems, the researchers created a model capable of discovering governing equations even in cases where existing equation-discovery methods fail.
The study, now available on the arXiv preprint server, was conducted by Research Associate Kevin Slote and Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Assistant Professor Jeremie Fish, led by Erik Bollt, who tested KANDy on a variety of challenging problems, including discrete and continuous dynamical systems and chaotic partial differential equations.
The model also successfully recovered important topological structure in a mathematical object known as the Hopf fibration, demonstrating its ability to capture deeper properties of complex systems.
The research highlights KANDy's potential for data-driven modeling of nonlinear dynamical systems, providing scientists and engineers with a new tool for understanding complicated physical phenomena from observed data.
To install the KANDy software and try it, see the installation instructions on GitHub.
Publication details
Kevin Slote et al, KANDy: Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks and Dynamical System Discovery, arXiv (2026). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2602.20413
Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success.
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Citation:
Researchers develop AI tool that finds the equations behind complex systems (2026, July 7)
retrieved 14 July 2026
from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ai-tool-equations-complex.html
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part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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Their appeal is easy to understand. They are always available, highly customizable and offer a steady sense of being heard, desired and understood—at a time when loneliness and social disconnection are on the rise.
Because these systems are designed to encourage attachment, people often humanize them in return. For some people, that can create the feeling of being deeply known, sometimes even more than by a human partner. Research shows that 21% of romantic AI users prefer this "ultimate soulmate experience" to interacting with a real partner.
The growing visibility of romantic AI companions has pushed the issue into public debate, raising a central question: If a chatbot can feel this intimate, does it count as cheating in a committed relationship?
Our preliminary research suggests that, in Canada at least, people think it does.
Emotional and sexual diversion
Infidelity is usually understood as a violation of exclusivity, whether sexual or emotional, that diverts romantic love, attention or emotional investment away from a primary partner.
We surveyed 1,815 Canadian adults and asked whether they would consider a partner's engagement with a romantic AI companion to be cheating. We also asked how they would feel emotionally and whether those views varied depending on respondents' demographic and ideological characteristics.
Our results show that about half of respondents saw a partner's romantic companion use as infidelity, and roughly three-quarters said they would react negatively. In fact, reactions to romantic companions were about as negative as reactions to dating apps and webcamming, both of which involve a human third party.
They were more negative than reactions to all other sexual technologies, such as AI pornography and sex toys.
Interestingly, nearly two-thirds of AI romantic companion users kept their use from their partner.
Cis women, Gen Z react negatively
The pattern was not the same for everyone. Cisgender women were about twice as likely as cis men to say romantic companion use counted as cheating. Gen Z participants also tended to react more negatively than older participants.
Meanwhile, individuals in nonmonogamous relationships were about half as likely as participants in committed monogamous relationships to perceive romantic companion use as infidelity.
Ideology matters, too. In our research, higher social conservatism and religiosity were linked to stronger infidelity judgments. Participants further to the right on the political spectrum were more likely to see romantic companion use as cheating.
As findings from an unpublished study, these results should be read as tentative.
Exploration or betrayal?
Romantic AI companions are not seen as neutral tools. They occupy a distinct relational space among sexual technologies, one that can challenge couple boundaries even in the absence of a human third party.
Their significance lies not only in what they can do but also in what they may represent within a relationship: secrecy, emotional diversion, comparison or a shift in intimacy away from a human partner.
For therapists and couples alike, the key question is not simply whether romantic companion use counts as cheating, but how it develops, whether it is disclosed, what needs it serves and how partners interpret it.
The distinction between privacy and secrecy is especially important here. Some may see these systems as emotional support, self-expression or private sexual exploration; others may experience them as withdrawal or betrayal.
Concerns arise when romantic companion use is concealed or replaces communication or conflict resolution with a partner. Chatbots can also begin to reshape the primary relationship in ways that feel like a boundary violation.
Long-term impacts
It is unclear how the use of a romantic companion unfolds within real romantic relationships over time.
Research has yet to determine how romantic AI companions may influence relationship satisfaction and emotional intimacy among people in committed relationships, or the relational difficulties—such as conflict, unmet emotional or sexual needs—that may prompt them to seek these interactions.
As AI-mediated intimacy becomes more visible in everyday life, answering these questions will be essential to understanding how romantic relationships are changing in an increasingly digital society.
Citation:
If you flirt with an AI companion, does that count as cheating? (2026, July 7)
retrieved 14 July 2026
from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-flirt-ai-companion.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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Rick Caruso’s empire has expanded to the world of golf.
Caruso, founder and executive chairman of his namesake real estate development firm, has unveiled a first look at his new private golf and social club called Miramar Lake Club. The property — formerly known as Sherwood Lake Club and located behind the gates of the Sherwood community near Thousand Oaks at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains — is set to open later this year.
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It features an 18-hole golf course designed by a legend of the sport, Jack Nicklaus, as well as an 18,000-square-foot clubhouse, a resort-style pool, a signature restaurant concept (under the direction of a yet-to-be-announced chef), fitness and training facilities, tennis courts, wellness amenities and a calendar of social events designed to build community.
The sale, first reported by L.A. Material, came together earlier this year and followed the death of Sherwood Lake Club owner David H. Murdock, a billionaire businessman who propelled Dole Food Co. to become the world’s largest producer of fruits and vegetables. After taking ownership of the club, Caruso and his team “updated every element, from architecture to amenities” to give it an elevated lifestyle experience fitting for a private club backed by Caruso. It also carries the name of one of Caruso’s other properties, Rosewood Miramar Beach, in Montecito.
In a statement, Caruso said Miramar Lake Club represents his company’s vision for where golf is heading, “more welcoming, more dynamic and deeply rooted in experience.” Ahead of the July 4th holiday, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Caruso to expand on those thoughts about what he’s building at Miramar and share why he jumped at the chance to buy the property in a super-quick transaction. See below.
An exterior view of the driveway at Miramar Lake Club.
Courtesy of Caruso
A rendering of the bar at Miramar Lake Club.
Courtesy of Caruso
A view of the green at Miramar Lake Club.
Courtesy of Caruso
The patio at Miramar Lake Club.
Courtesy of Caruso
I read a line in some early press about this new Caruso development that said “from The Grove to the greens.” After all of your developments, why a golf course and social club?
It really starts with our passion for hospitality, service and experience. We want our customers to be able to have fun, and what we learned very quickly after opening Rosewood Miramar is how much we love the resort business. Then we opened a private club next door, the beach club, and it was a huge success with our members. But it’s also been a fun business for us to be in with the programming, the planning, the quality of the food. Clearly what is happening is that there is a wonderful intersection with what people want in experiences that includes health, wellness, fine food and activities that they can do with friends and family.
There’s also been such an explosion in popularity in the golf course business. We’ve been monitoring that and we’re excited to get into it with such a unique course. There’s only two 18-hole, 3-par Jack Nicklaus-designed courses out there. It’s a world-class course, and what we’re doing now is enhancing it and spending a lot of money enhancing the whole club experience. The course is in really great shape. We’ll give updates to the pool and we’ll have great programming. The uniqueness of this club is that you will be able to come in the morning, work out, have lunch, play a round of golf with friends or family, lie by the pool, relax, have dinner and a drink. It will be a really great place for all of that.
I read it was a really quick transaction. Can you share about that process and how it went down?
I got a cold call on a Friday from a broker. I was actually with my family that day at our home in Newport Beach. He called to say, “I have this opportunity for you.” He told me about it. I had not seen the club. I’ve certainly seen Sherwood as we have friends that live out there. But I hadn’t seen the Lake Club. We spent about 20 minutes on the call, and we made a deal. I called our head of development and general counsel. I said, “I hate to have you guys busy over the weekend but we got a deal here. Let’s get it closed as soon as possible.” It came together very quickly. I knew Dave Murdock well, and I knew the quality that he put into everything that he built. The whole development behind the gates out there, it’s really one of a kind. To own part of that with our own club, I thought it was an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up.
What else can people expect from a Caruso private golf club? I read that you’re planning to introduce a restaurant concept, maybe Italian?
We’re going to have fine but still fun dining. We’re building a really fun bar that will have entertainment every night. We have a very great grill that’s by the pool to serve more casual food for lunch. We’ll do a whole wellness center that will overlook the golf course. It’s going to be spectacular. We’ll do a full gym that’s fully equipped. Tennis courts. Frankly, it will be the kind of place that I wish I had in my neighborhood. That’s the way I look at everything that I build: I would love to have this in my neighborhood. I think it’s going to have a big draw. We are under construction at a property at the Commons of Calabasas, and we’ll be tying this project into that. Part of the expansion of the retail there will be an eight-story luxury high-rise apartment building. For the premium units, they will have a membership that will come with it. It’s part of our ecosystem; members of the Miramar Club, our beach club in Montecito, those members will also be able to use it. It’s a fairly quick drive from Montecito to Sherwood. It’s a nice tie-in for people to have more amenities.
How often do you get out on the golf course, and what kind of golfer are you?
We had a company event at the Miramar Lake Club course, and I was able to play. I have to tell you, I’m not a great golfer. In fact, it was Dave Murdock years and years ago — probably 40 years ago — who said to me, “You’ve got to make a choice, Ricky, you’re either going to build a great company or you’re going to have a great golf game.” I don’t know if that’s absolutely true but I am trying now to spend a little more time playing golf. I certainly want to become better. But one of the great things about playing a 3-par course is that it can be a quick play. One of the things I struggle with playing 18-holes is that it can be a four- or four-and-a-half-hour deal. It consumes such a big chunk of the day. So it was nice to be able to play 18-holes at Miramar Lake Club and we got it done in two and a half hours. It’s constant movement and you only need three or four clubs and you’re done. It’s a lot of exercise, too.
Last time I caught up with you, we were at Palisades Village for the unveiling of Spacca Tutto. You’re close to reopening Palisades Village. How’s it going?
It’s all going really well. I was out there yesterday with the team. I’m out there every week, and yesterday was a real turning point. It really, really hit me, and I got me a little bit choked up, to be honest. The flowers are going back in, the hanging pots off the street lights are going back up, buildings are getting painted. It was just a beehive of activity. Angelini is already built out on the inside, and it looks like it’s ready to take reservations. It’s miraculous, and I’m beside myself with my team. The retailers and restaurateurs are on a higher mission here and they’re all doing great work. We’re slating mid-August to be open. We’ll announce the official date soon. We’re 99 percent leased. It’s going to be great. %!s()
Image: Critical Role
Image: Critical Role
