Indie Film Fest, Gwyneth Paltrow, Butterscotch Pudding Day and More

1. The Santa Monica Independent Film Festival has announced its dates and selections for the maiden festival.Curated solely from filmmaker submissions, SaMo INDIE strives to honor truly independent films and the filmmakers that create them. There will be 27 films run over the course of three days beginning this Sunday Sept. 22 and Monday Sept. 23 at the TAG Gallery in Bergamot Station (2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404), with night three skipping a day to Wednesday the 25th at Santa Monica Playhouse (1211 4th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401). Click here for more details.

2. Keep your helmets on. Gwyneth Paltrow has just obtained her motorcycle license from the Santa Monica DMV. The actress took both the written test and a practical test on Tuesday and passed.

3. Local criminals don’t know from overseas stars. A famous Australian singer (well, in Australia at least) was robbed while surfing at Santa Monica beach this past weekend. Guy Sebastian told a local Australian paper, “"When I came back in [from the surf] someone had flogged my towel, my shorts, my old T-shirt and stolen my car keys. I had to get a tow truck out and call a friend for help." That sucks, mate.

4. Tonight is the Save the Reefs, Save the Oceans Gala at the Jonathan Club in Santa Monica. Click here for more details

5. Hooray for sweet tooths. Today is National Butterscotch Pudding Day. Why, you ask? Why not? Have a great Butterscotch pudding recipe? Share it with us in the comments.