Heeeere’s Hakim: The International Channel is a...

Heeeere’s Hakim: The International Channel is a cable TV must for Ventura County residents who have flocked here from afar (B1). Judging from the program guide, it’s a magnificent Babel of idiot-box delights . . . There are Russian celebrity interviews, Cambodian melodramas, Arab music videos, two hours of “the most exciting television programs from Norway, such as cooking segments” and something from Syria that features “unexpected situations with hilarious results.”

Slick Dads: The city of Thousand Oaks is offering something way beyond ties, golf gimcrackery and Hanes Beefy-Tees for Father’s Day: free motor oil. . . . Mrs. Gooch’s Whole Foods Market on Sunday will present complimentary 10W-40 to dads in what must be the slickest way to say, “I love you, man!” It’s even recycled--or re-refined--which is why Mrs. Gooch’s and the city are offering the promotion.

Sister’s Song: Kathy Kramer and her brother warmed up audiences for John Denver in the early 1970s. Now the Thousand Oaks resident hopes a new song will help find her brother, former Iron Butterfly bassist Philip Taylor Kramer, who disappeared in 1995. . . . Kathy Kramer will perform the self-penned “Brother, My Brother” during a segment tonight on Fox network’s “America’s Most Wanted.”

Thanks Anyway: Even though United Way missed its fund-raising goal this year in Ventura County, organizers still want everyone to come out today for a big thank you festival. . . . The 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. blowout at the teaching zoo at Moorpark College is free to United Way contributors, $5 for everyone else. Usually, the charity holds a party just for big corporate sponsors. “This year, we wanted to start thanking the individuals,” spokeswoman Debbie Giles says.