Taiko is “drum” in Japanenese—“great drum” or “wide drum” specifically, though the word is now used to refer to several different Japanese drums. Taiko have been around since the Yayoi Period (300 B.C.E. – 300 C.E.), and they play an important role in Gagaku, one of the oldest styles of court music still in existence [...]
Which Mill? Why, the Old Mill—the one in San Marino that’s been there since 1816 and is the oldest commercial building in Southern California. It was a grist mill. Now, it’s an historic treasure, as well as a venue, playing host to a California Art Club gallery, Bar Association Dinners and the titular summer concert [...]
If you’re much of a geek, chances are you already know who Olivia Munn is. Because, you know, she’s a goddess. For geeks. For everyone else, she’s the woman from that TV station you flip through occasionally, the G4 Network. As of a month ago, she’s also a correspondent for The Daily Show (upgrade!), and [...]
One night a week of Levitt Pavilion’s free summer concert series is devoted to the little ones who walk amongst us. No, not sock gnomes, but children. We’ll be spotlighting these weekly offerings in this space all summer long, so keep your eyes peeled—you never know where the next Raffi might come from. Yes, it’s [...]
The fate of the Hahamongna Watershed Park Annex is once again on the agenda of the Pasadena City Council. This Monday, July 12th, they will likely decide once and for all whether or not to build soccer fields on park grounds. This has been a contentious issue for some time. Pasadena doesn’t have an awful [...]
If your kid loves musical theater and is considering making it a career, the Pasadena Musical Theater Program has two events coming up they may not want to miss. First up, PMTP executive director and Broadway veteran Ryan Scott Oliver will run an event descriptively titled Pursuing a Career in Musical Theatre: An Informative Meeting for Parents & Students. What is “the life” really like? Let Ryan set you straight. Invaluable advice from one who’s walked the walk.
This Saturday on the Colorado Street Bridge, that is, courtesy of Pasadena Heritage. There’ll be live music on three stages, dancing, antique cars, children’s games and food and drink (no-host) from around twenty local vendors, including Craftsman Brewing (!), Eagle Rock Brewing, Big Mama’s Rib Shack, Garlic Jim’s Gourmet Pizza, Cha Da Thai, Los Tacos [...]
Summer is hot. Wild Weather—Heat, a NASA-funded hi-def documentary, is also hot, but only figuratively. Tracing the arrival of summer from desert swelter to northern idyll, from the jungles of Belize to the inside of a lightning bolt, the doc is part of NASA’s “Summer of Innovation,” a program designed to get kids—or anyone, really—a [...]
Now in its third year, the Old Pasadena Film Festival is four weekends of good, free movies. You’ll find no navel-gazing indie drivel in the schedule—a stop on the art-film festival circuit this is not. Excepting the current one, every decade since 1930 is represented, from 1933’s She Done Him Wrong and I’m No Angel [...]
The Levitt Pavilion’s free summer concert series continues. We’re particularly excited about this Saturday’s performers, Alejo Aponte y Latonera, who have a really excellent MySpace page.* They’ve got a new album out, Gente (that’s “people” for you gringos). It’s the culmination of a long musical journey: Aponte spent nearly a decade traveling through his native [...]
