“Teacher, why are you showing me such a sad movie? I’m gonna cry all day.” “Miss, I’d kill to have a father like that!” Sometimes I strike gold while watching a film with my students. It happened last week when we saw the summer 2011 independent film A Better Life, directed by Chris Weitz. It’s my [...]
The Pasadena Art Museum was a legendary institution at the white-hot epicenter of postwar art in Southern California. That fascinating, percolating, seminal era is being celebrated throughout the Southland in a series of exhibitions called Pacific Standard Time—and in Pasadena right now. The Pasadena Art Museum began in 1924 in a house on the northwest [...]
Need a little family bonding time post-feast and football? Or a place to walk off some of that turkey? How about exploring museums—for free? Or, if you’re in a Black Friday mood, there’s no better place to find clever gifts and unusual holiday decor than the gift shop at any of our local museums—and you [...]
We’re a lucky bunch at Hometown Pasadena, and we know it. So each of us decided to share one thing about our hometowns that we’re particularly grateful for. 1. The Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. I’ve been swimming laps there for 25 years, and while it has grown more crowded and you encounter the occasional breach of [...]
Ever since we published the first version of Hometown Pasadena (the book, that is), we’ve been tossing around the idea of producing a calendar. But now there’s no need, because our friend Petrea Burchard has done it. Many of you know her as the multi-talented woman behind Pasadena Daily Photo. She shoots photographs, she writes, [...]
Sidle along narrow steps and clamber over rocks as you hike the Mount Lowe Railway’s former route with its complex funicular system. (When’s the last time you scheduled something “funicular” into your day?) Raise your binoculars to catch sight of a wrentit. A what-it? It’s a long-tailed North American songbird that is dedicated to a [...]
We don’t cover hard news here at Hometown Pasadena—we’re all about the features. And so we don’t officially endorse anyone in elections. But I feel the need to unofficially sing the praises of our pal from pilates class, Lisa Link, who’s running for the San Marino Board of Education on Tuesday. For a couple of [...]
Shakespeare’s purest, silliest comedy opens the inaugural season for A Noise Within, in Pasadena’s newest theater complex. The excellent A Noise Within repertory company has moved to Pasadena from its longtime home in Glendale. This troupe of spirited actors has been in existence for twenty years and they play together that way, finding the fun [...]
It was a staple like meat and potatoes. And then, it was gone. But now…Pasadena’s largest fork has returned. In addition to the fork’s reappearance, The Fork In The Road Gang has organized what they hope to be Pasadena’s largest food drive (which will benefit Union Station Homeless Services). They will be accepting non-perishable foods Saturday [...]
“So a frog hops into a Costco…” No, seriously. A tiny tree frog made his way into our local Alhambra Costco, sequestered in a package of organic salad mix. He’s found himself a new home with surprised salad shopper Liya Ma of South Pasadena, who asked to keep him. We bet he’s glad he chose [...]
