Balloon bill foiled

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just vetoed a watered-down version of a bill sponsored by state Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) that would have provided warnings re: mylar balloons.

The original bill would have banned the foil balloons outright -- a much-ridiculed move -- before being modified to a mere consumer warning. Apparently the balloons short out power lines and cause expensive outages, according to Scott's op-ed in the Times.

Worth reading

Not to make any incursion into Monica's masterful command of the culture beat here, but I recently discovered the Vroman's blog, maintained by webmaster/blogger Patrick Brown. More than being the "web guy," Patrick is a literate dude who interviews the authors featured in the bookstore and on the blog. Check it out.

Step on Up

Following last week's burst of energy in setting the blog up (and dusting off my Flash skills to author above bitchin animation) ...

Missed one semi-news nugget. As expected for the past four years, City Councilman Sidney Tyler of District 7 (southeast Pasadena inclusive of South Lake Ave. commercial district)

If you wanted support on the council for some murky budgetary or financial issue, you got Sid on your side and then everyone fell in line if it passed the "Tyler Test." A business-oriented pragmatist, Sid is a Republican, but arguably of the pre-1980s variety. Of course this is Pasadena, where people like Sid and East Pasadena's Republican Steve Haderlein talk the most about trees and transpo.

Quote from Sid in Janette's Star-News story:

"One is bringing greater attention to our urban shade-tree canopy - I was the author of the first tree-protection ordinance, and it wasn't easy to do," he recalled. "And I brought maybe a little perspective and a little more discipline to the way the city manages its funds, looks at balance sheets and maintains a high credit rating."

So who wants Sid's seat?

One possible vector of sucession could be PCC's Board of Trustees. Area Four overlays nicely with District 7 and it would be Trustee Bill Thomson's job if he wanted it. After all, Bill represented D7 from '81 through '97.

Having served for some time on city's highest profile "commission" aka the Rose Bowl Operating Co., Bill's bid for the PCC board last year begged the question: For why? (For the kids, he said.)

Would he really be seeking to return to the same post, or is Bill feeling out the possibility of becoming Pasadena's second septuagenarian mayor in 2009?

UPDATED: Talked to Bill, he says that he's committed to the PCC gig and has no plans to seek Sid's seat. Didn't rule out a mayoral bid for what is certain to be a free-for-all cluster-frack next year, which is going to be an epic election -- and certain to shatter local spending records.

Parks, Poppies and Pasadena

The California State Parks Foundation Friday night honored numerous organizations and individuals, including several Pasadena-linked ones, for making the Los Angeles State Historic Park, commonly known as the Cornfield, a reality. The Advocates for Los Angeles State Historic Park honorees recognized at the 6th Annual Golden Poppy Awards Gala held at Union Station included Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), Northeast Trees, the environmental group dedicated to restoring the Arroyo Seco watershed, and Mia Lehrer, a consultant of the Pasadena-based Tetra Tech team that developed the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, which blog partner Todd wrote about for the Pasadena Star-News.

To get to Los Angeles State Historic Park from Pasadena, take the Gold Line to the Chinatown stop.

Why make art?

"To push an agenda. To visualize the hopes of people. To inspire people," says celebrated artist Jose Ramirez whose art exhibit, called "colores," runs through November 3, 2008, at El Portal restaurant.
Ramirez, a Los Angeles Unified schoolteacher, infuses his history and science lessons with art. He earned his BFA and MFA at UC Berkeley, where his professors criticized his paintings. They valued Minimalism over his art that looked "too Mexican."
That just drove his determination. Ramirez went on to receive a Brody Award/Getty Visual Arts Fellowship, illustrate seven children's books, lecture and exhibit at museums, universities and galleries in New York, Washington D.C., Texas, Japan and Mexico.

Minarets away from Pasadena

Traveling I strenuously avoid regular comforts, but green from a month of dysentary and Afghan vittles, my traveling companion Adam and I limped into the Islamabad Marriott in January 2002.

Think it was the first opportunity I had to speak with a (nonjournalist) woman in about two months.

Featured on the opposite end of the Lonely Planet guide than those we typically frequented, the hotel was where semicorrupt officials hinted they'd like you to invite them for a "cup of tea," aka a tumbler full of Jack Daniels, just like they were able to enjoy in their Stanford days.


And for what it represented, a potential target.

As I've remarked before, more than any other city, I was struck by a sense of familiarity in Islamabad proper (not the 'true capital' Rawalpindi) for its similarity to Pasadena. Broad boulevards, 1960s concrete-based architecture, the climate, an east-west range of low mountains to the north.

(Photo Aamir Qureshi, AFP)

Saturday.

Quick something to do in the a.m., from public affairs:

ARROYO PARKWAY IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE CELEBRATED SATURDAY

Twenty-foot-high date palms and crosswalks with decorative paving patterns are just two of the features on display during a celebration of the new Arroyo Parkway on Saturday, Sept. 20.

The public can get better acquainted with parkway improvements and the area retailers from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. During a portion of the celebration, from 6 to 10:30 a.m., southbound lanes of Arroyo Parkway from California to Del Mar will be closed, while northbound lanes will remain open.

Am I the only one who'd be happy celebrating by having all lanes of traffic open?

Viva Pasadena!

So where's the raza in Ruiz? This month is Latino Heritage Month. But here in Pasadena, the celebration of our rich Latino roots is year-round.

It’s in our music. Jorge Mester, internationally renowned conductor, kicks off the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra season on Oct. 18, 2008 with "Celebrating Mexico," a celebration of Mexico's classical repertoire. Tickets on sale now for the performances at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

It’s in our books. I recently attended my first meeting of The Las Comadres Book Club at the Borders on Lake Ave. A small, smart and fun group was treated by a special visit from Margo Candela, author of More Than This. All are invited to attend the Pasadena chapter of the national book club, which meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Borders on Lake Ave. Pick up a copy of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and join Las Comadres on Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss this book.

And it’s in our food. Owner Abel Ramirez serves up the finest in Yucatan cuisine at El Portal. Dine outside and enjoy the strolling mariachis on a Friday night. From Mester to Margo to mariachis,... there's mucho to celebrate in Pasadena.

A Youth Misspent

Damn web widgets are now set to consume the remainder of my day.

Topical Entry

Finally made it over to the east side of the district with Ms. Vanity and the inimitable David Bontempo to catch a screening of I.O.U.S.A.



Apart from enjoying the charm of its distinctive decay, the good thing about seeing it at the Academy is the $3 ticket will leave a few bucks in your wallet for those Mandarin lessons you'll want immediately after watching the movie.

I now actually understand why the federal and trade deficits are a Big Deal and not just make-believe. Movie is definitely the "everyone must see this before Nov. 4," especially for its fixation with economic realities and lack of partisan message.

Here's where we are currently on the debt clock:

Information Item

According to a flyer which dropped a few days back: Mssrs. Steve Madison and Sid Tyler, representatives of the Playhouse District, southwest and southeast Pasadena on the City Council "invite you to a special community meeting" Wednesday evening re: "Our Imminent Water Shortage: How you Can Prevent Waste and Potential Penalties" with the inestimable Phyllis Currie, general manager of Pasadena Water and Power.

Here's the Cliff's Notes version, cribbed from PWP:

Take shorter showers - 5 minutes or less Turn off the faucet when brushing teeth or shaving Wash only full loads of laundry and dishes Install water-efficient fixtures and appliances - get rebates!

Don't over water lawns - twice a week at most is enough Promptly repair broken sprinklers, plumbing and toilet valves Use a broom - not a hose - to clean driveways and pavement Talk to friends and neighbors and ask them to help save water

Of potentially more interest is discussion item No. 2, "AT&T Project U-Verse."

To construct their U-Verse infrastructure, the megatelecom must install many ugly, above-ground "vaults" in residential neighborhoods. See picture from an installation in Geneva, Ill. They're ugliness is secondary only to how LOUD they are.

Now, Pasadena has long held its hands are tied by state pre-emption over approval authority when it comes to these boxes.

Much like with the state-protected unlicensed group homes and federally (Courts say Constitutionally) protected adult clubs which the council has risked significant liability and channeled millions of taxpayer dollars to fight. Pasadena's only response to AT&T has been a lot of 'QQ.'

What's different about group homes and strip clubs?

Some Nattering nabobs of negativism might go so far as to suggest such small businesses lack shareholders in positions of power.

I'm not sure what Madison and Tyler's talking points will be re: the Big Ugly Boxes, or BUBs. They are two of the wealthiest members of the council. I believe Sid tops that list.

For some reason, City Council meeting minutes are one of the only nonsearchable items on the city's site, but Tyler has had to recuse himself from discussing the matter in public meetings when it has come up, presumably because he is an AT&T shareholder. Sid maintains he is unswayed by his wallet, as per this Pasadena Weekly piece:

“You can read anything you want into my motivations for owning a particular stock of a company, but does it color my views with respect to issues I'm elected to vote on? I'd have to say that particular ownership of a given stock plays no part. A much broader issue is my business background, and that does,” said Tyler.

Madison - responding to intense, vocal pressure about two years ago - has gone to bat before to discourage an AT&T cell phone tower in far-west Pasadena. Yet he's also recused himself on other telecom-related matters, at least those related to Motorola.

The meeting is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Braun Auditorium at Huntington Hospital. Free validated parking is allegedly available if you "take Pasadena Avenue north from Bellefontaine and enter the second driveway for the lot nearest Braun."

Hellos and Welcome

During his most recent visit to Caltech, Dr. Stephen Hawking confirmed Pasadena does indeed lie at the precise center of the universe. (Actually he just sat there while his robot wheelchair did all the talking.)

Of course, this wasn't news to those of us living here. Especially in or near the Playhouse District -- the Delicious Middle of existence's Creamy Center.

Once one of many African American enclaves throughout the city -- before they were squeezed Urban Renewaled into the Northwest Frontier.

Now it's Condodena, where the sidewalks are choked with 30-something white men and their 20-something Asian wives, all joggin from dusk til dawn and smirking at the holdout breeders.

It's also a nexus of culture. There's the titular Pasadena Playhouse, situated at the southern end of the Axis of Liberalism anchored by Vroman's Bookstore and Laemmle Theatres (Note European spelling.) The Ice House and Boston Court. Pacific Asia and California Art museums.

There's also Zona Rosa Caffe, the dusty stacks of Cliff's Books (How does he stay in business?), iconic errata like Zinke's Shoe Repair and White Hut, and all the forgetably-named shops on Green Street.

Who's got South Asians? We do! All them Bangalore-trained technical types tasting one year in Pasadena on a contract assignment. Doing the shuffle down Union Avenue (St.! I Hast Lost an Eighth!) in the morning and picking apart samosae at the local eateries that have sprung up like lotii blossoms dropped by Lord Brahmin.

The local daily newspaper, whose newsroom I haunted from 2006-2008, sits on the east edge.



Shopping? South Lake is win for filling up on empty consumer glee! Macy's, Pennylane, Hamburger Hamlet, Med Cafe, Obama H.Q., Interact!

What about Old Pas? Crate and Barrel? LOL.

For the purposes of this interblog, we'll run a little fast and loose with the map. We consider anything in the district or within walking distance fair game. So let's arbitrarily agree to 210 Freeway x Mentor Avenue x California Ave x Los Robles. I suspect Monica may drift as far as Arroyo Parkway, but she's a more committed walker than myself (and patronizes The Beast.)

Expect things entirely unrelated.

Your Humble Narrators

Monica and Todd live a block apart in the Playhouse District. Coincidentally, they met there by chance, 16 years ago. Before 220 South Lake Ave. became a Panda Express. They have wildly disparate versions of that.

Monica is a former reporter now working in the City Hall at the other end of the Gold Line. Once, she was a baby.


Todd is a reporter most recently employed by the Pasadena Star-News, where he covered Pasadena and its political landscape.