Tricks and Treats

Not that Hindu spirituality doesn't have a tradition of mystical eroticism, but my second neighbor anecdote swings wildly to the profane. Presented here in thematically appropriate, Poetastic verse:

Once upon a 3 a.m. dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over World of Warcraft and insomniac diversions galore,
While I quested, gaining some levels, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my apartment door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `Maybe it's Proctor looking to crash on my floor?'

Ah, distinctly I recall there was no light in the hall,
So, annoyed, I muzzled my greeting through the door.
'Yeah?' I gave reply - 'What is it?' I did inquisite,
For any visit at this hour could only be a menace or a bore.

"Hi, it's Tiffany" came a voice most lilting - "You called for someone to come over" offered a presumption of rapport.
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis a prostitute at my chamber door' - 'She thinks I want to score.'
Though no recollection of calling, what followed was more appalling,
she then argued with me through the bolted door.

'I think you've got the wrong address,' I thought would send her packing,
'No, this is the one you gave me,' was her retort. (silent "t")
At that point I made to disengage, for I could grasp her smoldering rage,
when I heard another voice call from the second floor.

Spinning thoughts into my brain's fore, I soon realized the matter's core -
my new neighbor, he loves sex with Asian whore(s)!

Seriously, I don't even know his name -- he's strenuously anti-social. But I've learned one thing all too well: He just loves to have sex with Asian prostitutes.

I also have a feeling he's a big Pasadena Weekly fan, at least of the last four pages.

Happy Diwali

It seems only a couple days ago I was discussing the implosion of the Pasadena blogosphere over a beer with Frank "Crime Scene" Girardot. There was a crowded local blog community one year ago, but it's quieted significantly since Proctor re-imploded and The Foothill Cities blog pulled the plug and left behind an unlikely excuse.

But in fact it was two weeks ago, and despite life's ambient insanity, I'm guilty of blog neglect.

So I share two anecdotes from life here in the Playhouse District.

First, I came home this evening to find arcane whorls of sand punctured by unctuous, ruddy leavings outside my kitchen door. At first, I considered the real possibility my Cthulhu-cultist neighbors left these burnt offerings as a reminder of my species' pending doom.

Then I remembered they loved their gods many-limbed, not many-tentacled. Which could mean only one thing: Diwali had begun!

If I learned anything short of life's purpose, nearly a year in India taught me that Hindu holidays are an excellent opportunity to score invitations to eat tasty food. So I grabbed my sitar and stepped next door to hustle some curry. I abused a few dissonant sounds out of the thing in parallel to their wireless laptop's stream of a Diwali-themed Youtube video.


About where my desk sits on our adjoining floorplan, we made puja at their little altar and implored Laxmi to be good to us. Being that their Diwali guest-list was made of fail, they demanded I bring Ms. Vanity over because a guest-free Diwali is some bad mojo.

Their too-cute 4-year-old was too shy for a photo.

So if your Hindu friends seem extra smiley during the next five days, or they start stringing up Christmas lights, just wish them a Happy Diwali.

Book It

Comadres, compadres, ... all are invited to the Pasadena Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club meeting Tuesday, October 21(tomorrow!), at Borders, 475 South Lake Ave, 626.304.9773. This small, fun, informal group will gather upstairs to discuss this month's book pick: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, winner of the fiction Pulitzer Prize for 2008.
BRIEF BOOK DESCRIPTION: Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere-and risk it all-in the name of love.

Craftsman weekend

As always, there's a lot gwin-on. I'll be adding things throughout the day:

• Fans of all things Greene² will be interested in "A New and Native Beauty" opening at the Huntington:

The Huntington, in partnership with the Gamble House, USC, will present the most comprehensive exhibition ever undertaken on the work of Arts and Crafts legends Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene—the first such exhibition to travel outside of California.

“A ‘New and Native’ Beauty: The Art and Craft of Greene & Greene” will be on view from Oct. 18 through Jan. 26, 2009, in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery at The Huntington. It then travels to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. (March 13– June 7, 2009), and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (July 14–Oct. 18, 2009).

• If that whets your appetite for more, it's also "Craftsman Weekend" in Pasadena, promising "a full weekend of events including bus and walking tours of historic neighborhoods, a Craftsman House Tour that visits five distinctive Craftsman-era homes, exhibits of contemporary and antique Craftsman furnishings and accessories, plus special evening events in historic sites."

"It was nobody's fault; it was everybody's fault."

Much has been made recently of very personal, jarring consequences to Hard Times of the like that we as Americans have by and large been immune to for decades. By and large, the Good Times narratives have drowned our daily tragedies, but now the BBM (Big Bad Media) has its antennae up for outrageous stories of hardship.

Pasadena added its own narrative Monday with the death of Wanda Tubbs, a 53-year-old Wilson Avenue resident who lost her home after taking out a bad loan, continued to live there under its new owners, and then facing eviction after their foreclosure precipitated her eviction, decided she'd rather die than leave.

From the L.A. Times:

Early Monday, the day of her expected eviction, firefighters pulled her body out of the house as it burned. She apparently had set it on fire before shooting herself in the head, authorities said.

"We knew it was going to happen," said Steve Brooks, who lived across the street. "It was nobody's fault; it was everybody's fault."

As Brooks watched the flames, he noticed that Dunn had left two of her plants on his porch, along with a note: "Please take good care of us or find us a good home." She also had left several inexpensive toys, along with the name and address of a charity organization.

Photo courtesy Los Angeles Times.

Pasadena Arts Ride Roller Coaster Stock Market

The Pasadena Playhouse celebrated a $3 million donation, its largest gift ever. Meanwhile, the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra today announced the cancellation of its November 15 concert. The stock market volatility has affected the Symphony and its donors. Full stories in the Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News.
The Pasadena Symphony's performance, "Celebrating Mexico," will continue as scheduled this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which start at $20, are still available via its website or by calling (626) 793-7172, ext. 16 Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm.

Channeling Da Vinci

During a time when digital media has revolutionized the way we live, it was refreshing to see art rooted in classical forms at Sunday's Pasadena ArtMarket, the grand finale of the three-day Pasadena ArtWeekend. They included Kirk Shinmoto(featured above) who sold life drawings on toned paper. (Check out his Intro to Figure Quick Sketch blog.) Transit artist Cha-Rie Tang displayed hand-crafted tiles. (Her work is featured on the Pasadena ARTS buses). Pasadena City College artist Eddie Ysais (website in the works, he says) celebrates Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele in some of his woodcuts.

Pasadena ArtMarket featured art for sale by more than 100 artists, mostly alumni, faculty and students from Art Center College of Design and Pasadena City College.

More than 5,000 people throughout the day strolled through One Colorado in the heart of Old Pasadena for Pasadena ArtMarket and ArtPerformance, Kershona Mayo, marketing manager of Old Pasadena Management, said today.

The event is one of the few art markets in the country that offers free space to artists, who can negotiate art sales with customers without taxes or commission fees.

Money miscellany

Here's a breakdown of where your Pasadena electeds' dollars have gone:

Bill (& Claire) Bogaard, Democrat, Mayor
Barack Obama $3,000
MoveOn.Org $250
Adam Schiff $1,500

Jacque Robinson, Democrat, District 1
Barack Obama $2,300

Margaret McAustin, Republicrat, District 2 (Margaret's been described as a "Huckabee Democrat")
Barack Obama $250

Chris Holden, Democrat, District 3
Barack Obama $500

Steve Haderlein, Republican, District 4
No records found

Victor Gordo, Democrat, District 5
Barack Obama $500
Daniel Seals, 10th District, D-Ill. $500 (??)

Steve Madison, Democrat, District 6
Adam Schiff $2,500
Pasadena Foothills Democratic Club $250
Barack Obama $33,100

Sid Tyler, Republican, District 7
No Records Found

Random names that caught my eye:

Potts, Annie
$2,300 Obama

Paul Rusnak
$2,500 Schiff
$2,300 48th District incumbent John Campbell, R-Irvine.

Barry Gordon
DNC

Bradley Whitford
Obama

Jane Kaczmarek
Obama, Al Franken

William "Bill" Crowfoot (Former D5 Councilman)
Obama

Phyllis Currie
"AMERICAN PUBLIC POWER ASSOCIATION PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF ELECTRIC RESOURCES PAC"

Matt Fong
- Rico Oller (State senate candidate who dropped out one month later when Tom McClintock decided to seek the same seat)

And my favorite:

Phil Spector
Donated $500 to Franken, received a $1,000 refund, records show.

Voting with their pocketbooks

Consistent with the anecdotal evidence of lawn signs and bumper stickers, Pasadena political dollars have broken overwhelmingly -- more than 2-to-1 -- toward Democratic candidate Barack Obama, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Of the $1.6 million sent to headliner presidential candidates since January 2007, Obama has taken in $714,137 from 987 Pasadenans, compared to the 253 who've donated $295,031 to Republican John McCain.

Altogether, local contributions of more than $2.6 million -- more than $50 per resident -- have favored Democrats in campaigns at all levels.

If money is a measure of enthusiasm, Israel-born filmmaker Rod Lurie is Obama's biggest fan, with nearly $60,000 contributed to the Illinois senator. Not far behind Lurie is City Councilman Steve Madison, to the tune of $33,100.

Topping McCain's list of donations is Deborah Lanni, who donated $37,000. Combine that with contributions from the rest of the Lanni family for about $60,000 in support for the Arizona senator.



Presidential candidate contributions from Pasadena from 1/07 through 8/31/08:

Barack Obama	$714,137.00
John McCain	$295,031.00
Hillary Clinton	$233,524.00
Mitt Romney	$118,350.00
John Edwards	$78,300.00
Rudy Giuliani	$49,950.00
Bill Richardson	$40,600.00
Ron Paul	$21,903.00

More comings than goings

Speaking of the Playhouse, it was epic sad to walk up El Molino Avenue last week to find Caravan Serai Bazaar had gone out of business. Not that it ever seemed to have any (business), but the food was tasty, the hookah accessible, the location sublime and its couple/owners, in Ms. Vanity's parlance, were "most sexy."

I can imagine fewer locations nearby worth the setting alone, but despite the theatre and theater crowds, nothing seems to last there. Meanwhile, across the street, El Portal keeps asses in the seats most every night.

Night of Art

Parking tickets. Coagulated traffic. Hideous development replacing beloved institutions. Ignored communities and deep-seated interracial enmities.

Wait, why do we live in Pasadena?

Lots of reasons, including Pasadena Art Night, which makes its biannual happenin' this Friday. But LO, Friday is only the first day of Pasadena Art Weekend. Boo-yah.

Check the links for a comprehensive catalog of the major happenings, here's some of the Playhouse/Central District highlights:

Confucianism in the age of Melamine at Pacific Asia Museum, "complex and fragile site-specific installations at Pasadena Museum of California Art , and possibly most interesting, the site of the much-anguished, much-delayed, much-manipulated Heritage Square affordable housing development hosts "Mogility."

What's conspicuously ABSENT from the Art Night particulars is our very own Pasadena Playhouse, which typically serves up some form of performance to compliment the static-yet-usually-not-uncool installments across the street at the furniture store.

What's up w/our PP?

Those unable to contain their appetite for kulture another day need look no further than Castle Green, where an opening night (6 to 10 p.m.) on Thursday unleashes hundreds of original and sometimes eclectic work of E. Milton Wilson, progenitor of Star-News editor Larry Wilson, in the form of hand-painted postcards.

Q&A: Patrick Brown, Vroman's Bookstore Webmaster

Patrick Brown, Vroman's Bookstore Webmaster, likes his coffee black. He doesn't think American literature sucks. And is hopeful about a Vroman's, Monrovia opening next year. As we anticipate tomorrow's Nobel Prize in Literature announcement, Patrick spoke candidly to Pasadena: Center of the Universe about the prize's anti-American taint, his book picks, and more.

Q: If all goes as planned, how soon will Old Town Monrovia have its own Vroman’s? Are other cities courting you, wanting their own Vroman’s too?
A: We’re still in negotiations, but if the deal goes through, we would be opening in August 2009. We’re definitely excited about the city of Monrovia and what we could do there. To my knowledge, we are not in discussion with any other cities about expansion.

Q: The Nobel Literature chief thinks American literature sucks. How do you respond?

A: As I said on the Vroman’s blog a few days ago, I think there’s some kernel of truth there. Not that American literature sucks – far from it – but when Horace Engdahl, the Nobel Secretary General, says that we don’t translate enough, he’s right. Most Americans, in my experience, read very little literature in translation. I’m guilty of it, and I consider myself a well-read person and somebody who’s curious about the world abroad.

I do think American literature is at an incredible place at the moment, where we have veteran writers like Philip Roth, Don DeLillo, Lorrie Moore, Joan Didion, Thomas Pynchon, and others sharing space with relative newcomers like Junot Diaz, Jonathan Franzen, Kate Christensen, Edward P. Jones, George Saunders, and a new generation of adventurous, talented writers. It’s a diverse group of authors right now, reflecting a wide range of viewpoints. There doesn’t seem to be one type of Great American Novel anymore, and I think that diversity is really driving American literature at the moment and deserves to be recognized.I thought Adam Kirsch, writing for Slate.com, hit the nail on the head when he said that the Nobel Prize has a distinctly anti-American taint to it, honoring American authors rarely and then only when they confirm European views of Americans as anti-intellectual or rustic. It seems to me to be a reaction to American cultural hegemony abroad, not unlike foreign countries putting limits on the number of American films that can be screened each year.

Q: Vroman’s has staff picks of favorite books. What are their (or your) picks for the Nobel Prize in Literature?

A: Well, we know it won’t be an American! As I wrote on the blog last week, picking the Nobel Prize seems incredibly difficult, much harder than picking the likely nominees for awards like the National Book Award or the Booker Prize (The excellent book blog The Millions has been making guesses about the NBA, but they haven’t tried with the Nobel, and I think with good reason). It’s a little strange, since the Nobel Prize is typically a sort of lifetime achievement award, and they tend to favor literature with a political bent. As such, I’ll guess that it’s Salman Rushdie’s year. He won the Booker of Bookers recently, and with the controversy surrounding the publication of the Jewel of Medina, he’s back in the news. I doubt any of that influences the Nobel Committee’s decision, but it influenced my guess. Someone I’d like to see honored would be Margaret Atwood. It won’t happen this year, but I think it should eventually. I suppose the smart money would be on an obscure Chinese poet, but unfortunately, I’m doubly ignorant when it comes to foreign poetry.

Q: How do you like your coffee?

A: Finally, a question I know the answer to. Black, no sugar, and in incredibly large quantities.

Pretty Ballerina

If poetry assumed a human form, it might look like ballerina Diana Vishneva who returns to the Orange County Performing Arts Center (OCPAC) from Oct. 7-12 with the Kirov Ballet and Orchestra. Slim, swift and sensuous, Vishneva stars in some performances of "Don Quixote" and "Giselle." Half-price tickets recently announced at Goldstar. The classical productions follow Vishneva's February world premiere at OCPAC of "Beauty in Motion," a daring, albeit uneven program of contemporary works.

Be-All, End-All

Okay really. My trough of Pasadena and Playhouse District-related posts runs deep, but I just want to get one thing off of my broad, powerfully muscled chest: Sarah/America (is the distinction even necessary?) really, it is time to Wake Up and Live Your Dreams.

From last night: "Nuclear weaponry of course would be the be-all, end-all of just too many people on too many parts of our planet."

That cuts straight to the heart of my crippling, latent anxiety born of 1980s-Cold War-The-Day-After fueled certainty of Imminent Doom. Believe It or Don't, my demographic cohorts had to parse the possibility we might be evaporsploded at any moment, with a only a millisecond of bright white light presaging the moment.

BUT seriously, I had no idea she's an Anthrax fan. It warms my cold, metallic heart.

ANTHRAX - BE ALL, END ALL

Always talking, always faking
Ignorance is so frustrating
Always taking, always faking
Ignorance is,
No way, no way, no way, no way out !

In your face they see it
In their face you...
Take it...
Make up their minds
Aggression turns the screws
Fight!

Stand up, you know what it means
Wake up, time to live your dreams.

Rock it.

Happy Birthday, Todd

Birthday wishes to Pasadena's "Hottest Free Agent,"

an ageless and striking wordsmith, our own Dorian Gray. Most importantly, you are the dearest of friends. Happy birthday, Todd.

(Photo courtesy of Kristen Simental at http://www.kristensimental.com/ )

Final Five

And I ain't talkin' about Cylons.

I'm talkin' about me. A topic I've never been too shy to tackle.

Seriously though, today's Pasadena Weakly features what apparently is the terminal installment of Aaron Proctor's "Five Questions," this week posed to none other than your most humble of narrators. Check it in the print edition -- no online version, my dawgs.

Unfortunately they failed to credit the photo to the charming and talented Kristen "shutterbug" Simental, Pasadena-based photog.

LULZ

The great national narratives admittedly have been too distracting of late and it's been difficult to resist the impulse to drive things off a cliff by musing on presidential politics or economic meltdowns. (Melts-down??)

Does anyone know of any Pasadena debate parties? Were it a Tuesday, our left-leaning friends could always converge on Madeleine's Wine Bistro @ 1030 E. Green St., where every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. is a "Drinking Liberally" mixer.

People make funny pictures. This one jacked from boingboing.net, apparently.



Yes, I've concluded it's safely nonpartisan to publicly make fun of identify the absurdity of the Palin candidacy. Especially her serious problem with subject-verb agreement, which is painful to my bicoastal, intellectual elitism.

UPDATED: Here is a list of some veepdeep events tonight. Seriously re: tonight, Palin may not have topical command of salient issues, but she's not an untalented politician and could compose herself enough to deliver a middling performance. Which given the abysmal expectations, will be hailed in cliche-ridden terms by the Idiocracy of national broadcast media as the greatest game-changering moment of the campaign. Still, probably too late to make a big difference, from a statistics perspective.