Travelin' Local » Pasadena

Let’s Make Music Pasadena – California’s largest Free Concert Music Festival

Lisa Newton — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:16:40 +0000

Presented by 89.9 KCRW, Make Music Pasadena is California’s largest free music festival.

On Saturday, June 18^th, Pasadena will host over 100 concerts throughout the city.

The Let’s Make Music Pasadena free concert lineup includes Grammy Award nominees, platinum-recording artists, local talent, emerging artists, alongside an eclectic power punch of other acts which for sure offer will no doubt offer something enjoyable for everyone.

Headlining the Free Concert will feature international headliners including Tita Lima, Best Coast, Ra Ra Riot, Hello Seahorse!, Ben L’Oncle Soul, Zola Jesus, and The Morning Bender.

Family friendly, Let’s Make Music Pasadena, is no matchstick planned event. This family friendly festival isn’t planned to take place on make shift stages.

California’s Largest Free Concert Music Festival will present a daring “mix of over 500 professional and amateur musicians performing in more than 30 unconventional performance spaces including acoustic musicians on buses, multiple orchestras performing at Pasadena City Hall, an avalanche of strings taking over Central Library and Los Angeles best undiscovered bands singing their hearts out at local art galleries and businesses.”

The fact that the Festival takes place from 11:00am until 11:00pm, speaks volumes as to the quantity, quality, variety, and thought into its presentation as an all day event.

To give you an idea of what to expect, here’s a video from the 2008 Make Music Pasadena:

Pasadena ARTWeekend is here

Lisa Newton — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:13:38 +0000

In this morning’s Free Friday, I briefly touched upon Pasadena’s ARTWeekend, but with so many activities taking place there, I wanted to shine a larger light for this important stand alone article.

The Pasadena ARTWeekend has 6 major events, all taking place on various days and at various times, plus its all free–this weekend will provide plenty of color, dance, and of course, food.

Opening up the weekend is tonight’s ArtNight. From 6:00-10:00pm, most of the major museums and other cultural venues in Pasadena will open their doors for free including:

Alliance de Francaise de Pasadena, Armory Center for the Arts, Art Center College of Design, Kidspace Children’s Museum, Lineage Dance, Norton Simon Museum, One Colorado, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena Central Library, Pasadena City College, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena Museum of History, Pasadena Symphony and POPS at the Ambassador Auditorium and Shumei Arts Council.

To make it easier to get around, Pasadena will provide free shuttle service among the venues.

On Saturday, 4 major events will be taking place:

From 10:00am – 3:00pm the Art of Food is an outdoor food and wine festival on South Lake Avenue, featuring food tasting and demonstrations. Special guests include Melinda Lee (from KNX 1070 and KFWB NEWS TALK 980), and The Bikini Chef. Guests can also enjoy a special themed broadcast of the Home Wizards, entitled “The Art of the Home” and music provided by K-EARTH.
From 11:00am – 5:00pm ArtHeritage is hosting a Latino parade, sponsored by the Latino Heritage, whose mission is to honor Latino culture and its elders, to preserve the collective cultural past, to help educate everyone involved in their projects, and to provide positive educational outreach for all our communities. The parade starts at the corner of East Howard Street and Los Robles Avenue, and ends with a Jamaica fair at La Pintoresca Park.
From 11:00am – 5:00pm ArtWalk at the Pasadena Playhouse District, they are featuring paintings, photography, sculpture and new media. There are completed and presented by different artists who are selling their art work in an open-air art venue. Children can enjoy art instruction, while the adults can visit with all of the artists and also partake in dramatic readings, music, art demonstrations and even a gallery walk.
From 5:00 – 9:00pm ArtRhythm is a free outdoor evening concert which guarantees no shortage of fun and food. Be sure to get in the groove by bringing your own drum along to join in the drum circle finale. If the music doesn’t get you, try the World at Night (TWAN) Photography Exhibit, a special project from the International Year of Astronomy which is featuring a collection of photographs of the world´s landmarks juxtaposed along the celestial attractions. All this takes place at Paseo Colorado.

The Pasadena ARTWeekend ends with ArtPerformance, Old Pasadena’s Cultural Dance Festival, on Sunday, from 1:00-6:00pm, where dances from around the world will be performed.

This multicultural festival of dance, along with its free spirited and sublime movement will feature both professionals and amateurs and children and adults.

It will take place at the Levitt Pavilion and other locations around Old Pasadena. Following each performance, event attendee will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a short lesson on the various dances from each culture presented.

LA Street Food Fest here we come!

Lisa Newton — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:24:46 +0000

Are you ready for a little food? Well, not really a little, but more like a lot.

At the LA Street Food Fest, you get your choice of 60 vendors; hot gourmet food trucks, old school carts and stands, celeb chefs and street inspired dishes from LA’s best restaurants. If that’s not enough, then go for the open bars and beer gardens that will keep you coming back–for cold beers, delicious cocktails, tequila tasting, juices and more.

If that’s not enough, two of Los Angeles’ hottest new groups will be featured, so mark your calendars for Saturday, July 24^th.

Did I forget to mention the cost?

For the low price of $45.00, you’ll get:

Entry at 5:30pm
Unlimited samples of signature eats and drinks
Complimentary parking
Fun photo booth prints
Access to all the entertainment

The VIP $65.00 option includes:

All of the above plus
VIP Preview Hour from 4:00 – 5:00pm
Access to a VIP parking lot

Note–the most important information about the tickets is that there will be no ticket purchasing at the door.

All tickets must be purchased via a Pre-Sale on Everbrite.

Part of the proceeds will be donated to the LA Street Food Fest’s beneficiaries, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels and Woolly School Gardens.

I Love livin’ in L.A.

It’s time for the Old Pasadena Film Festival

Lisa Newton — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:18:27 +0000

Mark your calendars: The Old Pasadena Film Festival starts tonight. The Pasadena Film Festival is totally free. That’s right, it’s a free four-week movie series that unites film with urban settings, taking place on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from July 8^th, through the 31.^st.

The Old Pasadena Festival showcase, is the largest outdoor film festival in Southern California, and is known for the depth and breadth of the variety of genres that reflect the urban environment of Old Pasadena’s famous and historic downtown.

In order to make it easier for you to find the film you want to watch at the venue you’re looking for, here’s a mapped location of each venue and the days and films being shown at each one.

One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley

Thursday, July 8^th: Annie Hall (1977), 8:30pm
Friday, July 9^th: Mary Pickford shorts+ orchestra, 8:30pm
Saturday, July 10^th: The Women (1939), 8:30pm
Thursday, July 15^th: Harold and Maude (1971), 8:30pm
Friday, July 16^th: How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), 8:30pm
Saturday, July 17^th: The Way We Were (1973), 8:30pm
Thursday, July 22^nd: Sorry Wrong Number (1948), 8:30pm
Friday, July 23^rd: Death Becomes Her (1992), 8:30pm
Saturday, July 24^th: Bringing up Baby (1938), 8:30pm
Thursday, July 29^th: Labyrinth (1986), 8:30pm
Friday, July 30^th: Mae West Double Feature, 8:30pm
Saturday, July 31^st: All About Eve (1950), 8:30pm

Distant Land, 56 S. Raymond Ave.

Friday, July 9^th: Chocolat (2000), 7:30pm
Friday, July 16^th: Seven Years in Tibet (1997), 8:30pm
Friday, July 23^rd: Before Sunrise (1995), 7:30pm
Friday, July 30^th: Before Sunset (2004), 7:30pm

Mills Alley, 22 Mills Place

Saturday, July 17^th: Jurassic Park (1993), 8:30pm

Central Park, 260 S. Raymond Ave.

Saturday, July 24^th: Troop Beverly Hills (1989), 8:30pm

View Old Pasadena Film Festival Venues in a larger map

On the last day of the Festival, another venue will also be featured, but is yet to be disclosed, although it’s hinted to be a drive-in. And the movie to be shown at said drive-in?

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

After all, what right minded film festival wouldn’t end without a showing of George Romero’s classic film of Zombies.

Pasadena’s Concorso Ferrari Auto Show

Carbon McCoy — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:42:33 +0000

Unless you live at the far end of the desert, traffic is a woeful inevitability in California.

Whether it’s rush hour, a pot hole that has grown big enough to swallow a Buick, or some inattentive schmuck that got creamed because he doesn’t know what a hands-free device is, chances are that you regularly find yourself in a bottleneck traffic jam, because of a closed lane – or lanes.

If you happened to be on Colorado Boulevard in Old Pasadena last weekend, then you might have noticed that a portion of it was blocked off. And if you noticed that, then you definitely noticed the Ferraris clogging up the streets as well–I mean c’mon–who doesn’t notice 175 Ferraris sitting in the street? Hell, the way they were lined up looked like a staged traffic jam of Italian exotics—cars that is.

The Southwest region of the Ferrari Club of America had their annual Ferraris at Pasadena—aka the Concorso Ferrari Auto Show.

This yearly gathering is open to the public, and was held this past Sunday, May 16, 2010.

A concorso – or concours – is an event where the entrants’ cars are judged. In this case, the panels of judges are all members of the International Advisory Council for the Preservation of Ferrari Automobiles (the IAC/PFA). Not a very glamorous acronym, but the cars make up for that.

There are a number of Ferrari concours in California and also throughout the rest of the country during the year (including the annual events held in August, at Monterey and Pebble Beach).

Be that as it may, the Concorso Ferrari event in Old Pasadena was informal – and free. That’s right. If you were there, it didn’t cost anyone a dime to check out $100,000,000 in Italian sports cars.

Nearly every type of Ferrari model was present on Sunday, including Bruce Meyer’s 1957 625 TRC, a very rare racecar. For those who are fans of the vintage stuff, you would’ve relished in the presence of Daytonas, 275 GTBs and GTSes, and the Dino 246s.

But for the front-runner in all of us, there was no shortage of contemporary models: the 599 GTBs, F430s, Scuderias and 16Ms (if you don’t know what any of these are, don’t worry – they’re all beautiful).

Later in the day, awards were given for Best In Show, Highest Mileage, Most Desirable, and so forth. But when thousands of people have a chance to admire scores of Ferraris, everyone’s a winner.

If you missed this year’s event, fear not! It’s an annual recurrence, the details of which can be found on the Ferrari club’s website. So the next time you find yourself in traffic, don’t be disgruntled as it’s only a matter of time before you’re surrounded by Ferraris.

Metro’s Gold Line Foothill Extension: “If you Build it, we will Use it.”

Lisa Newton — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:20:15 +0000

The Metro Gold Line is moving eastward, all the way to the Ontario Airport.

This is great news especially in light of last week’s very successful opening of the Edward R. Roybal Gold Line Eastside Extension. This past Saturday, the Gold Line celebrated another milestone, the planned opening of the first phase of the Foothill Extension which will extend from Pasadena to Azusa, and then further inland.

Under the initial long-range plan, the Foothill Extension between Pasadena and Azusa wasn’t supposed to open until 2017 (the map shows the plans for the entire line to Montclair). But the Board agreed that Metro would begin operating the line as soon as 2013. That’s on the condition that the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority – the independent agency charged with building the line — can arrange for a loan to speed up construction instead of waiting for the slower flow of Measure R money to the project. Source: The Source Transportation News and Views

In honor of this achievement, various dignitaries, politicians, press, and enthusiastic locals gathered at the old Monrovia Santa Fe Station, for a sign unveiling, and the groundbreaking announcement. Saturday’s celebration included speeches by Congressman David Dreier, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, whose quote was used for the title of this article, Duarte Mayor and Metro Board member John Fasana, plus other local Mayors, Congressman, and Metro officials. Most of the speeches highlighted everyone’s willingness to work together in order to achieve the Foothill Extension closer to another milestone, and how the stations and the extension will be part of the inland’s economic development—from creation of jobs, providing its local population access to alternative modes of travel, and the removal of cars from its crowded freeways, by having a mass transportation alternative.

“The Foothill Extension will represent an important early achievement for Measure R funds and translate into thousands of new jobs, increased economic investment and new public transit options increasing regional connectivity,” said Metro Board Chair Najarian.

One of the highlights of the day was the unveiling of the Metro’s new sign promoting the Foothill extension:

The new Foothill Extension, officially known as Phase 2A (Phase 1 was the Pasadena to Union Station line and Phase 2 was the recently opened Gold Line Eastside Extension) has planned stops at Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa. Phase 2B, which is already underway, plans to extend the Line eastward to Montclair.

With about 200 people in attendance, plus free hot dogs, cotton candy, and popcorn, the event was well received by the audience and the messages hit home, so time at the event was time spent well—the speakers explained the long hard fought process to bring mass transportation not only here, but throughout the entire Los Angeles basin. In reality, having a Gold Line rail system extending all the way from the Atlantic station, to the long term ultimate destination–the Ontario Airport–will be nothing short of people working together to achieve more, regardless of political party affiliation.

Now, if only the “Subway to the Sea” where I live would move as fast, I’d be in mass transit heaven; but as the saying goes, all good things take time.

Chinatown’s Metro Station

Lisa Newton — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:39:11 +0000

Artist Chusien Chang packed a punch with her amazing design aesthetic, as you can see from the photo above. The Chinatown Metro station– set in an open-air ambiance–creates a compelling effect; it’s amazing visually and physically—both as you experience it, as well as see it.

According to the artist, Chusien Chang, the goal of her installation was to “address the historical development of Chinatown through an overlay of Eastern and Western cultures past and present.” Source: Wheels of Change

Underneath the station’s top tier, is a small and shaded seating area, which provides an area to relax before or after a train ride.

At the heart of the station’s design ethos, is what Chang called, “I-Ching Dial:”

In its center lies this multi colored, hued, and numbered compass. This was inlaid and intended to be a reminder that the Chinese people originally invented this vital navigation tool, as well as providing a reference point for Gold Line passengers.

Moving outward from the compass are four rings of different material, each divided into 64 sections. The corresponding sections of the rings say the same thing in different languages. The ring closest to the compass has an English text, the next ring has inlaid Chinese characters, the third ring has the I-Ching– one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts, hexagram symbols– and the outer-most ring has its numerical equivalent.

With its amalgamation of design, wide ranging community, Chinatown’s Metro station is a steady and constant memoire, what the government and a neighborhood can achieve when working together.

The Majestic Colorado Street Bridge

Lisa Newton — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:20:33 +0000

Synonymous with Pasadena, is the Colorado Street Bridge. My heartfelt devotion to magnificent archways, architecture, form, and function was satiated during my visit.

Build in 1913, the Colorado Street Bridge spans the Arroyo Seco, and is an east-west connector from Pasadena to Eagle Rock and Glendale.

History of the Colorado Street Bridge

The sheer size of the Colorado Bridge–spanning, 1,486 feet—is a sight to behold and is a bit overwhelming. In 1989, after the Loma Prieta earthquake the bridge was declared a seismic hazard and closed to traffic.

In 1993, however, it was then reopened after a substantial retrofit.

In order to photograph and research this magnificent structure, I took a path less travelled– a rather unused trail with two sets of immense old steps.

Bridges to Nowhere and Everywhere

Just thinking about bridges brings to mind powerful metaphors, songs, stories, reflections, thoughts and other emotions having to do with a “bridge.”

For Example:

Listening to a bridge song–59^th Street Bridge by Simon and Garfunkel
Playing a hand of bridge
Placing your reading glasses on the bridge of your nose
Reading a book about a bridge–The Bridges of Madison County
Having a bridge put into your teeth
A bridge movie classic–Bridge on the River Kwai
Using the bridge in a billiards game
Jumping off a Bridge

I don’t want to “Burn any Bridges” or “Build a Bridge to Nowhere”, So I’ll leave you with a quote by Alex Haley:

“In every conceivable manner, the family is the link to our past, and a bridge to our future.“

History and Grandeur meet in Pasadena at the City Hall

Lisa Newton — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:28:04 +0000

As I entered the Pasadena Civic Center, it felt like I had just entered into a bygone era of worlds, cities, and architecture, all combined. Although Pasadena is relatively new compared to the Classical and Renaissance times, the feeling of time and place for me became inexplicable and inexorably interconnected.

Completed on December 27, 1927, Pasadena City Hall is an incredible paradigm of California Mediterranean style united with design elements of structures from the Cathedrals and Domes of both Churches and architecture from Italy. From 2004 to 2007, Pasadena City Hall was closed, going through a major renovation, which was both “green” and a seismic retrofit. Seismic retrofit of the building included the installation of structural base isolators that now allow the building to withstand future earthquake activity. Because City Hall is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, special care was taken to preserve many of the historic architectural elements.

The Stunning Architecture of Pasadena’s City Hall

Pasadena’s City Hall’s massive circular towers and structure rises perpendicularly for six stories. The fifth story is 41 feet high and pierced with four huge, round arches and four smaller ones. The next story, set back and cantilevered is 30 feet high and is also pierced with arches. Above rises the dome, its dimensions are 26 feet high and 54 feet across. And on top of the dome is the lantern, a column-supported cupola 41 feet high, surmounted by an urn and ball. The highest point is 206 feet above the ground.

Here is the open archway’s ceiling:

Its magnificent detailing, symmetry, arches, and breathtaking design are simply nothing short of simple beauty. For a moment I turned my attention to the open courtyard facing out as I was long transfixed on the image above only to be equally mesmerized by the view here:

An inner sanctum of solitude, reflection, beauty, art, architecture, and form and function abounds:

Noticing the clean lines, perfectly aligned archways, and diagonal placement of the red iron brick colored tiles, I imagined being a courtesan in a King’s palace. I thought that anybody that has the money for a palace should design its hallways just like this—I then walked across the street and visited Plaza Las Fuentes. Upon returning, a wedding was taking place in this very hallway.

You never know what you’ll find while Travelin’ Local, but in this case, I found grandeur, history, and much more which I’ll share soon.

Relaxing at Plaza Las Fuentes in Pasadena

Lisa Newton — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:02:15 +0000

Currently all the rage, as made popular by Facebook and Twitter, short phrases which complete the idiom “Travelin’ Local is,” are all too common, vernacular, and often times lose the entire context.

However on this previous Saturday, its true meaning was the sine qua non of my visit to Pasadena; it was a day of the week—a workday of guilty pleasures– of walking, photography, relaxing, and discovery of art in our everyday world and life here.

The “Plaza of the Sources” is the direct translation from Spanish into English, of “Plaza Las Fuentes.”

From my visit, it’s obvious that Plaza Las Fuentes is a modern day equivalent of the Piazza’s of Rome or the Spanish Villas from Madrid.

Although I was originally slated to visit Pasadena’s Old Town, my eye and my heart put that off partly because of what I saw below.

This multi-layered fountain and its placement in the foreground of the Plaza, was the work and brilliant design of the world famous landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. The entire courtyard and surrounding grounds is an oasis of art, fountains, architecture, and unique sculptures.

So for this visit, since every picture tells a story, I’ll let the photographs of the Plaza Las Fuentes tell you its own tale:

With over 80 public art works within a few city blocks, Pasadena is far and away a leader in bringing art into people’s everyday civic life. Above is the sculpture “Pasadena, the City of Roses” by Joyce Kozloff.

With the distinct hexagon shape, color, and design of the Malibu Tile Factory, its frequent display and use takes you to a faraway place; although it’s at the forefront of Pasadena City Hall in the background.

As my stomach frequently reads my mind, across from the plaza from the photo above, is a California Pizza Kitchen, with its stable of delivery bicycles for the area’s workers and patrons. What could be better, Pizza, “green” transportation, and a strapping young college guy on a bike delivering your favorite food?

Although I spent over 2 hours in Pasadena this morning, today’s story is but a tiny precursor to everything that the great City of Pasadena has to be enjoyed, celebrated, and appreciated.

As I’m Travelin’ Local more and more, the sights, sounds, and images of my hometown become intertwined with other movers and shakers that view Los Angeles as a treasure to be protected and sustained—rather than the daily newspapers giving us mostly the bad, and the ugly, rather than more of the good.