Monthly Archives: December 2008

Out last-minute Christmas shopping with my daughter Julia, tired of the chains, we headed for one of the last independent experiences to be had in Old Pasadena, the entrancing The Majestical Roof, where everything is handmade. One way to get … Continue reading →

When it comes to art, only one thing matters: Is it any good? (More matters than that — way more. But they are quibbles, either major or minor, and I’ll get to them.) Style doesn’t matter — I can, and … Continue reading →

In my Sunday column about the “Beauty of Science” exhibit at the Huntington Library, I made an offhand comment about attendance being strong at the San Marino bastion of Anglophilia and high culture despite the recession and despite its several … Continue reading →

Star-News head photographer Walt Mancini in our newsroom on East Colorado Boulevard Wednesday — his 60th birthday — about to head off for a quiet evening at home with Gloria and a bottle of fine French stuff …

I had heard late Tuesday night that Isaac Abdul Haqq had made an appearance at the Arroyo Seco Foundation’s awards gathering at La Casita del Arroyo. Better known to Pasadenans as Councilman Isaac Richard before his conversion to Islam, Isaac … Continue reading →

Pasadena has had its postal issues in recent years. I ranted and railed, as did others, when the “Pasadena” frank disappeared from our mail after well over a century. Now everything we send is franked “Santa Clarita,” ’cause that’s where … Continue reading →

Tens of thousands of the 90,000-plus fans who came to the UCLA-USC game Saturday at the Rose Bowl tailgated before (and after) on the Brookside Golf Course fairways. Usually, a contracted crew of dozens of guys shows up to clean … Continue reading →

In the five or so years since the great trails above Flintridge’s Cherry Canyon were opened to the public through work by citizens, the city of LCF, Jack Scott and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Phoebe and I had still … Continue reading →

There might have been an ultra-competitive time in the misty past when I would have felt gloaty about the L.A. Times eliminating its book section, folding the reviews instead into the rest of its Sunday arts coverage. That time is … Continue reading →