Altadena | Chris Aldrich

Listened to Episode 2 - Zines! by This Is Altadena from This is Altadena (Podomatic)

What is a zine? The name "zine" is a shortened version of "fanzine" which is a portmanteau of the word "fan" and "magazine". Most people that think of zines think of punk rock and the punk community, where the DIY (do-it-yourself) ethos is more than just a slogan, it's a way of life. In truth, "zines" have been around for centuries, going back to Thomas Paine's famous pamphlet "Common Sense". These homemade publications can be about anything their creators desire - music, art, politics, or something personal. Chloe Cavelier sits down for a conversation with library staffer and resident zine expert Alice Wynne to discuss the past, present and future of zines and Altadena Public Library's very own zine collection. Later Chloe speaks with Bob Lucas Branch manager Diana Wong to discuss Bob's new and improved demonstration garden. Subscribe to This Is Altadena at any and all of the places you get podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

I got a copy of the library’s zine last Friday. This is such a cool project. They’ve reached out to me briefly as a steward of a Little Free Library, but I’ll have to stop in and pick up a few copies to have in my library.

I’d like to join the next session to see what I might add to help people bring their zines into online spaces as well. I see a lot of overlap here with some of my work with the IndieWeb.

Listened to Episode 1 - The Legacy and Art of Charles White by This is Altadena from This is Altadena (Podomatic)

Welcome to This Is Altadena, a podcast hosted by the Altadena Libraries, celebrating people’s life experiences and stories, and the hidden histories of Altadena, California. In our inaugural episode, we look at the life and times of Altadena legend, artist Charles White. Library staffer Chloe Cavelier sat down with community members Veronica Jones, Keni Arts, and Eugene Hutchins for 3 in-depth conversations about Charles White, his art and legacy, and his ties to our thriving local art community. Then later, our own Aaron Kimbrell chats with resident Teen Librarian Isabelle Briggs about the amazing programs and services offered in the teen department here at the Altadena Library District. For more about Charles White, don't hesitate to reach out to the Altadena Library: https://www.altadenalibrary.org For more about Keni Arts, visit his website: https://keniarts.com

This podcast is simply awesome! It makes me proud to be a resident of Altadena, CA. Can’t wait to see what they continue to come up with.

Following local Altadena and Pasadena News

I’ve been thinking more about local news lately, so I’ve taken some time to aggregate some of my local news sources. While I live in the Los Angeles area, it’s not like I’m eschewing the Los Angeles Times, but I wanted to go even more uber-local than this. Thus I’m looking more closely at my local Altadena and Pasadena news outlets. I’m a bit surprised to see just how many small outlets and options I’ve got! People say local news is dying or dead, so I thought I would only find two or three options–how wrong could I have been?

In addition to some straightforward journalistic related news sources, I’ve also included some additional local flavor news which includes town councils, the chamber of commerce, historical societies, etc. which have websites that produce feeds with occasional news items.

Going forward you can see these sources aggregated on my following page.

For those who are interested I’ve created an OPML file which contains the RSS feeds of all these sources if they’d like to follow them as well. Naturally most have other social media presences, but there’s usually no guarantee that if you followed them that way that you’ll actually see the news you wanted.

If anyone is aware of other sources, I’m happy to add them to the list.

Here’s the initial list of sources:

👓 Riding the Locals’ Favorite: El Prieto, Altadena, California | Singletracks Mountain Bike News

Read Riding the Locals’ Favorite: El Prieto, Altadena, California by Greg Heil (Singletracks.com)

El Prieto has been hailed by many as one of the best singletrack rides in the Los Angeles area. After hearing such accolades, I just had to check it out! And let me tell you: the reputation is not unfounded. To start the ride, park at the lot and head past the upper yellow gate on the paved road. Af...

It’s been a few years since I’ve ridden this trail, and I remember the trail itself being excellent, but don’t remember the ride up being as nice as described here–at least not in the open fire roads during the high heat of the day.

The Pepper Drive Parade

Our local neighborhood gets together at 10am on the 4th of July for a neighborhood parade. There are far more people in the parade than watching it, so it’s more like a gathering at the top of the street in preparation followed by a procession to the bottom of the street where there’s another gathering with snacks and drinks. Those who are along the parade route seem to eventually join the parade and walk to the end for the party.

There were some truly creative little costumes and decorations, but I think my favorite part of the parade today was a bewildered coyote that was coming up the street in the opposite direction of the parade who was shocked to see a mob of people with horses and a firetruck coming down the street. He managed to run off down a side street and escape.

Potato the dog watching from the sidelines

The first wave of bike riders goes by

The walking portion of the parade starts to go by

Here comes the firetruck

Lots of kids in wagons parading today

There were lots of dogs with hats.

I didn’t get a photo of the coyote, but he went that way!

Here come the horses

Kids hanging out at the end of the parade

Treats for all ages

People giving out popscicles

The cupcakes were popular

Didn’t get to ride on the firetruck? Come check it out after-the-fact.

Now’s all that’s left is the clean up. The End.

Photos from this afternoon’s walk in Eaton Canyon

Photos from this afternoon's walk in Eaton Canyon

Some images from the walk down to Eaton Canyon this afternoon. There was enough rain over the last few days that there’s a lot of water still running through the arroyo. So much so that I didn’t want to chance crossing it to see the waterfall at the end.

I caught some video of the water flowing through as well. This portion is rather wide and shallow so it’s much slower than other portions. Typically this section of the arroyo is bone dry for almost 360 days of the year.