altadenablog

Crowd wonders why Pasadena called meeting for Altadena murder

by Laura Bethold Monteros

 

About 75 people turned out for a community meeting at Robinson Park on Feb. 17 called by the Pasadena Police Department to address three recent non-fatal shootings in Pasadena and the murder of Brandon Jackson, the teenager killed in Altadena in a drive-by last Saturday night.

Pictured: Sheri Costley and Cyntha Brown

Jackson’s aunts, Sheri Costley and Cynthia Brown, spoke eloquently about their nephew and the losses in their family. 

Jackson, a junior at John Muir High School, was shot on the 300 block of W. Palm St. on Feb. 12 at about 10:40 p.m. He had just left a party in the neighborhood when a car pulled up and called him over.  He went, and someone in the car opened fire.  Friends transported Jackson to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Pasadena Police Cmdr. John Perez, who led the meeting, Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez, and other PPD officers took the lion’s share of the time, but most of the questions were regarding the Jackson shooting.  At one point, a man named Carlos asked, “Can we hear from the Altadena Sheriff’s Department?”

PIctured: Pasadena Police Chief Phillip L. Sanchez

Perhaps the most arresting moment of the meeting was when a woman stood up and said, “My name is Cynthia Brown, and Brandon was my nephew.”  Brandon had been on his way to her house when he was shot.  

“Every day, Brandon would get up and say, ‘Good morning, God,’” Brown said. She told of his being promoted from middle school with a 4.0 average, and how his life became a constant struggle since his mother passed away in 2007.  “He was still struggling with that, among other issues,” she said.

Brown addressed Muir principal Sheryl Orange’s comments in the Pasadena Star-News on Thursday, in which Orange said Jackson “had so much turmoil on the inside” and that he was trying to decide whether or not to join a gang.  In the article, Orange also affirmed that Jackson was turning his life around and raising his grades.

Winter Solstice celebration at Farnsworth Park Dec. 20

Something for everybody!  We found this activity (to take place at the Davies Building) from the Men's Center of Los Angeles.

Close encounters of the Altadena kind

The ever-awesome Bill Westphal contributes the following:

 ... Altadena WeatherCam caught an interesting image early this afternoon.  Brought to my attention by WeatherCam viewer Carol Momsen of Altadena who wrote "What is that in the sky?"  I went back through the archives this evening and found this image taken at 13:06 hrs.  I don't think it looks like a plane.  And it doesn't really look like a bird either.

<<...>>

What do you think?  Did anybody see anything strange in the sky this afternoon? 

(We've blown up the picture of the object and inset it in the picture.  Swamp gas?  Experimental aircraft?  Close encounter?)

(First celebrity picture ... first UFO.  We're taking the rest of the week off ...)

This is why we love living here ....

The eccentric and unusual is another reason why it's great to live in Altadena:

• A laughter yoga conference (!) taking place next weekend.

Join many kindred spirits, one of the most senior figures in the international Laughter Club movement and other successful experts in their field for the most important Laughter Yoga event of the year West of the Mississippi ... you do not need to be happy or have a sense of humor (emphasis ours).

• The Hikes without Mics Uketoberfest -- hike into Millard Canyon to hear a ukulele concert!  Details here and here  (warning: almost-unreadable Myspace page).

 

Ghost to ghost

Pat Linse of Altadena's Skeptics Society is interviewed in this look at a Flordia bar ghost (!).

Get yer Halloween on early

The Dapper Cadaver (a Holllywood prop shop that is open to the public) has made a list of the "Dark Spots in Tinseltown"  for you devotees of the goth and macabre (which we are).  One of the listings is our own Mountain View Cemetery, which is used frequently for filming.  They don't mention the mausoleum, tho', which to us is the most macabre spot in Altadena.

And the pumpkins seem to be coming along just fine, too!

Zorthian, followed by Regis & Kelly

Jocelyn Baun's blog recounts her adventures:  West Coast, Zorthian Ranch; East Coast, watching a taping of Regis & Kelly.  All part of life's rich pageant.  All this, and ghosts too!

We love the Banana Museum a bunch

A blog entry about Hesperia's (formerly Altadena's) Banana Museum.  No reason at all.

Eggplants?

This is our weird post of the day -- something about eggplants and yoga.  We can't figure it out.

Yes, we have no Banana Museum

This LA Times story looks at the demise of Altadena's Banana Museum.  Seems that, for proprietor Ken Bannister, the commute from his home in Apple Valley to Altadena lost its .... well, ap-peel.

Just doo it

Something we've been wanting to get to for awhile -- Zeke the Shiek (Tim Dundon) and his compost pile on the Weird America show ...

Doo-Dah grand marshall has Altadena connection

Pasadena's Doo-Dah parade has been moved from around Thanksgiving to Jan. 20.   This year's Grand Marshall is Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping,  star of What Would Jesus Buy?  Rev. Billy's wife is Savitri D (her blog is here), niece of the Zorthians.