Rose Bowl Fireworks

Went inside the Rose Bowl last night for the 84th Annual July 4th AmericaFest celebration.


This photo isn't great, but this is really what it looks like during the finale. A lot of smoke mixed in with fireworks and accompanied by a loud succession of booms.

I tried, but didn't get a picture of the fireworks that exploded into a giant happy face over the Rose Bowl. However, I did get these zeros.

Berry Good, But Berry Brief

This is my irregular garden update that I'm doing without photos more or less to keep track of what's going on around here.

Berries. Berry season is short, but great. Two years ago we planted blackberries. For some reason I didn't think we could grow them, but they've done just fine. Had dozens and dozens of berries this year, none of which made it into the house. Something irresistible about berries off the vine -- you just got to eat them when they're picked. I'm told it takes about 4 years before the vines will supply enough berries to actually pick for preserves or pies.

Apricot. This is our first tree to fruit each year. Seems every year I forget just how good homegrown fruit is. And then I pick my first ripe apricot of the season and it all comes back. Wow. Sweet as honey. We did a good job of getting the apricots off the tree before they rotted or birds got them. Got some fruit leather out of it.

Avocado. Lots of young fruit on the tree. Will keep deep watering every other week. We have to wait a long time for the fruit to mature, but it will be well worth it.

Plum and peach. These are young trees with a whole lot of fruit. The plums are small but really sweet and about gone. I'm disappointed in the flavor of the peach, but we will likely have enough for a run at ice cream this weekend.

Citrus. Citrus around here is a mixed bag. Our established lemon has not produced for a couple of years, but is loaded this year. We have several mature trees that were "rescues" from folks who didn't want them and transplanted in our yard. They are in various states of recovery. A few younger citrus is kind of poking along. This is all kind of wait and see. Ironic because, like much of this area, our house was once part of a citrus grove.

Toyon and Bees

The Toyon is blooming.

And the bees know it

Whew! Lakers Win. Channel 7 Ruins Postgame

Chick Hearn called it "nervous time" -- those last minutes of a game where tensions are high and either team could win. Last night, the whole game was nervous time. The Lakers trailed by double digits in the second half and somehow turned it around for a come from behind championship win over the dreaded Celitcs.

My Laker allegiance goes back to when the Laker big men were named Rudy and Mel instead of Shaq or Pau. For me, the finals against the Celtics have been equal parts joy and fear. Joy of the thought of another championship. And fear of yet another loss to Boston.

Yesterday's Times captured my mood. Heisler wrote about the Lakers' '69 loss to the Celtics in game seven. Plaschke couldn't get away from "nagging twinges of doom." Me too.

I got those twinges of doom even in the first minute when Kobe drove the lane, was mugged, and no foul was called. It was clear the refs would only call the most egregious fouls and that favored the Celtics. It also promised an ugly low scoring game, which is what we got.

Kobe never got on track, made just 6 of 24 shots, and missed free throws to boot. The rest of Lakers team were the heroes -- Fisher, Gasol, Odom, Sasha. The enigmatic Ron Artest played an incredible game. And, right after the game, Artest made NBA finals history by becoming the first player to thank his psychiatrist on national TV.

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Local postgame coverage on KABC Channel 7 was absolutely terrible.

Instead of reporting on the celebration inside the Laker locker room, KABC focused on the crowd outside of Staples Center and on a few stupid incidents. There was helicopter coverage of the foolishness and several reporters on the street. They trumped up as much unrest as they could, glorified the drunken fools and repeatedly interviewed the police. About the last things I wanted to see after an historic Laker win.

Remembering John Wooden

John Wooden's Pyramid of Success

Recently the "toy department of human life," has offered up a lot to ponder. That's especially true for this lifelong LA sports fan. We've got the Lakers-Celtics again in the NBA finals and the NCAA's ridiculous sanctions against USC football. We've got the US tying England in soccer.

Then, in a whole different category, there's the passing of John Wooden.

Coach Wooden

I grew up a Laker, Dodger, Ram and Bruin basketball fan. Back then, UCLA basketball was just amazing to watch -- the stifling full court press, Kareem, Walton, and the rest. Ten NCAA championships in a dozen years. Nothing like it before or since. But, as dominant as UCLA was in the 60's and 70's, you always knew there was more to those teams than just basketball. There was the person and the teaching of John Wooden.

Coach John Wooden died June 4 at the age of 99. He coached his last game in 1975, yet what the man taught was so enduring and so compelling that 35 years after his retirement his death was front page news across the nation. By "the numbers," he ranks as one of the greatest coaches of all time -- regardless of sport. But, remarkably, almost all of the buzz (and there's been a lot of it) is not about basketball. The Internet is filled with story upon story of Wooden's teaching, his upright life and his devotion to his wife, Nell.

Wooden's life began in 1910 in a house with no indoor plumbing and it ended this month with his life and his teaching splashed across the World Wide Web. Through it all, he was guided by a seven part creed given him by his father, an Indiana farmer. Kind of bedrock rules for living, the creed stood the tests of time and place -- from Wooden's schoolboy days in Martinsville, IN to Westwood in the tumultuous 60's and they anchor his legacy today.

I've enjoyed the celebration of Wooden's life and reconnecting with Wooden's teaching. Now, make today your masterpiece... and be quick, but don't hurry....

Memorial Day at Victory Park

East Pasadena's largest and most used park, Victory Park, was dedicated by the Pasadena War Memorial Committee on May 25, 1952, "as a living memorial to those who fell in World War II." This "V" shaped rose garden is at the corner of Paloma St. and Altadena Dr.

The boulder at the top of the "V" is the Joe Hayashi Memorial. A Medal of Honor winner and running mate of the Robinson boys, Hayashi died in WW II. There's more on Hayashi at this post a few months back from Pasadena PIO.

Red and white roses from someone who remembers this Memorial Day. This plaque is at the base of the Gold Star Mothers flag pole. Gold Star Mothers are moms who have lost a son or daughter in service to our country.

The Wall is also well worth a visit today.

Titley Ave. -- RIP

The Day of Reckoning for Titley Avenue is here. Tonight, without any fanfare, Pasasdena City Council will hold a public hearing to change the name of Titley Avenue to Kinneloa Avenue.

We rarely give street names their due. That's understandable. Most are named for a developer's distant cousin, or letters of the alphabet, or any number of things not related to the community or place.

But, sometimes street names are repositories of local history; markers of people or places that are important parts of a community's story. That's the case with Titley Avenue. In fact, there's a whole lot of East Pasadena history all rolled into that little soon-to-be no more street sign.

Last Fall, I ran a post about Titleyville (also commonly called "Chihuahuita"). I also ran posts on J.F.T. Titley, who built a small town of low cost cottages as a "benefactor" to the poor and called the place "Titleyville," and the drama that ensued when Mr. Titley seemingly bilked the families who bought his homes.

The renaming is part of the extension of Kinneloa Avenue under the 210 freeway, which is a positive thing. But, I didn't want the moment to go by without at least some nod to Mr. Titley and Titleyville.