Being a Weather Enthusiast, I thought I was hearing thunder.  But wait, there were no clouds in the sky.  It was DRUMS!.  And the rhythm was fantastic.  The beat was enticing.  I followed the sound to Farnsworth Park about a half mile away.  I couldn’t believe the sound was traveling so far and so clear.  Anybody close to the top of Lake MUST have heard it.

What I found was JMADA,

Best-selling novelist, award-winning poet, screenwriter, dramatist, journalist, commentator and creative writing professor at USC, Jervey Tervalon, will be presenting a workshop for writers of all ages and experience levels through the process of telling their story.

The workshop is ideal for participants looking to develop their skill at chronicling their life stories, assist others who hold valuable oral histories in preserving their written history,

Reader lennox munro sends these pictures:

These are the latest incarnations of  what has been a constant source of surprise and delight over the last several months to those of us who walk this part of Altadena.It appears that there is more than one person behind these creations. As I took these photos I met the man who said he had begun it,

Farnsworth Park was greener than usual as Those Manning Boys and Friends entertained the crowds at the Sheriff’s Support Group Summer Concert Series Saturday night.

They were accompanied by Barbara Schilling on the Celtic Harp

Also playing were Tim Drake on Uilleann pipes, Liam Lewis on mandolin and Jimmy Murphy on guitar

We were also treated to the wonderful dancers from the Aniar Academy Of Irish Dance. 

• 
  Altadena resident Trudell Skinner was named the new principal at Blair International Baccalaureate Magnet School.  PSN’s Brian Charles has the details.
  
• Sid Gally’s local history piece this week is a fascinating look at Altadenan Paul Popenoe, one of the creators of marriage counseling as we know it.  He was also a eugenicist who advocated sterilizing the unfit to keep them from breeding. 

Rock on!

We spent our vacation in a gathering of tribes in Ft. Collins, Colorado, to celebrate the birthday of our grandmother, Mary Ellen Dixon McClelland Allen (Grandma Ellen).  She turned 100 years old on Aug.

PSN is reporting that two women were saved from a spectacular home fire Tuesday morning on the 3000 block of Concha St. off of Lake Ave.

This morning's print version has more details than the earlier story linked above: Richard Engersbach, a law enforcement technician and civilian employee of the Sheriff's Dept.,

• The Altadena Library District reports that the Board of Library Trustees selected Gwendolyn McMullins, a retired educator and long-time Altadena resident, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Shirlee Smith. The LA County Board of Supervisors is expected to confirm the appointment within a month.
• The county Board of Supervisors renewed an offer of a $10,000 reward for information in the 2009 slaying of Jerrill Dulaney. 

Frank Girardot, the crime guy and editor at Pasadena Star News, has another take on the metal scavengers — he interviewed the "pilot" of the mothership, for starters.  (Yes, it's the Whittier paper, but they're under the same ownership and this WILL appear in tomorrow's Star News).

As an aside, we think Girardot is making a big mistake by relying on Crimereports.com when he declares that only two residential theft reports were taken by the sheriffs in the past 30 days. 

Fri., Aug. 20

• Beach bus to Santa Monica, pickup starts at 9 AM.
• Library summer movie: Furry Vengence, rated PG, starts at 3:30 at the library, 600 E. Mariposa.

Sat., Aug. 21

• Beach bus to Santa Monica, pickup starts at 9 AM.
• Library summer movie: Furry Vengence,

Close your eyes and be transported to a time when human voices reigned supreme and the choir stood alone at the apex of western music. 

Orchestras would come, but at the dawn of the Renaissance great composers wrote glorious masses that were meant to be sung – in remarkably resonant sacred settings.

The members of the Pasadena Master Chorale are thrilled once again to welcome friends, fans and families to THE GOLDEN AGE,

There will be food provided, many activities, and information booths sponsored by the Altadena sheriff’s station, the California Highway Patrol, and Los Angeles County Fire Dept.

What a great party yesterday!  Over 50 of us were able to make it. The weather cooperated!  The food was fabulous!  And the company was stellar!  What a great time we all had,

The Altadena Library has announced its roster for this fall's writer's workshops:

Sat., Sept. 11, 2 PM:

Write Your Memoir Workshop or Hone Your Skills as a Storyteller with Jervey Tervalon: the best-selling novelist, award-winning poet, screenwriter, dramatist, journalist, commentator and creative writing professor at USC,

The band UPSTREAM, whose members include two sons of the venerable inventor of Soca music, the late Ras Shorty I, was formed in the republic of Trinidad & Tobago in 1989. They relocated to Southern California in the early nineties and made a name for themselves performing in numerous venues,

A couple of important things coming up:

Remember: Neighborhood Association Coalition meeting tonight (Tuesday) at the Altadena Library from 7 PM – 8:30 PM. Come and hear what others have done to make their Associations successful and join with others who want to make Altadena the greatest neighborhood in LA County.

And Thursday,

Make sure to join us in the Community Room for this fun program that is just a small part of the Teen Summer Reading Program which ends August 3,

We received this press release from Supv. Michael Antonovich's offfice:

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously enhanced additional development standards to the Community Standards District for hillside areas in the Altadena area, announced Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. 

“This action,

by Michele Zack, Altadena Heritage
Special to Altadenablog

This morning, July 27, 2010, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the Altadena Hillside Management Ordinance as an amendment to our Community Standards District (CSD).

Members of Altadena’s HIllside Working Group, including Chair Patty Mulligen,

• PSN’s Brian Charles has a feature on the Freedom School, the summer enrichment program at Altadena Elementary School.
• At the website eBird, the “eBirder of the Month” for July is Mike San Miguel, the birder and environmentalist who died earlier this month in Angeles National Forest.
• Michele McClellan of the Knight Digital Media Center spins off an entire article from a comment we made on Time Magazine’s article about our friends at West Seattle Blog.