Arroyo Monthly January 2009 by Southland Publishing

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ARROYO VOLUME 5 ~ NUMBER 1

M O N T H LY

10 DÉJÀ VU 10 OBJECTS OF DESIRE: Past Perfect: A guide to shopping for antiques in Pasadena. –By Jenine Baines

16 RETRO-RAMA: That’s Histo-tainment!: Doo Dah Grand Marshal Charles Phoenix looks back at the past through Rose Bowl–colored glasses. –By Carl Kozlowski

32 DESIGN: Something Old, Something New: Interior designer Cynthia Bennett brings back a 1929 Spanish Revival home in San Marino for a couple with 21st-century needs. –By Jessica Hamlin

35 DANCE: Reeling in the Years: Aficionados of Victorian dance and costumes kick up their heels at period balls hosted by Pasadena’s Social Daunce Irregulars. –By Jana Monji

38 MUSIC: The Troubadour of Lost Time: Onetime British Invader Ian Whitcomb spreads the gospel of turn-of-the-20th-century music. –By Kirk Silsbee

DEPARTMENTS 9 FESTIVITIES The Pasadena Symphony’s Women’s Committee hosts a holiday home tour.

40 THE LIST Tournament of Roses floats, Ray Bradbury at Fremont Centre Theatre, loving Styrofoam at Sci-Arc and more

42 KITCHEN CONFESSIONS Low-cal doesn’t have to mean ho-hum. 44 THE ART OF SCIENCE Caltech researchers have developed a “barcode chip” for cheaper, faster blood tests. ABOUT THE COVER: PHOTO: Chris Haston

ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 5

EDITOR’S NOTE

As the new year dawns, let’s look toward the future by glancing back at the past, shall we? After all, it’s something Pasadena does so stylishly. The city has become a mecca for interior designers and other aficionados of furnishings and accessories with enduring appeal. Just stroll down Fair Oaks Avenue or East Colorado Boulevard and pop into the antiques stores that have turned those streets into mini shopping districts. Proprietors there have literally sifted through the sands of time, and their offerings reflect their own distinctive sensibilities. Jenine Baines gives you the rundown on where to go in her guide to antiques shopping in Pasadena. Even the most fervent enthusiasts of yesteryear may want to hold onto 21stcentury comforts while reclaiming a historic home. And interior designer Cynthia Bennett, who’s known for her restoration work, deftly struck such a balance on a recent project — a 1929 Spanish Revival home in San Marino. Jessica Hamlin opens the doors onto Bennett’s transformation. Of course, living in the past perfect doesn’t necessarily stop at where you live — it can shape how you live as well. Quadrille, anyone? Don’t mind if we do. Jana Monji slips on her dancing shoes for a visit to a Victorian ball hosted by Pasadena’s Social Daunce Irregulars. And seemingly ubiquitous band leader Ian Whitcomb talks to Kirk Silsbee about his fascinating past as a British Invasion rocker and passion for turn-ofthe-20th-century music. Whitcomb’s performances can be educational, but they’re always entertaining, and he’s not alone in combining both those seemingly irreconcilable qualities in his approach. So does retro-pop-culture maven Charles Phoenix, who rises to the occasion of his debut as grand marshal of the 32nd Occasional Doo Dah Parade on Jan. 18. Carl Kozlowski talks to the self-proclaimed “histo-tainer” over pancakes at Pie ’n Burger and files his report in this issue. — Irene Lacher

ARROYO MONTHLY EDITOR IN CHIEF Irene Lacher PRODUCTION MANAGER Yvonne Guerrero ART DIRECTOR Joel Vendette • JUNIOR DESIGNER Evelyn Duenas WEB DESIGNER Maricela Estrada COPY EDITOR John Seeley STAFF WRITER Carl Kozlowski CONTRIBUTORS Karen Apostolina, Jenine Baines, Leslie Bilderback, Michael Burr, Michael Cervin, André Coleman, Steve Coulter, Caroline Cushing, Mandalit del Barco, Brad Eastland, Jessica Hamlin, Lynne Heffley, Bettijane Levine, Jana Monji, Arlene Schindler, Kirk Silsbee, John Sollenberger PHOTOGRAPHERS Johnny Buzzerio, C.M. Hardt ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Dina Stegon ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Fred Bankston, Dana Bonner, Hilary Chen, Elizabeth Guzman, Leslie Lamm, Rochelle Reiff ADVERTISING DESIGNERS Maricela Estrada, Carla Marroquin VP OF FINANCE Michael Nagami • HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Andrea Baker BUSINESS MANAGER Angela Wang ACCOUNTING Archie Iskaq, Tracy Lowe OFFICE ASSISTANT Emma Luna PUBLISHER Jon Guynn

CONTACT US ADVERTISING dinas@pasadenaweekly.com • EDITORIAL editor@arroyomonthly.com PHONE (626) 584-1500 • FAX (626) 795-0149 MAILING ADDRESS 50 S. De Lacey Ave., Ste. 200, Pasadena, CA 91105 www.ArroyoMonthly.com ©2008 Southland Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

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FESTIVITIES

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OBJECTS OF DESIRE

OLD PASADENA/LAKE AVENUE ART AND ANTIQUES ON LAKE 60 N. Lake Ave. | (626) 356-0222 Partners Kathleen Shifs, Ron Vander Molen and Lea Fischer regularly scour auctions, estate sales and flea markets throughout Southern California for distinctive early Californian, American and European fine art, furnishings and lighting. Nor are antiques all you’ll find here, where oddities also abound. Shifs is particularly fond of what she has christened the “sickle chick” — a fiberglass copy of a medieval gargoyle (actually a male figure) made for the 2004 movie “The Ladykillers.” If the “sickle chick” isn’t your style, a California brown bear figurine that was used for target practice in the mid-20th century — and has the scuffs and dings to prove it — might do the trick.

Past Perfect

CONYA’S COTTAGE 1403 N. Lake Ave. | (626) 345-9822 Conya’s Cottage carries a wide selection of 19th- and 20thcentury furniture, accessories and textiles, including Depression glass and Italian lead crystal cordials; sterling silver and silver-plated serving pieces from England, Italy and Mexico; Buchan stoneware from Scotland; and Blue Willow china from England and Japan. “Most of my items are from the U.S. or the U.K.,” says owner April Greyson Talson, who also sells art and lighting. “Items from those areas represent the type of cottage feel that I want to present.” Upstairs, in the cottage’s “Fabulous Finds” area, you’ll find clothes, toys, books, albums, CDs and kitchenware at rummage sale prices.

PASADENA IS A DESTINATION FOR AFICIONADOS OF ANTIQUES, A VERITABLE FOREST OF PURVEYORS OF THE PAST. BUT IT'S EASY TO GET LOST AMONG SO MANY STYLISH TREES. HERE'S ARROYO MONTHLY'S TRAIL OF BREAD CRUMBS TO KEEP YOU ON THE PATH TO YOUR COLLECTIBLES OF CHOICE. BY JENINE BAINES

PASADENA MAY BE RENOWNED AS THE CITY OF ROSES, BUT FOR SHOPPERS IN QUEST OF THAT PERFECT 18TH-CENTURY HIGHBOY, 19TH-CENTURY

PASADENA ANTIQUE MALL 309 E. Green St. | (626) 304-9886 Located on the lower level of Paseo Colorado, this mall within a mall offers European, American and Asian antiques and accessories from more than 50 dealers. Eye-catching treasures include American Roseville pottery from the 1930s and ’40s, signed lithographs by artists Marc Chagall and Joan Miró and vintage watches and clocks from around the world. Deliveries of new items arrive daily, says owner Mark Baumgartner. “We have everything from tin to Tiffany’s,” he says. “You can spend 25 cents or $10,000.”

CHANDELIER OR MID-20TH-CENTURY SOFA, THE PASADENA AREA IS PARADISE. FROM OLD PASADENA TO EAST COLORADO BOULEVARD, ANTIQUE SHOPS ABOUND. What qualifies as an antique? Purists – and U.S. Customs tax assessors – consider an antique to be a work of art, piece of furniture or decorative object that is at least 100 years old. For most dealers, however, any item older than 50 fits the bill. The standard is even looser for cars, tools and electronic gadgets. Once your cherished Chevy turns 25, it’s no longer just old – it’s officially antique. As you begin your quest, you may soon find yourself falling into one of two categories: collectors or accumulators. Collectors are the antiquing world’s toughest customers; they purchase only the best and have the budget to do so. Accumulators may spend big bucks too, but for a different reason: They buy every trinket in sight simply because it’s there and they want it. Then again, you may be all of the above. “I've come to the conclusion that a great collection shows the complete gamut of what's available in a field,” Pamela Wiggins writes in “Buying & Selling Antiques and Collectibles on eBay” (Course Technology; 2004). Online is fine, but a great collector would do well to start the hunt in Pasadena, which has a special place in its heart for the past. The Pasadena City College Swap Meet and the Rose Bowl Flea Market on the first and second Sundays of the month, respectively, have long been destinations of choice for vintage buffs. Elsewhere, dealers offer wares year-round; they tend to cluster around Fair Oaks Avenue, where you’ll find shops to please traditionalists – with some surprises – while East Colorado Boulevard has evolved into a strip for sellers of mid-century modern design. Here's a guide to get you started: 10 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

FAIR OAKS AVENUE

(Spread) Eclectic offerings at Dovetail Antiques (From top) A detail from Angel Espoy’s oil painting “California Farm,” circa 1925, at Art and antiques on Lake; enameled 1940s cigarette lighters and ashtrays from Conya’s Cottage; 19th-century Japanese carved-wood buddah at Antiques on Fair Oaks

ANTIQUES ON FAIR OAKS 330 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 449-9590 Owner Francesca de la Flor’s 22,000-square-foot collective scouts the world — and the millenium — for its offerings. “We see 1,000-year-old decorative pieces all the time,” de la Flor says, citing such Chinese finds as sixth-century stoneware vessels and eighth-century Tang Dynasty figurines. Most of the inventory, however, originates closer to home: English, continental and American furniture, furnishings and lighting from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The shop is especially noted for its upholstered pieces. “We’ll take this great old Biedermeier sofa from the 1930s,” de la Flor says, “and reupholster it in a new fabric.” —CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 11

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Past Perfect

PASADENA MAY BE RENOWNED AS THE CITY OF ROSES, BUT FOR SHOPPERS IN QUEST OF THAT PERFECT 18TH-CENTURY HIGHBOY, 19TH-CENTURY

FAIR OAKS AVENUE

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

T.L. GURLEY ANTIQUES 512 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 432-4811 A sign above the door stating “Odd and Unusual” is the first hint that T.L. Gurley Antiques doesn’t take itself too seriously. All year long, a 1950s Santa is posted for roof duty while a painted dinosaur spotted by owner Tim Gurley and co-curator Rick LeClerc at the Long Beach Swap Meet greets visitors at the door. Eclectic textiles hang from the rafters while California and Italian tile and pottery vie for space throughout the shop with santos (religious sculpture from New Mexico), decorative wrought-iron pieces, Victorian globes and even a French barometer and thermometer from the turn of the 20th century..

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DOVETAIL ANTIQUES BY MARY SMITH 1 W. California Blvd., Suite 412 | (626) 792-9410 “Dovetail is more like a boutique than an antique store,” says proprietor Mary Smith, who sells handmade English, European and American decorative accessories from the 18th and 19th centuries. Smith says her 3-foot-tall Majolica turkey and other antique items make great gifts. Dovetail gifts come with a tag describing what they are, when they were made and by whom. They’re also wrapped in paper inspired by British designer William Morris’ Devon Rose pattern. “Those who love antiques were the original recyclers,” says Smith. “Why buy something new?” GEORGENE’S ANTIQUES AND DOLLS 448 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 440-9926 Owner Georgene Maiers is one of the few antique dealers specializing in dolls, an area of interest not for the faint of heart. Since most dolls were toys, they were thrashed about and, Maiers says, it’s getting harder to find craftsmen to repair them. But she perseveres, and the result is shelves of dolls from the 19th century through the 1970s — including cloth dolls from the 1930s, bisque-head dolls from the 1900s through the 1930s and the requisite Kewpies and Raggedy Anns and Andys. HIDEAWAY HOUSE 175 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 356-3100 This year, Hideaway House celebrated its 35th anniversary by moving to Pasadena from the Westside of Los Angeles. Hideaway House’s late owner, Brian Proper, and his wife, Barbara, named the place after his mother’s home in Surrey, England. (Barbara now oversees the shop with manager Ricardo Chavez.) The large venue’s decorative items from Europe and Asia include a handcrafted French cupboard from the Pyrenees mountains (circa 1690), a Louis XV Pantalonniére cabinet (circa 1740), a Spanish dining table (circa 1820) and a faux-bamboo music stand still on its original casters (circa 1880). High-end reproductions of chairs, bar stools, lamps and desks are available as well. “We’re part store, part museum,” says sales associate Michael Gamgene. “It’s history you’re looking at.” MEDICI FINE ART & ANTIQUES 446 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 584-9693 Finds from Venice and Paris fill the floor of Medici Fine Art & Antiques. “We have lots of Venetian items, including a palatial 19th-century Venetian mirror that is one of a kind,” says dealer Natasha Stodder, who owns Medici with partner Marcus Pennington. Medici’s French antiques from the 18th through the early 20th centuries include furniture, paintings, lamps, chandeliers and decorative objects culled primarily from local estates and other dealers. MICHAEL SHARPE RARE AND ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS 569 S. Marengo Ave. | (626) 405-2934 The shop is housed in a two-story Craftsman bungalow, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which was once the home of Col. G.G. Green, developer of Pasadena’s historic Green Hotel. The titles — manuscripts and books mostly from the 15th through 20th centuries — are even more impressive. Recent acquisitions include first editions of Jane Austen’s 12 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

(This page) The interior of Hideaway House; Maurice Bailey club chairs at Funnel; 19th-century mahogany dresser at Dovetail; Louis Philippe lead ornamental sculpture, 1840s, at Medici Fine Art (Opposite page) Vintage jewelry at Novotny’s; (bottom right) antique treasures at Revival

“Mansfield Park” (1814) and James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans” (1826). Sharpe’s collection would make a bibliophile weep, with such gems as a Dead Sea Scrolls fragment. PASADENA ANTIQUE CENTER 444 and 480 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 449-7706 With more than 130 dealers operating in 40,000 square feet, the vast Pasadena Antique Center should probably have its own local government. Furniture offerings include Early American, Victorian, Spanish Revival, Arts and Crafts, Mission, Art Deco, Art Nouveau and mid-century modern. Also available are chandeliers and other lighting; art and paintings; pottery; glass, china and crystal; toys; dolls; garden furnishings and accessories; vintage clothing; estate jewelry; and electronic equipment — even old vinyl LPs. Sterling silver aficionados are particularly welcome here, where the road to happiness is lined with a Victorian pickle fork, Art Nouveau sugar tongs and a candy dish from the 1940s. REVIVAL ANTIQUES 527 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 405-0024 Revival Antiques is a great resource for 19th- and early-20th-century Spanish and Mediterranean Revival furniture, mirrors, paintings and decorative objects like candelabras, bookends, ironwork, doors and gates. But owner Marie Gauthier’s specialité de maison is a vast collection of lighting, which includes circa-1800 Japanese bronze lanterns, turn-of-the-20th-century iron and crystal chandeliers and a 1920s floor lamp decorated with griffins and topped with a mica shade. An array of sconces, both antique and reproduction, is available as well. An annex across the patio from the main store houses California Rancho and Craftsman pottery and tile, and paintings of California missions. RICK KAPLAN ANTIQUES 450 S. Fair Oaks Ave. | (626) 793-6841 An aficionado of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Rick Kaplan has found such unusual pieces as a Tiffany favril vase circa 1900, an Austrian enamel silver gilt ship from the 1880s and a pink frosted-glass lamp, circa 1930. Elsewhere in his shop, you’ll find lamps, bronze statuary, clocks, ceramics and pottery, silver, California plein air paintings, Louis Icart etchings and original prints, as well as Tiffany, Gallé, Steuben, Rookwood and Loetz art glass. And if you think those boxes in your attic might contain hidden riches, Kaplan is willing to sift through them for you.

WEST WORLD IMPORTS 171 E. California Blvd. | (626) 449-8565 Since 1963, West World Imports has made more than 200 buying trips to France, England and Wales in search of 18th- and 19th-century antiques. The current haul includes an 18th-century oak dresser from Cheshire, England, a French worktable (circa 1900) cut down to a coffee table, a Spanish-style trestle table made from 18th-century walnut beams and an English Chinoiserie floor lamp from the 1920s. There’s even a set of French theater seats from the 1930s and an English Regency tea caddy. A team of restorers is on hand to polish and detail any purchased item before delivery. And don’t miss the collection of 19th-century leather-bound books from France and Sweden, which start at a modest $30 per book.

EAST COLORADO BOULEVARD EAST COLORADO ANTIQUES AND DESIGN 2546 E. Colorado Blvd. | (626) 796-7989 East Colorado Boulevard has become a mecca for mid-century design, but East Colorado Antiques also dips further back in time for its inventory, which includes a 1920s Barker Brothers leather-embossed polychrome radio, Art Deco Bakelite fruit knives, a Kittinger Spanish Revival dining room set and lamps and metal sconces by early-20th-century designer Oscar Bach. The shop houses three vendors — Michelle’s Antiques, Lighting and Design; the Jack W. Smith Art Deco Collection; and 20th Century Living — whose current cache includes a bathroom suite and a 1940s O’Keefe and Merritt stove, with six burners and a double oven. FUNNEL 2540 E. Colorado Blvd. | (626) 395-0141 For those old enough to remember “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” Funnel is a great place to go to furnish your memories. Most items were designed by mid-century luminaries like Paul McCobb (here represented by an armoire), James van Koret (a bedroom set) and Milo Baughman (a credenza). Funnel also makes custom modern-inspired pieces. To get a sense of the possibilities, ask to see the cool wingback chair with exaggerated lines. JASON ARNOLD FOR MODERN 2421 E. Colorado Blvd. | (626) 440-9663 Devotees of Vintage Hill will be pleased to know that the shop once admired for its collection of minimalist modern furniture and accessories still exists — it has just changed its name. Now called Jason Arnold for Modern, the store has moved from Altadena to a 2,500-square-foot showroom in Pasadena that gives its eclectic mix of modern furniture and art plenty of room to stretch its

legs. Here you can find pieces by such blue-chip designers as Robsjohn Gibbings, Edward Wormley, Paul Frankl, Herman Miller, George Nelson, Paul Evans, Karl Springer, Richard Schultz, Hans Wegner, Charles Eames and more. Special treats include a mirrored credenza from Liberace’s estate and a gleaming white 1969 Pierre Cardin bedroom set that owner Arnold originally acquired for his own use. NOVOTNY’S ANTIQUE GALLERY 2552 E. Colorado Blvd. | (626) 577-9660 Traditionalists will feel instantly at home in Novotny’s, which carries furniture and accessories, chandeliers, lamps, paintings and jewelry from the 1860s through roughly the 1950s. “We specialize in mahogany and walnut furniture and have virtually everything you need to make a home,” says Shauna Novotny. Novotny’s also has gifts for people who like shiny things, such as an array of silver serving pieces, china, glassware, figurines and a large selection of Victorian and estate jewelry. OLD PASADENA VINTAGE LIGHTING/ TRACEY ELLIS ANTIQUES AND FINE FURNISHINGS 2569 E. Colorado Blvd. (626) 396-0843 (Old Pasadena Vintage Lighting) (626) 232-4483 (Tracey Ellis Fine Furnishings) Old Pasadena Vintage Lighting is a great resource for lighting from the first half of the 20th century. And even if you don’t find quite what you’re looking for, you may still leave happy – thanks to the workshop in the rear of the store. “People bring us a picture, and we make it,” says proprietor Jason McFarland. Sharing space with Old Pasadena Vintage Lighting is Tracey Ellis Antiques and Fine Furnishings, which carries 19th- and 20th-century American and European antiques and accessories, silver, art and chandeliers. Be sure not to miss the carved teak panel from West Java (circa 1900) and the John Widdicomb chest from the 1920s. PINK PLUM ANTIQUES 2580 E Colorado Blvd. | (626) 584-0046 Pink Plum’s well-priced collection includes capo di monte lamps, decorative pieces from the 1920s and 1930s, books and vinyl LPs from the 1950s and Fenton Art Glass from the turn of the 20th century. There are seven cases of vintage jewelry alone — much of it Art Deco and Art Nouveau — plus watches, lighters and cuff links. And fans of Waverly and Bauer pottery will not leave disappointed. YOSHINO JAPANESE ANTIQUES 1240 E. Colorado Blvd. | (626) 356-0588 Owner Gary Myers makes annual trips to Japan in a quest for objets, art and folk craft from as early as the Nara period (645-794) to the Showa period (1926-1989). Myers’ scores include a two-part stacked wedding trousseau chest from the late 19th century; a screen designed as a set of fusuma (sliding doors) for a temple interior from the mid-Edo period (1603 to 1868); Imari porcelain bowls from the late 19th century; a stoneware tsubo (jug or jar) from the late 17th or early 18th century; and a bronze okimono (carving) of Hotei, one of the seven gods of good fortune, from the early 20th century. Also available are lacquerware; interior and exterior architectural pieces; and netsuke and other sagemono (miniature sculptures). AM ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 13

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

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RETRO-RAMA

That’s Histo-tainment!

DOO DAH GRAND MARSHAL CHARLES PHOENIX LOOKS BACK THROUGH ROSE BOWL–COLORED GLASSES. BY CARL KOZLOWSKI

THE MATCH HAS THE LOGIC OF ANOTHER MARRIAGE WELL KNOWN IN POP CULTURE – THAT BETWEEN PEANUT BUTTER AND ITS NOT-EXACTLY-LAWFULLY-WEDDED JELLY. THIS FLING IS BETWEEN PASADENA, WHICH PRIDES ITSELF ON ITS STORIED PAST, AND A MAN WHO STYLES HIMSELF A “HISTO-TAINER,” With all the fervor of a Miss America, Pasadena’s latest representative raves about his new domain while downing a “fabulous” pancake breakThe histo-tainer in question is the ebullient Charles Phoenix, who has spent the past 11 years cultivating an unusual fast at mom-and-pop dining mainstay career born of his passion for retro. Phoenix has parlayed his massive collection of forgotten Kodachrome slides bought at Pie ’n Burger on California yard sales into witty slide shows that have earned him sold-out crowds at venues across Los Angeles. He has also produced Boulevard. “I want to encourage peocoffee-table books, pop-culture commentary for National Public Radio, live shows in which he stars as emcee for more than ple to cherish the local unique places 60 dancers on roller skates, even school bus tours of downtown Los Angeles, comparing the region’s business heartland to in their community, new and old,” its unlikely counterpart to the south, Disneyland. says Phoenix, 46. “There’s so much And this month, Phoenix savors his biggest honor yet, serving as the 2009 Grand Marshal of Pasadena’s wacky and culture here [in Pasadena] that it’s inventive 32nd Occasional Doo Dah Parade on Jan. 18. “We really support people who find an oddball way of making a liv- easily the most civilized city in ing through doing what they love to do,” says parade spokesperson Patricia Hurley. “Even though it can be nerve-racking to Southern California. The Huntington have picked a career that he made up completely, we want to applaud his originality.” Library and Gardens are the epitome of civilization no matter where you come from, and the Rose Parade is the grandest parade in the world and one of America’s oldest great traditions.” Sporting a rainbow-colored, custom-made pinstripe suit and bright green shoes, Phoenix talks about the spiritual connection he feels with Doo Dah. “The Doo Dah Parade is the dysfunctional crazy cousin of the Rose Parade, but in a wonderful way,” he says. “The Rose Parade represents the epitome of civilization; it’s a giant arts and crafts project on wheels, done with military precision — and the Doo Dah, well, it’s a little bit looser and crazier.” His favorite Rose Parade float of all time was a 1958 entry by the city of Van Nuys, which featured a giant plate, topped with a slice of pie and ice cream, all made of flowers. That’s nothing compared to the float he’ll ride as Doo Dah’s reigning monarch. “I’m excited because I can make a big visual presentation, and I’ve already locked down a bright red fire marshal’s station wagon that will be towing a classic trailer, followed by roller skaters, a fire station wagon and car,” he says. “It’s just another theatrical presentation.” Indeed, all his world is a stage. Phoenix’s Silver Lake garden apartment is painted to resemble the “cheddar and muted turquoise” colors of vintage Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodges; it also serves as a de facto museum for some of the greatest knick knacks of the past 60 years. Author of half a dozen books about mid-century pop culture in Southern

TURNING HISTORY, THAT BUGABOO OF SCHOOLCHILDREN

—CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

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Photo: Chris Haston

EVERYWHERE, INTO A FORCE FOR HILARITY.

Photo: Chris Haston

ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 17

ARROYO

HOME&DESIGN

Akeena Solar is one of the largest national installers of residential and commercial solar power systems in the United States, installing throughout California, Colorado, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut since 2001. Solar power is a clean renewable resource, and the greenest way to save money while increasing home value and protecting the environment. With over 2000 installations, Akeena's goal is to install the best possible systems and remain a proven leader in the design and integration of solar power systems. As a revolutionary leader in the industry, Akeena exclusively offers Andalay, the next generation in solar power systems, that features innovative framing and electrical design that brings solar power systems into the twenty-first century. Andalay integrates racking, wiring, and grounding for top reliability and performance. With a team of highly trained engineers and installers, Akeena meets NABCEP Certification, and is an active member in the SEIA and many other Solar Organizations. (805) 497-1044.

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Arcadia Landscape Design Inc. is a full service design/build company. Arcadia’s design and construction staff will work with you from concept through project completion. Arcadia specializes in outdoor kitchens and BBQ’S, fireplaces, swimming pools, water features, custom patios and balconies and all forms of masonry, stone and concrete work. And, of course, Arcadia is a full service landscape company, installing all planting material, irrigation and drainage systems, lighting, outdoor sound systems and fountains. Arcadia also installs artificial turf and putting greens. arcadialandscapedesign.com. Arcadia Pool Construction Your swimming pool should be a work of Art. We have the experience and expertise to create what you can only imagine. Arcadia Pool Construction specializes in the latest state-of-the-art pool equipment, custom masonry, and building

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materials designed to add beauty to your home and lifestyle. Give us a call at (626) 4478181 or visit www.arcadiapoolz.com to create your perfect haven of relaxation. Bridge Design Studios Owner and senior designer Dianne Bennett Bedford, brings her extensive knowledge of the design industry to all her projects from commercial to highend residential. Having traveled and studied in Europe and Asia, Diane is intimate with antiques, Persian rugs and various styles of furniture from the traditional to the very contemporary. She prides herself on versatility and attention to detail. With her practiced eye she is able to create unique and individual environments. She’s equally at ease designing a whimsical children’s room, a modern mixed environment, and even the most sophisticated, serene settings. (626) 799-9019. 1030 E. Green St. Pasadena. Carol Cobabe Design With a philosophy of “good design resulting in the creation of harmony in one’s environment,” Carol’s goal is to enrich, inspire and instill feelings of comfort. With an extensive career since 1988, her disciplined usage of the basic elements of space, color, texture, light and nature succeeds in reflecting the unique style and purpose of each client. Carol’s work has been published in Designers West, Better Homes and Gardens, Window and Wall Ideas and F. Schumacher’s Classic Directions. She has participated in several showcase houses, the Los Angeles Assistance League Design House, the Venice Family Clinic Design House and Little Company of Mary Design House in Palos Verdes. Carol is also a winner of the coveted First Place Award of the L.A. Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers. Call (626) 441-6052.

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Cynthia Bennett and Associates This celebrated designer and general contractor, along with her staff of 11 designers, architects and project managers, have created some of the most beautiful spaces in the San Gabriel Valley. The term “Full Service” does not give them enough credit. They will take any project from concept, plans, lighting and construction through furnishings and accessories, using the best materials and an exacting eye for detail. The design and build focus of Cynthia Bennett’s team is the iconic Southern California lifestyle of light, open spaces, accessible patios, garden areas, and kitchen great rooms. Using modern Green Design products and techniques, this 28-year-old design firm provides clients with unsurpassed service and quality. 501 Fair Oaks Ave., South Pasadena. (626) 799-9701. Ferguson Bath & Kitchen Make sure to visit the Ferguson showroom, which has been serving Pasadena for 15 years. Let Ferguson showroom staff Sarah and Antaya help you with your appliances, sinks, faucets, tools, accessories, environmentally safe tankless water heaters, and commercial and residential lighting needs. Ferguson Pasadena is your one-stop shop from underground to finish. Ferguson Pasadena is small, but flexible. Visit us at 157 Vista Ave. or at www.ferguson.com or call (626) 7959551. Garden View Landscaping, Nursery, Pools Specializing in landscaping, nurseries and pools, Garden View Inc. can take you from a design idea or concept to a fully finished, detail-oriented garden. Garden View & their clientele are recipients of 60 awards from the California Landscape Contractors Association. Complete & integrated outdoor construction, nursery & maintenance. The intent of the company is to provide high-quality interrelated outdoor services. The synergy between having their own designer/project managers, in-house crews, their own large nursery, and being a licensed pool builder, coupled with Mark’s almost daily job visits, provides for efficiency, competitive pricing, quality & schedule control (626) 303-4043. GAROCCO, INC. is Pasadena’s premier exterior design/build firm. Known for their outstanding pools, Garocco, Inc. has now opened their new design studio in the historic Playhouse District, at 656 E. Green Street. From distinctive environments, out—CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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door kitchens, swimming pools, and garden design to water features, Gar Sewell, CEO and lead designer, can fulfill all your landscape needs. Gar’s Monthly Tip – Salt Pools: Salt system pools have been an increasing trend for about a decade. They virtually eliminate skin and eye irritation, odor and bleached-out swimsuits, they are self-monitoring and self-cleaning, and they don’t harm your equipment. All this with using natural table salt! This is one more step towards an ecologically conscious decision, in building or remodeling your pool. If you purchase a new pool during the month of January, you will receive a salt system at no cost. If you have any questions, you can contact them at (626) 398.5050 or info@garocco.com. Visit their gallery at www.garocco.com. Gerald Sowell Interior Design is a full-service residential interior design company that has been working throughout the Los Angeles Basin for the last 30 years. We specialize in traditional and transitional interiors, defying trends and giving each client’s home a fresh new look perfect for family and entertaining. (323) 461-2271. A 0% error margin on a guaranteed budget? We do it. HartmanBaldwin is a fully integrated architecture and construction company specializing in custom homes, restoration and remodeling for every budget. We are an award winning, full-service firm that merges artistic innovation with superior technical expertise. Call (626) 486.0510 to schedule your complimentary design consultation with one of our architects and let’s create something beautiful together. To view samples of our work and learn more about our wide range of services visit www.HartmanBaldwin.com. Invite us in, we can change how you live. Since 1994, James V. Coane, Architects in Pasadena has specialized in: custom residences, residential estates, historic renovations and expansions, residential and apartment interiors, multi-family residential, corporate interiors, retail and small commercial building design. While primarily working in the Pasadena and West Los Angeles areas, their body of current and completed projects stretches to Santa Barbara, Montecito, Newport Beach, Aspen, and Beijing. Honored with an American Institute of Architects award, and Best Architect in Pasadena 2008 by the Pasadena Weekly, their projects have been featured in Architectural Digest, L.A. Architect, the Los Angeles Times and Kitchen Trends. Several projects have been used as locations for television and movie filming as well as fashion and advertising photography. The

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firm is well-versed in and appreciative of historical and modern architecture and design and is known for its attention to intimate exterior and interior detail on every project. Visit www.jvca.com or call (626) 584-6922. Kitchen Tune-Up is one-stop shopping if you’re looking to change your kitchen. A Tune-Up is when existing wood cabinets are made to look like new. We offer refacing, custom cabinets, bathroom vanities as well as home entertainment centers and closets. We have a wide selection of the most popular countertops, including Livingstone, Corian, Caesarstone and Silestone. We can add pullout drawers, spice cabinets, even that island you’ve been dreaming about and we have in-house designers who can help transform your vision into reality. If your kitchen is in need of a Tune-Up we can help you every step of the way. We are Steve and Megan Morelock. We are Kitchen TuneUp. Call for a complimentary consultation at (626) 533-4402.

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Mother Magnolia is a private residential landscape design and construction firm operating in the San Gabriel Valley and Greater Los Angeles area since 1999. Creating a beautiful outdoor space for you to enjoy is our passion. We believe that beautiful outdoor spaces have the power to rejuvenate, and that yours can and should be your refuge. We believe that reliability and dedication are essential to a successful landscape project. Our in-house designers, highly experienced masons, irrigation specialists, and landscape technicians will make your landscape vision a reality. If you already have a design prepared by a landscape designer or architect, we are happy to provide a bid for the construction. Mother Magnolia is fully bonded and insured, and a proud member of the California Landscape Contractors’ Association, Angie's List, and the Better Business Bureau. We've appeared on HGTV's "Landscaper’s Challenge" four times, winning three. Call (626) 296-2617, or visit www.mothermagnolia.com. Mission Millworks (MMW) was founded in 1999 by Larry Lee to supply the highest quality custom wood doors, gates, windows and cabinetry to building contactors, property owners and all commercial and residential restoration projects in Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, Greater Los Angeles and all of Southern California. MMW employs highly skilled designers, craftsmen and installation professionals capable of —CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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creating custom wood millwork for any purpose. Near Gamble House, MMW has participated in the restoration of many historic South Pasadena homes from the late 19th and early 20th century. MMW is the preservationist's choice and is an expert in re-creating Greene & Greene Craftsman Style, stained glass and wood, doors, windows and other fine details. In addition to creating custom doors, gates, windows and cabinets, we also represent and install the full line of custom wood millwork products from Art Glass Millworks, B&B Doors and Windows, Eagle Window and Door, International Door and Latch, International Wood Products, Marvin Doors, Milgard, Simpson Door Company, Southwest Door Company, T. M. Cobb, Velux, Vent Vue and many other superb millworking manufacturers. Visit mission-millworks.com or call (626) 441-8509.

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Modern Lighting has been serving Southern California's lighting needs since 1946. We specialize in servicing the building industry with all aspects of residential, and custom decorative lighting. Modern has all styles and types of fixtures in every price range. We offer almost 100 manufacturer lines in addition to our HUGE showroom, featuring over 3000 fixtures on display. Our resources also enable us to make you custom designed fixtures. We also have an extensive stock of light bulbs to compliment the fixture. We are competitive and continually watch the marketplace for the best buys while keeping quality consistent. By working closely with manufacturers, we are able to keep prices low and custom work is easily handled. Our staff has decades of lighting experience and is ready to provide solutions for all of your lighting needs. We would like the opportunity to participate in your upcoming projects. Feel free to contact us if our service is what you are looking for. Call us at (626) 286-3262. Pottery Ranch is a southern California landmark since 1940 specializing in pottery from all over the world. We also carry a large variety of gardenware, fountains, statuary and fine china and gifts. Please visit our showrooms while in town, we’ll be happy to show you our many outstanding bargains! 248 W. Huntington Dr, Monrovia (626) 358-1215.

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Prime Building Materials is a family owned business that has been serving the Southern California building industry for over 20 years with pride and traditional values. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff work with homeowners, developers, landscape contractors, general contractors, designers and architects alike to achieve your exact goals, dreams and beyond. Our huge supply yard features acres of building materials for all phases of building and home improvement, with a specialty showroom featuring a host of interior and exterior products. From formal residential landscapes and masonry to large, track home developments, Prime Building Materials can provide all the materials to create the perfect living environment. 5 locations to serve you. Call us at (626) 284-2222 for a free consultation or estimate on your next project.

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Sofa Interiors We take great pride in helping people furnish their homes for over 15 years. Our goal is to offer furniture of outstanding value. Being a small business with family values, we are able to give each furniture piece we make the extra attention to details. Your fabric is individually hand cut and your frame is hand-constructed. All materials used to construct the furniture are made in the USA. Sofa Interiors is pleased to offer in-home consultations; a visit that allows our design experts to view your rooms, discuss your decorating project, colors, style preferences and lifestyle needs. Choosing the right fabrics will be much easier, because we’ll bring the fabrics to your home! In Southern California we deliver within 3 to 4 weeks from the time the order was placed, as long as the selected fabric is available. Visit our Pasadena location at 644 E. Colorado Blvd.or call (626) 795-7099. Other locations include Glendale, Studio City, and Valencia. For more information – www.sofainteriors.com. Day of Design With Terri Julio “My mission is to offer more people an opportunity to consult with a professional designer and afford them a service that fits into their budget.” Those words capture Terri Julio’s practical and thoughtful approach to her profession. A full day of design consultation (six hours for one flat fee) is a great way to begin any project. The job will run smoothly and, most importantly, Terri will help you avoid costly mistakes. Terri’s philosophy also extends to “putting the client’s wants first.” She simply guides those desires to a beautiful conclusion. Call (626) 447-5370. ■

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ART, ANTIQU ES & JEWELRY John Moran Auctioneers Expertly serving clients since 1969, John Moran Auctioneers is a full-service auction house offering quality objects and complete personalized dedication. Monthly estate and fine furniture auctions are where collectors, dealers, decorators and others gather to buy the finest antiques, silver, American Indian, oil and watercolor paintings, jewelry, unusual accessories and much more. They also hold an auction (three times per year) for exceptional California and American paintings. Consignment and the purchasing of estates. 735 W. Woodbury Road, Altadena. Call (626) 793-1833 or visit www.johnmoran.com. For over 20 years, SOSSI Fine Jewelry, a unique line with an unmistakable character of its own, has been a leading innovator in jewelry design. “My passion begins with the diamond rock. Diamonds have always fascinated me,” says designer Sossi Bagham. “Each piece I create has its own personality, attitude and unique design.” For him too, SOSSI’ Executive Men’s Collection is a must-have for today’s sophisticated male. For more information regarding SOSSI Fine Jewelry, visit us at 837 Foothill Boulevard, La Canada, CA, on the web at www.sossicollection.com or call (866) 767-7426. Tirage Gallery Located in the heart of Pasadena’s art and antique district, Tirage Gallery features one of the largest selections of plain air paintings & representational fine art in the Western states. With more than sixty nationally recognized artists in scheduled themed exhibitions, Tirage Gallery offers an extensive variety of oil paintings, pastels, and watercolors of landscapes, urban impressionism, still life’s, interiors, and figurative imagery along with sculpture and commissioned portraiture. As a full-service gallery, Tirage is a specialist in corporate collections, site specific artwork, and a provider of fine art for film and television projects. Tirage Gallery was a curator and sponsor of the recent nationally acclaimed “Contemporary Masters, Artistic Eden” exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of History. Tirage Gallery also provides custom framing and fine art restoration. One West California Blvd., Pasadena, (626)405-1020, www.tirageart.com.

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California, Las Vegas and Hawaii, Phoenix fell in love with the 1950s, growing up the son of a homemaker mother and used-car-salesman father in Ontario, California. His father’s car lots bred his love for classic autos, particularly prominently finned vehicles from 1957 through 1961. Phoenix’s mother encouraged him to “follow my bliss,” so after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design and Management and a brief stint as a fashion designer, he turned his hobby of shopping garage sales into his life’s work. “I would keep finding these old Kodachrome slides from family events that were now long forgotten and being dumped in garage sales, and I started buying the ones that interested me,” explains Phoenix. “I started putting them together in slide shows for friends, just to show off the changes in Southern California history. But people found my commentary funny and encouraged me to emphasize humor with the history. Eventually the shows grew bigger and bigger.” In 2000, Phoenix made the leap from house parties to the Egyptian Theater’s second-tier Spielberg Theater in Hollywood, where he continued to sell out two weeks of Christmas-themed slide shows at $25 per ticket. He has since performed “God Bless Americana: The Retro Vacation Slide Show Tour of the U.S.A.” at Walt Disney Hall’s REDCAT theater and the J. Paul Getty

“CHARLES BRINGS THE PARTY TO THE PARTY... HE’S A MASTER INVESTIGATOR OF THE ABSURD.” Museum; in 2003, he took his show on the road to the New York Fringe Theatre Festival, where it was named “the most unique theatrical performance.” The following year, he started his “Disneyland Tours of Downtown Los Angeles.” In these occasional day-long forays, he takes adventurous travelers for a ride on an old school bus, connecting the dots between Disney Hall and the Magic Castle as he points out ways in which downtown’s hardscrabble streets resemble the “Happiest Place on Earth.” His most inventive work yet might be the “Moonlight Rollerway Spectaculars” he hosts at the classic Moonlight Rollerway skating rink in Glendale. Launched last May, the events recall the heyday of Southern California’s roller rinks and 50 years of celebrations of holidays ranging from Christmas to Cinco de Mayo. The show features an hour long slide show, a house organist, a skating party and jaw-dropping performances by 75 champion skate dancers. Such joie de vivre unduplicated on other stages inspired Doo Dah’s organizers to recruit Phoenix for this year’s festivities. “Charles brings the party to the party,” says Tom Coston, executive director of the Light Bringer Project, the nonprofit arts group behind Doo Dah. “I like the way he can look at something that’s on the surface very typical and point out the oddball, and we felt there’s plenty of that in our parade. He’s a master investigator of the absurd, and we’re giving him plenty to look at.” AM The 32nd Occasional Doo Dah Parade starts at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 18, at the inter-

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DESIGN

Something Old, Something New INTERIOR DESIGNER CYNTHIA BENNETT COMBINES ANTIQUES, REPRODUCTIONS AND AUTHENTIC DETAILS TO RESTORE A SPANISH REVIVAL HOME THAT WORKS FOR A 21ST-CENTURY COUPLE. BY JESSICA HAMLIN

FOR JOHN AND KATHERINE WOLF, TURNING THEIR 1929 SPANISH REVIVAL HOME IN SAN MARINO INTO THE PALACE THEY ENVISIONED INVOLVED A DELICATE DANCE: THEY WANTED TO BRING THE TWO-STORY RESIDENCE INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, WITH SUCH BLESSINGS OF CONTEMPORARY LIVING AS A GREAT KITCHEN, BUT THEY DIDN’T WANT THE RESTORATION TO COMPROMISE THE The Wolfs had been drawn to the home’s sunken living room, great courtyard and other hallmarks of Spanish Colonial style that had been popular in the Southwest for a few decades after World War I, and they believed the project called for a design professional fluent in that architectural language. Enter Cynthia Bennett, a historic restoration specialist whose rooms for the Pasadena Showcase House of Design in previous years had caught the couple’s eye. The Pasadena interior designer says she has worked on at least 25 Spanish Revival homes in her 27-year career, but this project was special: It was the first for which she was hired to restore every room. Bennett’s design for the sunken living room sets the tone for the home. “Usually for the color scheme, we start with the rug,” she says. “These rugs are actually Indian, and the patterns are not particularly Spanish, but they look Spanish.” The designer used a palette of tan, red, dark blue, green and marigold — typical Spanish colors which are picked up by the rugs in the living and dining rooms and around the home. Two tan high-backed Knolle sofas topped with tasseled pillows studded with nail heads provide a regal feel to the living room. Bennett paired the new pieces with two pairs of antique chairs; one set with an oak base has intricate carvings that beg to be admired. Bennett and her daughter, Carolien Fehmers, scouted out both antiques and reproductions at area shops, as the designer sought to strike a balance between beauty and comfort. “I found some antique sofas, but it is not easy to find upholstered pieces that are comfortable,” says Bennett, who worked closely with the homeowners on design choices. “Sometimes it’s better to buy antiques if you can find them, because you get better quality.” A standout among the Wolfs’ antiques is a small desk called a varguenos. The desk, in the sprawling family room off the kitchen, opens to —CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

32 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Photos: Tom Queally Photography

INTEGRITY OF THE ORIGINAL STYLE.

Photos: Tom Queally Photography

An antique sugar grinder serves as a side table in the family room, which is anchored by a coffee table with wrought-iron detailing under glass designed by Cynthia Bennett and crafted by Arte de Mexico.

ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 33

DESIGN

Knolle sofas topped with tasseled pillows create an inviting seating area in the living room; (below) a Spanish Revival table dominates the dining room.

—CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32

reveal many small drawers with wrought-iron handles and detailing. “It’s like a mini secretary desk — a true California antique,” Bennett says. Bennett mixed in antiques from different cultures — Asian, Irish and English — which, she says, meshed nicely because they are also embellished with wood carvings. The resourceful designer also turned the old into something new by cutting down the legs of an antique wood dining table to create a coffee table. “In the early 1900s, they didn’t have coffee tables,” Bennett notes. Spanish-style accessories — a colorful candlestick discovered by Katherine Wolf and a small ornate box inlaid with mother of pearl and ebony — add even more interest to the tabletop. But when it came to the kitchen, the Wolfs embraced the contemporary aesthetic of a large open room that opens onto a space for family living. Bennett helped them transform the old kitchen and laundry room into one large room with an island and adjacent bathroom. Highend modern touches include a Sub-zero refrigerator and Wolf Range, which come in handy for entertaining, particularly when the Wolfs’ three grandchildren come to visit. New electrical wiring, a sound system and flat-screen televisions are other useful additions that coexist comfortably alongside the Spanish charm. 34 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Indeed, design elements in the kitchen remain true to the traditional aesthetic: Colorful Spanish-style tiles adorn the backsplash. Patterned tiles are also used to lush effect in the home’s three bathrooms, as well as on the exterior, above the front door. “All of the tile was researched,” says Bennett. “They were patterns from that period, either still being made or we had them made.” Bennett’s eye for detail extended to painted stenciling on the steps, inspired by a design from the indoor pool of Hearst Castle in Cambria. Also stenciled are the beams in the family room, with scrollwork inspired by Caltech’s Athenaeum. Other Spanish design details include arched windows at the top of the stairs, deliberately created with wavy imperfections to evoke a century-old look. “We used an extra piece of lead at each intersection to arc the points,” says Tico Tech owner Rafael Calvo, who collaborated on the windows with his wife, Janet. “What I like, especially looking at them from the second floor, is there is an arch in the top of the chimney [seen through the window] that is almost identical, so it almost repeats the window shape.” For the Wolfs, moving into the San Marino home involved scaling down, but it also meant the realization of a long-held dream. “I’ve always been intrigued by Spanish homes,” says Katherine Wolf. “It was smaller, but it was nice to make something wonderful from something small.” AM

Photo: Chris Haston

DANCE

Reeling in the Years AFICIONADOS OF VICTORIAN DANCE AND COSTUMES KICK UP THEIR HEELS AT PERIOD BALLS HOSTED BY PASADENA'S SOCIAL DAUNCE IRREGULARS. BY JANA MONJI

IT MAY STRETCH CREDIBILITY, BUT THERE IS ONE PLACE IN THE WORLD WHERE MUCH-MALIGNED BRIDESMAID DRESSES ARE ACTUALLY DE RIGUEUR — THE MORE FRIGHTENING THE BETTER. “EVEN THOSE HIDEOUS, PUFFY TAFFETA BRIDESMAID DRESSES,” SAYS HISTORICAL COSTUME ENTHUSIAST VERONICA GONZALEZ-RUBIO, EXPLAINING THE UNUSUAL DRESS CODE FOR PASADENA’S VICTORIAN BALLS. “YOU CAN WEAR THEM AND NOT FEEL OVERDRESSED.” Gonzalez-Rubio is a founding member of the group that hosts these events — the Social Daunce Irregulars (SDI). As a committed Victoriana-phile, she prefers a purer approach to style at the ball, favoring a homemade blue-silk dress with butterflies which is truer to the period. But, she notes, any fan of reliving history is welcome. “There are no costume police,” she says. “I usually recommend first-timers come in evening clothes instead of investing money.” On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, around 250 of Gonzalez-Rubio’s fellow time travelers gathered at the Beaux-Arts Pasadena Masonic Lodge to celebrate SDI’s 20th anniversary with its 60th Grand Victorian Ball. (The next ball is scheduled for March 7.) The group is “dedicated to keeping the tradition of 19th-century ballroom dancing alive in our otherwise gray and pedestrian world,” according to its website, http://victoriandance.org. And at November’s fete, SDI kept its promise to devotees of yesteryear. Women who looked like they’d walked off the set of “Gone With the Wind” whirled across the floor with —CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 35

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—CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35

their nattily dressed escorts to longforgotten music performed by the uniformed Band of the California Battalion, under the baton of Gary Scott. Pasadena’s Victorian enthusiasts are certainly not alone. Their counterparts, charmed by dance in the age of Dickens, are active around the country. Closer to home, there’s the San Diego Vintage Dance Society (hosting “Viennese Nights: A Grand Victorian Ball” on Jan. 31 at Balboa Park) and the Riverside Dickens Festival (which throws “Mr. Fezziwig’s Victorian Ball” on Feb. 6 at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium). Pasadena’s three balls a year usually sell out quickly; the appeal, say aficionados, is the formality of the form — the spirit of buttoned-up dress-up. Others cite their love of recreating history. Many ball-goers are wooed by the chance to sport the spectrum of fashion popular during Queen Victoria’s rule, from June 1837 until January 1901. Those 60 years of style, which stretched on these shores from the antebellum years through Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, included hoop skirts, bustles and, eventually, pegged skirts. Even the long, elegant dresses of the subsequent Edwardian era, as seen in the movie “Titanic,” are considered fair game. Member Chris Springhorn, an assistant at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanic Gardens, is so enamored of the period that she makes her own vintage-inspired clothes. “I started collecting bits of antique lace, clothing and jewelry,” she says. As for men, virtually anything formal goes, from tuxes — with or without

tails — to military uniforms. “It’s not as expensive as one would think for the men,” says frequent ball-goer Donald Hollis Clinton Jr. “You could wear a [business] suit. Men are boring. They haven’t changed their clothes for hundreds of years. If you really know about fashion, you can see [differences in] the width of the lapels and how the bottom is cut.” Dancers of both genders are discouraged from sporting spurs, swords, trains or “anything that might snag, slap, stab, gouge, blind, bludgeon, tangle or trip your fellow dancers on a crowded floor,” according to the website. Divided into four sets, each ball begins with the Grand March, led by architect Jeff Bissiri, SDI’s “perpetual president for life.” The march offers participants a chance to put their best foot forward, literally and figuratively — that’s when everyone gets to see what fellow dancers are wearing. Following that are waltzes, polkas and group dances like quadrilles, for which Bissiri, alternating with another founding member, Athene Kovacic, calls the steps. The penultimate dance is the Virginia Reel, which Scarlett O’Hara daringly danced with Rhett Butler during her widowhood. The night ends with a waltz. Bissiri and other founding members launched SDI after driving to balls in Northern California during the 1980s. Deciding that Pasadena could use its own 19th-century dance group, they held their first dance on a shoestring budget of $300, using Caltech’s Dabney Hall because they could get it without a fee. The founders are now in their late 40s and early 50s, but dancers as young as 5 have attended the balls. “There have been a couple of groups of young teenagers who practiced up in their hometown, Apple Valley, and came to one or two balls a year,” Springhorn says. “And now as college students, they come as a way of meeting up. They weren’t interested in historical reenactment when they started, but some adult brought them in as a way of teaching mannerly behavior and social comfort through dancing.” Some social contact has been so comfortable that romances have blossomed. Veronica’s brother, Roberto Gonzalez-Rubio, an assistant TV and film director, met his wife of 17 years, Jacqueline, at a ball when he tagged along with his sister. “I was single, and what better place to meet a girl than at a dance?” he says with a laugh. “Call me old-fashioned.” Even if you’re not a good dancer, Roberto says, come anyway. “I have two left feet, but if you can drive a stick, you can dance. If you know the difference between right and left and are able to count to three and maybe four on some of the more advanced dances, you can dance.” AM SDI’s next Victorian Grand Ball is March 7. Tickets cost $25 and usually sell out in advance. SDI hosts a class on group dances in Altadena on March 1. Visit http://victoriandance.org. Information on vintage dance activities throughout Southern California is available at www.lahacal.org.

231 1/2 N. Brand Blvd. Glendale, CA (Between Wilson & California)

818.242.5672 AMDSGlendale@aol.com www.GlendaleAMDS.com ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 37

MUSIC

The Troubadour of Lost Time ONETIME BRITISH INVADER IAN WHITCOMB AND HIS BUNGALOW BOYS SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF TURN-OF-THE-20TH-CENTURY MUSIC. BY KIRK SILSBEE

IAN WHITCOMB WAS A DUBLIN HISTORY STUDENT WITH A PASSION FOR POP MUSIC WHEN HE ARRIVED IN LOS ANGELES IN 1965. ON A LARK, HE’D RECORDED A SONG THAT HAD BECOME A NATIONAL HIT: “YOU TURN ME ON” WAS A ROCK NUMBER SUNG IN A PANTING FALSETTO, AND IT TURNED WHITCOMB INTO BRITISH ROCK ROYALTY. NATURALLY, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THREW ITS ARMS AROUND WHITCOMB, BLANKETING HIM IN INVITATIONS TO APPEAR ON “SHINDIG” AND “AMERICAN BANDSTAND.” HE WAS BOOKED ALL OVER TOWN, FROM THE TROUBADOUR TO THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, WHERE HE APPEARED IN CONCERT WITH THE BEACH BOYS, THE KINKS AND THE BYRDS. HE HOBNOBBED WITH THE LIKES OF POP GODS SONNY & CHER, WHO SHARED A LIMO RIDE TO THE BOWL WITH WHITCOMB AND HIS DATE FROM “THE DATING GAME.” HE ALSO SOCIALIZED WITH MEMBERS OF THE EXPATRIATE BRITISH ARTISTIC ELITE, INCLUDING CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD, DON BACHARDY AND DAVID HOCKNEY.

That heady summer planted the seeds of Whitcomb’s enduring romance with Southern California, where he evolved into a popular vintage dance band leader, musicologist and champion of the ukulele. As a boy, he’d known the deprivations of postwar England. In L.A., Whitcomb must have felt as though he’d fallen down a rabbit hole. The excesses of the entertainment industry conspired with the sun and the beach to create an irresistible lure. Over the years, Whitcomb’s fortunes have waxed and waned, but he has remained here and, in his own way, thrived. At 67, he’s still a singer and songwriter as well as a multi-instrumentalist (piano, ukulele, accordion), musical and cultural historian, author, broadcaster, essayist and blogger. And he does it all from the modest Altadena home base he shares with his wife of 19 years, Regina, an accomplished social dancer and singer who performs with his bands. The assembled ’60s TV clips from his current DVD compilation on ITW Records, “Ian Whitcomb: The Rock & Roll Years” (available at Picklehead.com), reveal how he won the town over. As a young man, Whitcomb liked to play to the camera, mugging, dancing around the piano and catting about with the go-go girls. He’s still irrepressibly entertaining, but now he speaks a different dialect: the more genteel language of ragtime, Tin Pan Alley, English music hall and early musical Americana. Indeed, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more knowledgeable authority on early 20th-century American and English popular music. Whitcomb has a detailed knowledge of songwriters and performers from a century ago, and he mines it for his pithy introductions to their music before performing it for contemporary audiences.

38 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Photos: (Opposite) Courtesy of the Homestead Museum; (This page) Courtesy of the Homestead Museum

“A city either wants you or it doesn’t.” – L.A. poet Holly Prado

He’s a serious historian who makes arcane music fun, tossing out surprising factoids like this one: A ballad Elvis Presley made famous — “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” — was actually written in the 1920s. Call it edutainment. That’s what his fans come to hear when Ian Whitcomb & His Bungalow Boys ride the benefit circuit and appear at other gigs in the area. And that’s what his team of expert Bungalow Boys are uniquely equipped to help him provide. (Guitarist Fred Sokolow is an authority on classic guitar styles, and violinist Bobby Bruce is a World War II veteran who played with Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys.) “The best of the old songs are the best of Western music, because they have the basics of music: melody, harmony and rhythm,” Whitcomb says. “Those songs are the culmination of 400 years of Western civilization. And in this age of looping and rapping — really just circular rhythms and changing textures — they’re far more interesting to me.” On a recent afternoon in Santa Monica, Whitcomb stopped for a bite at a Mexican restaurant before performing for a group of schoolchildren at the nearby National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences building, home of the Grammy Awards. (Whitcomb’s 1997 album, “Titanic: Music as Heard on the Fateful Voyage,” won grammy for package design and a nomination for his liner notes; Whitcomb also served as a consultant on the James Cameron film.) He’s tall, still slender and, though his hair is graying, he has a boyish grin. Asked about his presentation later that day, he brightens. “I’m teaching them the story of America through its songs,” he says. The irony of a British expatriate teaching Americans about their country is not lost on him. “It’s an honor to do this, actually. I’m a troubadour in the historic sense, carrying news and information through songs.” Whitcomb laid the groundwork for his current gigs back in the mid-’60s, then a history student touring with “The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars.” While others on the bus played cards and rehearsed their vocal harmonies, Whitcomb usually had his nose in a book. And when he wasn’t performing at the tour’s stops around the country, he would track down and interview the last of the old tunesmiths and ragtime pianists. The first of his half-dozen cultural histories and memoirs, “After the Ball: Pop Music from Rag to Rock” (Simon & Shuster; 1972), came out of that period. In it, he took a long view of American pop, which helped him find his own place in the music spectrum. He needed it: Whitcomb’s tumble from the Top 10 to playing ukulele in a pizza restaurant two years later had been dizzying. He’d followed “You Turn Me On” with a recording of a 1916 British music hall ditty: “Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on Saturday Night?” It was a modest hit on Pasadena station KRLA, but it was a bridge to nowhere. Novelty songs didn’t make for career longevity in the age of protest songs. He produced Mae West’s “Great Balls of Fire” album, which MGM Records released in 1972, then left the pop music business. By 1979, Whitcomb was returning to his native England less and less. A friend showed him a house for sale in Altadena and he fell for it on the spot. “I love Altadena,” he says. “We’re close to Pasadena, but it’s removed; those lovely hills are right there.” Perhaps even lovelier, L.A. offered a bigger audience for his obsessions — 1950s rhythm ’n’ blues, ragtime songs, Hawaiianthemed tunes from the 1920s, early cowboy songs and the like.

Then, with his ambitious 1983 book, “Rock Odyssey: A Musician’s Chronicle of the ’60s” (Dolphin/Doubleday), Whitcomb staked his claim as a premier music historian. In this entertaining and incisive tome, he fused his diary entries as a young British Invader with cultural and historic context. The result was a particularly literate and jaundiced appraisal of the gathering renaissance. “The American people elevated me to fame with a trifle, a piece of piffle knocked off in a fit of absence of mind,’’ he wrote of his brush with fame. New York Times critic Stephen Holden praised the book, calling it “the best-written personal chronicle we have of the period.” These days, Whitcomb’s writings range from scholarly pieces on turn-ofthe-20th-century music, which he produces for obscure publications from his desk at the Huntington Research Library, to wide-ranging musings on life that he records in his Letters from Lotusland blog at picklehead.com. Whitcomb also presides over an informal Monday night salon at Conrad’s Coffee Shop in Pasadena, where music experts like author Jim Dawson (“The History, Heroes & Villains of a Pop Music Revolution” [Backbeat; 2003]) and rockabilly singer Ray Campi share their insights. His well-regarded radio show on KPCC, 89.3 FM, was canceled when the station switched to a talk format a few years ago, but he can still be heard at Luxuriamusic.com. In a typically eclectic show, he might pay tribute to the popular ’50s vocal group the Ames Brothers, then sample his collection of Vitaphone transcription discs from the ’30s, move into a Hawaiian slack-key and ukulele set and end with records by his many musical friends — holding it all together with trenchant commentary. This month, Whitcomb shoots a TV pilot for “Altadena Lane,” a variety show with local performers at Altadena’s Coffee Gallery for broadcast on Pasadena’s Public Access Cable Channel 56. “It’s kind of like ‘The Tonight Show,’ but with a much smaller budget, of course,” he says. He also serves as musical director of “The Jazz Age,” Allan Knee’s new play about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, opening at the Blank Theatre Company in Hollywood on Jan. 30. Aside from his own gigs (the Bungalow Boys play every Sunday at Cantalini’s Ristorante in Marina Del Rey), Whitcomb performs as a sideman with Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys, strumming the uke he bought for $25 at a New Orleans pawnshop 45 years ago. (Dubbed the “ukulele chanteuse,” Klein is a combination of Betty Boop and Fanny Brice who sings naughty songs like “Banana in Your Fruit Basket.”) With so much going on, Whitcomb finds little time to stay connected with his place of birth, even though he still has siblings on the other side of the Atlantic. “This is my home now,” he says. “I have absolutely no audience in England.” Pausing for a moment, Whitcomb continues: “This country gave me a chance and I took it. I can do what I do here. Americans seem to like me, and I like them for it.” AM ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 39

MUSIC

The Troubadour of Lost Time ONETIME BRITISH INVADER IAN WHITCOMB AND HIS BUNGALOW BOYS SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF TURN-OF-THE-20TH-CENTURY MUSIC. BY KIRK SILSBEE

38 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Photos: (Opposite) Courtesy of the Homestead Museum; (This page) Courtesy of the Homestead Museum

“A city either wants you or it doesn’t.” – L.A. poet Holly Prado

A HIGHLY SELECTIVE PREVIEW OF UPCOMING EVENTS

THE

LIST COMPILED BY JOHN SOLLENBERGER

A DIVINE NEW YEAR Dec. 30 through Jan. 4 –— The Chinese dance company Divine Performing Arts presents its annual “Chinese New Year Spectacular,” with 100 dancers and musicians performing against a digital backdrop at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The New York–based company celebrates the grandeur of Chinese culture in a bilingual two-hour program featuring vocal and instrumental performances inspired by Buddhist and Taoist legends and folk dances from various regions of China, dramatizing the classic battle between good and evil. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Tickets range from $35 to $188. The Pasadena Civic Auditorium is located at 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Call (800) 8177116 or visit www.laspectacular.com.

NORTON SIMON SERVES UP FOOD FOR THOUGHT AND FAMILY FUN

TOURNAMENT OF ROSES FLOATS’ RIPPLE EFFECT Jan. 1 through 3 — The Tournament of Roses’ “Post Parade: A Showcase of Floats” remains on view at the end of the parade route at the intersection of Sierra Madre and Washington boulevards in Pasadena. Visitors can learn more about the floats from staff on hand, or they can visit iTunes and download a Tournament of Roses–produced audio tour. A documentary on the making of a float, sponsored by Bayer Advanced, is shown continuously in the auditorium adjacent to the showcase lot. General viewing hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 7 to 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday is reserved for seniors and disabled visitors. Admission is $7 for adults and youth, free for children ages 5 and under. Advance tickets are available through Sharp Seating Company: (626) 795-4171. Tickets are also available at the event box office and at all Park & Ride locations. (Using Park & Ride is recommended because on-site parking is limited.) Sales end at 2:30 p.m. and admittance ends at 3 p.m. Call (626) 449-4100 or visit www.tournamentofroses.com/events/showcase.asp.

40 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Jan. 3 — In connection with the exhibition of Johannes Vermeer’s “A Lady Writing,” research-conservator Melanie Gifford of the National Gallery of Art gives a 4 p.m. lecture on “Vermeer’s Painting Techniques: Time Stilled and Light Made Tangible.” Jan. 7 and 25 — Stories in the Afternoon commemorates “A Lady Writing” with “You’ve Got Mail!” — an opportunity for families to hear stories about pen pals and design their own stationery with decorative stamps at 4 p.m. Wednesday and 2 p.m. Jan. 25. Jan. 11 — Once Upon a Time hosts a workshop by author-illustrator Tim Egan. With a nod to his book, “Dodsworth in Paris,” in which the popular character and his wacky duck friend trek to the City of Light, participants will create their own Parisian adventure through pictures and words. The event starts at 2 p.m. Jan. 31 — Anne T. Woollett, associate paintings curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum, speaks on “The Intimate Interior: Vermeer and His Contemporaries” at 4 p.m. Woollett discusses the artist’s portrayals of privileged 17th-century Dutch women engaged in private activities, including scenes of love and amusement. The Norton Simon Museum is located at 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Call (626) 4496840 or visit www.nortonsimon.org.

CONFAB ON CONFUCIUS AT THE PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM Jan. 10 — Author-commentator Sandra Tsing Loh and other community leaders discuss the role of Confucianism in daily life in a panel discussion and lecture on “Confucian Values in Professional and Personal Life.” A group discussion follows. The event, which runs from 2 to 4 p.m., coincides with the Jan. 11 closing of the exhibition “Confucius: Shaping Values through Art.” Call to RSVP. The Pacific Asia Museum is located at 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 449-2742 or visit www.pacificasiamuseum.org.

“THE MAGIC FLUTE” RETURNS TO L.A. OPERA Jan. 10 through 25 — LA Opera’s original production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” returns to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The piece, both a fairy tale and an allegory suggesting deeper mysteries, has been delighting audiences for more than 200 years. Under the direction of Music Director James Conlon, this Peter Hall production features sets and costumes designed by English visual artist, satirist and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. Featured performers include Marie Arnet, Erin Wall, L’Ubica Vargicova, Albina Shagimuratova, Matthew Polenzani, Joseph Kaiser, Nathan Gunn, Markus Werba, Günther Groissböck, Morris Robinson and Matthias Goerne. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is located at 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Call (213) 972-8001 or visit www.laopera.com.

SUITED FOR COMEDY AT FREMONT CENTRE THEATRE Jan. 17 — Ray Bradbury’s comedy, “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit,” opens at Fremont Centre Theatre. The play tells the story of five young Latino men from East Los Angeles who ascribe mystical powers to a tailored suit the color of vanilla ice cream, which they spot in a clothing-store window. The show is a guest production, directed by Alan Neal Hubbs and presented by Bradbury’s Pandemonium Theatre Company. Performances run through Feb. 15, starting at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Sundays. The Fremont Centre Theatre is located at 1000 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena. Call (323) 960-4451 or visit www.Plays411.net.

Photos: Women’s Roles image courtesy of the Collection of the New York Historical Society, LA Opera by Robert Millard, Tournament of Roses by Erin Brace; Confucius by Julian Bermudez

A STYROFOAM LOVER AT SCI-ARC Jan. 23 — SCI-Arc Gallery presents a new site-specific installation, “A Styrofoam Lover with (E)motions of Concrete,” by Vienna–based architect Suanne Zottl. Zottl’s work questions our simple relationship with the wall, reminiscent of the way Eve Hesse explored wall-work in the 1970s with paintings that curved, stretched and reached out like sculpture. Zottl's undulating walls use a mixture of concrete and thermal foam, balancing the need for formal innovation against the current necessity for environmental innovation. A 6 p.m. discussion precedes the opening reception from 7 to 9 p.m. The exhibition continues through March 8. SCI-Arc Gallery is located at 960 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles. Call (213) 613-2200 or visit www.sciarc.edu.

HEARTS AND FLOWERS AT THE FOLK TREE Jan. 24 — In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, the Folk Tree presents its 22nd annual “Hearts & Flowers Exhibition,” showcasing works by some 50 artists — including 16 jewelry designers — using symbols of love. Also on display is Mexican folk art, including ceramic figures by the Aguilar family, repoussé hearts cut from tin and paper and corn-husk flowers. An opening reception runs from 2 to 6 p.m. The exhibit continues through Feb. 21. The Folk Tree is located at 217 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 795-8733 or visit www.folktree.com.

L.A. MASTER CHORALE BLOWS OUT 45 CANDLES Jan. 25 — The Los Angeles Master Chorale celebrates its 45th anniversary at 7 p.m. at Walt Disney Concert Hall with a performance of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” Bass-baritone Eric Owens, acclaimed for roles with operas in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and San Francisco, sings the title role. Other featured soloists include soprano Mary Wilson, mezzo-soprano Diana Tash and tenor Robert MacNeil. Music Director Grant Gershon conducts. Gershon and KUSC’s Alan Chapman lead a pre-concert discussion at 6 p.m. The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Call (800) 787-5262 or visit www.lamc.org.

WOMEN’S ROLES IN TIFFANY STUDIOS DISCUSSED Jan. 31 — Friends of the Gamble House presents a Sydney D. Gamble Lecture on “The Women of Tiffany Studios” at Art Center College of Design’s Ahmanson Auditorium. Margaret K. Hofer, curator of decorative arts for the New York Historical Society, explores the key role women played in the design and manufacture of Tiffany’s signature leaded glass lamps. (Many of the firm’s most famous pieces, including the Wisteria, Dragonfly and Peony, were designed by Clara Driscoll.) The event starts at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets cost $25; $20 for Friends of the Gamble House members. Art Center College of Design is located at 1700 Lida St., Pasadena. Call (626) 793-3334, ext. 52, or visit www.gamblehouse.org. AM

HAPPENINGS AT

THE HUNTINGTON

Jan. 17, 24 and 31 — A botanical watercolor class led by botanical illustrator Lisa Pompelli spotlights desert plants — their unusual forms, intricate textures and vivid flowers — from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The course includes a docent-led Desert Garden tour. The cost is $295, $275 for members of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. Call (626) 405-2128 to register. Jan. 23 and 24 — A conference on “The Reign of Charles I, 1625-1649” examines one of the most controversial English monarchs, praised by supporters for his religious piety and condemned by opponents as a “man of blood.” International scholars will discuss his reign, which ended in civil war and his execution. The conference runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Admission costs $25. Call (626) 405-3432 or contact skrasnoo@huntington.org. Jan. 24 — Casey Schwartz and Kit Wertz of Flower Duet lead a class on “The Art of Flower Arranging: Chinese Bouquet” from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants take home a centerpiece — a Chinese “good luck” bouquet of red flowers arranged in a pavé style — to welcome in the lunar new year. The class costs $85, $75 for members. Call (626) 4052128 to register. Jan. 27 — Benjamin A. Elman, professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, conducts a free Chinese Garden lecture, “Money Talks: Commerce, Classics and Taste in Late Imperial China, 1600-1800,” starting at 7:30 p.m. in Friends’ Hall. Elman discusses commerce with the New World, which created a global economy during the late Ming period, and its lasting impact on Chinese culture. Reservations are not required. Jan. 29 — Stanley N. Katz, director of the Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, presents the Nevins Lecture, “General Education and Democracy: What Can John Dewey Tell Us?” at 7:30 p.m. Katz examines the earliest forms of general education, which arose during World War I to prepare undergraduates for democratic citizenship. He discusses philosopher John Dewey’s emphasis on the relationship between education and experience, which still influences the way we think about general education. The lecture is free and no reservations are required. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is located at 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. Call (626) 405-2100 or visit www.huntington.org. ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 41

KITCHEN CONFESSIONS

Change We Can Believe In, Again HAVE YOU MADE YET ANOTHER JANUARY RESOLUTION TO LOSE WEIGHT? WELL, HAPPY NEW YEAR: LOW–CAL DOESN'T HAVE TO MEAN HO-HUM. BY LESLIE BILDERBACK

After a long season of Hope, it’s finally time for Change We Can Believe In. No, I am not talking about the long-awaited inauguration of the

your usual swear word. That way, when you slip up, you have time to recover and

new administration in Washington. I’m talking

correct yourself. Classics like “shoot” and “dagnabit” are fine, although I prefer to

about the hope for change that takes place

“caucus.” Never mind that all your hard work will be for naught the minute they

every year at this time: the annual rite of pas-

use a more creative turn of phrase, like “cheese and rice,” “Mother Hubbard” or set foot on their middle school campus. Those kids curse like sailors. Of course, the most common New Year’s resolutions — especially in this town — relate to health and fitness. According to Nielsen’s Consumer Panel

sage in which we look inward — and some-

Services, Americans spent nearly $50 million on weight-loss products in January

times outward — then vow to change our

Day candy.

behavior. And this time we mean it. Yes, it’s

would say compulsively), and I consider myself fairly fit. Still, I always feel as a fat

resolution time.

around Christmas. Sugary treats are not part of my regular diet — except during

If there is someone out there who wants to quit smoking, may I suggest

2007. Of course, the amount dropped dramatically in February. I blame Valentine’s My usual resolution is to drop 10 pounds. I run almost every day (some as a tick at this time of year. The problem, of course, is that I have no will power the holidays. Virtually the entire month of December was a sugar-palooza. Every cup of coffee was a double cinnamon mocha eggnog carb-accino. Every meal

coming over to my house and lighting up in front of my children? Their impudent

was accentuated by a hunk of See’s Candy. There were Yule logs, boxes of

yet entertaining dramatization of someone choking on second-hand smoke will

fudge, sugar cookies and gingerbread (oh, baby). The way I see it, if someone is

shame anyone into quitting. They perfected their technique on a recent trip to Las

nice enough to bake me a tin of brownies, the very least I can do is eat them —

Vegas. Cigarette sales at the Tropicana casino dropped that weekend by nearly

each and every one of them. I even consumed an abnormal amount of fruitcake,

20 percent.

which I fooled myself into believing was okay because it contained fruit.

Many folks attempt to get organized this time of year. In our hectic culture of

As an amateur athlete, I understand that sugar is my body’s most efficient

multitasking and sensory overload, it isn’t always easy to keep your wits about

source of energy. So what if it is not meant to be consumed in the form of candy

you, let alone remember the date of your dental appointment (though I suspect

canes? I know that nutritionists say that unrefined sugar is essentially poison. But

many make this resolution merely to justify purchases of the latest hand-held

I am a baker, after all, and I have a great deal of affection for the pastry arts. This

electronic devices).

is why I run. I am running away from the cream puffs and the cookies and the

Refraining from cursing is a resolution often attempted by young parents,

chocolate. Unfortunately, as I’ve discovered in recent years, no matter how many

intent on raising their kids in a wholesome environment. As a former parent of

miles I run, I will still gain weight when I round out my macrobiotic diet with cook-

young children, I can tell you that the most effective way to succeed is to substi-

ie dough, almond toffee, peanut brittle and nougat.

tute another word. It’s best to choose a word that starts with the same letter as 42 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Like all good junkies, I’ve reacted to this sudden influx of the object of my

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Phone: (626) 449-5420 I Fax: (626) 449-5121 This recipe is the perfect end to an otherwise ho-hum low-calorie dinner. It comes from my Grandma Mildred's recipe file. She served this and a dozen other Jell-O–based dishes, not because it was a light dessert, but because it was the 1960s. In fact, the original was not at all light but was made with fullsugar Jell-O, full-fat sour cream and canned sweetened pie filling, and it was smothered with Cool Whip. Ingredients 1 6-oz. package sugar-free raspberry gelatin 2 cups boiling water 2 cups cold water 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pint fresh raspberries 1 pint fresh blueberries 1 tablespoon honey 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt

Method 1. In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water, and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until completely dissolved. Add cold water and cinnamon, then stir to combine. Chill until partially set, about 1 hour. (You are looking for the consistency of egg whites.) 2. Add berries and honey; stir to combine. Divide the mixture into two batches, and add yogurt to one. 3. Layer the gelatin mixtures alternately in 8 tall parfait glasses. Chill 3 to 4 hours before serving. Gelatin can also be layered in one large decorative mold and unmolded onto a platter when fully chilled.

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desire with a clearly detectable — and not entirely unpleasant — rush (of energy, that is). It’s much more fun to consume than the sugar I normally get from fruit, milk or honey. Eventually, my body got used it, reacted by craving more, then sent me into withdrawal if I didn’t get it. Hello, Dr. Drew? But I am not naïve. I knew what I was getting myself into, and now the time has come, as it does every year, to pay the piper. Luckily, I also enjoy a crisp stalk of celery. AM Bilderback is a certified master chef and baker, a former executive chef of Pasadena's California School of Culinary Arts and the author of five volumes in Alpha Publishing's “The Complete Idiot's Guide to...” series — “...Snack Cakes” (June 2008); “...Good Food from the Good Book” (March 2008), “...Spices and Herbs” (Dec. 2007); “...Comfort Food” ( Sept. 2007); and “...Success as a Chef” (Feb. 2007). A South Pasadena resident, Bilderback teaches her techniques online at www.culinarymasterclass.com.

ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 43

THE ART OF SCIENCE

There Will Be (Less) Blood CALTECH RESEARCHERS HAVE DEVELOPED A “BARCODE CHIP” FOR CHEAPER, FASTER BLOOD TESTS. BY STEVE COULTER

I WAS AT A ROUTINE PHYSICAL RECENTLY WHEN MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THAT I NEEDED TO GET SOME BLOOD WORK DONE. MY FAMILY HAS A HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE, SO HE WANTED TO GET A GOOD LOOK AT MY CHOLESTEROL LEVELS, ESPECIALLY AFTER HE LEARNED THAT I WAS A PART-TIME RESTAURANT CRITIC WITH A TASTE FOR BUTTERY FOODS. This request presented several problems for me. First of all, it was a minor miracle that I had made it to this appointment at all, considering my latrophobia (fear of doctors). Secondly, the only thing I fear more than doctors are needles (aichmophobia). Third, I’m way too busy to leave one doctor’s appointment only to go sit in another waiting room for 30 minutes (egomania). Soon after this ordeal I discovered a group of Caltech researchers who are developing a “barcode blood chip” that might just save me from having to face these

blood work. “Right now, it takes a long time to do these kinds of [tests], but with the IBBC, you don’t have to centrifuge anything,” Fan said. “You just put the blood directly into the chip and within a few minutes, you’ve already got results.”

particular fears ever again. It’s called the Integrated Blood-Barcode Chip (IBBC).

An IBBC chip consists of a glass slide covered with silicone rubber which is

“The goal is to make it possible for patients to go into the doctor’s office

molded to house microfluidic channels a fraction of the width of a human hair. A

and, within about 10 minutes, know whether or not they have a certain disease or

single drop of blood is added to the chip, and slight pressure is applied to force

a certain type of cancer,” said Ophir Vermesh, a graduate student and blood-chip

the blood through a channel. As the blood travels forward, plasma is skimmed

researcher. “We want to measure a lot of proteins in the blood at the same time

into narrower grooves branching off from the main channel. The plasma then

so that doctors can identify disease signatures faster.” Vermesh is part of a team

flows across barcode-like lines, each harboring an antibody that allows it to cap-

being led by James R. Heath, the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor in chemistry,

ture a specific protein. The amount of protein captured causes the individual bars

along with postdoctoral scholar Rong Fan and Leroy Hood, president of the

to glow; the resulting patterns suggest the presence (or absence) of inflamma-

Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington.

tions, cancers or other diseases.

Back to my ordeal: Here’s what happened to me when I had my blood drawn

“Because these chips are cheap to make, the hope is that eventually you will

that day, and I hope it never happens to you. A rather sizable needle was stuck

be able to go buy these things at the drugstore and run them just like glucose

into my arm, and a large amount of precious blood was withdrawn from my body.

monitors for diabetics,” Vermesh said. “These chips could tell you about a wealth

The phlebotomist (blood-sucker) then taped a cotton ball over the wound and sent me on my way. Meanwhile, my blood was whisked away to a laboratory,

of diseases you might have, right in the comfort of your own home.” This could be especially comforting for patients who need to be carefully

where it was placed in a centrifuge in order to separate the whole blood cells

monitored over time and have their blood tested regularly. Each test using the

from the plasma. The plasma was then tested for specific proteins that could indi-

IBBC can accomplish with one drop of blood what has traditionally required a vial

cate the presence of cancer and/or heart disease.

or more.

A few weeks later — only a day or two after I had finally gotten over the sting

Vermesh and Fan expect to see a commercial prototype within the next year,

of that indignity — I received the results in the mail, along with a note from my

developed by a company called Integrated Diagnostics, which Heath and Hood

doctor informing me that I was indeed healthy but that I might want to consider

formed to commercialize the IBBC. Integrated Diagnostics currently has three

skipping dessert every once in a while.

U.S. patents filed, in addition to one international patent.

That scenario could have been fast-forwarded by an IBBC, which may significantly reduce the amount of blood, time, energy and money wasted in performing 44 ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ ARROYO

Meanwhile, I’m just about due for a follow-up with my doctor — although something tells me I might just wait a year, and do the next round of tests myself. AM

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ARROYO ~ JANUARY 2009 ~ 47