BY CUYLER GIBBONS
the EDITOR’S NOTE SEASONAL WISHES.
“Blessed is the season that engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” —Herman W. Mable
’Tis The Season “Tis the season,” or so they say. Right before “they” go on to say a whole lot of grandiloquent yet contradictory things about just what this season is all about. From a savior’s birth, to the 25th annual iteration of EA Sports NFL, there is something for everyone to celebrate, it seems, as we roll over from one year to the next. Of course there is no culturally equivalent significance between the release of a popular video game, and the religious origin story generally subscribed to by nearly a 3rd of the world’s population (even E-Madden’s not that big). Whether pious or pagan, however, falsely acknowledging equivalence is often what we do.
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We put it all in the same seasonal pot. It’s easy to confuse the trappings of the holiday season – a sometimes aggressive consumerism driven by the culturally defined imperative “to gift”, which says, “It’s time to give somebody something,” with the essence of the holiday itself. A celebration of an act of giving, which says, “I need to give somebody something of myself.” It’s keeping the gifting and the giving in proper perspective that’s important. Here at Pasadena Magazine, believe me, we love a nice, bright and shiny gift just as much as the next person. Maybe more. Our fashion forward cover, shot in the iconographic
Smith Alley at One Colorado, in Old Pasadena, reflects the joy that shopping for the holidays can bring. And we’ve put together some exciting gift ideas that we hope will help you touch your significant other this holiday season…straight to their smoldering, heart of hearts, or in that warm, practical place where the heart resides on most days. From fashion to cookware, the stuff is all here. Fortunately, when it comes to the rest, we can all give thanks for a city as self aware as Pasadena. And this season we look at some ways that Pasadena itself gives back, from its world class support of public art, to aid for the homeless and the illumination of their plight through the Small Change Initiative. That municipal introspection continues with an examination of the tension between free speech and public safety recently brought home via the internet threat perpetrated by two South Pasadena High students; And we introduce two local film makers spot-lighting Pasadena schools and putting vital public school issues on the national radar. Some traditions are as inexorible as the seasons. Perhaps none moreso than the annual Rose Bowl game. We look at the inauspicous debut of this now cherished tradition. There is more of course, like that last surprise at the bottom of your stocking. We hope you enjoy the issue, and wish you the New Year you wish for. Warmest Regards, Cuyler
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
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