Taylor Swift in Claremont

Photo courtesy of Pomona College

I often tell people that I should have named this blog "My Life in Claremont" since my original intent was to write about my little life, and since I live in Claremont, that popped into the title. Sometimes, though, I branch out to talk about things that pertain to the city, and not necessarily to me. This is one such post.

The college community and town have been all abuzz about the fact that HMC won a contest in which Taylor Swift would come perform and give the music department $10,000. You can read about how this came about in this blog post written by an HMC student. 

I had one friend ask me if I had an "in" to getting tickets, and I tried to get one for a student of mine who is a huge fan, but I pull no such weight and knew of no strings to tug, so I ended up ticketless. I did hear about other people who managed to get tickets, and one of these days I will probably find out more about the concert. 

Crepes - At Last

After a failed attempt to eat at the new Crepe place in Village West, we decided to give it another try on Sunday for lunch before we went to see Argo. At least now they have real hours posted, and there were some people eating inside and out.

I was under the impression that the people working there don't particularly care if you are there or not. There are three little tables outside, but only four chairs. Three of those chairs were occupied, and when we inquired whether we could take a chair from inside to the deck, we were denied our request, even though no one was sitting in those chairs. We then decided to go inside. I'm also at a little loss for places, like this one, which take orders at the counter and then provide a place on the credit card slip for a tip before you even get served.

Nonetheless, the food came out fairly quickly. It tasted fine. Not horrible, not fabulous.

H had the spinach crepe.

I had the crepe du soliel - a breakfast crepe with eggs and bacon.

While sitting inside you can watch the movie, The Red Balloon. The upshot: We may go back sometime, but probably not often.

Sunday Matinee - Argo

I do not remember when we last went to the movie theater, but H had a hankering to see this new release, and we had the time yesterday, so off to the Laemmle we went.

Theater #5 (the big one) was pretty full, and the crowd seemed to enjoy this film. I did, too. Even at two full hours, the pacing was great, the juxtaposition between comedy and tension was well-plotted, the acting was very good. I think it's in contention for some Oscars.

However. I don't think I liked it that this is an historical film harkening waaaay back to when I was in college. Really. I have a hard time believing that I lived back in historical times.

Pomona College - 125 Years

While walking to the Claremont Library on Friday, I noticed that a carousel had somehow appeared on the quad in front of Big Bridges. After asking around, I found out that Pomona College is celebrating its 125th Anniversary (quasquicentennial) today. Here is an article with the specifics.

Riches and Rummage

Here are some photos from the CUCC Riches and Rummage Sale this morning. You can decide which are riches and which are rummage......

Almost Real Weather (Not So Random Friday Photo)

Leftover clouds from our first fall/winter weather of the year.

Proofreading

This proofreading error in yesterday's Courier gave me a good laugh...

Pantry Moth Update

I know you were waiting, just wanting to know how our battle with the pantry moths was coming along. Well, we seem to be making headway. After thoroughly cleaning out the pantry and throwing out all the dried food, I placed one of these traps in the pantry. It seems to be doing the trick. Although I still see occasional moths, the numbers are greatly reduced, and I can actually open up the pantry door and not see one most of the time now.

Downtown Dancing

One of the highlights for us during our downtown LA adventure on Saturday was the dancing. At the Music Center we ran across five dance floors where people were learning various kinds of dance. For a 20 minute lesson, you could pay $1 and join a variety of folk learning a short (quite short) routine. 

I was taken with this sweet little girl who was dancing with her dad in some kind of Ballet Folklorico. See the cute napkin in hand used as a handkerchief?

Here are some hip hoppers.

This group was learning Bomba.

We timed our visit to coincide with the beginning of the Grand Park Block Party. At 4:30 we saw the Fanfare for Grand Park which included a short musical piece with three brass players standing in the water (very shallow) of the fountain. This was followed by a dance by these blue people to several pieces of live music. We were just in time to get good seats on the ground right up front so that I could snap these shots.

Because we had been going since 8:30 a.m., we left downtown after this show and did not stay for the rest of the block party, although there seemed to be plenty of people who did stick around.

Olvera Street

It had been awhile since we had wandered Olvera Street, so it was time to go back, especially since we landed on its doorstep just out of Union Station. We noticed a sign for a free tour on the hour next door to the fire station (first fire station in Los Angeles), so we took that tour and saw new things. New to us.

You can take a walk into the firehouse - it's free.

The Avila Adobe is also free.

This is the Sepulveda House.

This statue of Antonio Aguilar is fairly new to the area. He was a singer/actor from Mexico who came to Hollywood. 

I'd never really looked at this mural which depicts scenes from the Mexican War of Independence (not to be confused with Cinco de Mayo).

The Biscailuz Building features a large mural by Leo Politi (children's book author/illustrator) that I had never seen before about the blessing of the animals.