Eye Level Pasadena

• What: Special screening of SiCKO to benefit Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP), followed by a panel discussion about the state of healthcare in California
• Where: screening at Laemmle’s Playhouse 7, panel discussion afterwards next door at Vroman’s
• When: Tuesday, July 10, 5:00 p.m.

Kelly Russell has ticket information and more details posted over at West Coast Grrlie Blather.

Pasadena’s first Really Really Free Market (RRFM) will take place this Saturday, June 30, in the parking lot of Bresee Nazarene Church at 1480 E. Washington Blvd in Pasadena. It will take place from 9 am to 1 pm.The RRFM is like a rummage sale, except that everything is free. There is no bartering, trading, buying or selling, and no corporate sponsorship. All items at the RRFM are offered freely. The RRFM is also a grass roots festival. It is the spontaneous creation of those who show up. How to participate in the RRFM:

• First, show up. If you find something you need or want, take it.
• Second, if you have something you don’t need or want, bring it. There will be plenty of space for you to set out your items.
• Third, if you have a talent or skill you are passionate about, bring it. There will be a guitar circle at the first RRFM and likely at all or most subsequent RRFMs. If you cut hair and would like to offer this service free of charge, bring your tools. If you love to play chess, bring your board—we can provide the table. If you want to do an interpretive dance, bring your leotard.
• Fourth, leave business cards at home. This event will be completely non-commercial, a drastic change from life as usual, which is increasingly dominated by corporate ads.
• Fifth, tell your friends, especially if they are in need. All are welcome. Nothing will be reserved for those with “discretionary income.”

And remember, the RRFM will be what we make of it together. If you have an idea, bring it or contact the temporary project “leader” John L. at jbloghry at aol dot com .

This will be the first of (hopefully) many RRFMs to be held this summer and fall, at both this location and at other locations.

This announcement was received through the email grapevine and posted with John L’s permission. The email also included a link to a site about an RRFM that takes place every month in Carrboro.

Does anyone have a hard copy of Friday’s Pasadena Star-News that they wouldn’t mind parting with? Aaron Proctor would love to have it.

This afternoon, everyone in our community is invited to participate in a march and vigil in response to the recent violence in our community.

Here are the details from this week’s Wired Women*:

4:00 p.m., Community call to action at La Pintoresca Library Lawn

4:30 p.m., Pilgrimage/Healing Ceremony all along Summit Avenue ending at Jackie Robinson Center

6:00 p.m., Community dialogue at Jackie Robinson Center

In response to the increase in violence and death in our community, the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley Chapter and Pasadena/Altadena Mothers on the Move (MOM), along with local churches and civic groups are calling on us all to participate in a mourning/healing event this Thursday, June 14th. We will meet on the La Pintoresca Library lawn, at the corner of Raymond and Washington Blvd. We will walk down Summit Avenue and then over to the Jackie Robinson Center for community dialogue. Yes, I know. Not all of us do marches. Vigils are not necessarily our thing. Some of us may be weighing the “opportunity cost” of taking time to do this. Others may be thinking, “What’s the ROI for my time and energy?” Others of you on this list have been engaged in community dialogue for decades and are weary of yet another “conversation”. Margaret Wheatley, trained as a scientist and now a consultant focused on systemic change, says, “I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation where we each have a chance to speak, where we each feel heard, and where we each listen well to our experiences, hopes and fears. This is how great changes begin.” If you can carve out the time, please come.

*Wired Women is a women-focused email newsletter published by Monica Hubbard. It announces local events and opportunities. To receive it, email monica.hubbard@charter.net.

This post isn’t specifically Pasadena-related, but Pasadena has a lot of citizens who care about what is going on in Darfur, and a lot of bloggers, and I’m guessing a lot of people who like John Lennon’s music. If that describes you, this post is for you.

My friend Marilyn and I started Bloggers for Darfur over a year ago as a resource for bloggers who want to call for an end to the horrible violence in Darfur. We got an email from Amnesty International this week announcing that they’d released an album of John Lennon’s music performed a bunch of different musicians called Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. They also made neat music player widget that people can add to their blog sidebars to play samples of the songs — and to call attention to the situation in Darfur. (It works for most blogs, except wordpress and livejournal — otherwise I’d show you a sample.) Check the widget out, though, and check out the album website.

If you have an instrument tucked away that you’ve been wanting to play again, the South Pasadena Adult Concert Band looks like fun:

Now recruiting players (click here to see larger)

The American Friends Service Committee is offering a Listener’s Way Workshop in Claremont this Saturday, April 28:

“Frustrated that ‘they’ just won’t take your views?”
Listener’s Way
Effective Advocacy

The Peace with Justice Center of the Pomona Valley with support of by the Claremont Friends Meeting will sponor AFSC’s popular Listener’s Way workshop. Based on the experience that arguing will only make walls higher and gaps wider, the Listener’s Way method builds on the effectiveness of listening and empathy as a first step to engaging people with different opinions on issues from personal relationships to social justice, war and peace. Join the Listener’s Way workshop on:

Saturday, April 28th, 10am to 2pm
Claremont Friends Meeting
727 West Harrison Ave
Claremont, CA
($15 suggested donation, incl. materials and snack lunch)

To register or for information, email or call Gerald Haynes at haynesqdh@aol.com, (909) 624-5008.

More information available here.

Sebastian Zacharia of Woodbury University will discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan this Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Pasadena Central Library.

Pasadena Central Library Auditorium
285 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
April 18
7:oo p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

By way of Pasadena Community Calendar and the Pasadena Weekly.

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This Saturday, April 21, the City of Pasadena Greening the Earth Day and Armory Family Arts Festival will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Memorial Park and Armory Center for the Arts. Free! For more information, see the pdf here.

Path to Freedom will have a booth there.

Vroman’s Bookstore, Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m. Heather Flores discusses and signs Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard Into a Garden and Your Neighborhood Into a Community. (More information available on the Vroman’s website.)

Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-449-5320