February 2018

FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA 

February 2018 

PROTECT 

YOUR 

ASSETS 

Do Identity Protection 

Services Work? 

STRATEGIES FOR 

OUTSMARTING 

SCAMMERS 

SHIELD YOUR HOME 

INVESTMENT FROM 

WILDFIRES 

THE PACIFIC 

ASIA MUSEUM 

Reopens After Renovation

2 | ARROYO | 02.18

Lic.653340 Photo by Ryan Garvin 

YOUR HOME. 

YOUR 

Masterpiece. 

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A love for art and people is what started this company. 

Thirty years later, nothing is as important to us as the 

incredible friendships that have come from creating 

beautiful spaces together with our clients. Let us 

show you how our finely tuned design/build process 

minimizes the stress involved with home remodeling 

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626.486.0510 HartmanBaldwin.com

4 | ARROYO | 02.18

arroyo 

VOLUME 14 | NUMBER 2 | FEBRUARY 2018 

24 

27 34 

PERSONAL FINANCE 

11 CAN YOU PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY ONLINE? 

Last year’s massive Equifax data breach underlined how vulnerable 

personal information is to cyberthieves. 

—By KATHLEEN KELLEHER 

24 THE FIRES NEXT TIME 

Strategies for homeowners to protect their assets from the growing threat of 

wildfi res 

—By BETTIJANE LEVINE 

27 TOO MANY PHISH IN THE SEA 

How scammers troll for your money, with bait you often can’t detect 

—By BETTIJANE LEVINE 

30 PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM REBORN 

The only university museum of art from Asia and the Pacific Islands reopens after 

extensive renovations. 

—By SCARLET CHENG 

PHOTO: (bottom right) Michael Cervin 

DEPARTMENTS 

09 FESTIVITIES American Ballet Theatre Gala, Jerry Kohl at Disney Hall, HBO 

Golden Globes party 

14 ARROYO HOME SALES INDEX 

33 KITCHEN CONFESSIONS When the culinary student becomes the teacher 

34 ARROYO COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH Pirate’s Gold 

35 THE LIST Chinese New Year at the Huntington, Peter Yarrow at Caltech, the 

Pasadena Symphony performs Stravinsky’s Firebird 

02.18 ARROYO | 5

EDITOR’S NOTE 

Last year set a record for losses from 

global natural disasters, estimated 

at $330 billion, according to The New 

York Times. Between wildfi res and 

mudslides, Southern California alone 

has taken a huge hit in recent months. 

And the future is grim — scientists 

say even more natural disasters are 

heading our way in the coming years. 

Many of the SoCal victims were 

well-heeled folk who lived in comfort 

and never thought they’d lose their 

homes. And, as Bettijane Levine 

reports, Arroyoland is increasing under 

threat, with much of the area falling 

into Cal Fire’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity (VHFS) zone. That places 

area residences — for many owners, their largest asset — at risk. But that 

doesn’t mean you can’t take steps now to protect your investment, even 

if disaster strikes (if it ever does). 

Hunker down to protect your resources from other 21st–century threats, 

like identity theft, a particular risk for some 145 million Americans (in 

all likelihood, including you) whose sensitive personal information was 

exposed to hackers in Equifax’s huge data breach last year. But are 

identity protection services the answer? Read Kathleen Kelleher’s report 

on page 11. 

Of course, the Internet is rife with thieves, but the web isn’t the only 

route to your assets. As Levine writes, the guy who actually “sold” 

the Brooklyn Bridge — twice — a century ago still has many low-tech 

successors in scoundrels on the phone who’ve crafted fake caller 

IDs or at the door masquerading as couriers. Unfortunately, there are 

scams aplenty, so Levine offers experts’ strategies for staying out of their 

clutches. 

—Irene Lacher 

arroyo 

FINE LIVING IN THE GREATER PASADENA AREA 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Irene Lacher 

ART DIRECTOR Stephanie Torres 

ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Richard Garcia 

PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Rochelle Bassarear 

EDITOR-AT-LARGE Bettijane Levine 

COPY EDITOR John Seeley 

CONTRIBUTORS Denise Abbott, Leslie Bilderback, 

Léon Bing, Martin Booe, Michael Cervin, Scarlet 

Cheng, Richard Cunningham, Kathleen Kelleher, 

Brenda Rees, John Sollenberger, Nancy Spiller 

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Dina Stegon 

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Lisa Chase, 

Brenda Clarke, Leslie Lamm 

ADVERTORIAL CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 

Bruce Haring 

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Andrea Baker 

PAYROLL Linda Lam 

CONTROLLER Kacie Cobian 

ACCOUNTING Alysia Chavez, Perla Castillo, 

Yiyang Wang 

OFFICE MANAGER Ann Turrietta 

PUBLISHER Jon Guynn 

SOUTHLAND PUBLISHING 

V.P. OF OPERATIONS David Comden 

PRESIDENT Bruce Bolkin 

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 

ArroyoMonthly.com 

©2018 Southland Publishing, Inc. 

All rights reserved. 

6 | ARROYO | 02.18

02.18 | ARROYO | 7

8 | ARROYO | 02.18

FESTIVITIES 

Avery and Andy Barth with Stella Abrera 

Jerry Kohl 

Brian, Peggy and Billy Butchkavitz 

PHOTOS: ABT Gala, Vince Bucci; HBO's 2018 Golden Globes Party, Gabor Ekecs; Los Angeles Master Chorale, courtesy of L.A. Master Chorale 

Misty Copeland and Blaine Hoven 

Dita Von Teese 

Elizabeth Segerstrom, Kevin McKenzie, Judy Morr and Kara Medoff Barnett 

South Pasadena-born Stella Abrera joined other American Ballet 

Theatre stars in a one-night-only performance at the Beverly Hilton 

Hotel, where more than 300 balletomanes celebrated the eminent 

New York-based company at its annual dinner gala in Los Angeles 

on Dec. 11, 2017. “ABT is America’s national ballet company, and we 

travel all over the country and around the world,” Executive Director 

Kara Medoff Barnett told the crowd. “Southern California is our 

second home.” Each holiday season, ABT performs Ratmansky’s The 

Nutcracker at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts, whose 

executive vice president, Judy Morr, was honored for supporting 

dance… Pasadena philanthropist Jerry Kohl’s dream came true at 

Walt Disney Hall, where he guest conducted 2,000 Handel fans singing 

the “Hallelujah Chorus” at the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Messiah 

Sing-Along on Dec. 18, 2017. Kohl won his debut at the podium in a 

fundraising auction at LAMC’s annual gala last year… Pasadena event 

designer Billy Butchkavitz, with the help of siblings Brian and Peggy 

Butchkavitz, turned the Beverly Hilton’s Circa 55 and Aqua Star Pool 

into a shimmering gold pavilion, inspired by 1960s art, for HBO’s 2018 

Golden Globes Party on Jan. 7. 

Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau 

and Gwendoline Christie 

HBO's 2018 Golden Globes Party 

02.18 | ARROYO | 9

10 | ARROYO | 02.18

CAN YOU 

PROTECT 

YOUR IDENTITY 

ONLINE? 

Last year’s massive Equifax data breach underlined 

how vulnerable personal information is to cyberthieves. 

BY KATHLEEN KELLEHER 

When The New York Times published “The 

Biggest Tech Failures and Successes of 2017,” 

July’s massive Equifax hack topped the list of 

“epic failures” that “exposed your personal data 

to hackers.” 

That so-called epic failure was unprecedented — cyberthieves breached the credit 

reporting agency’s repository of sensitive personal information for more than 145 million 

Americans, about 44 percent of the population. Exacerbating the personal risk to those 

Americans, Equifax executives waited nearly six weeks to publicly disclose the giant hack. 

Days after the breach was “detected” by the Atlanta-based company, but well before it 

was publicly disclosed, three senior Equifax executives sold almost $1.8 million of the 

company’s stock. Equifax has insisted that the executives were unaware of the breach at 

the time of those stock sales, but the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating. 

The July incident was the third hacking disclosed by Equifax for the year. 

Equifax acknowledged that hackers gained access to the data by exploiting vulnerabilities 

in a web application, stealing names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, 

driver’s license numbers, medical bill data and about 209,000 credit card numbers. The 

breach also compromised 182,000 “dispute documents,” complaints that include sensitive 

personal identifying information. More than 240 lawsuits seeking class action status have 

been filed against Equifax, and all 50 state attorneys general have ordered the company to 

hand over information. The Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection 

Bureau, SEC and regulators in Britain and Canada have also ordered Equifax to provide 

information. 

If you are still unsure if your personal information was compromised in the Equifax 

data theft, go to the website equifaxsecurity2017.com where you can determine whether 

you were among the more than 145 million people whose information was lost. 

Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that no person opts in to Equifax (or the only two 

other credit bureaus, Experian and TransUnion) and you cannot opt out. But anyone who 

has credit, meaning any adult American, was likely part of the breach, or vulnerable to 

identity theft. Credit reporting agencies calculate credit scores based on a consumer’s entire 

financial history to determine which consumers get loans and credit cards and at what 

interest rate. Credit bureaus scoop up consumers’ personal and financial information and 

sell it to banks and other financial institutions, even though no one gives them permission 

to do this. Oversight for credit monitoring agencies is lax at best, and they are scrutinized 

only when there is an epic transgression. Though the European Union is rolling out 

strict new privacy rules, called General Data Protection Regulation, in May, Republican 

lawmakers blocked all legislation proposed to better protect Americans’ privacy or to force 

credit bureau accountability for loss of people’s personal information. 

In other words, you are on your own. 

“Once the information is out there, it is out there,” said Clifford Neuman, director 

of USC’s Center for Computer System Security. “There is nothing you can do to keep it 

from further circulating. You can just make it harder for someone to use it and appropriate 

your identity.” 

Following is a list of the best ways to protect yourself after your information has been 

breached, and Neuman said that everyone should act defensively, assuming that their 

personal and financial information has been breached. 

FREEZE YOUR CREDIT 

Freeze your credit with all three credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and 

TransUnion; that keeps any new creditors from seeing your personal and financial information 

in a credit report and issuing a card or loan. You need to freeze it at all three agencies 

because an identity thief could use your personal information to apply for credit at a 

lender that checks files with just one of the agencies, said Neuman. “Freezing your credit 

blocks people from using your information to open a credit card account,” said Neuman. 

A credit freeze may require a small fee, usually about $10 per bureau. 

After absorbing consumer rage and a lashing from lawmakers, Equifax dropped the 

charge to freeze consumers’ credit following the breach. The company offered a free year 

of its TrustedID Premier credit protection and monitoring service to all U.S. consumers 

who signed up by the end of January; that includes a credit freeze, credit file monitoring 

for the three bureaus, the ability to lock and unlock your Equifax credit report, identity 

theft protection and insurance and Internet scanning for Social Security numbers. At the 

end of the free year, charges apply, as they already do for customers who sign up in Febru- 

–continued on page 12 

02.18 | ARROYO | 11

–continued from page 11 

ary or later. That has angered many consumers, who’ve pointed out that Equifax’s negligence 

created the need for the TrustedID Premier services that it is now selling or marketing 

to the very consumers victimized by the breach. Naturally, some consumers refuse pay a 

nickel to Equifax. The company has since announced the Jan. 31 launch of its Lock & Alert 

service; it’s billed as free for life, but the website doesn’t provide details. 

NOTE ABOUT UNFREEZING CREDIT 

A small fee may apply when you want to unfreeze your credit in order to apply for new 

loan or a credit card. (Appalling note: credit reporting bureaus have fought all state laws 

designed to make freezes available, along with all other regulatory strictures. Freezes make 

it more difficult for credit bureaus to profit from selling Americans’ personal data.) 

One problem with a credit freeze is that when you want to apply for a new line of credit 

or a loan, you will need to unfreeze your credit and then refreeze it, which may involve fees. 

You will be given a PIN number to unfreeze your credit, so be mindful of the PIN number 

issued with your credit freeze by each bureau (for a total of three separate PINs) ; you will 

need to access the PIN later if you want to open a line of credit. Consumer advocates at 

Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a San Diego–based consumer advocacy nonprofit, 

are circulating a petition on Change.org (#FreeFromAll3) to make credit freezes free for all 

Americans with one free thaw and one free refreeze per year. 

MONITORING YOUR CREDIT AND ACCOUNTS 

Free credit reports are available once a year from all three credit reporting agencies 

by making an online request at annualcreditreport.com, checkfreescore.com and 

freescoreonline,com (the latter two websites offer a free seven-day trial, followed by a 

monthly fee of nearly $40 — of course, they bank on you forgetting to cancel). You can 

also request a free credit report at all three credit bureaus separately. You can space out your 

requests to get one report every four months. 

Credit Karma is a website and mobile app that pulls your credit scores from Equifax and 

TransUnion (but not Experian) anytime, as often as you want, for free; it also offers free 

credit monitoring, alerting consumers when there is any change in their credit report or 

when a new account is added to their credit report. (Credit Karma does not sell subscriber 

information, instead relying on digital advertising income.) Neuman uses Credit Karma. 

“Once you set up an account, you get an alert when there is any activity on your credit 

file,” which helps detect signs of identity theft more quickly, he said, adding that you won’t 

have to search your credit file because of the alerts. 

Review credit card and bank statements weekly for red flags. Many credit card companies 

and banks automatically provide some identity fraud protection and alert customers 

when a suspicious charge occurs out of step with a customer’s spending habits. You can learn 

about these services by asking your financial institution or credit card companies. Setting 

alerts at your bank to notify you anytime a transaction is made over a set amount, such as 

$50, will immediately alert you to any charge of consequence. 

IDENTITY PROTECTION SERVICES 

For people who want to streamline their monitoring of all three credit bureaus into one 

subscription service, and do not mind forking over a monthly fee for expanded services 

like identity restoration services, instant fraud alerts and more, there are options such as 

IDShield and LifeLock, to name a couple. (Do read consumer reviews before subscribing.) 

But even these services have limitations. 

“Consumer protection services can be helpful, but they can’t stop identity theft,” warns 

Neal O’Farrell, executive director of The Identity Theft Council, a consumer advocacy 

nonprofit based in Walnut Creek, California. “They… just let you know that it might be 

happening and help you resolve it.” 

Identity protection services will monitor all three credit bureaus, send fraud alerts when 

your identity is being used, scan the Internet for potential threats to your information, 

restore a secure identity if stolen and resolve disputes and losses resulting from identity theft. 

Prices generally vary from $10 to $30 a month, depending on the level of protection. The 

Equifax breach has been a driver of panicked consumers signing up for identity protection 

services, and for the record, Equifax is one of LifeLock’s credit monitoring providers. Since 

the Equifax breach, LifeLock’s web traffic increased sixfold, with enrollments jumping 10 

times the pre-hack rates, according to Bloomberg News. Equifax has not stated what it will 

do to prevent another breach. 

STRENGTHEN YOUR PASSWORDS 

“Good password habits are essential and especially not using the same passwords forever 

or for multiple accounts,” noted O’Farrell, also author of a new, free ebook, Double Trouble 

— Protecting Your Identity in an Age of Cybercrime, a broad examination of consumer security, 

privacy and identity issues (GetDoubleTrouble.com). “Protecting your personal email password 

is critical. If hackers get that password, they can delve through years of your personal 

and professional life, stuff you can’t change.” And once personal information is lost, there is 

no getting it back. That’s why passwords and PINs require hypervigilance to outwit hackers’ 

attempts at cracking them. 

“The information that has gone out with the Equifax breach has gone out and it is out 

there,” said Peter Reiher, a UCLA adjunct professor of computer science. “It is more likely 

that any info that you think is private is somewhere that it shouldn’t be. And somebody can 

get it if they want it. It is worse when you think about passwords and credit cards and anyone 

with a cellphone, or Alexa, where anything you say and do is being sent up to Google 

and, hopefully, they are not doing something bad with it.” 

Chilling. This is why making your passwords more difficult to cyber-crack, and changing 

them regularly is a good strategy. Avoid a short password, or an easily hackable word 

or name (no family members), according to Money magazine (time.com/money/collectionpost/2791981/how-do-i-create-a-secure-password/?xd=emailshare). 

For guidance on creating 

a hack-proof password and a more secure login, go to “How do I create a really strong 

password that I can actually remember?” 

LOCK YOUR DEVICES 

Make sure all your devices (phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers) have password 

protection or fingerprint protection. Sign up for remote locking or wiping your phone 

clean, so that if it is stolen you can still remove any personal information lost to thieves. 

AVOID CLICKING LINKS 

Do not click on potentially virus-contaminated links in emails, a common and easy way 

for hackers to access your computer and steal personal information. Instead of clicking on a 

link, Google the webpage in the email and click on that entry instead. 

HYPERVIGILANCE: THE NEW NORMAL 

The Equifax breach is only one of many breaches. According to a Javelin Strategy and 

Research study, more than 15 million people were victims of identity theft in 2016, the 

highest number of victims in one year ever recorded, and 2 million more than the previous 

year. More than 800 data breaches were reported in the first six months of 2017, according 

to Identity Theft Resource Center. And almost 1.4 million data records were compromised 

worldwide in 2016, according to the cybersecurity firm Gemalto. This suggests that identity 

thieves are highly adaptable to the latest iteration of cybersecurity tactics. And that means 

consumers, whose data is presumably out in cyberspace, have to live defensively, take every 

measure to secure personal data against hackers and stay hypervigilant. |||| 

12 | ARROYO | 02.18

02.18 | ARROYO | 13

arroyo 

 

~HOME SALES INDEX~ 

HOME SALES 

-33.10% 

AVG. PRICE/SQ. FT. 

7.01% 

Dec. 

2016 

432HOMES 

SOLD 

ALHAMBRA DEC.’16 DEC.’17 

Homes Sold 29 31 

Median Price $592,000 $657,500 

Median Sq. Ft. 1462 1522 

ALTADENA DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $780,000 $825,000 


ARCADIA DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $1,125,000 $1,128,000 


EAGLE ROCK DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $885,000 $815,000 


GLENDALE DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $727,000 $793,000 


LA CAÑADA DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $1,450,000 $1,685,000 


PASADENA DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $790,000 $822,500 


SAN MARINO DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $2,300,000 $1,806,750 


SIERRA MADRE DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $742,000 $771,500 


SOUTH PASADENA DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Median Price $1,306,250 $925,000 


TOTAL DEC.’16 DEC.’17 


Avg Price/Sq. Ft. $571 $611 

Dec. 

2017 

289HOMES 

SOLD 

HOME SALES ABOVE $850,000 

RECENT HOME CLOSINGS IN THE PASADENA WEEKLY FOOTPRINT 

source: CalREsource 

ADDRESS CLOSE DATE PRICE BDRMS. SQ. FT. YR. BUILT PREV. PRICE PREV. SOLD 

ALHAMBRA 

315 North Monterey Street 12/21/17 $2,750,000 3 2643 1923 $170,000 11/18/1986 

225 North Valencia Street 12/06/17 $1,350,500 6 2971 1922 $715,000 11/12/2013 

1612 Siwanoy Drive 12/07/17 $1,310,000 3 2515 1975 

1221 South Garfi eld Avenue 12/19/17 $1,200,000 6 3340 1942 

1225 South Garfi eld Avenue 12/19/17 $1,200,000 6 3340 1942 

616 North Cordova Street 12/28/17 $1,150,000 4 2100 1940 $95,000 11/30/1978 

312 North Primrose Avenue 12/15/17 $945,000 3 2016 1923 

ALTADENA 

1545 East Mendocino Street 12/04/17 $1,510,000 4 3492 1930 

1673 East Calaveras Street 12/08/17 $1,105,000 5 1996 1948 $930,000 04/15/2014 

1855 East Altadena Drive 12/04/17 $1,025,000 3 1795 1948 $927,500 05/02/2005 

2128 Mar Vista Avenue 12/19/17 $968,000 2 1870 1950 $399,000 07/30/1999 

1551 East Loma Alta Drive 01/03/18 $949,000 3 2304 1949 

1176 Mt. Lowe Drive 12/12/17 $935,000 3 1843 1925 $160,000 10/12/1984 

633 East Poppyfi elds Drive 12/22/17 $850,000 2 1169 1947 $648,000 07/31/2017 

ARCADIA 

964 Fallen Leaf Road 12/18/17 $11,880,000 0 0 $4,250,000 10/31/2014 

1426 Oaklawn Road 12/20/17 $5,550,000 0 0 $2,430,000 08/26/2015 

141 East Las Flores Avenue 12/22/17 $4,700,000 7 9216 2016 $1,750,000 12/12/2013 

316 East La Sierra Drive 12/21/17 $1,850,000 5 4218 2004 $1,250,000 06/30/2004 

166 East Winnie Way 12/08/17 $1,520,000 5 3430 1990 $652,500 10/10/2002 

1208 Louise Avenue 12/06/17 $1,368,000 3 2257 1958 $82,500 04/01/1976 

566 South 2nd Avenue 12/13/17 $1,325,000 3 2510 2015 

1717 Louise Avenue 12/12/17 $1,280,000 3 2161 1963 $975,000 05/14/2013 

1029 North Old Ranch Road 12/07/17 $1,153,000 4 2720 1966 $950,000 10/17/2013 

1701 El Vista Circle 12/19/17 $1,135,000 3 1955 1951 

16 East Magna Vista Avenue 01/04/18 $1,128,000 4 1980 1963 $828,000 06/18/2009 

2027 South 7th Avenue 12/26/17 $1,020,000 2 1820 1950 $780,000 10/13/2006 

232 East Duarte Road 12/29/17 $1,000,000 3 1904 1962 

2120 South 8th Avenue 12/12/17 $978,000 3 1435 1950 $840,000 05/12/2014 

401 Alster Avenue 12/22/17 $900,000 3 1900 1948 $783,000 04/16/2007 

133 East Haven Avenue 12/07/17 $850,000 3 1511 1960 

EAGLE ROCK 

5347 Waldo Place 12/29/17 $1,120,000 2 2192 1961 $821,500 08/25/2006 

5209 Mt. Helena Avenue 12/26/17 $1,104,000 3 1092 1923 $650,000 06/02/2017 

2051 Norwalk Avenue 12/06/17 $960,000 3 1778 1918 $755,000 08/28/2015 

4844 Avoca Street 12/19/17 $883,000 3 1858 1950 $455,000 06/21/2006 

1461 Yosemite Drive 12/19/17 $873,000 3 1222 1950 $440,000 01/27/2011 

2545 Medlow Avenue 12/28/17 $870,000 5 3576 1991 $585,000 03/25/2004 

GLENDALE 

1539 Princess Drive 12/05/17 $3,200,000 7 8714 1941 $370,000 11/01/1982 

1830 Verdugo Vista Drive 12/29/17 $2,150,000 3 3715 1926 $1,500,000 01/09/2014 

1840 Deermont Road 12/19/17 $2,105,000 3 3505 1964 $1,500,000 01/29/2014 

429 Oak Street 12/01/17 $1,650,000 3 1646 1924 

5330 Quail Canyon Road 12/21/17 $1,525,000 5 4102 1986 $306,500 05/12/1986 

1733 Royal Blvd. 12/14/17 $1,400,000 3 2544 1950 $791,000 08/26/2010 

2181 East Chevy Chase Drive 12/27/17 $1,289,500 3 2156 1931 

1613 Wabasso Way 12/05/17 $1,280,000 3 2462 1927 $779,000 08/26/2003 

2066 Chilton Drive 01/03/18 $1,270,000 4 2354 1925 $900,000 05/27/2016 

619 Bohlig Road 12/15/17 $1,225,000 4 4010 1991 $1,140,000 06/28/2011 

1031 Marengo Drive 12/05/17 $1,205,500 4 3023 1987 $325,000 12/18/1987 

1608 Greenbriar Road 12/05/17 $1,145,000 3 1996 1965 

1112 Elm Avenue #B 12/26/17 $1,115,000 4 2000 1923 $700,000 03/30/2017 

1150 Avonoak Terrace 12/27/17 $1,100,000 5 2676 1964 

829 Calle La Primavera 12/11/17 $1,100,000 4 1943 1993 $1,005,000 06/26/2006 

1342 East Palmer Avenue 12/14/17 $1,035,000 3 2435 1993 $327,345 04/23/1999 

415 Ashburton Place 12/11/17 $1,030,000 4 2188 1939 

3161 Buckingham Road 12/19/17 $1,008,000 2 1554 1955 

700 West Dryden Street 12/27/17 $1,000,000 2 2040 1923 $430,000 06/18/2002 

1315 North Howard Street 12/14/17 $1,000,000 2 1058 1952 $562,000 06/17/2009 

3548 Buena Vista Avenue 12/27/17 $995,000 2 1634 1926 $674,000 08/24/2009 

The Arroyo Home Sales Index is calculated from residential home sales in Pasadena and the surrounding communities of South Pasadena, San Marino, La Canada Flintridge, Eagle Rock, Glendale (including Montrose), Altadena, Sierra 

Madre, Arcadia and Alhambra. Individual home sales data provided by CalREsource. Arroyo Home Sales Index © Arroyo 2018. Complete home sales listings appear each week in Pasadena Weekly. 

14 | ARROYO | 02.18

GLENDALE 

1031 Oberlin Drive 12/04/17 $972,000 2 1218 1962 $565,000 04/28/2011 

3200 Buckingham Road 12/05/17 $970,000 4 2315 1959 $460,000 09/14/2000 

2325 Los Amigos Street 12/28/17 $969,000 3 1138 1947 

437 Canyon Drive 12/27/17 $935,000 4 2195 1949 $268,000 04/03/1997 

576 Caruso Avenue 12/27/17 $935,000 2 1338 2008 $575,000 02/02/2010 

1614 West Kenneth Road 12/13/17 $925,000 3 1592 1936 

1414 Highland Avenue 12/06/17 $900,000 2 1584 1953 

2609 Hermosita Drive 12/19/17 $900,000 4 2257 1924 

3227 Cornwall Drive 12/27/17 $889,000 3 1424 1963 $735,000 07/18/2017 

2014 Chilton Drive 12/29/17 $880,000 3 1631 1940 $272,500 05/10/1994 

334 Parkwood Drive 12/19/17 $875,000 3 2088 1955 $455,000 06/26/2001 

3219 Henrietta Avenue 12/19/17 $869,000 3 1733 1949 $772,000 09/12/2007 

1738 Glenwood Road 12/06/17 $865,000 3 1662 1937 $645,000 06/23/2005 

700 East Cypress Street 12/01/17 $856,500 2 1251 1925 $535,000 02/18/2011 

1917 Caminito De La Valle 12/06/17 $853,000 2 2093 1990 $675,000 05/08/2013 

LA CAÑADA 

1022 White Deer Drive 12/20/17 $1,815,000 4 2306 1966 $600,000 05/28/1999 

970 Regent Park Drive 12/13/17 $1,685,000 4 2275 1950 $850,000 09/01/2011 

4930 Angeles Crest Highway 12/27/17 $1,242,000 3 1946 1956 $845,000 10/10/2012 

4534 Cypress Drive 12/06/17 $975,000 3 1269 1954 

4315 Commonwealth Avenue 12/08/17 $3,600,000 6 5427 1999 $740,000 09/12/1997 

4930 Revlon Drive 12/05/17 $2,660,000 3 1560 1947 $1,259,000 03/02/2015 

5010 Hill Street 12/01/17 $2,400,000 4 3088 1955 $1,100,000 05/09/2005 

826 Green Lane 12/04/17 $2,245,000 2 1708 1951 $2,120,000 07/01/2015 

2263 San Gorgonio Road 12/13/17 $1,859,000 3 3388 1956 $1,600,000 02/23/2007 

4905 Angeles Crest Highway 12/07/17 $1,830,000 4 2746 1962 

905 Wiladonda Drive 12/06/17 $1,827,000 2 2714 1952 $1,000,000 11/10/2004 

827 Salisbury Road 12/27/17 $1,620,000 3 2052 1931 $1,315,000 03/28/2014 

5249 Escalante Drive 12/14/17 $1,200,000 4 2848 1949 $485,000 12/27/1989 

5122 Crown Avenue 12/29/17 $1,200,000 3 1429 1951 $775,000 04/11/2005 

4728 Castle Road 12/06/17 $1,125,000 3 2501 1947 $457,500 02/16/2001 

1974 Hilldale Drive 12/05/17 $850,000 2 1472 1954 $749,000 08/04/2005 

PASADENA 

320 Patrician Way 12/12/17 $3,700,000 4 5850 1956 $300,000 08/20/2007 

180 South San Rafael Avenue 12/06/17 $3,600,000 3 3087 1959 

1490 El Mirador Drive 12/07/17 $3,050,000 4 3990 1963 $2,650,000 07/21/2016 

3390 Lombardy Road 12/07/17 $3,003,000 4 3979 1953 $2,255,000 11/14/2012 

155 Cordova Street #501 12/07/17 $2,450,000 3 3840 2010 $2,450,000 01/08/2013 

1715 Knollwood Drive 12/15/17 $2,300,000 2 2670 1959 $1,530,000 04/21/2017 

931 Canon Drive 01/03/18 $2,125,000 3 1975 1962 $1,330,000 04/05/2013 

295 Palmetto Drive 12/15/17 $2,106,000 6 3313 1919 $2,150,000 10/02/2007 

581 Busch Place 12/19/17 $1,900,000 3 2861 1938 

1637 Hastings Heights Lane 12/12/17 $1,691,000 3 3433 1984 $1,475,000 04/22/2005 

1118 Glen Oaks Blvd. 12/15/17 $1,670,000 2 1828 1954 $1,050,000 06/09/2017 

1447 Edgecliff Lane 12/01/17 $1,634,500 4 2618 1930 $1,365,000 07/31/2014 

2953 East California Blvd. 12/12/17 $1,535,000 3 2148 1949 $1,009,000 01/19/2007 

1380 East Villa Street 12/15/17 $1,460,000 6 4220 1925 $915,000 11/18/2013 

1190 Afton Street 12/22/17 $1,444,000 3 2712 1950 

554 Prescott Street 12/14/17 $1,400,000 4 2960 1914 

1677 Oakdale Street 12/12/17 $1,375,000 4 2143 1922 $620,000 12/31/2012 

1650 San Pasqual Street 12/29/17 $1,331,500 3 2253 1951 $1,095,000 04/24/2012 

645 Cliff Drive 12/21/17 $1,300,000 3 2079 1953 $985,000 03/08/2006 

356 South Grand Avenue 01/02/18 $1,275,000 2 1727 1965 

1490 Lancashire Street 12/01/17 $1,210,000 3 2298 1965 $750,000 03/13/2003 

1295 Doremus Road 12/11/17 $1,207,000 4 1836 1958 $815,000 07/01/2010 

1622 Poppy Peak Drive 12/07/17 $1,135,000 1 1534 1964 

1 South Orange Grove Blvd. #5 12/06/17 $1,100,000 2 2104 1980 $785,000 03/13/2009 

191 South Daisy Avenue 12/06/17 $1,100,000 4 1968 1948 $825,000 02/04/2014 

1101 Heatherside Road 12/29/17 $1,032,500 3 1428 1948 $760,000 11/10/2004 

653 South Lake Avenue #4 12/28/17 $1,030,000 3 2556 2006 $810,000 11/17/2006 

480 South Los Robles Avenue #3 12/20/17 $1,005,000 3 1850 2009 $785,000 11/15/2011 

776 South Orange Grove Blvd. #3 12/28/17 $1,000,000 2 2084 1982 $740,000 02/23/2010 

3781 Mountain View Avenue 12/05/17 $985,000 6 2474 1963 

1964 Monte Vista Street 12/05/17 $970,000 3 2225 2000 $680,000 05/05/2004 

1695 North Catalina Avenue 12/18/17 $952,000 2 1552 1929 $680,000 03/31/2017 

2279 Loma Vista Street 12/12/17 $950,000 3 1647 1930 $470,000 11/19/2002 

625 South Orange Grove Blvd. #6 01/02/18 $925,000 3 1908 1965 $700,000 05/21/2015 

3232 La Vina Way 12/21/17 $910,000 3 2131 1974 $550,000 03/31/2004 

862 North Hill Avenue 12/13/17 $890,000 2 1550 1921 $775,000 12/09/2005 

968 South Orange Grove Blvd. #A 12/04/17 $880,000 3 1340 1954 $885,000 03/13/2006 

2042 Layton Street 12/27/17 $875,000 3 1584 1924 $441,000 09/15/2003 

1091 North Marengo Avenue 12/01/17 $854,500 2 1583 1897 $368,000 08/08/2013 

SAN MARINO 

1288 Oak Grove Avenue 12/05/17 $12,880,000 9 9204 1930 $500,000 04/11/2006 

2395 Adair Street 12/11/17 $2,380,000 5 2774 1940 $671,000 01/25/2001 

1225 Oakwood Drive 12/04/17 $2,125,000 3 3107 1951 $1,625,000 06/27/2012 

1875 Kenilworth Avenue 12/20/17 $1,833,500 4 2957 1940 

2930 Sheffi eld Road 12/19/17 $1,780,000 3 1903 1948 

440 Pilgrim Place 12/13/17 $1,700,000 3 2333 1957 

2990 Somerset Place 12/12/17 $1,570,000 4 2028 1950 $1,350,000 08/30/2013 

1935 Montrobles Place 12/19/17 $1,350,000 3 1549 1926 $358,000 09/25/1992 

SIERRA MADRE 

219 Rancho Road 12/19/17 $1,800,000 4 3190 1934 $560,000 07/28/1994 

543 East Orange Grove Avenue 12/19/17 $1,250,000 2 2469 1941 $286,500 07/21/2000 

170 Adams Street 12/12/17 $925,000 2 2260 1922 $350,000 06/15/1998 

455 Mt. Wilson Trail 12/01/17 $905,000 3 1597 1963 $440,000 10/19/2000 

SOUTH PASADENA 

713 Flores De Oro 01/03/18 $1,650,000 4 2174 1972 

1301 Mountain View Avenue 12/27/17 $1,284,500 3 2084 1962 $165,000 04/28/1981 

1425 Lyndon Street #C 12/04/17 $925,000 4 1628 1985 $388,636 04/28/2003 

1133 Grevelia Street 12/05/17 $850,000 2 1240 1977 $482,500 09/30/2011 

02.18 ARROYO | 15

16 | ARROYO | 02.18

ARROYO 

HOME & DESIGN 

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT 

SCORE A GREAT MORTGAGE WITH 

GOOD CREDIT SCORES 

The housing market is heading into prime season for buying a home 

BY BRUCE HARING 

If you’re an apartment dweller, you know the 

drill. Each month, you write a check to your 

landlord, watching as a thousand dollars or 

more goes from your pocket to his or hers. 

The real estate website Zillow notes that the median rent price in Los 

Angeles County hit $3,000 as of November, 2017. That means $36,000 

per year is going to someone else if you live alone. In some markets – 

particularly in the hottest and hippest areas to live – rent can consume as 

much as half of take-home income. 

Instead of continuing on that path to nowhere, you could make a 

smooth transition to home ownership. The median home value in Los 

Angeles County is now $588,000, per Zillow. While some claim the market 

is due for a correction, there’s also an old saying - no one ever went broke 

buying California real estate. That’s because they aren’t making any 

more of it, and this is a state whose population is growing. 

Given that situation, it may be time for you to explore getting out 

of the rent race and consider owning your own house, townhouse or 

condominium. By doing so, you gain control of your living situation and 

benefi t from any appreciation on the property’s value. 

Of course, not everyone can qualify for a home loan. You need a 

down payment in most cases, must be employed or doing well in your 

own business, and your credit score can’t be terrible. While there are 

many factors that go into a loan determination, there are credit score 

minimums in most cases. 

Cornett Communications, a public relations fi rm that monitors the 

real estate market, determined that a FICO score of at least 650 is a good 

level to be at for most fi nancing situations. But you can have a lower 


02.18 | ARROYO | 17

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT— 


score, in some instances, and still manage to secure a loan. 

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-backed mortgage 

lending houses, and many other lenders look to them for guidance on 

standards. Fannie Mae requires a minimum credit score of 620 with a 20 

percent down payment for its loans, and no more than 45 percent of your 

income can go towards paying debt. 

The Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration 

also provide credit to certain segments of the population. The FHA 

requires a minimum credit score of 580 and a 3.5 percent down payment. 

The Veterans Administration is an even better deal – there is no minimum 

credit score required to qualify for a loan, and 100 percent fi nancing is 

available. However, any down payment and a good credit score will 

lower your mortgage’s interest rate. To qualify, you must be an armed 

services veteran. 

THE FED MAY RAISE RATES 

If you decide to move forward on getting a home and your credit 

score matches up with the lender’s standards, it’s a good idea to move 

fast. Interest rates on home loans are still at historic lows, but that could 

change in the coming year. 

The Federal Reserve is the central bank that determines the prime 

lending rates that infl uence what you pay for your mortgages, credit 

cards, and other loans. Last year, they raised the prime lending rate a few 

times, marking only the second time since the 2008 fi nancial crisis that 

the needle has moved upward. 

When the rates rise, you pay more for any loans. Although no one 

can predict which way the economy is headed and the Fed’s response 

to that movement, many seasoned observers believe that interest rates 

will be raised several times in the coming year. 

Let’s assume you have a decent credit score and a down payment, 

are gainfully employed in some fashion, and are ready to seek out your 

new home. There are several steps you can take before starting to call 

real estate agents that will make your search easier and improve your 

chances of getting a home. These steps are being pre-qualifi ed and preapproved 

for a mortgage. 


18 | ARROYO | 02.18

02.18 | ARROYO | 19

20 | ARROYO | 02.18

02.18 | ARROYO | 21

22 | ARROYO | 02.18

—ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT— 


PRE-QUALIFIED VS. PRE-APPROVED 

You can become pre-qualifi ed based on your own statements. A 

lender will ask several questions either over the phone or via the Internet 

or an app. They will try to get a picture of your income, debts and assets to 

get a rough idea of how much mortgage assistance you will likely receive. 

Once they determine that, you can begin looking at neighborhoods and 

houses within your price range. 

Keep in mind that pre-qualifi cation does not mean you have a loan 

in place. In order to qualify for a mortgage, you need to move from prequalifi 

ed to pre-approved, the next step in the mortgage process. 

Getting pre-approved is where the rubber meets the road in lending. 

Instead of relying on your statements – a process that proved disastrous 

in the great real estate meltdown of 2008 – the mortgage lender will now 

require tax forms, bank statements, pay stubs and other documents that 

indicate that your claims of prosperity are valid. These are particularly 

important in major metropolitan areas, where high real estate prices 

require what’s known as a “jumbo” loan, which is so large it’s not backed 

by the government. 

Once the lender determines how much they will be willing to lend 

you, you can begin shopping in earnest. Sometimes, in a competitive 

housing market, there are multiple bids for the same residence. Having 

fi nancing in hand means you are a serious bidder and will not present any 

undue problems to the seller regarding closing. That can sometimes give 

you an edge over less-qualifi ed people. 

There’s one more step on the path to home ownership, though – your 

mortgage lender will need to make a fi nal commitment. In this process, 

the house you want to buy will be evaluated to make sure you’re not wildly 

over-paying for it. The home will also be appraised for structural fl aws and 

any legal matters that may tie up the title. 

While that appraisal is going on, you may also undergo a fi nal round 

of scrutiny on your own fi nances. This is done to ensure that nothing has 

changed in your circumstances since pre-approval, like losing a job or 

piling on some other form of enormous debt. 

Presuming everything clears, you will soon be fi lling out paperwork 

and picking up the key to your new home. You will be done with rising 

rents, and now join the long line of home owners that are the bedrock of 

any society. 

If your credit score or other circumstances weren’t suffi cient to get a 

home loan, don’t despair. You can build up your credit score monthly by 

paying your bills on time, paying down credit card balances, and making 

sure your credit report doesn’t contain errors. Over time, you will rise to a 

level where mortgage lenders will compete for your attention. |||| 

02.18 | ARROYO | 23

THE 

FIRES 

NEXT 

TIME 

Strategies for 

homeowners to 

protect their assets 

from the growing 

threat of wildfires 

BY BETTIJANE LEVINE 

“There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those 

hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes 

and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. 

On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little 

wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands’ 

necks. Anything can happen.” 

That’s how Raymond Chandler described Santa Anas in his 1938 novella “Red 

Wind.” And when the dry winds arrive, wildfires often arrive with them. Aptly 

named, they pounce like raging bulls, erratic and unpredictable, depending on wind 

direction and severity. It’s been happening since long before there were humans here 

to lament or write about them. 

In the beginning, the fires were spontaneous eruptions every 30 to 130 years; 

they were nature’s way of preserving the valleys’ foothill greenbelts which depended 

upon fire to regenerate and flourish. Nowadays, wildfires happen every year with increasing 

frequency and severity, and 95 percent of them are caused by humans rather 

than nature. Experts predict that extended periods of high temperatures combined 

with continuing lack of rain will cancel out the seasonal aspect of wildfire danger and 

replace it with a year-round threat to life and what many count as their largest asset 

— their home. Governor Jerry Brown recently said that we have to start assuming 

that fire season will go right through Christmas. 

Much of Arroyoland is considered by the California Department of Forestry and 

Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to be in the highest category of risk for ignition. Pasadena, 

Duarte, Glendale, La Caňada Flintridge and Monrovia are all tagged as Very 

High Fire Hazard Severity (VHFS) zones. In 1993, 115 homes burned in the Eaton 

Canyon area of Altadena, with embers from that fire setting off flames that burned a 

dozen homes in Pasadena and Glendale. In 2009, the Station Fire threatened 12,000 

structures, mostly in Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, Glendale, La Crescenta and 

Altadena. It came within one eighth of a mile of Jet Propulsion Labs and destroyed 

89 nearby homes and 120 other structures. The cause was arson. 

We were lucky to avoid damage from last December’s multiple fires, the largest 

ever recorded in Southern California history (although a brush fire scorched 50 acres 

near Mt. Wilson just last October). Such disasters were once attributed to building 

homes in or near wildfire-prone areas, but that explanation no longer holds true. 

Stephen Pyne, a wildfire historian who’s written 30 books on the subject, told the 

Los Angeles Times last October: “It’s no longer just the case that we’re building homes 

where the fires are. The fires seem to be going where the houses are.” 

Financial losses are the least of our worries when we wake in the middle of the 

night to firefighters pounding on our door, telling us to get out quickly. In the recent 

24 | ARROYO | 02.18

fires, some families had minutes or even seconds to evacuate before their homes 

ignited or exit roads were blocked. We’ve all read stories of those who couldn’t even 

corral their pets in time to save them. The financial aftermath comes later, affl icting 

those who’ve lost everything and haven’t fully prepared for such eventualities. 

No matter how well we try to protect our property, we’re all somewhat vulnerable. So 

how do you prepare for such an event, which may occur months or years from now, or 

may never happen? And what do you take with you if you have to leave in a hurry? 

DO THIS NOW, BEFORE DISASTER STRIKES. 

Many experts weighed in on this subject after last year’s fires around California. 

Their suggestions are worth noting — they’ll stand you in good stead whether you’re 

confronted with fire or any other kind of catastrophic event that requires you to leave 

your home quickly. 

l. Read your home insurance policy carefully. 

Don’t assume that your agent, who may be very capable, has covered you correctly. 

There are hundreds of sad stories from fire victims of every economic bracket who 

trusted they were completely covered for rebuilding but found out otherwise — when 

it was too late. Many were short more than $100,000 in rebuilding costs, some in the 

hundreds of thousands. Some could not afford to rebuild. 

Your policy should not simply cover the value of your home; it should cover all 

costs of rebuilding it according to current codes. “Roughly 60 percent of American 

homes are underinsured,” according to CoreLogic, an Irvine-based company that 

provides data to home insurers. Amy Bach, director at United Policyholders, a San 

Francisco–based nonprofit representing consumers, calls it “a huge problem.” Consumers 

rely on their agents, who sometimes rely on formulas that do not cover costs, 

she says. Sometimes even the most reliable agents simply make mistakes. 

Also, if you’ve updated or added onto any part of your home (such as a kitchen 

or deck), report that to your insurance agent. Homeowners who fail to update after 

making improvements are in for problems, says Janet Ruiz of the Insurance Information 

Institute trade group in New York. 

2. Pack an evacuation bag (sometimes called a grab-and-go kit) with 

all your important documents, so you can quickly take them in an emergency. 

It should contain birth certificates, passports, social security cards, property titles, 

home insurance policy, crucial health cards and records, any critical papers. You may 

think some of these are easily replaceable, but in chaotic times it could take weeks or 

months, and you’ll need many of them immediately after any disaster. You’ll want the 

home insurance policy to ensure you get proper coverage if you’re filing a claim with 

your insurer or FEMA, especially since adjusters will be overworked and rushed. 

Digitize as many important documents as you can and keep a hard drive in the kit 

or make sure they’re available online. If you have old, irreplaceable family photos, you 

might send them and any important videos to be scanned and transferred to DVDs, 

which can be stored in a safety deposit box. 


02.18 | ARROYO | 25


Take a video of your home including all furniture, art and belongings. This will be 

essential for insurance purposes. You might even want to video the inside of clothing 

drawers and closets if you have lots of stuff. One survivor of the 2003 San Diego fire 

told the L.A. Times that in order to receive insurance money, “she had to figure out 

how many T-shirts were in her drawers and what canned goods were in her cupboard.” 

Paula Baker, whose home was destroyed, told the paper: “It was exhausting. You 

have to make a lot of very big decisions financially and otherwise at a time when your 

mind is kind of reeling.” 

3. In another kit, keep a change of underwear and clothes, toiletries, a 

supply of medications, extra prescription glasses or contact lenses and 

perhaps any small irreplaceable jewelry or heirlooms you would not want 

to live without. 

Make a list in advance of other irreplaceable items you’d take depending on the 

time you have to evacuate and space you have in your vehicle. If there’s little time, 

grab your essential kits and go. If there’s more time, grab the items you’ve prioritized. 

4. Don’t forget to set aside a stash of cash. 

It’s key in times of disaster, and you want to have a good amount on hand in one 

of your kits. 

5. If you have pets, keep a bag of food, pet meds and other essentials 

near your document and clothing kits. 

You can rotate the food and meds, so they don’t become outdated. 

6. Plan on exactly what electronics you want to take — phone, laptops, 

tablets. 

And keep extra cords and chargers in your kit. 

AFTER THE DISASTER 

1. Keep a detailed journal starting the day of the wildfire, flood or any 

disaster that hits your home. 

Consumer advocates say meticulous notes will help the insurance claim process go 

more speedily and accurately. A diary should be updated daily with the dates, times 

and names of those you spoke with by phone or met with, including insurers, adjusters 

and contractors, plus a brief entry of what was said. Keep an envelope with all receipts 

that document your living expenses from the time you had to evacuate. According to 

Amy Bach of United Policyholders, receipts for temporary housing and other living 

expenses will document your additional living costs that are reimbursable. 

2. Even if your house has been totally destroyed, it is essential that you 

take pictures of the damage. 

If it’s too painful, Bach says, ask a friend or relative to do it for you. Such photos, 

even if they show only a remaining foundation, can help indicate the size and shape 

of the home and damage sustained. 

Above all, be vigilant when dealing with the aftermath of a wildfire or other 

disaster. Remember, when you’re dealing with claims adjusters and agents who are 

burdened with dozens or hundreds of cases under time pressure, you need to be your 

own best advocate. |||| 

26 | ARROYO | 02.18

TOO MANY PHISH 

IN THE SEA 

How scammers troll for your money, with bait you often can’t detect 

BY BETTIJANE LEVINE 

Most of us think we’re too savvy and 

sophisticated to fall for scams. We’d never 

wire money to a stranger promising us 

millions if we just send a few dollars. And 

we’d never opt for those get-rich-quick 

or easy-weight-loss schemes touted on 

social media and TV. But these days, many 

scammers seem as savvy and sophisticated 

as those they’re trying to scam. Combining 

technology with insight into human nature, 

they can catch us off guard more often than 

we’d like to think. 


02.18 | ARROYO | 27


Last November, USA Today reported the revival of a scam that actually began in 

Australia, where a caller claiming to be a courier service rep phoned people to ask if 

they would be home to accept a package that required a signature. Soon a uniformed 

courier arrived with flowers and wine. Because the gift contained alcohol, the 

courier said, there was a $3.50 verification charge to prove he’d actually delivered 

it to adults of legal drinking age. He couldn’t accept cash because the company 

needed proof of delivery via credit or debit card. They swiped the cards of people 

who consented on the small mobile machine the courier carried, which printed 

out receipts. A few days later, victims learned that their bank accounts had been 

drained by numerous withdrawals at various ATMs. The Electronic Funds Transfer 

at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) machine he carried was set up to skim not only their 

card numbers, but their PIN numbers as well. 

This kind of scam harkens back to pre-digital days, when financial scammers 

had to use ingenuity, energy and acting ability to squeeze money out of their marks. 

Some were brilliantly successful, and if they’d used their talents differently, they 

might have wound up wealthy, instead of poor and in jail. In the early 1900s, for 

example, George C. Parker actually sold the Brooklyn Bridge twice, convincing 

buyers they would control access and could set up toll booths which would garner 

millions of dollars. He also sold Grant’s Tomb, the Statue of Liberty and Madison 

Square Garden. For each project he had to produce legal-looking ownership 

documents and take on a false identity, as he did in the Grant’s Tomb sale where 

he pretended to be the general’s grandson. Or consider Charles Ponzi (1882–1949), 

whose name and scheme have long outlived him, its most notorious perpetrator 

of late being Bernie Madoff. Both men bilked investors of millions by promising 

outrageously high short-term profits. Ponzi and Madoff paid old investors with 

money coming from new ones, a plan that worked until investors tried to claim 

their profits and found there weren’t any. 

Indeed, thousands of clever con artists have been chronicled in newspapers by 

name and location since America’s founding. In the Internet era, however, we can’t 

tell who or where most scammers are based. They are nameless, faceless and can operate 

from anywhere across the globe. Even governmental agencies and police authorities 

can do little but issue warnings on their websites regarding current scams 

to look out for. The Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the 

Securities and Exchange Commission and multiple nongovernmental groups, such 

as AARP, all issue and update such warnings. But even the most cautious among 

us aren’t likely to search for warnings before clicking on something that stirs our 

emotions or scratches our itch for a good bargain. 

That was the case for many of Netflix’s 110 million users, who fell prey to a 

recent phishing scam that looked legit. As Fortune reported, an email message 

arrived in their mailboxes saying the company could not confirm their billing information 

and service would be suspended unless they replied. Those who did so gave 

sensitive information, not to Netflix but to scammers who’d carefully designed the 

email using Netflix’s logo, font, etc. Lesson learned? Skillful scammers can copy 

any company’s formats and logos and fool people into thinking an email, social media 

message or coupon is real when it’s actually fake. And every bit of information 

scammers glean can be used or sold to help eventually commit identity theft. 

Thousands of Facebook users were scammed when they responded to a Mother’s 

Day promotion, allegedly from Bed Bath & Beyond. It offered a coupon for $75 

off purchases for those who forwarded the offer to their Facebook friends and 

answered a few simple survey questions. Those who complied never received the 

coupon because it was a scam, and it was almost exactly like one that had skewered 

customers of Costco, Amazon, Home Depot and Kroger earlier in the year. 

According to Snopes — which offers pictures of the legitimate-looking offer on 

its website — those who clicked to get the coupon and answered the survey allowed 

scammers to mine sensitive information such as email addresses, telephone 

numbers, dates of birth and credit card details. Snopes says such ruses can result in 

all sorts of unwanted flim-flam offers that are difficult to stop, plus the disclosure of 

personal details to social media grifters. Such scams include a simple but effective 

28 | ARROYO | 02.18

“like-farming” scam, which can lead to embarrassment when the page they liked is 

eventually converted into one with content that is salacious or otherwise unpalatable. 

Like-farming is simply the scammers’ way of acquiring massive numbers of 

Facebook likes for nefarious purposes. They post a compelling page with emotionally 

charged content about adorable animals, a sick child or groups who’ve been 

devastated by natural disasters. Then they collect information from users who 

interact with the page and sell that information to other scammers. Sometimes they 

erase the page’s original content and replace it with something used to spread malware 

or phishing scams. These tactics can result in stolen credit card numbers and 

all sorts of unwanted intrusions into users’ feeds. Last year, Facebook suspended a 

user who created a like-farming post that claimed Facebook would donate money to 

a cancer-stricken child if enough shares and likes were accrued. The story featured 

a stolen photo of a child (who actually had nothing more severe than chicken pox), 

and the text appeared so sincere that more than 1 million users shared the story. 

Facebook apologized and removed the post. 

Even your phone is vulnerable. Remember those caller ID screens on telephones 

that were a great boon when they first appeared? How nice to know who’s calling. 

Nowadays, one can’t always tell who’s calling from looking at the screen. We 

all know not to answer calls from numbers and names we don’t recognize. But 

callers half a world away can now program calls to look like they’re coming from 

right around the corner — with the same area code and even the same first three 

numbers as your own home phone, often with no name given or one that sounds 

familiar. People are tempted to answer because they assume it’s a nearby friend or 

neighbor. 

Worse yet, reports are surfacing that scammers who’ve gleaned some of your 

personal information from hackers who sold it can program calls to say they’re 

coming from your very own doctor’s office or your bank. These scammers may 

know your health conditions, or whether you’ve borrowed money, and they use 

various ruses that sound official to gather even more information. Many of these 

scams occur during open enrollment periods for Medicare, which is prime time for 

scammers trying to steal money and identities. AARP says this: “Never trust caller 

ID. Scammers can easily make it display whatever identity and phone number they 

choose, thanks to ‘spoofing’ products for sale on the Internet. Also, don’t be taken 

in if callers have personal info about you: fraudsters have been known to contact 

Medicare patients and accurately give the names and addresses of their doctors. It’s 

unclear how they got the information.” 

A recent tragic death in Wichita, Kansas, resulted from a spoofed or “swatted” 

(fake call summoning a SWAT team to an unsuspecting victim’s home) 911 

call that looked local and authentic to the police operator, but actually came from 

an online gamer in California. He claimed he was holding his family hostage and 

about to kill them. The 911 operator sent police to the residence the call allegedly 

came from — the home of a totally innocent 28-year-old father. He came to the 

door and was shot dead by officers who thought he was reaching for a weapon. 

It would take many encyclopedic volumes to catalogue the various scams now 

circulating on the Internet, some using information hacked from computer files of 

legitimate entities who were supposed to have kept the information secret. Con artists 

have a wide array of frauds: charity scams, fake sporting-event and theater-ticket 

scams, investment scams, census-related scams, government-grant scams, IRS scams 

and many more. There are stings targeted at specific religious, ethnic and sexual 

identity groups. If you think you’re smart enough to spot them all you’re probably 

wrong, experts say. So the best advice is not to believe anything or anyone you haven’t 

checked out — snopes.com and scambusters.org are good sources — before you enter 

into seemingly harmless contact online or by phone. |||| 

02.18 | ARROYO | 29

USC Pacifi c Asia Museum Director Christina Yu Yu 

PACIFIC ASIA 

MUSEUM REBORN 

The only university museum of art from Asia and the Pacific Islands 

reopens after extensive renovations. 

BY SCARLET CHENG 

Many have passed the two-story Chinese-style 

building on North Los Robles Avenue in Old 

Pasadena and wondered, What’s behind those 

thick beige walls topped with a green-tiled 

roof, curled up at the edges? A mural on the 

side wall provides clues — a large dragon with 

a twisting body, red stalks of bamboo and a 

seal-shaped sign containing the words “Pacific 

Asia Museum.” Now under the auspices of the 

University of Southern California, the Pacific Asia 

Museum (PAM) is the only university museum 

dedicated to the arts of Asia and the Pacific 

Islands, and it reopened in December after 

a year-and-a-half of seismic retrofitting and 

renovations. 

I enter the reception area through an arched portal, and Christina Yu Yu, the museum’s 

director for the last three years, comes down from upstairs offices to greet me. We 

start our interview in the first gallery of the current show — Winds from Fusang: Mexico 

and China in the Twentieth Century, running through June 10 as part of the Getty’s Pacific 

Standard Time LA/LA initiative focusing on Latin American and Latino art. We talk 

about some of the changes that have taken place, including the most obvious one: the 

removal of the old gift shop — it used to be in the large space where we are now seated — 

to make way for exhibition space. (But don’t worry; a smaller gift shop will be installed 

by the entrance desk.) 

“Our mission is to promote cross-cultural understanding, through arts and culture,” 

PHOTO: Courtesy of PAM 

30 | ARROYO | 02.18

Leopoldo Mendez, Fusilamiento, 1950 Ignacio Aguirre, Emiliano Zapata hecho prisionero por su lucha enfavor de Los campesinos, 1947 

IMAGES: Courtesy of PAM 

says Yu Yu, a former curator of Chinese and Korean art at the Los Angeles County 

Museum of Art. “How to make it happen, I think there are different strategies: before, 

we were very much a community-focused museum, and that is something we are still 

very committed to — we want to introduce Asian arts and culture to Southern California. 

Now that we are part of USC, [we want] to be integrated into the curriculum, that 

is something we’ve added.” One thing they’re working on, for example, is an augmented 

reality experience for visitors, possibly involving their cellphones. This collaboration with 

the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Information Technology Program will be “like 

a treasure hunt.” 

The building itself has long held a special place in the cultural history of Pasadena. It 

was built in 1924 for Grace Nicholson, an art collector and dealer who specialized in Native 

American and Asian art and artifacts. The architectural firm of Marston, Van Pelt & 

Maybury designed it in the style of a Chinese nobleman’s mansion, replete with a central 

courtyard containing a garden and a small pond. To ensure authenticity, Nicholson 

ordered some of the materials — including ceramic tiles, stone and marble carvings — directly 

from China; other architectural details were made by local craftsmen who studied 

photographs of Chinese buildings. When the building opened, the downstairs rooms 

functioned as an art gallery and shop, while the second floor was Nicholson’s home. 

In 1943 she donated the building to the City of Pasadena, retaining the right to live 

there until her death in 1948. Later it was occupied by the Pasadena Art Institute, which 

in 1954 became the Pasadena Art Museum. In 1970 that museum moved to Orange 

Grove and Colorado boulevards and became part of the Norton Simon Museum. The 

following year, the Pacificulture Foundation moved into the Nicholson building, starting 

the Pacific Asia Museum and eventually purchasing the property. 

Small museums are notoriously difficult to sustain financially, unless they have a hefty 

endowment, and this one did not. After years of financial struggle as a nonprofit, the 

museum came under the umbrella of USC in 2013, a move that brought in more than $1 

million to help underwrite the museum’s operating costs through its transitional period. 

USC also paid for an overall evaluation of the physical facilities, which led to the recent 

retrofitting and renovations; those cost another few million (the museum declines to 

reveal exactly how much). In addition to the retrofitting, the university also improved 

collections storage spaces, reinstalled the permanent exhibition and began a thorough 

inventory of holdings. Ultimately, the museum is expected to be self-sustaining. 

Visitors enter the museum building from the north wing, where the admissions desk 

and reception area are located. (The special exhibition galleries are in the south wing.) 

From there, a series of small galleries introduces visitors to Pacific Island, South Asian 

and Southeast Asian art, with the large galleries at the end of this wing dedicated to 

China, Japan and Korea. “We have 15,000 items in our collection,” Yu Yu says. “Geographically 

we cover all the regions in Asia, and chronologically, our oldest pieces are 

from 4,000 years ago. We have Neolithic pottery, and we also have contemporary art.” 

While museum officials will eventually pursue more acquisitions, their immediate focus is 

on exhibitions and programming. 

There are a number of outstanding items on display in the permanent collection, and 

Yu Yu highlights them during a walkthrough. From India is a medium-size second-century 

sandstone sculpture showing a “loving couple,” as the label says. “This is actually one 

of the earliest stone sculptures in Southern California,” she points out. 

In the Chinese section, her attention veers toward a blue-and-white plate, with a qilin, 

a lion-like mythical animal, painted in the center. It dates from the late Yuan to early 

Ming periods (i.e., the early 14th century) and reflects a Persian influence in its decorative 

border and use of cobalt blue. “It’s one of the most important pieces here,” says Yu Yu. In 

the Japan section, there are several classical woodblock prints, including the iconographic 

South Wind, Clear Sky by Katsushika Hokusai. This is the close-up of Mt. Fuji under a 

lacy canopy of clouds, part of a famous series depicting the majestic mountain from different 

angles. 

The temporary Winds from Fusang exhibition explores a little-known topic — the 

interchange between Chinese and Mexican artists that occurred in the 1930s and then 

again in the 1950s, after China had become a Communist nation. The show was cocurated 

by Yu Yu and guest curator Shengtian Zheng, a veteran Chinese art scholar and 

curator based in Vancouver. 

During an exhibition preview, Zheng explained the show’s inspiration. “Fusang is 

not a real place,” he said. “In Chinese mythology, it’s a mysterious place in the East.” 

For the Chinese in the 20th century, Mexico seemed a faraway and exotic place. In the 

1930s Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias visited China twice, and several of his stylized 

illustrations are in the show, as well as works by Chinese artists who emulated him. Then 


02.18 | ARROYO | 31

Diego Rivera, The Dream (Suefi o), 1932 


in 1956, the touring exhibition National Front of Plastic Arts of Mexico: An Exhibition of 

Paintings and Prints introduced more than 60 Mexican artists to a Chinese audience, 

starting in Beijing. The show included works by Diego Rivera, Xavier Guerrero, Leopoldo 

Méndez, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. That year Siqueiros 

himself made a trip to China, meeting important officials such as Prime Minister Zhou 

Enlai, as well as a number of Chinese artists. 

The exhibition shows their correspondence and pamphlets, actual artworks included 

in the 1956 exhibition, as well as art by Chinese artists influenced by the show. “This 

exhibition had a strong impact on Chinese muralists,” says Zheng. One was Yunsheng 

Yuan, who designed a major mural for the Beijing International Airport in 1979. Yuan 

had visited the minority Dai people in Yunnan Province, and his mural showed them celebrating 

the Water Splashing Festival, much as the Mexican muralists had celebrated the 

life and culture of indigenous peoples in their own country. The Chinese mural turned 

out to be a controversial one, since it showed nude figures. |||| 

THIS MONTH AT PAM 

With Chinese New Year falling on Feb. 16, the museum offers two very special 

programs this month: On Feb. 8 there’s a discussion about fusion food with chefs 

Erwin Tjahyadi (Komodo, Bone Kettle) and Ricardo Zarate (Paiche, Rosaline), 

moderated by Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold (program cost is $15). On 

Feb. 17 the museum celebrates the Lunar New Year with free admission, performances 

and artmaking workshops. 

USC Pacific Asia Museum is located at 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. Hours are 11 

a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Friday through Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. 

Tickets cost $10, $7 for seniors and students; members and children 17 and under are admitted 

free, and admission is free for all Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. and the second Sunday of the 

month. Call (626) 449-2742 or visit pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu 

IMAGE: Courtesy of PAM 

32 | ARROYO | 02.18

KITCHEN 

CONFESSIONS 

Sayonara 

WHEN THE CULINARY STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER... 

BY LESLIE BILDERBACK 

Facebook is mostly annoying, but it does have some perks — not the least of which is 

reconnecting with old friends. This is the story of one such incident that happened a 

few years ago. 

A former student reached out via Facebook and invited me to eat at her restaurant. In 

my past life as a culinary instructor, I had hundreds of students, but this one stood out, as 

the best ones always do. She was not in love with pastry making, as I recall, but she passed 

it with a determined attitude. 

My husband and I drove out to her kaiseki restaurant, n/naka, in Culver City and 

enjoyed what was surely one of our top five meals of all time. I was familiar with kaiseki 

but had never experienced it. It is the most formal type of Japanese dining, blending two 

culinary traditions — that of the temples and that of the palaces. From the Buddhist 

temples and tea ceremony comes an economically restrained preparation of food, intended 

to highlight the natural essence of each ingredient. The more opulent cuisines of the 

imperial court and the samurai household include multiple courses of ornate, costly 

ingredients. Modern kaiseki chefs weigh these two principles, mix in a keen awareness of 

local micro-seasons with a dash of foraging and highlight local ingredients to present a 

culinary story of a particular time and place. The meal typically hovers around 13 courses 

presented in a prescribed order, but the chef is free to add or subtract courses based on the 

season, region and personal style. Portions are small, delicate and presented on special 

dishes designed to visually represent the terroir. It is widely accepted that French nouvelle 

cuisine was inspired by kaiseki, and that is certainly possible, although I have never met 

a French chef as thoughtful as my former student. Her work is intricate, deliberate and 

amazing. 

After the meal, she came out and asked if I would offer her a critique of the meal, 

especially the dessert portion. I wrote up a short summary of observations, and we met for 

lunch. I learned that she was to be featured in a documentary series that was about to drop 

on Netflix, and she was expecting a surge in business. She was not happy with her current 

dessert offerings (she was still baking off the notes from my class some 20 years earlier) 

and, after hearing my suggestions, she asked if I could just come and cook for her for a little 

while. 

I was stunned. 

I’d been out of formal fine dining for decades. And although there were a few bakery 

jobs here and there, none of them featured tablecloths. I had mostly been earning my keep 

as a food writer and occasional culinary teacher. But I certainly knew how to do it. And it 

just so happened that I was between gigs, having tried, unsuccessfully, to switch careers 

with a newly minted masters degree in art history. Also, my nest was recently emptied. 

So I was happy to have something to do besides sobbing in a fetal position in alternating 

empty kids’ rooms. I agreed to help, intending to work for a few months to set up a pastry 

program, then move on. 

That was three years ago. This month, with mixed emotions, I am saying goodbye. 

I am finally getting a chance to use my new degree, teaching in a real college that gives 

degrees (unlike culinary schools, whose motives I will forever question). Though I will 

always keep my fingers (so to speak) in the food business, I am anxious to do something a 

little more personally meaningful. Not that cooking can’t be meaningful — it’s just that 

there is a limit to the satisfaction I can get from making fancy food for rich people. 

There is another reason I am looking forward to stepping back. I am feeling my age. 

My feet, back and various bodily joints hurt more and more each month. My flour allergy 

(yes, a baker with a flour allergy) is getting harder and harder to manage. Also, I’m tired 

of getting up at 4 in the morning, and falling asleep at 7:30 at night — I basically have no 

nightlife (that is, it’s night when I never go out). 


02.18 | ARROYO | 33


PIRATE'S 

GOLD 

My age has manifested also in the work I do. I have become a culinary curmudgeon. 

I was trained in the ’80s, which is a culinary light-year away from what’s happening on 

the scene now. I have never wanted to be an overly fussy tweezer chef, I am not interested 

in newfangled techniques, I fear fancy equipment and I loathe everything molecular and 

architectural. I don’t need a Thermomix to magically blend and cook my custards; I have 

a stove and a bowl and a whisk. I don’t need a silicone mat to line my baking sheets; I 

have parchment paper. I don’t want to use stabilizers or liquid nitrogen in my ice creams; I 

consider that cheating. I am not a chef who embraces change. I am the Grumpy Old Man 

of the restaurant world. Get off my (culinary) lawn! 

That said, I have learned some things — a little about Japanese tradition, and a lot 

about myself. I became a faster and more efficient cook. I learned how to be more frugal 

in my work. I learned to appreciate ingredients in a new way and gained respect for the 

most mundane elements of my pantry. (I can work magic with rye flour and a lemon now.) 

I learned that greatness has nothing to do with size, or gender, or ethnicity, or funding; 

rather it is about heart, empathy, stamina and determination. I learned that I am not 

alone in my disdain for the “female chef” moniker, and that we’d all just like to be plain 

ol’ regular chefs. I learned that the student can, in fact, surpass the teacher. Often. And 

always in the sweetest, most delightful ways. 

But most important, I learned that, despite everything, at 53 I can still throw down. 

And I probably still will. In a month or so I will miss it and have regret, because that’s how 

I roll. I try stuff, get bored and move on. I’m lucky I am able to do that, and lucky to have 

always loved my work. I realize most of the world doesn’t live that way, and I am grateful. 

I have met my replacement. She is about 20 years younger than I am. She is well 

trained and well traveled. She has a great attitude and a sunny disposition. She’ll be 

amazing. 

Thank you for everything, Niki-san. |||| 

STORY AND PHOTO BY MICHAEL CERVIN 

Ombra is an open-air wine and cocktail bar, which opened in mid-2016 

at the Americana at Brand in Glendale. Seeking to set their cocktail 

program apart from the mainstream, proprietor Andrea Scuto scoured bars 

in Los Angeles and New Orleans. “I searched and searched for what was different 

and unique,” he says. “Cocktails spark people’s imagination.” Scuto’s cocktail menu 

changes quarterly, to keep it fresh and interesting, but unique drinks like Pirate’s Gold 

will always remain. And as this cocktail suggests, Ombra is pursuing less traditional 

cocktails with a bit of theatrical flare. 

A mélange of rum, tamarind and ginger beer, accented with fresh citrus, it seems 

like this should taste bold. “This is a big boy,” says Andrea. But it’s really not a heavy 

drink, just a robust cocktail, with citrus that lightens the dark notes of the tamarind 

and brings out the brown spice and sweetness of the rum. Sample this with Ombra’s 

flatbread topped with blue-cheese spinach, caramelized onions and provolone cheese, 

or their jalapeňo and whole-grain-mustard deviled eggs. |||| 

INGREDIENTS 

1¾ ounce Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum 

½ ounce lime juice 

PIRATE’S GOLD 

½ ounce housemade tamarind syrup 

(1-to-1 ratio tamarind paste, sugar and water) 

½ ounce True Roots Ginger Beer 

METHOD 

1. Shake all ingredients together. Pour over ice cubes in a tumbler. 

2. Spray edible gold spray around lip of glass. Garnish with cinnamon stick and lime wedge. 

n/naka’s Matcha Sablé 

I’ve turned to this recipe time and again, because it exemplifies buttery shortbread 

while, at the same time, honoring the traditional flavor of matcha. In case you didn’t 

know, matcha is the powdered green tea used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. 

When I started my career, matcha could only be found in Little Tokyo or via mail 

order. Now you can get it at Ralph’s. 

INGREDIENTS 

12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter 

1¼ cups powdered sugar 

2¾ cups all-purpose flour 

1 tablespoon matcha powder 

METHOD 

1. Don’t bother sifting anything. Just combine it all in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a 

paddle attachment, and blend slowly --- for 3 to 5 minutes --- until it forms a dough. Wrap the dough 

in plastic wrap, press into a disc and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Dough can be stored in the 

fridge for a week, or if frozen, much longer.) 

2. To bake, preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silicone 

mat — for you modernists). Remove the dough from the fridge, and knead it slightly until pliable. 

Roll out on a dusted work surface to a quarter-inch thick, and cut into desired shape. (Alternatively, 

you can roll the dough into logs, chill for an hour, then slice into coins.) Set onto prepared baking 

sheet a half-inch apart (they don’t spread much), and bake for 20 minutes, turning the pan halfway 

through baking for even browning. Cool completely before removing from the tray. Serve with a cool 

glass of milk, or a not-too-sweet dish of vanilla ice cream. Simplicity is delicious. 

Leslie Bilderback is a chef and cookbook author, a certified master baker and 

an art history instructor. She lives in South Pasadena and teaches her techniques 

online at culinarymasterclass.com. 

34 | ARROYO | 02.18

A SELECTIVE PREVIEW OF UPCOMING EVENTS 

COMPILED BY JOHN SOLLENBERGER 

THE LIST 

Dance Films, 

Degas Talk at 

Norton Simon 

All events are 

included in regular 

museum admission 

of $15, $12 for seniors; members, patrons 

and students 18 and younger are admitted 

free: 

Feb. 2 — The 1935 fi lm Top Hat stars Fred 

Astaire as an American dancer in Britain 

who falls for a model (Ginger Rogers) 

who mistakes him for his goofy producer. 

It runs from 5:30 to 7:10 p.m. 

Feb. 9 — Swing Time, screening at 5:30 

p.m., is a 1936 fi lm featuring Ginger Rogers 

and Fred Astaire; Astaire’s character, 

a performer and gambler, visits New York 

City to raise $25,000 so he can marry his 

fi ancé, then becomes entangled with a 

beautiful, aspiring dancer. 

Feb. 16 — An American in Paris (1951), 

at 5:30 p.m., is the story of a former GI 

(Gene Kelly) who remained in Paris to 

study painting and betrays his wealthy 

benefactor by romancing a woman 

(Leslie Caron) involved in a relationship 

with his best friend. 

Feb. 23 — Singin’ in the Rain (1952), at 

5:30 p.m., follows a 1920s silent fi lm actor 

(Gene Kelly) pursuing a spunky chorus 

girl (Debbie Reynolds), alarming his divalike 

leading lady, in a lighthearted musical 

spoof of the early days of Hollywood. 

Feb. 24 — Assistant Curator Emily Talbot 

discusses “Beyond the Pale: The Radical 

Realism of Degas’ Little Dancer, Aged 

Fourteen,” exploring its controversial 

debut at the sixth Impressionist Exhibition 

in 1881; some welcomed the tinted wax 

fi gurine as an exciting new direction in 

realist art, while others were disturbed 

by Degas’ unidealized treatment of the 

dancer’s body and facial features. The 

lecture runs from 4 to 5 p.m. 

The Norton Simon Museum is located at 

411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Call 

(626) 449-6840 or visit nortonsimon.org. 

Zipper Piano 

Concert 

Hails Oppressed 

Feb. 6 — Native Californian 

pianist Susan 

Svrcek performs an 8 p.m. concert, 

“A Hymn for the Oppressed,” at the 

Colburn School’s Zipper Concert Hall. 

The program includes “Chained Hands 

CHINESE NEW YEAR, 

JAPANESE TREES AT 

THE HUNTINGTON 

Feb. 1 — A lecture on “Louis C. Tiffany’s Glass Mosaics” explores the renowned glass 

master’s lesser-known glass mosaic work, perhaps his most expressive medium. 

Kelly Conway, curator of American glass at Corning, New York’s Corning Museum of 

Glass, speaks at 7:30 p.m. in Rothenberg Hall. Admission is free; no reservations are 

required. 

Feb. 17 and 18 — The Huntington celebrates Chinese New Year and the Year of the 

Dog with lion dancers, mask-changing performances, martial arts, Chinese music 

and other activities, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Free with regular Huntington 

admission of $29, $24 for seniors, $24 for students 12 to 18 and $13 for youth 4 to 11; 

members and children under 4 are admitted free. 

Feb. 24 and 25 — The Huntington’s annual Bonsai-a-Thon features exhibits, demonstrations, 

prize drawings, a bonsai bazaar and a live auction between 10 a.m. and 

5 p.m. both days. Free with regular admission (see above). 

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is located at 1151 

Oxford Rd., San Marino. Call (626) 405-2100 or visit huntington.org. 

in Prayer,” a 1979 work by Japanese 

composer Yuji Takahashi; Takahashi’s 

“Kwangju”; “The People United Will 

Never Be Defeated!,” Frederic Rzewski’s 

1975 composition honoring the Chilean 

people’s struggle against the repressive 

regime of Augusto Pinochet. Tickets are 

$35, $30 for seniors, $20 for students. 

The Colburn School’s Zipper Concert 

Hall is located at 200 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 

Visit pianospheres.tix.com for tickets. 

Visit facebook.com/lapianospheres for 

information. 

Caltech Music: 

Sixties, Schubert, 

Scottish Songs 

Feb. 10 — “An 

Evening with Peter 

Yarrow” showcases 

a founding member of the legendary 

folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. The trio 

was known for such hits as “If I Had a 

Hammer,” “Puff the Magic Dragon” and 

“Blowin’ in the Wind.” Yarrow will sing, 

play guitar and share stories about music 

and social activism in the 1960s era 

of change and upheaval. The concert 

starts at 7 p.m. in Caltech’s Ramo Auditorium. 

Tickets are $30, $10 for students 

and children. 

Feb. 11 — A Coleman Chamber Music 

concert features the Schubert Ensemble, 

performing works by Hummel, Faure and 

Schubert, starting at 3:30 p.m. in Beckman 

Auditorium. Tickets are $20 to $55. 

Feb. 23 — A Pasadena Folk Music Society 

concert features Old Blind Dogs, a 

legendary Scottish folk group, performing 

high-energy instrumentals, traditional 

ballads and songs by contemporary 

writers, starting at 8 p.m. in Beckman 

Institute Auditorium (not to be confused 

with the larger Beckman Auditorium 

located nearby). Tickets are $25, $5 for 

Caltech students and children. 

All venues are located on the Caltech 

campus at 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena. 

Call (626) 395-3841 or visit events. 

caltech.edu. 

Country, City 

Rockin’ at The 

Rose 

Feb. 10 — Iconic 

country-rock group 

Pure Prairie League performs their classic 

sound, combining sweet memories 

from their 1960s Ohio origins to edgy, 

muscular contemporary tunes. Tickets 

are $24 to $48. 

Feb. 15 — The Fifth Dimension comes 

to town, with a program of the vocal 

group’s romantic hits. Songs include “Up, 

Up, and Away,” “One Less Bell to Answer,” 

“Last Night I Didn’t Get to Sleep at 

All,” “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Stoned 

Soul Picnic.” Tickets are $28 to $48. 

Feb. 21 — The rockers of Styx continue to 

perform their sweeping, anthemic tunes 

after more than 40 years of making 

music, reprising such hits as “The Grand 

Illusion,” “Blue Collar Man,” “Lady,” 

“Come Sail Away,” “Miss America” and 

“Renegade.” Tickets are $79 to $149. 

Doors open at 6 p.m. and headliners 

start at 9 p.m. for each show at The 

Rose, 245 E. Green St., Pasadena. Call 

(888) 645-5006 or visit roseconcerts.com. 


02.18 | ARROYO | 35

THE LIST 


Improv Rules in 

Burbank 

Feb. 12 —Flappers 

Comedy Club and 

Restaurant launches “Flappers Improv 

Comedy Night,” produced by Ken 

Pringle, hailed as the “dean of students 

at Flappers Comedy University,” and 

Kent Skov, founder of the L.A. Connection, 

in a recently established partnership 

of the city’s two prominent comedy 

institutions. Pringle and Skov auditioned 

more than 200 of L.A.’s best improvisers 

to assemble the all-star Flappers House 

Improv Team, including some from the 

Burbank Comedy Festival. The show will 

run the second Monday of every month, 

featuring the house team, plus special 

guest troupes and featured acts. The 

initial Feb. 12 show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets 

are $10. 

Flappers Comedy Club and Restaurant is 

located at 102 E. Magnolia St., Burbank. 

Call (818) 845-9721 or visit fl apperscomedy.com. 

Camerata 

Pacifi ca Wanders 

Through Europe 

Feb. 13 — Chamber 

music ensemble 

Camerata Pacifi ca continues its season 

with a 7:30 p.m. concert at the Huntington. 

The concert features Harty’s 

“In Ireland”; Rabl’s Four Songs, Op. 5; 

Schubert’s “Der Wanderer,” “An Schwager 

Kronos,” “Wanderers Nachtlied” 

and “Der Musensohn”; and Loeffl er’s 

Four Poems for Voice, Viola and Piano, 

Op. 5. The performers are Paul Coletti, 

viola; Andrew Garland, baritone; Adrian 

Spence, artistic director and principal 

fl ute; Warren Jones, the Robert and 

Mercedes Eicholz Chair in Piano; and 

Ani Aznavoorian, principal cello. Tickets 

cost $56. 

The Huntington Library, Art Collections 

and Botanical Gardens is located at 

1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. Call (800) 

557-2224 or visit cameratapacifi ca.org. 

Pasadena 

Symphony 

Salutes Stravinsky 

Feb. 17 — The Pasadena 

Symphony’s 

Singpoli Symphony Classics Series features 

Stravinsky’s Firebird suite, with concerts 

at 2 and 8 p.m. in the Ambassador 

Auditorium. David Lockington conducts, 

with featured cello soloist Inbal Segev. 

The concert also includes Dvorak’s Cello 

Concerto and a new commissioned 

work by Dale Trumbore. Tickets are $35 

and up. 

Ambassador Auditorium is located at 

131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 

793-7172 or visit pasadenasymphonypops.org. 

“Hope” Inspires Novel 

Salastina Concert 

Feb. 17 — Pasadena-based Salastina 

Music Society’s February concert at 

the Pasadena Conservatory of Music 

is “Bryan’s Playlist,” featuring favorite 

pieces of concert and KUSC host Bryan 

Lauritzen. The program was inspired by 

the e.e. cummings poem, “Hope.” Works 

include John Luther Adams’ “Looking 

Towards Hope,” “Musica Celestis” by 

Aaron Jay Kernis, “Voodoo Dolls” by 

Jesse Montgomery, “Mikhail’s Thunder” 

by Mohammed Farouz, Florence Price’s 

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” Caroline 

Shaw’s “Entr’acte” and works by 

Tchaikovsky, Elena Kats-Chernin, Charles 

Ives, Germaine Tailleferre, Gabriela 

Lena Frank, Beethoven and Strauss. The 

performance begins at 8 p.m. in the 

school’s Barrett Hall. 

The Pasadena Conservatory of Music is 

located at 100 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena. 

Tickets cost $32. Visit salastina.org. 

L.A. Chamber 

Orchestra Looks 

to Londom 

Feb. 24 — The L.A. 

Chamber Orchestra 

(LACO) performs a 

London-themed concert titled “Regal 

Classics” at 8 p.m. Scottish conductor 

Douglas Boyd leads the orchestra, 

with tenor Thomas Cooley performing 

Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and 

Strings and Haydn’s Symphony No. 

104, “London.” Also on the program is 

a world premiere by Ellen Reid, commissioned 

by LACO. The performance 

takes place at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, 


36 | ARROYO | 02.18

02.18 | ARROYO | 37

THE LIST 

GRAND PARK OFFERS 

VALENTINE’S VENUE 

Feb. 14 — The City of Los Angeles is promoting Grand Park as a romantic space 

for lovers on Valentine’s Day, offering a beautiful setting for a picnic dinner and 

a moonlit walk amid views of City Hall and the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain. 

Guests can dine on picnic dinners at tables for two around the fountain and 

throughout Olive Court. The park is open from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. 

Grand Park is bounded by the Music Center to the west, City Hall to the east, 

between First and Temple streets in downtown L.A. Visit grandparkla.org. 


repeating at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at UCLA’s 

Royce Hall. Ticket prices start at $27. 

The Alex Theatre is located at 216 N. 

Brand Blvd., Glendale. Call (213) 622- 

7001 or visit laco.org. 

Russian Nights Concert Raising 

Rubles for Kids 

Feb. 24 — Pasadena’s Professional 

Child Development Associates (PCDA) 

hosts "Russian Nights: A Black Tie Affair," 

a chamber music concert and dinner, 

including caviar and special delicacies, 

catered by Chef Claud Beltran. 

Featured performers include Ruslan 

Biryukov, cellist with the Glendale Philharmonic 

and the L.A. Cello Quartet; 

Roberto Cani, violinist and concertmaster 

with the L.A. Opera; and pianist 

Armen Guzelimian. The fundraiser at 

a private home in the Pasadena area 

runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets cost $250. 

Proceeds benefi t children with special 

needs who are served by PCDA. 

Visit pcdateam.org/russiannights for 

tickets. |||| 

38 | ARROYO | 02.18

02.18 | ARROYO | 39

40 | ARROYO | 02.18

February 2018

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