When City Hall went dark last night at 8:00 for Earth Hour the sky glowed pink, thanks to a heavy mist and what I'm guessing might be sulphur plasma street lights.Last night's celebration was a well-attended blast, with a storyteller in the courtyard followed by drumming outside the main entrance.
Some lights stayed on. They had to: you can't have people bumping into each other, knocking over plants and tripping over curbs. But we enjoyed being together in the semi-dark, not needing electricity for a time.
Update 3/31/08: Smart husband says probably not sulphur plasma lights but sodium vapor lamps. Which is what I meant.
21 comments:
We turned out last night. I think we were the only thing off last night in Terrell.
Awesome picture! If I hadn't been at the Dodgers game last night this is where I would have been. Thanks for sharing!
Petrea, this is a gorgeous shot - the lighting is incredible. Bravo!
I hadn't heard about this! The light (or lack of) makes for a lovely photo.
Nicely done, Jim.
Ben! Speaking of awesome pictures! Everyone, check out Ben's picture of LA's Memorial Coliseum today.
Thanks, Pont Girl. I didn't do anything to it, though the camera "pinked it up" a bit. But I like it, too.
Thank you, Marley. I don't think I would've known about Earth Hour if Pasadena hadn't had a big celebration. But apparently many cities around the globe participated. Maybe next year it'll be bigger (two hours!).
As one who once labored within City Hall,I find your photo a gracious interpretation. Sadly, over the years, Pasadena has witnessed the destruction of what once was....
I was hoping to read something about the Earth Hour. Glad you posted it. The phot is incredibly beautiful, the light (or lack of it) gave the building a ghostly look...
Petrea I have a doubt, I noticed that your profile says "I'm an actor...", why don't you write "I'm an actress" since you are a girl?! (it's not the first time I notice this kind of thing, but it's the first time I have the opportunity to make this silly question!)
I am so psyched to hear you celebrated earth hour Petrea-so did I with my family & I believe some of my nieghbors as well! Your photograph is lovely.
Petrea, this photo belongs on a postcard in a rack of Pasadena tourist sites. Or Zazzie? You seem to have the occasional knack for bridging fine art and photography.
Monica, be careful. If American women find out that there are separate masculine and feminine grammatical genders in Romance languages such as Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. they may seek to have George W. or Hillary invade, conquer, and destroy in order to make your languages gender neutral. There is no "vive la différence" here in America. American women have conceded defeat. Obviously, the masculine gender is perceived as superior. American women do not seek equality. They want to BE men.
Just out of curiosity, if a woman in Brazil called herself "um ator" rather than "uma actriz" what would people think? But would it even, linguistically, be possible to say such a thing?
What a bunch of screwed up people we have in this country.
Pascal Jim: I'm glad you like the photo. I'm relatively new to town so not sure exactly what you mean about "what once was..." I do know Pasadena's better than most American cities at historic preservation, but maybe that's not what you mean.
Monica: Thank you! It did look ghostly.
As for the "actor" thing, when I first began in the business both terms were used, but the womens movement has had its effect, over time, on how we use the gender-specific terms. "Actress" is no longer used in the professional parlance.
Hi Lily Hy! Glad you celebrated.
Tall Gary: Funny you should mention Zazzle. I spent an inordinate amount of time today trying to design a magnet. (See link at left of my main page.) Now that I've mastered it, maybe I can find the right product for this photo.
And tsk tsk, TG! Extrapolating from simple terminology in a very limited profession to a broad generality about an entire gender! I wouldn't want to be just ANY man.
I love this photo - the colours are beautiful.
We turned off the lights for Earth Hour but we left the gas heater going - was that allowed?
looks very pretty
Great photo...I love the pink mist!
What a wonderful picture! I love the colour of the sky!
Hello to Ararat, MagicEye and Tanya: Thanks for the kind words. And I think gas heat is okay if you're cold, Ararat.
Yoshi, nice to see you! Thanks for the kind words.
vous avez une superbe mairie, j'aime beaucoup la perspective de ta photo, avec l'éclairage. très belle photo
You have a wonderful City Hall, and I love the prospect of your photo, with the lighting. Lovely picture
My apologies Petrea. I wasn't thinking of you specifically at all. I just wonder why there is so much hostility for the feminine grammatical gender in our society these days. Words like stewardess, sculptress, ballerina, and actress have been scorned and shunned. Is it the deep Puritanical roots that find anything hinting at sex (male and female) not only repulsive but sinful and evil? Is this elimination of both masculine (mailman, chairman, etc.) and feminine grammatical gender nothing more than a linguistic neutering and spaying? After all millions of people in other societies do not find distinctions between masculine and feminine at all troublesome. Why do Americans?
Also, I was trying to be polite. Instead of the over-generalized "American women" I was thinking more in terms of man-hating, dike feminists, who, in spite of being called feminists, find anything feminine reprehensible.
Or are the American gender bowdlerizers women-hating male supremacists? Who also find the feminine reprehensible.
Or is it, after all, those deep, sick, Puritan roots?
Maybe all three somehow.
I find the American penchant for hostility toward grammatical gender distinctions utterly absurd.
But, again I am not thinking of you in any way, Petrea. Just the norm as it has become in your industry.
Hi, Petrea. It's Erica -- the organizer for Lights Out * Walk About Pasadena. We met during the story-telling...
I'm so glad you were there to take this lovely photo. You should consider posting it to the Earthhour.org international website. Would you like to share other photos from the evening with the City? Get in touch with me at 626-744-6970.
Merci, Olivier, pour le compliment.
Tall Gary:
I was funnin' with you a little bit. After you said I "seem to have the occasional knack for bridging fine art and photography," I'm forever your friend.
I think the gender language thing is simple political correctness and has nothing to do with feminist hostility (although its roots are in feminism). Just as the ways we refer to ethnic groups have changed in the last 40 years, so have the ways we refer to gender groups. My take on it is it's P.C. and nothing more.
Language changes to reflect society. It always has. Sometimes, it's like tearing down a beautiful old structure to put up an apartment building. But it's usually practical.
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