A full day culminated in the celebration of 35 years for the Planetary Society last week with a combined dedication of their new facility in Pasadena, now open to the public, and a star-studded evening variety event complete with entertainment and the love of all things science. The building’s dedication ceremonies included words from Congresswoman Judy Chu, Planetary Society board members, and The Science Guy himself, CEO Bill Nye.

The event featured over 40 restaurants and and 13 beverage vendors. Master chefs and mixologists crafted savory and sweet bites and mixed uniquely inspired cocktails and healthy juices for the event. Amanda Green, event director for the inaugural event, has been with the nonprofit through previous annual gala fundraisers, such as their Mother’s Day event last year.

Orange, red-violet, purple, electric blue, and tangerine are the signature colors found in the quintessential psychedelic rock posters created by graphic designer and illustrator David Byrd, whose powerful work was reflective of the art cultural revolution of the 60’s and 70’s. Byrd was part of a movement and revival in art that spanned beyond a decade, producing vibrant and moving posters that inspired the entertainment seeking public and future artists to come.

Gossamer drapes tinged with blue, lavender and gold framed the bandstand center stage. The 2014 Ovation Awards circular sequined logo splashed on the screen above, while stage dressers, technicians and set crew performed that unique dance that is a show tech rehearsal. With only one day to “tech” or perform all things technical for the annual LA STAGE Alliance awards ceremony at the Ahmanson Theatre, nominee and the event’s lighting designer set off, all the while unaware that later in the evening he would be accepting his first ever on that very stage.

Beer bribes, live punk rock, and host of colorful characters inspired the crowning of a new Queen for the occasional parade known to East Pasadena as the Doo Dah. Queen Veronika MeowMeowz, PCC alum Veronika Sorrow, has been crowned the 2015-2016 Queen for the 38th Occasional Doo Dah parade that takes place this Sunday.

The vibrant neon marquee of South Pasadena’s most beloved movie palace, the Rialto Theatre, awoke again for one night as it spilled its candy-colored glow across the Fair Oaks Avenue sidewalk to celebrate its 90th Birthday. Since 2007, when its previous tenant Landmark Theatres discontinued its revival film content there, the Art Deco-styled theater born in 1925 has been waiting patiently for her time like a silent film star re-emerging from a long absence.

Fall is at its most inviting when walkways are lined with the orange glow from that popular seasonal staple, the pumpkin. But add a brightly smiling Sponge Bob, a stoic Spock, a Mermaid languishing on a small sea island, or a 50-foot Chinese dragon and you’ve entered Rise of the Jack O’ Lanterns. In that tradition, a collective of talented artists from various related vocations have pooled together their skills, expertise, and love of art to present the Jack O’Lantern in its most glorious and updated form.

A neon “Press Start Here” sign invites the visiting gamer to take a step back into the 80s at the Neon Retro Arcade. Greeted by banks of brightly colored, back-lit vintage video consoles with neon glowing pinball machines like marching soldiers, the arcade sings in a competitive din like carnival barkers.

Down the narrow side alley next to the Zona Rosa Coffee café , “Latin-afro-cubano-world-beat-fusion” band Cava put their spin on some 60s, 80s, and 90s songs for die-hard music lovers enjoying the Playhouse District earlier this month. Glowing and happy, newly pregnant lead singer and percussionist Claudia “Cava” Gonzalez Miranda sits astride the cajón, a traditional Peruvian percussion box, and croons lullaby-like while gently stroking the anticipated new life that’s growing in her belly.

A cold Sunday night just before the new spring semester brought together a room of warmth at PCC. Students, faculty, and colleagues gathered to celebrate the life of Lancer Radio advisor and broadcasting instructor Scott Carter, a beloved father, friend, mentor and teacher. Carter was in the broadcast field for over 25 years.

Standing in a Gettysburg battlefield, you look up. It’s a clear day with a cerulean blue sky, bright clouds and a wide-open field. You look around and you are surrounded, the field lined with a five foot spiked perimeter fence and cannons at the ready. You reach out to touch the cold, black metal, but it’s not there.

PCC welcomed a new class of eight inductees, along with the 1938 Pasadena Junior College football team, into the 2015-2016 sports Hall of Fame in the GM building on Sunday. Harvey Hyde, a former PCC player and head coach, is holding his plaque at the 2016 PCC Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sunday, January 24, 2016.

The production “Fly” follows four Tuskegee Airmen—the first African-American aviators in the U.S. military—from their initial squad training and education and through the often thinly veiled racist oppression by their superior officers, their comrades and even their subordinates. But the play also largely focuses on their bonding as a team and as men of mission, their triumphs as fighter pilots, and their losses in wartime.

The Veterans Resource Center (VRC) on campus and Project Choice have teamed up to provide on-site HIV and AIDS testing through mobile “Condom Nation” vans that schedule semi-regular visits to PCC. The VRC teamed up with Project Choice and the AIDS Health Organization to bring free HIV testing, counseling, sexual health education, and condoms to help spread sexual health education to help combat the HIV and AIDS virus.

Security systems company Sierra Group has been awarded a $165,516 contract to upgrade and replace portions of PCC’s existing security system, including 38 campus-wide surveillance cameras, as well as elements of the command center at campus police. The Board of Trustees authorized the solicitation for bid for the district’s surveillance system update project in November 2015, where the project was advertised in trade journals and made available on the district’s website.