South Pasadena Patch launches today at 12:30 p.m. If you haven’t heard, Patch is AOL’s hyper-local news initiative, which has been getting mixed reviews. LA Weekly recently published a story headlined “Patch, the WalMart of News?” that looks at the endeavor. On the one hand, it’s providing a much-needed source of news for (upper income) neighborhoods that have been neglected. On the other, Patch is strutting into neighborhoods with $50 million in startup cash and threatening to quash established sites. As an example, they’re planning to launch in Altadena, which already has the excellent altadenablog. Not that South Pasadena is Altadena. This town really lacks an online news source. Of the regularly updated sites, there’s the South Pasadena Review, which refuses to believe the Internet is anything more than a fad; there’s Glimpses of South Pasadena, who will be contributing to South Pasadena Patch; and there’s me. And let’s face it: I have a sporadically updated blog that doesn’t look for advertisers. Not much of a threat.

I chose to not take part in the South Pasadena Patch. But I also choose to not compete with it. It’s not really a big deal. I’m happy to get to spend more time with the laptop closed. This little blog has been here for two years now. And really, I never talked about it or promoted it. In spite of my best efforts, the readership has grown exponentially. I’m proud of that. And I’m comfortable letting someone else do it for a while. In a perfect world, the voice of South Pasadena wouldn’t be owned by AOL. But I expect it’ll be better than anything we’ve had so far.

Thanks for the emails. Thanks for the comments. Thanks for reading.

-30-

After a really long wait, Mix n’ Munch Cereal and Grilled Cheese Cafe started their soft opening yesterday, and it’ll continue for a week. The hours are 10ish to 3ish. They say they’re aiming for a grand opening on Oct. 16. And the menu? As Seth Meyers once said, “Every one of your products sounds like a wish a genie granted at a Phish concert.” Let’s use the “Rock and Roll Cereal Bowl” as an example. It includes Captain Crunch, Fruit Loops, blueberries, rainbow sprinkles and circus animal cookies. And then there’s “The Cookie Bowl,” with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cookie Crisp, Golden Grahams and crushed Oreos. Grilled cheese creations include “The Apple Munster” and “The Mix n’ Munch Cristo.” You can also order your own cereal and grilled cheese creations. Drink options are pretty limited … coffee, tea, milk and water. Post-soft opening hours after the jump.

Not-yet-active site: mixnmunch.com

Hours:

• Monday: 7-7
• Tuesday: 7-7
• Wednesday: 7-7
• Thursday: 7-9
• Friday: 7-7
• Saturday: 9-5
• Sunday: 9-3

Are you aware that eHarmony is moving its headquarters and 250+ workforce to Santa Monica in November? The reason is some of the executives live in the Santa Monica area. eHarmony also cites a superior tech labor pool in Santa Monica, which is complete baloney.  What’s equally concerning is the City of Pasadena leaders shrugged it off citing that eHarmony didn’t provide much tax revenue to the city.  What about the 250+ people who are no longer shopping at our stores in S. Pas and Pas?  I’m a S. Pas resident and I know several S. Pas residents who work for eHarmony and are affected.  This whole thing stinks.  The City of Pas is apathetic towards losing a marquee business, we are losing 250+ workers and families in S. Pas are adversely affected.

And if you’d rather just pick up your books on the cheap at Costco, well, shame on you.

• There’s art in them thar walls.
• Chair of the 710 Freeway Coalition: “The MTA board acted courageously and decisively where public bodies had cowered before.” … Steve Hymon has the nitty gritty on the May 27 vote.
• While Radhika’s seems to be faring well since their Mother’s Day opening, Pat at Eating L.A. noticed a “promising” new Thai place snuck into town.
• “So few people I know were born in Pasadena and have lived here their whole life. But I have, baby, I have.”
• And speaking of … “You know you grew up in South Pas in the ’80s if … “
• Dr. Gary Seto gets a mention in USA Today.
• Is it the fool’s Gold Line?
• Fork off of the median.

It has now been moved to the War Memorial building due to some sentiment that it should be held within the city. This, which appeared in the Star-News today, apparently fueled the fire:

“Maybe it wasn’t their brand of sauce, but South Pasadena city officials skipped over Gus’ (sic) Barbecue (sic) in South Pasadena in favor of Pasadena’s Barn Burner Barbecue (sic) to host Police Chief Dan Watson’s going-away party. Fans of the departing police chief can stick a fork in Watson and some slathered ribs on June 30, with the proceeds going to a parting gift for South Pasadena’s top cop, now headed for a similar position at Mammoth Lakes.”

I’m told it’s the same date and time. I can’t imagine 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on a Wednesday is the most convenient time for a party, but then again I’m not an event planner. I added the sics to the story. I could have just corrected them, but a newspaper should know how to spell the names of the businesses it covers. So there. The original brief is here (second item).

*UPDATE: I was just told: “Contact Jeannie Chiu at the City Manager’s office to sign up.  Cost is $20 per person.”

• First and leastmost, an upstart literary magazine is looking for a Web designer. The post contains this blatantly ageist gem: “We’d prefer someone age 35 or younger since the magazine is run by a group of people who are all in their 20s, and we’re looking for someone with a similar artistic and stylistic sensibility.” To paraphrase, young people are all hip in some universal sense, old people notsomuch. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow, that’s pretty illegal,” be comforted by the fact that it’s an unpaid gig. Also, since I’m feeling righteous, I’ll point out that the literary magazine can’t spell complement.
• Wild Thyme is looking for a weekend line cook.
• Gus’s is looking for servers and bartenders.
• Bristol Farms is hiring for a few positions.
• Blog for a marketing company.
• And, of course, South Pasadena is still accepting applications for a police chief to replace Dan Watson. But the deadline is Monday. Here’s a link to the brochure (pdf).

SATURDAY

SOPA Studios is having an artists’ reception Saturday from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

Also, Ken Kulhken will be at BOOK’em Mysteries on Saturday at 3 p.m. to sign copies of “The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles.” What it’s about:

In 1926, when musician Tom Hickey reads in a broadside about a lynching the Los Angeles newspapers failed to report, and discovers the Negro victim was an old friend, he goes to his neighbor Leo Weiss, an LAPD detective.  Leo confirms that, officially, the lynching didn’t occur. Yet Tom decides to investigate the murder. The lynching occurred across the street from evangelist Aimee Semple Macpherson’s Angelus Temple. He goes there looking for clues and is watched by an usher who shadows him after the service and daily.

MONDAY

If you’re not worried enough about the state of our schools, you can go see a screening of “Race to Nowhere” on Monday. Macaroni Kid says they added a 3:30 p.m. show at St. James Church after the 7 p.m. show sold out. Via an email:

This documentary is igniting a national conversation about the unintended consequences of the stress on young people and teachers in our current achievement focused education system and culture. Parents and schools have the best intentions for children, but in many ways these intentions are backfiring. Between homework requirements and extracurricular activities, children are missing the guilt-free down time that they need for physical and mental health.  Teen suicide and stress-related illness is on the rise at alarming rates; cheating has become commonplace, and students arrive at college unprepared and burned out.  This film is a call to action for parents, teachers and school administrators.

• The Highland Park Heritage Trust is asking Caltrans to stop all that construction on the 110.
• The Eclectic Music Festival & Art Walk will have oh-so-hip food trucks. Phew. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like an odd decision for the chamber to hire out-of-town food trucks, which would compete with local businesses.
• I dig South Pas history. I really dig it.
• SPHS student store suffering because they can’t sell crap anymore.
• Finally, the cuss kid is still in the news. I’m not linking to any of it, but yeah, he’s still in the news.

• First and foremost, Eating L.A. has the scoop on Mix ’n Munch. Two thoughts on this: There is no way this can possibly live up to the expectations I’ve built for it; and why would they pick South Pas, instead of something a little closer to a dispensary?
• Speaking of Eating L.A., Pat was quick to pick up on Radhikas moving in at the (jinxed?) spot formerly inhabited by Little Parlor and 750 ml.
• John Rabe talks about Shakers.
• Adding insult to injury? The closed Rialto is now super-closed.
• Pretty awesome Q&A with Videotheque’s Mark Wright.
• And finally, the Chamber of Commerce reminds us that we’re not exactly full.