Justin’s Newsletter: June 2023
Vol. 3, Issue 6
If you’re not already subscribed to my free monthly email newsletter, you can sign up here. Or if you know someone who might enjoy this, feel free to share it with them.
What’s Up With Me
I won two 1st place journalism awards at the 65th Annual Los Angeles Press Club Southern California Journalism Awards ceremony! I also got a 3rd place award and two finalist spots. There were 2,300 entries this year. Read my award-winning stories:
“Welcome to Slowjamastan,” Alta Journal, 1st place in Music/Arts Feature Over 1,000 Words category. The judges said: “An informative and fun exploration of micronations setting the right tone of seriousness and absurdity.”
“Paradise Springs Eternal,” Pasadena Now, 1st place in Culture News category. The judges said: “Absolutely wonderful storytelling that takes the reader back to the "Golden Age" and what went on behind the scenes. Great history of the building. Very colorful and entertaining.”
“Author treks through Holocaust heartbreak with biting wit, historical perspective, concern for future,” Pasadena Star-News, 3rd place in Entertainment News/Feature category.
Listen to the latest episode of my podcast with Brad Steele on fatherhood, “Dadding.” This episode is called “Ok, Boomer” and we explore the different parenting styles of Baby Boomers and Millennials.
Watch the latest episode of “Pasadena Monthly with Justin Chapman,” featuring a conversation with Danny Feldman, producing artistic director of the Tony Award-winning Pasadena Playhouse.
Around Town
Stories to Keep an Eye On
International: That Russian coup was certainly anti-climactic, huh? Man, I wish I knew what was really going on there. To be sure, Prigozhin would not have been any better than Putin, and quite possibly worse (if that is possible). But it sure would have been fun to watch that conflict unfold in the streets of Moscow, though thankfully innocent people didn’t have to die. The thing to watch now is what longer-term consequences will come of it? Is Putin’s strongman image weakened? He’s surely pissed and embarrassed. Or does he use this to strengthen his position and crack down even harder? Can Ukraine utilize this to find an opening and exploit it as part of their long anticipated and finally unfolding counter-offensive?
National: So affirmative action and the student loan forgiveness plan are officially dead. Many young people will now have to defer starting families and buying homes. This Supreme Court is so out of step with the mainstream of America, and has shifted so far to the right as to lose all credibility. It’s so sad to watch, and I have a feeling they’re just getting started with imposing their draconian, archaic vision on society. Loan payments will now be due starting October 1, though the U.S. Department of Education is trying recalculate them so the payments would be lower each month. [Additional unrelated national story: the CIA just released 1,103 more documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.]
California: California’s Reparations Task Force released its final report. The report says: “Only those individuals who are able to demonstrate that they are the descendant of either an enslaved African American in the United States, or a free African American living in the United States prior to 1900, [are] eligible for monetary reparations.” Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature will consider the proposal starting next year.
Local: The deadline for the City of Pasadena and the Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group’s Request for Proposals for the historical report regarding the 710 freeway displacement has been extended to July 14. Click here for info on the RFP and more info here.
Great Reads
Here are some recommendations for great books I’ve read recently:
Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World—Gary Lachman
What a character Aleister Crowley is. He was a mountain climber, poet, chess player, writer, and mystical magician—and was one of the most controversial spiritual figures of the 20th century. He developed occult philosophies, practiced sex magic, and called himself the Beast 666. He was also the spiritual mentor of one Jack Parsons, the rocketry pioneer from Pasadena whose fuel inventions led to the founding of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He wrote The Book of the Law, the founding text of his Church of Thelema, which he believed was communicated through him by a superhuman being. He took over the Ordo Templi Orientis (Order of the Temple of the East, or OTO), a quasi-Masonic group that practiced sexual magic and had a sect in Pasadena. He later suffered from chronic bronchitis and heroin addiction until his death in 1947 at age 72. In 1967, the Beatles’ album “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” included his image on the cover, resulting in him becoming a cult hero for some. This book can get a bit in the weeds and comes from a perspective of believing in the magick—it’s written by the bassist from Blondie—but it’s a good overall start for someone wanting to learn more about the so-called “wickedest man in the world.”
On His Majesty’s Secret Service—Charlie Higson
Ian Fleming Publications didn’t originally plan to release a new James Bond book in 2023—they just released one last year—but early this year they asked the author of the Young Bond books if he could whip up a story real quick before the coronation of King Charles III on May 6. Higson wrote the book in just a few weeks with a story revolving around the coronation of course, and they got it out the door in record time. And it’s a fun Bond book, better reviewed and received than the one that came out last year. It’s short, just 160-something pages, so more of a novella, but new Bond is new Bond.
Spotlight on My Past Stories
In light of Danny Feldman of the Pasadena Playhouse being my guest on this month’s “Pasadena Monthly,” check out my Pasadena Weekly story from 2010 about the financial struggles the Playhouse was going through at that time.
And read all of my journalism here.