Hair

My morning routine typically consists of pastries and emails, so imagine my unease when at 8 a.m. Wednesday I found myself pinned to a wrestling mat in front of 80 teenage girls in the Glendale High School gym. “Use your legs as a weapon,” said my pretend attacker, women's self-defense instructor Nelson Nio. The list of attacks I was supposed to learn to deflect read like something out of the video game Mortal Kombat - frontal and rear...

"Hair," the American tribal love rock musical, will be performed at the Glendale Community College Auditorium Mainstage Theatre for two more weekends. Memorabilia from the original Broadway production by Michael Butler will be on display in the auditorium lobby. The items include pictures, love beads and programs on loan from Harvey Jordan, who learned of the college's production of "Hair" and offered to let the theater's arts department display them. He obtained the items at an estate sale.

"Hair," the American tribal rock musical, will be performed at Glendale Community College Auditorium Mainstage Theatre for three weekends, opening March 10. Theater professor Ken Gray will direct. Musical direction is by Dan Belzer and choreography is by Melissa Randel. "Hair" was written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado with music written by Galt MacDermot. In a break from the traditional Broadway musicals of the time, the creators attempted to bring to the stage the excitement of 1960s New York's East Village, with long-haired, peace-loving hippies and rock music.

The first of two parts. I can count on one hand the great loves of my life, and the one I count on my little finger is a tall, brown-haired girl named Aubrey. Aubrey and I were 14 when we met. She was the first big crush of my life, and my first girlfriend. And it would have been among my happiest childhood memories were it not for the fact Aubrey turned out to be a Nazi. OK, she wasn't a real, swastika-wearing Nazi -- more a Nazi sympathizer.

Robert Chacon No tears fell from Aleen Babaian's face as a hairstylist cut the dark locks she had been growing more than four years. Only a smile rose from the 8-year-old's face as her 13-inch ponytail was collected in a neat braid by her mother. The girl decided last year that when her hair was long enough, she would cut it off and donate it to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that collects hair and weaves prosthetic wigs for children younger than 18 who have experienced hair loss for medical reasons.

Clarissa Cardenas hadn’t had a true haircut since she was born seven years ago, and she had a long, thick mane to show for it. There had been a few trims here and there, but no substantial cuts, because Clarissa had always wanted to maintain her long locks, said her mother, Elly Cardenas. But she found a real reason to go short when she heard that people could donate their hair to make wigs for cancer patients. “I’m cutting my hair for Locks of Love so that people have hair . .

Ten-year-old Cassandra Huezo sat in the Supercuts lobby on Friday taking deep, labored breaths and biting her nails, waiting for her name to be called. It was to be the first major haircut of her life. "They've had long hair all their lives," said Hector Huezo, gazing at his three daughters. "They've had haircuts, but I always say, 'Just an inch, just a trim.'" In the past, even that has made him nervous -- his three daughters all had dark hair flowing down into the small of their backs -- until Friday.

It was a fun makeover session that ran into the early evening for some 20 Freemont Elementary School students on Monday. But the event itself was rooted in the memory of a teacher overcoming cancer. For the second year in a row, the school held a charitable makeover session that allowed students, parents and teachers came to donate their hair to Locks of Love, a Florida-based charity that will use the hair to make hairpieces for children with serious illnesses. Prices for normal hair pieces can range between $3,500 to $6,000, said Locks of Love spokesperson Lauren Kukkamaa.

"HAIR," the American tribal love rock musical, will be performed at Glendale Community College Auditorium Mainstage Theatre for three weekends, opening March 10. Theatre professor Ken Gray will direct. Musical direction is by Dan Belzer and choreography is by Melissa Randel. "HAIR" was written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado with music written by Galt MacDermot. In a break from the traditional Broadway musicals of the time, the creators attempted to bring to the stage the excitement of 1960s New York's East Village, with long-haired, peace-loving hippies and rock music.

The roar of cheering students drowned out the buzz of the electric hair clippers being used to shave John Muir Middle School Principal Dan Hacking's bright pink hair into a Mohawk Wednesday at the school's Family Fun Night. Hacking had agreed to have his hair shaved and styled into a colored Mohawk if students raised $2,500 for the Red Cross to help Hurricane Katrina Victims. Assistant Principal David Cole agreed to join him if the students raised more than $3,000.

About 30 minutes into watching the Wednesday night dress rehearsal of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, I had an unsettling realization. An hour prior, I had been at the mercy of sharp steel, having received a haircut less than a mile away. I shivered and touched my neck, taken in by Stephen Sondheim's over-the-top creepy score, music the play's vocal director Brendan Jennings described - rather aptly, I thought - as “early Tim Burton.” Fortunately, the woman who tames my somewhat unruly mop is not a maniacal, hate-filled murderer.

One by one, students placed a hand on a silver orb mounted in a corner of the Mountain Avenue Elementary School science fair Friday. And lock by lock, their hair stretched upward and outward until they resembled mad scientists, much to the delight of their classmates. “When you actually do it, you become engaged by it,” said event co-chair and molecular biologist Jackie Bodnar as she watched students interact with the Van de Graaff generator, which creates an electric field strong enough to stand hair on end. It was one of several hands-on stations intermixed with 113 student projects at the event, launched three years ago by parents who wanted to supplement the school's science curriculum.

My morning routine typically consists of pastries and emails, so imagine my unease when at 8 a.m. Wednesday I found myself pinned to a wrestling mat in front of 80 teenage girls in the Glendale High School gym. “Use your legs as a weapon,” said my pretend attacker, women's self-defense instructor Nelson Nio. The list of attacks I was supposed to learn to deflect read like something out of the video game Mortal Kombat - frontal and rear...

As I ascended the stairs to the Glendale High School cosmetology department on a recent afternoon, memories of past hair disasters slowed my step. There was the chop job done at a cheap salon in a Midwestern shopping mall in the wake of a broken college romance. And the round hair brush that became glued to my head after a family friend turned it clockwise and then counter-clockwise mid-styling session (the brush, along with significant portions of hair, had to be cut out). And so subjecting my locks to a 16-year-old in training seemed to have all the makings of Hair Disaster 2011.

“…whether you're a 50-year-old or an adolescent, you're on some kind of hormonal rollercoaster in those two age groups. So I'm not quite sure if it's serious comedy or funny drama.” — Geoffrey Rush When I was 12 years old, my mother took us to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire for a day of medieval role-playing fun. If you've ever been, you know what a seminal experience this can be for a lad in the grips of puberty (pun only vaguely intended)....

Fall colors abound, but green dominates at Glenoaks Elementary, where Principal Kristine Siegal will spray paint her hair green if 100% participation in PTA membership is reached by Oct. 15. PTA President Jennifer Palacios said the principal hair-painting began several years ago, and students love it. "Luckily, principals have been good sports," she added. Glenoaks' PTA is holding an eco-friendly drive. Since the school's Green Team educates students and staff about environmental responsibility, Chair Leigh Helberg said students would sell $10 squares on recyclable paper similar to bingo cards instead of gift wrap.

MONTROSE — A hair salon on Monday was the latest victim in a recent trend of burglaries in north Glendale, officials said. Witnesses reported the break-in at Hair Studio, 3720 N. Verdugo Road, about 8:54 a.m. Monday to Glendale police, stating the store's front window had been shattered, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Owner Patti Harmon said she found glass scattered on the sidewalk and throughout the store. The family-owned business had never been burglarized before. The salon's cash drawer, which contained $20, a new palette of hair colors and beauty products were stolen, Harmon said.

In five seconds, kindergartner Whitney Noh’s hair went from being below her waist to hanging around her shoulders. Fremont Elementary School students, parents and teachers applauded and cheered. “This is her first, real big haircut,” her mother So Noh said. “She knows it’s for a good cause.” By Monday evening, more than 110 inches of hair was cut for charity. For the last five years, Fremont parents Mark Mayner and Claudia Velasco have brought their wares from their Pasadena salon to raise money for Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that uses the hair to make wigs for children with serious illnesses.

As different as people and traditions are around the world, sometimes it?s the similarities that sneak up on us and surprise us the most. For three days and three nights I?d been stuck in this village, a day?s hike from the airfield, a week away from Kathmandu and ages from home. Centuries old, Dunai sits at the crossroads of several primary trekking routes in the lower Dolpo region of Nepal, a frontier land reachable only by plane. The only highways are dirt roads, the only traffic infrequent trekkers, beastly yaks and brilliantly ordained cows.

Whether she’s dancing or donating her hair for Locks of Love, this week’s CV Sun All-Star is a delight to those who know her. All-Star Karlie Vinceri, 6, is a first-grade student at Valley View Elementary School. “Karlie has a pleasant attitude and is well-liked by her peers. I’ve never seen her get mad at anyone or anything,” said Cheryl Hamel, first-grade teacher at Valley View. Hamel said the youth excels in her studies, as well as being a friendly and cooperative student.