Friday, June 6, 2008

Jacaranda Maxima

Ben and I have been photographing jacarandas. We can't help it.

I found this tree at 300 W. Green Street, just south of the Ralph's parking lot. Well, I didn't find the tree. If you're anywhere in the vicinity of this block of Green you can't miss it. The building behind it is marked "Hall of Administration." It could either be administration for the Ambassador Auditorium or for Marantha High School, both of which are south of (behind) this structure. Ambassador kind of matches it, though.

But back to the tree. Have you downloaded Google Earth? Oh, you should. It's a fun program anyway. I learned my way around Paris with it before I even went there. You can explore the world, or just Pasadena. Check out your house, the mountain trails, or the great aerial view of City Hall. And if you type in the address above (300 W. Green St. Pasadena, CA), you'll see the most prominent feature at that address: the huge, purple jacaranda tree, photographed by satellite.

26 comments:

Profile Not Available said...

Love the tree, and the building in the background is really fascinating!

Pat said...

I love jacarandas and actually any plant that is this color. Nice photo. I've used Google Earth and will check out your address...

USelaine said...

And using the Spanish or Scandinavian pronunciation for it is just as fun as the English! "La Jacaran-DA! La Jacaran-DA! Nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee-nahhhh..."

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Kelly. I've got to get more shots of that building. What do you think, 60's?

Bibi, you almost don't even have to zoom in to see it. It's quite an aerial shot. I wish I could have figured out how to link to it.

Greatest tree in Pasadeeee. Nah.

Jane Hards Photography said...

The building reminds me of '60's school building from the UK. The tree is the second of this kind I have seen today. It's just so beautiful.As for Google Earth it's the vitual tourist's best friend. Unfortunately it hasn't quite worked out that there are inhabitants my way and hovers over the island.

Tall Gary said...

Thanks for such a "Wow!" moment. I took your advice and downloaded Google Earth and was gobsmacked. What with PDP and now Google Earth there are already the beginnings of tendrils growing from my fingertips into the keyboard and from my eyes into my monitor in search of sustenance now that I am an utterly sedentary being. I should change my handle to Barnacle Gary.

USelaine said...

P. - 8^)

Barnacle Bob, I mean Gary, I should hesitate, but can't help sharing this page of interactive panoramic photos at Virtual Reality Magazine. You might start by clicking on the bubble party thumbnail image in the left column...

Louis la Vache said...

That is one magnificent tree! "Louis" would have photographed it, too, had he 'found' it!

Christie said...

Gorgeous!! I love purple! We don't have anything like that, but we do have lilacs...

Petrea Burchard said...

I just zoomed in on Ramsey, babooshka. You'll have to point out your favorite bridge to me.

I know, Tall Gary, isn't Google Earth the coolest? Although they don't have the greatest views of my childhood hometown of DeKalb, Illinois. Apparently folks don't Google Dekalb as often as they do Paris for some reason.

Bubble Party made me dizzy. In a good way.

Louis, that tree found *me*.

Christie! I'm glad to see you. I'm coming over to Petosky right now to check on your health.

Tall Gary said...

U.S. Elaine. I got as far as the far-out bubble bath party and remembered watching a Shinjuku panorama while I was still there. Facing the white construction barrier/wall and turning right, way back there straight up between the blurry couple and the woman on her bicycle is the Park Hyatt Hotel with the triangular white light on top: home of much of "Lost in Translation." Just to the left of that I spent 13 years working in the building propping up the bright white sign with red lettering.

And Paris? Check out Shinjuku's own version of I.M. Pei's most famous construct—the Louvre glass pyramid. It's funny, I couldn't pass the one in Shinjuku without thinking of the Louvre. I didn't think of Shinjuku once while anywhere near the Louvre courtyard.

ben wideman said...

very cool! and thanks once again for the nod. a great photo - I really must get back to that crazy campus to take more photos.

USelaine said...

Gary! Interactive panoramics are everywhere! They look like they're pretty technically intensive to put together. Otherwise, I'd suggest we do them for the next CDP theme day. ;^)

Lydia said...

That is a perfect tree! I've never even heard of a Jacaranda and I gasped when your blog came up with that photo. Very special. Interesting you'd comment on Google Earth. We have the original version and need to download the upgrade. In early 2007 we had an 85-yr-old friend over for lunch and told him to bring a list of all the addresses where he'd lived. He remembered a long list: from his childhood home in Pennsylvania, to his office near Central Park, to a home on Long Island, to a family retreat in Carmel...and more. To see his eyes that day was to journey back in them, but not with him. It was truly remarkable! He died last month in his last residence, a retirement tower.

Tall Gary said...

U.S. Elaine:
I was just thinking that it would be of note if Eric could manage one. But where? And more important, how? I'm sure the equipment would be prohibitively expensive, but temporary borrowing?

Found a better photo of my workplace at (guess!) Google Earth. Someone (Homer23) wrote,"Shinjuku totally blew my mind. Like Las Vegas painted across the walls of Manhatten." Yeah, blew my mind, too, for 13 years.

USelaine said...

T Gary, I think the challenge is the software that knits together the many separate images the photographer takes at the spot, and applying that view facility. Techie, techie, techie.

I do love this jacaranda photo. I'll bet a 3D panorama under one of these while it starts shedding petals would be cool to look around at.

Jilly said...

What a beautiful tree. I drove through a town in Australia once - lined with Jacarandas. Gorgeous it was and now I've forgotten the name of the town - sorry pretty town.

Your photograph is gorgeous.

Petrea Burchard said...

TG, so cool to see where you worked in Shinjuku!

De nada, Ben.

USElaine, I haven't even read the manual for my Olympus SP350, which is the modern equivalent of an instamatic.

Lydia: that's a beautiful story! Maybe something to blog about.

Thank you, Jilly. Nice to see you!

marley said...

What a striking tree! Great photo. I can see why you are addicted to snapping them :)

Tall Gary said...

Petrea: Thanks for taking a peek and commenting on the Google-Earth-site-derived Shinjuku pic. All photos of Shinjuku are deeply interactive within me.

I get it now Elaine. I was thinking in terms of those old analog high school panorama pics where the camera rotated slowly. Now I realize that the 360ยบ views can be stitched together like a regular digital panorama. So, if you had the right software just about any camera might do. Interesting.

USelaine said...

T Gary - I'm especially amazed that you can look up and down as well - turn somersaults if you want! Holodeck, here we come.

Tash said...

I been taking snapshots of jacarandas too - can't get enough of them. Glad you mentioned the Ambassador. We attended a lot of great concerts there & were sorry to have it close.

Kay said...

The jacaranda is very beautiful! I've done the Google Earth and was amazed at the technology. We're just starting to use the GPS navigation system and it is incredible.

Lindsey said...

I can't say why, but something about this scenery reminds me of the scenery in the first Tenchi movie.

The Real Zajac said...

The building is associated with nether Maranatha High nor Harvest Rock Church. The Hall of Administration was constructed in 1968 by Worldwide Church of God, owners of Ambassador College and Ambassador Auditorium. Sadly, the organization imploded in the early nineties as contention within the leadership tore it apart. They sold the large property off in pieces after a long and protracted period of disuse. As far as I know, the Hall of Administration and its glorious tree will be torn down by the developers that now own the land. But with the economy where it is, who knows? Seems to me that the old Ambassador College campus is cursed. :-P

Petrea Burchard said...

Frazgo, you're better than the internet. I don't care about the building (it's unattractive) but they really ought to keep that tree.