Old Pasadena Vintage

Peering out from under the awning at the Pasadena Christian Center (yesterday's post), take a look across the street. There's a cute, little old building that houses the Old Pasadena Vintage Lighting Company at 2569 Colorado Blvd.

The "about us" link on their site doesn't work but the other links do. They get good reviews on Yahoo. I can tell you a few things about them because I've browsed through the store and even taken photos, though for some reason (certainly not human error) none were good enough to post.

The coolest thing about the business is that Jason can custom make just about any kind of vintage lighting you want. He's been at it for a while, and he's created reproductions for some of Pasadena's well-known structures. And yet the prices are reasonable.

Plus they have unique antiques.
Plus they're nice.
Plus last time I was there a charming little dog was guarding the place with all the ferocity of a bonbon.

...

I'm sooo looking forward to the end of the recession. I hope I don't have to wait that long to order my custom light fixtures. But I doubt that median will be re-landscaped before then.

Cinematic Church

At 2588 East Colorado Blvd., amid antique shops, used furniture stores and a cute-looking restaurant or two, you'll find the Pasadena Christian Center which (obviously) used to be a movie theater.

A snoop around the church's website will tell you about their religious mission and practice. They've been in Pasadena in various locations since 1929, and "debuted" in the one-time Colorado Theater in 2002.

The Colorado Theater link takes you to the fantastic Cinema Treasures website. The photos of the early Colorado Theater show it looking much plainer than it does now. I wonder when the marquee got so fancy?

And if you're looking for something to do after church this weekend, check out Ben Wideman's new series about city parks at The Sky is Big in Pasadena.

Nature Wins

I'm trying to come up with something metaphorical to say about this photo.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Don't let things slip through the cracks.
It's the little things.

Maybe I should try to come up with something original instead.

Every day the world teems with traffic, marriage, war, shopping, hardship, heartbreak, love and death. Someone is rejoicing. Someone's going to work. Someone's being born.

Then one day a crack appears and sure enough, nature takes over.

iPhone Wednesday #7 - Shovel

John got this close-up of a shovel near the Devil's Gate Dam not long ago.

There's still much work to be done over there. After rain last weekend the water has risen again, collecting debris behind the dam. Workers have corralled the debris (everything from driftwood to plastic bottles to stray socks) so when it's time to release the water, the debris won't be released with it.

shovel detail

John took a lot of photos of this medieval-looking thing. I'm fascinated by the irregularity of it, not to mention the colors. As John said, some forms of technology have been with us for a long time, and there's no need to change them.

No Nose In the Air

This tower of wine glasses decorates (and functions) at the Nose Wine Cellar, where I was treated to a glass of prosecco and hors d'oeuvres after Saturday's poetry reading at Vroman's.

Doesn't that sound downright snobbish? Squinch up your nose and say it out loud: "a glahss of prossickoo and oh dewves ahfter the pewetry reeding. Dahling."

That has nothing to do with the Nose, which isn't snobby at all. It's a nice place to eat and have a glass of wine (or a tower of glasses of wine). I didn't get to stay very long, but after a bite of cheese I regretted that.

The Nose is at 696 Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena inside Arcade Lane, a sweet little arcade of shops and dining spots. Worth a look, and there's parking behind (enter on Green Street).

Zen Monday: #91

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. There's no right or wrong. It means what you think it means, or what you want it to mean.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. Unless I absolutely must say something I stay out of the comments box to avoid influencing the discussion (because when I get in there everything goes down hill).

As I post each new Zen Monday photo I add a label to last week's to identify it if necessary.

Parallels

We talked about the Equator Cafe a while back--a long while back--here on the ol' blog. I was in the midst of my coffee shop quest and apparently this was once a coffee shop.

Not any more. Asian fusion. It's pretty good, too, with friendly service, good portions and reasonable prices.

I had to giggle at the "about" page on their website, though. It's so pretentious it's silly. I don't know who wrote it but don't let it put you off. The place is friendly, at least at lunch time. There may have been successful, confident professionals there but I didn't see anyone "exaggeratingly beautiful," not even in the ladies' room. Hell, they let me in. And nobody complained when I squatted under the bar with my camera.

Oh--and the coffee is excellent. I've been truck-load busy lately but it's starting to ease up. I just might have time to hit the coffee shops again.