PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 8

This is it! It's the last week of the PDP/PPM books contest/giveaway. Let's give a big round of applause to Prospect Park Media and Colleen Dunn Bates for donating the books!

For the final contest question, I thought devoted readers of Pasadena Daily Photo should have the extra edge. You can't Google the answer to this one, you have to just know it.

Who is my favorite dog?

That's this week's contest question. Here are the rules we play by:

1. Email the answer to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored but probably not deleted unless they're incorrect.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. I'll put all the correct answers into a hat (or a--well, a bag) and somehow, some way, tomorrow I'll find someone nice and totally unconcerned with the outcome to draw the winning name. I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post.

4. PRIZES!
Our final prize is At Home Pasadena, a beautiful, hardbound, coffee-table book for your drooling pleasure. Designed by James Barkley and written by Jill Allison Ganon and Sandy Gillis, with photos by Jennifer Cheung and Steven Nilsson, At Home Pasadena is Pasadena home town eye candy with sections on gardening, working, collecting--and an out-of-this-world section on bathing. It'll make someone on your list (maybe you) an excellent Christmas gift.

Big thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates of Hometown Pasadena and Prospect Park Media for providing us with all the fabulous books!

WTF

The Hahamongna basin fills up with rain and silt every year. The Devil's Gate Dam has a job to do--keep all that stuff from flooding Pasadena, South Pasadena and beyond.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Water Resources Division Flood Control District (LACDoPWWRDFCD for short) has a job to do, too--keep the dam in working condition.

Well, the LACDoPWWRDFCD's been busy, you know? So many dams (14), so little time. The sediment behind the Devil's Gate Dam has been building for some time and could have continued to do so. But the 2009 Station Fire scorched the mountains so severely they couldn't retain their soil. In early 2010, along with ash and debris, it all came flowing into the basin by the ton. Actually, it came by the cubic yard--almost a million of 'em.

Last year was an average rain year. Another year like it will bring the dam near to "uncontrolled flow at the spillway," according to Ryan Butler of the LACDoPWWRDFCD. Last Tuesday, Butler and Ken Zimmer of the LACDoPWWRDFCD presented the Postfire Sediment Removal Project (PSRP) at a meeting of the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee (HWPAC).

Beginning in September of 2011, long after this coming winter's rain (which, you may recall, could bring the dam near to "uncontrolled flow" if it's an average year), the LACDoPWWRDFCD will first create a road into the basin from Oak Grove Drive near La Canada Flintridge High School. Then they'll remove 15 acres of native willow trees from the basin. By then they figure the rains will set in so there probably won't be much sediment removal next fall and they'll cease working until the spring of 2012.

Then (two rainy seasons from now, I guess we should pray for drought?) the emergency work begins in earnest. That will be 300-400 trucks per day, 7:30am-5pm Monday through Friday between May and December, hauling sediment out of the 50 acres closest to the dam to sites in Irwindale and Azusa. The job is expected to take 3 years at a projected cost of $35 million.

The "emergency" status of this project gives the LACDoPWWRDFCD a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption, meaning an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) isn't required (even though there's still more than a year to do it--but you know, so many EIRs, so little time). The LACDoPWWRDFCD still has to get permits from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Each of these agencies may require some sort of mitigation, environmentally speaking.

More questions will be asked. The city of La Canada Flintridge will have to weigh in. Mary Barrie of Friends of Hahamongna wrote an excellent report about the LACDoPWWRDFCD presentation. Arroyo Seco Foundation Managing Director Tim Brick expressed, among other things, his belief that this should be an issue in our upcoming municipal elections.

The stuff's gotta go. But does it have to go like this? The outgoing chairperson of the HWPAC, Tim Wendler, asked if other plans were considered before this one was chosen. "There's not a lot of options," said the LACDoPWWRDFCD's Zimmer. He added, "Deferring clean-outs doesn't work." Seeing as the LACDoPWWRDFCD has been deferring clean-outs for some years now, I guess we could say we have proof that he's right. Zimmer had the second-best line of the evening when he said, "Believe it or not, this is the fast track of the county."

The best line of the evening came from HWPAC member Maria Isenberg: "Can we get rid of that nasty little soccer field?"

I will bring you good news about Hahamongna later this week, I promise.

Here's good news about the PDP/PPM Contest:
Steve Scauzillo of Temple City (Daily Photo) is this week's winner of the PDP/PPM books contest! Steve was among those who answered correctly, "Who were the original architects of Pasadena City Hall?" It was the San Francisco firm of Bakewell and Brown. I took this week's poo bag to the Pasadena Farmers' Market and asked the beautiful daughter of one of my favorite merchants to draw a name at random from the correct answers. Steve won a copy of the lovely book At Home Pasadena from Prospect Park Media.

UPDATE: here's the county's sediment removal project.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 7

Pasadena's City Hall is the centerpiece on our table, the hood ornament on our car, our Sunday hat. We like to flaunt it, take pictures of it, drive out of our way to go by it when we have out-of-towners in the car. "That? Oh, that's City Hall." I like to say there are no bad angles there.

We like it so much, in fact, that we kicked everyone out of it for nearly three years (2004-2007) while we spent a whole lot of money on a seismic retrofit. We aim to keep the place come hell or high water (the "big one" being most locals' definition of hell).

Who were the original architects of Pasadena City Hall?

That's this week's contest question. Once again, I've linked you to the answer. You might have to read a bit to find it, but it's an interesting article. Don't let it be said that I don't promote your erudition here at PDP.

Here are the rules we play by:

1. Email the answer to the contest question to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored but probably not deleted unless they're incorrect.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. I'll put all the correct answers into a hat and tomorrow I'll find a willing neighbor/stranger/sucker to draw the winning name. I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post.

4. PRIZES!
What is this, Week 7? Gawd, how many books have I got here? Let's see...five plus one minus two, carry the twelve...Eight. I have (had) eight books I've given away six, so it's this week and next week and we're finished. Let's make it snappy!

The books I'm giving away today and next Friday in the PDP/PPM Books Contest are copies of At Home Pasadena, a beautiful, hardbound, coffee-table book for your drooling pleasure. Designed by James Barkley and written by Jill Allison Ganon and Sandy Gillis, with photos by Jennifer Cheung and Steven Nilsson, the book is loaded with eye candy with sections on gardening, working, collecting--and an out-of-this-world section on bathing--all "at home."

Play to win today and come back next Friday, because I'll have one last copy of At Home Pasadena to give away.

Big thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates and Prospect Park Media for providing us with all these fabulous books!

Small Business

Ben Wideman of Pasadena--that's THE Ben Wideman, y'all--is the winner of Friday's PDP/PPM book giveaway! Ben was one of several people to guess correctly that the President of the 2004 Tournament of Roses was Michael K. Riffey. John and I recently enjoyed meeting Mr. Riffey on a plane. It takes a nice guy and a dedicated one, too, to put in all those volunteer hours to make the Tournament of Roses the special event that it is. In fact, it takes a lot of nice people to make it happen.

Ben wins a copy of Helen of Pasadena, the new comedy romance novel by Lian Dolan. Lian visits Minnesota, Portland and Seattle next week, so if you're in the neighborhood stop and say hello! And check back here Friday when I have more books to give away, thanks to Prospect Park Media.

Since yesterday was Small Business Saturday I put all the contest entry names in a (clean) poo bag (fits in my pocket better than a hat) and headed up to Altadena. I had small business to do at Altadena Hardware and Webster's Fine Stationers.

At Altadena Hardware they're rearranging the shelves and I still found everything I needed.

At Webster's I bought birthday gifts, Christmas gifts and stuff for myself. In the photo, Scott Webster shows off free trade scarves. (If you're thinking of getting me something, I like them all.) Before I left the store I asked Lori Webster to help me take care of one last small bit of business: she drew the winning name from the poo bag and the rest is history.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 5

Hey! I've just found out that my newest piece is up at South Pasadena Patch. It's a short history of the Cawston Ostrich Farm, one of the most unusual places ever. I loved finding out about it, and searching out traces of where it once stood.

Now, on to today's important business, about a fascinating place that is very much still standing: What famous San Marino institution just received a $100 million gift?

That's this week's contest question, and in that sentence there's enough information to Google the answer. You might also recognize the institution in today's photo.

Why are we having a contest, you ask? Because it's the holiday season and you need books to give as presents. Because Colleen Dunn Bates, publisher at Prospect Park Media, gave me books to give to you as presents. Because why not?

Here's how we do it:

1. Email the contest question answer to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers received after that time will be discarded (I got two late ones last week.) Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. Tomorrow I'll ask--well, whomever's wandering around my neighborhood, to draw the winning name from a hat. I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post.

4. PRIZES!
Today I'm giving away my last copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010.
Next week we're going to give away my one and only copy of Prospect Park Media's first foray into novel publishing, Helen of Pasadena by our very own local Satellite Sister, Lian Dolan. Whet your Helen appetite by reading chapter one here and check out Lian's list of appearances here. Go get her to sign your book!

More giveaways after that, believe it or not, because we have a copy of At Home Pasadena, the lovely, hardcover coffee table book about beautiful living in our beautiful town.

Big thanks to Colleen, Lian and everyone at Prospect Park Media!

Devil's Mirror

Congratulations to Mister Earl! He's this week's winner of the PDP/PPM Books Contest. Like everyone else who entered, Mister Earl guessed correctly the answer to Friday's question: Benjamin Eaton named the Devil's Gorge.

Thanks to the generosity of Prospect Park Media, Mister Earl wins a brand spankin' new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, the definitive guide to the San Gabriel Valley.

Benjamin Eaton was an early settler in our area and he was so much more; his genius for transporting water made it possible for settlement in the Dena. The first two sections of the History section of Wikipedia's Altadena article tell you more.

You'll forgive me one more shot of Ben Eaton's devil, I hope. (I hate to waste a good hike.) Here we are, standing across from where I took yesterday's shot, viewing the devil rock formation reflected in the water. In recent years this stream bed has been dry much of the year but we've already had rain this fall--early for us, but welcome.

I wonder if the devil ever looks at his reflection, contemplates his existence, considers his sins? Not that I believe in the devil. If I did, I'd be looking up his nose.

REM, DST and PDP

Daylight Savings Time ended quietly last night, sometime between periods of rapid eye movement and solid snoring. If we were paying attention we set our clocks back before we went to sleep, and that's good. But everything's a bit off today, and that's...off. You'll hear no complaints from our house, though, as even early darkness is a small price to pay for an extra hour with Morpheus.

I'm not so off that I don't remember it's Sunday, and time to announce Friday's winner of the PDP/PPM books contest. Tada! Congratulations to Trish, a regular visitor, commenter and former Pasadenamanian, and the lucky person whose name was pulled out of the hat yesterday by my cute, innocent neighbor child.

Okay. Here's what really happened: Trish's name was pulled out of a (clean) dog poo bag by my cute, innocent husband, because when I went out with the hat I couldn't find any kids. Where the hell are they these days? Is it soccer season already?

Anyway, like many of you, Trish guessed the correct answer to Friday's question: What historic building is now occupied by Technique Restaurant? It's the old Star-News Building. Trish wins a copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, courtesy of Prospect Park Media. Congratulations, Trish!

Stick around for more chances to win books this Friday.

Happy Halloween

This guy looks happy, right?

John and I saw him in the window of The Kitchen, a gourmet catering and gifty shop. It's in that "bonus" part of Pasadena that's so far west on Colorado Blvd. it's almost in Eagle Rock--but it's still ours.

Okay, this is it. Pasadena (even the bonus part) is decked out for Halloween. Tonight the holiday season begins in a big, loud whoosh!

We'd like to think no, we've got almost a month before Thanksgiving, but it's really only three weeks and that goes by fast. Then a month until Christmas, a week until New Year's, and poof! Where did the time go?

So I'm trying to think right now, to remember: savor. Savor the little kiddies coming to the door, savor the autumn clouds and crisp air, savor the parties even if there are too many, savor the food (of course), even savor the crowds at the stores, dammit, if that's what I have to do. I'm going to have fun this holiday season. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it, from the weird decorations to the traffic, so that every gift I give arrives in the hands of its recipient loaded with good vibes.

If this sounds like a resolution, it is. Feel free to call me on it if I start complaining.

Happy Halloween, for starters.

***********
I promised to announce the winner of the PDP/PPM Books Contest Week 2, and tada! It's Melinda Baumle of Pasadena! Congratulations, Melinda. Melinda's name was randomly drawn from among all the correct answers to Friday's contest question by my cute, innocent neighbor, PDP's resident geologist Becca. (What can I say? The neighborhood kids must have been working on their costumes.) Melinda says her prize, a brand new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, will come in handy because she has little ones and is always in need of new things to do to entertain them. Hometown Pasadena has a good kids' section.

Hometown Pasadena makes a great gift, too. I have more to give away. We'll play again Friday.

Update: I forgot to say what the answer to the question was! The Braley Building is owned by the Church of Scientology.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 2

I love the faded writing on some of the buildings in Old Town. This says "Keller Bros." something. I can't make it out. I wonder what kind of business the Keller brothers had in there.

We're looking at the back of the Braley Building on Raymond Avenue. The Braley has housed a lot of businesses: an antiques mall, a sandwich shop, an accountant, a theater company, a beloved Italian restaurant--all at the same time, all when I was first discovering Pasadena, all gone now.

The Braley recently underwent a renovation it didn't really need, but new owners can do that if they want to. In this photo taken this past May, if you look closely you can see a worker putting the final touches on the etchings in the middle window on the right.

Who is the owner of the Braley Building?

That's today's contest question. I've given you all the information you need to Google the answer, so you don't have to be a local to figure it out.

Let's review the contest rules:

1. Email the answer to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. This weekend I'll toss all the correct answers into a hat and ask my cutest, most innocent neighbor child to draw one name. (The job of cutest/most innocent neighbor child will revolve throughout the duration of the contest. Last week it turned out to be Linda. The kids were all at the park or something.) I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post. (That's Sunday. Last week it was Monday. Change of plans.)

4. PRIZES! This week, once again the prize will be a brand new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates and Prospect Park Media. I started with five, but last week's winner, Tracie Cohen of Los Angeles, has deprived me of one. Now I have four of these to give away, so the contest will go on each Friday for four more weeks--plus an additional week when Colleen and I will give away a copy of At Home Pasadena, the lovely, hardcover coffee table book about beautiful living in our beautiful town.

I'm very excited because at some point during the contest one lucky winner will receive a copy of the brand new novel, Helen of Pasadena, by Pasadenamanian Lian Dolan. The book won't be available on Amazon until November 1st but I saw it at Vroman's yesterday. And you can whet your Helen appetite by reading chapter one here.

Many thanks to Colleen, Lian and all the Prospect Park Media writers for making this contest possible!

And a Happy Birthday shout-out to my sister, Ginab.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 1

Honestly, I don't know what this is. It isn't a grave stone, but I took the photo at a cemetery.

We don't have cemeteries in Pasadena, did you know that? Not a single one. That may be disappointing for anyone who loves Pasadena so much they'd like to remain here for eternity. However, there are several lovely cemeteries nearby.

What's the closest cemetery to Pasadena's northern border?

That's where I took this photo, and it's the contest question for today. I've given you all the information you need to Google the answer, so even if you're not a local you should be able to figure it out.

Here are the contest rules:

1. Email the answer to me. There's a link to my email in my profile at the upper left. You have until midnight tonight, Pasadena (Pacific) time. Answers in the comments section will be rudely ignored.

2. That's all you have to do.

3. This weekend I'll toss all the correct answers into a hat and ask my cutest, most innocent neighbor child to draw one name. (The job of cutest/most innocent neighbor child will revolve throughout the duration of the contest.) I'll announce the winner in Monday's post.

4. PRIZES! This week, the prize will be a brand new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates and Prospect Park Media. I have five of these to give away (maybe more, hint hint), so the contest will go on each Friday for five weeks--plus an additional week (that would be SIX weeks, Petrea), when Colleen and I will give away a copy of At Home Pasadena, the lovely, hardcover coffee table book about beautiful living in our beautiful town.

I'm very excited because at some point during the contest one lucky winner will receive a copy of the brand new novel, Helen of Pasadena, by Pasadenyite Lian Dolan. This book is so new it isn't available until November 1st. But you can whet your Helen appetite by reading chapter one here.

Many thanks to Colleen, Lian and all the Prospect Park Media writers for making this contest possible!

Teaser

Last week I mentioned we're going to have a contest. It doesn't start today, but I wanted to do another teaser. You know, get everybody excited, blahbedy blah.

Beginning Friday, October 22nd, every Friday for five weeks I'll be giving away a copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, THE guide to our home town. The binding isn't paperback but it's not quite hardcover, either. What is that binding, does anyone know? It's flexible and durable at the same time.

On Friday of the sixth week, I'm giving away a copy of At Home Pasadena, definitely a hardcover and too big to tuck into your purse. Mine's on my coffee table, to show off.

You can win both books, so if you want At Home Pasadena, don't let that stop you from entering to win Hometown Pasadena, too. It's possible you could win every week. Holiday gifts! Yowza.

Thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates of Prospect Park Media and Hometown-Pasadena.com for the prizes. Hometown Pasadena is the place to go to know what's happening in Pasadena. And Prospect Park Media--well. They publish these books and many others, including their latest--their first novel, Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan, to be released November 1st. I am very, very excited about Helen of Pasadena.

The contest will work like this: each Friday the photo will depict a question. The Google-able answer will be in the text of the post. For example: if today's photo were a contest photo, which it is not, I might say this is the back of a barn-shaped restaurant on Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, and I might ask you what restaurant it is. All the clues are in that sentence. If you don't know the answer you can Google it.

All correct answers I receive by email, not in the comments, between midnight and midnight Pacific time on contest day will be thrown into a hat and the winner randomly drawn on Saturday by the cutest, youngest, most innocent neighbor I can find. Got it? I hope so, because this post is getting too long!

Update: I received word this morning that a new prize has been added: After November 1st, we'll also give away a copy of Helen of Pasadena! Thank you Colleen, Lian and Prospect Park Media!

The Giving Season

We've been enjoying some wet weather. It feels like winter, southern California style, although it's only a taste. We can expect the heat to be back this weekend, with perhaps more rain next week. Nice.

The weather puts me in mind of what's to come: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and what we like to call "The Holidays": Christmas, Chanukah, New Year's and The Tournament of Roses.

You're going to need fortitude. You're going to need sanity. You're going to need presents.

I'm here to help. At Pasadena Daily Photo, we've got a contest coming up, with prizes courtesy of Colleen Dunn Bates at Hometown Pasadena and Prospect Park Books. Beginning later this month, we have books to give away. Not just any old books, but five (count 'em, FIVE) copies of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, the definitive guide to our fair city. (That's a $24.95 value.) Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010 is a great gift for your favorite Pasadenan.

My plan is to do this contest-style, beginning Friday, October 22nd and giving away a book each Friday for six weeks until they're gone.

Did I say six weeks? I believe I said I have five books.

Okay, well, the sixth prize will be a copy of At Home Pasadena, a beautiful, hardcover coffee-table book about the artful Pasadena life we'd all live if we were totally creative and organized and had a landscaper, a chef and a cleaning lady. (This book lists at $39.95.)

Hey--I didn't say the presents couldn't be for you.

I'm trying out my Amazon links for the first time today. Full disclosure: if you buy the book from Amazon via the link here, I get a cut. Frankly, I'm not sure how much. I'm probably not going to pay the mortgage with it, but I like to be upfront about these things. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the books, Colleen!