Berg Hardware

A triptykch.

I love stuff like this.

Berg Hardware at Altadena Drive and Villa Street in Pasadena is one of those places where you can walk in and say, "I need a 1924 J-012 bendavy ratflack," and they'll go right to it and pull it off the shelf for you. They will not do this silently. You will enjoy the chat, I promise, just go with it.

Hair Pyrates

This photo doesn't tell you everything you need to know about Altadena, but it tells you a lot.

One thing it leaves out is the mansions. You would never guess mansions from this photo. Pasadena has mansions, too, but I don't know of a long hair shoppe.

Often, when I drop Boz off at his play date (at Sprocket's) I take side streets to come home. That gives me time to marvel at how lovely Altadena is, and then, once the border is crossed, Pasadena too. Pasadena may have shorter hair, but it's still good lookin'.


Hair Pyrates info (thank you, Katie).

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Entries are pouring in (well, they're arriving) for the Camelot Where You Are photo contest! I hope you'll enter! Its easy. Take a photo of Camelot Where You Are and email it to me. I'll post it, and at the end of each week we'll all vote on a winner (I'll recuse myself from the voting). Each weekly winner gets a copy of Camelot & Vine as soon as it's released (I'm shooting for early October). The contest will continue until the date of publication or until I run out of entries, whichever comes sooner. Contest rules are here.

Look around you. You'll see it. There's Camelot where you are.

Should've Checked the Love Meter

It had gotten to the point where I was embarrassed to be seen in my darling car.

I don't have a preference when it comes to car washes in Pasadena. Do you? If so, let me know. I've only tried a couple and I tend to stick with convenience and price.

The Walnut-Hill Car Wash (on Walnut at Hill) doesn't get a whole lot of stars on Yelp but I've never had a problem there. They have this Something Wicked This Way Comes arcade that captures my fancy, if not my quarters.

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City Daily Photo Bloggers: the portal is not coming back any time soon. Join the City Daily Photo Facebook group to stay current on theme days, new blogs and old friends. The September theme might end up being "people watching" unless you vote!

Bag Ban Theory

Just as in many other California communities, a ban on single-use plastic bags has recently gone into effect in Pasadena. Those bags are big polluters so I think the ban is a good idea. The ban doesn't cover all stores, but I can't keep track of which stores it's in and which it isn't, so I carry my canvas bags everywhere. I've been doing it for a while and I have a collection in the back of the car.

You play your cards right and folks give 'em to you for free, if you don't mind a logo. I've got one from the City of Pasadena, one from Whole Foods, one from some book fair a hundred years ago, several from Bell Sound and about a hundred Trader Joe's paper bags that just won't quit.

What logos have you collected so far?

Talbott Electric

One of our lamps stopped working.

We stuck it in the garage and figured we'd do something about it sooner or later.

Then another lamp stopped working.

John knows how to fix a socket but it turns out these things were not normal. They were newfangled. They cost many bucks, on sale, warranty long gone.

I know what to do! Buy new lamps!

(or)

stop by Talbott Electric and find out if the lamps can be fixed.

Talbott is the place on Washington Blvd. with the vintage neon sign. (I'll post a photo of that sign one of these days.) They've been a Pasadena institution since 1924. Besides fixing lamps they offer complete electrical services. In the store, they also have some charming Craftsman-type fixtures. None of that Lamps Plus homogeneity.

The display cases inside the front door are my favorite part. They're loaded with strange antique fixtures, switches and oddments. Note "nurses room" and "nurses closet" on the typed sheet. Time travel.

Despite their oldfangled collection, Talbott fixed my newfangled lamps for less than 5% of what it would have cost to buy new ones.

Tangles and Locks

Tangles and Locks barbershop, at 2025 N. Lake Avenue, has been an Altadena business for over 23 years. I've been meaning to stop by for a long time--not 23 years but a while, nonetheless--because I wanted to take a picture of the suit of armor standing in the back corner.

Yesterday I was in the neighborhood, I had the time and I had my camera. So I stepped inside and asked.

The owner introduced himself as D.L. He said, sure, I could take a picture. He even moved a few things out of the way of the suit of armor, and I took some pictures of it. But I quickly realized what I really wanted was pictures of the people and the shop.

I'm uncomfortable asking, but it helped that one of the guys there was a photographer. We got to talking and he showed me some of his photos via his flickr page on his iPhone. The shots were outstanding, and many were of people. I asked if he was comfortable asking people to pose. He said you basically get back what you put out there. In other words, if you're comfortable and friendly about it, people will react that way to you.

So I asked the men in the shop if I could take pictures while business went on as usual. I don't know why I find it so hard to ask. Everyone was fine with it.

D.L. also owns one of those gorgeous red cars you often see parked at the vintage gas station across the street. I'll show you those tomorrow.

My pictures of the suit of armor turned out fine. The shop has a medieval armor motif, and D.L. told me he created many of the decorative pieces himself. But despite its technical imperfections, this is my favorite shot of the day. That's D.L. on the left.

Small Town Masters

I'm attracted by the weather-beaten sign at Masters Building Supply on Woodbury Road in Altadena. This is another of those places that doesn't have a web presence--unless you count Ace Hardware's website, which I don't. Masters may be an Ace affiliate, but it looks like a hometown Altadena business to me.

I don't mind a place that doesn't have a web presence. That says "small town" to me, and Altadena is a small town. (It's officially not even a town.) Parts of Pasadena have that feel, too. That's one of the reasons I like it here.

Have you been to Masters? What's your review? I found one five-star review of Masters on line, but there are two problems with it: one is that from the description I don't think the reviewer meant to give it five stars, and the other is that I'm not going to base my opinion on a single review.

Where do you go in the Pasadena area for hardware?

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.

Zen Monday: #80

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. And I stay out of the comments box for most of the day to avoid influencing the intellectual path of the (usually highly erudite) discussion.

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

Inspiration for today's photo: Susan C.

Fyre Guard

Fyre Guard doesn't have much of a web presence so I can't tell you any more about the business than what we see in the photo. The place was closed when I took the picture and there wasn't anyone to ask. Still, I love the look of the place. Click on the picture to enlarge it and contemplate all those fire extinguishers in need of fixing.

Looking Up

You recognize this, don't you?

I think what I'll do here is make a link for those who don't know what it is. Some folks are so familiar with it they don't need a link. Either they're looking at the picture saying, "Don't tell me, don't tell me!" or it's a complete no-brainer.

It's not a contest. It was just fun to take a picture of a cloudy sky today. We have clouds so rarely. The moisture comes in handy when we've still got fire in them thar hills after 17 days. The Station Fire is 81% contained at this writing. A week ago it felt like we'd never see that. Today, things are looking up.

Feels Like the 101st Time

You know those things you walk by a hundred times but don't notice? These mailboxes are one of those things for me.

John and I lived in beautiful Altadena when we first got married and I became a regular customer of some businesses there. One was Merit Dry Cleaners on Mariposa and the other was Webster's on Lake, which was one store at the time but is now divided up into, oh, nine or ten different shops. I kid, I kid! Webster's is a card/gift store, a stationery shop, a pharmacy and a liquor store.

Did I miss any?

Though I now live in Pasadena I'm still a customer of these shops (including Merit Dry Cleaners). The other day I was in Webster's Fine Stationers and I noticed these mailboxes. I've walked past them how many times? They look like the old timey kind, don't they?

It turns out they are. I asked Scott Webster about them (when you're a customer as long as I've been, you get to know a Webster or two); Scott said his dad, who's of the second generation of Websters to run the business, acquired them from a mailbox store on South Lake Avenue when it went out of business some years ago. Not sure which mailbox store it was, but at least the boxes are from within the Pasadena family, so to speak. They've been in the stationery store for a long while now.

They're having a tea party up at Webster's Fine Stationery this afternoon at 3:00. Don't go spilling your Earl Grey on the thank-you notes.

Tostilocos

I drive by this place a lot and it cheers me up even when I'm already ecstatic. I finally got a chance to take a photo when there was actually a parking spot in front of it the other day. It's on Fair Oaks, just south of the corner of Esther Street.

I was in a hurry so I snapped my shot and didn't go in, but now that I've surfed the web and figured out what Tostilocos are, I have to go back.

Check out a new blog in town with a positive attitude, Pasadena Updates With Brigham Yen. It seems this here town has its share of boosters.

Service Welcome Service

This could almost be a Zen Monday shot. I don't have much to say about it. Maybe that's because I'm tired. You know how long a day can get.

I like the picture, though. It doesn't have to be about hard times, a failed business. It could be about the future when the chaos we're going through is behind us and we don't need cars anymore because we're all wearing non-polluting jet-packs for transportation.

Because it's just change. We will get through it. And when it's behind us, things will look very different.

Or maybe it's just been a long day.

Norma at Liberty

Today is Norma's last day at Liberty Tax Service on Colorado Blvd. at Sierra Madre Villa/Madre St. Liberty's a franchise business, with 288 offices in California alone.

Norma's wearing her company's uniform, as are hundreds of people like her around the country. Norma, however, is no office drone. With her hip-hop moves and her big smile, she literally stopped traffic (she stopped me, that's for sure).

Her job ends today. Need help bringing in business at your place? I know someone with experience.

California Entrance

When I have time between errands I like to park the car and take a walk with my camera. It doesn't matter where I am; a walk around any block guarantees a discovery. Usually it's something I've passed many times. Maybe I've seen it before and not taken notice.

I'm always seeing things I want to photograph, but in the car I'm in a hurry, plus I've got a few tons of machinery to manage and I can't be snapping photos and steering at the same time (well, I shouldn't, anyway). On foot even the most nondescript neighborhood comes to life. Little details beg to be photographed. Interest is everywhere.

This one doesn't count as nondescript. It counts as one of those things I've passed a million times and meant to photograph. It's the side entrance of West World Imports at the corner of California Blvd. and Arroyo Parkway. I admit I've never dared to venture inside, but I have dared to dream while perusing their website. There's a pretty courtyard on the other side of the building but it was locked when I was there the other day. I'll go back and try again. By the way, long ago a PDP commenter asked me to get a shot of that courtyard. It may take me a while (okay, it may take me forever) but I do get to your suggestions. Eventually.

Was it me complaining of the cold a couple of weeks ago? It's been unseasonably hot for the last two days.

I'm off on a tangent. What I started to say is that West World Imports is such an attractive shop even the side door is pretty. The front door is on California Blvd. and this sign in the parking lot says "Please Use California Entrance." But this looks like a California entrance to me.

Update: In today's comments Pascal Jim says: "This beautiful structure, designed by Wallace Neff, where he had offices, was duplicated across the street, now destroyed, now a gas station. Please, enter the building, its patio has a most calming effect..."

ICE for USElaine

This blog thing is more than posting photos and jabbering about them. Through blogging I've learned about my town, made friends and expanded my life. Many folks I've met are in the Pasadena area; many more are virtual acquaintances, scattered throughout the world. I'm old enough to find it amazing that I can talk to friends in Paris, Pakistan and Persia every day. I don't know if we're all on our best behavior or if people are just generally good. I think it's the latter.

One person I've come to admire is USElaine of Willits Daily Photo. With straightforward prose she tells vast stories in few words, letting her readers' minds fill in the shading. She's similarly skilled with the camera. A simple, straightforward image can have many facets - of time, thought or possibility. She posts a jewel so often that Benjamin Madison of Victoria Daily Photo coined the phrase USElaine's gems to describe her style.

This ice house stands in the parking lot at Webster's in Altadena. When I took the shot I thought of USElaine and wondered, "How would Elaine shoot this?" I decided she would shoot it straight on and let the shadows do their thing.

Zen Monday: #28

On Zen Monday you experience the photo and tell us what you think, rather than me telling you what the photo's about.
There's no right or wrong. If the photo evokes something in you, that's all it is.

Excuse me while I break with tradition to announce that today is an important day in Zen Monday history.

I've figured out/remembered where the idea came from. I thought it came from me, but it didn't. I got it from Mitch Rossow at Mitchster.com. Mitch planted the seed in my brain with this post. I didn't realize it at the time, nor did I realize that Mitch was doing a semi-regular Saturday Moment of Zen. He was first, and I still think that snowman with the yellow hat is the best Zen post ever. I'm still looking for a Zen Monday photo as good as that one. I may always seek it.

Thank you, Mitch.

New Paint

I found this old paint in the alley between what is now Steve's Altadena Hardware and Rituals Studio for Hair on Mariposa. I've processed the hell out of the picture to try to make the letters stand out, but all I can say for sure is that the first word is "Altadena" and the last two words are "Dept. Store." Does anyone know what the rest of it says? (The red squares indicate where earthquake reinforcement has been done. I covered them in an earlier post.)

While I was there I peeked into the hardware store. It's getting fixed up! Don't freak out, they're just painting in the east end of the store. If I'm not mistaken that's where Steve's going to add his bike business, which he's moving from Lake Avenue.

I've never met Steve Salinas, but I think I like this guy. He stepped in and saved a long-standing, much-loved Altadena business in a practical way. Steve's Bike Shop gets great customer reviews. And does he also own Steve's Pets? Careful, people, soon it's going to be Steve's Altadena!

(Tomorrow is City Daily Photo Blog theme day, so we'll do Zen Monday on Tuesday.)

Bells & Vaughn Neon

I'm posting this because I like the sign. It says, "Bells & Vaughn Frame & Wheel Aligning." I don't know a thing about Bells & Vaughn, or about frame and wheel aligning for that matter. But get a load of that sign, willya?

I looked up Bells & Vaughn and they have a nice website. It's all about their collision repair facility on Allen Avenue. Thing is, this sign is at 1821 Walnut, a location not mentioned on the website, where they apparently don't do collision repair but frame and wheel aligning.

So I don't get it. But that's okay. Like I said, I don't understand frame and wheel aligning anyway, except to know it's necessary. In a car. I know that much at least.