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!

Quiet

After 1,052 days of blogging (or you might like to think of it as 90,892,800 seconds) you'd think I'd run out of things to say.

I do. Often. And not always on Zen Mondays. Sometimes I run out of things to say on Thursdays.

Boz will be pleased at this turn of events because it means I won't chatter at him all day. (It's not talking to myself, it's talking to my dog. There's a difference.) Perhaps a good walk somewhere beautiful will get the words flowing again. (For me, not for Boz. His English is good, but limited.)

Have a Nice Day

Sometimes you have a rotten day. Maybe you get a late start. Then traffic sucks and you get to work (late) and everyone's in a lousy mood. Someone calls with bad news. Your boss isn't speaking to you.

It's not even time for your coffee break and you're already creating a list in your head--a litany of the day's woes to recite to your friend or your spouse as soon as you get the chance at the end of the day. And when that finally comes, you're beaten down.

We all have a right to our litanies. But these are the times when it's wise to count our blessings rather than our troubles. Somebody somewhere has it worse today than I do and that's always going to be true. So I'm sending my thoughts to that person--to those people--and hoping more blessings get added to their lists.

How's your day going?

Glory Days

Not a beautiful photo, but quintessential November in Pasadena.

We're on Orange Grove Avenue at Green Street, facing northeast. The stands are going up for the Rose Parade on Orange Grove Avenue from Green St. to Colorado Blvd. You can see the Norton Simon Museum if you look behind the stands across the Elks Lodge parking lot. In the foreground is a cast/crew directions marker for a TV shoot (we see those year 'round and we welcome them).

Beyond it all: the San Gabriel Mountains and that autumn light, coming in low and gold.

And then there's some old bushy tree. I wanted to get rid of it by retouching, but my program just makes it look like I'm trying to hide something.

Zen Monday: #120

Welcome to Zen Monday. It's the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And unless I absolutely must say something, I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion.

There's no right or wrong, although some critters may disagree.

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.

Devil's Gorge

As long as we're visiting the devil's head rock formation in the Devil's Gorge below the Devil's Gate Dam, I figured we'd get a look at this actual gate in what we might call the devil's throat--his gorge, if you will. This is part of the water system in the dam, although I'm not sure which part.

Our devil's nose and pointy chin are at left (see yesterday's photo for comparison). To give scale: if I stood at the center of that gate my head would come up to about two thirds its height, maybe a tad more. At least that's my best guess. I'm 5'4" tall. The gate was across a stream from where we stood and as it was deep there I didn't try crossing.

I don't normally show graffiti on this blog, but as this is such an unusual spot (for me--apparently not for vandals with cheap paint) I decided to post it.

It's not a particularly dangerous hike, but you need high boots and a walking stick. And I shouldn't have to tell you this but just in case: don't attempt it when there's water behind the dam. To illustrate, Mister Earl found us this amazing video. Thanks, Mister Earl.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 4

Local Pasadenamites (as opposed to what--international Pasadanish?) will immediately recognize this rock formation, even though it's covered with gunite. It's our famous devil of the Devil's Gate Dam. This rock formation gave the dam its name.

But who named the "Devil's Gate" gorge? That's this week's contest question. Once again, I've linked you to the answer. (Read the whole post, it's fascinating.) Many thanks to Ann Erdman, Pasadena PIO, for her great blog.

If you've been checking in for the past few weeks you know the contest rules, but in case you haven't, here they are:

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. Tomorrow I'll ask my cutest, most innocent neighbor child to draw the winning name from a hat. I will search diligently for an actual child. I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post.

4. PRIZES! For your holiday gift-giving for for your lucky self:

Once again, this week's prize will be a brand new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates and Prospect Park Media. After today I only have one more copy of Hometown Pasadena to give away. We'll do that next week.

THEN we'll have another week or two of giveaways because we have a copy of At Home Pasadena, the lovely, hardcover coffee table book about beautiful living in our beautiful town;
AND
stick around, because we also have a copy of the brand new novel, Helen of Pasadena, by Pasadanish Lian Dolan. The book is now available at bookstores everywhere. Whet your Helen appetite by reading chapter one here, or meet Lian in person at Vroman's November 14th at 3pm.

Many thanks to Colleen, Lian and everyone at Prospect Park Media.

Killing Time

I always have a book with me, in case I have to wait--in the doctor's office, in line, at the repair shop.

Except when I forget my book, then I always have a camera with me. And there is always, always something to photograph, no matter where you are.

Anonymous Chairs

I was thinking of other photographers when I took this picture.

One photographer is Virginia from Birmingham and Paris. I made a comment on one of Virginia's Paris posts that a certain chair seems to be ubiquitous in Paris, "like those awful plastic ones are here."

The other photographer is -K- of LA. The photo I was thinking of is called Card Table in Beverly Hills.

This photo doesn't resemble -K-'s or Virginia's. We could call it an homage to them.

I took the shot in the garden of a place that was beautiful once. It's not beautiful anymore. It's been degraded by time, bad choices and neglect. Problems don't improve when you ignore them.

Toxic Cookies

inspiration: John Sandel

I've mentioned how John and I chase light around our house with our cameras. Sometimes, the light is subtle and fleeting. Sometimes, the combination of light and object are positively wild.

But you have to keep your eyes open.

Although this one fits more into the wild category than the subtle, if John hadn't pointed it out I might not have noticed. It was drying in the dish rack one afternoon. I've pumped up the color.

Don't worry. This is the outside of the pan.

Zen Monday: #119

It's Zen Monday again, the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. And unless I absolutely must say something, I stay out of the comments box until the end of the day to avoid influencing the discussion.

There's no right or wrong, although there may be an explanation.

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.

Toyon

A friend mentioned that I hadn't posted any photos from Hahamongna Watershed Park lately. She thought maybe I hadn't been going there.

I've been going, all right. I take pictures there all the time. I'm just afraid you'll get bored if I post as many as I've got. But okay. Here's a seasonal shot of the upper path on the east side of the park. A branch loaded with toyon berries hangs across the path.

Toyon grows all over the place here and this time of year we see the berries everywhere. Animals eat them--everyone from birds to coyotes. Humans eat them, too. I've never tried them but the Tongva people who once lived here did, and they made a medicinal tea from the leaves.

The Tongva people still live here, actually.

PDP/PPM Books Contest, week 3

At the new Technique Restaurant on Colorado Blvd., depending on which side of the table you choose you may gaze at the ceiling...

...or at what is perhaps a more dramatic view: the kitchen and some quirky, food-related films.

Technique is the new "classroom" kitchen of the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. John and I had a lovely meal there the other night. We began with Grilled Haloumi Cheese with compressed watermelon and pickled rind, plus Roasted Bone Marrow with French radishes and toast with house-churned butter (I had to try it). For his meal John had fried, free range Jadori chicken, braised cavolo nero, pommes puree and a biscuit. I couldn't resist trying the Coffee Braised Short Ribs, parsnip puree and house made apple chips, which also came with some delectable root vegetables.

J raved about the cavolo nero all through dinner, of which he ate every bite. I didn't need a knife to cut my short ribs and I can't even begin to define the succulent flavor of that sauce. The parsnip puree alone is worth going back for. I did not eat every bite, I snarfed every bite.

We were too full for dessert. The room is a bit of an echo cavern, but that's the only drawback I can see.

An elegant, fantastic meal, cooked and served by Le Cordon Bleu students, and you won't believe the price. Go ahead, guess. (Liquor license is being applied for, so no wine.)

No prizes for getting that one right, but there is a prize today. We're supposed to be having a contest and indeed we are.

What historic building is now occupied by Technique Restaurant? That's today's contest question.

I've given you all the information you need to Google the answer. As a matter of fact, I've linked you to it.

A quick review of 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 ask my cutest, most innocent neighbor child to draw the winning name from a hat. I'll announce the winner in Sunday's post.

4. PRIZES! Once again, this week's prize will be a brand new copy of Hometown Pasadena 2009-2010, thanks to Colleen Dunn Bates and Prospect Park Media. I'm down to two copies after today, so the contest will continue for two more Fridays--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.

Stick around, because one lucky winner will receive a copy of the brand new novel, Helen of Pasadena, by Pasadanish Lian Dolan. The book is now available on Amazon, at Vroman's and at bookstores everywhere. Whet your Helen appetite by reading chapter one here.

Many thanks to Colleen, Lian and everyone at Prospect Park Media.

Enlightened Art

Maybe you see Tibetan monks creating a sacred sand mandala every day, but since I don't I found this enthralling.

These monks are visiting Pasadena from the Drepung Loseling Phukhang Khangtsen monastery in southern India. (I just love that a monastery has a website.) The monastery was founded 500 years ago in Tibet, but when the Chinese occupied Tibet, as you may know, the Dalai Lama and his followers were forced to relocate their operations.

The Museum's website says, "...sand mandalas depict the world in its divine form, representing a map by which the ordinary human mind is transformed into the enlightened mind." Here, two of the visiting monks use tapered metal tubes to place colored sand grains onto the mandala. When they're finished with one color, they tap the excess out of the tube and it sounds like clinking your fork against your plate.

These guys are experts. The monastery didn't send the new kids on this job. You can see the outline on the table, a blueprint of where this work is headed.

If you're as fascinated by this arcane art form as I am, you can watch it in action for free at the Pacific Asia Museum, every day this week and only this week, from 10am-3:30pm. I missed the opening ceremony yesterday morning. The closing will be Sunday, when this ethereal work will be swept away at 2pm.

And a happy birthday to my brother Stuart! I don't think he checks here, but I like to say it anyway.

A Jones for Coffee (I'm sure they've heard that one before)

A fervent discussion over at Pasadena, 91105 and Beyond tells me coffee is of enough importance to--well, to spur a fervent discussion.

Coffee is also important enough to spawn workshops.

When I picked up the brochure at Jones Roasters I thought this was something new, but Jones has been offering Coffee Workshops since 1994. They offer an Introduction to Coffee, Intro to Cupping (what is cupping?) and even Home Brewing (we're still talking about coffee). The classes are inexpensive and kept to small groups.

The one I'd really like to try is already over for this year: Guatemala 2010. I hope they do a Guatemala 2011.

I'm not particularly emotional about the particulars of coffee. But coffee itself: yeah, I'm fervent.

Zen Tuesday: #9

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. But as this is not Zen Monday but Zen Tuesday--hell, we can do whatever we want.

Theme Day: Public Transportation

(Tomorrow will be Zen Tuesday)

 

 

photo courtesy of Pasadena Adjacent

If you live in Pasadena you've seen this artfully decorated bus. Take a look at all the Pasadena icons: starting at left, you see the Thinker (one of Rodin's at the Norton Simon Museum), then the Colorado Street Bridge and the LA River. Next, City Hall in a bed of roses (we're the Rose City), the bell tower at St. Andrew, Pacific Asia Museum, a bunch of brands and...a bull.

Okay.

We are blessed at Pasadena Daily Photo today because, thanks to Pasadena Adjacent, we have scans of the original artwork that led to this design. How did she get hold of this work, you ask? Easy. Pasadena Adjacent, aka PA, created the art on this bus. Cool, huh? She was kind enough to take me through a little bit of the process.

Here's a scan of an early proposed design:

Left to right: PA started with the tile from the Royal Laundry on South Raymond. Next, parakeets. I didn't know this, but PA says there used to be parakeets (wholly different from our famous parrots) in the Arroyo Seco near where Busch Gardens used to be. (PA should know, she grew up here.) Then you have the bridge and the river.

The portrait of the two women refers to one of the more interesting stories from the Colorado Street Bridge's dark side, aka "Suicide Bridge." "...a despondent mother threw her baby girl over the railing on May 1, 1937. She then followed her into the depths of the canyon. Though the mother died, her child miraculously survived."

I was going to say "one of the more tragic stories," but they're all tragic.

Then we have the brands and the...bull.

You may be aware that some folks in Pasadena don't like calling our bridge "Suicide Bridge." The idea of commemorating a suicide attempt on the side of a bus didn't sit well with the bus art people. But they liked PA's work so they sent her back to the (literal) drawing board. I don't know why the tile and the parakeets were dropped--not iconic enough?

PA returned with this:

Now we're getting there! You see our Thinker on the left, and the bridge, City Hall in its bed of roses, St. Andrew's Tower and the Pacific Asia Museum. On the right we have a cut-out of a Rose Bowl Queen. Totally iconic Pasadena.

PA's idea was to include under the queen's crown a picture of Dr. Kate Hutton, aka "the earthquake lady." See the seismograph running along the length of the San Gabriel Mountains in the background? Dr. Hutton, a Caltech seismologist, is a local fixture on the news whenever there's earthquake activity. Queen Kate's scepter is a parking meter. PA says parking meters were new in town (it was 1994) and folks weren't too happy about them. I guess before then you could park pretty much anywhere in Pasadena for free.

The bus art people didn't want earthquakes or suicide or parking meter jokes.

Fine. PA threw the bull back in.

What's up with the brands and the bull?

PA had done her research. The brands are not about the bull, as I had assumed. They're the brands of of the different California missions. The bull represents the Indiana Colony, the first Anglos to settle Pasadena, some of whom were cattle ranchers.

And PA did manage to inject a bit of humor into the design: the Thinker is soaking his toes in the Los Angeles River.

This has been a fun post to put together, thanks to Pasadena Adjacent. Let's give her a big hand! She's an immensely talented artist and Pasadena is lucky to have her. Thank you, PA!

Update: I'm now at liberty to tell you that Pasadena Adjacent's name is Elizabeth Garrison. She and her partner Victor Henderson have created numerous works of public art around southern California. Tash did a great post about their work at Fire Station #5 in Westchester.

City Daily Photo is now 1299 blogs strong! Blogs all over the world are participating in today's theme day. Check them out.

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.