Apologies to Lewis Carroll, and to Boz...

...but no apologies to Just Pocket Camera. (explanation after the poem)

JABBERWOCKY

by Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)   `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
  The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
  Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
  And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
  He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
  Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
  And the mome raths outgrabe.

In case you're just joining us, here's the deal: a site called Just Pocket Camera has been stealing my posts since January of this year. While I go through the legal channels to get the site taken down, we're having  fun messing with their translation software, which takes English to new levels. A few of you suggested "Jabberwocky" might be interesting, so today we're going to find out.

****************

Well, bummer. It's not as weird as I'd hoped. Their software was flummoxed enough to give up and just re-print the words it didn't know. Here's a sample:



`Twas brillig, as well as a slithy toves
  Did movement as well as gimble in a wabe:
All mimsy were a borogoves,
  And a mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware a Jabberwock, my son!
  The jaws that bite, a nails that catch!
Beware a Jubjub bird, as well as shun
  The frumious Bandersnatch!”


He took his vorpal long knife in hand:
  Long time a manxome enemy he sought –
So complacent he by a Tumtum tree,
  And stood awhile in thought.

Et cetera. The final paragraph, though, returns us to the delightful strangeness we've come to expect:

"In box you’re only fasten us, here’s a deal: a site called Just Pocket Camera has been hidden my posts given Jan of this year. While we go by a authorised channels to get a site taken down, we’re having  fun messing with their interpretation software, that takes English to latest levels. A couple of of we referred to “Jabberwocky” competence be interesting, so currently we’re starting to find out."

Maybe we'll try some Shakespeare tomorrow. That's actual English, after all.

Just Trash

Is that a camera in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

If you visit Pasadena Daily Photo regularly you know that Just Pocket Camera, (http://www.justpocketcamera.com) has been stealing my posts (those that originated here at http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com). What they're doing is illegal, so I'm sending Cease and Desist letters and filling out AdSense complaint forms. I promise I won't do this every day, but while we wait for the offending site to be taken down, we're having fun with their translation software.

Yesterday, my post came out on their site like this:

"This pitch creates me prolonged for the packet julep as well as we do not even know what the packet julep tastes like.
It additionally creates me prolonged for Keds but socks, the ponytail as well as the beloved with the crappy car, even yet most times I’ve pronounced “I never wish to be which immature as well as foolish again!”
Still. There’s something honeyed about which swing. I’d dauntless burble gum, the scald upon my heel as well as even the smell of baby oil for the small bit of time with it."

(Then there were a bunch of Google ads, then a little more copy.)

38 people Liked it!

I'm eager to see how this re-translates today.

To those of you who've suggested solutions, I'm trying every one of them. Thank you. And thanks for the encouragement. I hope I'm not boring you with this. Intellectual property rights are important.

The photo? That's just a trash can.

++++++++++++

I've just been to look, so you don't have to. I'm thrilled that my first three paragraphs appear before the fold. Next comes this:

“This representation creates me enlarged for the parcel julep as good as we do not even know what the parcel julep tastes like.
It in addition creates me enlarged for Keds though socks, the ponytail as good as the dear with the crappy car, even nonetheless many times I’ve conspicuous “I never instruct to be that juvenile as good as ridiculous again!”
Still. There’s something saccharine about that swing. I’d fearless gurgle gum, the singe on my heel as good as even the smell of baby oil for the tiny bit of time with it.”
(Then there were the garland of Google ads, afterwards the small some-more copy.)
38 people Liked it!
I’m fervent to see how this re-translates today.
To those of we who’ve referred to solutions, I’m perplexing each the single of them. Thank you. And interjection for the encouragement. we goal I’m not tedious we with this. Intellectual skill rights have been important.

The photo? That’s only the rabble can."

Swing Time

This swing makes me long for a mint julep and I don't even know what a mint julep tastes like.

It also makes me long for Keds without socks, a ponytail and a boyfriend with a crappy car, even though many times I've said "I never want to be that young and stupid again!"

Still. There's something sweet about that swing. I'd brave bubble gum, a blister on my heel and even the smell of baby oil for a little bit of time with it.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

If you've already read about Just Pocket Camera, the website that steals blog posts, you can skip this part. Or not.

http://www.justpocketcamera.com/ has been stealing my posts and those of other bloggers, and while I wait for my cease and desist letter to have the effect I desire, I'm messing with their translation software. Let's see what it does with the following sentence:

Just Pocket Camera recommends that you visit the original post at http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com/, and tell Petrea what a nice person she is.

Unruly Posse

Sunday my friends and I traipsed about Pasadena and Altadena for the annual Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour. I loved poking around the exquisite, private, drought-tolerant gardens.

It was educational. It was gorgeous. It was inspiring. And it was frustrating, because I can't show you any of it. At every garden we visited, photos were either not allowed or allowed for personal use only. I of course took photos for my personal use, but I'm much to chicken scrupulous to post them.

On the way back to our cars we stopped to peer at one last garden, which wasn't on the tour. Is that a great gate or what? It reminded me how glad I am not to live in a gated community tyrannized by muted colors or a homeowners association. The San Gabriel Valley is full of undiscovered Edens, tour or no tour. I hope the owner didn't mind us peeking in because we'd been nosy all day and we just weren't ready to stop.

*

By the way, thanks to the Restless Chef for alerting me to the fact that my posts and those of other bloggers are being stolen by http://www.justpocketcamera.com. I'm trying to have a good attitude about it. justpocketcamera is one of those blogs where they steal content to try to get you to click on ads. I hold the copyright to my posts, which are published at http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com before http://www.justpocketcamera.com steals them. That's against the law, but try getting a sheriff and a posse on this here wild, wild internet.

If you'd like to be my posse, c'mon and join up. I'm not sure how to get them to stop, but maybe I'll see if I can come up with more bizarre word combinations than theirs. Your suggestions for messing with them are welcome. In the meantime, it's worth a look just to see their weird translations of the copy.

Zen Monday: #141

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and share in the comments what you've learned.

Is this your first Zen Monday? Tell us what comes to mind--what the photo makes you think of or how it makes you feel. There's no right or wrong, no secret, no prize. Just have fun.

Email me if you want the phone number to inquire about buying this bus. I'm happy to be helpful to the seller, just don't want to invade privacy.

Fast Friends

I hope you had a chance to get out in the spectacularity that was yesterday in Pasadena.

I took Boz over to the northwest side of Hahamongna Watershed Park, not our usual trail. It's good to shake things up. Boz met Freckles, a La Canada Flintridge dog, and the two of them hit it off. I also hit it off with Freckles's people, and the five of us spent a pleasant hour together in the urban wild.

Freckles is an afficionado of sticks. He made several additions to his collection. Boz likes to bite the water. A few yards west there was a tamer stream for him to bite.

Say, are those rapids?

For our purposes, those are rapids.



In related news, the Pasadena City Council will meet tomorrow, Monday, April 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber (S249) at Pasadena City Hall, 100 N. Garfield Avenue.
Agenda items include:
* Update on Devil’s Gate Dam sediment removal project by L.A. County Department of Public Works
* Proposed landmark designation for 1175 La Loma Rd.
* Recommended bond sales to help fund Rose Bowl Stadium renovation
The full agenda is here.
Thanks, Ann Erdman, for keeping me/us informed.

Work Perk

I almost posted more muted grays and I thought, "enough already!" It's time we had some color around this here blog! So here it is, apropos of nothing.

If you work at PCN, the Pasadena Community Network, with studios at Hen's Teeth Square, you have regular access to these jawbreakers. If you don't work there, maybe you need to come up with some programming.

Or you could check out their weekly meetings about citizen journalism. Citizen journalists chew gum. I prefer Smarties but I'm not a journalist.

Well I Love That Dirty Water

photo by John Sandel

Here's another local construction project: the Casting Pond is getting a facelift. I love John's iPhone shot; we're looking south, viewing the pond along its western flank.

Boz was disappointed to see the empty pond in the Lower Arroyo yesterday, partly because there's no more stinky water and especially because no one was casting. He enjoys fly casting, for those fleeting moments of his canine attention span. (I think cats would really enjoy this sport.)

Funding is provided by 1992 Proposition A Los Angeles County Park Bond funds "and a generous donation from the Pasadena Casting Club," according to this 2008 document from the Pasadena Department of Public Works. The project is a little behind schedule, but other than that it appears they're sticking to the plan. They've put a new seal on the surface and are replacing outdated materials with more progressive, environmentally friendly ones. The water will never be stinky again.

Neither Boz nor the Standells approve.

The Pasadena Casting Club is open to the community. If you want to learn how to cast for fish, the pond should be ready in a few weeks and the club will welcome you. In the meantime, check out the website or give a call. There's probably someone there who'll invite you to come by and learn how to tie a fly, or just talk fishing. I suggest you leave your pets at home.

A New Noise

The theater for A Noise Within, the classical theater company soon to be moving to Pasadena from faraway Glendale, is rising atop the Stuart Pharmaceuticals Building like a new layer on a concrete cake. A rendering of what the interior will look like accompanies William Goldstein's article on Hometown Pasadena. In fact, HtP's been covering the move particularly well.

The 1928 Masonic Temple Building ANW leaves behind in Glendale is a lovely old has-been. My guess is she was tough to heat on cold days, impossibly hot in the summer and they probably had to incorporate her plumbing noises into their sound design. But she's an old beauty all the same. I don't know what's in the building's future, but keep an eye on Cinema Treasures. They usually have good info and the best pictures of these faded dames.

Goldstein's article is about ANW's final show in their old space. Right now the nights are neither cold nor impossibly hot. A good time to see a play.

Nudge

I don't know what I initially meant to photograph here--the flowers, probably.

Boz, who often accompanies me when I'm shooting, is never coy about his feelings. He's patient, but he lets me know when he thinks I have enough shots and it's time to move on. He's usually right.

Cut Your Grass

Apparently I'm not the only one in Pasadena who wants to kill my grass. The big room at the Pasadena Convention Center was packed last Saturday for Pasadena Water and Power's "Cut Your Grass" workshop. The morning was led by the energetic Tim Wheeler, horticulturalist extraordinaire, who I remembered from an irrigation workshop I attended a couple of years ago.

Well, damn. Two years. It's been that long and I still have the most terrifying back yard on the block.

Tim can keep a crowd interested for three full hours. He's knowledgeable, dynamic and fun. He can answer almost any (relevant) question you put to him. It was a fascinating workshop and they're going to have another one August 20th (keep your eyes on Pasadena In Focus). And watch PWP's website August first for information about financial incentives for killing your grass.

But I'll never make it by August first. I'm beginning to think I won't make it at all. Yes, I want to kill my grass--which is not grass, but weeds--but once I do that I have to remove the dead stuff, and once I do that I can't just leave the dirt, I have to plant something, or put in a hardscape or a pergola or something, and it's a big yard, and all that takes planning and effort and labor and moneymoneymoney and I'm just overwhelmed. I have no idea where to start.

I want someone else to do it.

Zen Monday: #140

It's Zen Monday, the day you experience the photo and share in the comments what you've learned.

Your first Zen Monday? Tell us what comes to mind--what the photo makes you think of or how it makes you feel. There's no right or wrong, no secret, no prize. Just have fun.

Mondays are your turn. I enjoy Mondays very much.

Castaways

Yesterday, my friend of 23 years took me out for a belated birthday lunch at the Castaway in Burbank. This is a place where you go for the views.

The view here is to the southwest overlooking Burbank, Forest Lawn and Griffith Park (the hills in the distance). At night it's all lit up (not the hills) and if you look more west than south you can pick out Disney, Warner Brothers and Universal studios. The 101 freeway is easy to spot, flowing like red and white water.

But you'll have to imagine all that. Our two-day heat wave is over and yesterday was cool and misty. The hills were like description in a story--not central to the action but complimentary, a setting or a mood. If it's true, as the Irish author Anne Enright says, that "all description is an opinion about the world," then yesterday those hills looked like they hadn't changed in 23 years, except after all this time they're even more green.

Wild on Walnut

When East of Allen's Michael Coppess emailed me about the wildflowers on Walnut, I knew just what he was talking about. A couple of blocks' worth of beautiful flowers are opening up along the north side of the street between Kinneola and Daisy Avenues, and he thought I might like to photograph them. Did I ever. Thanks, Michael.

It's an industrial area, where artist's studios mix with factories (and flowers, apparently). I like it. There's not much traffic except the cargo carriers that cross an old train trestle parallel to the road.

You really ought to go over there while the flowers are blooming. There's way more going on than I could fit into one picture.

Theme Day: Edges

This isn't a photo about edges any more than any other photo is about edges.

I had planned to post something else. But yesterday I posted about the Japanese Garden at the Huntington Library and that got me thinking about Japan, its crises, and the edges we live on.

The edges we live on in southern California:
The San Andreas Fault, which may or may not dole out
the big one during our lifetime (seismologists say it's a matter of time--we just don't know how much), and if/when it happens, it may or may not be big enough to damage
the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, which may or may not already be in violation of safety codes.

Even without the dangers there's no dirtier energy than nuclear, with its toxic, terrible waste. I'd sure like to see American nuclear plants shut down. I'm thinking of the workers trying to tame the raging nuclear power plant in Japan. They may be sacrificing their lives and they know it. That's the edge they're living on now. They've become stoic heroes, because their country needs them.

All of us live on edges--maybe we drive too fast or eat the wrong foods or just don't look when we cross the street. We have the power to smooth those edges.

There's not much we can do when the planet gets cranky, but we can shut down Diablo Canyon and San Onofre before the San Andreas Fault does it for us.

The City Daily Photo community continues to grow. As of this posting we're 1368 blogs worldwide! Find one in your favorite town and see how they interpreted today's theme.

No Japanese Garden?

How ever will we manage?

If I'd only read my Huntington Library Calendar when it first arrived, I wouldn't be telling you this at the last minute: "Beginning April 4, the Japanese Garden will be closed to visitors through next spring so that renovations can begin to this much loved, 99-year-old landscape." So if you want to gaze serenely at the Japanese house, gawk at the fattest koi in the west or wander across the bridges while the koi gawk back at you, you'd better do it by April 3rd.

The garden's going to be great when they reopen it. The house will be renovated and a traditional Japanese teahouse--donated by the Pasadena Buddhist Cultural Center--will be added. I don't know what else they're going to do. The garden looks plenty gorgeous to me as it is. Maybe they'll restore the central, arched bridge to its original color of bright red. I hope they don't trim that willow.

In the intervening year we shall have to content ourselves with the other 111 acres of gardens at the Huntington: the Desert garden, the Australian garden, the Herb garden, the Chinese garden, the Shakespeare garden, the Children's garden, the Camellia garden, the Lily Ponds, the Subtropical garden, the Jungle garden, the Rose garden...how positively dreary.

Sandwiches by Connal

We were hungry, and as is often the case we couldn't bring ourselves to cook. All we wanted was a sandwich.

What we got was neighborhood regulars regaling us with recommendations ("Ask for well-done fries, they do 'em a little light--you'll learn...") and stories ("Did you see that youtube video...") and ideas for next time ("You hafta try the burger, put that on your list.").

Cash only, but if you don't have enough there's an ATM inside. The BLTs were fresh--not fancy, but they didn't scrimp on bacon. The avocado fries were spicy and they give you a lot. But what's really great about Connal's is the small-town, neighborhood feel.

Any Minute Now

A hint of sunshine today. A hint of heat. It's going to get warm this week and I can't wait.

I love the days when you can leave the windows open. I love going for a walk without a sweater. I love sitting on the front porch with a glass of iced tea and a book. I love sleeping without an extra blanket--or without a blanket at all.

It's been so cold and rainy lately that people have been joking about the San Gabriel Valley turning into Seattle. Not that there's anything wrong with Seattle. Some of my best friends live in Seattle.

But I live here where it's warm and sunny. Any minute now.


P.S. Early risers please note: tomorrow morning at 8:00am, the Pasadena City Council will meet with L.A. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich in the Grand Conference Room (basement room S038) at Pasadena City Hall, 100 N. Garfield Ave.

Agenda items include:
* $2 million award from the county for environmental rehabilitation of Centennial Place
* Request for assistance developing and implementing a regional San Gabriel Valley approach to homeless services
* City participation in an environmental impact report (EIR) process for sediment removal at Devil’s Gate Dam by the L.A. County Department of Public Works.

The meeting is open to the public. Public comment will be limited to items on the agenda. The meeting will not be televised.
(My god, they go to meetings at 8am for us! Let's show some support!)

Zen Monday: #139

On Zen Monday, we experience the photo and share what we've learned in the comments.

Well, I don't. Monday's your turn.

(Your first Zen Monday? Tell us what the photo makes you think of or how it makes you feel. Say whatever comes to mind. There's no right or wrong, no secret, no prize. Just have fun.)

A Million Blessed Events

I promised you some wet photos this weekend.

At first glance the toad above seemed ungainly. Then I realized it was two toads--two toads in love. They're graceful, considering. You don't see toad sex every day. Well, maybe you do, but I don't.

What is the result of toad love? That would be a tadpole. Or many tadpoles.

I took this photo 12 days after the first one, at the same catch basin at Hahamongna Watershed Park. I took both photos before last week's rain. I hope this week we'll find thousands of baby toads.