beer in los angeles?

lets face it - there are several great west coast beer towns - seattle, portland, san francisco, and san diego - but los angeles has never been mentioned in the same breath as these. that may be about to change. with a small group of very interesting breweries in the area, the scene is beginning to change for the better.

eatdrinkplay.com is putting together the l.a. beer fest, and it is happening soon. the list of participating brewers is exciting and lengthy, and also kind of strange - like why are macro breweries like budweiser and pabst attending along side of regional micros lagunitas, pizza port, or the bruery? - signs that this is their first attempt at a festival of this nature, or maybe they just want to attract the largest possible group and not just the beer nerds (i'm also sad to note that pasadena's craftsman brewing company isn't listed in those who are attending (photo above)).

more info can be found at their website (right here), and i'll be giving a full report of my experience next week!

old town bustle

old town on weekends, and sometimes weeknights, can be a little crazy. but it is also a part of pasadena that really makes this town unique. apparently things have changed dramatically in the last 10 years or so. if you have some old - old town memories, please share!

sunday sunset

here's hoping that everyone had a wonderful weekend!

driving home from arizona

i took this shot on our way home from a week of spring training baseball games. time to get back to work taking pictures of pasadena. spring quarter begins on monday - best of luck to all those fuller seminary students out there!

paseo colorado from another angle

i recently showed this clock tower from a different perspective, but i like this one too. you can catch a glimpse of a banner advertising the recent art night which petrea and ann profiled so well last week.

more skywatch friday here.

architecture moment

a glimpse of the police station's southern side. at least i think this is the police station - i may need some confirmation from the p.i.o.

abstract of a tree

just a little randomness for this wednesday.

wbc final: japan 5, korea 3 (in 10 innings)

last night was one of the greatest games i've ever had the privilege of being a part of. for starters, being on the field during the opening ceremonies as part of the flag ceremony was beyond incredible. then the game that followed was intense from beginning to end. the korean fans were much more enthusiastic, and also out in greater number. japan led for most of the game, and then korea tied them in the bottom of the 9th inning before ichiro won it with a single in the top of the 10th. japan is the 2009 world baseball champion.

this game ranks right up there with this one, and this one, in terms of games i've experienced live. stage one of my baseball week is done, and the world baseball classic didn't disappoint. on to arizona for some sun and spring training.

oh, and if anyone has any pictures of the opening flag ceremony, please send them my way.

wbc semi-finals: japan 9, usa 4

now batting, ICHIRO!

japan took down the united states of america last night in the second game of the world baseball classic semi-final round. it was a fantastic game for baseball fans - but not a great game for those who are fans of team usa.

the final game between japan and korea is tonight....

AND....


my good friend aaron who has been in town for the games signed us up to be a part of the opening ceremonies to carry in the flags of the participating nations. so are part of a group that gets to unfurl the giant canadian flag. if you end up at the game, or watching on tv, watch for us! the game starts at 6:00pm (pacific standard time on espn), and the opening ceremony probably starts some time before then. the above picture is from our dress rehersal today.

wbc semi-finals: korea 10, venezuela 2

while this wasn't a very close game, it was great to be watching some live baseball again! those of us who braved the chilly temperatures at dodger stadium were greeted to an offensive outburst from the korean squad, as well as an extremely noisy crowd considering the fact that there were a fair amount of empty seats.

tonight the usa takes on japan for the chance to face korea for the world baseball classic title.

did you know she's a movie star?

sure plenty of movies are filmed in and around pasadena, heck we even have a website which tells you what is filming in town at any given time. but recently our beloved city hall dome has become even more noticeable.

cbs' hit sitcom "the big bang theory" has been getting decent reviews. and considering that it is supposedly based in pasadena, it should, shouldn't it? in most episodes you can catch a glimpse of pasadena's city hall through their living room window as in this shot from last week's episode seen below.


see it? pretty cool, right? i thought so too.

end of exam week

one final paper to hand in later today. then a week of break from school - and oh boy, am i ever going to enjoy it! like this picture, i can see the sunshine on the other side of the shade - it's almost close enough to taste it now.

up first is the world baseball classic semi-finals and final game at dodger stadium (hopefully some pictures to follow), then a few days in arizona for some spring training baseball. i really can't wait... bring it on!

more sky watch friday found right here.

peeking through

for those in pasadena who think they are in the know - can you tell me where this image was taken?

colorado street topography

avid followers of this blog may recognize this subject matter from an earlier posting.

need a permit?

then you need to go here. the city of pasadena permit center is located near this building, this building, and this building. and unlike this building, it is beautiful and fits in perfectly with its neighbors.

post race hang out in the street

after successful completion of the solvang century, ryan, tim, and i sat down on the pavement and waited for the last of our group to finish. these are the faces of three guys who just spent 7 plus hours on a bicycle.

in spite of the cool weather and the fact that the sun was absent for most of the ride, we had a good day.

if you want to donate to the cause we were riding for, you can still do so. my fund-rasing page can be found here, while tim's can be found right here.

i obviously didn't take this picture. that credit goes to my lovely wife meredith.

pasadena city hall

you can't beat it. our iconic city hall is pasadena's most beautiful building, and by far the best looking city hall i've ever seen.

palm

although the title might suggest another local blogger, i actually think this photo reminds me of something that laurie would have taken. i'm not sure why...

having said that, i take my fair share of palm tree pictures.

pink clouds on the mountains

i was captivated by the evening sky on my ride home from campus the other day. the clouds took on this unique pinkish hue as the settled over the mountains. pretty cool, right?

more skywatch friday photos can be found here.

i want to ride my bicycle

the big day is almost here. while i've logged over 1000 miles on my new bike, i've never pushed her to a full century (100 miles). on saturday i'll be riding in the solvang century, and just in case you haven't heard, i'm riding with a purpose.

learn more here. thank you for your support!

targeting

lots of stuff going on here. lines, shapes, color, contrast - all of it acting like a giant target drawing you inside. intentional? i'll let you decide.

memories from a different perspective

yesterday i shared that a reader named roz had contacted me about snapping off a few photos of a house she grew up in while her father was studying at fuller. today you get to see the back side of 460 ford place. it looks like they have taken out the fig tree that roz remembers so well. check out that roof line - is that character or what?

how much has it changed? we'll leave that up to roz.

photo request #17: memories...

at least i hope this image brings back some memories - for one reader in particular.

last week i got a special request from a reader in australia. roz wondered if the building her family lived in when her dad was a fuller student still existed, and it turns out it still stands! this is a shot of 460 ford place, complete with, as roz put it so well - "a rickety balcony on the front from where we could see the mountains".

i'm happy to pass on this image to a fellow world traveller. i'll put up a shot of the back side tomorrow. hope you like it!

late night laundry

snapped a photo of this late night laundry run. it looks like the open sign was turned off, so i'm not sure how this guy got in...

beer t-shirt quilt

two days ago i posted about visiting two breweries, but only mentioned one at the time. the second we visited was stone brewing in escondido, ca. much larger and more polished than lost abbey, although they did have this sweet beer quilt hanging on the wall inside their brewery. ingenious!

revisiting our balcony

going back to a familiar place for one more view. check out that pasadena sunset!

for more skywatch friday, check out the website!

angel's share release day

two of my college roommates flew in for a california visit. while they were here we headed south for a visit to two different breweries. saturday happened to be a celebration at the lost abbey where they were releasing the angel's share - a belgian ale that has been aged in bourbon barrels. we got to sample this wonderful elixer, which was awesome because at $30/bottle, we weren't walking out with any to take home. ratebeer.com currently has it ranked as the 20th best beer ever - pretty good for a small brewery from san marcos, ca.

more lights along lake avenue

a few weeks ago i showed a decked out palm tree along lake avenue. today you get to see some more of the christmas lights along the street.

five twenty six

another view of the paseo colorado shopping plaza and the clock tower. note that you can just make out rubio's - a favorite fast food chain that we never got to experience while living on the east coast. gotta love the fish taco!

watching the fountain

these two little boys seemed pretty captivated with the fountain at paseo colorado.

march theme day: glass

today's theme day image is from the other night while out at the bodega with friends celebrating someone finding a new job (truly something to celebrate in today's world). it was shot through a mirror on a glassy surface. glasses of wine, glasses of beer, glass candle holders, it is all very glassy.

there are a bunch of other city daily photo bloggers working with the theme of glass. you can see them all by clicking below.

click here to view thumbnails for all participants