happy halloween

i shot this photo a few days ago without getting a good idea of what i was taking a picture of. located near city hall, with pumpkins strewn around, this seemed like a lovely spooky halloween photo opportunity.

ps - why does blogger limit your panorama photos to such a narrow space??

u2's red 360 monster lights up the pasadena sky

last in a series of u2 concert photos from the rose bowl on sunday. you can see my facebook photo album here.

more skywatch friday found here.

zoo station

i like this photo for a number of reasons - good shot of the rose bowl crowd, demonstrates how much the center screen changed throughout the concert, haze from the smoke machines are blowing all over, the lighting REALLY illuminates how looming and massive this structure is. compare it to monday's photo for a good comparison of how much our view changed through the night. gotta love u2.

wind

i was going to continue my series of photos from the u2 concert on the weekend, but we've had some strange weather that needs documentation. yesterday afternoon the wind picked up and carried all kinds of grime, dust, and ash with it through pasadena and the surrounding area. compare today's picture with this one or this one taken from the same vantage point on much calmer days. see how the trees are bending in today's image? i took this shot yesterday at dusk to show how much our trees are being abused by the change in weather.

the storm also deposited a fine dust all through our apartment until we realized what was going on and began closing our windows. ugh.

someone mentioned that the winds may reach as high as 70 mph today. hang on to your hat.

guest photo: it might get loud

yesterday's comments revealed that i had missed out on getting a picture of the traffic signs around the rose bowl warning of loud music. fortunately my friend debbie snapped a shot and passed it on to me to use today. thanks deb!

the whole u2 at the rose bowl show can be seen right here, although i must admit that the recording really doesn't do justice to how loud the crowd noise was. of course, a traffic sign is not a great warning to the surrounding area, and some people were not impressed.


if you want to see more of the massive stage, see my facebook photos here.

let me in the sound! let me in the sound!

just got home from the u2 concert at the rose bowl. as you can see from this photo, our seats were pretty far back, but we had a great time soaking the incredible spectacle that was this concert.

if you watched it on youtube, please leave a comment and let me know how it was!

i'll go crazy if i don't go crazy tonight

a close-up version of friday's skywatch offering.

tonight is the big u2 concert! i can't wait. i should have some photos from the concert in the upcoming week. stay tuned!

rethink afghanistan

on thursday night i attended a screening of the documentary "rethink afghanistan" which was followed by a presentation and q & a with former military man and current fuller student, jake diliberto, and professor and ethicist, glen stassen.

jake has testified before congress and founded the organization "veterens for rethink afghanistan". if you are interested in rethinking the war in afghanistan, I encourage you to check out this website.

hello, hello... u2's stage rises into the sky at the rose bowl

needless to say, those of us who will be attending the largest event ever at the rose bowl this coming sunday, are getting very excited. and don't worry if you don't have tickets - you can stream it on youtube! the incredible 13 story stage is not yet complete, yet already rises into the pasadena sky above the rose bowl's seating.

el-e-va-tion!

more skywatch friday (although probably less u2 based) can be found here.

final images of the dodger's season from barney's beanery

sadly, dodgers fans who were hoping and dreaming of a world series will have to wait until next year. it was a fun season and a wild ride, but they came up a little empty against the phillies in the national league championship series.

i hoped they could pull out a win in last night's game to bring the series back to los angeles (something they should have done in game 4), but sadly it was not to be. the crowd at the beanery was enthusiastic until the bitter end.

fortunately in baseball, there is always next year.

san diego zoo's wild animal park

this photo is from our recent visit to the wild animal park in northern san diego county. while we've always known how good the regular san diego zoo is, we had no idea how much we'd like this other park. it is known for their commitment to expansive areas for animals to roam, as well as a really well designed layout. it was pretty fantastic.

amoeba records is kind of like...

...heaven on earth for a music junkie.

i'm really sad it took me two years to venture into the worlds largest independent record store. i was overwhelmed. i need to go back!

stapled

i noticed the jagged detail on this telephone pole the other day. interesting.

overcast in pasadena

i didn't get around to posting any pictures of our rainy gray weather this week. while we've recovered to get back to our normal sunny weather, we had a few days of wonderful cloudy dreariness. we are realizing that the longer we live in southern california, the more we begin to lament the lack of rain and clouds - weird, right?

beer and cheese (...at least a tiny bit)

as a part of l.a. beer week, i attended a beer and cheese tasting at whole foods last night. for $15 we had 5 generous beer samples paired with 5 different cheeses. we had a really enjoyable time.

unfortunately this picture was taken well after i had polished off most of the cheese... oops!

sky watching

did a double take while driving down arroyo the other day - a pastel pink and purple sky was inviting me to take a picture. and so, i obliged.

more skywatch friday here.

planetarium monster

on our visit to griffith park observatory, we also took in a show at the planetarium. this creature actually is the projector which creates the moving celestial show.


tonight the dodgers take on the phillies in game one of the national league championship. i have plenty of relatives in eastern pennsylvania, but i'm really pulling for my adopted team to pull out the series win!

between venus and mars, you find earth

deep in the depths of the griffith park observatory you will find a really cool little museum devoted to the solar system. we recently re-visited with our out-of-town guests. good times.

thanksgiving!

we had a lovely canadian thanksgiving with friends. we filled our selves with great food, laughter, and some incredible pies (apple and pumpkin of course). i'm particularily proud of the turkey we roasted. beautiful, right?

lunch at pink's hot dogs

pink's. you probably already know about it if you are from this area. if not, check out the wikipedia article.

meet zack hample

not only was wednesday's dodger game one of the best i've ever been to, i also got to meet an obscure hero of mine. zack hample is a self described 'ballhawk' from new york, but he happened to be in los angeles to 1) go on the tonight show, and 2) snag some baseballs at a playoff game. i was also at the game early and was surprised to recognize zack from his fantastic blog (here is his account of that particular game).

you have to keep your eyes open - for starters, he changes his shirt and hat depending on which team is taking batting practice because players are more likely to throw baseballs to their own fans - dodger blue above, cardinal red (which wasn't such a fan favorite) below.


zack is unique because he knows how to get baseballs. a lot of them. he has written a book about how to snagging them. this season he has actually been collecting them for charity. his story is often featured in the media - plenty of youtube videos our there and here is a recent espn article on him. in real life he's just as i imagined him. a super nice guy (willing to sign my ticket stub), but also totally preoccupied with snagging baseballs. the whole time i was near him he had his eyes on the field, and while talking and signing for those who recognized him he was leaping around trying to snag that next ball.

oh, and for the record, after that game (in which he snagged 7 balls), his lifetime count currently stands at 4352 total baseballs.



the dodgers wrapped up round one of the playoffs yesterday by sweeping the st. louis cardinals. this is exciting news! next up is round two, although their opponent has not yet been decided. if there are any extremely generous dodger fans out there with extra tickets to round two, please pass them my way. sadly, round one was about as much as a seminary student (or his wife) can afford.

pasadena art night, baseball style

i apologize for my baseball focus this week - so is life during playoff season for a baseball fan!

yesterday night i ventured out to the pasadena library for a wonderful baseball night arranged by the baseball reliquary which was capped off by "5:04 p.m.: A First Person Account of the 1989 World Series Earthquake" , a film by jon leonoudakis. it really was a lovely night, you can get the whole rundown of the baseball event at the library right here.

game three of the dodgers/cardinals series is tonight in st. louis. our boys in blue go for the sweep!

dodgers win, again!

oh my. down by a run with two out in the 9th inning. a fly ball gets dropped and the dodgers get a lucky second chance to win the game. two singles and two walks later, and dodgers stadium was exploding in shouts of joy. 3-2, dodgers win. you can watch the game tying and winning hits right here.

it was by far, the best baseball game i have ever experience live.

dodgers win!

last night the boys in blue took down the st. louis cardinals in the first game of their best of five playoff series, 5-3. it was an exciting game (if a bit long) to be at - this photo was taken just after matt kemp's two run home run in the first inning.

game two is at 3:00pm today.

this is what happens when you blow bubblegum on your bicycle

thanks for the candid moment, ryan.

hollywood sign from our ride through griffith park

another photo from our saturday adventure (see yesterday's post for more details).

we're excited to welcome some old friends who are in town for another visit. we can't wait to hang out!

oh my! manuel's original el tepeyac cafe

we took a nice little bike ride on saturday through griffith park and los angeles before ending up at manuel's original el tepeyac cafe - a wonderful little mexican restaurant with a unique item on their menu - A FIVE POUND BURRITO. no, i did not eat that whole thing myself, however ryan and i split it - with room to spare - and helped our friends finish off their burrito. it was a wonderful moment!

national league west champs!

it took longer than expected, but last night, in the second to last game of the season, the dodgers clinched the national league western division championship. this photo is from an earlier game this year, but i figured they deserve to be praised even if i don't have a picture of the actual event.

bring on the playoffs - i'll be at home games one and two of the upcoming playoff series.

7-11 at the corner of orange grove and lake

not my best composed image, but i like it.

profile of the first congregational church

located at the corner of los robles and walnut, the first congregational church looms large above the intersection. it also acts as a large space for fuller seminary events that are too large for any of the buildings on campus.

one of those events was the fall kick-off service that was held this week. here is the pasadena star-news article on the event. you'll notice that fellow blogger and mennonite, matthew krabill is quoted.

more skywatch friday photos can be found here.

october theme day: contrast

contrast?

for me, it is about texture, light, shape, color, and line. all things that have to do with your eyes.


today's theme is being worked by hundreds of daily photo bloggers from around the world.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants