nom nom truck

the foodie truck revolution has hit los angeles county hard. starting with the legendary kogi korean taco truck, things have progressed to all sorts of wonderful meals on wheels. one recent addition is the fabulous vietnamese fusion creations of the nom nom truck. through a fellow blogger i discovered that they would be making their first visit to pasadena this past weekend. i quickly decided i had to check it out in person.

now i don't admit to know very much about vietnamese cuisine, but the lemongrass chicken taco and grilled pork banh mi sandwich i tried were fantastic! my meal was an explosion of savory meats, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and peppers, layered with tasty sauces and chewy/crusty breads. it was sweet, spicy, sour, savory, and all things a meal on the go should be. you can bet i'll be returning to the nom nom truck in the future.

largo at the coronet

largo at the coronet is one of my favorite music venues in los angeles. we attended recently to revisit the watkins family hour - an incredible evening of music based around siblings sean and sara watkins of nickel creek fame. we were treated to a spell-binding set of folk/bluegrass/gospel fusion that even included a guest appearance by fiona apple. if this sounds appealing, i'd strongly recommend checking out their upcoming christmas show on december 16th.

thanksgiving wrap-up

thursday was a wonderful day. a bike ride in the morning followed by a turkey frying experience and then capped off with a fantastic afternoon and evening of food, friends, and fellowship.

rosslyn hotel

a skywatch photo of the old rosslyn hotel (now housing upscale lofts) in downtown los angeles, taken on the recent tweed, mustache, and moxie ride.

more skywatch friday can be found here.

happy turkey day!

i hope you all have plenty to be thankful for this year.

tweed, mustache, and moxie ride #3

i like this photo for many of the reasons i mentioned yesterday, but what stands out is the old insignia on the buildings. the fashionably dressed cyclists almost blend right in with their surroundings. and a brick crosswalk? were we really in los angeles? wonderful.

the growing series of photos from this ride can be found together right here.

tweed, mustache, and moxie ride #2

oh my, what a fun ride. i love this picture for so many reasons - the clothes, bikes with fenders (purely added just for show in southern california!), the fact that the group is keeping pace with a bus, the way the buildings frame the shot,... so much to like.

check out monday's post for more on the ride and the link to the flickr page with more shots from the ride.

update: some photos from another area blogger.

tweed, mustache, and moxie ride.

cicle.org jumped on the growing trend of tweed rides happening across the country and kicked things off in los angeles this weekend with the first los angeles tweed, mustache, and moxie ride. a jolly good time was had by all - fine people decked out in their vintage clothing, fabulous facial hair, and beautiful bicycles. i'll be posting more photos from the ride all week long, but if you're interested in seeing more right now, you can check out my facebook album from the ride, or the growing flickr photo album for the event.

the place, los angeles

the food truck craze has hit pasadena in the form of "the place" - a virtual diner on wheels currently committed to serving only the good people of pasadena. the place offers a variety of food options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including unique items like a pastrami quesadilla or asian style dumplings. i ordered the cheeseburger and fries and was very impressed with both the flavor, quality of food, and price. as i placed my order they mentioned that they just started an all-you-can-eat option for $10. i didn't have time to take them up on that offer, but it seems like a pretty good deal to me. they have been open for about a month and business seems to be pretty good so far. i don't think they have a website set up yet, but you can follow their twitter feed to find out where they are parked in town.

remember the fork?

the infamous pasadena fork is back in the news. i'll let the fork in the road gang explain in their own words...

"Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 4 P.M. Bob Stane, Ken Marshall (The Coffee Gallery Backstage) and Philip Coombes(AgentPhil.com) will be launching Pasadena's largest food drive ever! benefiting Union Station Homeless services. Union Station Homeless Services will be feeding more than 5,000 people in the park on Thanksgiving Day and any non-perishables you can drop off at the fork this weekend will be greatly appreciated and much needed.

The food drive will be taking place at The infamous "Fork" located at the "fork in the road" where St. John and Pasadena Ave. meet. (or divide depending if your cup is half full or half empty) This is just South of Huntington Hospital and Bellfontaine. (From now on, this piece of dirt is dubbed, "Fork Plaza"). Please look for the volunteers wearing bright Orange shirts. Simply go slow, roll down your window and give your non-perishable food items to the volunteers with outreach bags."


thanks to petrea for the heads up that this was happening.

andre agassi at vroman's

thanks to hometown pasadena, i found out about andre agassi's book signing appearance at vroman's bookstore and so i decided to stop by yesterday. the line was pretty massive (as seen in the photo below), and i had no interest in buying his book simply to get an autograph. however i was very happy to snap off a few pictures of the tennis star before security kindly asked me to remove my camera from their store. he seemed genuinely happy with the people he spoke to. were any of you able to meet him yesterday?


no skywatch this friday, but i'm sure i'll be back with more pasadena sky next week.

balance

one of the great perks of riding your bicycle in the hills around pasadena means you get some interesting intersections like the one pictured above. when we moved to california i had no idea how cycling would change. when we would go for rides back in virginia, most routes would be rolling hills. here you have the choice of flat, or straight up and straight down.

it's been a while

we haven't been to the getty center in quite some time, but it remains one of our favorite destinations in los angeles county. i was flipping through my photo archives searching for a photo for today and came across this one. it shows off two of the things the getty does well - architecture and landscaping. oh, and the art collection and view are pretty solid too.

rose bowl court of champions

along the south side of the rose bowl is a massive wall listing every rose bowl champion throughout history. i'm not a huge college football fan, but it is never the less a very cool part of this historic building.

here comes the sun

t. boyle's tavern

thanks to brigham yen, i discovered that pasadena had a new watering hole opening up. i visited t. boyle's the other night with a friend to check it out. while it is kind of off the beaten path (tucked behind the academy 6 theater), it has a nice rustic charm and plenty of tvs tuned to various sporting events. their beer tap selection is decent, and they have an assortment of pool tables and shuffle board games to keep you occupied. an interesting place with a relaxed vibe.

i have to say thank you to my friend dave for offering his camera phone when i realized that i did not have my camera with me.

overpassed

part of the tangled web of los angles county's concrete jungle.

pink streaked skywatch friday

enjoy! more skywatch friday can be found here.

the illusive taco truck

people who have grown up in taco truck country don't realize how good they have it. fantastic and lovingly prepared food delivered to your neighborhood at all hours of the day. while i've been scarfing tacos as rapidly as possible since arriving in california a few years ago, i just recently discovered the torta. this mexican sandwich was served from a truck parked at this laundromat the other night, so i decided to take the plunge. the following picture looks pretty messy, but it sure tasted great!


next up on my list of southern california cuisine is following petrea's lead in tracking down a tostiloco.

eight hundred and one

while uploading today's image i noticed that i have just passed 800 blog entries. i know as well as anyone that i've been working at this blog for over two years, but that number makes that commitment to posting seem even larger. i say this a lot, but i never expected to keep this thing going for as long as i have. it is all thanks to faithful readers and commenters. thank you everyone!


by the way, in most of the world, today is known not as veterans day, but remembrance day. i prefer this term because it reminds me that to remember is to work for peace, with the hope that we will one day live in a world where war does not exist.

i hope and pray that everyone has a peaceful remembrance day.

eagle rock

one of pasadena's adjacent towns is the town of eagle rock - named so for this bird-like rock formation. i can't decide if it looks more like the head of an eagle, or like a bird in flight with outstretched wings...

a fork in the road

i'm a little behind on this breaking news. a few days ago, as a celebration of bob stane's birthday, his friends got together for a different kind of birthday present prank - a giant fork installed at a fork in the road.

brigham yen has his take right here, the la times right here, and you can check out the abc news feed on the story (including a brief interview with our public information officer) right here.

update - another one from hometown pasadena.

riding for my life

about a year ago i announced that i had collected and saved enough money to buy a new bicycle. many of my faithful readers donated to my cause, and i couldn't believe it when i actually got to take it out for the first ride.

if you look closely at this image you'll see that my odometer just passed 3000 miles. 3000 miles in just over one year of riding. i'm pretty happy with that.

a little poking around the internet revealed that driving those miles in our midsize car would have added about 1.65 tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

go ride your bike!

oh my - chicken 'n waffles

we ventured out with some friends last night to FINALLY make the pilgrimage to roscoe's chicken and waffles' pasadena location.

i must admit that the combination of syrup, waffles, and fried chicken was something i was skeptical of, it really was quite tasty. delicious in fact. i'm still full.

the unforgettable fire

as any good u2 fan knows, the unforgettable fire is the name of their 4th studio album - marking the transition from marching rock anthems like war and sunday bloody sunday to the beginnings of the sound that evolved into their epic joshua tree album.

this photo of the pasadena sky reminded me of that album title - no doubt due to its recent re-release.

more photos of the sky from around the world are found on the skywatch friday website - right here.

reintroducing the pasadena sky

shanna's blog has inspired me to get my camera pointed up. over the next few days i'll showcase a few of my favorites from the past few days where clouds have been spotted in the pasadena sky.

pasadena construction

i used to think of myself as somewhat on top of how pasadena was building and changing - and then i read this blog. add it to your rss feed and be glad you did. you'll get the inside scoop on everything in pasadena!

jackie robinson field

located just south of the rose bowl, this baseball diamond is the home field for the pasadena city college lancers. i've never been to a game there - has anyone else?

in my humble opinion, this would be a fantastic location for a minor league ballpark to be built if pasadena ever decided to acquire one. maybe a dodger affiliate? dreams...

ah in-n-out. how I love thee.

this is called putting up a photo just to make people drool - especially if you once did, but no longer live within driving distance of an in-n-out.

november theme day: doorways

a fire engine with its doors open in the doorway at pasadena engine co. 38.

many other daily photo bloggers are working with today's theme.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants