happy halloween

last night we got together with a few people from our church for an evening of pumpkin carving, food, and it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown.  we even did a little reverse trick-or-treating, where the youth went door to door handing out fair trade chocolate.  fun stuff!

oakland community garden

i've noticed the oakland community garden before, but i know very little about it beyond the fact that i live close by.  they have a sizeable space, and seem to grow a good variety of produce - almost year round - but more information is hard to come by.

but - while searching for more details, i found out that there is a new group trying to get an official community garden started in pasadena.  you can learn more about the group at their website, right here.

to the side

leaning palm silhouette for today's skywatch friday photo.

hope you enjoy!

fatburger pasadena - coming soon?

a few weeks ago, an immovable feast pointed out that fatburger was set to move in to a old pasadena restaurant on lake avenue.  i was excited.  i'm always up for a new burger place in town, and the few times i've eaten at fatburger have been delicious.

but finding info about when it is actually opening has proven difficult.  their facebook page claimed they would be open by october 15th (which is clearly not the case), and the coming soon sign has been hanging out for quite some time.

while out for a walk last night, i bumped into an employee who said they would be open by monday, november 1.  we'll just have to see about that.

guitar hero

i really enjoy the local farmers market scene for the busking musicians.  this guitar-playing guy has been on the blog before, and i always get a smile when i walk in his direction.  today's photo featuring him tucked behind the flower stand just seemed to work in a way that i wasn't quite expecting when i took this picture.

i hope you enjoy!

secret photographer

while wandering through the farmers market, i kept my camera by my side and just snapped off photos at will.  i was pleased to find this bright orange shopper in front of the large selection of plants for sale in the background. 

i love when accidental photographs turn out to be really cool.

sweet corn at the farmers market

i've mentioned before that i spent many a summer picking sweet corn during my younger years.  every time i see fresh sweet corn - whether it be at the grocery store, the farmers market, or kitchen table - i always check it out to see if it is up to my standards.  the corn was looking pretty good at saturday's farmers market, and i almost got some (but buckled at the $7/doz price).

a little song from my sweet corn days...
 
corn, sweet corn, no body picks it better,
no matter what the time, no matter what the weather.
the only reason that i've been born,
is to pick another load of that corn, sweet corn.

cd sunday: the postal service's give up

and so we reach the end.  way back in june i embarked on a quest to share with you my favorite twenty albums.  i hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as i have.  it was tough to select just twenty, and made me realize how diverse my collection is - and the way that my collection has changed over the years.

today's final album is by the postal service - a side project of ben gibbard, lead singer of the band death cab for cutie.  this album is quirky - part indie rock, part electronica, part ear candy pop.  some songs are familiar - you might recognize "such great heights" as the song was featured in us postal service commercials as part of a name copyright settlement, and was covered by the band iron and wine and featured in the indie film garden state.

but the album has even more than that.  some of it is melodic enough to be a lullaby (such as "homage" or "see the light"), while others are uptempo enough to be featured in a play-list for the gym workout.

i cannot remember who introduced me to this album.  it came out while i was in college but i didn't have it during my semester in south africa which occurred at the end of that year (i know this because my cd folder was stolen on that trip, containing hundreds of cds - many in my current collection of around 400 albums are actually burned copies because of this unfortunate incident, give up is not one of them, which means it was not on the trip).  it certainly wasn't very early.  in some kind of odd twist, it made me much more curious about death cab for cutie - i'm not sure how often a side project ends up making people interested in the main event, but that is what happened for me.

so why the photo of the capitol building?  well the opening track always makes me think of washington with the repetitive line from the chorus, "d.c. sleeps, alone tonight".

it is a brilliant album and i'm baffled as to why a follow-up never came forth.  maybe someday my fellow ben will get around to it.


and so, here is the final list.  my twenty favorite albums, in no particular order...

1. u2 - the joshua tree
2. dave matthews band - crash
3. cake - comfort eagle
4. blue rodeo - five days in july
5. the beach boys - pet sounds
6. coldplay - viva la vida
7. weezer - pinkerton
8. mates of state - re-arrange us
9. radiohead - ok computer 
10. nickel creek - this side
11. u2 - how to dismantle an atomic bomb 
12. the beatles - the white album 
13. sloan - one chord to another 
14. o.a.r. - risen
15. paul simon - graceland 
16. jack johnson - brushfire fairytales 
17. led zeppelin - iv
18. belle & sebastian - the life pursuit
19. sara watkins - sara watkins
20. the postal service - give up

the sky is big in texas

a hearty congratulations to the texas rangers - american league champions after knocking out the defending world series champion yankees last night.  it has been a long time coming for the rangers - the franchise has existed since '61 (formed as the washington senators), and it took until this year for them to win their first playoff series.

now they are going to the world series.

i took this photo of the ballpark in arlington on our trip across the country as we moved from the east coast to our home here in pasadena.  the rangers ballpark has some unique features, and the sky looked looming on that particular night (we ended up having a bit of a rain delay in the game).

arclight sky

paseo colorado's movie theater gives us the backdrop for today's skywatch friday photo.

rugged ojai landscape

one last photo from my trip to ojai, california.  i hope you enjoyed following along with me.  i'll be back to posting pasadena photos tomorrow!

the farmer and the cook

after spending our first day in ojai in the fields helping out at the organic farm, we headed in to town to sample some of the fruits of our labor at the farmer and the cook - an incredible vegetarian restaurant that is the culinary arm of the organic farm.  the photo above shows my pizza, and if it doesn't look tasty enough in print, let me assure you that it was an incredible thing to eat.

organic farm in ojai

yesterday i mentioned that our trip to ojai included working on an organic farm.  these photos are from that experience - the above photo showcasing some of their beautiful beans that they produce, the bottom showing their incredibly diverse garden space and a group photo.

ojai day

i spent this past weekend was in ojai, california with a group of students and staff from occidental college.  i'm in the middle of an internship with oxy's office for religious and spiritual life.  our weekend included a visit to an organic farm and camping up in the mountains.  if you don't mind, i'm going to take a few days to escape pasadena to share a few photos from our trip to ojai.

we were fortunate to be in town during ojai day - a street fair celebration of the town and area.  the above photo is of the hand-painted mandala - something that gets re-created every year.

getting hosed?

the newest art installation at one colorado is this fascinating fountain ornament involving plenty of garden hoses.  if you want to learn a bit more, click on the above photo and zoom in to read the lengthy statement on the piece.

cd saturday: sara watkins' self-titled album

the incredibly talented sara watkins has long been recognized as an amazing violinist and active member of the music industry.  for years she was part of nickel creek (a band i've already featured in my countdown), and has worked on a variety of side projects as well.

her self-titled 2009 release is just about as good as it gets.  here sara's charming voice and musical styling shine through.  at moments she has a feisty attitude such as on the track "long hot summer day" (the inspiration for today's photo), while on others she has an angelic softness on "my friend" or her take on "give me jesus".
 
those who live in the los angeles area have the chance to check out sara and her brother sean play frequently during the watkins family hour - a semi-regular night of music at the largo, and one of my favorite things to do in this area.

are you ready for #20?  only one album left on my favorite 20 album list.

1. u2 - the joshua tree
2. dave matthews band - crash
3. cake - comfort eagle
4. blue rodeo - five days in july
5. the beach boys - pet sounds
6. coldplay - viva la vida
7. weezer - pinkerton
8. mates of state - re-arrange us
9. radiohead - ok computer 
10. nickel creek - this side
11. u2 - how to dismantle an atomic bomb 
12. the beatles - the white album 
13. sloan - one chord to another 
14. o.a.r. - risen
15. paul simon - graceland 
16. jack johnson - brushfire fairytales 
17. led zeppelin - iv
18. belle & sebastian - the life pursuit

pasadena sky and palm

a picturesque sky - showing off for skywatch friday.

passersby

 this interesting art installation along green street features some odd perspective.  look up to look down on people walking below (or above?), look down to see the shadows of people below.

strange - but i like it.

so you want to open an l.a. brewery

last night i had the pleasure of attending a fantastic event as part of los angeles beer week hosted by my friends at eagle rock brewery.  the event was mc'd by beer writer tomm carroll, and included a panel discussion with several of the area's newest craft brewers - the aforementioned (and award winning!) eagle rock brewery, nibble bit tabby brewery (who really need a better website), strand brewing, brouwerij west, ladyface ale companie, as well soon-to-open beachwood brewing and ohana brewing (all fantastic brewers, by the way).


as you can see from the photo above, the event was a success - at least in terms of available seating.  those in attendance at the packed house got to hear a few hours of insight into what it takes to start a brewery in los angeles county, and the hurdles and benefits that come along with that endeavor.

after the session drew to a close, the brewers all posed for a group shot.  it will be interesting to look back on this image in a few years and see where these breweries are at that point.

whale watching in long beach

my sister and her husband were in town this past weekend to visit us and to help us celebrate canadian thanksgiving.  on saturday we decided to head down from pasadena to the long beach aquarium of the pacific - a place i had never been but had wanted to check out.

the holiday weekend and the fact that they were celebrating southeast asia day meant that the place was packed, but we still had a fun time wandering around the exhibits and checking out the marine life.

library fireplace

the incredible children's wing of the pasadena public library has a massive fireplace - complete with stone carvings below the mantle and an interesting painting above.

ten ten, ten, ten, ten.

10 o'clock and 10 minutes.

october 10th, 2010.

enjoy.

memorial park metro station from above

as we were walking through the area, i caught the metro dropping off passengers.  what would it be like to live above a train station?

skywatch friday brilliance

i'm really proud of this one.  vibrant sky, iconic city hall, even a few other buildings on the horizon with the mountains behind them.

more skywatch friday can be found as usual, right here.

bonus thursday blog post!

i've been inspired by this contest to share my thoughts with you (as if you had a choice) on my favorite beer and cheese pairing.  and so, in honor of los angeles beer week (which starts today) here it goes...


i might be stepping outside the boundaries of the contest, but my ideal beer and cheese pairing is my favorite beer - ballast point brewing company's sculpin ipa - with my favorite food - a freshly grilled burger topped with bacon and some good extra sharp canadian cheddar cheese from quebec.

oh i know - beer fans out there will complain "you're picking a double ipa?!?", which is all together too trendy right now.  cheese fans will say, "cheddar?  what, are you 5 years old?".  And those who created this competition will probably say - "this is a beer and cheese pairing, not a beer and burger pairing!"

it is a taste of childhood (the burger) combined with a much more recent love (the well-hopped california ipa) and you know what?  nothing in the world compares to these two tastes - the amazingly bitter citrus brightness of the beer and the sharp salty flavor of the cheese.  it is a match made in heaven!

pasadena public library sky

check out the pretty sky.  you might be thinking it would fit for tomorrow's skywatch friday, but i've got an even better iconic pasadena photo for that!

solar-powered trash can

pasadena recently installed a number of solar-powered trash receptacles across the city.  these apparently help cut down on green house gasses by compacting trash so that it does not need to be emptied as frequently as a regular trash can.

i gotta say, they look pretty cool with the domed solar panel on top.

check out the view

today i'm borrowing a page from the incredible view blog - a collection of amazing photos of nothing but the southern california sky.  enjoy today's photo and then head over to shanna's blog to check it out!

tar

a unique take on the exterior of a recognizable big box chain.

cd sunday: belle & sebastian's the life pursuit

shortly after this album came out, i was sitting around my friend matt's kitchen.  he happened to be building a set of wheels for a bicycle...  i think it was this one.  this album came on over his computer's speakers.  i was almost instantly smitten.

i had heard the scottish band, belle and sebastian before, but i always dismissed them as being far too mellow with few catchy hooks.  this was different.  this was candy for my ears.  this was joy wrapped up in a musical project.  as each new song came on, i remember saying to matt over and over, "i gotta get this album".

some might think their music is a bit too silly.  sure, songs like "funny little frog", "we are the sleepyheads", and "white collar boy", weigh heavy on cheesy pop lyrics and borderline manic melodies, but i think that is part of the charm.

"the blues are still blue" may be one of my favorite songs from the album.  it is catchy, crunchy, and irresistible. 

i'm really looking forward to their new album - set to be released in only a few weeks.  as for how this picture relates to the album?  i guess i could say something about sunsets and the fact that there is a song called "another sunny day" on the album, but that might be stretching things a bit.  i just really like this photo of a recent pasadena sunset.


my top 20 favorite album countdown is almost over!

1. u2 - the joshua tree
2. dave matthews band - crash
3. cake - comfort eagle
4. blue rodeo - five days in july
5. the beach boys - pet sounds
6. coldplay - viva la vida
7. weezer - pinkerton
8. mates of state - re-arrange us
9. radiohead - ok computer 
10. nickel creek - this side
11. u2 - how to dismantle an atomic bomb 
12. the beatles - the white album 
13. sloan - one chord to another 
14. o.a.r. - risen
15. paul simon - graceland 
16. jack johnson - brushfire fairytales 
17. led zeppelin - iv

cd saturday: led zeppelin's iv

last year we took a hike with some friends on echo mountain.  the day started out hazy and misty.  you might even say it was a misty mountain hop.  okay, i know, i'm stretching a bit, but when i thought about what picture to use for today's album review, this one seemed like the perfect choice.


i want to start off by saying how much i regret putting an album on this list that includes one of the most overplayed songs in the history of pop music.  never the less, this is an album that deserves to make my top 20 favorite albums list.

when i play zeppelin's prog. rock masterpiece, i think of a few things.  first, it reminds me of sitting around with friends (especially mike and steve) trying to duplicate the sounds we were hearing on our own instruments, or simply tapping or clapping out the rhythms.  second, it makes me think of the incredible way that john bonham's drumming shapes my enjoyment of this record (especially on "black dog").  third, it makes me realize how different this album is to ANYTHING else i own or listen to.  zeppelin was a band that was ground breaking and revolutionary in ways that have never quite been duplicated.

this album only has eight tracks, and they are all incredibly good (if not for one particular track being a bit overplayed).  ones that stand out - favorites - are the aforementioned "misty mountain hop" and "black dog", as well as their take on the beautiful song "when the levee breaks".

this is a classic album, and i'm sure many of you feel the same way.  to take a look at the other 16 albums i've reviewed so far on my way to my 20 favorite albums, check out the list below.

1. u2 - the joshua tree
2. dave matthews band - crash
3. cake - comfort eagle
4. blue rodeo - five days in july
5. the beach boys - pet sounds
6. coldplay - viva la vida
7. weezer - pinkerton
8. mates of state - re-arrange us
9. radiohead - ok computer 
10. nickel creek - this side
11. u2 - how to dismantle an atomic bomb 
12. the beatles - the white album 
13. sloan - one chord to another 
14. o.a.r. - risen
15. paul simon - graceland 
16. jack johnson - brushfire fairytales

october theme day: graffiti

not really graffiti - but street art none-the-less.  this image is from pasadena's incredible annual chalk festival.  i think this piece was done by an artist during the 2009 festival.  i like it, and thought it would be great to share with you all today.  i hope you enjoy.  happy theme day!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants