pasadena coffee co.

memorial day

my faith tradition happens to be one that historically rejected the violence of war and has kept a strong peace stance.  a phrase i heard growing up on days like rememberance day, veterens day, memorial day, or other holidays celebrating military history is the following...  to remember is to work for peace.


for many of you, memorial day means remembering your relatives and friends who served (or serve) in the military, but my own family history owns little of that story.  my great-grandfather's business was blackballed because he was a conscientious objector during world war 1.  during the second world war, my grandfathers gave their time in alternative service because of their convictions.

so for this reason i try and remember heroes of non-violence and peace on memorial day.  people like gandhi, martin luther king jr, desmond tutu, and many others including my friend rob who is currently serving with christian peacemaker teams in the west bank.

you can read all about rob's incredible journey of peace right here.

family fun day at la pintoresca

yesterday i ventured up to la pintoresca park for family fun day - a community event for families which included music, art, demonstrations, and even a skate park competition.  this photo is of one of the many children's traditional dance groups that took place.

no, no, no, no!

just a friendly reminder from a store in my neighborhood.

meeting matt kemp

remember when i met andre eithier?  and then jonathan broxton?

as it turns out, these kinds of things just keep popping up for dodger fans in los angeles.  thanks to the incredible dodger blog, vin scully is my homeboy, i found out that dodger superstar matt kemp was going to be in burbank yesterday at a bank of america branch.  i showed up with my daughter and we stood in line and were able to meet kemp and get his signature on a baseball.  you can read more about that baseball over at one of my other blogs.

unfortunately, the camera was on the wrong setting so when our picture was taken, it turned out like this...

claremont's folk music center

while we were in claremont for the tour of california, we made a stop at this incredible music shop owned by ben harper's family - the folk music center.  the place is packed with a wide array of musical instruments from around the world.  while they specialize in stringed folk instruments, there also seems to be an emphasis on instruments that convey a deep sense of cultural identity.

it is definitely worth a stop if you are in claremont.

more from the tour of california

 on sunday i mentioned that we had traveled to claremont to watch a stage of this year's amgen tour of california bicycle race.  i wanted to share a few more photos from that day.  above you see a front on picture of the peloton as they circled the city of claremont.  you can see just how many people were out lining the streets, and how many professional riders started the race (although not many of them made it all the way up to the summit of mt. baldy.

below you can see how hard it is to photograph moving cyclists.  i almost deleted this image before even getting home but i'm glad i didn't because as it turns out - one cyclist happens to be crystal clear!  it is almost as if i photo-shopped it, or planned it that way!

pasadena bike week 2011

oh what a week it was.

another pasadena bike week has come and gone.  i wasn't able to get to everything i wanted to, but i did make it to several events including (clockwise from upper left) the bike to work celebration at city hall, bicycle valet in downtown los angeles at angel city brewing, bicycle riders during art night, and saturday's party to end bike week at one colorado.

what to post?

this was such a full weekend, i'm not sure what to start monday with.  so i'll go with one of the last things i did - a rancho cucamonga quakes game with some of the youth from church (which brought back incredible memories from my bike trip two years ago).  i'll get to more photos from bike week, the tour of california, art night, among other things, later in the week.

tour of california 2011

i can't believe this is the fourth year i've been able to check out the amgen tour of california race in person (year 1, year 2, year 3).  this year the race included a stage which traveled from claremont to the top of mt. baldy, so i joined some friends and made the trip out there.  since so much else happened this weekend, i thought i'd give you another photo collage of our day.

clockwise starting in the upper left: race day starting line, meeting some of the pro's, photographing the race (more photos to come soon), and braving the crowds in claremont.

the race concludes tomorrow in thousand oaks with chris horner (pictured above in the gold jersey) of team radio shack hoping to hang on to his overall lead for the win.

art night 2011

another art night has come and gone.  i took the baby out in the stroller and we walked around to several of the venues.  clockwise from the upper left: paintings at armory center for the arts, pond gazing at pacific asia museum, accordion player at alliance francaise de pasadena, and alphabet prints on display at pasadena museum of california art.

this is a busy weekend - bike week is winding down, art night happened, and the tour of california hits southern california today.  i've got a whirlwind of various weekend photos coming up!

additionally, a local blogger recently posted his list of favorite pasadena area daily photoblogs.  you can check out the full listing right here.

palm tree sky

friday is here.  have you been riding your bicycle this week? 

more skywatch friday photos from around the world are found right here.

stretch

some students (or their parents) must have dropped some serious money on their prom ride - not to mention professional photos in front of city hall.

down colorado

while crossing the crosswalk on los robles the other day i decided i wanted a shot in the middle of the street.  in my haste i neglected to hold the camera at the proper angle - but i'm actually quite happy with the result.

pasadena

as my time at fuller seminary draws to a close i find myself growing more nostalgic about our experience in southern california.  this photo was taken in 2007 on our last day of the four day journey from virginia to california.  we snapped this photo as we got on the 210 freeway for the last bit of driving before we arrived at our new home.

we still don't know what our future holds, but for this stage of life, pasadena has exceeded our expectations.

museums of the arroyo: the gamble house

as part of the fabulously free event, museums of the arroyo, we headed over to the gamble house yesterday for a free tour.  the place was packed (as we expected), but we got a tour of the place - something we've been meaning to do since we moved to pasadena.

i've probably mentioned this before, but back to the future fans will recognize the exterior of this house as the home of doc.

sorry about the poor quality cell phone image for today.

pasadena marathon morning

does everyone have their running shoes on? 

today is the pasadena marathon, and while cafe pasadena has been trying to convince me to enter the bicycling portion of the event, i will not be taking part in any way (other than trying to figure out how to get to church through the closed off streets).  i did happen by the start/finish location yesterday, and snapped off this picture to share.

if you are participating in today's event, best of luck!

hana sushi

last year i posted about enjoying some sushi with my neighbor who's mom happens to own a restaurant down in the temecula area.  this week we ventured down and spent the day tasting wine before concluding with a meal at his mom's restaurant, hana sushi in murrieta. 

unfortunately i was too excited about the food and didn't get too many great photos of the massive spread laid before us.  it was easily one of the best meals of my life.  sometimes it pays to know people!

palms on parade at dusk

sorry for the delay on today's post, but blogger has been shut down for a little while due to some maintenance. 

more skywatch friday photos from around the globe can be found right here.

in trouble

as a father to this child, how am i ever going to say "no" to that face??

the autry national center

the site of the concert i attended on monday night.

the low anthem

last night i had the privilege of attending a concert at the autry national center.  we were treated to an incredible show including ivan & alyosha, and daniel lefkowitz.  all three are extremely talented, but the highlight of the night was when rain forced the head-lining band into the entryway for an impromptu acoustic set (photo below).

you can check out the low anthem at their website.  UPDATE, and i just found this review of the show including some footage of the impromptu acoustic set.

office party

i've mentioned before that i've been working as an intern at occidental college in the office for religious and spiritual life.  it has been an incredible experience, and last week we gathered for a year-end party.

this group is a lot of fun, and i'm going to miss hanging out with them all.

last one from the doo dah parade

a colorful cast of characters to end my series on this year's doo dah parade.

doo dah dude

i hope you aren't tired of my doo dah photos, but it was just such a treasure trove of images (plus i've been so busy this week i haven't had time to take other pictures around town.  i love this guy's balloons.

a doo dah sky

skywatching from last weekend's doo dah parade.  beautiful blue skies were perfect for the occasion.

more skywatch friday photos from around the globe can be found right here.

hempland security?

another fine photo from the doo dah parade.

and might i add, happy cinco de mayo!

perspectives on the doo dah

this photo collage is just a taste of some of the odd sights you find at the doo dah parade.  clockwise starting in the upper left - a large mechanical cat; two guys powering a rainbow human-powered device; a rusted-out van with all kinds of obscure accessories; and finally, a band ("chum") on a flatbed truck (of which there were a few).

doo dah part deux

another image from pasadena's lovely doo dah parade.

oh the doo dah day

saturday was the annual doo dah parade - pasadena's chance to showcase its wild and ridiculous side.

because of the city daily photo theme day, you had to wait until now to see the first of my photos.  don't worry, i've got more coming in the next few days! 

may theme day: mailbox

who forgot about city daily photo theme day until last night then ran down to the building mailbox and snapped off this mediocre photo to share with you all??

me!  that's who. 

my favorite part about our mailboxes is that although this is that although these were just installed a few months ago, many of the numbers have already fallen off.  it is going to be tough to be our mailman if this trend continues!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

ps - stay tuned for some doo dah parade photos tomorrow!