hutch's barbq

on the recommendation of a local food blogger who claims that this place has the best burger in pasadena, i finally visited this place.  and i'm happy to say that they do have a very tasty burger.

it is a shame it took me almost four years to venture to a restaurant almost right next to the place i go to school, but that is how things go (and the lack of a good reputation among my close friends may have played a role).  i may never go back for anything but the burger, but i'm happy i finally took the plunge.

happy birthday!

my beautiful wife has a birthday today. 

i love you!

mix n' munch

heading south today into laurie's territory (south pasadena) to check out the mix n' munch cereal and grilled cheese cafe.

wait...

seriously?  grilled cheese and cereal?  yes, you read that right.  if your inner five-year-old needs to dine out in south pas, you should check this place out.  plenty of mixed up cereal options, plus a very delicious selection of grilled cheese (mine included sliced apples and gouda on a hearty wheat bread).

memorial park metro station

one of the pasadena stations along the gold line.

floyd s. lee

another one of pasadena's brilliant vintage neon signs.

angels flight

unfortunately when we visited, the trolley wasn't operating.  still, it is an incredible piece of the los angeles landscape.  if you know much about it, you can check out the wikipedia page.

the new vons

today we are skywatching at the sight of the old vons grocery store, where a new vons is currently being built.  if you want a better rundown of this project (and a fabulous shot of the sky - not overcast and washed-out like mine is), check out brigham yen's blog.

my girls.

cabrera's mexican

just one of the many local establishments along north lake avenue.

a busy day at the courthouse

i didn't stop to ask why the tv crews were at the courthouse last week - i'm sure they had a good reason.

saladang song

pasadena has many great thai restaurants, but saladang has always been one of our favorites (i've even posted about it).  for some reason we never crossed the pavement to the sibling restaurant, saladang song.

last week, with my parents in town for graduation, we decided to go there.  and i'm glad we did.  it was just as good as the original, and i like the feel of this restaurant a little bit more.  the portions seemed a bit smaller, but the food was still incredibly tasty.  i bet we'll be back at some point.

the cat house

yesterday i mentioned that we were up in lancaster this week.  well the reason for our journey to the high desert was to visit the cat house - a fascinating little zoo designed to educate and protect exotic cat species. 

most of the feline occupants were sleeping during our visit (due to the mid-day heat), but this guy was nice enough to smile for the camera.

lancaster's musical highway

recently we were up in lancaster and decided to check out the musical highway.  you can learn more about its history and construction(s) at roadside america's website.

i filmed our experience and you can watch it right here...

shawn green at barnes and noble

last night we headed over to the americana in glendale for a book signing by former dodger (and more importantly for me, former toronto blue jay), shawn green.  shawn played really amazing baseball for several years and has just written an interesting book about finding peace and tranquility while playing big league baseball.

it was also fun to meet josh from the fantastic dodger bobble website.  you can read his review right here.

guitar center

one of pasadena's treasures - especially if you are a guitar player.  below is a photo of the well endowed wall of the acoustic guitar room.

papillon cafe

i've blogged about my love for diddy riese - westwood's incredible ice cream sandwich shop - so i was really excited when irena's daily rundown of things to do in pasadena mentioned that there was a new ice cream sandwich shop moving in to town with the same prices and system that diddy reise employs.

papillon is located across the street from pasadena city college.  their facebook page shows different open hours than the yelp page, so i called over to find out that the shop is open an hour later than either of those earlier sources suggested.

i loved what i got - double chocolate cookies with mint chip ice cream - but i gotta say, the portion was quite a bit smaller than what you find in westwood.  this is a decent alternative (especially when you consider knocking off the drive to ucla).

looking north on los robles ave

walnut hill car wash

located at - you guessed it - the corner of walnut and hill.

commencement!

my good friend joyce snapped off this photo during fuller's commencement ceremony yesterday.

thanks joyce!

by the way, you can all call me "master" now.

nearing the end

when i began this blog almost four years ago, i was hoping that it would be an artistic outlet while i worked on my masters degree from fuller seminary.  i told myself then that i would try and post a photo every day that i was enrolled.

today is my commencement ceremony celebrating the end of my degree, and frankly, i am ready for a break from daily photoblogging.  fortunately for fans of "the sky is big", i still have two summer classes left to complete my degree, so my break from school (and blogging) will have to wait.

dodger stadium sunset

a little chavez ravine skywatching for your friday pleasure.

pmc birthday picnic!

the city of pasadena is celebrating its 125th birthday this weekend.  it must be the season for significant milestones because last weekend pasadena mennonite church celebrated its 25th birthday!  our church celebrated with a special service followed by a picnic in the park.

i snagged this photo from george who also goes to pasadena mennonite, so i guess this counts as another guest photographer!

more from a guest photographer

andrew, who was gracious enough to be a guest photographer last friday gets another incredible cycling photo posted today - this one from last month's tour of california.  in this image we see just how close fans can get to the star atheletes.  in case you are wondering, that is last year's tour de france runner up, andy schleck leaving his tour bus and heading toward the starting line.

cool haus ice cream truck

this is old news - especially if you are facebook friends with me.  last week the cool haus ice cream truck was in pasadena and i attempted the skyscraper challenge.

i'm happy to say that i accomplished my goal, and really enjoyed myself.  five scoops of ice cream and six cookies filled me up pretty nicely, and i'm happy to say that i was able to enjoy the rest of my evening without too much pain.

venice canals

today we are stepping outside of the pasadena city limits to visit the venice canals.  this has been on our list of things to visit almost since we arrived in california, but it took us almost four years to get to this beautiful little slice of paradise. 

it really feels like a new world when you walk along the canals.  time seems to slow down as you meander through the homes, boats, and beautiful gardens.

glass

here's a throwback to the days when i used to have a weekly pasadena neon photo.  isn't that a great sign?  i think this place is still in business, but that sign hasn't been painted or touched up in years.  brilliant.

kings row gastropub

recently groupon had a deal at one of old town pasadena's latest foodie destinations.  "perfect!", i thought to myself, "i've been wanting to try kings row gastropub".

although i must admit, the recent restaurant trend to develop a decent beer selection, make well-crafted pub food, and charge a hugely inflated price, has made me a bit frustrated.  looking at their online menu confirmed that they had a good beer selection, and (sadly) the prices were on the high side for a pub, but the groupon deal persuaded me that i would take the plunge anyway.

fortunately, the food here was really excellent, and the atmosphere was really cool.  there is a nice little patio that backs on to one of old town's many alleyways, and the service was friendly and pretty smooth.  i'm not sure we will return and pay full price, but perhaps a return during their happy hour time slot will happen in the future.

guest photographer #3: skywatching by bicycle

i was happy to get a few photos from my good friend (and fellow bearded bicycler) andrew.  i hope you like them as much as i do!  first up is a photo of the lovely pasadena sky with the newly bloomed jacaranda tree above.

really cool image.  i'll have a few more of his photos over the next few weeks.  and as usual, if you would like to be a guest photographer on the sky is big, send me your pasadena photos!

more skywatching photos from around the world can be found right here.

de milo design studio

recently i ventured down to south pasadena to check out the brand new studio space of de milo design.  this incredible space (located on mission st) is owned and operated by our friend annika, and it is the perfect place if you are looking for an eco-friendly and fair trade shop for your printing needs.

what's more, annika is also a local blogger who documents the process of many of her creations, as well as the stories behind the products she sells, and the people and parts of the world where they are made.

june theme day: under construction

when the first of the month rolls around, hundreds of daily photoblogs from around the world focus their attention on a single theme.  this month the theme is "under construction".  this seems especially fitting for pasadenians as the square in front of our beloved city hall is under construction (hence, today's image).

are you interested in seeing hundreds of other takes on today's theme from around the world?

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants