hangin' with dave

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.

cupcake stare-down

on wednesday our baby girl had her first birthday, so yesterday we had a party with some friends.  she enjoyed her first cupcake, ice cream, and of course, lots of laughs with many of our pasadena friends (including a stare-down with her friend dave).

the kitchen with friends

for whatever reason, we end up heading back to the kitchen when we are hungry for italian food.  we went there last night to spend time with some friends, and enjoy some more of their tasty cuisine.

long time followers of the blog may remember that a similar photo was posted WAAAAAY back in 2008 (might even be the same table!).  a lot has happened in that time, but we still enjoy this restaurant.

oh, and i need to say thanks to lois' iphone for the photo.

dave cho at the coffee gallery

i've been waiting for a long time to make a trip to the coffee gallery's backstage music venue.  a free open mic night, and an invite from my friend dave cho gave me the chance i was looking for.

the line-up of local talent was awesome, and the venue was just as enjoyable as i imagined it might be.  i don't think i will be waiting so long to get back.

pliny the younger at lucky baldwins

pliny the younger is a triple india pale ale made by russian river brewing in santa rosa, ca. for whatever reason, it has been taking the beer world by storm this year. it recently took over top spot as the highest rated beer at beeradvocate.com. production is so limited on this magical elixir that it has caused some havoc in the los angeles beer community.

on saturday we were able to track down the elusive beverage at lucky baldwin's in pasadena. we arrived early and staked out a table. servers started pouring pliny at 2pm, and a short twenty minutes later, their supply was finished. our table was fortunate to land three goblets of the stuff (my friend dave poses with in the above photo), and let me tell you, it was a delicious experience. i'm not sure that it deserves the best beer in the world title, but it certainly ranks right up there in my mind.

tony hale at fuller seminary

i'm a big fan of the short lived tv show, arrested development. so i was quite pleased to hear that tony hale who played buster bluth from the show would be on fuller seminary's campus to talk about the intersection between his faith and working in hollywood as an actor. the event was organized by the brehm center, hence nate risdon is in the above photo, orchestrating the q&a time.


another great example of the interesting programming that happens at fuller - not just a place to learn theology, but a place to interact with the world.

march theme day: passageway

i promised to spend this week showing a few pictures from my first experience seeing a concert at beckman auditorium. this image is the passageway into the building with its massive stairways.

as usual on the first of every month, today's theme day is being explored by bloggers around the world.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants




one more thing today,

my home and native land is still celebrating from this moment... oh, canada!

another acoustic concert at jameson brown

last night we went to hear our neighbor dave and some other friends play a live music set to a packed house at jameson brown. we had a great time, and though seating was hard to come by, it seemed like everyone else did too. every artist who performed was really excellent in their own way.

gyu-kaku

one of my new favorite restaurants in pasadena is a japanese bbq dining experience called gyu-kaku. while their prices aren't anything special, during happy hour you can get a pile of food for a small amount and draft japanese beer is only $1. each table includes a small grill in the center which you use to cook the marinated items which you order. i've also sampled their edamame, crispy seaweed, cheese wontons, and spicy tuna appatizer and they were all pretty wonderful - and all half price during said happy hour.

hanging out at jameson brown

some friends invited me to a coffee shop show last night at jameson brown - a local pasadena coffee roaster who is starting to reshape their venue to do things like host musical talent. andrew goldring put on a great performance with his own guitar-based music. i'm sure he has a future in the business - keep your ears and eyes open. oh, and the beverages were delicious.

climbing holly street

holly street bridge is one of the many connecting points for the two banks of the arroyo seco. if you choose to bike on this road, come from the opposite direction. it's more fun to go down hill!

i work with corn

one more picture from the wedding. dave and felicia met at rouge river farms, growers of some of the finest sweet corn in ontario. we knew their guest list included many current and former employees, including two owners of the business, but we didn't know how big the group was until we got everyone together for a picture. pretty amazing, we made up about 20% of the guests at the party.

congrats!

my little sister got married this weekend at the family farm. in spite of a little rain (which isn't ironic on your wedding day at all), the day was wonderful. i'm proud of you two!

note: check out the amazing new photoblog in town - glimpses of south pasadena

hookah

friday evening was spent enjoying some incredible food, the company of close friends, and time spent discussing our memories of the middle east around the hookah.