more infringement of my rights...

okay, this isn't the first time we've talked about this on my blog or on other photo blogs, but it happened again, and this time it got a little crazy.

this image is of pasadena towers - an impressive building with a some fascinating mosaic artwork right under the entry arch. this artwork was so eye catching that i pulled out my camera to take a picture - from my justified location on the sidewalk. as i raised my camera an employee raced up to me and the following took place:

1. she demanded that i delete the image i just took (even though i had not taken one yet)
2. she requested to see the photos on my camera
3. she informed me that if i took an image she would call the police
4. she told me that she didn't want me to get in trouble, so i better just leave

of course i informed her politely that she needed to tell me why i was not allowed to take a picture in a public location. i reiterated that i was allowed to take a picture while i was on the sidewalk. i encouraged her to notify the police so that she could learn why it was legal for me to take a picture.

i really should have stayed around and pressed the issue further, but due to time limitations i left without resolving anything, or taking a picture (at least not the one i wanted). it was pretty fun to argue knowing that i was in the right and that employee had little to stand on.

petrea (of pasadena daily photo) has already pointed me toward this website. my plan is to print off that very helpful document (which hints that this particular person could be charged for harassing me!) and return to the scene of the crime (?) and try again to get that photo.

5.8, or 5.4 - whatever, it still shook us up.

thankfully no one was hurt, and very little damage occurred across la county. still, our first big earthquake since moving to to pasadena almost a year ago, and one that was felt as far away as san diego and las vegas. amazingly it was important enough for the bbc to report on it.

no, i didn't take this while the earth was shaking. i was actually in class and didn't have the camera or the sense to snap off a photo. so when i got home i tried to recreate an image that would give off the feeling of what we felt.

centinal over at foothill cities blog has some fantastic links regarding the quake. i especially like the one about the google searching done shortly after it happened.

300 south raymond

this building exterior caught my eye. i think the brickwork on the front is really fascinating. i have very little idea what this business provides or does. is it a store or a factory? anyone out there in pasadena-land know? fyi - this image was taken with my old camera.

concert at levitt pavilion

memorial park is the home of pasadena's summer concerts under the stars. these free concerts happen from wednesday to sunday, every week during the summer from june to august. last night was out first taste, and it left us wanting to come back for more. great family fun, lots of picnics, lawn chairs, and blankets, and most importantly - great music. last night featured ricardo lemvo & the makina loca who spent the evening showing us their fantastic blend of latin and african influences.

an update from the mortimer levitt foundation: there is another levitt pavilion in macarthur park that also offers 50 concerts free of charge in an outdoor setting similar to pasadena. visit levittla.org

thanks for the heads up!

the salvation army is in good company

this spot near the one colorado shopping area makes me chuckle every time i walk by. it's funny that the first meeting location of the salvation army is now populated by a variety of female mannequins. hope you enjoy it as much as i do!

hibiscus!

if only i knew my plants a little better. these make me think of what hula girls wear in their hair, or from the pattern on so many boarder shorts. but they grow on our street and made for a great picture.

once again faithful readers, i need your help to identify what flower is pictured. (it only took an anonymous poster 2 hours to give me what I needed!)

photo request #6: roscoe's chicken n waffles

not a whole lot of neon going on in this one, but enough to count as a friday photo. we still have yet to visit this interesting establishment, but i'm sure we'll get there someday. roscoe's is kind of a chain restaurant, they have several locations around l.a. including this one on lake avenue in pasadena.

this photo was requested by the fabulous dc confidential blog. head on over and look around, janet has some fantastic pictures!

oh, and in case you were wondering, this was taken a little while ago with my old camera.

and we're back!

the new camera arrived today, and here's its first offering. city hall from a new angle. hope you like it. many more to come i'm sure.

speaking of city halls, there is currently a city hall photo contest happening. to learn more check out this website.

home sweet home (part 2)

here we have the summer version of this image taken in december of the lane way at my parents farm. my sister's wedding took place on this lawn.

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

the end of the line

the gold line that is. the final stop on the metro is supposed to eventually head on to the east, but for now it ends at sierra madre villa, right in the middle of the 210 highway.

pasadena palms

thai dishes

one of the first places we ate at in pasadena. we tried it when we were on a school visit to fuller based on the recommendation of our friend's, emiley and joel. it was a great recommendation, and now i'll pass it on to you if you have not been yet. happy friday!

tomorrow is my sister's wedding. not sure if i'll have any photos up this weekend, but you can be sure i'll have some by monday (i hope!).

get your kicks - just don't kick me

colorado blvd and the playhouse district are historic for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they belong to route 66.

the donut man in glendora, ca

if you are ever out that way, track down a fresh fruit donut (peach or strawberry depending on the season) from the donut man. you won't regret it! make it a bike ride from pasadena and burn off the calories you take in from this beast of a donut.

note: tim has already finished part of his donut in this picture.

the last image...

during a game of mini-golf i dropped my camera. this is the last image it took. as you can see, my buddy mike is giving me the thumbs up sign noting his excitement that the camera is actually working... however it was the last time it did so.

stouffville mennos fast pitch

softball isn't just for girls. i grew up playing fast pitch softball - which is pretty rare in the us of a, but pretty normal for southern ontario. this team is at the intermediate level and several of my good friends play on the team. the name is in reference to a connection with several of the local mennonite churches, although the affiliation is pretty loose.

greetings from stouffville, ontario!

main street, stouffville.

this town is growing, and so is the traffic. this image is relatively clear from the hustle and bustle, which is the way i remember this town. click on the image and you can see that the canadian flags are still up from the canada day weekend and the strawberry festival.

i may be treading on ken's territory here with his fantastic stouffville daily photo, but i'm here, so i'm taking pictures...

...at least i was until my camera broke. anyone have any suggestions on a new one? although i love taking pictures, i think i'm going to stick with a digital point and shoot instead of going with a slr body and a bunch of lenses (no money for that now).

sunset over dodger stadium

from a game we went to this week against the braves - sadly a blowout for the away team.

pasadena hotel

i can't find much about this place, but it is acceptable material for my friday neon quest. anyone know anything about it? it looks like it could have some stories...

holly street bar & grill

located on holly street, all decked out in ivy, this pasadena landmark always makes me turn my head. i'm not quite convinced this is the best image I could take, so i'm sure you'll see more of it in the future.

pasadena neon is on the schedule for tomorrow, then a break from pasadena with some pictures of southern ontario for the weekend.

what's the hang up?

i was struck with the rainbow pattern of these hangers in the container store on fair oaks.

heading out of town today. i'll be gone for a week and a half for my little sister's wedding. hopefully i'll have some photos to post from that event, as well as some from my home area (ontario, canada). until then, this thing is on autopilot. keep those comments rolling in, but please behave while i'm gone!

better than a rooster

this isn't the first time i've posted about pasadena's parrots. lately we've been finding our neighborhood parrots to be especially squawky. they seem to know exactly when people don't want them to be making noise. can you see the parrot in this photo? he's in the upper half, right about the middle looking down at me taking his picture at the bottom of this tree. click on the image for a closer look. i don't think we have any fruit trees around, so i'm not sure why they like our building so much.

up close and personal with city hall

it has been a little while since city hall made an appearance (don't feel too bad, it gets featured a lot!). so today she is back. this one is inspired by petrea's quest for superfluous details. i think it qualifies.

ben and the blue jays

last night i got to hang out and play catch with a few of my friends on the toronto blue jays...

not really, but i was close enough to get a picture of the relief pitchers in the bullpen. oh, and the blue jays won, and eugene and i found free tickets to a sold out game at angel stadium - just as we were about to head home. all in all a pretty great night. this image isn't really pasadena related, but its not too far. about 40 minutes if traffic is good.

a side note: the jays and angels were wearing commemorative patriotic weekend hats - compare this and this to what they normally wear here and here.

i promised a picture of city hall, but i bumped it for this. stay tuned tomorrow when i promise there really will be a picture of city hall.

photo request #5: fireworks over the rose bowl

michael coppess, of the impressive east of allen blog, gets his second photo request granted. last night we saw the impressive rose bowl fire work show from the hills of the surrounding area. if you click on the image you can even make out city hall to the left side of the image in the background - a photo of which i'll be posting tomorrow. the photo below turned out well with people included right about the time the finale began.


the offer is still out there. if you see something from around pasadena you want featured on this blog, just drop me a comment and i'll see what i can do. is there a part of pasadena that is getting overlooked? let's try and correct that.

oh, and if you want to see some video from the evening, you can see it here.

russell's

happy yankee independence day everyone.

we've never been to russell's, but I like their neon sign and the fact that they've been in pasadena for a long time!

dinner with friends

some of our friends from virginia are visiting pasadena this week on their cross-country tour. it was great to have dinner with traci, beth, and carissa. we ended up going to the kitchen, a fantastic little italian eatery in old town. oh, and it was matt and shawna's aniversary. congrats you two! happy to celebrate with you.

the patagonia of yesteryear

what is it about sepia tone that makes things look old? I took this image this week, but it looks like it is from another era (aside from the modern vehicles).

on another note, thank you so much for all of the lovely comments yesterday! more comments than any post has ever received on this blog. so many wonderful things said, i can't express how much that makes me want to continue to keep this thing running. thanks once again, you're all so charming.

july 2008 theme day: "no . . ." signs

first of all, happy canada day to my fellow canadians out there. second, a happy theme day to all those daily photo bloggers out there. 172 other blogs are working with this theme today - can't wait to see what they all have come up with!

this photo is of the parking lot at my local 99 cents only store which apparently has a problem with shopping carts going missing and people just standing around. no - loitering, trespassing, and even shopping cart theft! in fact, this seems to be an issue all over los angeles county as you see them abandoned or in use all over the area. readers of this blog from the very beginning may recognize certain elements of this picture as appearing on this blog before (see here, here, and here).

check out the other interpretations of "no . . ." signs right here:

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants