pasadena - original home of trader joe's

as this wikipedia article notes, the first trader joe's store was on arroyo parkway in pasadena. it is still in operation today, and coincidentally is featured in today's post. we like trader joe's a lot! we just wish there was one located a little closer that we could walk or ride our bikes to. oh, we also don't like that most of their "fresh" produce is wrapped in plastic.

but all in all, a great store. and really something we have grown to love about living in pasadena.

sky watch friday (take 2)

due to overwhelming response last week, i'm going to give sky watch friday another try. this image is looking up los robles toward the mountains. a few traffic lights, a few palm trees, and the lovely pasadena sky.

corner mini mart

located along orange grove blvd. it's not often you see a hand painted sign. i like it!

no little kindness

i had the chance to catch a performance of no little kindness a few weeks ago and haven't got around to posting this picture until now. no little kindness is made up of several talented musicians, some of whom i've gotten to know from attending pasadena mennonite church. they were playing at this event hosted by salvation army alegra. an enjoyable evening of great music.

hollywood hill haze and the pacific

took this at the griffith park observatory. you can see the pollution and the beauty of los angeles county in this image.

today is remembrance day (or veterans day) for most people in the world. my hope is that as we remember we work for peace and long for a time that is free from warfare.

introducing timmy morgan!

tim is a great friend of mine. like me, he's also a new pasadena resident. he's out here in california trying to make it big in the entertainment industry. last night i got to see him perform at a comedy benefit for the midnight mission at room 5 lounge in los angeles.

i knew this already, but last night re-affirmed how funny this guy really is! you can check out his website right here. or you can check out some of his superb material here or here. enjoy!

david bazan

david bazan (formerly of pedro the lion and headphones) played at fuller seminary last night. i don't want to brag, but it was AWESOME! (and i never use caps on this blog!). i've been listening to bazan on and off since high school, so it was a dream come true to finally get to see him live. he played a great mix of his old stuff, more recent stuff, and unreleased songs. it was intimate - just him and a guitar and a room packed with a few hundred people. he spoke candidly between songs about politics, religion, recording music, and his favorite bands. all in all, a fantastic night.

update: just noticed that wess daniels posted a fantastic review of the show over at his wonderful blog, gathering in light.

we also recieved word that over the rhine will be playing at fuller in december... can't wait!

randy's pick

not sure who randy is, but at whole foods he puts his name on certain beer in the display case. this image is just part of their massive shelf and features two breweries from southern california - the bruery in orange county, and the lost abbey in san diego.

sky watch friday

we're taking a break from friday neon to try out sky watch friday. i love the concept of a day to honor the sky. in fact a blog called the sky is big in pasadena should have participated in this a long time ago! my own theme day prevented me from joining so i'm going to try it out this week and see how it goes.

the other problem is that i don't have any unused pictures of pasadena neon currently on my computer. and i've heard from a few of my readers that they wish more of my neon would be taken at night... a good critique. so neon will be on hiatus for a little while until i decide if i want it to resume - or if people complain loud enough. maybe shifting it to another day?

all that to say that this shot was taken of the setting sun the other night. you may not believe me but this is actually looking west from the los robles overpass over the 210. enjoy!

through the mist

snapped this off on the weekend while we were up in the mountains for our annual church retreat. i like the eerie feel of this photo.

jet propulsion laboratory

...or jpl as it's known around here. similar to another image i've featured before, but this one seems to be a little sharper. less smog that day i guess.

villa parke voting

rain was falling today but that didn't stop people from lining up to vote outside the villa parke location. if you live in the usa, i hope you got a chance to do the same today.

Obama on the left
McCain on the right
We can talk politics all night
And you can vote however you like

meet the jones'

our good friends are in town to visit. mike and nora jones (yes those are their real names) and their beautiful baby lily have brightened our lives for the last little while. it's not often you get to see friends from canada. we're so glad to have them here.

mike's ridiculous face is offset by how cute lily looks in her sun hat. cheesy and classic tourist photo. gotta love it!

ha ha ha haaaaaaaa ha

caught this woodpecker hammering away on a branch the other day at griffith park. can you see him?

sorry this is posted so late today. i had the am/pm mixed up on the post date and time.

november theme day: books

this is a shot of the three floors of fuller seminary's library taken at night. even after classes are done for the day, there are people in here browsing the library's more than 500,000 books. if you've driven along union street lately, you've noticed the massive new addition being built for our new library on campus.


178 other people participating in today's theme day. check them out!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

pasadena gold company

continuing with my weekly neon theme (see the "open" sign in the window?), this company on green street tells it like it is. i find it interesting that the sign is silver in color, and also seems to be peeling a little bit... doesn't make me have too much faith in the quality of gold that is sold there. but some of you in pasadena-land might be able to tell me otherwise!

if you are dressing up as a pirate tonight, this may be the place to find your buried treasure. happy halloween everyone!

photo request #14: old fashioned gas pumps on green st.

lucky clare, she gets her second photo request granted in the same week. these old time gas pumps may look familiar if you are a visitor over at pasadena daily photo. petrea has featured these before.

keep those photo requests coming!

4:47

i love this old clock - how some of the numbers are tilted, and others aren't. really cool...

more for you seinfeld fans

this seemingly innocent picture from santa monica pier is actually a piece of tv history. several episodes of seinfeld featured either george or jerry contemplating life at this very location. and you thought the show was based in new york! i've included some proof below...




these screen shots were all taken from the episode entitled "the invitations". if you have time to kill today, you can watch the scene at 6:05 of this clip.

photo request #13: glass elevator from c&tcf

my friend clare scott requested a photo of the top of a building at the corner of madison and colorado that she claimed looked like the glass elevator from charlie and the chocolate factory. i was skeptical until the other day, when i found it! you've seen the trio apartment building before on this blog, but the building right next to is it what clare was thinking of. doesn't that look exactly like your visions of the great glass elevator?


back to how i found it... i was shopping at trader joe's the other day and spotted clare's elevator from the top of the parking garage. as you can see from this photo, even though it was way across town knew exactly what she meant. my zoom didn't capture it well enough, so i took off and headed toward the building. i quickly realized that you can't see it when you get really close, and it is hard to get a good shot from far away. i ended up using the above photo to capture the building and a bit of its surroundings.

and for those with a sharp eye, in the parking garage shot, you can see the bell tower that has also been featured on this blog.

from the comments - docker over at mixed meters has some more great pictures of this very building.