Take That

by Laurie Allee

I wouldn't mess with these two.

then leaf subsides to leaf

By Laurie Allee

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

--Robert Frost

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And Another One...

I'm on a roll, gang. Yet another beautiful car I had not seen before. Wish I'd had my camera with me, but my trusty iPhone captured the moment in a pinch.

Old World Charm

It's hard to imagine poor Walter Raymond back in 1934, fretting away his last days in the caretaker's cottage of his magnificent Raymond Hotel, late on the mortgage and gripped with panic as the Depression brought financial ruin and a wrecking ball destroyed his creation...

While the grand hotel has been gone for decades, the caretaker's cottage still remains. It's home to The Raymond Restaurant -- a perfect South Pas Craftsman setting to enjoy creative cocktails and California cuisine. The bar has been set up in one of the back rooms of the house overlooking this beautiful patio. After a few of those well-mixed cocktails, you might feel just like you are back at the turn of the last century enjoying the Raymond Hotel high life. (Not that I would know or anything...)

Home Alley

If the South Pasadena Downtown Revitalization Project had not gotten hung up in litigation and a bad economy, our little town might have had a bowling alley to ride out summer's hottest days. Oh well, East Pasadena is an easy drive and that's where you can find 300 Pasadena. It's cool not only in terms of air conditioning but also because of the high-styling decor and dance-y tunes.

The sense of accomplishment I felt after bowling a strike was a good indication I should probably aim higher with my goals. Then again... nah. Set up another frame!

Daydreaming of Winter

Am I the only one who starts fantasizing about cold weather right about now? I don't mean shovel-the-snow-in-the-driveway, get-out-your-lambskin-gloves East Coast/Midwest cold weather. Please! This is Southern California!

I'm just ready for black tights, root vegetable stew, hot toddies, roasted marshmallows, down comforters and, for the love of heaven, no more flies in the house.

Anyone with me?

Numbers

It's the first of the month, and that means Theme Day for participating City Daily Photo bloggers. This month's theme is Numbers.

If you walk around the grounds of South Pasadena High School, you'll see these tiles embedded all over the place. For years I tried to figure out what they meant. Was the architect an obsessive compulsive who really needed to count? Were the numbers a reminder of South Pasadena students' reputation for great math skills? Did the entire sidewalk design come out of a big Tile By Numbers box? Was it a horrific reminder of the relentless, unending passage of time?!

Eventually, Mister Earl told me the numbers represented graduating classes of the high school, and that every year was (or would be) represented.

I like my obsessive compulsive story better. (All together now: one, two, three, four... ahhh. I feel better already.)

City Daily Photo is in the process of changing servers, so this month's collection of worldwide Theme Day posts can be found here. (Many thanks go to Julie of Sydney Eye for setting up the alternate blog for Theme Day posts.)

Olympic Dreams

You could feel the hope and determination at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center yesterday as dozens of San Gabriel Valley kids practiced their strokes and imagined their own gold medals.

Here's to all the future champions.

Yet Another Shameless Birthday Post!

Screw cake, where's my champagne?! It's my birthday, and I hereby grant permission for all readers to take the day off and have a party.

Speaking of birthdays, Glimpses of South Pasadena turned 4 years old this month. That's 1473 posts and pictures as of today. (Hey bartender! Make mine a double!)

Thanks for being here, everyone. This blog has turned into a hell of a fun obsession.

Now That's a Big Balloon

Is this the coolest balloon you've ever seen in your entire life? Just when I thought I'd seen everything I could see at a kids' balloon show, the South Pasadena Public Library brought Buster Balloon to perform his awesome act as part of the summer Wonderful Wednesdays series, a segment of Dream Big, Read! Summer Reading Program.

And it blew my mind!

Buster was eventually engulfed by this large, pink monster making the Blue Man Group look like a bunch of amateurs. The kids loved it, the parents loved it and I was reminded all over again of how much I love our thriving library and all of its programs.

Today's Wonderful Wednesday presents storyteller Padraic Keohane weaving folk and fairy tales with his own observations in Once Upon A Time, and Happily Ever After. (2:00PM in the Community Room. It's free! With great air conditioning!)

Find out more about our library's inspirational summer series for kids of all ages right here.

A Blur of Little Ballet Dancers

I'm convinced if Degas had been able to get access to an iPhone, he would have had as much fun snapping away at his dancers as I had snapping away at these...

Photo shot with iPhone, processed with Photoshop for iPhone and the MoreLomo app.

Steampunk Border

People throw around the term steampunk, but just below Raymond Hill's north side is a great example of the real deal. Pasadena's Department of Water and Power Glenarm Steam Plant was built 104 years ago when our region was just finding its industrial groove. You've probably admired the elegant Depression-era fountain and iconic building at the very border of South Pasadena.

Now under the umbrella of Pasadena's Integrated Resource Plan, the Glenarm Power Plant is slotted for updates and renovations, while supposedly preserving the historic integrity of the buildings and fountain. (That fountain was designed to function as the cooling tower for the generating equipment. How's that for an example of bygone ingenuity?)

South Pasadena Fourth of July Festival of Balloons

There is no way that anyone in South Pasadena could possibly be reading this blog post right now ... because half the town is in the parade and the other half is watching it!

Start early with the 7:00AM Kiwanis Club Pancake Breakfast at the fire station, watch the parade starting at 1100AM on Mission and end the day with fireworks at 9:00PM at the high school. For full details on all the day's events, locations and times: click here.

Skateboarding To The Beat of a Different Drummer

Right on!

Glimpses of Tranquility

The other day I looked down at Southern California from 30,000 feet, flying back home to Los Angeles after my mother's death. I was closer, perhaps, to her beautiful wandering spirit.

Life is turbulent, but the flight was smooth.

(Today is Theme Day for participating City Daily Photo bloggers. This month's theme is Tranquility.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants )

iPhone Noir

I once had a professor who insisted that some of the most haunting film noir scenes did not take place in shadowy alleys or low-rent bars, but rather in ordinary suburban settings that seemed innocuous on the surface, but hinted at something lurking below. Remember that insane carousel scene from Strangers on a Train? I had an entirely new view of amusement parks after seeing that film.

David Lynch's Blue Velvet probably cornered the market on creepiness beneath the picket fences of suburbia, but that film built on the foundation of the works of writers like James Cain and Raymond Chandler. To this day, I can't look at a happy Mayberry scene without imagining the way Chandler would have described it.

I remember being surprised to learn that Chandler lived in some truly white-bread neighborhoods in Los Angeles County. I always pictured him in a seedy walk-up in Hollywood, not a cozy little bungalow in Monrovia. But maybe he understood what my film professor was trying to say. Maybe he liked imagining potential darkness inside every sunny American dream.

(I think Chandler would have loved the iPhone MoreMono app. It turns everything into Marlowe's playground.)

To Your Health

The raw food people tell us that the secret to health and longevity is consumption of copious amounts of uncooked, unprocessed vegetables and fruits. Paleo eaters maintain that our hunter/gatherer genes require animal protein, lower carbohydrates and, yes, some of those raw, unprocessed vegetables. Then again, the Aruvedic experts chime in with advice to make sure to eat warm, cooked energy foods -- like potatoes -- to mitigate the effects of excess pitta in your dosha. Mind/Body experts tell us that our happiness index largely determines our health, and that adding moderate amounts of sugar and caffeine boosts our brain serotonin, making us feel happier and, in turn, boosting our immune systems.

Well. I have the perfect solution:

In n Out's number 1 combo, protein style. Yup. The ultimate health food is a lettuce-wrapped burger, fries and a coke.

Stay with me, here. It's got enough red meat to make the paleo eaters happy without a big, bad, industrialized, overprocessed white flour bun. The lettuce and tomato on the burger are raw, and you know what that means ... unadulterated micronutrients, people! Add a few pitta-extinguishing french fries and an happiness-inducing/energy-boosting coke and you've got a meal worthy of its own food pyramid.

(As you might have noticed, I manage to find the health properties in foods our experts overlook...)

Temptation

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it...

--Oscar Wilde

Love Bug

Sometimes I swear I have an art director who goes ahead of me and sets up perfect scenes like this one. I couldn't resist a little iPhone filter magic. Here, I just pointed, shot, and processed the image through the MoreLomo app. (You all know how much I love the free spirit of lomography!)

Update 7:50AM:

Just heard about an event of note:

Everyone head over to our pal Pasadena Adjacent to learn about a fun Garvanza area party/fundraiser TONIGHT! Benefits go toward filmmaker Jake Gorst's production of a documentary about Antonio Corsi, one of our region's weirdest and coolest characters. (He was an early 20th century art model, a silent film star and a true bohemian. Learn more here. )

Kaldi: Dark to Light

I don't remember snapping this iPhone photo. In all likelihood it was an accidental shot fired off when I was checking a text. Either that, or Kaldi's intense dark roast saturated my creative brain, prompting me to subconsciously attempt an impromptu yin/yang study of one's interior shadow juxtaposed by community light...

Nah, it was just an accident. (But remind me to go back and shoot the scene with a proper camera!)