Parlez Vous?

My friend Linda invited a few of us over yesterday to speak French.

Well. I mean, alors.

There was stumbling, mumbling, and...how do you say...? Rust. Rusty tongues, rusty minds, rusty French. But that was just me.

But it was fun. J'ai m'amuse bien. I hope that's right, or at least close to it.

The photo above is of an alley in Old Town Pasadena where you'll find the entrance to the Alliance Française de Pasadena. Step south off of Union Street or north from Exchange Alley into Kendall Alley, just west of Raymond Avenue, and you'll see the blue sign.

Pasadena's alleys are pretty tame. In fact, I may have just proven they're downright classy.

More from OldPasadena.org.

Chasing the Light

As I write I'm very sleepy, so just this:

Saturday I took the Digital Camera Bootcamp I told you about with Ibarionex Perello, pro photographer and gifted teacher.

I'll tell you more Tuesday but I couldn't wait to say at least this much: there's one more workshop this year that isn't already full and it's next Saturday. To sign up and pay only $50 for the class, which is worth three times as much, will make you as tired as I am now and will also make you a better photographer in a single day, go here, ignore the other codes and enter this code: perellovip.

Chasing the Light is Ibarionex's most recent book about photography. Boz managed to get his picture in it.


6:58 pm, An Electricity Update and Warning from Ann Erdman, Pasadena's Public Information Officer:

CAUTION STRONGLY URGED REGARDING HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICITY

There are been reports of some residents opening pole boxes at the base of street lights and stringing wire from the boxes to their homes.

The voltage in most boxes is much too high for individual homes. This practice is illegal as well as extremely hazardous to people and structures.

Pasadena Water and Power officials have been contacting households without electricity with updates on restoration of services.  Power was restored to several homes today and PWP crews will continue working throughout the night and for as long as it takes to ensure power to all homes is restored as quickly as possible.

Robinson Park Center, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave., will open at 7 p.m. tonight to provide a warm place for residents without power.


We have a WINDSTORM UPDATE from Ann Erdman, Pasadena's Public Information Officer Extraordinaire:


today, 5:30pm

The City of Pasadena has been working around the clock on recovery efforts in the wake of the fierce windstorms that struck overnight Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. In response to the disaster, the city declared a local emergency, a proactive protective measure consistent with other neighboring cities that have sustained significant damage. It occurs when a disaster has progressed or is anticipated to extend beyond the capability of regular municipal personnel and resources, assisted by personnel and resources from contiguous municipalities, to maintain order and control and confine the incident.

The following is an update on services and infrastructure as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011.

Shelter

Robinson Park Center, 1081 N. Fair Oaks Ave., returned to regular recreation programming yesterday.
The center will open at 7 p.m. tonight to provide a warm place for residents without power.

Streets, Trees and Parks

All primary and secondary arterial roadways were passable as of Saturday afternoon.  As of Sunday afternoon 85 percent of all residential streets are passable.

Removal of debris still along the side of roads will be trucked to two county facilities near Eaton Canyon – the L.A. County Public Works Eaton Yard and the Hastings Spreading Basin.  There it will be chipped and used for mulch citywide.  The removal is expected to take two to four weeks and the chipping could take four to six months depending on the volume of material.  

The removal and clearing of trees that are not in the public right of way is the responsibility of private property owners.  Those who suffered damage to vehicles, homes or other property caused by fallen city trees or tree limbs should contact their private insurers for proper handling of claims.

An assessment of city parks has been completed.  Approximately 100 trees have fallen and approximately 30 have sustained structural damage and may need to be removed for safety reasons.  A number of park improvements at various sites, including play equipment, backstops, pathway lighting and playground surfaces, have been damaged as well as the scoreboard at the historic Jackie Robinson Stadium at Brookside Park.


Refuse (trash, yard waste and recycling) Service

Regular refuse service resumed on Friday, with weekend service provided to those whose regular service was missed on Thursday.  The city’s bulky and abandoned item collection crew has been combing the city to remove large items ahead of the workweek.

Electricity

Utility Crews, including those from Anaheim Water and Power and Burbank Water and Power as well as private contractors, continue to work around the clock to restore service.  As of late Friday 99 percent of customers had service.  Efforts are being made to contact remaining customers without power to advise of the status of repairs.  In some cases it may take days to restore service, as most remaining issues involve problems on private property. Priority has been given to customers with life-safety concerns and where further structural or electric-system damage is a risk.
Customers may experience intermittent interruptions as Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) disconnects  service momentarily to allow crews to reconnect portions of circuits they repaired or rebuilt.
Some properties in a small section of Northwest Pasadena are served by Southern California Edison and should call (800) 661-1191 to report outages.

Water
All water customers have water.  There are about 150 customers with temporary connections where permanent repairs were not possible due to lack of access caused by fallen trees.  Permanent repairs will be made over the next two weeks as access is made available.

Approximately 25 customers in Northwest Pasadena are experiencing low water pressure due to pumps that are offline at two pumping stations in Edison’s territory where power outages remain.  Edison has restored power to one of the stations.  In the meantime PWP has provided bottle water to residents.

Safety

Everyone should stay clear of compromised, overhead electric, cable and telephone lines. Do not attempt to remove trees that are touching any utility line. A list of tree-care professionals with expertise in electrical safety and tree health is available under the FYI section at www.cityofpasadena.net.

Athletic Fields

Athletic fields in city parks are currently being cleared of debris and assessed for playing conditions.  It is anticipated that most, if not all, will reopen Monday, Dec. 5.


Parking Restrictions

Enforcement of all normal parking restrictions is back in effect.  Those needing to park on the street due to the presence of storm debris should obtain a temporary overnight parking exemption (TOPEX) which may be purchased at www.cityofpasadena.net/Transportation/Temporary_Overnight_Parking_Exemptions.

Scams

Verify all credentials of anyone offering to perform inspection or repair work. Call the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241 if you suspect a scam.

More Information

To report fallen public trees and hazardous tree conditions, call (626) 744-4321.

To report downed power lines, call (626) 564-0199 or (626) 564-0299.

Customer service representatives are on duty around the clock, documenting all call details and forwarding to appropriate staff for resolution. Reports can also be made at the online Citizens Service Center at www.cityofpasadena.net/csc.

Pasadena residents and others who want to sign up for local alerts can go to www.cityofpasadena.net/fire/PLEAS or www.nixle.com.

Update by the Numbers Begins on the Next Page.

PASADENA WINDSTORM UPDATE – BY THE NUMBERS
Updated Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011
• 1,382 incidents have been logged in by the Public Works Department since Wednesday.

• 3 of 5 public art pieces at Walnut Street and Foothill Boulevard were damaged. 2 have been stabilized and 1 remains down.

• 3 areas of the San Pasqual pedestrian bridge in the Arroyo Seco were damaged by a fallen tree. The damage will be assessed fully after the tree has been removed.

• A 12-inch diameter concrete drainage pipe that outlets to the street through 4 curb drains was exposed due to a fallen tree at 1824-1826 El Sereno Ave. Public Works engineers will conduct an evaluation next week.

• 325 miles of streets were impacted by storm debris – falling trees, tree limbs, utility poles and/or wires. The primary goal has been to move debris to the side of the road so at least one lane in each direction is open. Debris will be removed over the coming weeks.
   * 100 percent of arterial streets are accessible
   * 100 percent of secondary streets are accessible
   * 85 percent of residential streets are accessible

• 34 traffic signals reported for repair
     * 8 were not Pasadena and were referred to Caltrans and the county of Los Angeles
     * Of the remaining 26, all will be back to normal operations by Monday morning.

• 25 street lights have been evaluated with 19 immediate repairs completed and 6 pending.

• 99 percent of power customers are operational and all water customers have service.  Crews continue to work on restoring service to remaining power customers.

• 37 people were transported by Pasadena ARTs buses to a temporary shelter at Robinson Park Center and there was one walk-in.  All have since been relocated.

• Only 4 known injuries

• Trees
   * More than 600 street trees fell and an unknown number of street trees were severely damaged
   * Approximately 100 trees fell in City parks and 30 are several damaged
   * 67 trees fell at Brookside Golf Course and 120 more were severely damaged

• 5 building inspectors have inspected approximately 200 homes with varying levels of damage
   * 46 housing units have been red-tagged, 40 in the same apartment building
   * 13 structures have been yellow-tagged.

• Street clearing
   * 160 Public Works Department field employees were on duty Thursday and Friday.  93 were on staff Saturday and 65 were on duty Sunday. 
   * 29 workers from Los Angeles County Department of Public Works were on duty Thursday, 32 on Friday, 15 on Saturday and Sunday. 
   * 122 field employees from contractors were on duty Thursday and Friday and 51 Saturday and Sunday.

• Fire Calls - Fire service has returned to normal activity level
     * From 8 p.m. on Nov. 20 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 2, the Fire Department was dispatched to the following:
          - 57 fire calls
          -  42 medical calls
          -  109 service calls
          -  163 wires or other electrical system-related calls
          -  15 natural gas-related calls
          -  Total = 386 (roughly 8 times the normal call volume)
     * 11 other agencies assisted us on 94 calls. At our peak, we had 27 units from other agencies handling calls in our city.
     * Pasadena Fire Department regularly has 7 engines, 2 trucks and 5 ambulances available in the city and added 4 engines and 1 patrol to supplement capacity on Thursday.

• Police Calls – Police service has returned to normal activity level
     * From 10 p.m. on Nov. 30 to 1 p.m. on Dec. 2, the Pasadena Police Department Communication Center processed 4,650 calls for service including 9-1-1 and non-emergency requests.
     * During the same operational period the Police Department called back or extended the shift of on-duty personnel, including:
          -  13 police officers
          -  11 Police Volunteers
     * 248 pending incidents to be investigated were reported on Dec. 1

Coffee Break

John and I cleaned out the garage last week. Yesterday we delivered two carloads of semi-useful stuff to the Salvation Army. I considered offering it to you all, but recoiled when I recalled certain Craig's list experiences when too many people showed up, or no one showed up, and before we'd made a new plan the garage had filled up again.

Our garage is now pristine. I can open the drawers of my potting bench without having to move aside a chaise lounge. I'm able to approach the washing machine without bumping into a box of hardware-bits-we-might-use-someday. I can see out the windows.

Drunk on open-space bliss, I started on my office after lunch. I began to purge, beginning at the top of the bookshelves. Why am I hanging on to Paris guidebooks from 2006? Why do we have a Chinese Checkers set? Why do I keep a magazine from 2005? I had a reason to save it then, but is the reason still valid now?

I got a little less than a third of the way down the shelves before my body shouted out for a break. Once I sat down with my afternoon coffee, I didn't get up again. I'd better finish the job this week, or those shelves will fill up again.

Location

John and I went scouting yesterday. We were looking for a place to take a photo. You know how much trouble I have finding places to take photos in Pasadena.

But we need a particular photo this time: we want it to look like a studio backlot. You know--huge, warehouse-type buildings, kind of non-descript.

We didn't find it. Pasadena's too descript.

If you know of a place that might fit the bill, please let me know. It doesn't have to be in Pasadena, just within driving distance and accessible to the public. Or if it's not accessible and you can get permission for us to use it, why thank you, that'll be just fine.

I took this shot in Edmondson Alley south of Bellevue Drive. I love Pasadena's alleys.

Patterns

I have created another of those weeks with too much to do and too little time in which to do it. It's not like I didn't see it coming.

The previous weeks have been just as full so my prep time gets crammed into little places, usually referred to as "last minutes."

To change this would mean saying "no" much more often. I could, but I'm not sure I want to. I may be freaked out, but I am rarely bored.

In My Dreams

Gee, those are clean dumpsters and wow, that alley is tidy. I guess you can keep your dumpsters and alleys polished when you have hired help.

I'd love to employ someone to do that for me, but first I'd hire someone to clean the house. Then I'd hire someone to do the laundry. Wait--no, I don't mind laundry, it's the cooking I don't like. So a house-cleaner, then a cook, then a laundry person, and that person would iron. (Am I the only one who still has clothes that need ironing?)

Oh! No, wait. I need someone to plant things--like landscape the yard. I also need someone to clean out the garage, which I wouldn't mind doing except I've got to clean out my office first. Oh, and I'd love to have a secretary, wouldn't that be great? Someone who'd call the phone company and pay bills and file things, take stuff to the dry cleaners and Goodwill and go to the grocery store...I guess that's more of a personal assistant than a secretary. That's a dream, isn't it? I'd love that. I might like that even more than having a cook. Maybe.

If I had all that staff in place I'd shine the trash cans and polish the driveway myself.

Rusty Hinge

It's been gloomy here lately in the early part of the day. Ben called it May Gray. I've also heard it referred to as June Gloom. Guess it depends on the date. Usually the gloom burns off in the afternoon but it didn't yesterday. We had actual rain. Well, not actual rain by some peoples' standards. Not rain if you live in, say, Illinois. But rain by southern California standards.

I enjoy a cozy day to stay in and do housework and write. But I think Boz suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder. When he can't go out and lie in the sun he's seriously bummed.

I took this photo across the street from this one, on Locust just west of Allen on the south side of the street. I didn't take it yesterday.

Nice Dog Digs

I've gotta be honest here, I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at. But I think this could be the cleanest dog kennel ever.

I took this picture while exploring behind the Pasadena Humane Society in Edmondson Alley, which runs north to south paralleling Raymond Avenue.

Pasadena's Humane Society gets high marks for professionalism, cleanliness, high adoption rates and healthy, happy animals. Even knowing that I was surprised at how clean these cages looked when I peeked through a grating in the alley. What surprised me even more was how quiet it was. The cages must have been empty. Maybe they take the animals out when they clean the cages. I don't know, which is why I'm not sure what this is a picture of. If it's part of the Humane Society, wouldn't you think it would be packed? I'm under the impression they don't have a lot of extra space.

Whatever it is, it's clean. And the American flags and hanging ferns are a nice, decorative touch.

Update, 10:00pm: a couple of people mentioned they'd like to see this shot in black & white. It was nice of you to ask! Here it is below, with a little tweak to the contrast:

Edmondson Alley

Recognize the "free range baby palm tree"? (Thanks, Elaine.)

Turn south of yesterday's photo and you'll see more of Edmondson Alley - lots more. Until Trish mentioned it (see yesterday's post), I hadn't known this alley existed. It's just one of the million little things I have yet to explore in Pasadena.

Well. Not so little. Edmondson is a long alley, stretching from the south end of Central Park at Del Mar all the way down to Glenarm. Eight straight blocks of Edmondson Alley, between Fair Oaks and Raymond, wait to be photographed.

You can read a fascinating bit of history about Edmondson Alley in the History: Planning section of the Wikipedia entry about the Pasadena Freeway. The Alley was originally an elevated wooden bikeway that started at Hotel Green (which explains why the alley starts at Central Park) and ending at the Raymond Hotel.

For you non-Pasadenish, the Hotel Green once stood across the street from Castle Green, which still looms north of Central Park. Alas, South Pasadena's Raymond Hotel no longer stands.

Eight blocks of Alley. Castle Green. Central Park. Tip of the old iceberg. If I could make a living posting pictures of and digging up info about alleys, hotels, stores, coffee shops, pretty houses and civic activities, I'd do it. (Who wouldn't?)

I Am Curious (Yellow)

In comments on a November post called Old Paint, Trish mentioned Edmondson Alley near the Pasadena Humane Society. She said there had once been " interesting painted walls back there that I am sure are gone now too."

Trish, the paint is gone but the walls are still interesting.

Commenters send me to all kinds of places. You may have sent me an email ages ago and thought I had forgotten. I haven't. I have a long list and a short schedule and I mean to get everywhere. I don't know if I'll manage it, but Pasadena has many corners and I'm still loving every minute I spend photographing them.

Thanks for your suggestions. They send me to discoveries.

New Paint

I found this old paint in the alley between what is now Steve's Altadena Hardware and Rituals Studio for Hair on Mariposa. I've processed the hell out of the picture to try to make the letters stand out, but all I can say for sure is that the first word is "Altadena" and the last two words are "Dept. Store." Does anyone know what the rest of it says? (The red squares indicate where earthquake reinforcement has been done. I covered them in an earlier post.)

While I was there I peeked into the hardware store. It's getting fixed up! Don't freak out, they're just painting in the east end of the store. If I'm not mistaken that's where Steve's going to add his bike business, which he's moving from Lake Avenue.

I've never met Steve Salinas, but I think I like this guy. He stepped in and saved a long-standing, much-loved Altadena business in a practical way. Steve's Bike Shop gets great customer reviews. And does he also own Steve's Pets? Careful, people, soon it's going to be Steve's Altadena!

(Tomorrow is City Daily Photo Blog theme day, so we'll do Zen Monday on Tuesday.)

Superfluous Detail: Playhouse Alley

They didn't have to do this. They didn't have to put that shield, or whatever it is, on the side of the building. It's in an alley, for heaven's sake. Nobody sees it. But they did it anyway, so it's a superfluous detail, and that's why I love it.

This one's on the Pasadena Playhouse building, the south side, looking out over Playhouse Alley. Those scallops on the lower part are shadow from the building next door. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see the little lion heads on the soffits. (The soffits are above El Molino Avenue. Just look up!)

All these lovely details were designed for the Playhouse by Pasadena architect Elmer Grey. The 1924 structure has an illustrious history. It has always been a great theatre. May it always remain so.

Old Paint

Fraser Alley isn't a creepy, wouldn't-want-to-meet-'em-in-an-alley kind of place. It's clean, safe and walkable. That doesn't make it cheesy. I love the backsides of Old Town Pasadena. You can still see the old signs painted on some of the buildings. Some people call it touristy, but I think it's charming.

Old Town was once a dive, from what I've read. By the late 1940s, after World War II, it had become "skid row." Businesses moved out, nobody cared, and by the 1970s it was wrecking ball time. Almost.

But the fact that nobody cared about this part of town served to preserve the buildings intact. A bunch of smart people decided to revitalize old Pasadena and by the 1990s the plan was in full swing. Now we have a vital downtown with gorgeous preserved architecture. Old Town Pasadena is unique. Boutiques, restaurants and even chain stores occupy beautiful old buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Guess I should take some photos of the fronts of them, huh?

Because

Because it's Wednesday.
Because sometimes I want to be someone else somewhere else, and because I'm glad to be me right here and right now.
Because there are adventures I will never have. And because I've had plenty.

Fire in the Sky

With three wildfires burning in the vicinity, our air has had an odd feel to it lately. On the worst days we could smell it. Mostly though, the air just feels close and hot. Not as close and hot as it feels to the firefighters. By the way, they have all the local fires contained now, and the cause found for at least one.

We can't complain here in Pasadena - I mean, the fire's not burning here. We've been warned, though. Fire season has only begun, so people are clearing dry brush and being careful. It's when the Santa Ana winds kick up that folks have to be the most vigilant.

In my part of town we have plenty of asphalt, and I tend to think that's a decent firebreak. But we should probably clean our gutters just in case.

In San Marino the other night, particles in the sky produced a stunning sunset.

Fun first, then back to business.

I promised one last shot of Mills Place. It's further down in this post. But first:
This guy is big in Pasadena.

Meet Ben Wideman, whose daily photo blog, The Sky Is Big In Pasadena, is Pasadena's other daily photo blog and a favorite of mine. Ben's a very cool guy. I got to meet him Saturday in the real world (well, it was sorta surreal) at a local blogger get-together hosted by Aaron Proctor and Frazgo at the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia. Monrovia Daily Photo wasn't there. Bummer! (Photo by John Sandel.) While you're at Ben's blog, check out the June 26th post and add your two cents.

I hope someone posts a good group photo of the blogger party, because mine turned out blurry. However, I'm inspired to post a San Gabriel Valley blogroll. There are so many great blogs around here, covering every subject. Watch for it coming soon here on the main page. If you have a local blog and it's not there, please notify me. I'll get started today, but it will probably never be complete!

Thanks to Aaron and Frazgo as well as to Kathie, who owns the Aztec Hotel. She went the extra mile to make it a very nice event.

Now to our last picture of Mills Place:
I took this from high up in the parking structure on DeLacy Street at Green, looking east. Mills Place is T-shaped, and this is the east-west part of the T. Way down toward the end of it you can see the red door of Crown City Mattress Works from Friday's post. And you already know the red-domed building is Castle Green because you saw it yesterday.

Hmm. That's probably enough of Mills Place for a while, huh? Tomorrow's Zen Monday. I hope I remember.

Mills Place Gates

These gates at the south end of Mills Place open onto a parking lot across from the Burke-Williams Spa. (That's B-W's shadow in the foreground.) You can easily walk around them to the parking lot. I wonder what they used to open onto? They're not the gates to the alley, but some gates. Others just like them mark the entrance to a bar/restaurant further north. I don't know how old they are but they look pretty old. The building peeking from beyond is the quirky Castle Green. I've given you only one picture of it. Must do more.

One last shot of Mills Place tomorrow, then onward.

Detail of the gate:

Crown City Mattress Works

Walking south of yesterday's post in Mills Place, you'll pass three restaurants, a bar and a couple of clothing and accessory boutiques. Then you'll come upon this building. A bit of web searching tells me it's about a hundred years old. The most recent tenant was a gallery that seems to have moved on to eBay sales. With the exception of a broken window, the building looks to be in pretty good shape.

My web searches don't tell me why Pasadena is called "the Crown City." I'll bet someone out there knows. Anybody?

A couple of extra shots: dead vines on the upper corner (it's a two-story building), and detail of the door.

Mills Place Tour: South of Colorado

If you read yesterday's post, you know we're on a tour of Mills Place. We've just turned south of yesterday's photo and we're looking at the same building. On one of last week's very hot days, I stood in the shade and photographed the sunny side of the alley. We'll head further south tomorrow.

Blues Alley

I've mentioned before what pretty alleys we have around here, and not just in Old Town. We have ugly ones, too, but I admit I'm a Pasadena chauvinist and I haven't photographed them. (Yet. I'm sure I will.)

I think this one, off Mentor Avenue near Boston Court, is ravishing.