Looking for Something to Do?

Saturday, July 31, at 11 a.m. – Deb Swartz of Old Town Cooking School will show you how to make simple summer salad suppers at San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Rd. You’ll even get samples to enjoy and recipes to take home! 744-7270.


Sunday, Aug. 1 -- Pasadena ARTS Bus service changes begin today, including elimination of Sunday service.


Monday, Aug. 2, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. – Calling all teens! Learn how to calculate your net worth, create a budget and establish a financial portfolio at Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut St. Parents are welcome, too. 744-4766.


Tuesday, Aug. 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. – Registered nurses from Huntington Hospital will present the first workshop in a six-week series titled “Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions” designed for individuals with chronic illness and/or their caregivers at San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Rd. Registration is required: 744-7270.


Tuesday, Aug. 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. – It’s National Night Out hosted by the Pasadena Police Department! Come on over to Jefferson Park (Villa Street at Hamilton Avenue) for BBQ by Pasadena firefighters (from 7 p.m. until the food’s gone), face painting, games and plenty of fun. 744-7650.


Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 a.m. – Walk around the Rose Bowl Loop with Mayor Bill Bogaard!


Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. – This week’s film in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library is “All Roads Lead Home” (2008, PG) starring Peter Coyote, Peter Boyle and Vivien Cardone in the story of Belle, a 12-year-old girl whose father struggles to raise her after the death of his wife/her mother, and the puppy who changes Belle’s life and the lives of those who love her.


Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 p.m. – It’s City of Pasadena Night at the Staples Center as the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks take on the Chicago Sky. VIP floor seats for Pasadena residents, employees, their families and friends are just $17.50!


Thursday, Aug. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Teens are invited to compete in a Monopoly tournament at Pasadena Central Library. Stay out of jail and test your skills – Boardwalk and Park Place await! Two 90-minute rounds will be played, and lunch and snacks will be provided. Registration is required: 744-4766.


Saturday, Aug. 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. – City Councilman Chris Holden hosts his annual District 3 block party including refreshments, live entertainment, raffles, information booths, hands-only CPR training and food barbecued by Pasadena firefighters. You don’t have to be a resident of District 3 to attend.


Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m. – What are you looking for in Pasadena’s next planning director? Attend a community meeting in the Council Chamber (S249) at Pasadena City Hall, 100 N. Garfield Ave., and give the city manager your opinion.


Through Aug. 15 -- Check out ongoing summer reading programs for children and teens, including plenty of free events and activities!

Find more community events (and add your own) here.

Mystery History -- Solved

Thursday 11:30 a.m. UPDATE to the post below: I'll be the first one to admit when I've erred. Liz's (Pasadena Adjacent) 11:02 Tuesday guess "The completion of the bridge at Devils Gate dam (before it was a dam)" was close enough, so she wins this week's fabulous prize. And so maybe I won't go so easy on you next week!

* * * * * * * * * *

How can it be that I stumped everybody two weeks in a row?

I figured that with Hahamongna being in the news lately, it would be fun to post another photo from the 1890s outing to Devil's Gate that I featured in a prior Mystery History won by Bellis last year.

What the group was looking up toward is lost to the ages. A hawk? Someone atop a canyon wall?

One man brought a fishing pole all the way up there, which I love.

Click on the "prior Mystery History" link above for more history of Devil's Gate.

Just as I did the last time I stumped everyone two weeks in a row, I promise to go easy on you next week!

Mystery History

Where are we? And what's happening?

The first person to guess correctly will win a fabulous prize!

I'll have the full scoop on Thursday.

Your City at Work

Last Wednesday I began taping a new edition of "Your City at Work," a series on KPAS that has me following a city employee out of the office and into the field.

Past editions have featured a public health nurse, motorcycle cop, code compliance officer, arborist and other employees who don't spend all their time behind a desk.

This latest edition, which will air after some additional taping and editing are completed, features Jesse Reyes (in orange shirt below), a water troubleshooter with Pasadena Water and Power.


The camera crew is Davide Colleone, left, and Michele Maglionico. Linda Centell of the Public Affairs Office is the director.

What's a water troubleshooter? You'll have to tune in to find out! When the program's ready to roll, I'll let everyone know the schedule. All KPAS programming can be seen via streaming video on the Internet as well.

In the top photo I'm doing a little intro for the show in front of the Chapman Wellhead near PWP's water meter shop. The color coordination was coincidental!

The photos were shot by Linda Centell.

Looking for Something to Do?

Wednesday, July 28, at 1 p.m. – This week’s film in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut St., is “The Wizard of Oz” (G, 1939) starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley. 744-4066.


Thursday, July 29 -- This is the deadline for applying for the Pasadena Neighborhood Leadership Institute sponsored by the Neighborhood Connections Office of the Human Services and Recreation Department. You’ll learn skills for civic participation in Pasadena. Find more information and applications information and applications here.


Tuesday, Aug. 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. -- Registered nurses from Huntington Hospital will present the six-week workshop Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions at San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Rd. Learn how to take control of ongoing health conditions on a daily basis: manage stress, eat healthier, create an exercise program, communicate better with your physician and live a happier, healthier life. To register, call 744-7270.


Thursday, Aug. 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. – The Pasadena Police Department hosts National Night Out with a special community event at Jefferson Park (Villa Street at Hamilton Avenue). Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy fun, games and food! 744-7650.


Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 a.m. – Walk around the 3.3-mile Rose Bowl Loop with Mayor Bill Bogaard and officials from Kaiser Permanente corporate headquarters . Meet at Gate A.


Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 7:30 p.m. – It’s City of Pasadena night as the L.A. Sparks play against the Chicago Sky at the Staples Center! Reserved floor seats are only $17.50. 796-7164, ext. 12.


Saturday, Aug. 7, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. – The District 3 block party on Jackson Street between Los Robles and El Molino will include refreshments, live entertainment, raffles, information booths sponsored by the City of Pasadena and local non-profits, hands-only CPR training, and food barbecued by Pasadena firefighters.


Through Aug. 15 -- Check out ongoing summer reading programs for children and teens, including plenty of free events and activities!

All events listed above are free unless otherwise noted; all phone numbers are in the (626) area code.

Find more community events (and add your own) here.

Final China Images Before Moving On

Not too long ago Michael Ma, a sweet young man who works for the Service Center for International Exchanges in the Xicheng District of Beijing, would have been imprisoned for wearing this shirt. He accompanied our delegation almost everywhere and we got to know him pretty well during our China sister city trip. He's a big fan of B.B. King and other American blues artists, and his dream is to come to the U.S. someday for a taste of authentic blues. I showed him some of my blog photos from Memphis related to B.B. King, and he was practically overcome with joy.

The 161 Middle School is on the grounds of a set of ancient buildings that once were part of the Forbidden City. And we think Pasadena schools are historic! Students from 161 and Blair High School have been communicating with each other via the Internet for more than 10 years, and delegations of students have visited each other's communities.




Here's Phil Montez, a member of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee, in our Beijing hotel lounge with Judy Kent and yours truly. When we were in Shanghai, he heard a group of people speaking Korean. After he approached them and told them he had fought for the good guys in the Korean War, they very emotionally said to him, "Thank you for saving our families." It was quite touching. (This photo was shot by Fred Alcantar.)


There were several welcome banners indoors and outdoors throughout the Xicheng District.




Ceiling shot at Beijing Airport:


Mayor Bogaard carried this great tote bag from Art Center College of Design on our travels.


People with umbrellas out our bus window in Shanghai. This is one of my favorite shots because the camera focused on the raindrops and not the people.


It's agonizing to say I have dozens of other photos, but it's time to move on to the here and now.

Mystery History -- Solved

Well, people nibbled around the edges but didn't quite make it to this week's Mystery History solution.

In the photo above, chambermaids from the Hotel Maryland compete in a promotional bed-making contest in 1931.

There was a mad dash from the starting line:


Bed linens were flying as the chambermaids rushed to complete the task:


Pretty beds all in a row.


The winner with the fastest bed-making time: Blanche Scott.


Located on Colorado Street between Los Robles and Euclid, the Maryland was a resort hotel built in 1903. After it burned to the ground in April 1914, it was rebuilt (designed by Myron Hunt) and then demolished in 1938 to make way for The Broadway department store.

The hotel spanned from Walnut Street on the north to Colorado Street on the south, Los Robles Avenue to the east and Euclid Avenue to the west. The only remaining portions of the hotel are a building of condos on the northeast corner of Union and Euclid, and fountains behind All Saints Church that are now incorporated into Plaza las Fuentes.

A.M. Clifford was fire chief from 1901 to 1919.


From the Pasadena Fire Department website:

The Maryland Hotel fire turned out to be particularly difficult to extinguish, as a large natural gas line under the hotel continued to spew forth flame long after the hotel had burned to the ground. In spite of all efforts, the valve to shut off the gas could not be located until hours later, when it was found underneath a recently poured cement sidewalk.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the seat of supreme power for 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1416 to 1911. The palace was "forbidden" in the sense that, aside from members of the imperial household, no one could enter without an emperor's permission.

This historic wall has nine dragons standing guard. In ancient China, nine was a prestigious number.


I never anticipated the vastness of the place -- 980 buildings covering nearly 8 million square feet. It's listed by UNESCO as the largest collection in the world of preserved, ancient wooden structures.

There are countless hand-carved marble terraces and balustrades:


The edge of each roof is topped with an emperor leading mythical creatures that guard against evil. The more figures, the more important the building:



Here's a closeup shot to show you some detail of a typical building:


Judy Kent, field representative to Mayor Bogaard, and I posed with a Pasadena Star-News at one of the ornate doorways. Red symbolizes good fortune. You may see this shot in the paper one of these days!



Judy took a ceiling shot for me:

Mystery History

Where are we? And what's happening?

The first person to guess correctly will win a fabulous prize!

I'll have the full scoop on Thursday.

Pasadena Expatriates in China

Rob Bowman still owns his home in Bungalow Heaven, though he rents it out ever since he moved to the Xicheng District of Beijing about three years ago to teach English at a high school and a middle school.

He used to work in the media center at PCC. Now he's married to his sweet wife Lily, a Chinese citizen. That's Dru Emm, a member of Pasadena Sister Cities Committee's China Subcommittee, on the right.

Brad became very homesick for Pasadena during our visit.



David Pierson used to work in the Pasadena bureau of the Los Angeles Times (back when LAT covered Pasadena, that is). Now he's a reporter with the Beijing bureau and loving every minute of it. He joined us for an official sister cities dinner one evening and I was happy to have an opportunity with catch up with him.



Chad Blackwell (in front of window) grew up in Pasadena, went to PCC and graduated from USC. Now he's the managing director of Jieyang Arts and Crafts, a promotional products company in Kunshan that has major corporate clients throughout the world.

We had lunch with Chad on our way back from Zhouzhuang Water Village. (My camera batteries died and I had to take this shot with my phone in funky lighting conditions.)

Rob, David and Chad are among the many, many former students of Professor Cathy Wei, who teaches Chinese language at PCC and is a member of the China Subcommittee of the Pasadena Sister Cities Committee.

Here's Cathy, wearing red, in the restaurant at our Beijing hotel:



And now Doug Emm, son of Dru, will be the next of Cathy's students to fly the coop: Chad offered him an internship -- just the kind of job he was hoping for to get his foot in the China door.

Here's Doug (center) at one of our many dinners, with Jack Wills and yours truly.