The Grand Mercure

In Beijing we stayed at the Grand Mercure Hotel. We checked in after returning from the Great Wall.

That first evening, while the others were taking a pedicab tour of a Hutong area and going out to dinner, I stayed in my room, iced my knee and ordered in.

The front desk staff got to know me very well! Whenever I approached they said, "ice?" and I said yes and they had it delivered to my room. Such nice people.

I Made it to the Great Wall!

I had the pleasure of accompanying Mayor Bill Bogaard and others in an official delegation on a 10-day trip to China in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Pasadena's sister city relationship with the Xicheng District of Beijing.

We departed LAX at 1:40 a.m. Saturday, June 19, and arrived in Beijing at 5:20 a.m. the next day. We couldn't check into the hotel at that hour, so we headed to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall -- a two-hour drive from Beijing. Hey, why not? The weather was cool at that hour of the morning and the tourist trade hadn't gone into overdrive yet.

And then I got off the little tour bus and blew out my left knee and tore ligaments in my right leg. (More on that later.)

So there I was at the bottom of the mountain, determined to get to the top where the Great Wall is, with a bum knee, steep cobblestoned inclines and flights of stairs with no railings -- and that was just to get to get to the aerial tramway that would take us to the top!

Not one to be deterred, I did it! I told the others to head on up without me. Then, in the company of Liu Yi of Xicheng District's Human Resources Department, who served as my guide and cheerleader, I began the trek.

She shot the photo of me that you see at the top of this post. I was completely exhausted and in excrutiating pain, yet filled with an unbridled sense of accomplishment.

More on the China trip tomorrow.

Looking for Something to Do?

Saturday, June 19, from 10 a.m. to noon -- Get up to speed on the latest greywater systems, water-saving techniques and Pasadena Water and Power rebates during a free workshop at La Casita del Arroyo, 177 S. Arroyo Blvd.


Saturday, June 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- A free, traditional Juneteenth Festival at Jackie Robinson Center will focus on healthy living and family fun.


Saturday, June 19, at 11 a.m. -- Deb Swartz of Old Town Cooking School will show how you to make a wonderful one-dish summer supper using fresh, California-grown ingredients during a free demonstration (you’ll even get samples and recipes). (626) 744-4066.


Saturday, June 19 -- Today’s the first day of the free Summer Reading Club for children up to age 12. With the theme “Make a Splash,” there are activities galore through mid-August including water-themed shows, stories, movies and more. Just sign up at any Pasadena public library, where children can pick up free book bags and reading records. They’ll bring in their reading records to earn different prizes every week.


Saturday, June 19 -- And today’s the first day of the free “Make Waves” summer reading program for teens! Whenever they finish a book, magazine, graphic novel or audio book, they’ll fill out an entry form and drop it in a special box at any Pasadena public library to be eligible for prizes during weekly drawings. They can also sign up for teen “camps” where they’ll learn video game animation, robotics, comic book illustration, dry photography, modern dance and more.


Sunday, June 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. -– The free classic-car show sponsored by the Pasadena Police Department will include about 100 vintage vehicles and hot rods made between 1900 and 1974.


Through June 20 -- Allendale Branch Library, 1130 S. Marengo Ave., is closed for installation of a new HVAC system. If this is the library nearest your home, the next closest locations are Hill Avenue Branch Library, 55 S. Hill Ave.; San Rafael Branch Library, 1240 Nithsdale Rd.; and Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut St.


Wednesday, June 23, from 1 to 3 p.m. -– This week’s free film in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut St., is “Patch Adams” (1998, PG-13), starring Robin Williams in the fact-based tale of an adult in medical school whose methods of treating the sick are not appreciated by the scientific community, although his patients think otherwise. (626) 744-4066.


Wednesday, June 23, at 5:30 p.m. -– Representatives from the Social Security Office in Pasadena will discuss benefits for retirement, disability and Medicare during a free talk at Pasadena Central Library, plus how to maneuver through the federal agency’s new website (877) 255-1508.


Thursday, June 24, at 4 p.m. -– Children will love the free Science Lab 3000: Edible Science at Hastings Branch Library, 3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd., where they’ll create ice cream concoctions. Registration is required: (626) 744-7262.


Saturday, June 26, from noon to 8 p.m. -– Enjoy Armenian food, music, performances, children’s activities and much more at the free Armenian Harvest event at Victory Park, 2575 Paloma St.


June 28 through July 30 -- It’s summer park time! Weekdays from 1 to 5 p.m., children ages 5 to 14 will have plenty to do in safe, fun environments at six Pasadena parks for a reasonable fee: Brenner (235 Barthe Dr.), Eaton Blanche (3100 E. Del Mar Blvd.), Grant (232 S. Michigan Ave.), Hamilton (3680 Cartwright St.), McDonald (1000 E. Mountain St.) and Madison School Park (515 Ashtabula St.). Register at Jackie Robinson Center, 1020 N. Fair Oaks Ave., or at www.cityofpasadena.net/reserve. (626) 744-7532.


June 28 to Aug. 13 -- Time for swimming lessons! Register your kids ages 4 to 18 for lessons at five Pasadena public pools for a reasonable fee.


Sunday, July 4, from 2 to 9:30 p.m. -– Celebrate our freedom with music, food and fireworks at Americafest, a full day of safe and affordable activities! Adults $13; children 7 and younger free; active military personnel free (ID required).


Saturday, July 10, at 7 p.m. –- It’s international soccer with two of Mexico’s most renowned teams at the Rose Bowl Stadium: Club América vs. Cruz Azul. Ticket prices vary.

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

Pasadena Restaurant PIO

Mystery History -- Solved

Karin wins with her 10:33 a.m. Tuesday guess "The Mother Goose Pantry Restaurant on Colorado Blvd, built 1929. Nathaniel West used it as inspiration for the Cinderella Bar in Day of the Locust."

From the looks of the photo above, the proprietor had so many patrons she didn't know what to do! But I doubt she beat them all soundly and put them to bed.

Diners were seated on the ground floor and in a dining room upstairs.

The architectural style is known as roadside vernacular, which dotted the U.S. in the early to mid-20th century.

Sure enough, one of the settings in "The Day of the Locust" by Nathanael West is the Cinderella Bar, shaped like the iconic glass slipper but made of stucco, where female impersonators entertain the clientele. The novel, published in 1939, takes place in Hollywood during the Great Depression. There's also a film based on the novel, produced in 1975.

And now there's a (rather tacky) collectible version of the Mother Goose Pantry.


For some reason there's not much information to be found about Mother Goose Pantry. There is conflicting information on the Internet about what year the restaurant was constructed and what the address was, but there's definitely agreement that it was built sometime in the 1920s somewhere on Colorado Boulevard.


So I turned to Dan McLaughlin, one of our crackerjack researchers at Pasadena Central Library, who looked in old city directories. These wonderful books were published for many years and can serve as a pretty good snapshot into the history of specific addresses.

Mother Goose Pantry is listed in the 1927 city directory as being at 1955 E. Colorado Blvd. So I'm taking that address as gospel. It was on the north side of the street near Berkeley Avenue, about three blocks east of Allen Avenue.


Here's a vintage menu from the Mother Goose Pantry that I found on an auction website, but I'm afraid I lost track of which one (it wasn't eBay). I wish an image of the inside of the menu had been included.



Thinking of constructing a building in the roadside vernacular style? Make sure the property's zoned for that!


Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library.

Meet Phil Sanchez

Part of my role is to organize press conferences. In the council chamber yesterday, Phil Sanchez was introduced as Pasadena's next police chief. He'll begin his new duties on July 11. City Manager Michael Beck is in the background in the photo above.

After the formal portion of the press conference, Phil Sanchez took a few minutes to chat it up with some reporters, including (left to right) Dan Abendschein of the Pasadena Star-News, André Coleman of the Pasadena Weekly and Terry Miller of the Pasadena Independent.


In addition to press, there were community leaders at the conference. Here's Phil being greeted by Tanganica Turner, field representative to California Assemblyman Anthony Portantino...


...and Martin Gordon of the ACLU (that's an L.A. Times photographer on the right).


I needed to wrangle Phil for an interview outside with a TV reporter.


All in a day's work.


Photos by the mighty Zack Stromberg of the Public Affairs Office.

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.

Anatomy of a Cake

Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts is one of the institutions that cements Pasadena's standing as a bona fide college town!

A team of 14 aspiring chefs hand-picked by instructor Alicia Boada worked tirelessly under her direction for days to perfect a magnificent three-foot-tall, six-tiered cake replica of Pasadena City Hall to help celebrate the city's 124th birthday.




















The final photo above is courtesy of Laura Berthold Montero; all other photos are courtesy of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.