:eek:

That's not exactly true...

Ooops, my bad. I guess it was a concerted effort by a large group of Swanky people. Still, it was appreciated. I must have been thinking of the Star Wars line...:D

Yeah, I was one of the few who DID NOT save the fireworks spot on the B-Day (though I have done it many other times, and will again). I did, ahem, other group party duties that weekend, but the fireworks campout was not one of them. It was a spectacularly unusual thing for me to tromp thru the human sea to our spot at almost the last minute, where EVERYONE COOL IN SCHOOL was there!!


Um, back to Rose Parade: 1) Hooray, the Cone/Meinkes are throwing their fantabulous NYE Party! 2) Though the party atmosphere on Colorado Blvd. is surely one of the big draws, missing the much better New Year's Eve festivities life has consistently blessed me with has always been the big drawback of the NYE campout on Colorado Blvd. 3) I don't know about the floats "whizzing by," but they look unbelievably more magnificent and detailed and "wow" in person compared to on TV.

Let's just see who's tempted as we get a little closer to year's end.

Part of me is saying, "Hmm, would be nice to celebrate the anniversary without the madness of the crushing crowds." Another part of me is saying, "What's the point of celebrating the anniversary without the madness of the crushing crowds?"

And I agree that there's nothing quite like seeing those glorious floats in living color, 10 feet away from you.

See, what you do is you set your DVR, so you can examine the floats in detail later. I'll echo - There's nothing like seeing the humongous floats covered in gorgeous flowers in true living color. Sometimes you can even smell the flowers.

Still officially undecided.

I'm trying hard not to become an old crudgemudgen but life just keeps making it harder for me all the time.

Take some time out and READ THIS about the rose parade. Go ahead.... I'll wait....


All these "made for TV" moments, I just don't know, its so, so.... Macy's.

And Disney's back with another shameless self plug. What's the theme this year: Corporate greed?

Hey Mr. Crumudgeon, listen up.

The Rose Parade has ALWAYS been one big advertisement. Clubs, businesses, and other groups advertising. ALWAYS.

The TV showings have ALWAYS been a big ad for "beautiful CA weather in winter". People move to SoCal in droves after it's shown.

So, you ain't got a leg to stand on, bub. :p

As for Disney and "corporate greed"....jeez, how many times can one say that Walt Disney was a businessman who used synergy whenever he could to push all of his products?

Awww. He's just jealous that we're enjoying mild high 60s while the east coast is freezing their butts off ;)

Hey pup, I was sitting out overnight to watch this parade when you were still on your mommies teat. Yes, it's ALWAYS been about clubs, businesses, etc.. but NOT THE FLOATS, sure there was always a banner that said who they were but the floats fit the theme, the theme was not made to fit the sponsor. I'll float you a challenge. I'll dig up some old photos of floats from "back in the day" and mask the sponsor name. If you can correctly identify the corporate sponsor for two out of five floats I'll pickup Dinner for you and GP at Napa Rose when I come to town in April. If you lose you have to buy me a Dole Whipp. Deal?

All that aside...an afternoon walk down Colorado St. has soured my disposition with regards to camping out. We were greeted by a "This Location is Closing" sign on Penny Lane, a great little music shop that's been there for 15 years. Why, we asked? Rent is tripling for the space. Tripling. All of a sudden, all the little unique shops are gone, replaced by franchise after franchise. The old movie theater is now a Tiffany's store. There's a Cheesecake Factory. And the big blow, the bagle shop that stayed open overnight for the parade serving bagles and bagle sandwiches has closed.

This is all the result of urban renewal gone amuck. A bit to the east is the Pasadena city center, where City Hall is. 10 years ago, it was a slum. Abandoned buildings, failing businesses, and a dilapadated mall. At that point, they began to revive that small area, tearing down the mall and improving the businesses. It was great, and totally necessary. But it's spread west, down Colorado, to an area that simply didn't need it. Sure, it wasn't brand new, but it was nowhere close to the near-slum conditions seen to the east. It was full of thriving, interesting, unique businesses. Now those businesses are being forced out by this insane rent increase, to be replaced by yet another cabon copy of a city street (Gap, Apple Store, Z Gallery, blah, blah, blah). It was really disappointing to see.