Camping Out for "Leap Year" Rose Parade

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

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.

Right-O! That's one full membership in the Crumudgeon club. I'll send you the secret handshake via PM.

[wendybeth]

Wouldn't the 'secret handshake' of a curmudgeon be sort of a ...well, a gesture? (One finger involved?)

[CoasterMatt]

My old hangout space just sucks ass now, but is easy to get to via public transit...

[Not Afraid]

Penny Lane had 3 locations I knew about - 2nd Street LB, Westwood and Pasadena. All three stores have closed. I was not very fond of Penny Land as a store. But in LB, we have Fingerprintz and a fairly good Tower - although they are reducing their eclectic selection.

It's a mix of high rents and stiff competition. Mom and Pops are almost a thing of the past.

[lizziebith]

Apropos of the way this thread has turned: I get home from work between 7 and 7:30. Today, I wanted to get some last-minute shopping in for some forgotten co-workers, so off I head to the great mom-and-pop shops in my neighborhood. Guess what? Here it is the week before Christmas, and EVERY SINGLE ONE was closed for the night. I WANTED to give THOSE stores my money...but nope! Apparently only people without jobs can shop there... We working stiffs have the mall or nothin'. Okay. I chose nothin'. So that's what my co-workers are gettin' and I'm just generally annoyed as all heck that I'm even trying...

Honestly, if I didn't have an 11-year-old, aside from some charity stuff, I'd not participate in this coercion-oops-I-mean-holiday AT ALL.

[/cheer-spreading]

[DisneyFan25863]

I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords.

[Giant Chicken]

January 2nd!!!! What Type Of Nonsense Is That!!!!!!

[Giant Chicken]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

And the big blow, the bagle shop that stayed open overnight for the parade serving bagles and bagle sandwiches has closed.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the bagel shop!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Now I'm really, really glad I didn't plan on being there.

The rain was a real storm. Those expensive seats in the stands started to empty out after the Rose Bowl team bands went by. The people on the floats, the support staff, the cameras, and all the people on the streets were utterly drenched. Fancy cotumes were either obscured with ponchos or drenched. The seed and flower based coverings on the floats melted, ran, and peeled off. I've never seen anything like it.

They showed the flow of rain in the gutters and the thought of anyone sitting there to watch the parade was dashed - I'm sure there were very few out there braving it for the whole time. The cameras do not go further down the route to where people usually camp so there was no knowing for sure.

And of course, it did not rain on the 1st. I guess God wanted to prove that not holding the parade on Sunday didn't mean sht.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Oh, this all doesn't mean that the floats were bad - as usual, they were gorgeous, even while melting.

Disney finally got the float thing right this year.


It was beautiful, with each castle rendered perfectly. Ours was the biggest, for the 50th of course, and had each crown done right. There were characters with umbrellas, including a few face characters that we knew ("hey, I know that Jasmine!"). They had a couple singers doing a song I don't know but it was a decent generic upbeat tune. It was a huge float and very impressive.