The 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade

I don’t know when I really got on board with watching parades.

For the longest time, I really didn’t like them. But I grew to discover there’s something for everyone in a parade. The beauty … the somberness … the pageantry … the comedy … the spectacle … the music … the unknown. (I think it was the ever-present clowns who pervade my memory who really turned me off to them.)

I’ve been a regular watcher of The Tournament of Roses Parade on or near the first of every New Year’s Day for decades now along with family, friends and a bevy of acquaintances. This year? I got the opportunity to cruise the parade route for 5½ hours Sunday while the crowds began gathering for the event the following day. (For those not in the know, the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game are not held on New Year’s days which fall on a Sunday.) It was a wonderful time to sightsee (speaking of sightseeing, how did Michael get an eye-level shot of that banner above that was 20-some-odd feet in the air … ?!?*), talk with all kinds of folks, witness the excitement first-hand and be a part of the spectacle. I even had a lengthy conversation with a guy who was at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con and sported a black SDCC Cowboys & Aliens T-shirt.

This year I decided not to attend in person, but view the festivities on television on good ‘ole reliable KTLA channel 5 locally. Here are some of the things I learned and observed while watching the 123rd Edition of the Tournament of Roses Parade:

• Glee is everywhere. Even in the stands. I witnessed its long reach in the cheesy intro at the start of the parade.
• Holy Moley … that “Just Imagine” banner float at the start of the program sure did obscure the “Rose Parade” letter placards behind it. Positioning that first float at the head of the pack was a bad call. The two should definitely have been reversed.
• The Riverside Community College band — the official marching band of the Tournament of Roses — harbored one poor girl who looked simultaneously terrified and confused in her glaringly bright red lipstick while she was marching.
• The mounted Marine Corps Color Guard’s horses are trained by inmates of Carson, Nevada. I found this immensely interesting.
• Drew Washington — this year’s 94th Rose Queen — was, of course, a beauty. But … the ugly navy blue dresses her court wore were rather gun-metal gray. (Though I suppose it was best that way, forcing the eye to the reigning queen as is her due …)
• Dick Enberg, holding up an “Oh my!” sign and waving to the crowd: Classic.
• When KTLA Los Angeles channel 5 co-host Stephanie Edwards speaks Spanish, it’s Hillary-arious.
• Few things live rival a really good, precision marching band. Or a damned lively one. Cases in point? The Mercer Island H.S. Marching Band of Washington surprised the hell out of me and literally gave me goosebumps performing Yello’s The Race. (Side Note: Lutheran Hour Ministries’ float with a portrait of Jesus Christ atop it came before the Mercer Island’s band. That was a bit surreal.) Additionally, there was no more ecstatic a band than Japan’s Kyoto Tachibana H.S. Green Band, Japan who freakin’ rocked Bennie Goodman’s Sing Sing Sing … !!!
• Dick Van Patten falling asleep on a float: Again, classic.
• The cheerleaders of the Franklin Regional High School Panther Marching Band of Murrysville, Pennsylvania and their seemingly impossible expanding globes they showed off during their routine reminded me of the impending doom our Earth will experience later this year. (Bet the Mayans didn’t picture anything like that when they ran out of room on their chiseled calendar …)
• Did anyone but me think the huge Liz Taylor portrait on the AIDS Healthcare Foundation float decorated in simple seed was kinda creepy looking? Regardless of its minimalist, mono-chromatically created depth and thoughtfulness, it was slightly disturbing.
• Per Bob Eubanks, dinosaurs (of which Bob is one himself) roamed the earth a mere 2 million years ago … not the 200 million some-odd years ago. And here I thought they had become extinct around 65 million years ago. Who knew? Guess I’ve been wrong all this time.
• The loose horse debacle toward the end of the parade injected a little added drama. And really … who doesn’t like a little drama with their parade?
• Speaking of a dead horse beating everyone else for a change of pace, I had no idea Roy Roger’s preserved companion Trigger — originally purchased by Rogers for a mere $2,500 and displayed in Victorville at the Roy Rogers museum for the longest time — was sold for more than a quarter million dollars at auction. You learn something new everyday. Go figure.
• Nothing says the Rose Parade is over like a massive Bob’s Tow truck shooting across and interrupting the final scene of the show while Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards prattle on.

Happy 2012, everyone … !!!

(*You don’t want to know …)

Clacked by Michael Noble
on Jan 02, 2012 @ 18:05 EST5EDT