Petals are flying, the enormous USC Football is losing its brown seeds in streams, and the Little Einsteins' eyes are running like Tammy Faye's mascara: yes indeedy, it's pouring on the Rose Parade. We're watching on Channel 5, whose "Rose Parade experts" Bob Eubanks, Michaela Pereira and Stephanie Edwards just proved themselves dopes of local pop (music) culture. "Did you know the USC marching band was on a Fleetwood Mac album?" they ask, incredulously. Duh! It's called TUSK. The song went platinum. "You cannot kill romance with rain," Stephanie patters. Well, you sure can make it run, melting crowns off oversize cockatiels and streaking white float horses with brown and red, not to mention freezing the fingers of hundreds of high school marching band players. Luckily, the parade's Grand Marshal, retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, is tucked inside a vinatge convertible — with the top up.

We're not sure if it's a deliberate blackout, but HGTV's broadcast of the parade isn't on Comcast, even though their directory says it is.