Results tagged “roseparade”

He's been called a hero, even a stud, and now he's the Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade. Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger was the man at the helm when his US Airways jet with 155 people aboard landed in New York City's Hudson River earlier this year. He has nearly 600,000 fans on Facebook and gave Hugh Jackman a good run for his money in a TMZ "Who'd you rather do" contest. And despite his fame out East, he's actually from California.

16-year-old Natalie Innocenzi from Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy became the 92nd Rose Queen, officials with Tournament of Roses announced this morning. 1,000 girls tried out with only seven making it to the Royal Court. Innocenzi will ride on the Macy's Float during the festivities on New Year's Day.

There's still time to see the parade floats without the whole parade part. The post parade Showcase of the Floats runs today and tomorrow at the end of the parade route on Sierra Madre Blvd. An estimated 150,000 people are going to attend just this part, so there are shuttles to and from the Sierra Madre Gold Line station and a few park and ride lots. And if you want to be super fancy, download the audio tour from iTunes before you go.

There are 90 entries in the 120th Tournament of Roses Parade, for which the theme this year is "Hats Off to Entertainment." The floats, as usual, promise to blend hokey with interesting, all bedecked in all manner and sort of flora. The Pasadena Star-News has a full listing and description of every float and act; they seem to generally stick with the theme of entertainment, although many drift into the community and family themes.

Today is the first day you can see the floats for Thursday's parade. People will still be putting the final touches on them, but if you don't plan on attending or watching on TV, this your alternative. Some people find this more fun anyway.

Banned for a little over a month now, Pasadena police will be out making sure smokers don't light up along the parade route at next week's Tournament of the Roses. They plan to educate people rather than enforce, but if someone refuses to put out their cigarette, the first ticket is $100 and further violations go up to $500.

At 45 years old, Charles Phoenix has achieved a sort of legendary status in Southern California and beyond. Though he is well known for his Disneyland tours of Los Angeles, Phoenix has toured this country in search of the kitschiest cities and most vibrant offenders of class. His travels have brought him to Tulsa, Portland and Denver, which he calls the most kitschy city in the nation. But he calls Silver Lake home and has devoted extensive hours to documenting the history of Los Angeles and its environs in the most unique way one can.

Oh, Cloris Leachman, you silly bawdy 82-year-old who has charmed your way through Dancing with the Stars this season. You've done it again. Today, you were named the grand marshal of the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena! Big kudos.

Many thanks to reader and LAist Featured Photos contributor Movie Lover for contributing these fantastic photos of yesterday's Doo Dah Parade.

Forget the pageantry and regal demeanor of the Rose Parade, the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is the ultimate antidote. Billed as being the loud and irreverent twister sister of the aforementioned annual march down Colorado Boulevard, the parade promises to "send up a woolly range of mischiefs, grounded superheroes, political pundits, homegrown satirists, art car inventors, and other bohemian frolickers."

New Year's Day, most in LA seemed to be up in Pasadena watching either the Rose Parade or the Rose Bowl, or getting over their New Year's Eve hangover at home watching TV. Why do I think that? Because the roads were EMPTY! It seemed that no one was on the roads. My goal was to head out with a friend, with cameras in hand and hit the roads and drive around LA on the one day in the year that you can get from one end of the city to the other in 20 minutes. The city seems almost small and quaint when you can get from Silverlake to Santa Monica at a constant MPH and without going under 45.

And maybe some rain boots too. The weather that might have ruined the Rose Parade should strike Los Angeles tomorrow. The LA Times reports that the next four days of rain will most likely bring the most rain in "Southern California since 2005, and possibly even since the 1990s..."

Enjoy the Photography.

Preparations for the Tournament of Roses Parade

While the controversy over Beijing's Olympic-themed float in Tuesday's 119th Tournament of Roses Parade has not managed to stir up LA's Chinese-American community, as New Year's Day draws near, murmurings of anti-war protests have begun to surface. The protests are linked to a group called the White Rose Coalition, and involve well-known activist Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son was killed in Iraq. According to a press release:

Local and national pro-Impeachment and pro-Peace American citizens will stage non-violent protests and demonstrations throughout the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday, January 1, 2008 beginning at 7:30 a.m. with support from Cindy Sheehan and the Camp Casey Peace Institute. The convergence of activists is called the White Rose Coalition, in honor of the resistance movement in Munich in 1942.

As reported earlier this week, on New Year's Eve, there will be all night Metro rail service. As one commenter pointed out, the news was actually broken in a press release where it was buried with not much detail given:

“The Tournament of Roses parade and game is the biggest venue for Metro Gold Line service all year, with upwards of 60,000 train boardings on a single day,” said Pam O’Connor, Santa Monica City Council member and Metro Board Chair. “Metro is meeting that demand this year with quality, all-night train service and free rides from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. that day to ensure the public enjoys these wonderful New Year’s festivities.”

While hundreds of volunteers are stealthily working into the wee hours to affix flora to framework and as people begin to plan for finding space along the parade route, an unexpected battle has been waging between human rights groups and the City of Pasadena.

Yesterday, we got you map-ready. Today, we'll get you float-ready. Tomorrow? Who knows, maybe we'll get you marching-band ready.

The LA Times has compiled a handy interactive map to help aid in your Tournament of Roses parade planning.

Let's start over, shall we? Disney is investing $1.1 billion into California (Mis)adventure, the ghost town of an amusement park next to Disneyland. The Rose Queen for the Pasadena Rose Parade was announced this morning and her name is Dusty. We just love that name for a girl. Staring now, there is no excuse for anyone of any age to ever go "I don't get blogging." The world's oldest blogger celebrated her birthday this...

It seems like most of the better bands and clubs are taking this week off. No offense to those bands who are playing and those clubs that are open, but, come on, we're just keeping it real. Because of that we will show you some video from the Rose Parade. What's interesting from this angle is the speed in which the pace of the parade was truckin' -- and the fact that most of...

Blogwar at Martini o'clock starring two guys who don't back down for nobody -- Martini Republic & blogging.la. It started here in the comment section, continued here and went over here. Even the word "pussy" has been used. Downtown Los Angeles Central City East Blogger takes note. A few days earlier: Martini Republic vs. LA Times regarding KTLA's Stephanie Edwards not doing the Rose Parade. LA Times' Joel Stein vs. his readers: "DON'T E-MAIL...

Florida fucks up every day. They're a blight to this country. We love 'em, but they blow. Big Time. The hide in the corner of the nation in shame and they should. Every day we will list three or four troubling things that they should be sorry about. We won't stop until they change their motto from "The Sunshine State" to "We're Really Really Sorry". 4. Palm Beach County's homicide rate rose by 26%...