Pictures of the 2009 Rose Parade

[HighLeveller]

And now, the Part III of that big New-Year's adventure...

2009 Rose Parade
I saw the Rose Parade in person for the first time. Having sort-of wanting to for a long time now, I planned to somewhat on impulse, because I'd be in the area anyway. After spending New Year's Eve in Disneyland, I was hoping paid parking would be open early to allow for a few hours of shut-eye beforehand. Fortunately this was exactly the case. I got standing area a little before 7.

This wasn't the best area, because it was in the shadow of a building the whole time and the floats weren't quite as vivid as they would have been in sunlight. (This was between Marengo and Garfield, just past the top of that hill you see in shots on TV looking down the route.) Here are shots of most of the floats, and a close-up here and there.










Swimmers who competed in the Olympics






This was my favorite float this year. WAY cool.











The flyover of choice would B

2, a perennial favorite here it would seem. (Delayed an hour or so because of conditions at base)














What would this be?




"Who Let the Dogs Skate?"


Sk8r Doggie up close. I actually didn't notice this until I watched the tape when I got home.












Arch-nemesis?


I did get shots of the USC float and band earlier, but unfortunately none were post-worthy.

I enjoy college football a good deal, although I don't have an alma mater (unless tech school counts) and don't really follow any school except UCLA somewhat--you're welcome. ;) I would be rooting for USC, their being closest to "home team" it seemed. Not surpsrisingly there was a good deal of support for both teams out there.














This and the next were miniature floats within the band; a neat concept.












Horse-drawn




Nice duds, dude. Raoul[?] Whatshistoes who designs a lot of the floats. (He makes very cool designs and concepts.)

I gotta wonder about so many floats being designed by a handful of professional designers. (Not to be confused with float-building companies, who can do the engineering and building of the infrastructure and technical work.) This isn't a drag on any of them by any means, but I gotta wonder. How many people could be out there with dreams in their heads of float concepts and designs and the capacity for realizing it, who just need the opportunity? It isn't a "right or wrong" thing, but rather "what could be."































That's all, folks!
This parade lasted right about two hours, shorter than the 2-1/2 or so they've usually been in the past.

[Barbossa]

Great photos! I haven't seen the Rose Parade in a number of years, mainly because I don't have cable.

[elly]

fantastic photos! tysm for sharing them with us

[tamasurvivor]

I love the rose parade.... sadly we only went one year in the 16 years I lived out there because a lot of people would camp out for days along the street just to get a good spot for it!

Bu my favorite aspect of the parade is the face all the floats are made with things like flowers, seeds, and natural things and yet the floats look so amazing and come to life as they go down the parade route. Excellent pictures!

[haunted_hottie]

Such beautiful photos... thanks for sharing!

[Kritter]

Great Pictures!

Go Bruins!

[Oswald the Rabbitt]

There is a hidden Mickey on the Cal Poly Float in the cow print