Monday, January 03, 2011

Burn in Hell? Rose Parade 2011

Mixed Meters has documented some aspects of Pasadena's own Rose Parade which you're not likely to see on television.  You won't find pictures of floats or marching bands or equestrians here.

In the past I've given you pictures of trash, beach blankets and sun umbrellas, this post (including pictures of part of a horse and part of a band, plus a video of noisy tow trucks) and pictures of photographers at the Doo Dah Parade.  You can see more of my Rose Parade pictures on Flickr.

Here's a picture of the snow-capped Mount Something, in the distance, as seen from Colorado Boulevard.   Note the sponsorship on the banner.  For your enjoyment I photoshopped a number of light poles out of this picture.



This year I present pictures of
  • high tech amusement before the parade (I saw several desktop computers, one of which had 2 computers.  There were also xbox setups powered by generators.)
  • some of the omnipresent temporary fencing used to control the crowds (the Do Not Enter sign is year round.)
  • an empty bottle of cheap vodka (I'm sure public drinking is discouraged but I doubt this was the first time it has ever happened)
  • a team of horse shit removal engineers (there were 22 equestrian units in the  parade, hence 22 similar trios of sweeper, shoveler and can pusher.  I wonder what happened to the 22 buckets of shit afterwards.)
  • sign carriers who follow the parade (mostly exhorting the crowds to fear eternal damnation - I guess they regard Pasadena as an awfully sinful place and the parade as some sort of pagan ritual.)








The pictures will enlarge if you click them.

Here's a video of post-2010 Rose Parade preachers with megaphones. "Will you be saved, older man? Will you be saved, older woman?" 

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1 comment :

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Last year I took my elderly but perfectly mobile mother to the post parade tour. One of god's helpers came up to a woman standing near my mother and said "soon sister, soon." My mother, who has never suffered from low self esteem, was completely relieved to discover the young man wasn't talking to her. She takes great pride in having people believe she's younger then her 82 years.