Monday, December 29, 2008

My World Tuesday #11

One of the big things happening right now is preparation for New Years which means the big Rose Bowl game between USC (yea Trojans!) and Penn State, and the Tournament of Roses Parade. Both events take place in Pasadena, California, which is one of the cities in Los Angeles County and just a stone's throw from downtown Los Angeles.

This is a picture from the parking lot of The Rose Bowl where from now until New Year's Day they are working on many of the floats for the parade. Then on January 1st at 2:00 p.m. the game will take place. Every 1st Sunday the Rose Bowl is host to a huge swap meet.


This was my first time going to preview the floats as they were being decorated. I had a great time and came "this close" to volunteering. I found it interesting how they begin, first with the drawing and design....


Next they'll make a scale model. The top of the metal frame indicates the height of the freeway underpass. Anything above that point is created to lower so that it can make it under the freeway. So, the giraffe in the model pictured below will actually drop backwards until it lays flat.


Next they create the base and then rely on the volunteer work of both young and old to work like the dickens to help decorate these beautiful creations. I posted a lot of pics so this is fairly lengthy but considering that I took 400 pics I did pretty good narrowing them down to just this (smile).










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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I salute all those involve in this yearly parade. I can only imagine the scale of the preparations. Someday I hope to one day find myself along the parade route snapping to my heart's content.

Happy New Year.

kayleen said...

Interesting post on how floats are put together. Happy New Year!

Unknown said...

That's a huge game. And a tough one to call. USC has a built in advantage since it's essentially a home game for them. Hopefully, its a close game.

George said...

Since I grew up in the Midwest I have to pull for Penn State (even if it probably won't do any good). But neat pictures of the construction of the floats.

magiceye said...

that seems so much fun and hard work!!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

This is a terrific post 2sns!! I have never been near a place like this were they were making floats so I fond this very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing. :)

Anonymous said...

lovely pics !! thanks for sharing :)

Gaelyn said...

Wow, that's an act of love. Very cool that you got to see this. And thanks so much for sharing.

Happy New Year!

chrome3d said...

That´s a lot of preparation for one game.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Good to see so many people working together for one cause.

Unknown said...

that is very interesting. Thanks for sharing. And just how close is "this close" ? haha

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

T: What a neat post from the Rose Parade. Thanks for sharing your shots.
Happy New Year to you.

Sylvia K said...

That is a LOT of work! But I'm sure everyone enjoys putting it together! Fun post and interesting as well. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year!

Leora said...

That is a lot of work. Love those big fake roses. But those pretty colorful pink and peach ones in the bottom corner...those are real, right? Ah, how I love flowers! Too bad I have no understanding why people get excited about football games. The parade is the part that gets me to smile.

EG CameraGirl said...

What a LOT of fun! But oooohhhh the work! ;-)

Maria said...

Oh yes, so much work to put up this parade! I admire the skill of the people!
Happy New Year, 2sns!

Anonymous said...

Quite a production, isn't it? I'm in awe of the artistry.

Mary said...

This is wonderful! I love looking at the floats on TV and would love to see them for real some year. All so beautiful and so clever! Wonderful photos...thanks for sharing them!