I won't be taking any pictures of the parade - I'm sure you'll see plenty of it on NBC, ABC, KTLA, FOX, etc., etc. - I'll probably be busy making sure my kid doesn't fall off the ladder . . . ;)

Fine...then just take pics of the kid. She's cuter than the floats anyway. ;)

Stop what you're doing right this second, find those pictures and post them here! Why? Well because, um, because ah, because they are important historical records the historians among us can preview and glean relevant things about them. Quick, you're holding up history!I agree.

...me and my big mouth. I'll look see if I can find them...:D

Just got home from the parade and breakfast at Coco's -

Parked at my work's lot off of Oak Knoll, then headed up carrying my 6-ft. ladder and kid in tow. Found a nice spot on the corner, or so I thought. The couple behind me were giving me dirty looks, and the couple in front of me had a gagillion feet between them and the people in front of them but didn't want to scoot up, and whispered to each other while giving me the look of death. As if.

Watched for a few minutes, but didn't want their negative vibe to rain on my parade (pun intended). So we headed one block over to Hudson, where I set up my ladder next to a row of ladders and the folks were much friendlier. I was next to the bacon-wrapped dogs cart so the sweet smell was an added bonus. I contemplated getting one, but decided against it after I saw the lady cook pick her underwear twice and and rub her nostrils a few times before/after touching the dogs with her bare hands.

Snapped a few pics - will upload and post once I get the kid down for a nap. Although I'm not a big fan of big crowds and the Rose Parade doesn't awe me, there's still something about witnessing a longstanding tradition and the biggest darn floats I've seen. I remember seeing a "parade" in Alaska once - a flatbed tow truck with some city officials, the 10-member local high school band, and a fire truck. ;)

I am in awe of the Rose Parade, not because of the big crowds, but partly due to tradition (being the granddaddy of them all), plus the floats are such technically complex ... I admire the complexity that goes into building a float ... Plus, my alma mater has a float every year ... Cal Poly Pomona. I guess if it weren't for that, I wouldn't be as enthusiastic ... but I am.

Pics here! (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=5905007&posted=1#post5905007)

Hi, this was my 2nd time attending the Rose Parade, 1st time camping out! There were tons of cyclists cruising Colorado along with the motorcycles and classic cars on New Year's Eve. I saw a couple riding groups zoom by on New Year's morning. Here are a couple pics:

Using the wife's folder and trailer to guard our spot (and to carry things/kids back and forth from home).
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp01.jpg

Other claimed spots.
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp02.jpg

The bike patrol responding to an injured spectator.
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp03.jpg

Some of my favorites of the parade... Boats from the LA Harbor entry.
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp04.jpg

Miniature horses (the kids loved 'em).
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp05.jpg

By the time the bands reached our spot along the route, they'd already marched for about an hour. While most rested during our stretch, the LA marching band exhibited the most energy and really got the crowd going.
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp06.jpg (http://youtube.com/watch?v=I362XHTR2Vo)

BTW, here's the scene overnight--it was a madhouse. These kids threw water balloons, silly string, and shaving cream at cars all night long while their parents at the back egged them on. Many drivers weren't happy with it and a couple times it almost came to blows with the parents stepping in to protect their kids. The police warned 'em twice during the night but apparently didn't have the guts to arrest anyone (they're harmless kids, right?) And although they avoided the brunt of the attacks, a couple cyclists were pelted with marshmallows--not cool if they're aiming for your face. The lady in the foreground told me she'd been at the parade 13 times and that this was one of the rowdiest she'd seen.
http://stang99.w1.com/biking/img/2008_rp00.jpg

Happy New Year!

Well here you go. Me with one of the big convertibles I loved...

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade1.jpg

Rehearsing in the Rose Bowl parking lot...

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade2.jpg

Bonus pic...another of the big-ass convertibles that I had way back when...

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade3.jpg

I'm not interested in the convertibles. Nice legs.

Hubba hubba. Glad to see you were into classic cars too :D hehe

Seriously, though, my father was the drum major of the Birmingham HS band around that time.

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade1.jpg


A great photo like that is worth 5 seconds in photoshop.
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/238895288-L.jpg

Jesus Vance, thank you!

Yesterday I did what I usually do. I got up at and was on the road at 4:30am and parked up in Pasadena, off Orange Grove Blvd. by 5:15. I then hiked up Grand Avenue to Colorado and from there worked my way down the stages floats taking photos and talking to all the folks hanging out. Also met up with some friends from BCI who rode over to see the floats (lots of running and cycling groups att he staging area). At 8a I saw the F15's fly over, I turned and walked back to the car, went out for breakfast with friends and then was home by 10. Watched the parade on TV so I could see what the floats did (ie how they operated). Seeing them in the staging area allowed me to get right up to the floats- I mean touch them close, get all the photos I wanted, and be up and out of Pasadena before all the nonsense and traffic got bad. Was home and ready to ride before the day got too late. A great way to spend the first day of the year. Weather was perfect in Pasadena (although really windy in Anaheim where my friends lived).

I'll post photos later...

Jesus Vance, thank you!


Yes thank you, Vance

Now please shut up about photoshop...it's about to rain again...:D

Hubba hubba. Glad to see you were into classic cars too :D hehe

Seriously, though, my father was the drum major of the Birmingham HS band around that time.

Was he classmates with Michael Milken?

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/238895288-L.jpg

Great picture Alice.

rose parade is boring, bunch of flowers. Seen it on tv, big whoop

hey alice nice legs, you would look even better if you lost 5 lbs

hey alice nice legs, you would look even better if you lost 5 lbs

Oleg, I delight in your humor, really I do.

alice how old is ur daughter, and hopefully she is skinnier

alice how old is ur daughter, and hopefully she is skinnier


LOL...my daughter is 17, the same age as I was in that pic. She's a definate improvement over the older model.

No fear, though...she is being properly cloistered. :D ;)

Hmm....I was a student at Taft High then....

LOL...my daughter is 17, the same age as I was in that pic. She's a definate improvement over the older model.

No fear, though...she is being properly cloistered. :D ;)

cloistered? does that mean you ground her?

tell her to give me a call when she turns 18

Well here you go. Me with one of the big convertibles I loved...

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade1.jpg

Rehearsing in the Rose Bowl parking lot...

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade2.jpg

Bonus pic...another of the big-ass convertibles that I had way back when...

http://www.geocities.com/alicestrong@sbcglobal.net/__roseparade3.jpg

Truly amazing! I spent all four years of high school in the marching band--first three as a clarinetist, last year as one of a brand new innovation--Flag Girl :) . I liked that much better than the clarinet playing. I don't know if there are any photos of me in the uniform, though. Ours did not include white boots ;) . I didn't look nearly as cute, either!

Ok, back to Rose Parade memories. It seems to me that we got dragged to the RP once...I must have been about 7 or 8. All I really remember is that it was quite frightening--it was the largest group of people I'd been around at that time, and it made me very uncomfortable.

East Hill

tell her to give me a call when she turns 18

Shouldn't be a prob since you'll still be answering the same phone for years to come: the Domino's pizza delivery number, yeah?

Ovo, forgive me for being blunt, but, you don't have a chance with alice's daughter.

You complain about five pounds here and there, but come on, man: your own thighs and ass are sloppy as hell.

More to the point, you simply don't have the mental chops to interest a girl of that caliber, and you never will.

With that out of the way: Do you recommend the chicken sandwich at Noah's?

Was he classmates with Michael Milken?
I dunno, I'll have to ask when he gets home from vacation. I think he graduated in '74 or '75.

Is Ovo in college? If so, that would be a good argument for anyone not to send their daughter to (that) college :D

I dunno, I'll have to ask when he gets home from vacation. I think he graduated in '74 or '75.


Oh, he succeeded Milken by quite a bit. I was thinking maybe your dad's sophomore year (back then Birmingham was grades 10-12) may have overlapped Milken's senior year.
Your dad is young.

Hubba hubba. Glad to see you were into classic cars too :D hehe

Seriously, though, my father was the drum major of the Birmingham HS band around that time.



Wish I still had those old bombs...;):D

My Dad played the trumpet in his high school band. Back then everybody wanted to march in the Rose Parade! I guess they still do...if you are in a marching band . Anyway he never got to so he was thrilled when I did. Apparently I used up one second of my fame when it was on tv ...I flashed by in a semi close up. This was before Tivo and even vcr's...:o

Truly amazing! I spent all four years of high school in the marching band--first three as a clarinetist, last year as one of a brand new innovation--Flag Girl :) . I liked that much better than the clarinet playing. I don't know if there are any photos of me in the uniform, though. Ours did not include white boots ;) . I didn't look nearly as cute, either!

Ok, back to Rose Parade memories. It seems to me that we got dragged to the RP once...I must have been about 7 or 8. All I really remember is that it was quite frightening--it was the largest group of people I'd been around at that time, and it made me very uncomfortable.

East Hill


If you can unearth a Flag Girl photo, too...that would be too funny.:p:D

Your dad is young.
Correction: I'm young. You and my dad are old :D

Every male on this planet seems to have played trumpet. I knew I should have tried French horn.

Shouldn't be a prob since you'll still be answering the same phone for years to come: the Domino's pizza delivery number, yeah?

........

With that out of the way: Do you recommend the chicken sandwich at Noah's?

:eek:

Boom

Ovo meet Allez...Allez, Ovo...


Now Ovo you can take it on the chin, right? ;):)

Ovo you can take it on the chin, right?

Only from men in matching dinner jackets.

http://lh3.google.com/wheelstrue/R3h_NzIvoqI/AAAAAAAACp0/XJe9HZ_WBeU/LA2SD-3.JPG?imgmax=512

Shouldn't be a prob since you'll still be answering the same phone for years to come: the Domino's pizza delivery number, yeah?

Ovo, forgive me for being blunt, but, you don't have a chance with alice's daughter.

You complain about five pounds here and there, but come on, man: your own thighs and ass are sloppy as hell.

More to the point, you simply don't have the mental chops to interest a girl of that caliber, and you never will.

With that out of the way: Do you recommend the chicken sandwich at Noah's?

my ass is sloppy? i'm going to take a picture today flexing it to show you otherwise. Mental chops? umm like what. You are saying I am less intelligent and not witty enuf? lulz no girl is smarter than me...jeez noobs you are.

No I disliked Noahs but my friend thought they had the most awesome bagel and cofee...The sandwhich was small and had some wierd stuff in it...I give 1 thumb down

Also I dont date anyone who calls Domino's Pizza, I dont like being called during work hours.

i went to birmingham

i went to birmingham


Are you a Brummie, then?

East Hill

Are you a Brummie, then?

East Hill

a what?

sorry you're jokes were created before I was born :)

East Hill, he isn't from the city of Birmingham, (I think) he went to Birmingham High School in Encino, San Fernando Valley.

East Hill, he isn't from the city of Birmingham, (I think) he went to Birmingham High School in Encino, San Fernando Valley.

Its in Valley Village I think technically but yes in SFV

a what?

sorry you're jokes were created before I was born :)

My joke was created well before I was born too ;) .

East Hill, he isn't from the city of Birmingham, (I think) he went to Birmingham High School in Encino, San Fernando Valley.

Ah, that makes more sense!

Ovo, a Brummie is someone from the City of Birmingham, in England.

East Hill

BUMP

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/238895288-L.jpg

Its in Valley Village I think technically but yes in SFV
Van Nuys. Valley Village is further east, between Van Nuys and North Hollywood. None of those are actual cities, though. Technically it's in the city of Los Angeles.

i'm going to take a picture today flexing it to show you otherwise. Mental chops? umm like what... lulz no girl is smarter than me.
That would make you a chauvinistic homosexual. It's true, Ovoleg really doesn't exist!

You are saying I am less intelligent and not witty enuf?
Well, you didn't know what city your high school was in. :D

Ovo, I was totally gassin' ya. You look good, d00d.

And as I understand from your posts, you actually read books. Chicks dig that. Or if they don't, they should.

Read anything good lately that you can recommend?

Ovo, I was totally gassin' ya.
I'm sure he knows most people here are foolin' around. Otherwise, I would have expected a frame pump in my spokes by now!

Oh, and I'm almost finished with It's Not About the Bike which I enjoyed very much (and I'm not a reader). I still don't have a huge amount of respect for him as an overall person, but it was a good read for anyone who likes a story of challenges.

Now Ovo you can take it on the chin, right?

There's a joke there that I refuse to make. ;)

alice, you are adorable in those photos.

It'd be fun to see more pics of folks here from their teen years. Mine are all so dorky...oh, man, I don't dare.

It'd be fun to see more pics of folks here from their teen years. Mine are all so dorky...oh, man, I don't dare.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v153/UrbanKnight/Bike/Racing1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v153/UrbanKnight/Bike/Racing4.jpg

That's not fair, Brian, the teen years were too recent for you!

Those photos can't be that old Brian.....I see STI's... :D

Atta guy.

Not dorky enough, though. FAIL!

Hmm. Caption contest for urbie's first pic...? ;)

Born in 1980 suckas :p

In the first pic (1994), I was riding a Centurion Ironman with 7s downtube shifters. I upgraded to STI for the next season after getting 3rd in a final sprint, noticing that the two guys beating me were shifting while sprinting as I had thrown the lever forward and stood the whole way.

Atta guy.

Not dorky enough, though. FAIL!

Hmm. Caption contest for urbie's first pic...? ;)
You sure that first pic isn't dorky enough? My tiny face with those huge safety goggle type glasses. But yes, even I would love to know what might have going through my mind in that pic. I believe it was the 1994 National Championship Male 13/14 Road Race.

I read "its not about the bike" like 6 months ago, then his second book. First book was aweseome, second was sub-par.

I'm not a fiction reader, really. I prefer learning something useful everytime I read. I am finishing up the Communist Manifesto actually. That book is long and confusing...

When I went to Birmingham the city was called "Lake Balboa" but ya you're right Van Nuys at some point too. Nice pictures urban.

BTW, girls now adays dont read. the ones that claim they read, read crap like "vogue magazine" and other celebrity news bullcrap. Tru story