2011 TOURNAMENT OF ROSES

BY ED BRUCE edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

HERE ONE OF THE TREASURES OF THIS EARTH !

THE 122ND ANNUAL TOURNAMENT OF ROSES PARADE...PASADENA, CALIFORNIA SPONSERED BY HONDA (I WILL BE DRIVING A HONDA TO THE PARADE)...YES...FOR THE FIRST TIME THE PARADE ON THE WEB...WHICH IS GREAT, ONLY NOTHING CAN DO JUSTICE BUT BEING THERE.

I HAVE FOLLOWED THE PARADE SINCE THE 1950'S ON BLACK AND WHITE TV'S IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA...THAT'S WHEN WE HAD RECEPTION AT ALL.

MAYBE 1989 WE ATTENDED FOR THE FIRST TIME HAVING ALREADY WASTED 44 YEARS OF MY LIFE WITHOUT SEEING THE PARADE LIVE, SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE ON EVERYONES BUCKET LIST. LAST YEAR, LAS VEGAS ENTERTAINMENT NEWS COVERED THE PARADE ON ASSIGNMENT, THIS YEAR BY CONINCIDENCE, ANOTHER CALIFORNIA ASSIGNMENT ALLOWS LVEN BACK TO BACK COVERAGE YEARS. ONE OF THE KEYS FOR THIS REPORTER IS STARTING ON TIME AND IN 2010 THE PARADE STARTED ON TIME TO THE SECOND, I AM SURE THAT WILL BE THE CASE IN 2011...YOU LOSE ONE POINT PER MINUTE FOR EVENT GRADING ON ANY EVENT..... WHATEVER IT IS OR HOWEVER GOOD IT IS...INCLUDING JOHNNY MATHIS WHO WAS LATE LAST YEAR AND OVER SENSATIONAL AS ALWAYS. YOU CANNOT GRADE 100 A+ AND BE LATE...NEEDLESS TO SAY THE PARADE AND ITS TV TIMING AND MAMMOUTH PRODUCTION WILL NOT ENTER INTO FAILING ON THIS EQUATION !

LAST YEAR CAPTAIN SULLENBERGER WAS PARADE MARSHALL...THIS YEAR PAULA DEEN....HERE IS HOW OLD I AM...I HAVE NO IDEA WHO SHE IS ? JUST LOOKED HER UP...SHE IS A CHEF ALMOST MY AGE SO THATS A GOOD THING...BELIEVE IT OR NOT I HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN WATCHING CHEF TV SO I MIGHT LEARN SOMEHTING HERE. PARADE MARSHALLS HAVE BEEN ACTORS, PRESIDENTS, PERSONAGES AND IN 1891 AND 1893 THEY HAD NO PARADE MARSHALL ?

THERE IS LOTS OF LUCK IN EVERYTHING AND IN 2011 OUR MEDIA SEATS WERE AT THE CORNER OF ORANGE AND COLORADO RIGHT WHERE THE BIG CORNER TURN HITS THE STRAIGHTAWAY DOWNHILL TO COLORADO BOULEVARD...THE WORLD FAMOUS "RUNWAY TO THE FLOATS". THE POSITION COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER BECAUSE AS AN OLD SOLDIER I AM INTERESTED IN GREAT TURNS BY MARCHING BANDS AS WELL AS MECHANICAL FLOAT MANUEVERS...TO SEE ALL THE TURNS AND FORMATIONS...IT WAS SPECTACULAR...COULD NOT BE BETTER THIS YEAR ONLY EQUALLED. 5 1\2 MILES 47 FLOATS 22 BANDS 22 EQUESTRIAN UNITS...THE 2011 LINEUP !

THE STRICT CRITERIA OF REAL ROSES (AND OTHER FLOWERS) HAS TURNED THIS INTO THE ANNUAL MOBILE WORLD CLASS ART SHOW IT IS...HERE IS A CLEVER LITTLE PARAGRAPH FROM THEIR PROMOTION DEPARTMENT THAT HAS PUT WORDS INTO AN ORDER BETTER THAN I COULD.."The Tournament of Roses has come a long way since its early days. The Rose Parade’s elaborate floats now feature high-tech computerized animation and exotic natural materials from around the world. Although a few floats are still built exclusively by volunteers from their sponsoring communities, most are built by professional float building companies and take nearly a year to construct. The year-long effort pays off on New Year’s morning, when millions of viewers around the world enjoy the Rose Parade."

WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY...POST PARADE REVIEW ON MY OBSERVATIONS AND FAVORITES YET TO COME HERE !