December 2012 – GOT BADDOG

Cal Poly Universities: Keeping it Homegrown for the 124th Rose Parade

Cal Poly Universities, California Cut Flower Commission, CCFC, City of San Gabriel, City of South Pasadena, iReport, Pasadena, Photos, pictures, Rose Bowl, Rose Parade, Southern California, Tournament of Roses / 3 minutes of reading / December 30, 2012

These photos were taken Saturday at Lot I of the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena. Every once in a while, when I photograph a place or event, I will submit an accompanying article to CNN’s iReport. I have a pretty good idea ahead of time whether or not they will find it suitable for use on CNN and I have a pretty good track record of getting vetted. I know that they have liked my photos from Candy Cane Lane and my coverage of the 123rd Annual Tournament of Roses Parade so it made sense for me to submit a …

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Float decorating at Fiesta Floats

Fiesta Floats, happy new year, Irwindale, Photos, pictures, Pollack PR Marketing Group, Southern California, Torrance Rose Float Association, Tournament of Roses / 2 minutes of reading / December 30, 2012

These photos were taken Saturday, December 29 at Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale, CA as volunteers hurried to add the organic items to nine of the entries to the 124th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade. After my last visit to Fiesta Floats on Christmas Eve I happened to notice that Fiesta Floats was tweeting my articles about the float preparation at their location, so I contacted their social media person via Twitter and asked if they would be able to assist in my getting in to photograph the actual decorating of the floats. I was put in touch with the …

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Business & Beer comes to 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro, Torrance

1321 Downtown Taproom & Bistro, Business N Beer, gastropub, Local business, networking event, Photos, pictures, Southern California, Torrance / 2 minutes of reading / December 28, 2012

These photos are from our Business & Beer gathering at the 1321 Downtown Taproom Bistro, a gastropub located in Old Torrance. 1321 Taproom is a popular destination for beer drinkers due to the 16 taps of craft beers that they have available. They also offer flights of various sizes (4, 8, 12) for the adventurous craft beer drinkers out there. While the name indicates that they serve food as well as drink, they are in the process of redoing their kitchen staff and menu, so the kitchen is currently closed. To welcome Business & Beer for their first get-together at …

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Float preparation at Fiesta Floats

Fiesta Floats, Photos, pictures, Southern California, Torrance, Torrance Rose Float Association, Tournament of Roses, TRFA / 2 minutes of reading / December 24, 2012

A couple of weeks ago I headed out to Fiesta Floats in Irwindale, CA to take some photos of the float being entered in the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade by the City of Torrance. Fiesta Floats creates some of the best floats in the Tournament of Roses and has won the Sweepstakes Award for the last 19 years. That is pretty impressive. As it turned out, Kaiser Permanente was having a family day there, so the warehouse was pretty packed and it made it difficult to get a lot of shots. I went back this morning to see what …

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New Year’s Eve fundraiser slated for the Redondo Beach Castle

fundraiser, Lady of Magic, Magic4Orphans, New Yea, Redondo Beach, Redondo Beach Castle, Southern California, Tanya / 2 minutes of reading / December 22, 2012

At the end of 2011 I made a decision that GotBaddog.com would dedicate much of my content to promoting local businesses and non-profits. When Tanya was looking for something for us to do on New Year’s Eve, she discovered the Lady Of Magic at the Redondo Beach Castle was having a New Year’s Eve party that was also a fundraiser, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Midnight Mission, a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles. It was then that we had the pleasure of meeting Sisuepahn Phila, the “Lady of Magic.” Sisuepahn is a world renowned and …

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Mayans were wrong; ESBC celebrates with Standard Crude Release

El Segundo, El Segundo Brewing Company, ESBC, Local brewers, Photos, pictures, Standard Crude American Imperial Stout / 1 minute of reading / December 22, 2012

These photos are from El Segundo Brewing Company’s (ESBC) Standard Crude Release party which was held Friday evening, December 21, 2012. Throwing caution to the wind, Rob Croxall and Thomas Kelley decided to not worry about the end of the Mayan Calendar, and possibly the world as we know it, and released their first 10% beer, Standard Crude American Imperial Stout. Judging by the turnout at their tasting room, there were many that were equally relieved that the world did not end and they came out to welcome El Segundo’s latest brew. In addition to the Standard Crude, ESBC offered …

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Sleepy Hollow and the Legend of Candy Cane Lane

Candy Cane Lane, Christmas, Christmas lights, Family fun, geek good girl, Sleepy Hollow, Southern California, Torrance / 4 minutes of reading / December 19, 2012

These photos were taken last night at the Sleepy Hollow area of Torrance, which is known as Candy Cane Lane during the Christmas season; a look at the photos makes it easy to figure out why they call it that. On December 1, Tanya and I went there to take some photos like I have for the past couple of years. There were definitely a lot of lights that went up between then and now. Homes that we thought were decorated on December 1 had even more decorations on December 18. Even though it was cold and windy, there were …

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Living with RA: One year later

RA, RAD, RAD Caregiver, RAD Lovegiver, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Tanya / 9 minutes of reading / December 17, 2012

A few weeks ago several of my siblings came into town to attend a function that was honoring my dad and a few others that attend his church. One of my brothers asked me if I was going to continue writing about life with Rheumatoid Arthritis or not. Apparently he had enjoyed reading my perspective. I explained to him that while I was continuing to do as I had promised as far as bringing awareness of RA and of the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, I was doing it primarily by donating watermarks on some of my photos to the Rheumatoid Patient …

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Business N Beer’s return visit to Sophie’s Place, Redondo Beach

Business N Beer, craft beer, gastropub, Local business, networking event, Photos, pictures, Redondo Beach, Riviera Village, Sophie's Place / 2 minutes of reading / December 14, 2012

These photos are from our Business & Beer networking group’s return to Sophie’s Place in Redondo Beach last night. Sophie’s Place is a gastropub that serves really good food and offers 50 varieties of craft beer with eight brews on rotating taps. While our last few Business & Beer gatherings have had six or seven people show up, last night we had about 15. I was happy to see the big turnout, we had a good time. If networking helps your business or it fits into your job description and you live or work in the South Bay, come check …

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Personal tour of the S.S. Lane Victory

Family fun, Merchant Marine, National Historic Landmark, Photos, pictures, Port of Los Angeles, S.S. Lane Victory, San Pedro, Southern California, Tanya, Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, USS Iowa, Whale & Ale / 3 minutes of reading / December 12, 2012

These photos are of the S.S. Lane Victory which is located at Berth 46 in the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro, CA. A couple of weeks ago, Tanya and I were at a regional Chamber of Commerce mixer and I won a raffle prize of tickets for two to receive the President’s Tour of the ship as well as lunch in the Officer’s Mess. It was actually the one thing I wanted to win. Anyway, this morning we met with Anthony Broude, the current President at U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II, and he gave us …

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