Happy New Year everyone. It is New Year\’s Eve 2015 and today I went back out to Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale with the hopes of being able to photograph some of the completed floats for the 2016 Rose Parade before they were moved to Pasadena. While I have been photographing the construction of the floats over the past week, I have focused a lot on the City of Torrance entry for obvious reasons, but New Year\’s Eve is also the day that I meet up with the representatives of the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC). Usually I meet up with them at the Rose Bowl, but this year the Miracle-Gro float was also a certified California Grown float, so I went earlier to meet up at Fiesta; it was a good move.
As fate would have it, they were actually judging the floats so all the floats were pretty much completed. That was the thing, when we were last there I mentioned to Tanya that I thought some floats were running behind schedule. Today there were a couple floats that still had scaffolding up for decorating. This was true at the Rose Bowl as well, so maybe the number of volunteers to decorate was down. I do seem to recall seeing more groups in the past.
I was also lucky enough to run into our recently retired chief of the Torrance Fire Department, William Racowschi, so I was able to get a couple photos of him and his fire-fighting buddies by the Torrance float. The City of Torrance thanks him for his service. Continue reading
It is New Year\’s Eve, and the time is up for the preparation of the floats for the 126th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade with will begin at 8:00 AM on January 1, 2015. I began my day by heading back out to Irwindale and Fiesta Parade Floats, the leading award winning float-builder in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
I lucked out today as I happened to arrive at Fiesta Floats after they had begun removing some floats from the building they were built in, giving me the ability to take some photos without dozens (or hundreds) of people vying for position to take their photos. If you have been following the progression of the float construction you can see that the Torrance entry dedicated to hometown hero, Louis Zamperini, came out very nice. It will be one of the first floats in tomorrow\’s parade. Continue reading
These photos are of the floats of the 124th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade which was held Tuesday, January 1, 2013 in Pasadena, CA. As I took far too many photos to be viewed easily in one gallery, I broke the photos up into two groups; the floats of the parade and one of the people of the Rose Parade which includes the marching bands and equestrian units. This gallery includes all the floats as well as the cars transporting the Grand Marshal, President of the Tournament of Roses, Hall of Fame Inductees and others of that type. Due to the number of photos, you might find it easier to use the slideshow feature.
There were about 40 floats entered, several of which had been covered in my previous articles. I would like to once again thank the following for helping me gain access to watch the floats being built over the last month: Fiesta Parade Floats, Pollack PR Marketing Group and California Cut Flower Commission. The watermarks on the photos have been purchased by Got Web Host, who has been hosting web sites for personal and commercial use since 2002. The other half of the photos were watermarked as a donation to the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, the only charity for victims of Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD), also known as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). If you know someone that suffers from RA, please tell them about the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation; they will appreciate it. Continue reading
These photos were taken at the 124th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade, held January 1, 2013. Once again, I have taken too many photos to put in one gallery, so I have broken them up into two groups. This gallery consists of basically anything that was not a float; marching bands, equestrian units and basic people watching. I was set up at Colorado Boulevard and Allen Avenue, primarily on the southeast corner. As this is a very large gallery, you might find it easier to view using the slideshow feature; you can use the full screen option for the best viewing.
It was a cold morning, but that did not seem to dampen anyone\’s spirits. By the time the parade got down to us, I think most people had forgotten about the chill in the air. A portion of the watermarks on the photos have been purchased by Got Web Host, who has been hosting web sites for personal and commercial use since 2002. The other half of the photos were watermarked as a donation to the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, the only charity for victims of Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD), also known as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). If you know someone that suffers from RA, please tell them about the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation and perhaps consider making a small donation to the cause. Continue reading
These photos are from last night\’s New Year\’s Eve Party at the Redondo Beach Castle; hosted by the Lady of Magic, Sisuepahn Phila. We met Sisuepahn last year when we attended her New Year\’s Eve Party 2011. We liked her immediately and immediately recognized that along with being a nice person, she is a really good magician. Sisuepahn puts on various fundraising events using her magic as a draw. She supports several orphanages in Laos and provided assistance to local charities, such as the Midnight Mission in downtown Los Angeles. Last night\’s event was to assist the Midnight Mission.
While Sisuepahn did not perform last night, she had several well-respected magicians and mentalists performing including Brian Gillis, Todd Reis, Ryan Oshwald, Jimmy Hunsinger and starring The Amazing Johnathan and Anastasia. It was a great time for a great cause and everyone seemed to be having a great time. It seemed somewhat fitting that the Lady of Magic fundraiser would be the way I started 2012 and it was how I ended it. Have a great 2013, everyone. Continue reading
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 Vice-President of The Pollack PR Marketing Group who was more than happy to help me come back in with my camera.
This was my third visit to the warehouse at Fiesta Floats and the first thing I noticed was that this time it smelled great! Of the 10 floats built by Fiesta Floats, nine of them were set up with scaffolding around them and the floats were covered with people adding flowers, seeds and whatever other finishing touches needed to be completed by Monday. To me, some of the more interesting tasks were performed by those adding the small details to the floats; items such as books or butterflies that required each individual seed to be added, one by one; or the people underneath the floats that would pull the flower holders down to ensure that only flowers would be seen on the topside. Continue reading
These photos are exclusively of the floats in the 123rd Annual Tournament of Roses Parade. I had attempted to put all the photos from the event in one gallery, but that just made it too difficult for the viewer to sort through. As a result I now have two galleries; this one with all the floats and my previous Rose Parade blog entry which contains photos of the marching bands, drill teams, equestrian units and some people watching.
Like the prior Rose Parade gallery, since there are so many photos, you might find it easier to use the slideshow function and let it run on auto-pilot. There is even a full screen option, which I would recommend using as the photos are of high quality. It will be worth it. Continue reading
Happy New Year! Yes, it is 2012 and so far, it is starting off with a bang. A tradition for the past 123 years has been the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, CA which is normally held on New Years Day. Since New Years fell on a Sunday this year and the parade has a \”Never on a Sunday\” rule, it was held on Monday. The theme for this year\’s parade was \”Just Imagine\” and as you can see by looking at the photos of the floats, there was a lot of imagination put into their design. This was my first opportunity to attend the parade but hopefully it will not be my last.
Since there were so many photos I had to break the parade up into two groups. These photos are of the marching bands, equestrian units and drill teams. The next gallery will be of all the floats. There are 900+ photos in this gallery, so if you marched in the parade, there is a very good chance your photo is here. Additionally, since there are so many photos, you might find it easier to use the slideshow function and let it run on auto-pilot. There is even a full screen option for your viewing pleasure. Continue reading
In 2012, GotBaddog.com is planning on focusing more time promoting charity fundraisers and local events. To start this off, Tanya and I attended the Lady of Magic fundraiser at the Redondo Beach Castle, in Redondo Beach, CA. The fundraiser was for the Midnight Mission, which is a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles.
The Redondo Beach Castle is is owned by world-class magician and “Entertainers to the Stars” Sisuepahn Phila and Brian Gillis. It was a very nice party with live music provided by the Kevin McCarthy Concept, food, a DJ and some amazing magic. I did my best to give a feel of the magic, but these people are really good. It was also my first New Years with Tanya, so the magic was fitting.
By the way, if you are involved in fundraisers and want the coverage, please feel free to contact me. My social network links are on the right sidebar. Continue reading
Well, here it is, January 1, 2010. Time for the re-release of Got Baddog. My gal doesn\’t really drink, so I stayed up last night formulating the perfect hot toddy for her. I hope you enjoy.