Floating in to See The Rose Parade’s Aftermath

Above, one of my faves — and definitely a crowd favorite — the State of New Mexico’s float, featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner on Route 66.

Every year the Tournament of Roses showcases its parade floats at the end of the parade route on Sierra Madre Blvd. Having watched a chunk of the parade with Evan this year, we decided to head over to Pasadena on Saturday (the last day of the showcase) to see the floats up close.

To avoid the traffic and parking woes, we took the Gold Line from South Pasadena to the end of the line, at Sierra Madre Villa station. MTA had shuttle buses waiting there to take transit riders to the float showcase site.

We knew the float viewing was popular, but not this popular. Not even the $7 fee per person prevented thousands from showing up to see the intricately-constructed floats. As you know, the parade requires that the floats be completely covered in flowers and other vegetation — and you can’t fully appreciate it until you see it in person. The Tournament’s “White Suiters” were there to answer questions, and a documentary on the making of a float was shown at the Pasadena High School auditorium.

It’s not something I think we’d do every year — but since I don’t think we’ll ever be interested in spending the night on the street to see the actual parade, it’s the closest we’ll get to seeing the floats in person.

Some highlights:

Honda’s famed Asimo robot

City Hall, via the City of Los Angeles float

Safari-themed float, by Rain Bird Corp.

City of Huntington Beach float

The Wizard of Oz, by Bayer

Oscar the Grouch, part of the float by NAMM (International Music Products Assoc.)

Part of the Trader Joe’s float

After years of cheesy entries, Glendale finally got it right last year, with a float tribute to the old Grand Central airport. This year, Glendale stuck with the historic theme — but with the Alex Theatre.

Most ill-timed float: “Celebrating the Dream of Home Ownership.” Yeah, nothing like being reminded of our nation’s housing woes during the parade!

The Return of Stephanie Edwards: A Tournament of Roses Parade Recap

Yup, she’s back: Longtime TV host Stephanie Edwards, who had handled the Tournament of Roses Parade alongside Bob Eubanks for years, was shoved aside a few years ago in favor of KTLA morning host Michaela Pereira. After two years of viewer complaints, Stephanie was back on the KTLA show beside Bob this year, while Pereira was the one stuck in the stands.

The telecast began with Edwards addressing talk that the two actually hate each other: “People write in all the time and ask if we like each other,” he said. “The answer is no… we love each other!”

Oh, gag. I’m not buyin’ it.

As for the return of Stephanie… well, two years out of the booth, and she was a bit rusty.

Honda’s “Asimo” robot kicked off the show. Sitting in our Glendale HQ, I waited and waited for the fighter jets that normally kick off the parade. I got Evan all excited — in years past, the jets have buzzed right over our home on the way to Pasadena. But this year, nothing. The 4-year-old figured I was full of crap.

This year’s theme: “Hats Off To Entertainment.” There’s something strangely pure and wholesome about the Tournament of Roses Parade; in this cynical age, it’s almost hard to accept its sunny ethos. But what the hell, it’s the start of a new year.

There’s Michaela, who tried to put the best face on her demotion. “I got the best seats in the house,” she kept telling us. Sorry, we didn’t believe Stephanie when she tried to tell viewers the same thing two years ago.

Pasadena’s Bar Celona Gets a Menu Makeover; Plus, Mixologist Damian Windsor Needs Your Vote

The scene: Pasadena’s Bar Celona, which threw a tasting event Tuesday night to celebrate the four-year-old restaurant’s new menu.

As overseen by Chef Josef Centeno (Opus, Lot 1), the new menu is being hyped as offering “new excitement and a new attitude” to the restaurant. It’d been a few years since we last checked out Bar Celona… and since Old Town Pasadena is close to Franklin Avenue HQ, I decided to enlist my friend Tony and check it out.

Upon arrival, we headed straight to the bar, where famed mixologist Damian Windsor (above) was concocting his creation, “Montresor & Fortunato.” The sweetish drink includes sherry, Grand Marnier and vermouth (recipe below), and the olives are a nice touch.

Windsor’s drink is among the finalists in Travel + Leisure’s Beverage Arts Challenge, and it gets my vote. (Granted, I haven’t tried the others. But Damian was cool, and I love his former home — downtown’s Seven Grand.)

Meanwhile, the food passed around was heavy on the fried side; our favorites included the pork croquetas (above), which included goat cheese — which I’m normally not a fan of, but they work here.

Least favorite item, probably the breaded anchovies (above). But other tapas included peppers with sea salt; pork shoulder, chicken liver and salmon conservas; whipped salt cod and potato on grilled bread; grilled shrimp; chicken empanadas; and more. I only wish that we could have sampled off the restaurant’s new entree menu as well.

Meanwhile, we also got the rundown on the restaurant from co-owner Karen Huang, who told us that business was surprisingly good, despite the down economy.

Among those we chatted with or saw in the crowd: Ritz Bites’ Jessica Ritz; Eating LA’s Pat Saperstein; Eater L.A.’s Lesley Balla; Gumbo Pages’ Chuck Taggart; and Thrillist’s Jeff Miller, among others.

Bar Celona
42 East Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena CA 91105
626-405-1000

Maria’s Thursday Three

1. Not So Amazing Goths: I was so dissapointed that Goths Kynt and Vyxsin were eliminated on the last episode of The Amazing Race. Why they didn’t yield Team Bickering Couple will forever be a mystery. And the slow realization that Jennifer and Nathan might just win the race annoys me. I’m now pulling for Nicolas and Donald to win, even though I thought they would be the first ones to get eliminated. Maybe doing something drastic like getting a tattoo for the race will give them good karma.

2. Rose Parade Aftermath: Driving down Colorado Blvd. on New Year’s Day made me so angry, as people who camped out just left all their trash on the street. What a disgusting sight seeing trash everywhere. No wonder the businesses along the boulevard take extra precaution to use chain-link fences to protect their property.

3. Fomato Cards: Our friend Emmie is the creator of the very clever Fomato Cards. Go ahead, check her fun site and see samples of her greeting cards. When I see them at the store, I want to buy each and every one to give to people.

The Tournament of Roses Parade Roundup: Your Annual Bob Eubanks Fix

As I write this, KTLA is in the middle of its all-day broadcast, re-broadcast, re-broadcast, and re-broadcast again of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Watching on KTLA still beats sleeping on Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Eve in order to catch “Up With People” live in person. (Although, I’ve never done it — any of you past or present parade spectators beg to differ?)

Some highlights from this morning’s telecast:

Sorry, Stephanie Edwards fans, she was nowhere to be seen again this year. Once again, Bob Eubanks was joined by “KTLA Morning Show” anchor Michaela Periera in the parade announcing booth.

Chef Emeril Lagasse was grand marshal of this year’s parade. Seriously. He kicked off the festivites by screaming, “WE’RE GONNA KICK THINGS UP A NOTCH! BAM!” Seriously. Here he is in mid “BAM.”

When we hear the roar of the Marine F/A-18 Hornets overhead here in Glendale, we know the Tournament of Roses Parade is about to begin. Here they are over the 134.

The televised start of the parade, in front of the Norton Simon Museum on Colorado

My fave (and Blogger Toddler’s, too) float of the parade: Honda’s cool transformer-style car, which flipped into a futuristic space ship, complete with belching flames in the back. (Another view below.)

After years of embarrassing floats, Glendale finally gets it right. Our fair city came up with a replica of the Grand Central Terminal, which once upon a time was the region’s main airport (pre-WWII). Yep, when people flew into Los Angeles back in the day, they flew into Glendale. The old terminal building still exists, and is now on Disney property. (We wrote about it here in 2005.)

Some quality TV time for the Impeach Bush/Impeach Cheney crowd. (Also saw a big Kucinich banner, next to someone holding an “Impeach” sign. The result: It looked like someone was pushing to “IMPEACH KUCINICH.” Huh?)

The Rose Bowl court

The Tournament of Roses Parade Roundup: Your Annual Bob Eubanks Fix

As I write this, KTLA is in the middle of its all-day broadcast, re-broadcast, re-broadcast, and re-broadcast again of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Watching on KTLA still beats sleeping on Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Eve in order to catch “Up With People” live in person. (Although, I’ve never done it — any of you past or present parade spectators beg to differ?)

Some highlights from this morning’s telecast:

Sorry, Stephanie Edwards fans, she was nowhere to be seen again this year. Once again, Bob Eubanks was joined by “KTLA Morning Show” anchor Michaela Periera in the parade announcing booth.

Chef Emeril Lagasse was grand marshal of this year’s parade. Seriously. He kicked off the festivites by screaming, “WE’RE GONNA KICK THINGS UP A NOTCH! BAM!” Seriously. Here he is in mid “BAM.”

When we hear the roar of the Marine F/A-18 Hornets overhead here in Glendale, we know the Tournament of Roses Parade is about to begin. Here they are over the 134.

The televised start of the parade, in front of the Norton Simon Museum on Colorado

My fave (and Blogger Toddler’s, too) float of the parade: Honda’s cool transformer-style car, which flipped into a futuristic space ship, complete with belching flames in the back. (Another view below.)

After years of embarrassing floats, Glendale finally gets it right. Our fair city came up with a replica of the Grand Central Terminal, which once upon a time was the region’s main airport (pre-WWII). Yep, when people flew into Los Angeles back in the day, they flew into Glendale. The old terminal building still exists, and is now on Disney property. (We wrote about it here in 2005.)

Some quality TV time for the Impeach Bush/Impeach Cheney crowd. (Also saw a big Kucinich banner, next to someone holding an “Impeach” sign. The result: It looked like someone was pushing to “IMPEACH KUCINICH.” Huh?)

The Rose Bowl court

Pasadena’s Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Trouble?

The L.A. Weekly laments the purchase of Pasadena’s Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel by Langham Hotels International, and worries that it may spell gloom and doom to the facilities:

Where the dust of fallen or gutted landmarks chokes the air as we embrace a shopping-center aesthetic, the sale of the storied Ritz Huntington to a foreign developer has the ominous tint of demolition — at least of the hotel’s character, if not the building.

What the author, Mark Cromer, doesn’t mention is that the Huntington has already been demolished once — after being shut down in 1985 because of seismic concerns. After a preservation fight, the old hotel was torn down, and a replica built in its place. The new hotel, rebuilt for about $100 million by Gemtel Corp., opened in 1991 under the Ritz-Carlton management.

And that’s not the only rocky moment in the hotel’s history. Opened in 1907 as the 383-room Hotel Wentworth, it shut down just a year later due to business problems. It reopened in 1911 as the Huntington.

More recently, the revived hotel stumbled soon after its 1991 grand reopening, as the nation was gripped by recession and the Persian Gulf war. But it managed to hold on, and by the late 1990s had regained much of its luster.

As most of the TV Critics Assn. press tours have taken place at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington since I moved out here in 1996, I’ve gotten to know the hotel (and its chilly ballrooms) pretty well. Of course, that 1991 renovation was now 17 years ago (that makes me feel pretty damn old, BTW — I graduated from high school in ’91, after all), so Langham’s promise to plow $25 million into sprucing up the structure could be a good thing.

Maria’s Thursday Three

1. Gabba Love: I found this Yo Gabba Gabba Puppet Project online and took it a step further by making them into little softies for Evan. Just print them out on iron-on sheets, iron them on to white cotton fabric and sew together. I filled mine with dried beans for the weight and throwaround factor. They all went into Evan’s Christmas stocking — and an extra Brobee found its way into Mike’s stocking as well, so a fight will not break out.

2. Pasadena’s Holly Street: The block on Holly between N. Fair Oaks and Raymond is filled with cool stores and restaurants worth exploring. For starters, we want to try the Tibetan or Thai restaurant, and then check out the surrounding stores, which include Silver Me Jewelry, Dream of Tibet, and Lula Mae. The Majestical Roof store is a bit hidden around the corner but the courtyard where it’s at seems magical, while the store offers one-of-a-kind items from local artists. Lastly, I guess you’d have to try something yummy from >Violet’s Cakes after all that walking around.

3. Baked or Fried: My friend and I found ourselves at a McDonald’s reminiscing about how their apple pies used to be so good because they were fried. The manager overheard us and insisted that they were always baked. We retorted, “Oh no, young man, they used to be fried.” He walked away a little bemused. Then, as we were eating, he came by with two fried apple pies — on the house. (He apparently threw the pies into the deep fryer. Not quite the same as the old McDonald’s pies — these were the modern, baked pies simply fried up. But a nice effort.) All I could manage was a couple of bites after all the grease but it was GOOD.

Checking Out The Hype

(Flickr pic by The Gourmetro.)

We hit two recently opened food hotspots on Monday — and discovered that one lives up to the hype; the other, not so much.

First, the one that does: Intelligentsia Coffee, a recent transplant out of Chicago, boasts some of the best-tasting coffee I’ve had in a while. What’s more, the store’s urban decor fits in perfectly with its Silver Lake neighborhood. Place was crowded, but not too packed, for a Monday afternoon.

I ordered a coffee: Flecha Roja, from Costa Rica ($2.05); Maria bought a Macchiato ($2.50). The coffee is a little more pricey than most places, but it was the best coffee shop brew I’ve had in a long time. (Sorry, Swork!)

(Flickr pic by zomgwtf.)

Then there’s the new Pasadena Whole Foods Market, located on Arroyo Parkway. Yes, the scope and size of the building is impressive, and the huge array of food stands and grocery aisles impressive. But given the hype, it just came short. The store is laid out strangely — after checking out, you have to turn around and go through the store to get to your car. Also, there’s probably a few too many food stations.

But most key, those prices are just too steep.

Checking Out The Hype

(Flickr pic by The Gourmetro.)

We hit two recently opened food hotspots on Monday — and discovered that one lives up to the hype; the other, not so much.

First, the one that does: Intelligentsia Coffee, a recent transplant out of Chicago, boasts some of the best-tasting coffee I’ve had in a while. What’s more, the store’s urban decor fits in perfectly with its Silver Lake neighborhood. Place was crowded, but not too packed, for a Monday afternoon.

I ordered a coffee: Flecha Roja, from Costa Rica ($2.05); Maria bought a Macchiato ($2.50). The coffee is a little more pricey than most places, but it was the best coffee shop brew I’ve had in a long time. (Sorry, Swork!)

(Flickr pic by zomgwtf.)

Then there’s the new Pasadena Whole Foods Market, located on Arroyo Parkway. Yes, the scope and size of the building is impressive, and the huge array of food stands and grocery aisles impressive. But given the hype, it just came short. The store is laid out strangely — after checking out, you have to turn around and go through the store to get to your car. Also, there’s probably a few too many food stations.

But most key, those prices are just too steep.