The Hollywood Christmas Parade
There is nothing wrong with The Big Lebowski except for when Walter mentions the In 'n' Out Burger near Camrose. There is no In 'n' Out Burger near Camrose. All that is near Camrose, which is a street just south of the Hollywood Bowl, is the place I parked to watch the Hollywood Christmas Parade.(The nearest In 'n' Out Burger is located at the corner of Orange and Sunset. It is where my wife and I had our first date.)
I haven't been to a parade since hgh school, and then I was forced to march in them. It's a lot better watching them, because only in extreme circumstances might one step in horse manure. Back in high school we were always stuck behind the horses, playing "25 or 6 to 4" and a very lame version of "Shadows of the Night".
But ACI and I, as well as Steve Johnson, Robyn Simms and, later, TAARG, made it through the crowds to stand near the corner of Hollywood and Highland to watch several spruced up high school bands, downward-spiral or reality-show celebrities (exception: the great Ernie Hudson), and L.A.'s political establishment ride down Hollywood Blvd. in open-topped, shiny cars.
This was a good thing to do. I was reminded that people really take care of their vehicles here.
There were also several hundred horses, some from the U.S. Marshalls, and some from - well, by the end of the parade I figured that anyone with a horse could get in. I determined that next year I would do a lot of horse and march in the parade.High school bands have changed little since my time in high school. But these bands, mostly from the middle of the country and the south, often featured double drum majors and marching Sousaphones. The piccolos were underused for the most part, and wielded by fat kids.
Celebrities I saw were:
Dick Van PattenDavid Hasselhoff
Eartha Kitt
Patrick Warburton
L'il Romeo (he looked right at Steve and marked him for death)
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Mickey Rooney was there and, though I have been thinking about him recently, he didn't die.
There were also cars full of celebrities I have never heard of, including Eve La Rue. With a name like Eve La Rue, however, she should be famous. Maybe she'll marry Mickey Rooney. Sometimes the parade would stop and I would be faced with an idling car full of celebrities I'd never heard of. They looked at me, I looked at them. Because it was Hollywood, each of us mouthed the words, "Are you famous?"The Trojans of Findlay High School in Ohio were there. I asked them to say hello to my friend Navin but they were too busy stepping in the ever-increasing mounds of horse manure.
The biggest celebrity? Astronaut Buzz Aldrin riding on the Zathura float.
No one was knifed, no children were shot by the LAPD after their fathers used them as human shields (I didn't even try), Santa Claus did make it down Santa Claus lane, and it was about 68 degrees.
posted
by Marty Barrett at Monday, November 28, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home