January 1st will mark the 118th Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. I only live about 3 blocks off the parade route, so this time of year, things start to become really annoying around here. Usually, when I see RVs parked on the street like this, I assume someone is just shooting on location. But campers like these start lining nearby streets an entire week before the parade.

Likewise, risers start showing up as early as Thanksgiving weekend on every open piece of land along Colorado Blvd., so that the owners of the land can net some money off selling tickets to people who would like to have an unobstructed view of the parade.

Additionally, most businesses along the parade route begin chaining and boarding up the fronts of their buildings so that a) people won’t climb up on their property to get a better view, fall and break a neck, and then sue, and b) so that people don’t break in the front windows to steal things.










On the up side, there are Port-a-potties all over Pasadena right now, so you can pretty much relieve yourself on any given street corner.

I went and saw The Departed at the Laemmle’s up the street yesterday. I was too busy working 80 hours a week when it first hit the theatres, so I just finally got around to seeing it. I have nothing but good things to say about it. Scorcese is a great director, and the acting and story telling were superb. I always like Leonardo DiCaprio. I think he’s a very underrated actor who has done a great job of picking good roles for himself over the year. I even liked Matt Damon, who usually sort of makes my skin crawl. It was also good to see Alec Baldwin in a strong role where he didn’t look like a swollen doughnut for once. And Jack...well, as usual, Jack was fantastic. If you have yet to see it, I highly recommend it.

In honor of the New Year, the song of the day is Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne.” It comes from his 1981 album The Innocent Age, and is one of my favorite songs from this time of the year. The lyrics are autobiographical and tell the story of how he went to the grocery store one Christmas Eve and ran into a high school sweetheart. They grabbed a 6-pack and went to his car where they sat in the rain and talked about how their lives turned out. I’ve never much been into Fogelberg’s music, but this song has always struck a chord with me. I hope you all have a Happy New Year.