Pasadena’s Rose Parade Precedes the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day

This California town celebrates the start of the new year—and the many college football bowls—with a parade.

by Rich Watson 

New Year’s Day, for over a century, has been for “bowl games,” college football matchups at the end of the season that lead to a national championship for the winner.

The Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, California, is one of the most prestigious. Before the game, however, audiences enjoy the spectacle of the Rose Parade.

In “The Freshman,” Harold Lloyd is a Wanna-Be College Football Player

The four-eyed comic took advantage of the college football craze to make this, one of his most beloved films.

by Rich Watson 

In silent film comedy, three names tower above all others in Hollywood: Chaplin, Keaton, and today’s subject, Harold Lloyd. His spry, earnest screen persona carried him through much of the silent era and well into the sound one, for fifty years.

One of his biggest hits, the 1925 film The Freshman, put him on a college campus as an aspiring football player.

BRW: Behind the Blind 9

I came across an article that resonated with me deeply, about the need to reclaim quiet spaces within our culture. Apparently libraries are no longer as much of a haven from excess noise as they used to be.

Ever since I renewed my library card earlier this year, I’ve been frequenting mine more often. The first couple of visits required an acclimation to the modern library experience, including how to check out a book. Now, I come in with a want list of authors and/or books, head for the fiction section, search for and pick a book, and check it out. So I don’t linger.

But I have noticed my library is more of a place for social interaction and less for quiet.