The world would be a more colorful place with a few more Ted and Calistas

[sovay]

That was a parade.

There were stiltwalkers. There were masks. There was facepaint. There were puppets. There were political signs. (There were non-political signs.) There were banners. There was a lot of bird costuming, I have no idea why, but the tall draped stork masks were terrific. I also approved of the couple who dressed as mandrills, complete with pale-blue papier-mâché buttocks. Hula hoops, roller skates, wings, and banners. We were one band behind a thing that was basically a homebuilt Mari Lwyd, only it was a buffalo. On wheels. There was lots and lots and lots of brass.

derspatchel dressed as Dr. Alberts at his sartorial worst (the blue-ringed octopus tie made an appearance) and carried a hand-lettered sign reading SCIENTISTS PREDICT! RADIO on the MOON by 1985, which regularly got him stopped for photographs. Red Shift, Interplanetary Do-Gooder put in an appearance in the person of Michael McAfee (who does not have a livejournal that I know of) and vanguardcdk carried his sign for Tomes of Terror: New Arrivals in a Big Broadcast of 1954 sweatshirt. I dressed in '30's drag and am in the conflicting position of hoping there will be photographs while knowing my reaction to them (thank you, Tiny Richardson) will almost certainly be depressed by everything that isn't the three-piece suit. That said, the three-piece suit makes me happy. For the first time in my life, I had enough pockets.

We were announced as the "Post-Meridian Players" at the bandstand, but the fact that we were announced at a bandstand was sufficiently awesome, I wasn't going to complain. The radio part was probably obvious, anyway.

Harvard Square was full of infinite people afterward, so we took the T back to Davis and had brunch at M3. I did not think I was going to eat half a habanero when I accepted the dark-red, seed-filled pepper off the top of Rob's chicken and biscuits, but that's what the waitress said it was and my endorphin rush agrees with her. It was so hot it made my ears hurt from the inside. The hog wings were also very good, but I couldn't feel them in my cheekbones.

And then Rob went back to sleep and I am not meeting rushthatspeaks for a movie this evening, so I am home and decompressing, drinking cinnamon tea. I changed back into corduroys and a sweater; hung up my suit, trousers folded along the crease. My hair is very crinkly from having been braided since nine o'clock this morning. I will want more waistcoats in my life.

That was wonderful.

Comments

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

That sounds awesome.

[selidor]

That's one amazing parade. Well worth the dressing up!
People went to some effort on this side of the country too: dining room table and all. Bonus waistcoat.

I think there needs to be a poem about Mari Lwyd bison.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

It was a truly excellent parade. And yes, there's at least one photo of the PMRP contingent--I think Neil posted it on his own Facebook page rather than the PMRP one, but I could be wrong.

(AFAIK Michael has neither LJ or Facebook page, I think he's one of them there off-the-grid folks.)

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

That was a parade.
That was wonderful.

I'm glad for these, and for all between them.

Waistcoats are Good Things. I've got a couple from my undergraduate years, but I'm still not thin enough to wear them again.

I did nothing so interesting today, but I did eat boiled crawfish, leg of lamb, sushi, Eggs Benedict, and bread pudding off a brunch buffet. One of my cousins got a strawberry cream-cheese cake-pop-thing, didn't like it, and put wasabi on it to see if it would be improved. He ate a second bite.

There was some debate as to whether he'd eaten the second bite because it was actually improved or because somebody else had said it was disgusting and he therefore felt compelled to finish it.

I forget sometimes how much I really do miss my family when I'm not near them.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

You look good in a suit.

[rosefox]

Hooray for waistcoats!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

ears hurt from the inside

Now I edited that mentally to "ears hot from the inside" and thought, mmmm, warmth--because it's freezing in this house!--but I can't honestly say "mmm, hurt" so... well. I hope your ears are feeling themselves again!

Hula hoops, roller skates, wings, and banners--fabulous. I love *all* those things. Also masks, stilts, puppets, and facepaint. Especially stilts and facepaint. And masks. And puppets. Oh wait...

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I do hope your ears feel better by now. Assault by Brass and Habanero sounds like a chapter heading for a work of either Runyonesque pastiche or possibly the source material would be for a fantastical spaghetti Western scripted by Woody Allen and directed by Fellini.

And with full awareness that I am being a bad influence, Etsy has a remarkable number of interesting pocket watches.