Famous Ankles

This is the fourth and last of my posts on the Mermaid Parade.

I don’t know what I really expected from the parade. More importantly, I don’t know what I got from the parade. Lots of skin, to be honest. There were some politics in there. Some showmanship. A bit of cleverness, but not enough. I guess I expected pretty much what I got: a parade that just reveled in being a parade with marchers that were a bit exhibitionistic and a little bit laid back.

For what it’s worth, I tell you one thing it lacked big time: excitement. I’ve gone to lots of parades and a good parade has a lot of music and a lot of crowd participation. Some of the marchers, especially those at the beginning, tried to rouse the crowd. But maybe it was too hot. Probably it was too silent. The times it worked? When there was a lot of music. The times it didn’t work? When the marchers were in their own little world and didn’t project to the crowd.

Back to the coverage…Stilt-walking woman with a Carmen Miranda hat and blue painted skin. Okay, that seems to sum up Coney Island for me.

Here’s another picture of the crowd, just to show that this is a pretty popular parade.

The next picture is at the end of a frenzy of picture taking. Almost every picture I took had another photographer in it. But I did catch a picture of the guillotine at the end of it. The part that was the big attraction: dancing Marie Antoinettes in high hair and short dresses. Maybe eight of them in total. What does it have to do with mermaids? They called it “Marine Antoinette”.

Okay, I have very little excuse for the next picture except I like it.

Perhaps the best costume of the day: Popeye. He got a few call outs from the crowd. Well, he is a sailor man so I guess he’s a fine addition to the Mermaid Parade.

You can’t read much on Famous Ankles without running into pictures of beauty queens and the like. Well, here’s Miss Use of Recycled Materials. Well done! Of course, you sure ain’t the normal “Miss” anything I post on, but I’m content with that.

It took me a moment to understand what the next group was doing. Okay, beyond the showgirl aspect. Their headgear is a salute to Coney Island rides. Nicely done. I just wish I had caught the one on the far right a moment earlier (she had the Cyclone on her head).

They were trying for whimsy (I guess). They were trying for funny (I suppose). They were trying for cleverness (I would hope). A cowgirl/mermaid and a viking? Come on folks. You didn’t hit any of them.

Here’s a float. It symbolizes…I haven’t any idea.

This is what a lull in the parade looked like. There was a crossing area right where the crowd is (where people could go from one side of the parade to the other to get, for example, from the beach to the food area). Those people are just encroaching on the parade route to get a picture.

Maybe the idea of a theme is too deep for this parade. The people below sure don’t seem wedded to the idea of depth and relevance.

I think the next group is just trying hard to make me wonder who they are supposed to be. Sea monster and can of tuna?

I’ve seen this group do stuff before. They take old Metro cards and glue them together for costumes and the like. Why? Heck if I know. But then, I don’t know what Aztecs and the Mermaid Parade have in common, either.

This young lady is loaded up with SPF 2000 or so. And a parasol.

I guess the “sea monster and the beauty” is something of a cultural constant, and here they are again.

I started feeling the heat so I left with maybe 30 minutes left in the parade. Hey, I was really wiped out. And then it took forever to get to the subway. That’s because the parade was still going on and I was inside the square that the parade was making going up to the Boardwalk, down it, then to the street and then back to the beginning point. The crowd on the street was huge. I’m really glad I stayed on the Boardwalk.

So, that’s the end of the parade for me. I left really tuckered out and a day later hadn’t gotten back to snuff. I’m not sure if I’d recommend the parade to others. Like I said at the beginning, I did edit out a lot of pictures to keep this safe for work. But it wasn’t salacious. Maybe it was trying, but it didn’t even reach that.

For what it’s worth: next year bring a lot more music and make the marchers be a little more than people walking down the Boardwalk. Oh, and keep the hula hoopers. You can never have too many of them.

-H

This is the third of four posts on the parade. In my earlier post, I mentioned that the West Village Sea Monster Marching Band came on and started playing. Following them was an old favorite: hula hoopers. I always post pictures on hula hoopers; it’s the law.

This was one of the best points in the parade. The music was loud and catchy (I think) and the marchers broke into dance. A very fun few moments.

The next picture shows one of my favorite moments. You have to understand that there were a ton of photographers around, and many were inside the Boardwalk fencing (they had press passes of some sort). They kept getting in the way on some pictures. Well, this next young lady had gone past and the music and dancing got a little more frenzied and she put on one heck of a dance sequence (you can see a male marcher looking on in appreciation, too). Toward the end of it, the photographer in front of me apparently noticed my intense picture taking and turned to see her finish her bit. I think he missed taking any photos at all. Ha! But Famous Ankles was well aware. That’s another photog right next to her, but I think he was too close for his camera to capture her. In a couple of my pictures, he’s just staring.

This next lady was in a group called the “Pink Lady Salmons”. Thanks for the smile.

The second picture in a row of a pretty girl smiling at me. I am so predictable.

I confess, I love the next picture. In the first post of the parade, I mentioned how I would have enjoyed a bunch of people in olde-time swimsuits. Well, I guess I got one more here. Sort of.

And yes, that’s three pictures in a row like this.

Perhaps the biggest non-sequitur in a parade that reveled in meaninglessness: a participant dressed as a mermaid being groped by a gorilla. That’s one woman with a gorilla costume set on her shoulder and legs. On top of that, her (human) hand has a banana and she’s dressed a bit like a Fay Wray mermaid. A “Fay Wray mermaid”?

The next picture captures someone I think I’ve seen before. In one of my posts on the 2008 Dance Parade in Manhattan, I saw this little girl (at least I think it’s the same girl) walk a long ways on her stilts. She’s not only talented, but determined. Well done, young lady.

Ah yes! Hula Hoops. Lots and lots of them.

You’re seeing one of the best parts of the parade. The hula hoopers were in control and it was just fine.

More hula hoops! Yes, more. I gotta love it when they do this. It isn’t quite as good as dancing and all, but it works for me. And this lass was really good.

One of several King Neptunes in the parade. This guy went to some trouble. Good for him. And the eyeglasses make it even better.

The next batch of people were just a gaggle of semi-costumed types. Well, them and a guy as a squid. I approve of the squid-man!

I love pictures of people on stilts. I have no idea why, but I just have to post it. (Okay, okay. People who know me know I like to juggle and I always view stilt-walking in the same vein, except I never learned how to stilt-walk.)

As I’ve mentioned, the parade was filled with non-sequiturs. Below is a cowgirl on a bicycle. Well, the bike is supposed to be a fish. So, I guess this is a cowgirl on a fish. With a gun.

“Defenders of the Galax-Sea”, indeed. I like this picture, but I also liked the picture I took a moment later (and didn’t put in here) of Wonder Woman. It was a fine Linda Carter immitation. But what does that have to do with mermaids?  Or Coney Island?

This was the biggest thing that made it to the Boardwalk. The most interesting part: there was water shooting from its mouth. I, and many others, had to protect my camera when it pointed my way.

I always love the winged dancers / fan dancers / whatever. I have to post this one just to keep my streak going.

When I took the next picture, I knew it would be a good’un. She looked at me preparing to take a picture and threw the confetti right when I clicked. Thank you very much.

I presume the long dresses are supposed to evoke the mermaid tail. It doesn’t click with me, but maybe I’m not their target audience. But I still don’t really understand why people come without any real costume and parade. Except for the opportunity to be the center of attention, I guess.  Strictly speaking, this wasn’t a parade about mermaids or summer or Coney Island.  It was an exhibitionists’ parade celebrating their ability to flaunt.  I guess.

If it’s a Mermaid Parade (or at least named as such), I guess we’re not supposed to expect men in geisha outfits. And I didn’t expect them. I presume it isn’t a subtle jab at the Japanese custom of the very pale makeup being displayed on a day of more-or-less sun worship. Of course, that could have been an interesting study of cultural mores.

Well, the below picture is a study in the “themelessness” of the parade. Pirate guy all dressed in black. One lady a study in contrast: out for a lot of sun, but carrying a parasol to keep the sun off of her. The other two in costumes… Hey, they ain’t costumes. They’re just walking down the Boardwalk.

Topical tropical. Women in grass skirts.

Have I mentioned how much I love hula hoopers in parades? I guess I have. Here’s more.

I’m going to end this post with a picture of a purple guy. I think that makes it unique.

-H

This is the second of at least four posts on the Mermaid Parade. As you’ll see, there’s really very little pulling this parade together. When I was watching it, I kept thinking of the supposed Winston Churchill statement: this pudding has no theme! The parade was the same way. It just seemed to be clever for the sake of being clever. But most of it wasn’t that clever. I don’t mind the exhibitionism, but that’s actually one of its only real charms.

In keeping with that, I have to admit I love this next picture for all the wrong reasons. She just utterly ignored the crowd. I’m not sure, but I think she was making a phone call. Hey, mermaid! We’re over here!

I don’t know if this is the real “Larry the Lighthouse” or an imitator.

The next picture is that the most elusive mermaid: the mermaid with the head of a fish and human legs. Along with its more prosaic cousin.

The next group called themselves “Carmen Mer-anda and the Samba Sharks”. Get it? Mer-anda – Mermaid? C’mon, folks. That’s just an excuse for the hats and not a clever take on anything whatsoever.

Next came a group called Oceanblue Divers. I don’t know who or what they do. Or even if it is a real group. Well, they have a sign, so they must be real. So few groups were marked that I should just be grateful that three groups in a row did carry a sign. Thank you.

Women with squirtguns. I don’t know if they are part of the group or not.

This isn’t the Polar Bear Club, but it is the Winter Ocean Swimmers.

The next bunch was a set of protestors. The below protestor was threatening something probably very near to the hearts of the crowd: Starbucks.

Anti-condo protest. Coney Island is undergoing a major set of renovations and these ladies don’t like it.

The next is a very subtle editorial by the protestors: evil capitalist threatening blonde.

I’ve got a couple of these protestors pictured doing the same thing: sea creatures catching developers in a net and hauling them away to their doom. Symbolizing? Hey, is this a terrorist threat?

Okay, I’m still mystified. This is part of the protest group. They have an octopus. The people holding the octopus are labeled “plankton”. Octopi don’t eat plankton. Why do the “plankton” carry squirtguns? What is this protesting?

A summer celebration called the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island. Let’s have feathered headdresses!

A few more protestors.

A marching band appeared (the West Village Sea Monster Marching Band). I usually sort of enjoy marching bands (more so when they are good at it), but having live music at any point was just fine with me. And, you know, I really don’t remember if they were real good. It was just good to hear music.

As you might expect from the West Village, they weren’t a regular high school marching band.

-H