Famous Ankles

2008 Tartan Day Parade Part 2

Posted April 7, 2008 by Famous Ankles
Categories: Manhattan, Mid-town, Parades

Yesterday’s post was fraught with new software editor problems. Today’s run looks a little smoother, but only a little.

And this only distracts from relating a pretty good parade. Not a great parade, but a pretty good’un.

The next group to show up was alumni the University of St. Andrew, founded in 1413. They looked like recent graduates with none being close to 600 years old.

Another clan, this time the Bruce Clan, came; but was combined with the Tri-County Pipe Band. I don’t know which three counties, though. But the Clan Bruce provided Scotland with two kings.

The next group was the Longelly Tartan Army. They was armed! Well, not really, but the old clans were often war-like.

The next pictures were from the highlight of the parade. The dogs. Not all of them were Scotties, though. In truth, not even a majority were. But a Highland Terrier is a Scot notwithstanding.

Other than Scotties, or other Scot terriers; few things say Scottish more than the next picture. A very fine lad. Family will remember the days that I had such a color to my own hair. (Aye, there’s a bit o’ the Scot in me.)

Okay, enough of the interlude. Bring on more dogs!

Scotties, red-haired lads, and then more pipers. The Tartan Day Parade had ’em all.

Following with more of a tartan dog.

The crowd was actually pretty good.

And the parade participants came from all over. The Greenock “branch” came from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. “Greenock” is apparently an alternate word for Glasgow.

And alumni from Carnagie-Mellon also marched.

But, this is the Tartan Day Parade. We need more bagpipers! It’s been about three groups since we had pipers!

Next, a contingent from the Duchess County Scottish Society.

Followed by more bagpipers.

An interesting break in the groupings: a group carrying the caber. (That’s the log that Scottish athletes toss to go end over end.) The group with the caber (not the group carrying it) stopped and then with a roar took off in a quick dash up the street.

A group called The New Celtic Dancers showed and did a dance. Very enjoyable.

And they were followed by the Clan Buchanan.

The end of the parade came with the Clan MacFarlane.

This post took me at least four times the time that it used to take, plus I had to cut it short and couldn’t write it in the manner I prefer. I hate this new software editor that WordPress provides. I hope that I can make it a more streamlined process, but I’m not optimistic.

-H

Comments: Be the first to comment

2008 Tartan Day Parade

Posted April 6, 2008 by Famous Ankles
Categories: Events, Manhattan, Mid-town, Parades

I got a one-day notice of the 2008 Scottish Day parade, or the Tartan Day Parade, or whatever you wanna call it. (That’s better than the notice I got for the Greek Parade – about 4 hours notice from my doorman.)

The Tartan Day Parade is always a fun one, but generally a small one. This year proved no different, but I guess I didn’t have as much fun as last year when I spotted a dog I knew in the parade (or rather, his owner spotted me and came over).

The NYC Events Calendar did have the parade on its website so I knew when and where. It was in the usual spot: Sixth Avenue. The parade starts at about 47th Street and goes up to 58/59th. All-in-all it is a small parade with the distinction of having more bagpipers than per marcher than any other parade.

Sixth Avenue in that area is what most people think Manhattan looks like everywhere, but it is a special sort of view.

(This is gonna be odd. WordPress has a new editor and I’m already having trouble with it.)

The parade started out just about right on time. Good for them. Of course, being good Scots they know their timepieces and all sorts of other mechanical contraptions. Here’s the parade leader, one of those new fangled Model A carriages.

(This new WordPress editor is going to drive me crazy! It could take days to finish this post!)

The United States Naval Academy at Annapolis provided the first set of bagpipers.

(This editor is horrid!!!!!! Okay, I mean the software editor is horrid!!!!!! I’m going to have to try something else.)

The Parade’s Grand Marshal was in the next group.

(I hate this new software! This is just a pain! I can see the picture (which gives me the visual clue of whether the Grand Marshal is walking or riding) or I can see the picture’s name (which tells me the picture is of the Grand Marshal). But I can’t do both without switching between editing views. This is absurd.)

More bagpipers.

The St. Andrews Society of New Jersey.

The Caledonian Club bagpipers.

More bagpipers.

The Scottish-American Foundation.

This group has the banner proclaiming “The Gathering – Edinburgh.”

I rather liked this group’s name. They are the Local 608 Carpenters pipe and drum group. Yeah, a bunch of carpenters from one of the local NY unions.

The Clans did show up. First, Clan Currie.

Then Clan Durie.

Then, Clan Gunn. Their banner said they were the “discoverers of America.” Apparently, they’ve got some strong Viking links in that Clan. Well, those Vikings were pretty far ranging.

Clan Gordon provided some bagpipes.

Folks, this new editor is going to kill me. It is almost as if they’ve designed it to prevent my type of posting. I can’t see what I’m posting, it puts it into the wrong spot each and every time. I like to “tell the story” between pictures, but it won’t let me do that on the fly, instead I have to post the pictures and then write the text. I presume I’m doing something wrong; at least I hope so. I can’t blog with this editor.

-H

Comments: 2 Comments

A Busy Weekend

Posted April 6, 2008 by Famous Ankles
Categories: Uncategorized

The parade season has begun. This weekend, two of ’em. First, the 2008 Tartan Day Parade held on 6th Avenue on Saturday; second, the 2008 Greek Independence Day Parade held Sunday on Fifth Avenue (or is that “Sixth Avenue and 5th Avenue, respectively?).

Yeah, I went to both of them and I’ll be posting on both. Expect multi-day posts for them. Too many pictures and such divergent parade styles.

-H

Comments: Be the first to comment

Think Tank 3 in Greenwich Village

Posted April 5, 2008 by Famous Ankles
Categories: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, Wanderings

This is sort of a bit o’ nonsense post as it just shows the front of a store that I found mildly interesting.

The place is called Think Tank 3. It seems to model itself as a new type of advertising agency.

The sign to the left describes the place. It says “Think Tank 3 is A MODERN DAY THINK SHOP; our idea of what a modern ad agency should be. We work with a range of clients including Comedy Central and Coca Cola. From time to time our creative director also curates exhibits based on cultural relevance, historical value, and quality. Recently we hosted a reading of Sam Shepard’s A LIE OF THE MIND, directed by Ethan Hawke. Some of the pieces you see represent our last four exhibits and if you’re interested in the art or the artists we can connect some dots for you. The exhibits were: FOUND SOUND by Gaines, THOUGHT FOR FOOD by Ilana Simons, JEWISH BOXERS by Charles Miller, and SADDAM MANIA by Teun Voeten. Try the door, and if its unlocked come on in. Some things are for sale and some things are not. Don’t worry, if you can’t tell which is which, we’ll let you know. You’re welcome to sign our guestbook so we can send you e-mails about upcoming events which will also be posted about upcoming events which will also be posted here as they’re conceived, confirmed, etc.”

The exhibit apparently went through March 31.

There are some clever bits to it.

But the only part I really liked were the Etch-a-Sketches.

Very nicely done.

-H

Comments: Be the first to comment

Yaz Band Playing at Grand Central Terminal

Posted April 4, 2008 by Famous Ankles
Categories: Manhattan, Mid-town, Wanderings

I was recently walking to the Shuttle at Grand Central and ran across one of my favorite performing groups: Yaz Band. It’s a jazz combo playing…jazz. Nothing special. No vocals. Just playing nice music.