If anyone has noticed, I’ve been on an extended hiatus from the blogosphere, completely enjoying life in the real world. One Lame Adventure tradition that’s inspired me to surface is covering New York’s Gay Pride parade with my pal, Milton. We have been constant sideline fixtures at this parade for several years, so constant that we actually appeared in a crowd shot on our local TV news in 2015. I will be forever grateful that it was not our sweating mugs in close up.
This year, it seemed to us that there were a record number of participants as well as a record turnout watching from the sidelines. Or, maybe we just showed up too late to get a good spot to shoot photos. This inflated tube courtesy of T Mobile marred almost every picture we tried to take.
View hog.
One aspect of the parade I loathe is the flood of corporate sponsorship, but I realize the overt pandering for LGBT dollars is a reflection of just how far gay people have come since the Stonewall riots in 1969.
Delta Airlines shilling for LGBT dollars.
There were also the usual suspect politicians marching including our mayor, Bill de Blasio, governor, Andrew Cuomo and Senator Chuck Schumer.
Senator Chuck Schumer marching and bullhorning.
There were anemic cheers for the trickle of die-hard Bernie Sanders marchers and thunderous applause for Hillary Clinton’s tsunami of foot soldiers.
Message from member of Hillary contingent.
We did not see Hillary. She marched the last two blocks of the parade when she joined de Blasio and Cuomo at the route’s end in Greenwich Village.
This year, paying tribute to the victims of the shooting massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando was in the forefront of the march. The most moving homage to the victims was 49 silent marchers shrouded in white veils wearing signs with a photograph of each victim. It was like seeing 49 ghosts.
Haunting sight of 49 ghosts.
But it was far from a somber parade. The tragedy in Orlando seemed to inspire more people to march with both joyful abandon and a greater sense of purpose.
Dykes on bikes at parade’s start.
Joyful pedal pushers.
Guys on bikes.
Fancy footwear man.
The glad hatter.
Here comes the bride and bride.
Oh good, someone remembered to bring the double halo penis sign.
Queen for a day, or maybe forever.
Aching headdress.
Dry clean only.
Gays against guns.
Good idea.
Lame Adventures 
Hooray to return for a traditional post of the event. For the record, “Dry Clean Only” got my biggest laugh. Although humid as East BeJeeBees, I think the event here went without incident. Hope all is well with you and your new residence …. and don’t you now have AC?
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Yes, I have AC, Frank! It’s easy living over here. Even the weather at Pride was perfect.
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I assume you’ve started to identify a new set of regular characters.
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If you’re referring to my new residence, that’s a Sacred Space, Frank, rating vow of silence status. It’s about a hundred steps up from my old life in my shabby, not chic cramped hovel. This one has a wonderful live-in super, doormen waiting on me hand and and foot, elevators, laundry facilities and it’s even pigeon-free! I’m very content there. No way do I want to screw that up!
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Excellent that the new digs are a new life. Enjoy!!!!!
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A good time was had by all. Nice to see you back.
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Thanks!
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Yours is the only blog to which I subscribe. I missed you.
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Awww, thanks!
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Hi V! I always enjoy your Gay Pride Parade post. Hope all is well with you. I miss the NYC culture from your viewpoint!
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I’m glad you like my Pride posts, Cathy and thanks for checking in. Milton and I even scored free Shakespeare in the Park theater tickets on Saturday. Neither one of us had seen Shakespeare in Central Park in over ten years … but Milton hated this version of The Taming of the Shrew so much, he’d likely say, “I still haven’t seen Shakespeare in the Park in over ten years!” Suffice to say, a lot of liberties were taken with the Bard’s work and even though Milton left apoplectic, we still had some fun. I’ve just been too busy to crank posts about my continued LA’s.
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Thanks for this, your annual photo presentation, V. I always enjoy seeing the dress and the representations (who’s advocating what cause — or commercial entity). Glad Hillary marched a couple of blocks. The 49 Ghosts stands out. OK, and, yes, “dry clean only.” 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by Carol. I think what we’ll remember most from this year’s march is the 49 silent ghosts. It was very haunting and effective performance art.
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I’m glad you posted your annual NYC Gay Pride piece and with your usual wit and observance. The Orlando tribute must have been very somber and quite poignant.
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It started with marchers leading the procession carrying pictures of the 49 Orlando victims before the usual Dykes on Bikes kick-off. Many of the bikers also decorated their cycles with pictures of the victims. New York Pride was in solidarity with Orlando. That was very emotional, but the 49 ghosts marching in silence was absolutely haunting. We thought it was brilliant.
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Nice to see you back from your hiatus, V. As always your commentary is spot on and your pics and insights are as well. The fancy footwear requires superb balance I would imagine. Hope things are good with you!
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If I had animated that guy in the sky-high platforms, I think I would have added Acme-brand springs to guarantee a bounce in his strut, Brig! I might be returning back to my hiatus for another umpteen months (years? decades?). I’ve rediscovered how much I enjoy life outside the blogosphere. Thanks for checking in!
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Welcome back, LA! Good to see you again.
Your post covering the Pride event is as entertaining as always, ‘aching headdress’ and ‘dry clean only’ my two favourites. I also spotted the T-Mobile inflatable in a few of the shots, although it didn’t distract my entertainment any!
The 49 ghosts was a nice touch.
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Thanks Tom. It’s good to see you, too. That salami-sized inflatable was almost always on the move directly in front of our camera lenses. We tried to shoot around it as best we could. Sorry I haven’t been around your site much in quite a while. I am aware that you’re on a mission to write your 2000th post. Maybe after you cross that finish line, you’ll join my ranks and take a 2,000 day hiatus from blogging.
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I thought you might send out a blog about the NYC Gay Pride Parade. I check everyday hoping to see a new LA. I have no idea what it takes to do this, but you always put out something entertaining and current to read. It sounds like you are fading out of the blogosphere. Please stay.
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As the American philosopher behind a Taco Bell marketing campaign observed some years back, Tom, “Change is good.” I think that was in reference to a fifty cent savings on a pellet of taco seasoned with ingredients that could survive Armageddon, but that tag line remains deposited in my memory bank along with a lot of crummy 70s-era song lyrics. You may have also observed that I haven’t written a farewell post. I like leaving the door open.
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Looks like another great Pride parade. Gotta hand it to Fancy Footwear Man. I could never pull that off.
PS — I saw Taming of the Shrew in previews. Fantastic! But I reserve judgment until I get Milton’s take on it.
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I’m not fabulous enough to wear shoes like that, Jackie.
We saw Shrew’s second to last performance. Charismatic Cush Jumbo, who played fiery Katherina, was the highlight for us. This is the third time we’ve seen her on stage and she always delivers a spot on performance. Milton thought that the all-female casting was a gimmick that added nothing to the play other than proving that women can look as awful in ugly menswear as men. That said, next season at St. Ann’s Warehouse, Shrew’s director, Phyllida Lloyd, is directing Harriet Walter and an all-female cast in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. When I mentioned possibly seeing this to Milton, he gasped, “Never in a million years.” I pointed out that Cush has appeared in other of these all-female Shakespeare productions directed by Lloyd. To that, Milton admitted, “I would see her in anything.” To Milton’s way of thinking, this is definitely anything. And we might be going.
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The subject matter of Shrew can be difficult at best for modern women, so we thought that the all-female cast helped ease that uncomfortable feeling. We also thought the performance by Janet McTeer was great.
Bonus: The night we were there an entire family of raccoons came out from the side of the stage and sauntered off into the fields behind the theater.
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Milton thinks that if this 400+ year old play has to be distanced to the extreme degree that it was from Shakespeare’s original work, to avoid offending audience members (in this case, modern women), it shouldn’t be staged. He didn’t think casting all women added anything to it dramatically and dumbing it down by revising text and adding the farcical Donald Trump beauty pageant element probably made the Bard roll in his grave. I saw his point because aside from Cush Jumbo’s presence I wasn’t feeling it and I was predominantly bored. That said, we were thrilled to attend. We would have always wondered what we had missed. Also, THANK YOU for shedding light on the raccoons! There was a reference to them during the play but only audience members sitting several sections away from us seemed to get that joke. That had baffled us.
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Yay! You’re back! I’ve been coming here every day and pressing my nose against the glass, hoping to see you. This post and the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to boot out the horrible anti-women abortion laws here in Texas have truly made my week. Glad you’re enjoying your new digs!
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Hey, Melissa, it’s probably more like I’ve temporarily surfaced than fully returned. I agree: that was a great SUPCO decision! The new digs are wonderful. I’m running my a/c right now. How unusual for it to be almost July and I’m not feeling baked alive in the confines of my home.
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Good to see you back even briefly. So does your comfortable new life leave you with nothing to write about?
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Ha! Lois, I always have plenty to write about, but I’ve done more socializing over the course of the six months that I’ve been living in the cute new pad than in the entire 32 years that I lived in my old place. Add to that a longer commute to The Relocated Grind, I don’t have time to write. And I’ve been doing the unthinkable: going to bed at a sane hour.
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Sounds like you are happy and the move was a big improvement in your life. I miss reading your blog though, it was always quite entertaining.
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Lois, my move was a “yuge” improvement in my life! Epic in scale of improvement. Brokers out here often advertise small co-ops like mine as “starter apartments”. Considering that I nested 32 years and three months in my previous no-frills hovel, I’m pretty sure that this frill-filled palace is more of an “ender apartment” for me. I have no complaints about that! Milton recently reflected that I have such a nice setup now, including a great desk – the first desk I’ve ever owned in my adult life and I’m now 399 in dog years, I should write something. FYI: I have not officially ended this site.
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I’m sorry I missed this post when it came out. So glad to hear from you!! I love these pics, especially the fancy footwear dude. Love it! I always look forward to your adventures but understand that life and The Grind keep you busy. Can’t wait to hear what you and Milton have to say about Hamilton 🙂 I thought maybe I’d see you out here after The Tony Awards, just to read some laughs and insights. But whenever you’re out here I appreciate it 🙂
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Awww, that’s very sweet of you, Guat!
Because we’re members of the Public theater, Milton and I saw Hamilton for $50 in seventh row center orchestra seats when it debuted off-Broadway in winter 2015. We had better seats than Arianna Huffington and Michael Moore (they were also in our audience that night). As for the show, we were in our bliss. I thought it was an inventive, spot-on history lesson about the founding of this country. Milton entered the theater a grousing sourpuss because he hates hip hop and rap, but he was so into it, three times he was moved to tears. It is the best new musical of this millennium. All the hype is true. Nothing comes close to it. Unfortunately, thanks to all the hype, we can’t afford to see it on Broadway. Whenever tickets become available, it sells out in a nano-second and the ticket prices are stratospheric. We have been playing the $10 ticket lottery for several months, but about 10,000 people enter per day for those 21 tickets. We’ve yet to win, but hey, we keep trying!
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Duuuuuuuuude how awesome is that … you had better seats than Michael Moore. That’s crazy. 🙂 But so glad you got a chance to see it. It’s coming to my neck of the woods too and as you guessed it … the prices are crazy so we’ll see how things pan out here for that adventure. But seeing how you thought it was super awesome … maybe I’ll keep playing the lottery and get lucky. 🙂 Good to hear from you buddy!!
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If you can somehow score tickets to the roadshow production, make sure to get a sitter for the wee ones. I think you’d love this show. It’s a home run.
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I was overwhelmed with joy to see a new blog post–especially the traditional pride parade update! Glad to hear your new life is going swimmingly-even if it’s a very busy life. Looking forward to the next update (no pressure….).
PS Hamilton? You lucky dog. Fingers crossed to win a Broadway viewing.
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Thanks for checking in and commenting, Sarah! Winning the Hamilton lottery is a long shot, but at least entering is our second favorite 4-letter f-word: free.
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I happy to see you come out of your extended hiatus for this! It wouldn’t be the same without you.
The ‘ghosts’ simply make me sad, again. It was a moving tribute.
Hope all is well in your world
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The ghosts are what we’ll remember most from this year’s Pride, Val. That was very effective.
All is well over here. Even the weather.
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Nice to see a post from you. Like Texas Trailer Trash (what would the Arkansas equivalent be?), I’ve been checking in frequently hoping you’d surface for oxygen at some point in time.
I liked your comment about major corporations jumping on the Pride sponsorship bandwagon. The company I work for did so at the Chicago Pride parade. And which product would you guess they chose to flaunt at this event? Why, jumbo hotdogs, of course. 🙂
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Hey, Russell, that’s Milton’s favorite food next to a manwich! … Gotta admit, that only sounded good. In all the years and the many meals I’ve eaten with Milton, I can’t remember ever once having a hot dog.
I’m inclined to label one Arkansas-an Bumbling Blowhard Bubba. What was that imbecile thinking when he jawboned Loretta Lynch on that tarmac for half an hour?!? Probably the usual: he’s above the rules.
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We are known to be long-winded. Ask us what time it is and we’ll tell you how to make a watch.
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