I'm Somewhat Ambivalent About a Parade

Yellowbird

Yellowbird

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
296
Location
Wooster, OH
Display Name
Display name:
Yellowbird
But I’ll be marching in one anyway: the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City on Tuesday the 17th. If you’ve nothing better to do, the parade will be webcast live starting at 11:00 am, eastern time at www.nycstpatricksparade.org.

I’ll be marching as part of the Air National Guard Band. We’ll be right behind the US Air Force drill team, somewhat near the front of the parade, maybe the 14th or 15th band from the front. I’ll be in back, playing tuba on the left side.
 
Don't slip in any horse****. That stuff is slippery!

Have fun. I haven't done a parade since the Rose Parade in 1986. Televised parades are brutal…

And I modestly took my place
as the one and only bass
and I oom-pahed up and down the square
 
I'm not a big fan of parades. Closing down the streets so people can walk on them makes as much sense as closing down the sidewalks so cars can drive on them.

Rich
 
St Patrick's Day Is THE event for NYC college students.

Big drunken blow out.

Probably some stupid white guys will say something mean and henning will go crazy claiming that it proves the end of mankind is nigh.
 
MAKG1 said:
Don't slip in any horse****. That stuff is slippery!
Click to expand...


In high school, I always hoped our band would be at the front of the parade for that very reason. By the end of the parade it was messy!
 
MAKG1 said:
Don't slip in any horse****. That stuff is slippery!

Have fun. I haven't done a parade since the Rose Parade in 1986. Televised parades are brutal…

And I modestly took my place
as the one and only bass
and I oom-pahed up and down the square
Click to expand...

I did the Rose Parade with the LA All-City Band in 1983 and 1984. In 1983, I twisted my ankle on an elephant turd just as we entered the camera zone. There was no way I was missing out on that experience, so I did the whole thing. The swelling was terrible, but the memories were awesome.

I was one of about a bajillion trombones in that band.
 
Always partial to two of Streisand's parade songs from the Movie Musicals.

Hello Dolly: Before the Parade Passes By
Funny Girl: Don't Rain on My Parade.

I was working communications for one of the local parades once. I was working the staging area and when one of the last units moved out (a Fire Engine), I hopped on the tailboard and rode the parade route (much to the amusements of the other communications guys).
 
There will be a parade outside of my window at my office today. Don't any of these drunks have jobs?
 
Parade.jpg

And so it begins. Here are some drunk cops riding their motorcycles recklessly in disregard of all traffic laws. Note the drunk in the middle standing up on his bike.


If the cops can't keep it together, what signal does this send to the rest of the citizens?
 
Last edited:
Stevel said:
I did the Rose Parade with the LA All-City Band in 1983 and 1984. In 1983, I twisted my ankle on an elephant turd just as we entered the camera zone. There was no way I was missing out on that experience, so I did the whole thing. The swelling was terrible, but the memories were awesome.

I was one of about a bajillion trombones in that band.
Click to expand...

I led off the parade in the front row (yes, another trombonist) of the PCC Tournament of Roses Band. That means no horse ****, but a bit over 6 miles of pain and playing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" a gazillion times. And as a line leader, if I get out of line, everyone else behind makes it real obvious. And of course the TV camera dudes were always in the way. I only kicked two of them….

I wasn't in LA City, so All-City wasn't an option. Though I lived less than three blocks outside the city limit, not far from KTOA.

For those who have never done this parade, the camera zone is about two miles long, and you are expected to play constantly through it or get covered up by an advertisement. All while negotiating a corner at Orange Grove & Colorado, and dodging (or not) TV camera crews, the occasional cop, and big turds. Oh, and if you screw up, it's on national TV.
 
Last edited:
MAKG1 said:
For those who have never done this parade, the camera zone is about two miles long, and you are expected to play constantly through it or get covered up by an advertisement. All while negotiating a 105 degree corner at Orange Grove & Colorado, and dodging (or not) TV camera crews, the occasional cop, and big turds. Oh, and if you screw up, it's on national TV.
Click to expand...

FTFY

The same year that I twisted my ankle we had a Sousaphone player who had a worse day.

We always played at Disneyland on New Year's Eve, got dropped off a couple of miles from home at 20:30 and had to be back at that same spot at 04:00.

This guy decides that he isn't really going to get much sleep anyway, so he goes to an Oingo Boingo concert instead of bed. He parties a little too much and then shows up for parade duty.

We hadn't gone more than 100 yards when coming out of the shadows and into the sun, coupled with a bit of physical exertion, caused him to warm up enough to spin his world a bit too much. As we were just starting into the camera zone at the time, he did everything he could, for the most part successfully, to PUKE THROUGH HIS SOUSAPHONE.

Being the trooper of the-show-must-go-on variety that he was, he kept the mouthpiece up to his face and pretended to play until we were through the camera zone, when he then dropped out of the parade.

We also did the pre-game show for the Super Bowl that year (XVII). I think every adult that had anything to do with the band checked him over nine ways till Sunday before they let him onto the bus that day.

Just to add one more layer to the tale, the kid went to Van Nuys High, which is the school that they used for all of the exterior scenes for Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

MEMORIES!!! :yes:
 
Back when I was in high school, we used to refer to the Saint Patrick's Day as a two mile activity with an IQ of three.
 
LoneAspen said:
ROFL - There's a sentence I never thought I'd read.
Click to expand...

Yeah, who knew?

Those things are cannonballs of barely damp hay. I wonder if they put them on a special diet before a public appearance in order to create the least objectionable, and easily manageable droppings. I bet that the only reason that they hadn't already picked this one up was because they figured that the next equestrian unit to come along would stop and eat it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top