The Theme was Mardi Gras

I realized last night that I forgot to discuss the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade we went to on Monday night so figured I should go ahead and do that now, before I forget what it was like. One of the most interesting aspects of living in the Village is that half of the time you don't know who is in costume, and who dresses like that seriously. There are so many transsexuals/vestites down here that I wasn't sure who to compliment and who to leave alone. I didn't dress up for it. After the wedding I was way too tired to even put on half the costume. So I dressed as myself in jeans and a fleece and went out with friends who were also dressed as themselves. We went to eat at Dojo Restaurant, this great little Japanese place that also serves burgers. Very odd combination, but who am I to judge? It's also one of the cheapest restaurants in the Village, which makes it very appealing to us.

We walked back towards my apartment, and since I'm only a couple of blocks away from where the parade was taking place we quickly ran into the crowds. I will say Kudos to the NYPD. They were fabulous- no angst, no unneccessary yelling, and they were even joking around with the costumed people. There were little kids out and about and people who had dressed their dogs in costume as well or dyed them or something along those lines. It was insanity. I read in the paper that about 2 million people participate in the parade each year, making Chapel Hill's measly 75,000 look just that. We were squeezed and pushed along, kind of back and forth on West 4th Street and just watched as the costumed moved along. The way it worked was there were floats and marching bands that would come along, and in between them, costumed citizens would also walk, waving. I saw a "safari" group complete with a giant giraffe, JetBlue who had apparently allowed about twenty people to dress out as little white and blue airplanes, a fabulous Zebra man, just to name a few. But many of the costumes did involve cross-dressing and this is where the lines became a little blurry. Because I wasn't quite sure who was doing it just for Halloween and who did that every night in the Village.

I did think, however, that I would make a list of my favorite costumes, not in any particular order, just as I think of them.

1) Da Looterz- this was a guy in a 'fro wig, large rain boots, pushing a cart with a TV, clothes with the tags on, and OJ in it
(The political theme this year really did revolve around Katrina, which I suppose was a branch of Mardi Gras)

2) Mary Kate- how do you NOT appreciate a skinny boy dressing out in "dumpster chic" clothes (that probably legitamately came from a dumpster as opposed to Roberto Cavalli), huge bug-eyed sunglasses, and a Starbucks cup, screaming at his friends that he couldn't eat dinner with them, he was ANOREXIC. It was amazing. He had this great long, greasy looking blond wig with a kerchief on it or something.

3) Centaur from MidSummer Night's Dream- We are pretty sure this guy was on acid or ex. He danced around with those little Buddhist chimes, and was wearing a nude body suit with hair glued on it and little horns on top of his head. He had also grown out his facial hair. He danced up and down 4th street for about an hour that we saw before we left, and I have no clue if he had friends with him.

4) A Pimp- Yes, this is generally considered unoriginal but this guy had 10" platforms (glitter, of course), a huge velvet hat, full length red velvet and fur coat over his velvet pantsuit with plenty of bling and a beautiful cane that could double as a scepter. He also had the walk.

What made this event so great was the festive mood. Everyone was thrilled to be out, it was a beautiful and surprisingly warm night and we were okay being crowded in the streets. Bars were spilling out of their doors but no one had gotten too drunk yet, or that we noticed, and the marching bands were really well coordinated. That's one thing I can say about New York that can't be said about any other place in the world. It throws a party like you would not believe. And it throws them with every holiday. I mean, how many other places celebrate holidays like Columbus Day and Brazilian day by shutting down the main sections of Mid-Town and closing Public Schools? It's amazing that with all the bad things that happen, murders, war, car wrecks and cab drivers, New York rises above it all by celebrating anyway.