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Author June 24: Coney Island Mermaid Parade
adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003

Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
6/12/2006 6:10:45 PM
Hiya, folks -

Just jumping in to remind you that Coney Island's biggest annual summertime event, the Mermaid Parade, will take place on Saturday, June 24th. If you've never attended this event, I can assure you that you're missing out on One Great Party. Thousands of people come from far and near to check out some of the most outlandish, creative, and semi-nude exhibitionists ever to participate in any public event - Surf Avenue is ruled by burlesque hilarity for the entire day. Add to this kookiness some beautiful classic cars, the occasional celebrity, marching bands, freaks, sideshow performers, unbelievable costumes and floats - and me, marching in the parade with my Coney Island Polar Bear brethren. This is a completely free event to watch, and, I totally promise, you'll never see anything else quite like it. Here's a link - hope it works:

http://www.coneyisland.com/mermaid.shtml

Hope to see you there - you are assured of a completely indescribable experience!!!

--------------------
"Coney Island is the most human thing that God ever made... or permitted the devil to make." - Richard LeGallienne
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002

Rank: Experiment 626
6/21/2006 12:09:31 AM
Watch what you wish for. Looks like I will be taking a ride up, I've not been in several years and could use a hit of debauchery that you get at this event.
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/21/2006 12:11:48 AM
I'm jealous - I pulled it up on the web months ago & have had an awful hankering, but of course I've gotta work. You must both report back!
hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005

Rank: Platinum Critic
6/21/2006 9:08:01 AM
myself and the misses will be there also.
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002

Rank: Experiment 626
6/21/2006 12:03:44 PM
My question is, is Adriahna going as a mermaid, a polor bear, or both?

So, anyway, we need to set a time and place to meet.
adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003

Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
6/21/2006 7:30:56 PM
I am going as an Edwardian bathing beauty, all the way down to the authentic 1912 bathing costume. As hrry and the misses will be staying overnight on Friday, they will be treated, if you will, to the sight of me in curlers in preparation... yeesh.

As well, Cyclonic, if you will be actually hanging out to watch the parade, look for me marching with the Polar Bears - you can't miss us. Just don't look for me with the Ice Breakers coldwater swimmers - I don't go in for imitations. Yeah, there's a sort of weird rivalry between the clubs...

Anyhow, I am TOTALLY up for shindigging and a good Cyclone ride in full vintage getup after the parade, to say the least.
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/25/2006 3:13:51 AM
Ok, lads & lasses, it is now the 25th - spill your experiences.
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002

Rank: Experiment 626
6/25/2006 3:58:36 AM
Well, photos are up:

http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/gallery/1597455

I'll write a report once some sleep has been had.
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/25/2006 4:07:17 AM
Cyclo, thanks! Were there that few mer-men, or are you just biased towards pics of maids with large. . .oh, never mind .
Message updated 6/25/2006 4:07:40 AM by erinys
adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003

Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
6/25/2006 9:37:10 AM
So cool - I can't wait to read your report. The pics are great, and I had a really great time seeing you, hrry and the misses... just a great time, rain or shine.
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002

Rank: Experiment 626
6/25/2006 4:46:37 PM
Coney Island Mermaid Parade
June 24, 2006



I am not sure you could ask for a more gloomy day for a parade. Typically, it is bright, sunny, and hot, but no, not today. While it was warm, a hazy gloom fell upon Coney Island, and a blanket of fog rolled in and out of the beach.



That, however, did not dampen the spirits of the marchers.

I got to Coney a little after 11AM. I usually park on the street, but instead decided to park in the aquarium’s lot. It used to be that parking there was cheap, but you had to get there early. Well, no longer. Now it is a whooping 22 bucks, but that comes with a free ticket to the aquarium, making parking ten if you actually wanted to visit the aquarium, which, really, I didn’t. But, since I was so early, I ended up deciding to go in anyway.

The aquarium is nothing really exciting, but I did manage to get some very nice photos.









After leaving the aquarium, I wondered around the parks for a while, keeping my eye pealed for the Liberian Goddess (AKA adriahea AKA Danielle) and the Chechnyan Rebel (AKA hrrytraver AKA Tom), but found neither before the parade started.

I am not sure how to best describe what the parade is. If you are from Philly like me, it is best described as New York’s version of the Mummer’s, on a smaller scale, and with just the comics. They call it an “street art” parade, which I suppose works. All I can really tell you is you have to see it for yourself.

I started out watching the parade from the boardwalk near Astroland, but the press photographers were also there and kept getting in the way, so I headed further and further down the boardwalk toward the end where I could get some clear shots, so here they are:

The official unofficial Mayor of Coney Island:



I call these Lobster Ladies:



The King and Queen:



Some dancing beach bums:



Having a great time:



Mer-Mateys:



Dead men tell no tales:



Not sure what these ladies were:



Finally, a few Mermaids, little mermaid, big tail:



Mermaid Suffragettes:



More mermaids:





























Along the route I meet up wit
Message updated 6/25/2006 4:49:34 PM by Cyclonic
adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003

Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
6/25/2006 6:57:53 PM
Sweet!!! What a fun, kooky day - rain or shine, Coney's the place to be. I love all of these pics - your photo reports are always great, and I love that I'm in a couple of them...
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/25/2006 7:22:46 PM
Great TR! Thanks so much for pics & narrative!
darkridrMD
Posts: 720
Registered: 7/12/2004

Rank: Gold Critic
6/25/2006 8:24:55 PM
Danielle- Great job on the sign. It looks fantastic!
hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005

Rank: Platinum Critic
6/25/2006 10:51:26 PM
the molecular designs and mortal manifestations of hrrytraver and adriahna have been revealed! even the earthy identity of jackie traver makes an appearance. fortunately i was wearing my "tourist" hawaiian t-shirt to throw the vast russian population of coney island and brighton beach off of my scent of chechnyan secession. nonetheless still my image was captured by the nikon of cyclonic (incidentally nikon is the name of one of the key historical figures of the russian orthodox church).

i agree the day was fine and made better by the convergence of TPC personalities. it was not of day of rides unfortunately, but it was a day rare fleeting beauty, buttcheeks, nipples, freak flag flying, foreboding mysterious weather and righteous coney hot dogs.

meeting cyclonic was a great pleasure for me, because i cherish the process of seeing my expecations about someone whom i've familiarized myself with to a certain extent while sitting in my secret underground fortress staring at a computer screen come face to face with the reality of seeing that person somewhere out in the wild world we live in.

due to reading certain idealogy oriented posts from cyclonic (whose earth name i shall not mention, although he casually spits out member's names so as not to protect the innocent) i pictured in my mind someone who looked not unlike rush limbaugh.

this expectation was overturned when i met the warm friendly slightly goateed guy in a pirate outfit. no politics were discussed and no one got hurt! but i wish to say to cyclonic right now - i'm not a democrat, i'm a socially-progessive-chaos-worshipping-libertarian!

i agree with erin and adriahna in that your photo report was great, cyclonic! somehow your pictures turned out more "PG-13" than mine did, though. maybe my...ahem, "camera", just seems to seek out bare fat rolls and thongs and that sort of thing.

i uploaded this 25 second vid to youtube. this women was all over coney island yesterday. jackie traver and myself found her to be a highlight. she just really seemed in her own world...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuD8sg9tU5g

lastly, i want to share with TPC coffee fans that i had two fine cups of coffee yesterday. the first cup, attained in manhattan, was a bitchin americano from a closet-sized coffee shop near the famous basketball courts by the entrance to the west 4th street "f" line subway station. the second cup was a regular brewed coffee that was attained while at the mermaid parade from one of the famous new york "mud trucks", the nyc coffee equivalent of an ice cream truck. both cups, while not as smooth and psychedelically magical as my hrry homebrew, hit the sopt on a grey new york afternoon.

i would say the mermaid parade was a success. ineedn't say that coney island is high on my list of transcendental locations.

Message updated 6/25/2006 11:10:51 PM by hrrytraver
adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003

Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
6/25/2006 11:05:29 PM
That video is AWESOME. I'm saddened that, by being in the parade, I traded in the opportunity of checking out the crazy, half-nekkid participants as they marched by. What a completely amazing day.

Oh, and thanks, darkridr!!! It was fun seeing the sign up and doing its thing.
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/25/2006 11:37:51 PM
The video was great!!! Think I just had a flashback to my Dead show days (which may indicate a chaos loving, socially libertarian past, or it may just indicate I'm old, ya just never know).

I particularly enjoyed the combination of Hawaiian shirt & camo pants. What does jackie's shirt say - I can't make it out? Any chance chaos+shirt indicate a penchant for chaotic, non-bright, sunny coaster amusements that usually reach their peak around Samhain (instead of year-round, as some of us long for)?

A pirate outfit? Hmmm, guess I've known (but not 'known') conservatives in pirate attire before (in addition to the Crimson Mutual Assurance theatrical type); there could be some significance to that. I somehow pictured a younger, thinner, more attractive Rush Limbaugh, but close enough. I can picture Rush in pirate attire too, though. I can picture most men in pirate attire. Could be genetic, since 2 of my more well-known ancestors were pirates. Please call me IMMEDIATELY if anyone comes across some Roman centurions in their travels....
Message updated 6/26/2006 1:09:27 AM by erinys
Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004

Rank: Gold Critic
6/26/2006 1:49:12 AM
I'm getting all misty here seeing my old stomping grounds. Good to know some things haven't changed. God help us all if Coney Island ever gets the Disney treatment that Times Square got. Great job on the visuals and commentary, folks. Nice to put some faces to the pseudonyms.

By the way, ht, on the subject of the proprietary roach coach brews, why do you think they call it the City that Never Sleeps? Good, medicinal stuff, that street joe.
hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005

Rank: Platinum Critic
6/26/2006 1:38:07 PM
^thanks for checking out the vid.

Quote:
erinys said:
What does jackie's shirt say - I can't make it out? Any chance chaos+shirt indicate a penchant for chaotic, non-bright, sunny coaster amusements that usually reach their peak around Samhain (instead of year-round, as some of us long for)?


jackie's shirt says "bird songs of the bauharoque" - very difficult to explain. i think i really want to answer the second question in that paragraph, but it may need to be reworded for me to understand it. i love "chance", and i love "chaos" because i feel that human existence is governed by processes that are unpredictable, but i don't love the "chance chaos", because i'm not a big fan of spinny flat rides.

Quote:
erinys:
I can picture most men in pirate attire.


seems understandable.

Quote:
erinys:
Please call me IMMEDIATELY if anyone comes across some Roman centurions in their travels....


will do, but i think it should be easy enough to arrange a household "caligula" or "jesus christ superstar" with mr. ys, no?

--------------------
"I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." jesse helms 1999
Message updated 6/26/2006 1:43:34 PM by hrrytraver
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/26/2006 8:18:57 PM
My frequent companion is a darkridr of Scorpionic birth & the Furies, born either as the daughters of Nyx or from the spilt blood of Ouranos when he was castrated, provided my moniker - my inquiry probably has a chthonic theme. It is unnatural for me to enter bright, sunny, cheerful theme parks full of happy, laughing children instead of dank dungeons filled with fanged and clawed creatures, but I like being upside down & going fast. Yet I am not a goth, just a geek.

And mr. ys (we shall call him thor), to whom I was joined by a witch, has a lovely little number that I've seen a few too many times. I need visual variety, something a little more, perhaps, chaotic. You can meet thor here.
Message updated 6/27/2006 8:38:50 AM by erinys
hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005

Rank: Platinum Critic
6/27/2006 9:32:43 AM
ms. traver and myself usually stick out like sore thumbs in amusements parks (too old to be there without kids, no gap, old navy or abercrombie camouflage), but we would equally stand out in an s&m dungeon, goth dance club, or renn-fest. we have no home in this world. however, certain places such as the dirty, ancient carny vibrations of coney island or a third world open air junk bazaar better approximate our "spiritual home" than a six flags or solstice ceremony.

p.s. awesome outfit on yer husband.
Message updated 6/27/2006 10:09:55 AM by hrrytraver
erinys
Posts: 230
Registered: 9/28/2005

Rank: Bronze Critic
6/27/2006 2:18:54 PM
Quote:
hrrytraver said:
however, certain places such as the dirty, ancient carny vibrations of coney island or a third world open air junk bazaar better approximate our "spiritual home"
In that case I'm not sure you'll be visiting us during our next hotel stay in NYC. But our next hotel stay will most probably be a Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill, so that's not really relevant.

Gap, old navy or abercrombie - what are these things? I'm araid I have an allergy of sorts to malls. And while a renn-fest may be bearable, no place felt like a good fit until we found a touristy dark spot in the village, a social club for explorers and mad scientists if anyone should fall into either of those categories. In between, a number of seasonal attractions with names like Scareworld suffice. It does appear will there will be no pilgrimage to our favorite watering hole on our next trip to NY, focusing instead on some of the very amusements described so affectionately here.
Message updated 6/27/2006 3:03:12 PM by erinys
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