2 posts tagged “parade”

This was a good weekend. I am going to mention a bunch of people's names - they're mostly co-workers, don't worry.

We had wanted to see WALL-E on Friday, and even arranged to do so with our friends Jason and Brad, but two things transpired to prevent us. First, the showing we wanted to go to sold out right before I could order tickets online. Then Jason had to stay late at work because of a production issue. In the end, we just ate at Chili's (mmm, bacon and beef in a bun) then watched an entire disc of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Saturday was chores day, so we tidied the crap out of the house, got lunch then Jess went home while I got a haircut. My mane was growing increasingly impossible to deal with and horrible to look at, so it had to be removed. We didn't get long to bum around before we met Doug, got in a cab and headed to Lindsay and Laura's surprise birthday party... at WHIRLYBALL!!!

Whirlyball is awesome. You're in a dodgem car that has a foot pedal and a crank for steering. While steering with one hand, you hold a plastic lacrosse-style net and attempt to throw a small ball at a circle of mesh on a baseball backboard with the other. As well as Jess, Doug, Lindsay, Laura and myself, there was Jeff, Lindsay's husband Doug and a ton of their friends and family. I felt slightly odd crashing into a cousin or brother in an attempt to get the ball, but it was wicked fun. I think I have found my "sport".

Also, for the record, Lindsay's dad owned.

From there, we headed to a bar called Schoolyard for the drinking. More and more people came along as the night progressed - Kristian, Jason, Brad, Brandon, other Jason, Mike and Betsy, and more of the birthday girls' family and friends. Everyone seemed to get along, and we were out till after midnight, at which point we turned into (very drunk) pumpkins and made our way home.

I woke up feeling as fit as a fiddle, possibly aided by drinking piss weak Miller Light all night, but Jess seemed mucho hungovero. Despite that, we managed to get our shit together and walk on up to the corner near Jason and Brad's place to watch the Chicago Gay Pride Parade. The parade had only just started when we got there, and it turned out to be a long old haul. People joined us - Kristian and his brother Kristopher, Jason and Brad's friend Karen, Doug and his friend Jess, another girl called Shelly... I have no idea who she was.

Several hours and two rain-induced interuptions later, we headed to get food, eating at a pizza place called Purgatory Pizza. We were ravenous, and after waving other people's food by our faces for what seemed like forever, they finally brought our pizza out... except they got it wrong. In the end, they gave us the wrong pizza, a smaller version of what we actually ordered and all our drinks for $6. We felt bad, though, and left a huge tip. The pizza itself was tasty... with a really crispy base.

And that was our weekend.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to Sparta's Butterfest. Sparta is Jess' home town, and being a small city in Wisconsin, it was only natural that its annual fair be named after a dairy product.

While the fair itself was mostly rained out, the sun was out for the parade on the Sunday. Being my first real parade in the good ol' US of A, I was not fully prepared for the Shriners (aka Freemasons) in their little cars; the barage of sweets and chocolate milk; or the local Republican candidate handing out flyers that just said his name and that he's Pro-Life. I kid you not.

It was actually pretty fun, sitting on the pavement in little chairs, clapping and watching the assorted floats, vintage emergency services vehicles and marching bands go by. The only similar thing I can really recall enjoying was Lewes Bonfire Night back home.

This weekend in Chicago, we're getting a different kind of fest - Chicago Pride - and Jess and I are going to the parade on Sunday. Of course, having been to another parade, I am wondering what the gays could possibly do to top fez-wearing go kart drivers and one-note, Right Wing politicians. Will they throw condoms and arseless leather chaps into the throngs of spectators? Will they have the characters from The Wizard Of Oz driving little penis-shaped go karts? I can only hope.

While I do jest, it's still amazing to me that Chicago is such a gay-friendly city. I always assumed the US was still very homophobic based on their reluctance to endorse civil unions and so forth.