Monday's Memo: Happy 91st B'day, Mickey!

This past Tuesday I announced that an article of mine re the 2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade participants had been published by iLovetheUpperWestside.com on November tenth.

Now, a little over a week later, after my article appeared, I've been reminded that a comic character (Mickey Mouse) from a former balloon within the Macy's Parade turns ninety-one today!

He can be seen in the photo atop today's entry greeting the residents of an apartment building on Central Park West when he participated in the parade in 2012 (unfortunately he is not scheduled to appear this year).

Happy 90th Birthday, Mickey Mouse!

It is Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday today (having been born on 11-18-1928). And in 1934, when he was only six years old he appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, "making him the third pop-culture character to have a licensed balloon in the parade. This balloon was 40 feet high, 26 feet wide, and required 25 handlers...

... A second balloon, which was slightly more colorful, was created and test flighted in 1971 and was originally supposed to debut that year to celebrate the opening of the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, but due to the weather all balloons had to be grounded, and so it debuted in 1972, appearing alongside his pal Donald Duck. 1935 and 1972 are the only years in the parades history where Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse both appeared in the parade together as balloons. The balloon continued to be used until after the 1983 parade...

... After 17 years of absence, Mickey returned in 2000 with a "Bandleader" balloon, which led that year's balloon lineup. This balloon did not return after that year...

...Several years later, a fourth balloon of Mickey was made, depicting him as a sailor; it debuted in 2009 to celebrate the announcement of the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy cruise ships. This new Mickey was retired in 2012, as both ships had set sail by that time." 

(More info @ http://bit.ly/2qPUDaw)

For  your information, dear reader, the image you see atop this blog posting is of Mickey rendered as a balloon was taken just before he retired in 2012. As you can see, he peers into windows!

Honoring Mickey Mouse ETC

Hello, dear reader, and welcome to my blog post for November the eighteenth. I've been unable to post for a couple of days, because it is the second time this month that there was a power outage in my hood, and I had no Internet access. Hopefully this time everything has been fixed by Verizon. In any event, I'm back on Blogger in time to give a shout out to Mickey Mouse, as today is the anniversary of the first appearance of this well known cartoon character.

Tuesday Truths WK 55: This recent red light will not stop me!

Hello, and welcome to the fifty-seventh week of my Tuesday's Truths series which I'm posting at night! I apologize to readers who might've been expecting me to publish an entry earlier in the day, which is my standard — at least for my Tuesday's Truth series.

The truth for this week is that I'm in the middle of embarking on a new path after having received a red light for a book project that I was helping Cam's daughter with. Ever since June 9th 2017, I've been going back and forth with a big company, in order to get their permission for Cam's daughter to use images that I took over the course of a couple years of their public event (a parade), which is very well known by people all over the world.

Therefore, even though the pictures which Cam's daughter wanted to include in her story, are all taken by me, I had to get their permission, as their event is considered a trademark. Most folks had thought I would not have a problem, and that Cam's daughter could use my photos under a clause for fair use, but it seems that's not the case.

Happy Mickey Mouse Day with this Reminder: 06 DAYS UNTIL THE PARADE

Today, November the 18th, is known to some as Mickey Mouse Day. This day has been set aside to acknowledge Mickey Mouse, because, according to Wiki, Mickey's first appearance was in Walt Disney's Steamboat Willy in 1928. 

Just six years later, in November of 1934, Mickey agreed to have his image rendered into a Macy's ballon, in order to be represented in The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. He has been represented in the parade for many years (not all but most) since that time, including the year of  2013, when I took the image that is atop this entry. Be that as it may, I anticipate that if I go to this year's parade, which is six days away, that I will see Mickey Mouse.

Change of Heart?

(Note the "scratches" you may think you are seeing are strings supporting "Bob")

It seems Sponge Bob (pictured above) was as surprised to see me as I was to see him yesterday morning, a "mild" one (weather wise) for Thanksgiving! For on this particular holiday, in bygone years in New York City, where I live, weather conditions have often been either rainy or windy or both, not exactly a "comfortable" atmosphere for a parade — especially one so huge as the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Sponge Bob is one of the participants in the parade, and since I have not watched television since the 1980's, I don't know much about him. I'm more familiar with good ol' Charlie Brown, the beloved Charles Schulz character who is pictured below, where he can be seen "marching" in yesterday's parade.

(Note the "scratches" you may think you are seeing are strings supporting CB)

Although I now live very close to part of the route of the Macy's Parade, it is an event that I prefer not to make an effort to attend, as the crowds are often massive, as well as aggressive. 

Be that as it may, one of the first times I made an effort to go to the parade was when my grandmother's sister (and hence my great aunt) Ruth came to New York City to visit me. 

The time period was during one of my first few years of living in Manhattan, and during those years I was living in a rooming house (or SRO as "we" refer to them in the city). It was a miserable place to live, but I managed to procure a room for Ruth, and she insisted we navigate the crowds to travel and to see the parade — even though it was very windy and rain was pouring down.