Throwback Thursday: Thanksgiving 2019's Circumstances Compared to Now (April 2020)

THE MACYS PARADE SINCLAIR DINOSAUR 

What a difference a day or evening makes! Just a little over six months (on the 11-27-2020 which was the Eve of Thanksgiving) ago on the UWS in NYC, a number of folks were looking out their windows to cheer and applaud the balloons being blown up for the 2020 Macys Thanksgiving  Parade (an example can be seen in the image atop this post.

Thousands of people crowded the area to get an up close view of the annual Thanksgiving Eve event. At that time the biggest concern NYC seemed to have was whether or not the balloons would be able to fly because of the prevailing high winds.

Last night many NYC residents (like myself) looked out their windows or stood on their terraces (some can be seen in the next series of pictures) to participate in the nightly #ClapBecauseWeCare tribute.

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

JULIE, THE WOMAN WHO TOOK PHOTO-OP S OF MY GARDEN
SEE THEM BY CLICKING HERE AND HERE 

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

GIUSEPPE AND TERESA
(He has taken a video of a session from his window.)

In doing so our concerns were much greater than that of would or wouldn't a Macy's ballon be allowed to "fly"?

Three Days After... Photographs & Musings: Macy's 2016 Thanksgiving Parade Part Two-B

Welcome to the conclusion of my coverage re my experiences with the 2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. If you follow this blog, then you know that every day from November 15th 2016 through the eve of Thanksgiving (November 23rd 2016), I provided posts with cool information regarding the participants (mostly the character balloons and novelty balloons). And on Thanksgiving Day, as well as the day after, my blog entries were centered on what took place during this year's parade. Today's blog entry will be my last one for the 2016 year of this particular event.

The Day After... Photographs & Musings: Macy's 2016 Thanksgiving Parade Part Two-A

It's the day after Thanksgiving, a day that has long been called Black Friday, which is a topic that I've written about in bygone years here on Blogger. However, within this blog post for the day after Thanksgiving  or Black Friday, I will not be covering that subject. Rather, I will fulfill my promise that I made in yesterday's entry, which was that I would continue my coverage of the 2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Part of what I state in the aforementioned blog post is that two brand new characters have been rendered into Macy's balloons, and yesterday they made their debut in this venue! Those characters are Trixie the Dog as well as the Dreamworks Trolls. They can be seen (in the images posted atop this entry) making their way down the streets of NYC with trees from near by Central Park as their "back drop.

As you can see the features of Trixie the Dog as well as her tag (top image) are almost as as big as a traffic light! In any event, you can also see that both character balloons are "flew" much lower than usual this year. This often happens during windy connection or near to the starting point of the parade, which is where these pictures were taken.

GOOD GRIEF! It's February 12th Again!

Last year, on February 12th 2016, my post here on Blogger featured the very same photograph seen here (above), atop that particular entry. The image is of a Macy's Ballon rendered in the likeness of Charlie Brown for one of The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. On last year's blog post, this image was followed by pictures of other balloons featured in Macy's Parades. The ones I am referring to were designed in the likeness of Snoopy and Woodstock. And in that entry I stated: "The pictures posted atop today's entry, February the 12th of 2016 are in honor of Charles Schultz who lived on this earth between the years 11/26/1922—2/12/2000, but, to this day, lives on in the hearts and minds of countless people."

A year has passed since the aforementioned blog post; and the legacy of Schultz, as well as the cast of characters he created, continue to inspire and delight innumerable people! Moreover, the ballon rendered to look like Charlie Brown recently got a make-over; and, it was the leader in this past Macy's Thanksgiving Parade! The following pictures feature Charlie Brown's new "balloon look."

As you can see, he now carries his beloved kite. Charlie Brown's efforts to fly a kite were so heart wrenching! This is a topic, I covered in a post on Go Fly a Kite Day, which was February the eighth. 

Be that as it may, in terms of Charlie Brown's latest role in The Macy's Parade, he came close to side-swiping a lamp post (as seen below).

Now that's what I call a Good Grief moment! However, Charlie Brown did not give into his usual rhetoric of putting himself down! Instead he joked about giving those whom he was leading down the parade's route, a green light!

It was great to see him persevering in his role of parade leader. Often Snoopy and Woodstock bring up the rear when participating in the parade, but at this past November's event, they were no where in sight!

It's Pokémon's Anniversary

The creation of Pokémon took place on this day of February 27th in 1996. I confess that I don't know anything about Pokémon or the character Pikachu, but I recognize the fact that there is a huge community out there who apppreciate this phenomenon, and so I'm sharing what I know about it, which is limited to my seeing Pikachu in a few Macy's Parades. 

I first saw the character in this venue when I attended the 2014 Macy's Parade and took note of how he could be considered a voyeurs. This is something as you might also surmise from the photo-op atop this entry, but Pikachu is certainly not the only one to be a Peeping Tom when participatingin the parade.

I LOVE A PARADE! Photographs & Musings: Macy's 2016 Thanksgiving Parade Part One

Well, well, well, after my many blog posts during the pre-Macy's 2016 Thanksgiving Parade, it finally happened today, and it certainly did not disappoint! What a treat it was to witness the good man, Charlie Brown, lead the entourage of Macy's balloons down Central Park South in NYC! Charlie had a make-over for this year's Macy's Parade, which allowed him to have his kite!

Throwback Thursday: The Week After T'giving

I generally don't use the term, "Throwback Thursday," but there is always a first time, and after all, today marks a week since the holiday known as Thanksgiving was celebrated. The video posted atop this blog post is one I found on You tube and it features one of the bands that marched down the streets of NYC in the 2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The view that can be seen here is from a vantage point that is much further south than from where I viewed the parade.

#Throwback & #Throwforward Thursday: SEVEN DAYS UNTIL THE PARADE!

The day before yesterday, I reported here on Blogger that there were nine days to go until The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade marches down the streets of New York City. Now there's seven. But Macy's isn't the only one marching, TIME IS MARCHING ON, and, it's really the hour to except the results of the 2016 Presidential Election, rather than waste another second in woulda-shoulda-coulda — at least it is for me, who doesn't have any time to waste in negative thoughts. And the more I indulge in them, I forget about my priorities, one of which is tending to my beautiful urban garden that is on a rooftop, a view of my place in its most current state can be seen in the following pictures.

Both photographs were taken (yesterday) by Juan V, who came here to help me plant my tulip bulbs, as has been our annual mid-November ritual.

Sunday's Sequel: Answering the Question, "How low can you go?"

In my Thanksgiving Eve entry here on  Blogger, I mentioned warnings that unusually high winds could prevail on Thanksgiving, causing the grounding of balloons who were set to "march" (fly) in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

And as I said in my subsequent entry which I published on the day after the official holiday (where I featured the Macy's balloon who is rendered in the likeness of Chase from Paw Print), "Indeed, there were VERY high winds, but the balloons were allowed to participate..."

I concluded my aforementioned entry by stating, "THE QUESTION OF THE DAY WAS: 'How low can you go?' Stay tuned for photo-ops (in subsequent entries) re the answer to this question!"

Now, two days after I published that entry, I'm still not sure how low a Macy's ballon can go, but I am able to give you a pictorial accounting of what happened in the case of several of them.

In the first picture atop this entry, Sinclair's Dinosaur, can be seen heading south down CPW during this year's parade.

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.

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.

People Watching is for the birds & balloons: 03 DAYS UNTIL THE PARADE

Smurf, when rendered into a balloon for The Macy's Parade, can be quite the voyeur! This is evidenced in the image above, where he can be seen looking into the window of a NYC residential apartment building as he made his way along the parade's route on Thanksgiving Day in bygone years.

FOLLOW UP FRIDAY: 2017's T'GIVING PARADE

The Peanuts comic strip atop this entry was something I saw in my Twitter feed the other day. It came to my mind as I pondered what to share re yesterday's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which I attended as its route is less than half a block from my apartment.

Reflecting on The Twelfth Day of Christmas AND Camels Hitting the Streets of The City That Never Sleeps . . .

Today I put my figurines of the three kings (pictured above) on display and invited a friend to dinner, so we could pay our own homage to ring out the Twelfth day of Christmas, January the Sixth: the Gregorian Calendar's Day for Epiphany (also known as The Feast of The Three Kings as well as The Twelfth Day of Christmas). 

To honor this day, in New York City, The Feast of the Three Kings Parade, a parade which includes camels, will march down Fifth Avenue. This is an annual event that I have yet to attend, in my nearly thirty years of living in New York, although the idea of seeing camels march down Fifth Avenue, in East Harlem, is more intriguing than checking out Easter bonnets at the annual Easter Parade down more trendy parts of Fifth Avenue — another annual parade that I've missed. The fact is: I don't list attending parades as one of my favorite things to do; and, although I live just a half a block from the part of Central Park West which is the route for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, I have only seen part of the parade twice.

You ARE (SUCH) a Good Man Charlie Brown! CB Leads? 04 DAYS UNTIL THE PARADE

The first image atop this Blogger entry features Charlie Brown as he hurriedly makes his way along the route for The Macy's Parade in 2012! I am thrilled to have learned that he will be participating in the event this year, which is now four days away. AND he will be doing so with a make-over! I've also heard that he may even be the parade's leader this year! Your'e (SUCH) a GOOD Man, Charlie Brown! Ronald MacDonald will also be returning!

Fond Reminiscings RE The Pillsbury Dough Boy & A Reminder 05 DAYS UNTIL THE PARADE

The image atop today's entry features The Pillsbury Doughboy Macy's balloon peering into a window of an NYC apartment building, as he made his way along the route for The Macy's Parade in 2014. I am thrilled to have learned that he will be participating in the event this year, which is now five days away!

As anyone reads my posting (here on Blogger or tumblr, or Facebook), knows, for the past few days, I've been announcing a countdown of days re this Thanksgiving event. (I started doing this when there were nine days remaining.)

In any event, now there are five days remaining until the 2016 Macy's Parade and I'm pleased to have learned that he will be participating in the event this year, the smiles that The Pillsbury Dough Boy brings to most every one he sees, will be even more appreciated in the wake of the constant barrage of negative talk regarding the 2016 Presidential Election.

NYC's Upper West-Siders Love a Parade! Tuesday's Truths WK 150

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY MACY'S PARADE ARTICLE 

For this one-hundred and fiftieth segment of my Tuesday's Truths series, please let me share an inside secret with you: NYC's Upper West-Siders Love a Parade!

In honor of this fact, I've written an article s (Upper West Siders Love a Parade) and this past Sunday, Mike Mishkin in his on-line newsletter which focuses mainly on the UWS, and rightly so, after all, his daily publication is titled iLovetheUpperWestside.

Upon reading my piece you will learn fun facts about the character and novelty balloons who are scheduled to be in this years Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which will occur in less than three weeks from today. You may also click here to read my article.

Tomorrow's The Parade!

Sponge Bob, the popular Macy's ballon pictured above, is here with me to announce that the 90th Macy's Thanksgiving Parade will take place in NYC tomorrow! I began blogging about this event on November 15th 2016, with an entry where I included photos of various Macy's balloons including one with Woodstock riding on Snoopy; and ones rendered in the likeness of Thomas The Tank, as well as Spider Man. From what Sponge Bob tells me, Spider Man will not participate this year.

Yet Another Tuesday's Truth for Week Eighteen: Two Days Until The Parade!

There are only two days remaining until The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade marches down the streets of NYC on Thanksgiving Day! As I've been reporting here on Blogger, it is a parade that is near AND dear to the heart!

I confess that I've NEVER seen the parade on television. My main vantage point for viewing the parade has been from on the street where I live. This has given me the advantage of seeing just how colossal the Macy's balloons actually are as evidenced in the following images which shows various details of the balloons faces that are rendered in the likeness of Angry Bird, Charlie (a Macy's Christmas Elf), and Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger; as well  as the shoe of Ronald McDonald.

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).