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!

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.

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 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"?

A Lesson from Reindeer!

The three reindeer seen in the image atop today's blog entry are enjoying a good laugh about the antics of yours truly (as well as the antics of my visiting candy corn fraternal twins). For as you may recall, dear reader, in my last post here on Blogger (which was this past Wednesday, November the twenty-seventh), I was in full agreement with the candy corn twins' "not-so-fast-advice" when it came to the preparation for the Christmas holidays; and rightly so, for at that time, it was the eve of Thanksgiving and the corn twins had every right to tell the Peppermint People to hide their faces until at least December (which they ultimately did as seen in the image below which was featured in an entry on hometalk).

But now it has been a week since Thanksgiving and the Christmas season is in full swing in New York City. The famous annual ritual of the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree took place last night, less than one week after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; another annual event, one which I covered here on Blogger in 2012 (in posts that you may refer to by clicking here as well as here)  because it was the first time I had ever seen the entire parade.

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.

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.

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be back to "normal" this year of 2021! (Tuesday's Truths WK 227)

The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be back to "normal" in this year of 2021! 

Please click here to read my article.

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.

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!

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.

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.

It's Santa's List Day! Tuesday's Truths WK 104

According to a number of sources, today, December 4th, is Santa's List Day and in recognition of this fact, I'm featuring it in this one hundred and fourth segment of my Tuesday's Truths series.

One of the aforementioned sources (checkiday.com) has this to say re today's holiday:

"Santa's List Day is the day each year when Santa makes his list of children that have been naughty or nice, so he knows what to bring them for Christmas. Santa learns who has been naughty or nice after hearing from his elves. The Elf on the Shelf, a children's book published in 2005, talks about elves that visit people's houses from just after Thanksgiving, until Christmas Eve, and report back to Santa each night about who has been naughty or nice. It seems odd that Santa's List Day is celebrated so early if his elves are still keeping a watchful eye on children... It has always been observed annually on December 4th."

Because checkiday mentions The Elf on The Shelf, I'm giving this fictional story-book character a nod by including photos of a Macy's Ballon which is rendered in his likeness. The images were taken by yours truly a couple of years ago at the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

At the parade, I observed that The Elf on The shelf seemed to have something in common with the wild bird known as a male Northern cardinal. They both appear to be voyeurs!

"That was the week that was, it's over . . ."

According to Wiki, once upon a time (in the 1960's), there was a popular television show called "That Was The Week That Was" which opened with a song, whose lyrics included, "That was the week that was, it's over, let it go . . ."

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.

REMEMBER It's Hedge Hog Day Too!

Before this morning comes to an end, it would be remiss of me to not write about the fact that in addition to it being Groundhog Day (as I mentioned earlier this morning in two posts here on Blogger), today is also known as National Hedge Hog Day.

According to many sources, including Non-Stop Celebrations, "Hedgehog Day dates all the way back to the Romans. They looked to see if a hedgehog saw his shadow in the moonlight. If so, he’d return to his burrow and winter would hold on for six more weeks. And in Europe the tradition of Candlemas included the belief that a sunny Candlemas meant winter would linger. A cloudy day heralded the arrival of spring. At some point the Romans brought their beliefs to Europe and the beliefs melded into watching the hedgehog emerge from hibernation during the day. On a sunny day he would see his shadow and there’d be six more weeks of winter."

They go on to proclaim that "Hedgehogs are resourceful. They are covered with stiff, hollow hairs they use to defend themselves. When they sense danger they roll into a ball so that their hairs stick out like spines, causing pain to anyone silly enough to touch.

They have an amazing sense of smell and can find food buried under an inch of soil. They often prefer to travel and look for food at night. That may be why the Romans preferred moonlight over sunlight to check for the hedgehog’s shadow."

Moreover, they state, that February the second "is also the release date for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, way back in 1994." 

In honor of Hedge Hog Day and Sonic, I've posted an image of a Macy's Ballon that is rendered in her likeness atop this entry. In this picture Sonic is making her way down Central Park West as she participates in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

In North America, there are no native species of hedgehog, so the animal as a weather predictor has been replaced with the native groundhog. However, in my home these creatures are honored by being represented by figurines.

So after you are done celebrating the groundhog's prediction on this day, why not take a moment or two to learn about hedgehogs, the forerunners of this holiday?

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.

In Honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day

Today marks another holiday known as Squirrel Appreciation Day. According to Holiday Insights (HI) this day "is an opportunity to enjoy and appreciate your tree climbing, nut gathering neighborhood squirrels. (And) It's held in mid-winter when food sources are scarce for squirrels and other wildlife."

HI admits that "Not everyone likes squirrels. While they are fun to watch skirting around the yard and trees, they are aggressive at bird feeders. Squirrels tip almost any bird feeder and spill the seeds in search of the particular seeds they want."

This is evidenced in the Mutts comic strip posted atop this blog entry.