If you read the last two diaries I wrote on Hallween, you know, that I like authentic Halloween celebrations that include trick or treating door to door, and costumes, and events happening at night--AS IT SHOULD BE.
You also know that I was lamenting the demise of such practices. I will now add, thanks to either poor advertisements, or perhaps the dreaded Google Filter Bubble, [psst I think it's the bubble], that I was under the impression that all hope was lost, and that trick-or-treating was all but dead.
I was wrong. If I could I would sing it, in a strong projected voice--I WAS WRONG! and then end it with a great big cheer, because in this case, I love being wrong! I am filled with gratitude for being wrong!
Thanks to a person in the metro area, we were told about the Gazette Halloween Parade that happens in Oklahoma City. We made it in time to see the parade. We missed the costume contest but next year, we shall make sure we are there on time to see that too.
I have to say, watching this parade, that Hurricane Katrina might have pushed a little Deep South Hedonism up our way. The parade had the flavor of Mardi Gras, more so than the few Mardi Gras parades I have seen in this area. It also had a bit of random flavor reminiscent of Burning Man.
I was intrigued, and impressed and I hope they take those qualities and keep expanding upon them, in the spirit of Halloween!
I have some pictures to share. Keep in mind, that it was at night and so the focus is a bit weird. I personally like the effect on the images, given the themes, but you might not.
Follow me below the orange squiggle for a bit of a slide show, side show.
First of all, the Gazette is a liberal publication, that is made available for free to people in the Metro Area of OKC. It is often the main alternative to the Daily Oklahoman. I live in a rural area, so I don't see it very often, unless of course I go to Oklahoma City or surrounding areas.
A recent history lesson: Oklahoma City has been undergoing a revitalization project called MAPS, and for the most part, as someone who visits occasionally, I like what I see. As a child, when I visited OKC, it was dirty, the only nice parts were the underground and a small couple of blocks between our few sky scrapers. The rest of it was dingy, run down, and at times dangerous. MAPS has changed all of that. Now we have Bricktown, with the river walk, and water trolleys. FYI there is also working being done on interconnected, Biking and walking trails. I would like to see the state add bike lanes as well. Hopefully while I am still young enough to ride a bike.
Good Points: Lots of places to find a bite to eat, and some cool shops. Bad points--Lately there have been issues with public drunks and all the "fun" that goes along with that. Parking is a pain in the butt. You get charged for parking and there isn't much of it, so you could find yourself taking quite a walk to get to your destination.
The area that the parade was held in, was adjacent to Bricktown, maybe a couple miles North. This area is also undergoing a massive makeover. The last couple of years have seen a major clean up, accompanied by new neon lights, and sidewalk plantings, and of course new stores and places to eat. Parking was an issue for the parade. My suggestion would be that in addition to better announcements about the parade {HINT! Not everyone FACEBOOKS!}, would be to publicize the rules for parking for that night + Map for parking, that also shows the parade route, events and times.
That way we know which rules are suspended and which are not. We have had similar issues in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
In fact I would remind anyone putting an event on--NOT EVERYONE FACEBOOKS! Do not limit your advertisements to FACEBOOK! PLEASE! And don't count on Google. It filters all sorts of stuff out depending upon your location. So Halloween in Oklahoma is marked like our local Green Movement. It doesn't show up! HELLO. Their "intuitive" software software sucks. I have seen bad psychics with more accurate intuition.
Alrighty then, back to the parade.
The entire area was decorated with LED outdoor lights. Entire trees wrapped in orange and cobalt blue [Some of my favorite colors!] This made the sidewalks in some areas positively enchanting.
They made a nice choice for trees, Hemlocks. Which have a feathery fronds of needles year round. Their size and shape, and texture really soften the look of the store fronts and small fountain parks.
They make great shade trees as well. So whoever picked those trees out, hats off to you! Nice choice.
The cool part is, that wrapping the trees with LEDs has become a common practice for Christmas as well. There are whole streets lined with trees in a variety of colors. It really makes for a beautiful sight at night, when driving around and looking at Christmas Lights. FYI, best Christmas Lights thus far: Oklahoma City Historical District, those people go all out!
Many of the stores also decorated their windows. Some with paints, but this one appears to be a large decal of some sort.
I like the way the reflected light shines through one eye socket.
I am not entirely sure what the theme was supposed to be this year. But I can say that I saw lots of evil clowns, and zombies.
This guy gives new meaning to the phrase, "Can't Sleep! Clown Will Eat Me!" In addition to his oversized mouth full of sharp animal teeth, he had oversized hands as well. You need those to reach out of the pits of hell, to grab children's toes, that hang over the edge of the bed at night.
More evil Clown motif. This bus looked positively surreal traveling up Broadway.
Here is the hellish visage of a jester. The head swiveled.
There were also lots of zombies. This guy spent some time and money on his get up. Red contacts--nice touch.
Phantasm meets evil clown ala vinyl chic
More New Orleans Flavor--Bourbon Street Whoo Do. It makes one wonder it does!
Environmentalists with anti-Coal float:
This was accompanied by street theater. The lady below was a Coal Zombie?
She gave us a big laugh, saying things like, "Don't Believe the Hippies!" and "The sky is pretty when it's yellow!" If you look at the previous picture before this one, you will notice a person with a solar panel on their head. That person would occasionally chase the coal zombie around. It was very entertaining.
Here is one of those Burning Man Moments.
Sock Monkeys on Bikes! They were in a troupe riding OKCs new Bike Share Bikes! If it were me and I had unlimited funds and were in charge, I would do this again, only decorate the spokes of the bikes with strobing colored spoke lights and maybe some temporarily attached glow-sticks. Still--The Sock Monkeys were highly entertaining, with their bright red monkey butts flashing as they passed.
I have no idea what this float was for, but it was cool. The participants were dressed as characters from Phantasm.
They spent some time and money on their costumes. They really looked great. This photo, though cool and surreal looking, doesn't do them justice.
There were also lots of hold Hearses and Ambulance type vehicles in the parade.
Some had been refurbished and others perhaps midway? Some were being towed with fake body parts hanging out them.
It would cool if many of these were tricked out just for this time of year, and even rented to Halloween revelers like a limo.
This was just cool. A band playing live music, with a member dressed as a Sleestak. As an avid fan of Land of the Lost--you had me at Sleestak!
OKC Pride
Now here's one for the record books:
Scary Everyday Atheists.
Not unlike "We are Here and We are Queer" type theme. Just making themselves visible. Not dressed in costumes, because they are so "scary," that costumes would be gratuitous and tacky. ;)
This was the only group I saw that was jeered and heckled in a mean way. I thought that was sad. Sad that they have to resort to appearing in a parade to be visible, and sad because some revelers felt it was acceptable to heckle the Atheists, and Humanists. The crowd did get quiet in patches when the Gay Pride folks passed by, but it was the Atheists that some folks felt comfortable about heckling. It was an interesting dynamic that played out before my eyes.
All in all it was a great parade. It was entertaining, fun, and I hope that this becomes a venerable tradition in the Metro Area. We still have trick or treating to do. FYI, the same source informed me that OKC is trick or treating on Halloween Night.
So far this has been the best Crow Dinner I have had in a while. I hope that candy night is so awesome I get to chase it down with some humble pie.
PS: For those in the path of Hurricane Sandy, please be safe. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.