Nov 25 2010

Big Balloon Parade!

Last Sunday at noon, 18 Helium Balloons in the shape of familiar and popular cartoon characters stepped off at the intersection of Hoyt and Summers for their 17th annual appearance.

The tallest balloon, Popeye, stands a whopping 65 feet and this year 2 new balloons were added, Fred Flintstone and Scooby Doo.

Over 100 volunteers assist at the event as balloon handlers and Parade Marshals and it’s organized by a permanent steering committee of 3 and sponsored by UBS.  This year’s Grand Marshal was John Starks, formerly of the Knicks and the Master of Ceremonies Alan Kalter of Late Night with David Letterman.

It was quite a spectacular sight and I bet you’re sorry you missed it because there’s just no better way to feel that Master of the Universe consumerist buying spirit of the 4th Quarter than standing in the Hedge Funded Concrete Canyons of downtown Stamford Connecticut and…

You say there’s another Balloon Parade?  In New York City?  And it’s on TV?

Then why was I freezing my ass off… oh, never mind.

Coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade starts at 9 am on CBS (which is a little up route so you see things first) and NBC (which covers the lame lip syncing at Herald Square).

Liveblogging below.

rustymancuso581

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    1. Buzz Lightyear
    2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (new)
    3. Horton
    4. Kermit the Frog
    5. Pikachu with Poke Ball
    6. Pillsbury Doughboy
    7. Kung Fu Panda (new)
    8. Ronald McDonald
    9. Sailor Mickey Mouse
    10. Shrek
    11. Smurf
    12. Snoopy as the Flying Ace
    13. Spider-Man
    14. Spongebob Squarepants
    15. “Super Cute” Hello Kitty

    I imagine this is the approximate order of march.  You’ll note there are only 15 of them.

  3. Cloudy with the chance of precipitation rising from 10% to 20% and temperature rising from 36 to 42 degrees.

    The wind will start out from the North West at 2 miles an hour and shift to the South South West at 4 miles an hour.

  4. I hesitate to post it because it loads slowly and is almost completely uninformative, but here it is anyway.

  5. I’m watching CBS at the moment because they’re first and I’ll be able to give you heads ups.

  6. You know you’re a D-Lister when you get Parade duty.

    4 years of being abused for the CBS crew.

  7. What happened? The Al Roker balloon is smaller than I remember it.

  8. NBC will have Alton and the Rockettes.

  9. is on the scheduled guest list

  10. without the line dancing

  11. going to ride in on a turkey?

    I’m so glad this isn’t going to be over produced.

  12. Someone in management hates you.

    Silly street performances in Herald Square on NBC.

    Now there showing a gajillion cheerleaders doing Country.

    Ugh.

  13. There’s been a Snoopy spotting near Central Park.

  14. The last time I saw one of those was at Lake Compounce and it was just about the lamest thing ever.

  15. are going to drive me nuts

  16. There’s that Al Roker Blimp.

    Oh wait, that’s Al.

  17. The Musical.

  18. i have to wait until 9:00am to watch because that’s when it gets to my rabbit ears.  hope the censors don’t get ahold of it in the meantime.

  19. Bloomberg on CBS.

  20. Look straight up at the camera instead of the people you’re lip syncing for.

  21. No actual parade coverage so far.

  22. get out of the way of the fucking band you buffoon!

  23. At least we’ve seen part of a band and a long shot of Spongebob on NBC.

  24. CBS has taped studio singing that was probably put in the can six months ago.

  25. Also Big Apple Circus on CBS.

  26. And the parade is only 10 BLOCKS AWAY!

    Much more entertainment to come!

  27. Boys in Tutus with english accents dancing.

    And this has what to do with a parade?

  28. How about the parade folks?

  29. We have a cooking Demo on tape!

  30. Each year I forget how crappy the coverage has gotten.

  31. I remember our Band Director pitching the Macy’s parade as “National TV Exposure!”

    Now they hardly show the floats or balloons at all, and never the bands.

    This is the feeblist attempt at entertainment I’ve seen sin Bristol on Dancing with the Stars.

    Oh and Delay got busted.

  32. with commentary on CBS.

    And a band from Missouri.

    Kermit and Spiderman are the longest Balloons and Kermit had to be replaced recently.

    Peanuts float and The Wimpy Kid Balloon.

  33. Tom Turkey Float.

    40 Years old that float.

  35. 76 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 56 feet tall.

  37. Sketchilly animated.

  38. and only out of one eye.

    Any coverage on the helium shortage?  

  39. Purdue University band, 373 members.

  40. And the Peanuts float.

  41. That’s Alton riding him.

    Lip syncing.

  42. I had to finish the What’s Cooking for today. I ran out of steam and was too distracted to finish it at 2 AM.

  43. no, it was only a promo on nbc.

  44. Long shot of Spongebob.

    Celebrity interview.

  45. They look almost like the real thing.

  46. to lip sync

    1. why FX is running Kung Fu Panda 9 times today.

  47. Jeanette McCurdy is the talented one.

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