Thursday, November 08, 2007

My Halloween Adventure

So as with nearly everything in New York, Halloween is a spectacle. The costumes. The parties. The people. The parade. Oh yes, the parade. Every year there is a Halloween "parade" that goes through Greenwich Village. I say "parade" because it's really just a bunch of McWasted people wandering around on the street or sitting on floats that are driving down the street. Spectators line the "parade" 8 people deep on both sides of the street, making it nearly impossible to actually see said parade unless you are say, there at 4pm (for the 7pm start time) and/or wander into the parade yourself and walk along with the other paraders.

But really, we realized soon after getting downtown that there was no actual need to see the parade itself, what with all the really truly bizarre people walking around everywhere else. We're talking Times Square on New Year's Eve kind of crowded. People everywhere. Streets shut down. General drunken mayhem. Ah New York.

In the spirit of being random and also in the spirit of trying not to be overwhelmed with the sheer amount of people surrounding me, I decided I would make a game of the evening. Find the best Halloween costumes, walk up to the people, and ask to take a picture with them. Complete strangers mind you. Always the best. With Bridgette as my faithful photographer, camera in hand ready for the quick snap, we wandered the streets of the Village, on our personalized halloween adventure. Below are my findings:

We started out with a relatively benign one, a human Twister board. Not super original, and probably store-bought, but definitely a classic creative costume:

Then I saw Buzz Lightyear and his Raggedy Ann companion. He just looked like a cool dude, and hey, I love Toy Story. PS- why the air punch, buddy?:

I saw this woman coming a mile away. Well, a block away. I knew I absolutely must have a picture with this... thing. I asked her what she was, as it wasn't terribly evident what, precisely, this interesting jumble of a costume was. A jellyfish. Ohhhhhh, riiiiight:

I saw this woman from behind and thought she was naked. I saw a lot of nudity that night, but it seemed to me that her particular style of nudity was creative and artistic. And the spider webs and large nasty spiders just put me over the edge to thinking that I must stand beside THIS scantily clad woman, moreso than any of the other fishnet stocking wearing, barely-there skirt clad women. And just for the record, it was cold out. Not like winter-wonderland kind of cold, but definitely I-appreciate-my-coat-right-now kind of chilly. More power to you spider lady:

A teletubby smoking a cigarette. The irony was just too much for me. I don't know if this guy (visibly wasted) was just smoking because he wanted to smoke or if he was actually coherent enough to have done it intentionally, but man, I totally approve:

This couple just looked lovely. Fred and Wilma, but for some reason I just liked them. And after a few really extreme people, I just wanted to go back to my childhood for a second, to a costume that maybe didn't shock anyone, show too much skin, or have some sexual/political/religious overtone, it was just, a costume:
When I saw this guy from up the street he was doing pull-ups on a scaffolding. I thought to myself, "I must get this one." He started walking away as I was getting closer, so I screamed up the street "HULK! HULK! HULK!" He eventually realized that the screaming girl was talking to him (duh), and turned around. I wonder how well that green came off. I can totally picture this dude as an investment banker letting loose for the night, going into work the next with his suit and tie and a slightly green-tinted face. Priceless:

This woman honestly wowed me. She was simply standing in the middle of West 4th and Bleeker (for those of you in NYC), not going anywhere, because literally every time she turned around, someone wanted to take a picture with her. She had to have been close to 7 feet tall, presumably on some type of stilts or really high boots under that... snake-thing. And the picture doesn't do justice to how... expansive the costume was. Simply enormous. It was awesome, and I commend her for braving the crowded streets wearing a snake. I mean, come on now, that takes some guts:

All in all, a successful Halloween, I would say. And I can honestly say, if I never experience Halloween in NYC again, I will be quite content.

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