Sunday, October 31, 2010

Cemetery Tour, I

Washington, Connecticut

We interrupt the Hooker Day Parade for some more current Halloween pictures. Friday evening the Gunn Memorial Museum in Washington, CT, held its third annual tour of the Washington Green Cemetery. Costumed guides led visitors on an hour-long tour, "where the town's departed citizens [are] stationed by their gravestones to tell their tales."



Saturday, October 30, 2010

Hooker Day Parade, IV

Hartford, CT

Remember The Clams? The surfer band that doesn't sing, but is accompanied by Go-Go dancers? We encountered them at Brazen Betties Block Party a while back. I really wasn't surprised to find them out in force at the Hartford parade.



Friday, October 29, 2010

Hooker Day Parade, III

Hartford, CT






Eclectic might be a good description.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Hooker Day Parade, II

Hartford, CT

The Hooker Day Parade bills itself as "zany," but the terms home-made and low-tech might apply equally well. There was one carefully costumed high school band, but the rest of the marchers were a motley, and proud of it.






Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Hooker Day Parade, I

Hartford, CT

No, it's not what you think. The parade is in honor of Thomas Hooker,  the leader of the settlers of Hartford, Connecticut's state capital. The parade was first held in 1991, was discontinued in 2001, and then revived in 2008 by a local business association. This year's parade celebrates Hartford's 375th anniversary. That's Hartford's mayor, Pedro Segarra, above, portraying Rev. Hooker. The marchers show a mix of pilgrim/colonial and Halloween themes.

Hartford, CT

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Discarded

Waterbury, CT

Monday, October 11, 2010

FORD

Woodbury, CT

The series from the "Swamp" rally at the state capital is finished. I think I will post somewhat related, randomly encountered, subjects for a while. Maybe not daily, but probably close.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Friday, October 8, 2010

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

"Drain the Swamp Rally," I

Hartford, CT


 Hartford, CT

Last Saturday several hundred people turned up for a rally on the grounds of Connecticut's state capital, in Hartford. The organizers were a number of groups associated with the "Tea Party Movement" and most of the speakers during the two hour event were running for political office. Each speaker was invariably introduced as a True Conservative and Real Patriot. They denounced generally all incumbents, but especially the "communists and socialists" they assert are running Washington, DC. A theme that every speaker seemed to stress was that to fix the dire condition of the state and nation, they wanted to cut government, and cut all non-defense spending. As though economic problems have nothing to do with funding the military industrial complex, or fighting two (going on three) foreign wars.

The audience seemed to have a broader range of concerns, though all expressed from an extremist right wing viewpoint. For the next few days I'll post pictures from the event and let the slogans on the signs and T-shirts speak for themselves.