Veterans Day, III

Hartford, CT

Veterans Day, II

Hartford, CT

Veterans Day, I

Hartford, CT

Punch Bowl

Roxbury, Connectiuct

Can't have an opening without.

Palm Springs

Waterbury, CT

Years ago, Bill Pierce mentioned to me that he'd always wanted to work up a book project where he'd get his vast array of photographer friends to contribute, "Hey Mister! Take my picture!" shots. Most of these would be of kids, but plenty would show grown ups.

Hooker Day Parade, VII (Finis)

Hartford, CT

The parade ended, fittingly enough, at The Pour House.  A trailer from the Thomas Hooker Brewery brought up the tail of the procession.

Hooker Day Parade, VI

Hartford, CT

Hooker Day Parade, V

Hartford, CT

There was a birthday cake for the city's 375th.

Where's the Dragon?

Hartford, CT

If you've ever been to a Chinese New Year's celebration, or just seen one on TV or in a movie, you will have been impressed by the wonderful optical/experiential illusion of The Dragon Dance. The flimsy, mostly paper, "dragon," wielded by a long line of people weaving and bobbing, can become utterly convincing. You see the dragon, not the people animating it.

Well, Hartford's Hooker Day Parade has its own version of this. If The Dragon Dance is a kind of exercise in perceptual minimalism, HDP has the reductio ad absurdam of that. Two groups danced the one mile parade route with 18-inch wide carpet runners, making all the moves. No dragon head. No lovely paper scales down the length of the serpent's body. Just a couple of ratty carpet remnants. Thing is, it still worked, kinda...

Cemetery Tour, II

Washington, CT

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."

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.

Hooker Day Parade, III

Hartford, CT

Eclectic might be a good description.

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.

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

Discarded

Waterbury, CT

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.

"Drain the Swamp Rally," VII

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT

"Drain the Swamp Rally," VI

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT

"Drain the Swamp Rally," V

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT