Torchlight Parade 2010!

OK, it was totally cold. I was freezin' my ass off, sweet people. This is July! That's not supposed to happen! Anyhow, the parade occurred. And I was there. I stood by for more than an hour. There were lots of armed forces bands. There was the Army...

...and their many flags...

...the Navy...

...the Marines...

...and, uh, the Coast Guard. Well, they didn't have enough talent to assemble a band, but they managed to get people together who could carry a very large flag.


Well, good for them! Conspicuously absent: the Merchant Marine. There were also balloons:



In case you're confused, that's a killer whale, a pirate and same pirate, different position. Last year, there were more balloons. But there were fewer Seahawks cheerleaders. This year, there were too many:


In addition, there were Koreans...

...bagpiping firemen...

...young ladies from Sunnyside...

...Mike McGinn, who, incidentally, want bars to stay open till 4am...

...(following the death of my camera's battery) the Budweiser horses...

...and the wonderful Chinese contingent:

Of course, it's impossible to have a Torchlight Parade without the dragon. Here it is:

If you can possibly stand it, here's more:

Yeah, beautiful, isn't it? After the dragon was gone, the parade was over for me. I didn't even see the hydros. Besides, it was totally cold. And there weren't nearly enough balloons. The end.