Blogs of Parades Past: 2008, 2007, and 2006 and here It was a lovely time at the Fremont Solstice Parade this year. I don't know if it will ever capture the free-love, happy nudity, hippy-go-lucky sensation I experienced the first time I went in 2006. Maybe it was because it was my first year and I was enthralled by the acceptance of all things political and nude? Or maybe the Solstice loses a little of its magic each year as the parade gets more and more spectators just looking for a quick boob shot. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It'd be nice if we'd at least pretend like we're all there to enjoy the fun in the sun and have a good time with our neighbor, too. However, my one main disappointment from this parade is that the dudes in the orange vests (no doubt under direct orders from __) did not allow the cyclists to ride back through the parade route after they rode through. The painted cyclists ride through before the parade starts, and because the route is so long, in the past they've ridden the entire route and then turned around and ridden back through to wherever the parade beginning was. It was fun! It was entertaining! It kept the small children from being strangled by their parents. And this year there were more cyclists than I'd ever seen, but they all came through in one ginormous group and I was unable to fully appreciate all the lovely bodypaint (and bods). I didn't worry because in the past years, they've come riding back around at their own individual pace and I'd snap then. But not so this year. That sucked. And the orange vested dudes (for hire, not the wonderfully costumed guy who stands on the corner of 34th and Stone telling the crowd that it's just like kindergarten, "if you get here last, you have to sit in the back, people have been here for hours and you don't get to go and stand in front of them") were very police-officer'ish. A police officer attitude at a Solstice Parade? There was no need for it, man. After the parade I saw Batman over by a car getting tipped by a lady, so I went over to say hello. 
When she was finished, I said "Hey, Batman! Can I get your picture? The people on my blog loved you last year." "Of course," he said. "Who are you?" "I'm Daffodilious, I have a...." "YOU!? You are Daffodilious?!" Batman has a very sexy accent. "I need a picture too, hang on. I know you, Daffodilious!" I don't know if he was humoring me, but who cares? I got some Batman love. Geezus, could I be any whiter? That's what living in the Pacific Northwest for the past five years will get you--glow-in-the-dark skin. *Note: If you'll check out Batman's belt, you'll see that while I wasn't trying to be crude, I have trained my camera very well. We've been together for three years now and it knows to sneak into places while no one is watching.  
Painted Cyclists 
    
    
    
    
    
 
Parade     
    
    
    
    
    
    
  
Gas Works Park after the Parade     
    
That last dude I'm in the shot with has been a roller blader in all four parades I've attended. The first year he wore a little, uh, big elephant over his family jewels. Another year it was a wind sock. I think this year he slapped on a little paint and called it good. I don't think anybody was complaining. | 
