Fireworks on the Fourth
Jul. 4th, 2007 12:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pallas_athenaHappy Fourth of July, everyone! Today it is our patriotic duty to MAKE THINGS EXPLODE. Here in DC, being the nation's capital, we have something of an obligation to make our explosions bigger, louder and generally more explodariffic than anyone else's.
Today, on the way to the Metro from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
speedlime's place, I ran across the neighbourhood Fourth of July parade. I haven't spent the Fourth in this country for so long, I was a bit taken aback by all the patriotic fervour. My US friends will know what these events are like, but I'll describe it for any Limeys and Canucks who care to read. As for the Aussies, they have their own traditions, which apparently involve complex ritual dances with large shaggy dogs, lop-eared rabbits and a baby alpaca.
Takoma Park, where Speedy lives, is DC's hippie enclave. It's where you hole up and refuse to admit that the 60s ended and you joined the bourgeoisie. If your house is painted purple and has windchimes on the front porch and signs on the lawn advocating Democratic candidates, same-sex marriage rights, pulling out of Iraq and/or legalising pot, then it's probably in Takoma Park. The main street has a traditional-musical-instrument shop, secondhand shops aplenty and cafés serving organic wholegrain fairtrade everything. Speedy and I, who'd be freaks anywhere else, barely rate a second glance here.
As such, the Fourth of July parade was a weird clash of irony and non-irony. On the non-ironic side, we had the usual fire departments (in their most highly polished vintage fire trucks with flags all over them), scout troops, veterans' groups, school groups and churches, all dressed in their best and marching proudly. There was a team of cheerleaders from a local school who stood on each other's shoulders and did flips as they passed along, drawing cheers from the crowd. Local politicians drove by in classic cars (I spotted a '56 Thunderbird, Speedy a '48 Cadillac.) But, this being Takoma Park, the Veterans of Foreign Wars were followed by a band standing on the back of a pickup truck singing Grateful Dead songs, and most of the church groups carried environmental or antiwar posters. The Vietnam veterans were quickly succeeded by activist groups of various stripes; the church marching bands by the Triple Goddess Belly Dance Troupe. Most entertaining of all were the Caribbean steel bands and dancers in carnival costumes. It was indeed a splendid parade.
Tonight I'm going down to the Washington Monument to see the fireworks, where I fear irony will be in short supply. But I'll go with friends and we'll bring a picnic, and when darkness falls there will be ... yes... EXPLOSIONS. Government-sponsored explosions, at that: finally, they do something sensible with our tax dollars.
So,orkamedies, wyte_phantom, rosenkavalier and anyone else who feels inclined: If you were to cause any explosions, say, tonight, you can always claim you were acting on the instructions of the U.S. government. I'll just leave you holding that thought, shall I?
Meanwhile, credit for my splendid patriotic icon goes toalbertbbun and myriadim, to whom I doff my mobcap in humble appreciation.
Today, on the way to the Metro from
speedlime's place, I ran across the neighbourhood Fourth of July parade. I haven't spent the Fourth in this country for so long, I was a bit taken aback by all the patriotic fervour. My US friends will know what these events are like, but I'll describe it for any Limeys and Canucks who care to read. As for the Aussies, they have their own traditions, which apparently involve complex ritual dances with large shaggy dogs, lop-eared rabbits and a baby alpaca. Takoma Park, where Speedy lives, is DC's hippie enclave. It's where you hole up and refuse to admit that the 60s ended and you joined the bourgeoisie. If your house is painted purple and has windchimes on the front porch and signs on the lawn advocating Democratic candidates, same-sex marriage rights, pulling out of Iraq and/or legalising pot, then it's probably in Takoma Park. The main street has a traditional-musical-instrument shop, secondhand shops aplenty and cafés serving organic wholegrain fairtrade everything. Speedy and I, who'd be freaks anywhere else, barely rate a second glance here.
As such, the Fourth of July parade was a weird clash of irony and non-irony. On the non-ironic side, we had the usual fire departments (in their most highly polished vintage fire trucks with flags all over them), scout troops, veterans' groups, school groups and churches, all dressed in their best and marching proudly. There was a team of cheerleaders from a local school who stood on each other's shoulders and did flips as they passed along, drawing cheers from the crowd. Local politicians drove by in classic cars (I spotted a '56 Thunderbird, Speedy a '48 Cadillac.) But, this being Takoma Park, the Veterans of Foreign Wars were followed by a band standing on the back of a pickup truck singing Grateful Dead songs, and most of the church groups carried environmental or antiwar posters. The Vietnam veterans were quickly succeeded by activist groups of various stripes; the church marching bands by the Triple Goddess Belly Dance Troupe. Most entertaining of all were the Caribbean steel bands and dancers in carnival costumes. It was indeed a splendid parade.
Tonight I'm going down to the Washington Monument to see the fireworks, where I fear irony will be in short supply. But I'll go with friends and we'll bring a picnic, and when darkness falls there will be ... yes... EXPLOSIONS. Government-sponsored explosions, at that: finally, they do something sensible with our tax dollars.
So,
orkamedies, wyte_phantom, rosenkavalier and anyone else who feels inclined: If you were to cause any explosions, say, tonight, you can always claim you were acting on the instructions of the U.S. government. I'll just leave you holding that thought, shall I?Meanwhile, credit for my splendid patriotic icon goes to
albertbbun and myriadim, to whom I doff my mobcap in humble appreciation.
no subject
on 2007-07-05 04:37 am (UTC)Oops.
on 2007-07-05 04:41 am (UTC)