jumpy jumpy vitamins

So this weekend was STL’s Pride festival and parade and associated goodness. Here’s my quickie recap.

Friday night, post-asplosion, was the first of two Gateway Men’s Chorus concerts. Since Fred and I are both in the chorus, we both went. Crowd was good; performance was so-so.

Saturday afternoon Fred and I volunteered at the chorus booth at the festival proper. It was soooooo hooooot. Think I lost 10 pounds just from sweating.

After swinging by the new place to shower etc., we went to the concert the second night. Crowd was bigger but less enthusiastic; performance was sloppy. Afterparty was excellent, though; the food and atmosphere were a perfect wind-down from the rigors of amateur concertry.

Sunday Fred and I went to “Mass in the Grass”, a local Episcopal congregation’s service held just before the Pride parade near the end of the parade route. Afterwards he and I joined up with a gay Episcopal group to march in the parade in the blazing sun; I wore a whole lot of sunscreen and still got burned. From there we wandered about the festival until the chorus performed on the main stage; after that we went home to shower and SLEEP.

And now the jeem awards:

Best parade entry

OASIS, duh. Not like I marched with ‘em or anything. Close second, though, would be the float that had the hot mostly-naked guys on it (yes i know that doesn’t help any, but it’s a multilateral tie).

Most mockable protestors

There were two men with large wooden crosses making their way up and down Grand. I don’t want to say they were dragging the crosses because said crosses had shoulder pads and WHEELS. Yes, wheels. People were shouting “JESUS DIDN’T HAVE WHEELS!” at them, and when one uttered that phrase in the park itself everybody else knew exactly what one was discussing. During the parade, they stood outside St. Pius V and one of the parishioners (a middle-aged woman) was haranguing them. Sadly, though, I could not hear her (see above).

Best freebie

Sunscreen, at a local UCC’s booth. Pale boys like yours truly have great respect for anybody who gives the stuff away.

Best local-celebrity sighting

Beatle Bob. No, really. In full BB regalia, too, which is impressive given the near-100-degree temperatures and classic St. Louis humidity. Alas, he didn’t dance (or at least not that I saw).

Best food booth

Super Smokers. Hands down. Not only was the food leagues beyond the other places, but the line was always blissfully short.

Best libation

Team St. Louis margaritas. Just enough tequila to kick, just enough lime to bite, and just enough sweetness to leave a nice aftertaste.

Best tattoo

Wish I had a camera handy for the full dreamcatcher going all the way across this one guy’s (significant) back. It was impressive in its size and detail.

Worst tan line

Farmer tan, but from a tank top instead of a T-shirt. Sorry, guy, but that’s no better.

I’ll post more later.

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