Mermaid Parade 2008

This seahorse squirted water (look closely!)!

Another year and another Mermaid Parade has marched down Surf Avenue. You KNOW I went! I started out on the boardwalk, even though it was quite packed it was eerily quiet, it was like a silent parade, it was strange, I didn't like it. So with great difficulty I made back to Surf Avenue where it was more lively. I just love listening to parade M.C Chris T's running commentary. I salute you Chris on your ability to maintain entertaining witty banter for over 2 hours! Did you know that Chris was in lengendary early 80's NY hardcore punk band The Nihilistics? They had a local smash hit that all the kids were dancing to called "Kill Yourself". It was also rumoured (and it might of been true) that they all worked in a graveyard. Later Chris was in controversial lower east side "noise" band Missing Foundation. Does anybody remember those upside down cocktail glass looking graffiti that were all over town? I think all those building eventually lost their foundations and have been replace by "luxury" condos. Something that MUST NOT HAPPEN TO CONEY ISLAND AS WELL! There is a lot of rock and roll history in the mermaid parade that many may not be aware of, the early ones were MUCH LESS family oriented, there was WAY more nudity and way less children. I even saw that guy Chet who has been in the parade since the early days and who used to do performancy stuff with that other NY scum rock band Alice Donut walking down Surf Avenue in a diaper. Lookin' good Chet!

So my camera lost it's juice but I got a few shots in. Zombie Mermaid!Best seat in da house!Pirate Girl
I later chatted with this pirate girl at the new Freak Bar which is open even though it is underconstruction. It's nice and spacious, can't wait to see the finished results! I took a bunch of photos of her with my 35mm FILM camera of which I have to HAND DEVELOP the film in a DARKROOM! I HOPE TO GOD they come out! This is my way of telling you that F.I.B has started grad school. I'm gonna be an art teacher! I actually have already started teaching and I love it. So I have a feeling the blog posts will be even less frequent than they have lately, but then again, maybe not.

Check out some of these sites for excellent parade photos:
Forgotten New York
The Kingston Lounge
Brit in Brooklyn

Save Coney Island! Zigun Resigns & Mermaid Queen Hunger Strikes.

As we are practically on the eve of the Mermaid Parade things are heating up out at Coney Island. If you keep up on the twists and turns of events out at Coney you might know that Dick Zigun "the unelected Mayor" of Coney Island and mastermind behind the Mermaid parade (which is celebrating it's 25th year!) recently resigned from his post as Director of the Coney Island Development Corporation. He resigned after the city presented a new plan with no hearings, no public input and no opportunity for directors of the CIDC to discuss it. The new plan, and I quote from an editorial written by Zigun will be "the focus of the June 24 hearing at 6 p.m. at Lincoln High School, would allow four hotel towers south of Surf Ave. in the amusement area, including one that would block the view of the landmarked Wonder Wheel from the subway."

The city plans to turn Coney Island into a shopping mall with Niketowns and other chainstores one can go to in any suburb or city center (in the new New York City). The amusement area will become a shadow of itself and the lure and the history of Coney Island will be but a memory. A shame since Dick Zigun really had a lot to do with the rejuvination of Coney Island.

Read Dick Zigun's statement in today's Daily News:
Coney Island Surf Should Remain Working People's Turf.

Also. From the Coney Island Message Board:
Reverend Billy and Savitri D have been named King Neptune and Queen Mermaid of the 2008 Coney Island Mermaid Parade, this Saturday June 21st. And so it is our freaky-monarchial DUTY to use this power to SAVE Coney Island from the gentrifying apocalypse of RETAIL ENTERTAINMENT HELL!

The Queen Mermaid will refuse to go back in the ocean! She will initiate a hunger strike during the parade, and will live in a window on Surf Ave and West 12th from the Mermaid Ball until the critical scoping meeting on June 24th at 6 pm. She is fasting to draw attention to a destructive scheme to reduce 60 acres of amusements to 9. She is fasting so YOU will come to this meeting, where the fate of Coney Island may be determined:

Coney Island Community Scoping Meeting!
June 24th at 6pm, at Lincoln High School, 2800 Ocean Parkway
Take Q train to Ocean Parkway or the F train to Avenue X

Visit her in person, visit her online! Keep her company via LIVE MERMAID CAM starting Sunday June 22 at 10 am. Spread the word! SAVE CONEY ISLAND!

"Mermaids on Parade" Book Launch in DUMBO Wednesday Night.

Melanie Hope Greenberg has written AND illustrated a book called "Mermaids on Parade" and there will be an opening launch party and Art Exhibition over at Superfine on Wednesday night.

Melanie will be there autographing copies of this fab book. I haven't seen the whole thing but as you can see from this illustration she includes real live Coney Island personalities such as Dick Zigun in her story. The art exhibition goes until July 6th and all ages are welcome at the opening.

SUPERFINE is at 126 Front Street Brooklyn, NY 11201
The opening is Wednesday June 11, 2008 6 - 9 pm. For all ages. Free.

P.S - Special Kids Program on Saturday June 28, 2008 from 1-2pm. Free.

Click here to go to Melanie's website and see and read more about her work.

A Reminder about the Blogade on Sunday.

Someone called "The Mermaids of Brooklyn" sent this to me. A pick me up on this grey blah day.

As I mentioned before, my pal Joyce of Bad Girl Blog is hosting a Blogade on March 9th over in Kensington.

She would appreciate RSVP's by tomorrow!

This will be F.I.B's first although I did attend that big one at the Old Stone House last Spring midway by unknowingly and naively entering up through the back stairs. I thought it was the entrance and had no idea people got turned away!

Here is what Joycie has to say.

"I'm hosting the Brooklyn Blogade on Sunday, March 9, at 12 p.m., in Kensington at the Old Brick Cafe, a little Italian/Balkan/Mediterranean restaurant on Church Avenue. Please come!

Time for "Show & Tell": Bloggers are encouraged to be brave and give a reading from one of their best blog posts. Or bring along your laptop and a screen and show us your best pics. Or just tell us about your best post. Please plan to limit your presentation to about five minutes so everybody can have a turn."

Any blogger is welcome, please spread the word if you know anyone that may be interested in participating.

Click here for the details!

Mermaid Parade 2007 was Mah-va-lous dahling!!!

This was definitely THE biggest Mermaid Parade I have ever attended in all the many years I've been going. It was great to see that so many people came out to show love for this truly special place.The parade has come a long way from when the classic cars were allowed on the boardwalk and it was pretty easy to get a good viewing spot! Getting a good spot to view was bit of a problem. I did get there early but lost time trying to hook up with friends, I ultimately gave up and had a good time on my own having the freedom to check out the parade from all different areas. M.C. Chris T. (some Rock & Roll trivia on Chris...he used to be in a popular NYC hardcore punk band from the early 80's "the Nihilistics" and also the East Village band "Missing Foundation"! He's come along way from performing "Kill Yourself"!) did a great job entertaining the crowd with a running commentary on all the paraders. The creativity and good spirit of the parade was really something else. The only dark cloud was when Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz went by on a float spouting some his typical rhetoric. I became possessed and started heckling him much to the annoyance to people standing near me (sorry i couldn't help it!.) Funny thing is I used to think Marty was cute now I wish he would just GO AWAY!!!!! Here's a few pictures, I actually didn't take many, I get sensory overload sometimes and shut down!Flicker has a gizillion images up already, here is my 2 cents worth...Elvis is everywhere.Pimped out mirrored garbage truck makes it's way up Surf Avenue.
The Queen of the parade this year was actress, Patti D'arbanville.
There were alot of politics in the parade this year (as well there should!) The best political one was the one mocking Thor equities with a guy dressed like Thor, sorry no picture!"BUMP BUMP BUMP YOUR ASS OFF!!" A Coney Island Landmark! Let's see Sitt come up with something as Brooklyn as that!


The boardwalk at 6pm.

Mermaid Parade this Saturday.

The Mermaid Parade is happening Saturday June 23rd at 2pm. It's the 25th Anniversary of the parade and it's coinciding with the last year of Coney Island before it turns into Joe Sitt's version of Xanadu.

I was recently thinking about the time I decided to be a participant rather than an observer of the parade. The first Mermaid Parade I went to to was in 1990,the reason I know this is because it was the summer of "Dart Man". Some guy was shooting darts during lunch hour in midtown into the "posteriors" (that was the word the papers used) of woman on their lunch hour.It was a great headline story for the NY Post. I was living in Astoria and a friend and I took the loooonnnnngggg subway ride out to Coney. Anyway, the year I decided to be IN the parade was the year 2000.

I was married at the time and my husband who had a fantastic imagination, would always comment on the name "Harry Van Arsdale Jr." every time we went past the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. exit on the Grand Central. In his mind, Harry Van Arsdale Jr. was an ascot wearing, martini drinking bon vivant who welcomed all the new Queens arrivals with a fresh martini. He was pro immigration. He knew that anyone who moved to Queens worked hard and deserved to relax and live the American Dream, as our families both did. "Welcome to Queens and join us for Happy Hour!"(I am not lying about this!) Hubby would be in Harry Van Arsdale character from that exit until at least we hit the Koskuisko Bridge. Somehow we came up with a plan that Harry would spread his good cheer to Brooklyn with a bunch of mermaids, me being one of them. Our theme developed as a good friend that got the whole Harry Van Arsdale concept decided to join us as -drum roll- Major. Deegan (Harry's arch nemesis). Never mind that the two had absolutely nothing to do with each other in their actual lives. Harry Van Arsdale was actually a tough guy labor leader and Deegan was a tough guy Commisioner of Housing. One was from Queens the other from the Bronx (just like my parents!). It sounded good to us.

Harry Van Arsdale's outfit was basically this; a preppy looking pinstriped button down shirt, an ascot, bermuda shorts, a captain's hat, black socks w/wingtips and of course, a shaker full of martini's (being that it was Mermaid Day this was not a prop). My downstairs neighbor wanted to join us. He showed up at our door painted green. "And you are?" he lit up a cigar and told us he was a frog, like the gangster frog that sounded like Edward G. Robinson from that old cartoon, "Couragious Cat & Minute Mouse". Sure why not. So Frog had a car and we drove to Coney Island, he dropped us off and looked for parking, he ended up having to park all the way around Avenue Y and had to walk through the neighborhood alone with green face paint on (another story and the beginning of my "Warrior's 3" screenplay.) So anyway, nobody got our concept, everyone kept saying "Look! It's Thurston Howell!" Here's a tip, if you are ever in the parade or any parade, you MUST have a shtick that people can understand! I think music is the best shtick around, thank god I had the forethought to bring a water pistol as the mere spritz of water on the watching crowd generated a huge reaction, it was ridiculous, i mean people screamed like I had actually done something. I felt like a rock star, but then I ran out of water and I lost my shtick!

So shtick or no shtick, everyone should go this year, I admit there were a couple years I didn't go, like the year they first got corporate sponsorship (you would think at my age I would get over hating "the man" but I can't seem to shake it!) or when it rained but no matter what go this year. It's the last year before the reconstruction and who knows what state Coney will be in next summer. I know the "Save Coney Island" group has an elaborate dance routine in store choreographed by Miss. Cyclone 2007/ Burlesque performer Angie Potani and there will be lots of glamourous nautical themed creatures hamming it up...so go have fun and check out the Mermaid Ball at the historic "Child's Restaurant" on the boardwalk later on.(and tell them Harry sent ya)

P.S- I dedicate this photo to my friend Michael Oppedisano who passed away in 2001 and was my Coney Island beach buddy. I took this picture a month after he passed on after the parade and always felt he made me take this shot. The guy with the wings looks just like him.