Halloween with the Bear Posse
Some of my readers, especially those in Alabama, have come to expect a certain amount of insanity from my life and subsequent live journal posts. Well folks, I am here to let you know, this post will NOT disappoint...
So. How to begin?
Apparently there is a sub-culture of people in New York City who rather enjoy dressing up like bears and making mischief. They call themselves The Bear Posse, and have been known to take their madcap energy to such events as Burning Man, where they have been known to raid camps, deprive coolers of their beer stock (hey, bears forage), and hump and/or hug anyone they so please. That's how New York rolls, man. If you can think of it, NY's been doing it longer and stranger than you can even imagine.
PM is known in many strange circles of folks in NYC, and the Bear Posse consists of many of his friends and acquaintances, many of whom I know as well. When we were asked to ride the Bear Posse bus in the annual New York City Halloween Parade (might be called the Greenwich Parade, since that's where it starts), I thought: We can ride on a bus through a parade, and all I have to do in order to drink my beer in seated comfort is dress like a bear? Sure!
So began our adventure... along with the procuring of 8 yards of fake fur the day OF the event. PM worked on his for several hours, while I only had about an hour to put something together. I chose a rather parred-down "Punk Rock" bear motif, but I fully intend to make a full bear suit for the next time. This thing was FUN. Being a bear was like nothing else. I danced my ass off on the roof of the bus (fenced in, with signs that said not to feed us), growled happily at the crowd, and didn't even need an excess of alcohol to enjoy myself. Attention all claustrophobics: if you want to be in a parade, get a bus and be a friggin' bear- you'll thank me.
I could go on and on, but really, you should just check out the pictures I posted:
Halloween '05 Pix
And here's a taste of bear...
Couplea Bears
So. How to begin?
Apparently there is a sub-culture of people in New York City who rather enjoy dressing up like bears and making mischief. They call themselves The Bear Posse, and have been known to take their madcap energy to such events as Burning Man, where they have been known to raid camps, deprive coolers of their beer stock (hey, bears forage), and hump and/or hug anyone they so please. That's how New York rolls, man. If you can think of it, NY's been doing it longer and stranger than you can even imagine.
PM is known in many strange circles of folks in NYC, and the Bear Posse consists of many of his friends and acquaintances, many of whom I know as well. When we were asked to ride the Bear Posse bus in the annual New York City Halloween Parade (might be called the Greenwich Parade, since that's where it starts), I thought: We can ride on a bus through a parade, and all I have to do in order to drink my beer in seated comfort is dress like a bear? Sure!
So began our adventure... along with the procuring of 8 yards of fake fur the day OF the event. PM worked on his for several hours, while I only had about an hour to put something together. I chose a rather parred-down "Punk Rock" bear motif, but I fully intend to make a full bear suit for the next time. This thing was FUN. Being a bear was like nothing else. I danced my ass off on the roof of the bus (fenced in, with signs that said not to feed us), growled happily at the crowd, and didn't even need an excess of alcohol to enjoy myself. Attention all claustrophobics: if you want to be in a parade, get a bus and be a friggin' bear- you'll thank me.
I could go on and on, but really, you should just check out the pictures I posted:
Halloween '05 Pix
And here's a taste of bear...
Couplea Bears