Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012

My old friend Jed was in town for Thanksgiving weekend and wanted to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Here are some pics and commentary:

We arrived about 20 minutes early and walked to 70th Street and Central Park West.  The crowds were already significant.  Here are photos looking forward and backward at the crowd.

Kiddies' balloons taking flight.

The parade begins!

Hello Kitty with plane was a new balloon this year.

Pilgrims.

One thing that I've always liked about the parade is how the floats and balloons progress from autumn/Thanksgiving themes to winter/Christmas themes.

Here's the turkey!

Call me maybe?

If there's a football...

Good 'ol Charlie Brown can't be too far behind!

Next to President Obama, the yellow guy in the float pictured below is probably the happiest about the election results.

Kung Fu Panda.

The Roots - I remember them playing at Mason Day before they hit it really big.

Make way for ducklings.

Some monkey that isn't Curious George.

Spidey.

Random boy band - Macy's always busts out the C- and D-list celebrities for the parade.

Pikachu.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - are they still around?

Spongebob.

Shadow of Spongebob.

It's Papa Smurf - why is he holding a microphone?

Smurfette, you've still got it.

Jed enjoying the festivities.

Each year, a modern artist is tapped to design a balloon for the parade.  This year's artist was KAWS.

This one's for Sandra in Jordan - the Wimpy Kid.

The interesting thing about this caterpillar is that it is made up of individual balloons that are not attached end-to-end.

Another staple of the Macy's parade is the use of corporate mascots - here, we have the Kool-Aid Man.

Here's Mickey.

Can you find Kareem?

The U.S. Women's Gymnastics team.  I wonder if Mckayla was impressed?

Here's my man Ronald.

His balloon looks a little beat up.

Another mascot - Mr. Peanut.

And here's the Pillsbury Doughboy.

The Doughboy's had some work done - probably multiple lipos and a removal of excess skin or two.

Christmas ornament - means that the parade is ending soon.

AF-LAC!

 

To infinity...and beyond!  (He must've been referring to sequels).

Here's Virginia O'Hanlon, the little girl whose letter resulted in the famous editorial, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".  Which she believed for about five years until her parents told her that it was Dad all along.

Great detail on the balloon - the letter is addressed.

When the elves show up...

That means that Santa can't be too far behind.

The best part was when a mom told a girl, "we're going to see him tomorrow at Target!"

Macy's marketing = epic fail.

"Merry Christmas, now start shopping!"

Blast from the Past - Christmas in New York 2011 - Part II - Macy's

Yeah, well, I never finished the Christmas 2011 holiday window display posts, so I'm hoping to catch up before I visit the 2012 displays.  Think of this as a flashback from the Ghost of Christmas Windows Past...

Now, on to the Main Event!

1) Macy's

I went to Macy's the Wednesday before Christmas.  It was a beautiful afternoon.

The store window display had some kind of weird storyline behind it that I didn't quite comprehend.  Something about a galactic winter spaceship or something...

There was an interactive area where the public could make a decoration.

Christmas in New York - Part I - Gingerbread at Le Parker Meridien

Here is the first part of my photos from my annual NYC Christmas shop window viewing expedition.  However, this post doesn't contain photos from shop windows, rather, from a exhibition of gingerbread houses and other creations at the Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Midtown West.  The hotel asked several restaurants and artists to get creative with gingerbread - here are some of the results.

Gingerbread typewriter.  

Of note were the scattered words in the display - "NY", "FUN", "USA", and of course, "OWS".

Side view

This display is of a gingerbread Le Parker Meridien hotel.

They did a good job of showing the division of space in the lobby between front desk area, and lobby bar/lounge.  There was even a miniature Burger Joint.

Hotel rooms (which exist) and top floor spa/pool (which, AFAIK, don't).

I don't remember what this was supposed to be.

Chocolate pond and pretzel railings along the path.

Tick, tock, just a clock.

Supposed to be a haunted house, or something?  In any case, I liked the detail.

View from above.

Here's a display playing off of Occupy Wall Street.

99% Dark Chocolate - cute.

This was by far the best part of the exhibit, IMHO.  Rudolph lives!

I liked the M&M roof shingles - red and green, of course.

Doublemint gum roof shingles!

Harlem Restaurant Review - Jimbo's Hamburger Palace

So, I moved to central Harlem last week and from time to time will post about some of the things I experience here.

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Jimbo's Hamburger Palace


Various Locations in Harlem - I visited the one at 535 Lenox Avenue (Lenox Avenue between 136th Street and 137th Street)

It was a rainy afternoon and I was in the mood for a good burger.  Jimbo's got decent reviews on Google and is located close to the apartment, so I decided to try it out.

Hmmm, the sign outside the door lists a lot more food options than burgers, which conspicuously shows up after eggs and omelets - not exactly a good sign for what is supposed to be a burger place.

Here's Jimbo's from the inside.  Jimbo's had an old diner feel to it, with a long bar table wrapping around the kitchen, which primarily consisted of a large griddle and a couple of fryers.  Opposite the bar table were a bunch of small dining tables and chairs.  A Latina waitress loitered near the end of the bar, and 3 Latino cooks were busy behind it.

The menu was lit up in white lettering on a red background with photos of some of the food showing.  It looks like they serve the full gamut of diner food that can be prepared with help of a griddle, from breakfast sandwiches (eggs), to omelets, to tossed salads, to hot and cold sandwiches (including a cold (not grilled) cheese sandwich), AND fried fish (I'll have to try that sometime).  And, of course, burgers.

The burger choices included the basics - hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, and the like - and came in a 1/4 lb patty size.  For 60 cents more, you could get the 7 oz size.  You could also order the burgers "deluxe" (i.e., as a meal, with fries - drinks were extra).

I ordered a cheeseburger deluxe with the works, cooked medium, with a medium 7-Up (or in Jordanian Arabic, "Seven").  It cost $8.25.

The burger was cooked on the griddle and the bun (packaged) was toasted on same.  The cook did press down on the patty a few times (boo!).  The works included shredded lettuce, a few slices of tomato, ketchup, and mayo.  The fries were of the frozen variety, but straight out of the fryer and in a large quantity.

The burger was slightly overcooked, as the patty was rather thin, but it still tasted pretty good.  The only issue for me was that the bun top disintegrated some during eating.

The verdict?  Not In-n-Out or Burger Joint quality, but still pretty decent.  It did cost $8.25, which is a lot, but you get a lot of food.  I may try the grilled cheese sometime.

6.5 or 7 out of 10.