Albany Pride Parade

Sunday June 13th was Albany, NY's annual Gay Pride Parade. I have lived here for 7 (8?) years and have missed it every year. Luckily, I managed to catch the very end of it this year. Next year I will try and see the beginning of the parade, too.

Here is Citizen Action of New York marching in the parade.

Gay dog. I like this pooch's scarf. Pretty and very fitting. There was one detractor trying to march at the end of the parade, but let's just say that the LGBT community is very tolerant and nice, and knows that ignoring an attention seeker is the better way to go than anything else. I'm surprised the cops didn't tell the person to leave, but not very surprised.

Gay tent! There was lots of free stuff inside the tent. I like the shwag giveaways at festivals.

Ran into fellow bloggers and walked around with them. Very cool. When I first moved to Albany I didn't know how people ran into folks at all of these festivals. Live here a few years and you'll run in to people you know too. I like that - it makes me feel popular.

Lady Gay Gay! I like this Lady GaGa impersonator. Even better is that you don't know if it's a man or a woman. Either gender, she is fierce!

A look inside the tent. This is GE's healthymagination team promoting things. Very progressive of them.

Finished up Pride by walking around town and looking at the front of Lark Tavern. There's a notebook people have jotted some stuff down. And of course this guy wrote something. Funny way to end the day.

What a Nice Husbear

My husbear Albany John asked me yesterday if I was free in the afternoon of the 23rd. I wasn’t, and asked him if it was about that Pitbull concert I wanted to see in Six Flags. It was. He wanted to get me tickets in to Six Flags, and then standing room only tickets, to be closer to the stage to see Pitbull.

Aaaawwwwwwwwww. It was so sweet.

I hadn’t quite planned on going, but when he said it was in the afternoon (Six Flags, who has a concert at 3 pm? Evidently their concert closes at 6 pm. Weird), I knew I’d definitely be out. It’s for the best – I would probably overhype it in my mind to death, or spastically fan-girl out and creep the hell out of Pitbull.

Albany, First Friday, 6/4/2010

On the first Friday of every month, Albany hosts First Friday. This monthly event promotes the artistic community in the area. Galleries stay open later, and some restaurants/bars/shops turn into galleries for the night. It lasts from 5 pm - 9 pm, although things usually start winding down after 8 pm.

They have a free trolley ride, and I snagged the first one when I rolled in early. As you can see, at 5 pm, things are still very quiet. Most visitors come after work, and so do some artists, so activities start picking up around 6 pm.

It got busier later on. I met up with a friend later on, and we saw some people dressed in costumes. I took the trolley again. It's very fun on a hot day. And free! The girl was dressed up like SuperGirl. I'm not sure what the boys were dressed up as. I am guessing they attend one of Albany's many colleges.

Now it's getting busy! Many more people are standing outside of the UAG (Upstate Artists Guild). This is like the central hub for First Friday.

Went to Grand Street Community Arts to see a multi-culti exhibit of different cultures. It seemed mostly full of people who were going to perform later on. This space used to be very beat up and worn. The GSCA folks have put in a lot of hard work to make the space better.

Also went to The Furnace, an indie group that reminds me of the Capital District Federation of Ideas, which has been inactive for about two years. Artsy, into helping the community.

I was excited to see many terrariums. They look beautiful.

There was also someone doing performance art. Someone said it was the performer's interpretation of how Christmas started.

... I don't know if they were joking or not. I don't get a lot of performance art - I probably never will.

Went back to GSCA to check out a Tibetan performance. Very intricate. The men and women danced differently, and sang as they danced.

Pitbull in Concert 6/23 @ New England Six Flags!!!

There are not enough exclamations in the world!!!!! Pitbull is going to be playing at Six Flags on June 23, 2010!!!!

Ai, mi Pitbull!!!!!

Squee, squee, squee, squee, squee!

Caution: No Floor

Isn't it so curious? A bit of cardboard that reads "Caution: No Floor" in orange spray paint, taped to a door.

I've never seen a building without floors before.

Dolphin + Unicow

Werner Herzog's next film will answer the question - "And why don't superior animals like the dolphin ride unicows off into the sunset?"
Bonus cool points for saying it like Herzog would.

Moustache and Beard Mask, Crocheted

I love moustaches. I love them all. Fluffy, skinny, short, scrawny. Moustaches, moustaches, moustaches, I just can’t get enough.

I’d grow my own, but unfortunately I can’t. I while back I purchased a moustache embroidered ski mask from one of my friends. It’s completely awesome and I can’t wait for the winter months to roll around before I can wear it.

I love crocheting, especially quirky little items. Lately my beanies have been coming out a bit wonky. I do some rather nice scarves, but I don’t like handing out the same thing year after year to people.

Cue the lights!

So I’ve been seeing moustache and beard hats/masks/tie ons on some other sites, and I’ll be honest – I either couldn’t get it down or it was too complex for me. Could also be the needle and type of yarn I was using, but once you start blaming those things it’s all downhill. Generally, it’s the needle holder’s problem, he he.

I played around a bit this morning and then cranked out this moustache and beard mask. I like it! As you can tell, I’ve also been playing around with GIMP’s photo processing program. Cue the tackiness!

I usually start making something and then the more it finishes, the more I know who it should be for. Hopefully I don’t sound all pretentious and artistic and crap like that. Once I started on the moustache I realized it would be perfect for my little sister. We’re both a little quirky sometimes and I think she’ll enjoy this.

Here’s the pattern, I even remembered to pay attention and take notes while I was making it!

Ch 28
Row 1: sc (single chain) across
Row 2: sc across
Row 3: sc 9, 2 hdc (half double chain) [ch 10], 3 dc (double chain)[ch 11], 2 dc[ch12], 2 hdc[ch 13], sc[ch14], sc[ch 15], 2 hdc[ch 16], 2 dc[ch 17], 3 dc[ch 18], 2 hdc[ch 19], sc 9 [in rows 20-28].
Lemme explain that one. For the HDCs and DCs you’ll be working in the front row of the loop, not both, so the moustache poofs out of the mask. After stitch 14 you’ll be in the center, mirroring the work you did on the other side.
Row 4: sc 9, then go back DOWN into the back loops of the ones in row 3 that were worked in front loops. Hop back up to #20 in row 4 and sc remaining 9 loops across. This also helps the ‘stache poof out more.
Row 5: sc 9, ch 11, skip over ‘stache area and sc the last 9 on the other side (20-28).
Row 6: sc 9, sc in all 10 ch from the ones in row 5, sc 9
Row 7: sc
Row 8: Don’t loop, skip 2, sc 25 across, skip last 2 on end (so sides are even when they decrease)
Row 9: sc
Row 10: sc
Row 11: don’t loop, skip 2, sc 21, skip 2 on end
Row 12: sc
Row 13: sc
Row 14: sc
Row 15: don’t loop, skip 2, sc 17, skip 2 on end
Row 16: sc
Row 17: sc
Row 18: sc

I braided up 2 lengths of yarn and tied them on the first row, so they can be tied behind the head.

Done with brown Lion Brand Lion Suede yarn. Used less than entire ball. 5.00 mm H hook.

I might tweak it a little more in the future, but overall I'm rather happy with this pattern as a beginner pattern. It was very easy to come up with, and I normally have a hard time keeping track of counting while crocheting.