My wife and I are among the six people worldwide who’ve never played any version of Angry Birds, but I think this one’s the main character and his name is J. Reddington Angryshire.
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This year marked the sixth time my wife and I attended the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. It’s an annual date-day tradition for us —- partly to see the floats and high school marching bands, partly for the famous names and partly because I love the sight of a bustling downtown Indianapolis. The next six entries (to be posted over the next few days as quickly as time and attention span permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, absolutely not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.
In this entry: the balloons and floats that are an integral component of every worthy large-scale parade. Cartoon characters, celebrations of local corporate concerns, salutes to worthy organizations, and, most importantly, more Angry Birds.
(As always, photos are clickable for enlargement and resolution and such.)
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway welcomes you with the first float of the afternoon.
Indianapolis Power & Light, our largest local power company, congratulates power users while their arch-rival Duke Energy shakes its fist in jealousy over in neighboring counties.
The half of your 2016 Indy 500 Festival Princesses that faced our side of the street.
Rookie One, the old man among the balloon characters. He’s seen more than his share of parade life.
A salute to science and discovery from Eli Lilly, our local Big Pharma reps.
Po the Dragon Warrior prepares to SKI-DOOSH his handlers.
Float theme “Golden Living” courtesy of Hendricks Regional Health.
Thomas the Tank Engine! Looking forward to the eventual grim reboot that sees him pitted against the Snowpiercer for rail supremacy.
The Children’s Museum brings back last year’s still-keen Hot Wheels float.
The Cat in the Hat Bounces Back from Hollywood Disappointment.
The titular hero of Horton Hears a Who and his pet spore-world.
The Lorax nets the Dr. Seuss hat trick.
I still remember most of the words to the theme from Ralph Bakshi’s New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, but a younger father sitting behind us had to explain to his preschooler who this stranger was.
Firestone’s fancy new display, with special guest Mario Andretti facing the other way.
The “Garfield Minus Garfield” version of this photo just has one floating Pooky and a dozen extra handlers holding spooky ropes that climb to nowhere.
The American flag balloon is another perennial parade staple. If they ever decided to replace it, I have no idea how its disposal would work.
The American Legion, “Celebrating Communities”.
Anthem Health Insurance sent an inflatable battleship on the hunt for ACA October.
The final IMS float brought the Indy 500’s Borg-Warner Trophy as the prize or the parade. If Batman had any racing-themed villains, they’d be all over this artifact.
As promised: more Angry Birds! I think this one’s called Maddo-Lark Lemon.
I’ve decided these are the twin Bluebirds of Bitterness, Huffy and Guffy. I’m an Angry Birds authority now!
To be continued! Links to other chapters in this annual MCC miniseries are listed below. Follow us on Facebook or via email signup for new-entry alerts, or over on Twitter if you want to track my TV live-tweeting and other signs of life between entries. Thanks for stopping by!
Part 1: The 33 Drivers in Your Starting Lineup
Part 2: This Year’s Guests
Part 3: Marching Bands!
Part 5: Random Acts of Parading
Part 6: Before the Music
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