Today I had the distinct pleasure of watching “The St. Patrick’s Day Parade” from New York City. The coverage was by the WNBC crew on New York’s channel 4 but was being broadcast by the Travel Channel (darn nice of them, don’t you think?).
Usually I’m working on St. Patrick’s Day so I always miss the live coverage of the bands and other paraders making their way down 5th Avenue. It’s not the same seeing the replays later on in the news coverage.
The Grand Marshall was Tommy Smyth, who is usually up in the booth commenting on the parade but it was his turn this year to lead the revelry. After he had made his way down 5th Ave, he joined the team that was calling the parade. Up to that point the coverage was solid, but when he joined the crew it really livened up the tone of the whole parade.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many men in kilts. There were cable-knit sweaters, red haired lasses, and green, green, green as far as the eye could see.
The funniest moment, in my estimation, had to be when the ‘man on the street’ reporter caught up with Rudy Guliani. The reporter mentioned having seen Rudy at the last St. Patrick’s Day Parade but (sarcastically) wondered what the former NYC Mayor had been up to since then.
Rudy smiled and said he had been doing a lot of traveling around the country, laughing it off with great aplomb.
While the parade continued on, the coverage did not and I was sad to see it go. For me, this is a REAL parade with bands and people walking with a purpose. There were no floats or large balloons. The Macy’s parade has become so commercialized and glossy.
Picture in your mind Donny Osmond lip-syncing some Christmas tune from a Disney float in front of Macy’s Department Store. Blurgh!
As a total non-sequitur: Is this girl CUTE, or what?
Whatever she’s selling, I’m buying!
Usually I’m working on St. Patrick’s Day so I always miss the live coverage of the bands and other paraders making their way down 5th Avenue. It’s not the same seeing the replays later on in the news coverage.
The Grand Marshall was Tommy Smyth, who is usually up in the booth commenting on the parade but it was his turn this year to lead the revelry. After he had made his way down 5th Ave, he joined the team that was calling the parade. Up to that point the coverage was solid, but when he joined the crew it really livened up the tone of the whole parade.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many men in kilts. There were cable-knit sweaters, red haired lasses, and green, green, green as far as the eye could see.
The funniest moment, in my estimation, had to be when the ‘man on the street’ reporter caught up with Rudy Guliani. The reporter mentioned having seen Rudy at the last St. Patrick’s Day Parade but (sarcastically) wondered what the former NYC Mayor had been up to since then.
Rudy smiled and said he had been doing a lot of traveling around the country, laughing it off with great aplomb.
While the parade continued on, the coverage did not and I was sad to see it go. For me, this is a REAL parade with bands and people walking with a purpose. There were no floats or large balloons. The Macy’s parade has become so commercialized and glossy.
Picture in your mind Donny Osmond lip-syncing some Christmas tune from a Disney float in front of Macy’s Department Store. Blurgh!
As a total non-sequitur: Is this girl CUTE, or what?
Whatever she’s selling, I’m buying!
