Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and family.  Hopefully you are not in a food coma at this moment.  Besides giving thanks and gorging ourselves with food, there is also the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.  They have giant character balloons, marching bands and various floats.  I saw the parade in person when I was in New York in 1998.  It was raining and we had boy band 98 Degrees and Kenny Rodgers.  The mix of celebrities on floats in the parade this year was an interesting one, and included Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, and Kanye West.  I have no idea why Kanye chose to perform in the parade, but here he is singing a bit of "Lost in the World."

AFL Grand Final Parade

Yesterday Inala and I escaped the office to attend the AFL Grand Final Parade. This year the reigning premiers Geelong were playing Hawthorn. All the players were in the parade from the Arts Centre up Swanston and Collins Streets. There was a huge crowd there to cheer on their teams. It was the first all Victorian final for 8 years, and Hawthorn's first trip the Grand Final in 17 years. The game itself today was fantastic and Hawthorn pulled off a huge 26 point upset of Geelong (who had only lost one game this season). I'm sure Tash will be celebrating this victory for the next month or so.

AFL Grand Final Parade

Today was the Grand Final Parade through the streets of Melbourne. Since the parade ends at the Old Treasury Building, a bunch of us from work went to watch. About 50,000 people came out to cheer on the players for Geelong and Port Adelaide, who are playing for the Premiership Cup tomorrow at the MCG. It was cold and windy outside with the occasional rain shower (what happened to spring?). Most people in the crowd were there for Geelong, who last won a Premiership 44 years ago and are the first Victorian team to make the Grand Final in the last few years. One added bonus to the day was seeing Essendon's Alwyn Davey and James Hird. After the presentations on stage the players got back onto their buses we headed back to the office to warm up.

Moomba

Belinda and I went to the Moomba Parade today along Swanston Street. Moomba is a cultural festival along the Yarra River over the Labour Day weekend. Besides the parade they had rides, carnival booths, waterskiing, and other entertainment. The most amusing highlight of the day for me was the Code One Police Band performing the Black Eyed Peas "Pump It" (and they weren't that bad).

AFL Grand Final Parade

Tomorrow is the AFL Grand Final match between the West Coast Eagles and Sydney Swans. Melbourne has been inundated by interstate fans of both teams and as is the tradition, today was the Grand Final parade through downtown Melbourne. Since the parade finished around the corner from my building, Adam and I decided to watch the speeches in front of Old Treasury Building before heading to grab lunch. There was a big turnout- around 50,000 people along the whole parade route. The players greeted the crowd and at the end a player from each team held up the trophy they will all be playing for tomorrow at the MCG. I really don't care who wins, as long as it's a good game.