It's a pretty massive number of people.So we managed to reach there in time for the parade down Penn Avenue, and most of the parade folks were carrying their own hand-made props which are more rustic than the rather polished ones that we see in the Chingay Parade. Hand-made props never seemed more fun than this:
And oh, there's a stilt walker representing Father Time:
By now you should realise that the pictures are rather grainy—can't be helped since folks don't stand there to get their pictures taken, so I had to set my camera to run at a higher ISO setting in order to avoid all the streaky blurs that occurs when folks move faster than the shutter speed for normal (cleaner) images.The most interesting event of the night was the
Balmoral Highlanders Pipe Band & Dancers who performed at the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh. Really cool stuff. First, a picture of them in the church:
And a close-up of this rather cute chick:
Turns out she's only 15, but that doesn't mean I can't say that she is cute, right? I mean, she is cute, and yeah, I'll stop there.Now they're about to march down the aisle:
And here's pictures of them as they stepped out of the main hall. First, the pipers:
Next, the tenor drum players (yes, it is that chick, and her name is Anna; go figure that one out):
Followed by the snares:
And finally the bass drum:
Actually, behind the bass drum, there were three lovely highland dancers, unfortunately I don't really have a decent enough picture of them without blur streaks or graininess. So, just know that there were three rather lovely female highland dancers. Speaking of the highland dancers, did you know that each of the highland dances that they were doing were full of hops? It was... tiring even to see them do all that hopping around while dancing. It's an amazing workout I might say, and they must have been rather well-trained, for they didn't even pant after being done with them. Amazing stuff.And by the time we were done with the band, it was about 45 minutes before the actual countdown. We headed to the main stage and were greeted by the music of The Clarks. Man, those folks are a really good rock band; I suddenly realise that I actually like rock music. But then again, I'm also used to metal, so heheh... Here's a rather screwy picture of them, taken from a good 30 metres away:
And behind them was the building where the amazing "ball" was. Here's how it looked like prior to 2008:
Unfortunately, I was too busy messing around with my stadium horn to actually take pictures of the rising ball, the new backdrop, and of course, the fireworks.That said, it was a rather interesting evening. Alright, I think I'm done with writing for the night. Hope that folks actually have a chance to read this, and have a happy new year to all.
Ta-ta for now.
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