god bless america

returning from the new years day parade (london 2011) it got me thinking.

the americans really know how to do a parade.

they're probably all geared up for it back home, with the regular sports/games/events where these marching bands and cheerleaders can keep their skills up to speed. the're probably obliged to join as part of the school curriculum, with inter-school competitions etc.

i got talking to a group from holland in the salisbury afterwards and asked if they had stuff like that over there. they said no, the same as us really. they said you might get a child to march/cheer-lead up to the age of around 10, but after that don't bother to even ask them. i was saying that you'd never get our teenagers to put on that uniform in baby-blue or other pastel colour, with tassels, and feathers on their heads, marching to numbers by the beetles.

having said all that, the parade would not have been worth going to without the american marching bands. i'm sad to have to report on the miserable looking british groups with their half-hearted attempts at a costume and a bit tinsel stuck on their heads. with badly choreographed dancing to the sound of a blown speaker pumping out some too-loud sounds, having been all a couple of london boroughs could seem to manage. but they weren't all that bad, some where alright, some were even quite good, but they paled into insignificance when followed by a 200 strong marching, cheering extravaganza, flown in from a number of states in the USA. one group had even got stuck in the airport for 3 days on the way over. bless.

all in all a good parade - the let down was that westminster council did not ensure the safety of the participants. there was a reasonably big hole right on the route of the parade, where the marchers were passing. one cheer-leader appeared to twist her ankle because of it. bad form for westminster i felt. a bit of sand down it in the morning would have probably made the event accident free.