E-Holiday Parade Brings Balloons, Music to Neopolis

A parade was held in Neopolis West on December 8 to celebrate E-Holiday, one of the official SpinDizzy holidays established by Mayor Beltrami and Deputy Mayor Portia during their term. The “E” stands for “everything,” and the holiday is generally regarded as a celebration either of everything, or of the particular thing that each participant most wants to celebrate. The parade, organized by Beltrami, included citizens taking the role of parade balloons, two marching bands, a float, and various other festive performers. (A log, provided by Cadge-Tuesday, can be seen here: E-Holiday Parade 2011.)First in the parade was NBC, peacock, who stopped in front of the crowd and flashed a rapid series of images across his video-capable train feathers, lingering at last on the title screen from the sitcom Friends. He then left the parade route to situate himself at a podium and serve as announcer for the rest of the parade by way of speakers wired into the bejeweled choker that provides his audio.

First on the parade route after NBC was the kiwi commonly known as Squawk, somehow transformed into a small balloon for the parade. He floated through the parade area a short distance from the ground, seeming delighted at getting to fly for a change. Following closely behind was another balloon, Nimble, in hir usual squirrel form, but much larger than usual. Sie was carried through the parade route by hir assistant the clockwork squirrel, though at the end broke free of the tether and disappeared from view, the clockwork squirrel chasing after.

No parade would be complete without a marching band, and this parade was fortunate to have two.  The first was the Neopolis Construction Company Beaver Marching Band was on hand to entertain the crowd with a spirited rendition of the Santana song “Everybody’s Everything.” After they passed, the mood briefly turned more serious with the appearance of a float titled “Scrooge and the Three Spirits.” Riding the float was Austin, coati, portraying the Ghost of Christmas Past; BunnyHugger, devilbunny, portraying the Ghost of Christmas Present; a mysterious hooded figure with glowing red eyes, portraying the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come; and Chitter, squirrel, portraying Ebenezer Scrooge. After a short skit between Scrooge and the first two Spirits, the hooded figure approached Scrooge menacingly, and then asked, “Would you like a cup of tea?” This was apparently an unscripted moment, as BunnyHugger was heard to exclaim, “Argh! Xenophon, suspend tea service!” as the float moved away.

The balloon theme continued as a large hot air balloon, carrying Mayor Jax E. Neurocyon, commonly known as Jaxen, fox, came into view. The balloon sported classic rainbow colors and a wicker basket. According to sources, this balloon will soon become the new method of transportation to Spengo, SpinDizzy’s moon. Although a familiar sight in the night sky, its origins and most of its terrain are still a mystery. With the introduction of an easy route to Spengo, SpinDizzians may soon be able to explore it better and uncover its secrets. Another aircraft followed the balloon, this time the SDS Flying Fish, captained by Claude, LOLcat. The bright yellow ship seemed to wave its articulated wings at the crowd as it soared past, and then it dropped fish-shaped confetti on the delighted spectators.

Next was Featherwing, dragon, who had transformed into a balloon for the occasion. He made good use of his unusual buoyancy by performing acrobatic tricks, ending by diving down to buzz the crowd. Following close behind was Garrison, another balloon-for-a-day, but much larger, standing around 200 feet tall. Garrison was currently in the form of a four-armed female skunktaur and was carried through the route by a team of handlers in skunk costumes.

Following Garrison was Mel, cowgirl, the 2011 Fair Queen, carrying a festive flag. She announced, “Ladies ‘n’ gentlefurs! … Th’ Jellicle Reindeer Holiday Band!” and PatchO’Black, the 2011 Fair King, appeared – many times over. He had duplicated himself into an entire herd of reindeer, who served as the parade’s second marching band. The band played the popular Miser Brothers’ themes from the Rankin-Bass holiday special The Year Without a Santa Claus and did some precision marching in formation.

The last two participants resumed the parade’s balloon theme. Pete floated by in the form of a small blimp around three feet in length, lowering himself to snatch Ping, mouse, from the spectator area and carry her over the rest of the crowd’s heads. “The parade kidnaps people?” remarked onlooker Fuzzy, peculiar marsh rabbit. The kidnapping did not lost long, as Pete carefully set down Ping on top of Xor, Boolean entity, before floating away.

Finally, the parade reached its end with parade organizer Beltrami bringing up the rear, this time appearing as a balloon giant-clawed otter, and wearing Mischa and Dolly as part of her clothing. She shook a jingle bell and threw confetti on the crowd as she darted, playful and otterlike, through the parade route. She seemed to single out Gilead, otter, and NBC for recognition, tapping the former on the head and touching the latter’s crest before touching her chin, a gesture usually meaning “thank you.”

As Beltrami receded from view, NBC called a close to the proceedings with the announcement, “That concludes the 2011 E-Holiday Parade, a special presentation of NBC!” and his signature chimes.