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October 30, 2005
Unicorns, Koala Bears, Accordions, Giant Pickles, and Drunken Sailors, and later, Truman Capote
The Unicorn-horn was a big hit at the Halloween mass on Friday! And to think, I almost let my weird latent perfectionist streak get in my way, it was a close call! For a short time I considered staying in. All because there were minor engineering flaws to work out, for example, the horn itself never did want to hang straight. So it was that a Unicorn with a glittering horn, who dressed to the right was seen at 6:08, running terribly late, weaving in and out of traffic on north Michigan Ave, behind Dean, in ratty wig, glow-in-the-dark-skeleton gloves, rubber tarantulas (safety pinned to shoulders) and nose glasses. Dean, also running late, turned up on the 151 bus and turned out to be chivalrous helper of unicorns in distress! As I struggled to get my back tire into the groove on the bike rack, he came off the bus to lend a hand! Thanks Dean!
When the traffic got too heavy I suggested jumping off and riding (like maniacs) the rest of the way to Daley Plaza. He was up for it, so we got on our costume parts (much to the amusement of other riders) and passers-by were treated to a glittery unicorn horn sticking up over taxi roofs, white feather boa mane trailing behind in the breeze.
We wound our way between stalling busses and I honked the Lucky Cat Squeeker madly at crowds of distracted pedestrians! Unicorn Crossing! Heads up or be impaled! Some stared, pointed, laughed! I squeeked all the more for them!
The ride itself had just started circling Daley Plaza, we heard the noise and saw the crowd as my friend and I approached, I thanked him again for his help, and we parted into the mass.
For a while I wandered solo, and the ride circled aimlessly, as drivers who had been twice thwarted in Loop traffic jams (earlier in the day was the Sox parade) sat on their horns and cursed.
Meanwhile, a giant koala bear, in his customary full koala camoflage scanned the crowd, accosting strangers with the question, "have you seen a unicorn??"
The ride thinned out in a weird way, then massed up again as we headed south, where the mass blossomed to its true raucous splendor somewhere around Pilsen and continued through Chinatown. Oh, Chinatown! With throngs of people walking in the narrow center, beyond the pagoda gate, to the smell of cooking fish. In a restaurant window, I saw an aquarium full of big, doomed, silver colored crabs.
We paused on Cermak and I rested a hoof on a koala grey shoulder.
Then we rode on, seemingly directionless at times, a young man riding in a trailer played tuneless yet spooky music on a red accordion, and two others alongside made up words to tuneless songs about Halloween, biking and bridges. I hummed along and swerved my bike lazily, digging the reedy accordion sound. This was in keeping with the tone and timbre of the ride, an undulating, foreboding, dark and slightly more somber than expected, being just on the brink of winter and yet still giddily playing in the streets, resisting hibernation.
We passed low-rise public housing projects and families waved from doorways, children running out to greet us joyously, yelling "go sox!" collecting candy some riders were throwing. We waved, I waved my hoof and yelled "Happy Friday! Happy Halloween!"
We stalled again on a bridge north of Randolph, and there I was next to Mike B. and his giant plastic pickle, and I mean giant. He said he was, in fact, glad to see me, and the pickle was a trophy he'd won in the Bughouse Square debates for a speech on how the cta should be free. It was a very nice pickle!
As the ride continued north we careened down Milwaukee Avenue, a young man in a sailor suit, beer in hand attempted to pass between me and the curb, very close on the right. "A drunken sailor, I might've known!" I said. His cheeks were pink as he grinned a beery grin, and replied it was part of the costume. "Yeah well you are the one who will find yourself impaled!" I said, pointing to the horn. "You think its funny but we will be in News of the Weird." And just then I spied Tiffany of the bubble machine, and Kat, standing in the median. I yelled and waved my hoof furiously "TIFFANNAAAAAY!" And when she saw the horn she pointed and doubled over with laughter.
As we circled Division/Milwaukee and (I think its) Ashland, some were amused, a man stepped out of his car and took photos, one of the unicorn, oh yes! And two ladies also admired the horn! A car carrying three small children all dressed as devils honked in appreciation as we yelled Happy Halloween, and they poked their plastic pitchfork out the window. It was then I spotted Travisty and his tall tall bike and had our customary truncated, shouted exchange.
After circling once on Milwaukee/North and something, the ride stalled again near Filter, and the lure of warm coffee and comfy couches overwhelmed us, and a koala and I left the ride as they headed west.
Oh, it may not be in order, and I may have left out important details, but there it is, in a small nutshell, Halloween Mass, oh yeas.
Yesterday afternoon the Mums and I saw Capote. Very bleak, very riveting, very fascinating. Oh, do go see it.
Posted by at October 30, 2005 05:16 PM
Comments
Thank you for the marvelous freee-wheeeling description of your unicorn ride! So much fun!
Posted by: Elizabeth at October 31, 2005 08:55 AM
Should we really be wishing people a "happy Halloweeen"? Perhaps we should say "Have a ghastly, blood chilling Haloween" or "Hope your holiday chills you to the bone, leaving you feeling unsettled and jumpy for a week!"
Posted by: rob helpychalk at November 1, 2005 08:40 AM