Gung Halloween Fat Choy: Gung Haggis dragon boat paddlers go to Parade of Lost Souls
Dragon Heads hiding in the night at the Parade of Lost Souls event on Saturday Oct 27th in Vancouver's Commercial Drive neighborhood – photo Todd Wong
“Where are you?” I talked into my cell phone, as I wandered through Grandview Park's lower field.
“We are over at the 'Table of Plenty'” said Tzhe.
“Is that near the Fire Dancers?”
“Closer to the candle alter.”
It was Saturday night in Vancouver's East End, and the Parade of Lost Souls was taking place throughout Grandview Park, the Britannia Oval, along Commercial Drive and throughout the immediate neighborhood.
We were a band of dragon boat friends from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy
dragon boat team. Some of us had adopted the theme of angel wings to
coincide with a “life-affirming” take on the “Celebration of Life”
theme for the event organized by the Public Dreams Society.
Okay…
some of us had adopted a “fallen angel” theme. My wings were actually
irridescent purple bat wings, and I wore a black carnival mask.
Cecilia was a punk gothic fallen angel. Wendy was sweet with white
angel wings. Tzhe had one red wing and one white wing – that he bought
at Value Village…
We wandered around seeing puppet shows, dragon heads, carved pumpkins and a carnival band. Along Commercial Drive, we saw many many costumes.
We bumped into an old lady who turned out to by writer/comedian Charles Demers with his french maid fiance Cara. Charles and Cara belong to the Gung Haggis family because Cara's brother Jonas is a 2nd year paddler on the team. Two weeks ago, many of the team members came down to see Charles's sketch comedy show at the Media Club with his partner Paul Bae, as their performing group “Bucket.” They sung their “Happy Hapa Song” – perfect for the Gung Haggis crowd.
Afterwards some of us decided to go home, and some of us went to a house party filled with lots of incredible movie theme costumes…
I met Bat Girl, Audrey Hepburn's “Holly Golightly” from Breakfast at Tiffany, Hellraiser, and even an Optimus Prime Transformer. I saw a yellow Wolverine from the X-Men comic book… but thought the Jean Grey/Phoenix was incredible.
Perfect for Gung Haggis paddlers… we bumped into a kilted William Wallace, who looked at me strange when I shouted out the Robbie Burns lines from the poem “Scots Wha Hae' wi' Wallace bled.”
and a female pint of Guinness “dark body with a blonde head,” she told me
.
Amazing, that none of our group wore kilts. Heck we wear kilts usually at least once or twice a month for Kilts Night and for dragon boat races anyways….
The surviving Gung Haggis paddlers who made it to the party. Todd with bat wings, Alf as That 70's Guy with handle bar moustache (it's real), Hillary as (Not an) Asian warrior princess, pirate Leanne, Spider Woman Julie, and Tzhe with angel wings.- photo Todd Wong
Check out my flickr photos.
