Two Willy Entries in One

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the 1971 version, came on ABC Family last night. Why was I watching ABC Family? No idea. I think it was adjacent to another channel that I was watching. Anyway, LL and I started watching the show because I love the story, the movie, the soundtrack and then end when Gene Wilder says, "...etcetera, etcetera...." several times. I also really like the city they show when the glass elevator shoots through the roof. The town is actually Nordlingen Germany and is built on a meteor crater site! When Veruca Salt went through her routine, I wondered what happened to her. Turns out, she's a decent sized star in England. Interestingly, none of the other kids have done anything much in cinema or TV. Charlie is an animal doctor in upstate NY. Augustus is a tax accountant in Munich. Violet was considered for Linda Blair's role in The Exorcist, but her parents had issues with the subject matter. Imagine how that could have changed her life!! Her consolation prize? One of Peter Brady's girlfriends towards the end of The Brady Bunch's run.

After the stress and excitement of Saturday, I was looking forward to a relaxed Sunday. That wasn't really likely though as it was the Gay Pride Parade in the neighborhood. The parade runs north up one end of my block and then runs south down the other end of my block, so unless I leave town for about 8 hours, there's no avoiding it. And it's pretty awesome people watching, so it's worth hanging around. These three girls I saw at Starbucks in the morning ended up making the front page of the Tribune. Here are some pics:

Here's the real reason I didn't want to miss the parade this year. The Stanley Cup!!! Brent Sopel, who has since been traded ironically enough, brought Lord Stanley's Cup to the parade on the first ever Blackhawks float.

Another Stanley Cup picture.

And one more on the other end of my street when they were headed the other direction. This is as close as I've been to the Cup, except for getting my picture taken with it in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Not to be outdone, the Cubs had a float too! Wrigley is only four blocks away from the parade route, but this is the first time I remember them being in the parade. No players were on the float...there was a game....yeah, that's why.

Starbucks Barista Frank marching in the parade. Unfortunately his waving hand is blocking his face.

This is one of the first floats and is the Pride Queen I think. Well, they are a queen, but I'm not sure if they are THE queen.

These two pictures are for a plastic surgeon. Too funny! The characters dressed up as the blue avatar creatures and had their painted boobs hanging out (showing off the doctor's work). Very original I thought!

I just thought Chipotle's burrito was funny.

This was funny to me because it's Amtrak's entry, but it's not a float...it's a bus. WTF?? That's like GM having an entry that's pulled by a Hyundai. Idiots.

Joliet in the house!!!

Some of these pictures won't blow up....not sure why. Sorry!