A weekend of contrasts

Jus and I hit a burlesque show on Friday night. It was date night so it was time to do something saucy. Got all the pasties we could handle at a dinner & show in SoHo. It was actually quite tame, which was a good thing as we were about a foot from the stage and I might have gagged on my pork roulade if I had have looked up at the wrong moment and caught sight of something over the top. They were encouraging all kinds of debauchery, which culminated in a 'dance off' among three 25 year olds to 3 Britney songs. Britney comes out looking squeaky clean after their examples of raunch culture. Ech, to be 20 something again. No thanks.

On Saturday, slightly hung over and spaced out, I joined Jennifer and Rose for a peace march to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war. There was an event on W14 St, one block away, where people were linking arms from river to river the entire width of the island, to form a human chain. The chain then folded in on itself and rallied at Union Sq, where there were speakers and singers and lots of placards and press. It was a moving moment. So much of the time you can forget this country is at war because there is so much frivolous stuff being reporrted on, but the last week has seen a lot of protests and mourning of the 4000 dead US soldiers and the 1 million dead Iraqi civilians.

So, after the rally was over, with thoughtful hearts we wandered over to the other side of Union Sq where some uni kids had organized... a mass pillow fight! For hours, we had watched thousands of teens and adults amass around the square with their pillows (and goggles and costumes) to take part in this annual event. Pals Olivia and Damien rocked up, touting our pillows, and we joined in the throng. It was a free for all wack fest. Anyone with a pillow was fair game for a thump on the head. You just wandered into the fray and went for it. It was so therapeutic. I squealed and flailed my arms around and hit strangers with abandon. In the face. In the back of the head. Sideways. The air was thick with feathers and down and I was almost choking on the fluff as pillows burst open around me. It was 30 minutes of true pandemonium. Check out the photos on Flickr and videos on Youtube. It was hilarious. Jus had to pick the last feathers out of my hair this morning before work.