Last year I swore (a daily occurrence) that I would get a costume for this Halloween. I'm not a big fan of the Holiday, but the West Hollywood Carnival is such a blast. We're taking Cat and Mark for their first time and I wanted to be as into it as possible. Alas my laziness superseded my interest and once again I am going as a non participant. I will definitely be posting tons of costume photos on my Flickr account! *grins*

Happy Halloween, bitches!

Halloween was a fucking blast. I finally took Jake to see the West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval. If you've never been and are planning to be in Los Angeles next Halloween... It's the BEST place to go. West Hollywood is made up of a mostly gay community and is a great place to hang out. The people are friendly, the streets are kept clean and there are some great places to shop. The annual Halloween party is held on Santa Monica Blvd and spans for almost two miles. This year they estimated about 500,000 people showed up. It was insane! The costumes were over the top and the people were all so nice. There were families with children of all ages joining in and everyone loved to have their picture taken. My only downer was that I forgot to change my camera setting to outside/night so the pictures aren't great. Jake got some fantastic shots, though.

We drove down Santa Monica Blvd until the roadblock signs warned of "Loooooong delays", then turned down a side street. After a few *cough* wrong turns we ended up at the parking lot. We arrived around 7PM (about 1/2 after everything started) and ended up on the fifth floor before finding a spot. After that it was a short walk into party heaven. Imagine four lanes with a median in between and people filling both sides. There were at least four radio stations with stages set up blaring music while people danced. The roads were blocked with police who were taking pictures and posing with people. We started up one way and the costumes just kept getting better. I kept asking Jake to take pictures and he finally said, "Next year. This is just so much to take in." I forgot how overwhelming it can be for someone the first time.

The best part about this party is that people spent a lot of time to come up with these costumes. Most parties consisted of the usual rentals and cheapies from stores. A lot of these were hand made or altered. As we walked down the road there were people gathered around spots watching others do dances and acting in costume. My favorite has got to be the Victoria Secret Models. Four men dressed in tight shorts and black wings that looked like super models. They would clear a small area and each take their turn walking the catwalk and posing like glamour models. I went nuts. They all had incredible bodies and were gorgeous. Another popular duo was the YouTube guys. They wore a box cut out that looked exactly like a Youtube page (pictures on my Flickr account) with fake/humorous ads on the top and side. Crowds would gather and chant "Rotate! Rotate!" until the guys turned the ads to say something else. Brilliance! The freakiest costume was the one I am using for my post. It wasn't JUST the costume. The guy had this high pitched maniacal laugh that made my neck hairs stand on end. I didn't know whether to laugh or run. I chose to just hide behind Jake and tell him to take a picture.

We walked for two and half hours straight before my back started to give out. I felt bad about having to go so early. Luckily our cameras batteries both died at the same time so it was a good time. This was one of the best Halloweens ever!