Obligatory Mermaid Parade Photos

If you live anywhere near Brooklyn and write a blog, chances are you went to the Mermaid Parade to shoot some really great photos of some really freaky people.

In the words of a wise friend, this year was the shark-jumped Mermaid Parade. Hordes of smelly youngsters looking for a view of some chubby bare chested females, without any of the charm of what the event's organizers call New York City's largest art parade. In my opinion, the Mermaid Parade has become a stand-in for the sleeze the city used to be known for, something like a last gasp of the porny grit that's been erased from a sanitized Times Square. And I mean that as more of an observation, I think, than a criticism.

The pictures below are of one of the better organized floats -- a sophisticated music business company called the "Erocktica Tour." It's a pun. Do you get it?? If not, don't bother looking it up online. Just answer the following two questions: (1) Do you like heavy metal? (2) Do you like Real Live Strippers? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you will LOVE the Erocktica Tour. Because it's heavy metal music performed live with strippers sorta kinda dancing along with the groove. Behold.

You should have seen what happened to the bulbous end of that funny glass.