Hey Day 2009

Today was Hey Day, the day at the University of Pennsylvania when the junior class are officially pronounce seniors by the president of the University, currently Dr. Amy Gutmann. Traditionally, the juniors wear red shirts and styrofoam hats (faux straw skimmers) and carry canes (once mahogany, now bamboo). There is a parade through campus which ends at College Hall, where the president emerges and declares them all seniors. In recent years (since, say, 2002-03), the event has also degenerated into a food fight, where first seniors (and now other juniors as well) dump every food (primarily flour, mustard, and ketchup, but also eggs, soy sauce, milk, raw meat, and fruit jam) onto the juniors as they march by. The last few years, I've noticed that the Asian students engage in the food-fight aspect of the day with much more vigor than others. I'm not sure why, but Dan theorized that it's an excuse to get messy for a change.

It is also a tradition to get completely plastered for Hey Day.

There are lots more of my Hey Day photos on flickr, but here are some of my faves:







The best friend of the 2nd woman from the right was in Spain this semester, and thus missed Hey Day, so she brought a cardboard effigy and took it with her on the parade:









The Penn Band leads the parade from the west end of Campus down to College Green:







The police guarding the steps of College Hall, and the president at the top:



President Gutmann speaks to the junior class:





Every year a few students get into the trees and the police usually get them back down:



The aftermath:





The last Hey Day shot I took:

Penn Alumni Day 2007

Saturday, May 12 was Alumni Day at the University of Pennsylvania. It's a fun event for any alum, with a chance to see old friends and remember your college days. And it's a great event for any photographer, bringing together a number of interesting elements: college students present and past, music, children, free food (I had a hot dog and cherry water ice), parades, parties, campus tours, and other special events. It climaxes (well, "climaxes" might be too strong a word) with the parade of classes down Locust Walk, focusing primarily on the major reunion classes--especially the 25th and 50th reunions, who natually give the most money. As you can see, fun was had by all.

Mummers Parade (a little bit late)

Happy Late New Year! I had completely forgotten that the Mummers Parade was today, but then I thankfully ran into a guy with a banjo and a funny costume on Walnut Street and instantly ran toward Broad Street, camera at the ready. The parade got rained out on New Year's Day, which turned out to be a good thing, because we couldn't have had nicer weather today. I often just skip the Mummer's parade because it's too fracking cold, but today I stayed for hours. I slowly made my way down Broad Street from Walnut all the way down to Oregon, just as it finally got too dark to keep taking photos. Everyone was so friendly--from the spectators to the Mummers themselves. My only complaint is the same one I always have about parades in Philadelphia--there's way too much time between groups. One group comes through, you clap and cheer, and then you sit and wait for the next group to come by. Even so, I have to say, it was still probably the most fun I had all winter long.

How the heck do you pee in one of those costumes??:

My favorite photo I took all day:

Even the parking meters get into the act:

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, The King:

That guy was just amazing--my favorite costume by far. I would have stood there all day and taken photos of him if he would've let me.