If the sight of dogs dressed up in clothes makes you shake your head in disgust at the preciousness people inflict on their pets, better visit Snackish another day. Because it’s been a whole year since I’ve witnessed the spectacle of the Tompkins Square Dog Halloween Parade and I’m about to embark on a long post all about adorable dogs in costumes. Are you with me?

The Tompkins Square Dog Halloween parade and costume contest is, according to Wikipedia, the largest dog Halloween party in the US. Think of it as Comicon, or South by Southwest for folks who like to dress up their pets. Usually held the Saturday before Halloween, the parade was once again rescheduled for Sunday due to rain. Fortunately Sunday was about as warm and bright as October can deliver.

Onto the costumes. I’ve narrowed my favorites of the day down to a few categories.

The professionals

Snoopy, Woodstock, and Plane, by Daniel Moyer Design and Fabrication - Clearly, a professional’s hand is at work here. Constructing a puppy-sized WWI biplane isn’t exactly something a friend and I could do in a weekend with some scissors and a sixpack for inspiration. But I gotta give props to the timeless subject matter–I picked up a copy of Snoopy and the Red Baron at a yardsale as a kid, and the ony thing that could’ve impressed me more was if they had built Snoopy’s bullet-ridden doghouse instead of a plane.  The passed-out poodles on the wing (that’s Meteor as Snoopy) and in the cockpit (Fifigigi as Woodstock) completely won me over, though. Unlike many other more jittery subjects, they were the perfect models.

The perennials

Thriller video – Every year there are a few contestants who don’t stop at just creating a costume, but construct an entire mobile backdrop for their pets’ character. I’m thinking this looks a lot like Bandit the Chihuahua, who rolled up last year in a tableaux of one of the Dogs Playing Poker paintings. This year it was a Michael Jackson’s Thriller diaroma complete with little zombies and a flat screen monitor playing the video. The only way to really pull this off is to have a tiny dog who’s a huge ham.

Right dog, right costume

It’s good to be king – Some dogs were clearly uncomfortable wearing costumes and being photographed, but not this cocker spaniel. In every shot his nose was in the air, just as proud and cool as can be. I thought for sure he might break character when he went to sprawl in a sunbeam to rest. But just when I thought he couldn’t get more regal, he took it to a whole other level.

Dragonfly – It never would’ve occurred to me that greyhound is the dog breed that looks most like an insect but can you imagine those wings on a pug or a beagle? Ridiculous.

The Incredible Hulk – I’m not sure what kind of dog this is, but I was impressed those jean shorts stayed on the whole time. Amazing what you can do with a little green dye and some denim.

Owners get in on the act

Rappers – Some owners, particularly those with smaller dogs, tend to steal the spotlight from their pets. This rapper’s entourage totally played the part, warding off photogs while he strolled through the crowd. This pup’s badass scowl and larger-than-life bling proved he was really the star though.

There’s more photos of the event on my Flickr. I did notice that while most of the pets were sweet-natured and the owners were open to the attention, the onlookers seemed to be a little more pushy in trying to get pictures this year. True, pictures of costumed dogs are pretty exciting but I’m not about to elbow someone out of my way to get one. One woman even tried to physically block me from taking a picture of a contestant (in a public park) telling me this was her project and I need to set up my own shot. I guess now we have to deal with people trying to make a buck off of the dog Halloween parade, in addition to everyone else who’s desperate to feed their blogs and Twitter accounts. I hope this remains a fun event for those of us who are there to enjoy the day, and with any luck, get some good photos.

2009 Dog Halloween parade photos
2008 Dog Halloween parade photos
2007 Dog Halloween parade photos
2006 Dog Halloween parade photos

The Dog Halloween parade is usually held the Saturday before Halloween from noon to 3pm (Rain date Sunday) at the Tompkins Square Park dog run.

No cocktail soothes my summertime blues like a mint julep. This bourbony beverage hails from the South, where they know a thing or two about knock-you-down heat, and since 99.5% of bourbon comes from the Kentucky, it’s also the official Kentucky Derby cocktail. I don’t visit the track too often, but as it happens, it serves just as well as an official waiting-in-festering-subway-and-need-a-cold-drink drink.

A mint julep is pretty simple to make. You’ll need:
- crushed ice
- fresh mint
- granulated sugar (or powdered sugar) plus powdered sugar for garnish
- bourbon (Maker’s Mark is a common choice, but Booker’s, Baker’s, Blanton’s, and Woodford Reserve are all Snackish-approved)
- a silver-plated mint julep cup (for optimal frost-formation on the outside of your drink. But then if you’re already this serious about your mint julep you probably don’t need to read this)
- plastic straw

(ingredients–that’s a ziploc bag of ice, not crack, I swear)

Add 4-5 mint sprigs and sugar to a glass. I didn’t have granulated sugar on hand, so I used 3 teaspoons of powdered sugar, plus 3 teaspoons of water to help dissolve the sugar. Then, firmly press and twist the mint against the bottom of the glass with something flat. This is called muddling. The goal is to unleash the flavors of the mint without pulverizing the leaves and making the drink bitter. I ended up using an ice cream scoop, but there are specially-made instruments called muddlers for this. According to one theory, using granulated sugar in the previous step helps with muddling since the granules abrade the mint leaves.

Next add some crushed ice. This was the most difficult step for me, as my blender seemed to shave the ice to snowflake-size. The best method for making crushed ice short of buying an ice crusher seems to be wrapping ice cubes in a towel and beating them. The towel soaks up the meltiness, leaving you with dry ice. I was definitely also left with some largish chunks on my second attempt (top picture) so I think a rubber mallet would be ideal for the beating, as opposed to multitasking with your trusty ice cream scoop. Now pour in the bourbon and stir. About 4 tablespoons, or 2 oz, worked with this amount of sugar in a smallish glass, but you can always add more bourbon. Adding more sugar is difficult.

Almost done. Put a dollop of ice on top for sno-cone effect, garnish with mint, and sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Head to your nearest breezy verandah, or prop a fan in your window, put your feet up, and enjoy some smooth sipping.

Adapted from Mint Julep recipe on Drinksmixer.com

Well this is terrible news. Joe Ades, peddler of vegetable peelers and sidewalk personality has died, as reported by the New York Times. Always stylishly dressed in a sportcoat or vest, peeling carrots with orange-stained, latex-gloved fingers, Joe reeled in window shoppers all over town with his cockney carnival barker’s voice, pushing $5 peelers with more passion than an army of QVC showmen. Joe, it turns out, lived in a swanky Upper East Side apartment (and he always seemed especially proud of his appearance in Vanity Fair). I’ve stopped to watch him in Union Square in the dead of winter and Soho under the beating sun, always joking with customers and adding to his fistful of cash. It always struck me how much he seemed to enjoy his job. I’ll miss seeing him.

Redesigning your blog is about as satisfying as cleaning out a couple years of clutter from your apartment and getting new stuff that works better, without all the heavy lifting and inhaling of household cleansers. Snackish 2.0 has been underway for a little while but now with a little respite from school and work, I’ve had some time to sort it out. Mainly, I wanted to use the Google map as a form of navigation by moving it into the sidebar, although I’m still tinkering with how this should work on single posts. There’s also search, a way to contact me, and captcha on the comment forms. Yeah, I know captchas irritating but I was getting way too much poker spam in the moderation queue; besides Re-captcha is supposedly harnessing our collective ability to decode words in order to digitize books and the process actually sounds kind of cool.

So, onto the snacking. The annual Where to Eat issue from NY Magazine hit newsstands today and it’s worth checking out. I noticed they mention Artichoke, La Superior, Chikalicious Dessert Club, and Employees Only to name a few. I thought the speakeasy trend had peaked a couple years ago, but NYmag thinks otherwise. The underground tunnels of Doyers Street may have permanently lost their air of ill repute, but newly-opened “speakeasy” themed cocktail bar Apotheke may trump all in terms of setting.

Once again, there were some fabulous, over-the-top dog costumes on display at the 2008 Tompkins Square Park Dog Halloween Parade and plenty of pups hamming it up for the cameras. These were a few of my favorites:

Marie Antoinette

This is my third year taking photos at this event, and I can say that without fail, pugs in costume are hilarious. Their butterball shape is perfect for dressing up, and their furrowed brows and bugged-out eyes give them a sweet, put-upon expression. Check out previous years’ devil-pug and Chinese pug to see what I mean. This adorably grotesque Marie Antoinette was my fave this year, for getting the spirit just right.

Snake Pup

This pup-being-swallowed-by-a-snake costume looks like it was sported by the same dog who was “Millipup” last year. I like when the owners get dressed up in a matching outfit: here’s a photo of the full Jungle explorer costume.

Card Shark

Every now and then, you’ll have an owner who builds a mobile diaroma around their pet’s persona. These guys came in virtually unseen through a side gate dragging an entire gambler’s den on a cart, complete with stereo system. The mini red velvet sofa is genius.

For more photos of this year’s event check out my Flickr.

Update 10/30/08: See more Halloween doggy pics from me and others featured on Gothamist.com and NYmag.com.