Shrine on you crazy diamond...

a "foreign" friend's shock/amusement/disgust about that special breed of North American parade-crashers we call "Shriners" inspired this one.

i put "foreign" in quotes because white Irish people don't seem that foreign in this (red)neck of the mainly-white-woods.

white people are so weird... all the other colours are weird too - but it's not polite to say that so I stick to bashing my own colour. (i just listened to a chris rock interview on CBC so i'm all about boldly making race-related statements for the next 5 minutes...)

shriners are a pretty good example of old-white-man-weirdness. apparently they do some good things - like using their excess money to build hospitals (especially burn units i think. kudos to them!) - but mostly i picture them drinking, practicing their parade maneuvers in secluded parking lots, and generally acting like they are 12.

eventually the shriners take their acts (miniature vehicles, fez hats, and sometimes poorly-done drag) on the road to various vegetable festivals around the county. my hometown festival, which honours the humble potato, actually had to put a cap on shriner participation in its parade because they were squeezing out the local acts! they are like cockroaches though - they come back stronger and harder and scarier.

i have never seen a "foreign" shriner...

(by the way, still learning about watercolour here. not totally happy with the results but at least this one isn't a total "fail"...)