It’s 11:45 Saturday night, and I have a 7 a.m. call time. So I guess this will be a short King William Parade and Festival post.

The rain that blew in last night brought an ungodly amount of humidity. Other than that, it was a great day, with clear skies and coolish temperatures.

The crowds on my street were down considerably from last year — back then there were probably three times more people. I don’t know if they were chased away by last nights weather, or by last years densely packed crowds. The King William Fair was also much sparser than previous years. All this was fine by me, as I hate crowds.

Filmmakers Ralph Lopez and Brant Bumpers were carrying the banner for what Adam’s calling the Golden Showers Film Festival this year.

Carol Sowa was back again marching as a stick of butter. But, wait! She has a companion dressed as a couple of slices of bread. Maybe I’ll join them next year as a pot of jam.

I’m not sure who won the coveted Miss Southtown award this year — and I might suggest a lip, cheek, and chin waxing — but one thing is apparent, their float is pretty damn tacky.

I wish I had gotten a better photo of this charismatic fellow in the gold sequined dinner jacket.

My neighbors are part owners of La Tuna restaurant and ice house. This, and I hesitate to call it a “float,” has all the hallmarks of having been thrown together at the eleventh hour. But I rather like it. Why a train? Well, La Tuna is on the train tracks, and the noise can get rather disrupting … especially on the nights when they project movies on their outdoor screen.

My neighbors, the Tolands, were having their annual Fiesta party. There were loads of kids and this considerably cool tiger piñata. Shame to see it whacked into shards of papier-mâché and gumdrops. The cat has a marked expression of anxiety.

Can you blame him?

@@@@@

I walked down to the King William Fair. Nikki and Chadd suggested I make it over to the kids area to watch Joe Libby do his magic and ventriloquist act.

Annele Spector and Sam Bayless waved to me. I asked Sam how the edit was coming along for the SAL promo that he and the other Sam were working on. Sam said they had made it funnier. I believe him, and I’m looking forward to it.

I congratulated Annela on the photo shoot for the current issue of the Current — their “best of San Antonio” edition. Annela and Monessa Esquivel, as the notorious Methane Sisters, are featured on the cover, as well as ten full page color photos scattered through the issue (don’t miss the final page — 150). She and Monessa created some very iconic-friendly characters in May Joon and Ann Jewlie.

Over by the river, I watched a bit of Joe’s show, and then, feeling a sunburn coming on, I vanished into the crowd and headed home.