The Happy Faces of Octoberfest Parade - Part II

I've had just enough time to...   hunt for smiles

A Generous Smile

Around the fire, the hunter illustrates

A sea of faces is not the best hunting place

Crowded heads and hurried paces produce only

Frozen smiles with insipid tastes, we hunt

The wild antelopes that leap from hidden bases

A Cheer-ful smile

A Bald Smile

 

A Smile in Every Direction

The best lure for smiles is another smile

Dredged from the depth, still smelling of blood

Excites the hearts, setting them aflame

Spreading quickly through the land of game

Smiles will rise like a flock of startled birds

On a sudden charge of stampeding herds

Smiles after smiles the hunter aimed

Smiles after smiles the hunter claimed

A "watch out for the horse shit!" Smile (woman) & A Careless Smile (old man)

A Hidden Smile

A Saluted Smile

A (not so successful) Covered Smile

That cold October morning, the hunting was good. I hunted and caught smiles after smiles. I hope to catch a few with this post. I still remember the lesson taught - “the best lure for a smile is another smile”.

Prancing Smiles

Many Colourful Smiles

A Juliet Smile (where's Romeo?)

And finally the smile I tried hardest to capture. Saw the lady in uniform controlling the crowd. She was serious in her task. I willed her to smile and finally my long distance mind control worked and I caught her smile! :)

The Happy Faces of the Octoberfest Parade – Part I.

I've had just enough time to...   capture smiles

My favorite smile of Octoberfest 2012

The Octoberfest is here again. It had been a year since I was last there. When friends and acquaintances learned I went to the festival, they inevitably asked “what are you doing there?” This incredulous reaction is because beyond the first glass on occasion, I don’t drink. When I told them it was accidental, I just happened to be there at that time; they shook their head as if saying it was wasted on me.

A straight line smile

A well-armed smile

Innocent smiles

That is because the Octoberfest is overwhelmingly associated with beer drinking. But it is not only that – though copious amounts of beer does flow. For the 16 days Octoberfest 2012, one source estimated that 7.5 million of the one-litre Mass glasses were consumed! That was a lot of beer and a lot of “beer corpses”. There were a lot of lost and found including 93 children, a French horn, a hearing aid, two wedding rings (someone is getting into BIG trouble) and a pair of trousers. The last item was a really strange one, wonder what he was wearing if any. 

A shy smile

A cheeky smile

A Colgate smile

But there are other sides of Octoberfest and we have explored several themes such as the weather "Fun In October Rain" and even clothing "Why Men Dress UP?" among others. For this post, I just want to make everyone happy. And what better ways than to look at happy people and hope that it will rub off on us and make us smile to see others smile.

A complacent couple smile

A royal smile

Smiles by the dozen

A smile is a very fleeting thing. You got to catch it when it appear. It can disappear before you ready to capture it. So unlike other posts, this is not about good photography. It is about good smiles. Pardon the photography and appreciate the smiles. They are for you :)

A holding-something-back smile

An unstoppable smile

Those Were The Days, My Friends.

I've had just enough time...  to drink to those good old days.

Taken in one of the cities in China that I could not remember after too many drinks.

Those were the days

When we toasted our dreams

With the crash of glasses.

Under the illumination of the streetlights,

We sang our pleasures

To the moonlight.

Those were the days

When tomorrow is always another day

Of a future that is too far away.

But the future is here today

And the beer taste no less bitter

Than those “good old days”.

 _______

Once upon a time there was a tavern

Where we used to raise a glass or two

Remember how we laughed away the hours

And think of all the great things we would DO

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way

La la la la la la

La la la la la la

Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days, My Friend