Military parade, a surreal experience

On Saturday, 14 June 2025, there was a military parade purportedly held for the 250th anniversary of the US Army's establishment, though a military parade was also something that Trump had been wanting to do since his first term and it happened to fall on his birthday as well. 

Since it's not every year that this kind of thing happens, I figured I should avail myself of the opportunity to see this spectacle in person. Please note that my interest in attending the parade was in a meta way, and NOT because I actually support it being held. In fact, I don't think it should've happened, but it did, and I wanted to see the tanks and whatnot. I don't support the military industrial complex.  

It was a surreal experience yet also somewhat underwhelming and sad in a bizarre, dystopian way. Attending the parade felt like entering an alternate universe, and upon arriving back at the Metro station's garage, it felt like returning to the regular universe. 

It really just left me thinking "what the fuck did I just experience?" among other things, and it's probably going to take awhile to make sense of it. Many of the soldiers who had to march in the parade didn't look like their hearts were in it and seemed somewhat listless. A lot of the soldiers marching were not particularly synchronized either.   

The following portion of the post is written at a much later date (April 2026) because I forgot to finish and post this in the immediate aftermath of the military parade... 

Many months later, I attended a normal parade for Saint Patrick's Day. I was trying to remember other parades I had been to, and the military parade didn't even register in my mind as a parade because it was so entirely in another category mentally, I guess. In the normal parade, there were some contingents of military bands or that kind of thing, and they actually marched better than the soldiers in the military parade had done. Probably because the people in the SPD parade actually wanted to be there... 

The military parade featured various military equipment, like tanks and military vehicles that rattled down the street in a plodding, surreal and almost forlorn manner. The soldiers driving and riding in the vehicles would sometimes wave at the spectators lined up along the road. Unfortunately (well, sort of), there weren't any giant missiles displayed in the parade like they do in North Korea or China. 

At one point towards the end of the parade, there were some people demonstrating some small drones. There was also at least one flyover during the parade but from where I was, it wasn't possible to see the aircraft that well. 

Prior to the parade, there was an exhibition on the National Mall of various booths related to the Army and displays of military equipment. There were some helicopters that you were allowed to wait in line and then get in them and have your photo taken. Obviously I had to avail myself of that opportunity since there aren't many occasions to sit in a military helicopter if you aren't actually in the military. 

After the parade, there was a concert and fireworks on the grounds of the Washington Monument and some remarks from the president. I don't even remember what was said during the remarks, just that it was somewhat surreal to witness them. It wasn't that crowded during any of this. I'm not sure what kinds of motivations other people had for attending any of the day's events.  

Since this year (2026) is the 250th anniversary of the United States, I wonder what kind of insanity might be in store to mark that this summer.... 

Fast food review: McDonald's Big Arch burger

I haven't posted food reviews on this blog before that I can recall, but here is one of a food I just recently ate. The Big Arch burger is a new item on the McDonald's menu that is presumably a limited-time item, so I wanted to try it at least once while it was available.

Firstly, some backstory. I had seen this on the menu in the past few weeks but hadn't chosen to try it until today. Last week, my sister had inadvertently spread misinformation about the McDonald's CEO's opinion of the burger. She said that he had posted a video where he said the burger wasn't that good. This didn't seem logical to me, so I told her to find the actual video, in which it turns out that he actually said that the burger was good. 

Apparently a ton of people online roasted his video because he was kind of awkward in it, even though he did say the burger was good. They also apparently didn't like that he only depicted himself eating one bite of the burger in the video, instead of showing him eating the entire thing in like a timelapse. I don't know what they wanted. Something like the performance artwork video of Andy Warhol eating a hamburger??? Sometimes I think about what it might be like if I made mukbang videos, but I digress... 

Anyways, he actually did like the burger, and I thought his video was perfectly serviceable. I also liked the burger and was satisfied with how it tasted. It was larger than I expected and quite filling. There are two (quarter pound) meat patties on it which are substantial and meaty. It has white cheddar cheese, a special Big Arch sauce, and crispy fried onions. As well as the typical lettuce and pickles. It also has slivered onions. The bun has sesame and poppy seeds and seems like the bread might be a little denser than a Big Mac bun. 

Something in the burger tasted a little peppery, like black pepper. I'm not sure if that was from the sauce or the meat seasoning or what. The sauce is not as sweet as Big Mac sauce. The cheese is nice and gooey and there's a good amount of it. Mine was made well and seemed like there was a good amount and proportion of the various toppings. 

Overall, I would probably eat this burger again, although not every single time I go to McDonald's, as it is fairly indulgent and sometimes I might not be hungry enough to eat something that substantial. It is also more expensive than a Big Mac.