Introducing "Mrs. Claus"

I just couldn't resist this picture of Harvey Firestein as Mrs. Claus. I have to admit, if I were to imagine a Mrs. Claus, this is how she would look. (story)

This year's Thanksgiving Day parade delivered a little more New York sass.

The annual balloon-filled romp through Manhattan stepped off Thursday morning with an enormous turkey, a frog, a big bird and a fat, lazy cat. The mix also included a Mrs. Santa portrayed by a man.

Actor Harvey Fierstein Broadway's most famous cross-dresser appeared as his "Hairspray" character, Edna Turnblad, but an Edna dressed for the day as Mrs. Claus. He was on a float with Percy and the P-Birds, a group of penguin puppets. The regular Mrs. Claus rode with Santa on his sleigh in the parade's grand finale.

Fierstein said he had grown up watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and was "so thrilled" to be invited to participate. The openly gay actor, a three-time Tony winner, had written a New York Times piece this week on same-sex marriage that mentioned his appearance as Mrs. Claus, and Macy's then put out a statement saying the parade "will never be a platform for political and social issues."