DIY Last Night Parade,
Santa Cruz, CA 5PM Dec 31, 2005 at the Saturn Cafe at Pacific and
Laurel st.
12-27-05
By John Thielking
Last year on Dec 31, 2004 in Santa Cruz there was a parade put on by an
Artsy-Fartsy group aligned with the city. It was called "The
River of
Life". This type of parade was almost a tradition, accompanying
the
"First Night" series of celebrations on New Years Eve. First Night
included not only a parade, but also included musical performances in
the various theaters around downtown Santa Cruz. The festivities
may
have seemed open to some, but in reality they were for the most part a
closed minded event. The parade organizers decided that they
would not
allow any political signs in the parade and pointedly discouraged and
attempted to exclude any type of political themes from the parade in
2004 and the one in 2003 as well. The venues hosting the other
events
were also not open to various guerilla tactics such as serrepetitiously
plugging in a TV in the lobby to play the Arnold Beverly
confession.
(That year the Arnold Beverly confession was aired on the public
sidewalk with the aid of a battery and inverter). In 2005 it was
announced that the people organizing the traditional First Night
celebration had run out of money nd that the events would be
cancelled.
For 2005, a loose band of freaks, clowns, political activists and
street performers has gathered together to come up with a people's Do
It Yourself (DIY) Last Night Parade. From http://www.santacruz.indymedia.org,
it appears that the parade concept has a wide range of support.
The endorsement list includes
.....Art & Revolution, Village Drumming Circles, The Opera Lady,
the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra, the Man in Black, firedancers, stilt
walkers, Peace Walk, Santa Cruz Moontribe, puppets, bunnies, clowns,
and bike kids....
A main feature of the parade is the Trash Orchestra, consisting of
various improvised instruments made of everything from 55 gallon drums
to egg slicers. If you have ever seen an egg slicer in action, it
does make a unique noise, kind of like rasping on a chain link fence
only much tinier. To get involved or to get your own ideas, visit
the following links:
http://www.lastnightdiy.org
http://tribes.tribe.net/lastnightdiy
http://www.santacruz.indymedia.org
For some cool pictures of what might be in the Last Night Parade, check
out: http://www.lastnightdiy.org/gallery/
The photos include
"Contributions from Lizz the Opera Lady, Chad & Dan's Canoe of the
Playa, Grant Wilson and his Chinese
Rickshaw, Lee Myers and his fish bike, Santa
Cruz Peace Coalition, and of course, the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra."
The next Last Night Un-Planning
Meeting is (from Rico from the e-mail list):
These are your last chances
to meetup before New Year's. Here's what's going on New Year's
week:
The Last Last Night
Un-Planning Meeting
Thu Dec 29th, 6:30 at
Wired Wash: The Last Last Night Meeting will be two days
before New Year's Eve Thursday December 29th, 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Wired Wash,
135 Laurel St, Next to the Saturn Cafe. This is your last chance to join
the un-organizers to make this happen. Keep in mind, that this is
a people's parade, there are no professional organizers and event
wranglers. You and I make this happen together. This is
also the last opportunity we have to finalize all of the details of the
Last Night Parade & Celebration.
There are tons of things that need doing. Organizing safety and
security, organizing A&R's giant puppets, putting together the
"sweeping tail," lawyers and legal support, banners, and documentation.
This is where we pull
this big crazy thing together, find out what other people and groups
are planning, hatch plans, solve problems, and build this smaller
community inside our larger one.
Trash Orchestra
Practice Days
Fri Dec 30th, 6pm Cooper
House: We'll be having one big practice the day before New
Year's on Friday the 30th of December. 6pm to 8pm at the fish in front
of the Cooper House and Cinema 9. Be there at 6pm sharp. Join us and
bring a friend! This is your last chance to practice before the Last
Night parade. We have a trash percussion instrument for you.
The Trash Orchestra Build and Practice Days have been great! We've
built our instruments and practiced a good bit. We now have more trash
orchestra instruments than people to play them. So there are
openings in the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra.
At first, we found that we were good at making noise, less good at
making it sound pleasant or interesting. But with a little practice and
some planning, we are sounding great. Or at least, great for a bunch of
amateurs pounding on trash!
If you want to join the trash
orchestra email list, get updates, practice times, etc, send an email
to trashmusic-subscribe@lists.riseup.net.
If you want to join the Last Night Discussion e-mail list, send a
blank e-maill to: lastnightdiy-subscribe
@lists.riseup.net
.
Unlike the traditional First Night Parade, the Last Night Parade
is
open to everyone. Come join in.
Read
or leave comments in the Pagesincolor.com blog....
Pagesincolor.com
2860 Porter st #414
Soquel, CA 95073 USA
831-425-3316
info@pagesincolor.com