Actually, since it was a celebration of Berkeleyness, naturally I bicycled over.  Legs, not arms.

Every year, Berkeley puts on a parade that isn't about any normal holiday.  It's called "How Berkeley Can You Be?"  This year's parade was on 24 September 2000, and since I just got a new (well, refurbished) digital camera, I took it over there.

(Note to those considering the purchase of digital cameras and seeking suggestions:  Don't do it if you aren't in a position to throw money away.  Expect to pay a lot for a cheap shitty camera.  But it sure is convenient.)

Here is my snapshotular recreation of the How Berkeley Can You Be experience.

The photos are divided into two pages: this one for the people, and another for the Art Cars.  This one rather excessively long, so if you're on an analog line it will take some time to load.  The cars page is a little shorter.

First came a mostly-male cheerleading group from across the bay, then a reminder about the spiritual father of the town:

(If you're wondering what Tar Water is, it's this resinous, turpentiney liquid made from pine trees that Bishop Berkeley thought was a cure-all.  It was mostly a strong laxative.  It may well have been carcinogenic.)
 

Then a politician:

 

Then a group that's a real Berkeley institution, except they're not from Berkeley.  They did a brief performance after the parade:

 

Then the first of numerous activist and protester groups: Republicans for Heterosexuality.  Somebody told me later this lady was passing out heterosexuality pills.

 

More protest...  Al Gore masks were popular this year:

 

Then we had a large flock of bicyclists trying to declare September "Car-Free Month".  Their float featured a bathing -- woops, I mean a biking beauty:

 

Hey, I know that guy!

 

Some kinda weird oompah band:

 

There are all kindsa ethnic music and dance groups scattered through the parade.  The Gray Panthers have a large contingent, and a mascot:

 

The blonde with the Boycott Starbucks sign also has "FUCK STARBUCKS" written on her chest:

 

A band on a truck, and some etcetera like that, and then the outfit that gets my vote for the coolest "message" entry in the parade: a bunch of mockers lampooning the most common and primitive type of political protest in Berkeley -- resistance to any development that affects one's local neighborhood.  The people who do that are known as NIMBYs:

 

Dig it.  "Stop the Parade!"

 

The sign on the parking meter reads "Berkeley Historical Landmark #98,256,137" (or some number like that).  Despite the shoes up on the fence railing, this yard float is actually foot propelled:

 

Only in Berkeley would someone dress up as a petition.

 

Various local businesses...  A brewpub, an athletic club with disco dancing exercise queens, a Honda dealership showing off electric bicycles... and one couple all by themselves, present for no reason except that her outfit consists of a skirt made from a sweater, and a top made from pants... and I guess that's an underwear hat:

 

I was previously unaware of the existence of a Berkeley Bullfighting Academy.

 

The Berkeley Opera had a singer on a truck... Then came a flapper on stilts...  A few local politicians:

 

A folkie drumming group...  Hey, I know that gal!

 

There were several recycling-themed groups, as befits the birthplace of urban recycling.  Here is proof that recycling can go too far -- an outfit made of packing material:

[ Update, one year later:  Apparently, I should have taken this idea much more seriously! ]
 

I don't know what, if anything, this guy with the feather headdress and illegible sign had to do with the recyclers:

 

The Green Party had a large contingent -- much more impressive than the carload of frumpy housewife types sent out by the local Democrats.  Their "float":

 

This guy has a Gore mask on one side of his head, and a Dubya mask on the other... I couldn't catch him in profile because this digital camera is so fucking slow that everything moves before it takes the picture:

 

Some Brazilian-style dancers...   (oooooh...)

 

High school cheerleaders shouting out for a couple of local ballot measures...  electric go-carts built by school kids...  some random mockers...  the local weekly paper (a parade sponsor) in newspaper-vending-box suits...  a self-propelled sofa:

 

A mobile puppet theater... a commercial float for a renewable-resource electric power company... and a one-man protest against UC: "Fridays I work for free.  Why?"  I have no idea...

 

Gasp!    (Everybody else took this in stride, instead of whirling around like this lady.)

 

It's the X-Plicit Players!  Allegedly an improv comedy troupe, but that seems to be rather secondary on their agenda...

 

Some folks ain't even paying attention.

 

People in stuffed clothes acting out some kinda weird childbirth exercises... pretty soon they get on all fours:

 

More ethnic dancing... Hairy Krishnas... a stand-up comedian carrying a blow-up doll, both wearing the same outfit... more local politicians... the Tibetan Association of Northern California:

 

One of several Goth-flavored entries in the late part of the parade: the Living Dead Homeowners Association:

 

There were only about a dozen of the Doggie Diner dog heads made, and a guy in my old neighborhood (just outside of Berkeley) owns three of them.  Here's one teaming up with the LDHA:

(Did I ever tell you the story of how a Doggie Diner dog head saved a lost child that hundreds of people were combing the woods for without success?  If not, ask.)
 

Art supply store employees in smocks painting each other as they march...  Nonprofits and local services...  Fire truck, garbage truck, recycling truck...  Some kind of pro-rent-control group with a mixture of Star Trek and Star Wars costumes...  and two last musical groups before the Art Cars.  Emeryville Taiko drummers, and...

Accordions!

 

That's that for the People portion of the parade.  The remainder is the Art Car portion.  See it here!

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