Official Doo Dah Dates for 2010!

Let's talk about May Day, shall we? May Day has all kinds of colorful history and folklore associated with it. Per Wikipedia: "May Day marks the end of the uncomfortable winter in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for raucous celebrations, regardless of the locally prevalent political or religious establishment." It is also largely associated with various Northern pagan and neo-pagan festivals throughout the ages. Many other people recognize it as International Workers' Day and a time when unions and political groups give grief to the powers that be.

Queen Skittles, as portrayed in self portrait, by Julie Klima, aka Queen Skittles

Okay, we can relate to all of this. Except, maybe, when the Soviets re-branded it with missiles and launchers in the Red Square. But May Day and Doo Dah?

How come we never thought of that?

Don't miss these dates:

No Doo Dah Day = Sunday, November 22nd with the legendary Snotty Scotty and the Hankies!!! 2:00pm, $5.00 admission. Cheap drinks and food available. American Legion, 179 N. Vinedo in Pasadena. 626-792-9938. Full bar, big dance floor, TV’s for football, smoking patio, pool table. All are invited to wear their Doo Dah best!

Doo Dah Queen Tryouts = Saturday, February 13th at the American Legion, 179 N. Vinedo in Pasadena. 626-792-9938. Doors open at 2:00pm, Tryouts begin at 3:00pm. First 20 queens hopefuls to arrive are admitted free-of-charge!!!!!! $5.00 for all at the door. Food, pitchers of beer and well drinks at nominal (cheap) prices!

2010 Pasadena Doo Dah Parade! May 1st! Pasadena! 11:30am! Bring a lawn chair or just sign up and be in it...

Pasadena Doo Dah Official After Party at American Legion, in East Pasadena, 179 N. Vinedo in Pasadena. Starts at 1:00pm or as soon as people show up after the parade. Snotty Scotty and the Hankies and Horses on Astroturf. Plenty of dancing!~ 626-792-9938.


Happy Holidays from the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade!

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Human Rights Activist Ann Lau is given the 9th Annual Thorny Rose!

The 9th Order of the Thorny Rose has spoken once again. Ann Lau, a leading critic of last year’s China float in the Rose Parade, is the 8th recipient in 9 years. Former city councilperson Paul Little has been a back-to-back winner of the prickly prize. Lau is certainly best known for her political theater in front of the Tournament House portraying the harvesting of human organs from unsuspecting corpses, fake blood and all. She was promptly removed by the Pasadena Police Department.

Each year the Thorny Rose is awarded to Pasadena’s most controversial citizen, by an anonymous committee of local socio-political observers. Winning individuals have previously been distinguished by their brazen, often, confrontational style, indifference to public decorum and Lone Ranger bravado(a). This year’s awardee is no exception. Ann Lau, who’s also head of the Visual Arts Guild, has routinely prodded, scolded and harassed city officials to take a stand on China’s human right’s violations. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Doctrine, Lau, along with Guild members, Amnesty International and the local Falun Gong, lectured city council on current abuses against political activists there. Although the Human Relations Commission encouraged an official statement, City Council declined their recommendation.

The inaugural Thorny Rose was given in 2000 to Charles “Chuck” Cherniss, former salty columnist for the Pasadena Star News. Subsequent winners have included Paul Little, Roy Begley, Mary Dee Romney, the West Pasadena Residents Association, the entire Pasadena Unified School District Board and local gadfly Wayne Lusvardi.

As is the tradition for Thorny Rose winners, Lau will given an invitation to receive her award and be driven along the route of this year’s 32nd Pasadena Doo Dah Parade. Doo Dah takes place Sunday, January 18th, stepping off at 11:30am in Old Pasadena. Excluding last year’s awardee, Wayne Lusvardi, no Thorny Rose winner has ever passed on the invitation. Mr. Lusvardi was replaced by a 6-foot chicken.

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A committee of socio-political observers selected Ann Lau, Chair of Visual Artists Guild, as the recipient of the 2009 Thorny Rose award in Pasadena ’s annual Doo-Dah Parade.

In their citation, Doo-Dah Parade organizers stated, "The Thorny Rose Award was conceived of nine years ago in hopes of sparking more open, even controversial, conversation about issues of concern among community members. The selection was and is meant to acknowledge the citizen who has been the most tenacious, and even loudest, in support of an issue, cause or opinion they most care about. Ann Lau, of the Visual Arts Guild, has certainly risen to this standard more than anyone over the last year in her lively protest of human rights abuses in China . We're happy to have her as this year's winner!"

Upon notification, Ann Lau stated: “I am honored to be the recipient of the 2009 Thorny Rose Award. When I told my daughters, they said that their mother rocks. This must certainly be the closest I will ever get to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. (smile)

Shining a light on the issues of international human rights in the City of Pasadena has been a most rewarding experience. How else would Mayor Bill Bogaard have indicated that he discovered the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the same time he rejected the recommendations of his own Commission on Human Relations to make a strong statement about human rights abuses in China ? Indeed, it was a one giant step for the Mayor to host the City of Pasadena's first ever celebration of the Universal Declaration this past December.

Without the deep compassion and tremendous support of an untold number of fine citizens of the City of Pasadena , the issue of human rights in China might have been ignored. I thank them for their support and encourage them to continue to raise their voices.”

Charles Phoenix is Grand Marshal of the 32nd Pasadena Doo Dah Parade

Friday, 5 December, 2008 - Doo Dah staff
(Photo credit: Cathy of California)

Entertainer, author and pop-culture expert Charles Phoenix has been known for his live, hilarious Retro Slide Show performances, fun-filled School Bus Field Trip Tours, crazy kitchen experiments and colorful coffee table books. Now he will be known for leading the notorious Doo Dah Parade, alter-ego to the Tournament of Roses, as its 2009 Grand Marshal. The parade will make its way down Colorado Boulevard in the historic Old Pasadena District on Sunday, January 18th, stepping off at 11:30am.

Fans across the nation know Charles Phoenix for his hip and highly original take on kitschy and classic American culture, which is characterized by an infectious enthusiasm and keen eye for oddball details. Charles is a recurring correspondent for NPR’s Day to Day and guest on The Martha Stewart Show. LA WEEKLY chose Charles for the cover of its 2008 People issue, calling him the "Kodachrome King."

Parade organizers feel that Phoenix is a perfect match for an event that’s widely known as a send-up of convention and social norms. Doo Dah head Tom Coston says, “Charles is simply hilarious, graciously wicked and a truly artistic spirit—that spells Doo Dah.” The Grand Marshal’s entourage will also be pure Charles Phoenix. He will be traveling the parade route standing on the tailgate of a 1964 Ford station wagon that was special ordered by the Templton, California Fire Department. It's fire engine red, complete with a siren on top and will be towing a vintage matching travel trailer trailed by dozens of champion roller skaters. The spectacle is everything!

“I’m thrilled to be the Doo Dah Grand Marshal this year, “ says Phoenix with his usual verve. “I nearly collapsed with joy when the call came because it puts me that much closer to my biggest goal in life – to be the Grand Marshal of the grandest parade on the planet - the Rose Parade. The Doo Dah is just a stepping stone for me."

The 32nd Occasional Doo Dah Parade will celebrate the post-holiday season in its typically loud, irreverent style. Once a grassroots event begun in 1978, Doo Dah soon gained national recognition as the twisted sister to Pasadena’s ‘other parade’, featuring a woolly range of mischiefs, grounded superheroes, political pundits, homegrown satirists, art car inventors, and other bohemian frolickers. This year’s Grand Marshal follows in the footsteps of anti-consumer evangelist Reverend Billy, performing artists Culture Clash, rock-a-billy king Ray Campi, novelty DJ Dr. Demento, singer-songwriter Ian Whitcomb and Doo Dah’s signature Synchronized Briefcase Marching Drill Team.

A native of Ontario, California, Charles is very proud to have been educated at the Used Car Lot School of Style; Disneyland School of Design; and Shopping Mall School of Sociology. As a teen he discovered thrift shops as museums of merchandise: the perfect place to study the underbelly of our mass consumerism culture.

While working as a fashion designer in Los Angeles, Charles stumbled upon a shoebox full of someone's old Kodachome travel slides in a Pasadena thrift shop. The box was marked “Trip Across the United States 1957.” He knew he’d found a treasure but had no idea that these slides would change the course of his life. Soon, collecting orphaned slides became an addiction that inspired his first Retro Slide Show performance, "The Retro Vacation Tour of the USA." Charles, thus, transformed the classic living room slide show into a high-octane celebration of mid-century American culture.

For more information: www.pasadenadoodahparade.info

BREAKING NEWS: PHOTOGRAPHER, JULIE KLIMA, SELECTED QUEEN OF THE 32ND OCCASIONAL PASADENA DOO DAH PARADE!

Doo Dah Queen winner24-year old, Julie Klima (aka “Skittles”), with her signature pink doll-like hair, won over judges’ hearts on Sunday afternoon at the Pasadena Doo Dah Parade Queen Tryouts. The eclectic event was held at the American Legion Hall in east Pasadena. A current resident of Glendale, Klima, confesses she hardly remembers her presentation. “It was very noisy,” she said, “and people loved that I love colors and dress colorfully.” An Art Center Photography Graduate (2006), she brought camera and props, and spent most of the afternoon playing with the judges who posed for her pictures. She also schlepped their beers. A freelance photographer, Queen Julie will be taking her own self-portrait as queen, and is starting a series of Official Royal Portraits of the Doo Dah Queens. She also plans “show some love” to the people camping out the night before the Rose Parade, where she also plans to “have a fun party that everyone’s invited to.”

More about the Tryouts: As anticipated, individuals of all genders, shapes, ages, and persuasions tested their fate to become queen. Twenty one contestants were outnumbered by equally-costumed judges, including many former queens, and another hundred or so parade entrants, tryout supporters, Legion members, and the curious public. The town-hall setting with long tables in beer-fest style, crock pot chili, and legendary Doo Dah House Band, Snotty Scotty and the Hankies on stage, set the mood for the lively caucus. Among those who tried out were, Count Smokula, Santa’s Bad Elf, belly dancer, Narayana, a smoking Amy Winehouse, Queen Mother Teresa Kennedy, the Swami from El Monte, Sabrina the Stimulus Package, Second-Hand Rose Queen, Crystal, Gopher Girl, Buffy the Dog, Ms. Laurel, Pinball Lizard, Mama “J”, and Miss Boy Frances. 1st Runner up and second place went to bass guitarist, Eric(a) Valentine, also of Glendale. 2nd Runner up was a tie between Roobie Breastnut, former burlesque star, as Sarah Palin, and Crystal Lightner, local diva of Altadena.

Even More Info: Organizers staged the first public tryouts in 1998 at a Gothic house on stilts. It then moved to the famed Zorthian Ranch, in Altadena. This and other parodies of Pasadena’s ‘Other Parade’ have fueled Doo Dah’s colorful and controversial life on Colorado Boulevard. The 32nd Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade will be held on Sunday, January 18th stepping off at 11:30am on the streets of historic Old Pasadena. To enter the parade simply go to the website and fill out a form, or call for more information (626) 205-4029.

PHOTOS, courtesy of Terry Miller.

www.pasadenadoodahparade.info

GET 'EM WHILE THEY LAST!
Order 2008 Doo Dah T-Shirts!

Buy your way into Doo Dah History with your spare change!



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Now YOU can join the elite few who walk the streets with Doo Dah pride and flair!

Quantities MAY be extremely limited...Better buy as many as you can today...Yes, we are shameless. But when it comes to Doo Dah, shameless is a good thing.

Price: $15 per shirt
$5 shipping and handling
Sizes: S L XL XXL

The serious bit: All procedes go to support Light Bringer Project, the non-profit organization who owns and produces the Doo Dah Parade. For more information on the many community projects that LBP participates in and sponsors, visit lightbringerproject.com.

TO ORDER:

Email your order immediately to: LBP@earthlink.net.

OR

Call 626-205-4029 and leave a message with your quantity, sizes, and contact information. You know, the old fashioned way.

OR

Send us a check with your size information.

Make checks payable to:
Light Bringer Project
P.O. Box 968, Pasadena, CA 91102

You must act fast - Operators are standing by. Or at least, thinking about it. A LOT. This is not a subliminal message. BUY SHIRTS BUY SHIRTS BUY SHIRTS. This is not a subliminal message. Time to scratch your cheek. BUY BUY BUY!!! When you awaken, you will remember nothing of this conversation, except BUY BUY BUY a DOO DAH SHIRT!!! And in 3...2...1...(poof!)