Wow, we did it! Congratulations. That was something. And the street party was spectacular. I'm proud to have a small part in this large doings by all y'all.

No police interference, no problems. Unabashedly positive press afterward (even in the Sentinel: tinyurl.com/u97hl) Parade people blocked streets and redirected traffic. The parade cleaned up after itself, taking care of litter and debris. Thousands of people came out. Looked like people were 3 deep on the sidelines and the parade stretched through most of downtown.

Check out the photos on Indymedia (indybay.org/santacruz) or in the gallery on the Last Night website (lastnightdiy.org).

I'm thinking, next time, let's see if we can get more musical groups and performance and interactivity down for the street party. The drum circle thing was alright, but after an hour I was ready for some other action.

If we could recruit musical groups to play in all the nooks and crannies around Cooper Square, that'd be swell. Like the folk-punk band Blackbird Raum that played later in the evening, or the marimba band that played earlier. Imagine being able to wander over to the Octogon Building and hear an awesome Zydeco band rockin' it in that little courtyard and then down to the jewelry store by the coffee roasting company and catching a brilliant acapella group. What if the Brazen Squaredance Association blew into the square sweeping up people as it went along.

Just some thoughts. What are yours?

Rico