we closed
skippy international for the afternoon and headed to downtown hollywood to participate
in the anti-war protest. it was a beautiful balmy day in socal, just right for a massive show of grass roots anger towards a self-indulgent imperialist regime, or else a block party.
we admit we arrived late, having stopped for lunch in advance. (the world may be drifting towards end-times fascism, but we've got have that mel's burger!) little did we realize there would be street vendors selling hot brats, ice cream and pizza. we forgot we were protesting in the 21st century, and not in the 1960's when every demonstration was byo.
we couldn't begin to estimate how many people were there, as we saw scores of happy satisfied people leaving as we walked to the event. large police presence, but they were there as traffic control more than anything else. one policewoman we spoke with expressed frustration at the massive knot of cars, full of impatient drivers, being forced out of usual traffic flows and onto side streets. horns honked and people yelled, but upon questioning the office admitted that there was no violence or untoward activities, it was just a big hassle, much like any job can get.
hollywood blvd. was closed down, from la brea at least to cahuenga. the gist of the demonstration took place in front of the newly built
kodak theater, where the oscars are now held, in the middle of a large
tourist-sucking mall, now at hollywood & highland.
a large stage was set up in the middle of the street, and many speakers were ranting the usual stuff (which you've all read here and elsewhere). thousands of people, perhaps tens of thousands at one point, milled about, holding signs, babies, dogs and leaflets.
many news vans were there; we assume we'll see ourselves on the 11:00 o'clock news tonight!
we bought a bumper sticker for mrs. skippy. she's a fan of donald trump's show "the apprentice," and the sticker proclaims boldly "george bush...you're fired!" she did get a chuckle out of it.
we are not sure if we topped nyc's 100,000 participants, but we are betting that if not, we came pretty darn close.
