Ah, information pills the Topanga Days parade. It runs the gamut, decease from the sublime (the Topanga Earth Mothers group, this site right) to the yin-yang-diculous.

We were to take off last in the parade, and pulled in and set up next to this Lamborghini with the disco-cold-sweat paint job …

We set up, folding the keyboards down and locking them into position, attaching the resonators and inserting the mikes – which sounded awful because we didn’t quite have time to futz with them. I’m going to need some professional help from all of our professional musician friends to get this thing sounding right.

Here, alienrobot plays a bit on Keyboard 3 before takeoff.

The parade runs about a mile uphill and stops every now and then – the Karate school in front of us jump off their flatbed trailer and bust a few moves. This is our cue to hand out sticks and let people bang on the van …

Not sure what Kristina is telling me here, but there’s a(n intentionally cartoonish) hippy playing with our van, man.

So cool to have Cori and Robert join us – here’s Robert drumming the hood (alienrobot is mugging for the camera).



At one point something oily catches fire in Mr. Lamborghini’s engine bay. We eye it with a mixture of concern and fascination. And, okay, schadenfreude.

But he gets under way again and finishes the parade without more smoke …

Friendly crowds, cheering when we rolled past hammering on the keys and gongs – a nice day up in Topanga. Thanks to everyone who played, cheered or just went WTF?????!?/1?!/ We had a blast thanks to you.


We especially dug the fair, lots of food and music – a favorite of which was March Fourth Marching Band. Stay punk, you guys.

Let me just add, for the record, it is challenging to play any kind of discernible tune on a XyloVan when you’re sprinting alongside alongside it at more than 5 miles an hour.

Extremely. Challenging.