Click on a thumbnail sketch to see the full size picture.

OMSI

In past years we have visited OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) on the morning of the Starlight Parade. Both are in Portland, Oregon and this saves some driving. We arrange ahead of time with OMSI.

This year the arrangements didn't go smoothly. There had some turnover in personnel and folks were unfamiliar with us. The date came around before the OK.

I decided to do it anyway. Sort of like guerilla theater. The worst that could happen is that they could kick us out. Well, OK. They did. But only after we had been there for an hour or two. Good enough, I say. In the mean time we accomplished our goal. We showed KangaRex and the Spinner off to lots of little ones and bigger ones. Folks who appreciated what we had. We inspired them. And that's what it's all about.

Portland Starlight Parade

The Starlight Parade also didn't go very smoothly. The organizers failed to supply the KSR folks (Bob Durst, us, and the others) with parking permits. Sounds like a small problem until you realize that we needed to park a van+trailer in downtown Portland. I won't list all the trouble this caused. Suffice it to say that I wasn't happy about this.

But eventually we got our permits and parked. Legally.

In year's past the KSR group has sometimes gotten spread out. Some of the KSRs couldn't maintain the parade pace, at least on the hills. For this reason we were taken out of the main parade and "demoted" to the pre-parade. This doesn't really bother us. It's just as fun. The only thing we miss is that we are not on TV. So what!

		Spencer was there with his vehicle, Lika and the Sprocket Rocket Kinetic Cosmonauts. It is the one with a large tube down the middle and a wooden structure above that.
	Eric drove my quadraped.		Dave and Joy drove KangaRex. And Steven rode in back
	This is Bill's Tortoise and Hare.		I coaxed Bill out of it and into trying the Spinner for a moment before the parade started.
			Bob and Sherry ran puppets while Megan drove the redecorated Tomato.
		Here are a couple of crowd shots.

And I drove the spinner. Since I was taking the pictures, I don't have any pictures of that.

We had a little trouble with KangaRex. The electrical system failed shortly after we started. (I haven't yet figured out what happened.) And later a derailer jammed.

But despite the setbacks, the parade was a blast. We all loved it. And Joy, who was a parade virgin, is now hopelessly hooked.

No kangaroos were harmed making this Kinetic Sculpture Racer.

Unless otherwise noted, all pictures above were taken by Allen Brown.

Copyright © 2007 C. Allen Brown