Was 2008 Miami’s King Mango Strut 's Final Year??? View Photos & Video : Miami IMC

The spirit of the King Mango Strut is significantly tongue-in-cheek. Participants are willing to poke fun at anything and everything. Most of the parade consists of satire of events that have happened in the last year, from world events to state to local. Nothing is off-limits, and the boundaries of good taste are often pushed or broken in the name of irreverent comedy.

ABOUT THE PARADE
The parade was started in 1982 by Glenn Terry and the late Bill Dobson as a parody of the annual King Orange Jamboree parade for the Orange Bowl. After a group of Grove residents, known as the "Mango Marching Band" were denied entry into the Orange Bowl parade due to "unsuitable instruments" such as kazoos and conch shells, they decided to create their own parade.

This year's 2008 Parade Grand Marshal was Mr. Clucky, the famous rooster, who was voted "Best Activist of 2008 in the Tri-county Area" by City Link Magazine. Some of the satire themes were Chinese Olympics – Gymnastic Team, BASHED BY BUSH & THE CHAIN(Y) GANG, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Obama’s Senate Seat Up for Sale, A GM – NASA Bailout, Zapato-istas - These boots are made for throwing, The MANGOBAMA Band, The Bush Countdown Clock, Do the MANGOBAMA, and ……………………………………

NEWS FLASH
“Is 2008 the Last Year for the King Mango Strut?” The New Times reports that this could be the Last Year for King Mango Strut? — a victim of red tape and increasing costs imposed by the City of Miami.
http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2008/12/last_year_for_king_mango_strut_1.php

* King Mango Strut Parade 2008 (video and photo essay)
http://carlosmiller.com/2008/12/29/king-mango-strut-parade-2008-video-and-photo-essay/

*More Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/JRL.photog/MangObama2008?feat=email#

http://kingmangostrut.org/

The expensive toolbag floated away from Endeavour astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper during the STS-126 mission's first spacewalk on Nov. 18th. Whoever said the toolbag was lost never to be seen again!
And just why does that toolbag cost $100,000?

"The cost included the EVA crew lock bag itself, four retractable tethers, two adjustable equipment tethers, a grease gun with a straight nozzle, two wire ties, a grease gun with a J-hook nozzle, an EVA wipe caddy, six EVA wipes (two wet, four dry), a scraper debris container, a SARJ scraper and a large trash bag."