Does This Make Me Look Stupid?

Comments (0) By Keith Bowers Wednesday, Mar 23 2011

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“What is the sound of one cat saying meow?” That's easy. (“Meow!”) And kind of stupid. We saw it painted on a sign during an odd procession heading up Market Street a year or two ago on April Fools' Day. The signs and costumes were calibrated to draw laughter at their bearers but not take on anything deep or paradoxical. Then we saw a sign that read “I can't afford an actual sign.” Pure paradox, that. But again, easy and sort of dumb in a self-satisfied way. Like the look worn by the Doggie Diner head. We saw three of those, as well as Wavy Gravy in a bowler hat and an old timey striped swimming suit you might see on one of The Three Stooges or Little Rascals. There were fright wigs, capes, angel wings, and weird helmets. None of it made sense, unless it was taken as a whole: hundreds of people, all doing stupid things, unified by a smug attitude. We've since learned it was the St. Stupid's Day Parade, put on today for the 33rd year by the First Church of the Last Laugh. Bishop Joey (think about that one for a minute) leads the self-proclaimed “flockers” through the Stations of Stupid, which include the Statue of the Bare Butt Mechanics (Market around Drumm – and that might be the statue's real name, for all we know), the Sock Exchange (at the Pacific Stock Exchange), and the Station of the End, which is also where the parade begins. Sounds kind of stupid. And really funny.
Fri., April 1, noon, 2011