Subject: Mermaid Militia - sit rep Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 22:07:08 -0700 To: Bonnie Scott , From: James Lesczynski So far, I count the following people as more or less committed to= our "Mermaid Militia" stunt for the Coney Island Mermaid= Parade: Jim Lesczynski Bob Armstrong Bonnie Scott Dawn Fox Nic Leobold Joseph Dobrian Thomas Ruks Catherine Ruks Craig Milem Craig's friend? Rosemary Rossi Gary Snyder (yes?) If know of anyone who would like to participate but isn't on the= list above, please let me know. Likewise, if you are on the list= above but do not intend to participate, please let me know.= We're going to try to keep this project fairly low maintenance,= but it's going to involve a little bit of planning and= coordination to make it successful. Please bear with me, and= please read this email to the end, because I'm going to be= asking for at least a little bit of help from each of you. To reiterate, the idea is to do some fun outreach and political= theater at the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Our specific= idea is to march together as "the Mermaid Militia". And what= sort of weapons do the Mermaid Militia carry? Water guns, of= course. :-) (Imagine the headlines: "Libertarians announce Guns= For Tots 2: The Mermaid Militia".) Bonnie also suggests water= balloon grenades, along with our mermaid costumes. We'll also= have pro-freedom marching cadences, as well as some sort of fun= outreach material. The hardest part to coordinate is going to be our costumes. We= want to keep it fairly simple so the costumes aren't a burden in= dollars or time. At the same time, everybody else in the parade= is going to have very creative costumes, and we don't want to= look lame. Our costumes also need to be "uniform" because we are= supposed to look like a platoon of mermaids. Bonnie is the costume coordinator, and she can fill us in the= details. If I understand it correctly, we are going to look like= para-military mermaids. For now, what we need is for everyone to= get themselves a white tee shirt and a pair of green pants.= Bonnie will add ruffled material to the bottom of your pants to= make it look like a mermaid tail. She is also making a decal to= attach to the front of each of our tee shirts. (I think it's a= sea horse with a statue-of-liberty head.) Probably the biggest burden for all of you is going to be= acquiring the green pair of pants. (The rest of the project will= be lots of _fun_, I promise, especially the parade itself.)= DON'T spend a lot of money; just go to the cheapest discount= store near you. We aren't going to be picky about the shade of= green. They can even be sweat pants, but you probably want to= get something lightweight, since it will probably be hot that= day and we'll be. If anyone comes across a good bargain, let the= rest of us know.. I also want to get some more squirt guns, even though we have a= lot remaining from Guns For Tots I. I hope to get each of us a= long rifle-like Super Soaker to shoulder. The rest of our toy= guns we can give away to the kids in the crowd. I'll try to get= them cheap, and I'll pick up the tab, but if any of you wanted= to contribute a couple bucks to defray the cost, I would= appreciate it. Bonnie will also need to be reimbursed for her= costume materials; she can tell you how much, but I think it= will only be a few dollars each. We need somebody to buy the water balloons (grenades). Who can= take care of that? We need somebody to write and photocopy some simple propaganda= about who we are, the proposed toy gun ban, etc. Who can take= care of that? Maybe Thomas or Joseph? I will write a press release, no later than this weekend, and= issue it on Monday. The Manhattan LP will pay for that cost out= of its treasury. I will also register us for the parade tonight. The cost is $50.= ($30 for 3-15 marchers, plus $20 for Bonnie's jeep, which we're= going to decorate and ride on/march behind.) I was going to ask= the MLP for reimbursement for that, but I think I will pay for= it as an in-kind donation to the chapter. Bonnie is going to be in the city on Saturday afternoon to= preview the costume accessories. Bob, can you stop by my= apartment on Saturday to take a look and finalize the ideas? The= rest of you are also welcome to attend, but don't feel= obligated. On the big day, we will need to get to Coney Island _early_. We= are to assemble on West 16th Street between Surf and Mermaid= Avenues. They would like all participants to arrive no earlier= than 10 AM and no later than 12 NOON. It's going to be a huge= mob of people and challenging to find each other, so PLEASE= let's avoid Standard Libertarian Time and be prompt. I think the= subways to Coney Island are currently messed up due to= construction, so we'll need to account for that too. Did I forget anything? If you have any questions, comments, or= criticisms, please send them along. This will be FUN, FUN, FUN! Everybody who isn't participating is= going to really miss out. http://www.coneyisland.com/mermaid.shtml Jim Lesczynski P.S. If anyone has Craig Milem's email address, please forward= this. "I would much prefer that muggers use realistic toys than real= guns. It's safer for the victim and the police." -Chris Garvey "Don't come uptown with that bullshit! Get outa my 'hood! Get= outa my 'hood! Get outa my 'hood!" -NYC Councilmember Robert Jackson