The Doo Dah parade lived up to its far out character by crowning Patrizzia Intergalactica, who in reality is Pasadenan Diane Patrizzi, Queen of the 35th “occasional” event.

Queen Patrizzia Intergalactica said that she was shocked and dismayed that the Doo Dah Parade had sunk so low as to select her to be Queen.

It was all part of the let-loose zaniness that accompanies the parade known as the Rose Parade’s twisted sister.

This year 22 contestants performed by singing, dancing and, in one case, pretending to exterminate cockroaches, before a small army of judges including past Doo Dah Queens, this year’s Grand Marshal Ann Erdman and the Ron Coston, Executive Director of the Light Bringer Project, which sponsors the parade.

The 2012 Parade takes place on Saturday, April 28th, stepping off at 11:00 a.m. in East Pasadena along Colorado Boulevard.

Known as the twisted sister of the conventional Rose Parade, the Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade began as a grassroots event in 1978 to gain national attention for its eccentric and, often, irreverent satire. The parade which has spawned numerous off-beat replicants across the country was named by Readers Digest as “America’s Best Parade,” and was recently featured in the book 50 Places You Must Visit Before You Die!

This year’s spectacle will see the return of such wildly diverse entries as a fleet of motorized Kinetic Pastry Science Mobile Muffins, Captain McHogwash’s Amazing Chundra, a humungous robotic spitting cat named Boo-Boo Kitty, oddly-attired sound inventors known as The Highland Park Thursday Evening Gentlemen’s Society Circuit Bending Marching Band & Ladies’ Auxiliary, and the crowd favorite Disco Drill Team, real American Bandstanders, Bastard Sons of Lee Marvin, OC NRML, The Billionaires, Occupy Doo Dah, Quilting Bees, Whistling Diva, The Bra-Ettes, L.A. Derby Dolls, classic, scary clowns, BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team, Hare Kirshna Chanters, Howdy Krishna, and the immortal Doo Dah house band Snotty Scotty & the Hankies, and many more!

Kendrec Lavelle McDade shown as a member of the 2009 Azusa High School Aztecs football team. McDade was shot and killed by Pasadena police March 24, 2012 after a pursuit arising from an armed robbery radio call. [Photo: Duane Barker of MidValley Sports www.midvalleysports.com, courtesy of Joe Torosian]

Authorities have identified the armed robbery suspect shot and killed by Pasadena police on Saturday night as Kendrec Lavelle McDade, 20, of Azusa.

The officers were responding to a call of an armed robbery that had occurred shortly after 11 p.m. near the intersection of Summit Avenue and Orange Grove Blvd.

The victim followed two suspects while calling the police on his cell phone. The suspects ran in different directions trying to evade the victim.

Police say two officers immediately arrived and saw one suspect running near Fair Oaks Avenue and Orange Grove Blvd.

The officers pursued the suspect north on Sunset Avenue from Orange Grove Blvd and as they neared him, police say the officers “observed his hands at his waistband. Fearing for their lives they fired multiple shots striking the suspect.”

The suspect was transported to local area hospital where he died.

Pasadena Police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said that as of early Sunday afternoon, no weapon had been located at the scene of the Sunset Ave. shooting but that “but PPD personnel will continue efforts to locate [a] weapon.”

Detectives notified the family at the hospital and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Investigator responded and took possession of the body.

Anyone having information regarding the robbery or shooting is asked to contact the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4241

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