This is just my perspective, a hope plenty of others submit reports as well!

Got to Singer Park before 6 AM....*yawn*...and helped to hold our spot
beside the Rose Queen and Court. Man, am I glad it wasn't the day
after New Year's Eve. We only marched a little over a mile, up Orange
Grove to Colorado and then turned off on Marengo to rally at City Hall
- didn't get to the Playhouse district or East Pasadena. We had two
floats, a giant Constitution and a giant octopus (made out of recycled
plastic garbage bags). The cops were loaded for bear and were standing
at attention with their riot shields, but there was no trouble, no
violence, and I would be surprised if there were any arrests. Since we
were following the parade, people were leaving as we were starting,
but we attracted a lot of attention and even got some to join us. Of
course there was some hostility, from boneheads who sneered, "Get a
job." Yeah, right, think of a new one. And at City Hall, we got to
hear Marcy Winograd, Cindy Sheehan, and assorted spontaneous poets and
speakers. For entertainment, we got to hear the Billionaires satirical
group (with a full brass band), rapping by Guido Corleone of the
Luminaries, and freakin' MICHELLE SHOCKED leading a singalong to the
tune of the NOFX occupy song! She was beautiful, reaching out to
include everyone, even shy people. I think this day should be a lesson
for the movement: not all protest has to be confrontational, in fact
confrontation should be a very last resort. We worked with the
authorities, and we DIDN'T get pepper sprayed! The official telecast
cut us off, but fortunately there is lots of alternative media these
days. OCCUPY 2012! STOP FORECLOSURES! OCCUPY THE ELECTIONS!!!!

One guy who attracted a lot of attention was Brian, a soft-spoken
veteran of Grenada and the Gulf War who still has friends in
Afghanistan. He came in full battle dress and helmet, and had a spray-
painted banner that read "Get $ out of politics" on one side, and
"Stop bank fees" on the other. He's gotten a pretty raw deal from
civilian life, but he made the sacrifice to attend this event.
And....gotta love 'im for this...he's a Dropkick Murphys fan!!!!!!!
VETERANS OCCUPY!!!

I also met David and Susan and other cool people from Occupy Long
Beach. Despite being totally nonviolent, they have been relentlessly
attacked and harassed by the Long Beach PD. In fact, Susan took some
photos of an officer choking an Occupier into unconsciousness -- the
injured man is George Diller, a veteran of course! These photos of the
officer with his knee on George's throat are iconic in a Kent State
kind of way, and they were on display along the parade route for the
duration of the parade. You can see them at

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/12/george_diller_occupy_police_brutality.php,

http://occupylb.org/2011/12/21/lbpd-choke-protester-unconscious-for-smoking/,

http://occupylb.org/photos/police-brutality-against-occupy-lber-and-veteran-for-smoking/