GLAM of the Dead 40th Birthday Party!

Here is a handy FAQ about my 40th Birthday bash, held this past weekend:

Q: Did you have fun?
A: Woooooooooooo! Woooooooooooo! STILL BASKING! I hope some of you had at least half as munch fun as I did. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Q: How many people showed up?
A: I’d LOVE to know – anybody have any good guesses? At it’s peak maybe 150? 200? Anyone? And how many people over the course of the night?

Q: Do I have to look through all 300 odd pix of your party?
A: Um. No. But I seriously recommend this quick-n’dirty little video I made. Just watch a little – All your friends are doing it. You can quit at any time. Really – go on:

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Music: “Don’t Stop Believin’ In Planet Rock: JOURNEY vs. AFRIKA BAMBAATAA” by the AWESOME A Plus D – the hosts of Bootie – my favorite dance party.

Q: The video is great and all but I wanna see pix, yo!?
A:

  1. The best 50 shots (on FaceBook – these shots all come from the two links below)
  2. The best of all the photo booth shots
  3. The best of the random shots

Q: Wow what was the story on the awesome photo booth?
A: Mark Johnson loaned us most of the equipment, Adrian Cotter provided the rest and manned the booth most of the night. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME. And whilst I’m at it, big thanks to Marc Fong for the disco ball & lighting – rockstars all and all!

Q: Where did you get those awesome cupcakes you were giving out!? Why didn’t I get one?
A: Kara’s Cupcakes! Shocking fact: the white ones are better than the chocolate ones. Shocking. There were only 100 – and I ate one – so 99 🙂

Q: Why GLAM?
A: GLAM – because I love bright shiny things. When i turned 31 I decided to reclaim my love of all things shiny, sparkly & bright. Guys (at least straight ones) aren’t supposed to love that stuff as much as I do. Yeah. Whatever. It’s been all GLAM ever since 🙂 You can find pix of them all here.

Q: Why a Day of the Dead party?
A: Why “Dia De Los Muertos?” – because I’m 40!!!! Holy Frijoles! Here’s what I wrote in the invite:

As the Wikipedia says “Many people believe that during the Day of the Dead, it is easier for the souls of the departed to visit the living.” And what could be more appropriate for my 40th Birthday? Now that I’m officially dead, the best way for me to visit with you would be my Day of the Dead Party!

Q: What was up with the alien mask?
A: Many years at my GLAM Parties I try elaborate facepaint. I always think I look hideous in the photos. This year inspiration struck. Unfortunately it struck two days before my party, so I had to scramble. And BTW, IT WAS A SKULL DAMMIT!

Q: What was the best costume!??
A: Every year, someone blows me away withe the unexpected. And this year, while Steve G’s macrame ensemble was lovely (though glam?), Adrian’s Day of the Dead work was AMAZING. You MUST check it out here.

Q: So how do you feel now that you’re 40?
A: Eh? What’s that sonny? I can’t hear you?…. hey you kids! get off my lawn!

Seriously – I’m really lucky. You all made this a fantastic birthday party. I really do put a lot into making stuff like this happen, but I get so much more than I put in because of all you fine folks. I love you guys!

(Note: Update 5/21/10 – added link to Adrian’s flickr stream of his costume & fixed typo.)

Pillows, Mayhem, Trikeasaurus, and the UNITED NATIONS?

SF Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight 2009

For the past 3 years on Valentine’s Day here in SF, there has been a MASSIVE flash-mob pillow fight. They have all been moste excellente, but this one was even more vast than the last two…

This video, taken from high above, does it justice:


(courtesy of kapshure)

And though I had thought about skipping it this year*, the fear of Missing The Fun won out… so I assembled Trikeasaurus & headed out (I actually forgot my pillow!):

NOTE: This video is really long – so watch if you like, but for purposes of this blog post, definitely check out the start & if you want 1:45, 4:30, 5:00, & 6:40 as well (I’ll see if I can get a shorter edit)

(courtesy of overnightpro)

In the end, I got my glasses broken, lost my favorite jacket*, inhaled a troubling amount of goose down, got my nose scraped, & Trikeasaurus was injured. And was it worth it? I think this next shot sums up my feelings….

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Liner Notes for My 30s

Hey kids – I turned 40 today! Frijoles! I decided to make compilation album to celebrate and as a gift to my friends. Here are the liner notes. If you want any of the music (or the whole CD) drop me a line… I’ll have an iMix ready soon. In the end, I *wish* there was an easier way for me to get it to you, period.

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First of all, let’s just say it up front: this compilation is an OUTRAGE. While it purports to be a record of my thirties, where is the Prince, or the Stevie Wonder, or the Michael Jackson!? Sting, anyone? Only one U2 song? Where the hell is Pete Townshend or Cake? Whither Lyrics Born, Blackalicious, or Spearhead? Midnight Oil? Not here? How is that possible?

And what’s up with the fact that it’s biased to my late 30s rather than my early thirties – lame!

Only 18 songs? How can 10 years in my life be only 18 songs?

An outrage I tell you!

And yet, I’ll stand for it. There is nothing good without constraints, I think. And the length of one CD is my only bulwark against self-indulgence.

So here you are: massively unfair, wildly subjective, and hopefully, nonetheless, right if not accurate. A flawed but deeply personal record of my thirties. I hope you:

  • like at least some of it
  • find at least a tiny bit of the transcendence, solace and inspiration that I have here
  • find something new
  • aren’t bored with the stuff you’ve heard me play a million times 🙂

I love you! ‘deep

READ ON FOR THE SONG BY SONG NOTES:

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A New New Year’s Tradition: Bike+Music Ride, Nap, Breakfast of Champions

Every year around New Year’s, I have a hard time deciding what to do from all the various options. Last New Year was a debacle (long story, not interesting)… so in addition to being terribly torn, I also wanted to have more fun than last year. But what to do? Various friends were at separate events, and all my favorite DJs in San Francisco were playing at different places (MotionPotion, Shooey, Jimmy Love, the Bootie folks)….

Luckily Dan Nguyen-Tan convinced me to do a NYE Bike+Music ride with him. You have to see the video:

It was trans-stupendous!

I had planned to only go til 9:30 and then hit some parties, but we were having so much fun, we kept riding til midnight & then caught up with David Miles – of “Roller Disco in Golden Gate Park” & “Black Rock Roller Disco @ Burning Man” fame and watched fireworks at the Embarcadero….. So. Much. Fun.

Finally, I dragged myself home and went to bed at around 2:30 so that I could get up at 8am & make it to Breakfast of Champions with the Space Cowboy DJs!

Bob Seymour and I got there at 9 & danced til noon. Breakfast of Champions is insane in the best possible way.

And the Space Cowboys are one of my favorite San Francisco institutions: you always know what you’re going to get, and it’s always good. Electronica isn’t even my scene but they always bring the BIG fun. I luvs me some Space Cowboys!

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So from now on, I know what I’m doing for New Years. I hope you do too (hint hint 😉 )

* Thanks to Mark Christiansen for much footage & Natalie Schrik for camerawork!

“San-ta’s Dan-cin’, Up and Down the Boul-e-vard…”

 
Step 1: Download a bunch of Motown (& other great) Christmas songs from the iTunes Store.*

Step 2: Apply sparkly-yet-Indian Santa Costume

Step 3: Apply Trikeasaurus

Step 4: Find SF Santarchy & roam the streets with a few hundred Santas!

Step 5: Enjoy:


(thanks for the awesome video Jeff! & for pointing it out to me Renata!)

And a week later:

Step 6: Apply Disco Ball & Sparkly pants (of course.)

Step 7: Roam the streets & hit a karaoke bar

Step 8: Return to Step 5.

DiscoXMas.jpg(click the photo to go to my Facebook Pix from Saturday)

 
I think I may need to revisit Christmas….

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Prop 8, Heartbreak & Trikeasaurus = Don’t Stop Believin’!!

Note: This is a horribly delayed post, but I was waiting for photos that did it justice (I need a camera crew for FlashDance and Trikeasaurus dammit!). Luckily, Brian, Mike, Whole Wheat & Bill came through. Anyway this is the one of 2 posts about LAST Saturday (11/15), not the most recent Saturday. The other post is from the FlashDance that night.

Also note that there are more pics and videos after the jump!


(Courtesy of Whole Wheat on Flickr)

Celeste and I were on our way to the Prop 8 protest last Saturday (11/15) & halfway there I started wondering whether we should go home and get Trikeasaurus. It was a bit of a debate because obviously you don’t want to detract from the cause or trivialize it.

It’s a tough call because the gestalt here in our fair city is strange: ecstatic, hopeful, and in giddy disbelief about Obama, but devastated, angry, and really heart-broken about Prop 8’s victory. (It doesn’t matter whether you are straight or gay – everyone I know is heartbroken about Prop 8.)

So what to do?

In the end, the gorgeousness and warmth of the day carried it. We figured “The Gays” + “sunny, gorgeous day” meant that in addition to being a protest, it was going to be a party.

So we turned around, went home, put together Trikeasaurus & headed out again.

It turns out we were right! PEOPLE LOVED IT and my wee trike became a bit of a rallying point. 🙂

Did I mention how much I love “The Gays” 🙂

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(Courtesy of Mike Holland)

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FlashDance 18: Meganormous Fabulousness at 24th St BART!

Note: This is a horribly delayed post, but I was waiting for photos that did it justice (I need a camera crew for FlashDance and Trikeasaurus dammit!). Luckily, May-Li & Liza came through. Anyway this is the one of 2 posts about LAST Saturday (11/15), not the most recent Saturday. The other post is about Trikeasaurus rocking the Anti-Prop-8 Protest that day.

Also note that there is a video & the playlist after the jump!

IMG_8315.jpg(courtesy of May-Li Khoe)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Flashdance 18 was just amazing. Maybe 100-150 people dancing at any given time and maybe 200 people over the course of the night. But as usual, the real story was just the vibe. A warm night and fun music were part of it, but really, as usual the key to such a great FlashDance is all the awesome people who came out to 24th & Mission and made it so fabulous! I love my peeps! Thanks for making 3 years of FlashDances so amazing!

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Prop 8: Lest We Forget

I’ve barely been able to think about Prop 8 going down. It is just too depressing and gets in the way of the happiness I so desperately need after all these years. I realize though, that not thinking about it is a luxury I have but is so much harder for anyone who happens to be gay. So I thought I should put this up to remind me. None of us get to “not think about” this.

I’m sooo sorry. For all of us.

‘deep

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