SF runs hot and cold

SF enjoyed a wonderful heat wave last week. I forgot how much fun SF is in the warm sunshine, long daylight hours, and warm summer nights. Granted, it's easy to forget as we only get like three of these a year. The fog is back with a vengeance and it is ass-cold over here now. And visibility remains choked.

Last week any place with outside seating was packed. During the week, we enjoyed a few after-work cocktails at Zeitgeist.

The rest of the week was full of summer sun fun with dancing in the streets to celebrate the ruling on marriage equality midweek and general happy to be out revelry day and night in the Castro.

Saturday night, Kevin and I took his new fab friend from acting class out to the Mission for dinner at Luna and a guilty pleasure of theater.

Kevin and I had so been looking forward to the dramatic playing of movie version of The Bad Seed.

It's part of a live-theater series of B movies: The Killer Bs! So. Much. Fun.

Oh my God it was hilarious.. So superbly acted, and they played it so straight it was amazing. The movie is so melodramatic, that in live action it is even more campy. And so awesome.

Especially with the crazy-talented Sean Owens, who stands at 6'2" at least, as the little blond sociopath in pigtails.

And for my trio, we were delighted to learn that the Dark Room theater turns an encouraging blind eye to bringing your own "refreshments" into the the show. (They even provide bottle a bottle opener and recycling bins.)


Sharon was such a joy to meet and she is totally PLU. Expect to see more of her in the blog.

Kevin was kind enough to drive us around town, and on the way home we stopped for one last round at Marlena's and enjoyed another really fun alternative show.




Marlena's does have the best free show in town. The Rendez-Vous closed a couple of years back, and Trannyshack is closing in August (note: neither of those shows were/ are free). The Cinch's shows are just tragic (I once had to hoist a bad drag queen on my shoulders so she could retrieve her wig from the rafters.). Marlena's is a great neighborhood bar with some really dedicated live entertainers. The bartenders are cool, the drinks are strong, and the crowd is always mixed with a healthy dose of masculine. I think I'll be hanging out here more often. And oddly, it's also the local hangout for the rodeo folks. I've agreed to co-chair fundraising this year, so I'll be spending more time with these folks anyway.

And speaking of running hot and cold, Sunday was the annual Bay to Breakers race.

I usually join friends for cocktails and a viewing of the craziness, but with the rain and fog and the cold and the DearGodItsEarly O'Clock, I happily rolled over in my soft sheets and went back to sleep. The San Francisco Chronicle has some photos over here.


And there's the flickr cluster.

yipes.

Brace yourselves kids. This part gets a little scary.

From a certain Alert Reader, whose department's male members put together a drag farewell show for a retirement party.

Now that's a send off.

Patrons thought s/he was a hired professional. Feel free to comment.

And this in my mail box this morning from Alert Reader Sinclair Kelly:

Caption: Remember when your mother warned you not to take candy from strangers? She meant this guy.

True confession: If I had a rocking torso I would so wear a harness like this to Dore. No fishnet, wig, or feathers though. That would be tacky.

Barney gets a lift

in more ways than one.

Dear Friend of the Blog Barney moved back to New Zealand at Christmastime and has been enjoying the southern hemisphere summer spending time with his family, playing with the kiddies, working in the garden, and sipping cocktails at his parents' place overlooking the beach.

Not so bad a way to spend the "winter" months.

Barney just accepted a faboo new job and is in a mad dash to relocate to Wellington. I can't wait to visit. As part of his whirlwind relocation, Barney bought a car.

I can't believe it.

In all the years I've known him I've never known him to drive.

As far as I know, this is Barney's only relationship with autos:











Congratulations Barney!

get the portable defib kit

because it's snack time for Alert Reader Paul Day.

ARPD ordered a couple of boxes of the maple syrup and bacon lollipops but has not reported on their yumminess/cardiac clogging.

As far as I know, he has not yet borrowed the car to go to Santa Cruz in search of Marini's and their chocolate covered bacon.

Mmmmmm.

What can we expect next? Malted lard balls? I know there's a market.

(And hey, I'm not judging. I bought several cases of the Big Mo's. But one can never have enough Big Mo's around.)

Celebrate good times, c'mon

I had mixed reactions yesterday with the whole marriage ruling thing. I was really surprised how much it affected me emotionally. I was happy, but then I got myself way too worked up over the backlash from the haters. I am so sick and tired of the lies and hypocrisy of these people, and I am tired of being abused by them just for my capacity to love. The religious right needs to STFU because Jesus is all about love and said nothing against gays. Marriage defenders should STFU and take a history lesson about marriage. That's a history of "tradition" that is unconscionable to defend. Focus on the Family types should STFU as this protects and values families and children. Equality of citizens and freedom of religion are the founding principles of this country. All citizens should have the benefits and obligations of citizenship. Supporting marriage equality is an act of patriotism. It's just that simple.

So, that being said--

I sat at home in the heat for about an hour last night deciding what to do. By 7:45 I decided I needed to join the festivities in the Castro, and I am so glad I did. There were a couple of hundred people there when I arrived around 8:00. The sun was still shining and it was still hot. The police had barricaded the streets, and Energy 92.7 had set up a truck with speakers and Trevor Simpson was spinning and endless array of happy, celebratory, and lovingly-thematic music.

Many of us had roadies.

This early crowd though was at least half families-- lots of loving couples, lots of hand-holding, and lots of families with children. Sometimes it was enough to make me tear up.




Several people commented that they were impressed that they could throw together such a street party in only four hours. I was less impressed as we had heard for weeks that the ruling would most likely be in our favor, and the announcement was scheduled. Even so, it's not that hard to trow up two barricades and drive in a sound truck with a generator. But still, it was so very nice to have.

I arrived alone but quickly found many friends. I forgot it was a Thursday and ran into several Sundancers who asked (obviously) "You're not at Sundance tonight?" I realized I hadn't been since Ken died, and honestly a part of me was still worried about dealing with those who did not appreciate my blogging of the event. David O came over for Derby Day and said that he liked what I wrote, but also blanched a bit as I was clearly saying out loud what a lot of people were thinking but dis not want to admit or hear out loud. However, three people--three-- each came up to me in the crowd last night, unsolicited and independent of each other, and told me how much the loved what I wrote. I felt so much better about it and hope to get back out to Sundance this Sunday, as long as it is not God awful hot. But back to the marriage equality celebration-

Several hours later the music changed to typical house stuff which was considerably less fun than the lyrical and poppy party songs from earlier. The crowd had grown immensely. It was about the size of Pink Saturday. Huge throngs. So much fun.

And a bit messy.

I ended up making out with an ex I hadn't seen in four years. He just turned 30 this week. I don't know what to add to that.

I thought about taking my camera in case something was blog-worthy, but I didn't want to carry yet another thing. I did snap some pics with my phone (Motorola L7/SLVR). Not the best quality, but you get the idea. Those above are from early in the evening before the absolute masses/messes.


If you want more, go play around flickr. I am sure there are many sets.

California supremes cut it close

but cut on the right side!

This just in-- despite the hateful Knight initiative almost 10 years ago, and two, TWO, vetoes from the Governator, the California State Supreme Court has ruled that denying equal access to marriage rights on the basis of sexual orientation is unconstitutional in the State of California.

I thought it was a slam dunk when it came to the law, but the conservative supes cut it close with a 4-3 ruling. But still. Way with the YAY.

Of course, it's not like I have a boyfriend or anything.

My favorite part of the ruling: "Further, as the prevailing parties, plaintiffs are entitled to their costs."

San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate's breaking news.

Of course every silver lining has a cloud: the religious wingnuts have enough signatures to put a specifically anti-gay constitutional amendment on the ballot this November. At least the Governor has vowed to fight that. How diligently and effectively remains to be seen.

To the religious wingnuts hating on the gays: You can interpret God plan your way, I can interpret it mine. That's the whole "freedom" thing about America that we all value. But stop trying to force your fears on me and mine. You go get married in your church, I'll go get married in mine, and I'll see you at the courthouse to file the paperwork in the community government we share in citizenship (and taxes).

And to all those who rally so hatefully against the gays in the name of Christ? I can only say this: Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. But I'm pretty sure he thinks you're a dick.

holiday hiatus

Just taking three days off has left me with too much grindstone and not enough nose.

Stories will probably not be written until tomorrow night. Kevin has a performance tonight so I'll be at that instead of blogging.

If you've stopped by for photos without commentary (whatever. I know you are all here for the bitch track.), you can browse them in the gallery or over at flickr.

In the meantime, there's this to entertain you.

Steeplechase 2008, looking back

Too much to cover and not enough time to do it. Two highlights only. The weekend in one word: wonderful.

Family—
One thing I love about coming home every Steeplechase/Swan Ball weekend is that it gives me great quality time with the entire family, and it's a nice interval between Christmas visits. And with new Nephew Leland, I want to be around as much as possible.

I took Emily and Leland to lunch at Bread & Company and we had, as they say, a time. I played "Mac" for the afternoon, which meant I was a blur of cleaning spills, following mad toddler dashes, and fetching toys and utensils in a constant fling fest. I brought Leland a straw for his milk, and only after thought to ask his mother "Can he use a straw?"

"I don't know. He never has. You can try it."

To marginal success. And total cuteness.


I also entertained Leland while Emily vainly sought a new top for race day next door.

Seriously, again with the cute.



Doting Uncle Wilson will stop with the nephew photos now. After this one:



The Iroquois Steeplechase—
Always awesome. This year the weather cooperated and EJ invited me to her party tents, and Sinclair and Ellen invited me to be a hat judge for Nfocus.

A lot of the day can be best photo-blogged.

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To those who wondered, where does one where salmon pastel pants? The south. The races. Question answered.

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Approaching the grounds, and more racewear in context.

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(The Hardcastle race cocktail cups were a gift from Joe Calvin many years ago.
Both pictured at left.)

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And of course there was the usual eye candy.

The hat judging was fun, but it turned out that I was the only judge who took it seriously. I was asked to do a pretty high profile job,and I was going to do it well. My co-hort, little did I know, were more of the mindset "let's get this shit done and finished so we can drink and socialize." I would have been okay with that too. But noooooo. I didn't know it was such fluff filler and anted to prove myself, so I got all Tim Gunn about it and took copious notes as to style, line, fabrication, age and situation appropriateness, use of color, skill, and accessorizing.

And frankly, I did a damn fine job. As did the bonnet bearers.


When it came time to compare notes, I had ample opinion, and the experience and vocabulary to support them. This one woman I felt was being contrary and aggressive merely for the sake of being contrary and aggressive. As the newest judge, I demurred for a while,until she pushed me too far and I politely pushed back. Especially since her favorite hat was the most God-awful thing I had ever come across, and I hang out with drag queens who, at times literally, pull fashion out of their asses.

She asked me, "Now who are you?" Replying with confidence and an air of I know what I'm talking about, I said "I'm a designer from San Francisco. Who are you."

"I know fashion."

Me, aside, "Then why are you dressed like Mrs. Roper?"

My GOD this woman was ugly in face, voice, and dress and I have no idea why she was participating. Her best friend took me aside to apologize on her behalf. After making reconciliation on her part because she was too rude to do it herself, the friend explained, "I know she is being difficult. I've had to tell her to fuck off twice today."

Oh Lordy. The F-bomb at the Steeplechase. My word. That took me aback a little.

But all in all the hat judging was great fun, and I've been invited back again with the promise of no Mrs. Roper.

I did not agree with the "winner" as I felt the whole ensemble embarrassing, but it turns out there are unknown criteria among the judges that sometimes ugliest is "best." However the winner was so, so terribly excited I would never want to do anything to dull her experience and her memory of that honor.

My favorite hat by far: in context, age-appropriateness, quality, construction, and style belonged to the newly wed Mary Spotswood Underwood, who picked up the hat in London for the occasion.


Mary had just the weekend prior married Joseph. Gotta love that.


A final note on the hat judging: you would not believe how many men offered me large sums of cash to fix the win. I have no idea how ethical I need to be for a silly hat competition, but I did politely decline.

There is nothing like a day at the races. Friends, family, socializing, sunshine, fashion and cocktails.


Of course, walking with a cocktail in hand for six hours in the south sun has it's dangers. I applied plenty of sunscreen to my scalp and face.


I totally forgot about "cocktail burn."

(Others had it much worse.)

Complete Flickr set here!

And Hunt Ball photos here.

winging west

I return to SFO tomorrow. Stories and photos to follow.

Clearly, I've been having a good time.




Oh yeah, and Keith sends his love.

southern breeze

Hey kids. Posting has been and will be light for the next several days as I've breezed back into Nashville for the Steeplechase weekend.

Today: quality time with sister-in-law and super cute nephew.


Tonight: The Hunt Ball. I'm hopping into the shower now. I hope to have some good overheards for later.

Caio.

I'm afraid of the footstools

For those goths who want to rest in a slightly uneasy peace while watching Six Feet Under, there is the coffin couch. (Made from real used coffins!)I am afraid of what a footstool might be manufactured from.

Bad case scenario: feet.

Worse case scenario: stool.

two favorite words of the day

"Boob pudding."

OMFG.

closed box, innocuous enough:

open box:
from Serious Eats.
(via Dave Barry)

head over heels

I never knew that Belinda Carlisle had a son. Nor did I know he was such a total cutie. Then again, how could he not be.

He's also a vlogger with a channel on YouTube.

Dirty. Pop.

the pitfalls of computer gaming

Children of the 70s/80s, here's a really interesting and entirely brief history of the evolution of the home video console, particularly the origin and demise by dumbass of Atari.

As with so many of life's trials, it all starts with Pong.

Check it out at Neatorama:
The Rise and Fall of Atari.

See also:the world's largest joystick.(I know that sounds dirty, but it's not. Here's the Boing Boing video.)

it tastes like love,

but I know it's not.

Still, if that HOT light is on, I might have to pull over.

And if one isn't enough, and it never is, here's your chance to glutton.

Krispy Kreme coupon: Buy one dozen and get another dozen free.