Friday, June 05, 2009
sticking out your neck for a friend
I love when I get messages like this: "I am going to take lunch/metro out to the Zoo and check in on my baby giraffe."
funny gay-sounding comment on gay marriage
Via Ryan R:
"Gay Marriage to straight people is what Grease 2 is to gay people. The first time you see it, you're like, 'Oh, God! This is awful!' but then you see it again and again, and you think, 'This isn't so bad. I think the calendar girl number is kinda fun!'"-Douglas Carter Beane
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Fun Times at the County Fair
The second and soon to be annual AEF County Fair, a "Fun-Raiser" for the AIDS Emergency Fund, was a whimsical success! A mere $40 ticket granted admission and 20 white tickets good for games and food; red tickets were available for alcoholic beverages. Admission also includes a free ticket/admission to Sundance Saloon afterward.
Held in the little-known San Francisco County Fair Building (adjacent to the entrance to the Arboretum) in Golden Gate Park, volunteers staffed a wide range of traditional carnival games and fair food booths while the "main stage" featured speakers, drag performers, singers, and dancers.
And of course, the Happy Penis.
Shout out to David Taylor.
Performances and speakers included Donna Sachet, Connie Champagne, Sister Roma and Pollo Del Mar (Vote for Pollo for Ru Paul's Drag Race). Pollo's performances included a rendition of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" in which she trans(!)forms from a Brittney-style catholic school girl to a raging bull dyke.
. 
And one danger of launching onto and off of folding tables in ill-fitting Birkenstocks: tumbling ass over tea kettle.
Professional on the stage as well as her street corner, Pollo quickly recovered and popped back onto the platform.
Some of the traditional carnival games had a decidedly San Franciscan take on them, and one or two put the carnal in carnival. Games included Plinko, Knock Over the Milk Bottles, Shooting Gallery, Ring the Bell with the Hammer, and fortunes tellers. RMJ staffed the Shooting Gallery for a while, and added a great deal to the game by requiring/allowing contestants to dig for their own arrows/darts and prize tokens in his apron pockets.
. 
. 
It was certainly that kind of crowd: hot and frisky.
Lance and Steve
(Hot certainly, but I make no assertions as to frisky.)
My favorite game, at which I became quite skilled, was Fling the Frog.
BJ Patnode flings the frog.
The bar was a hit too, as well as the traditional pie contest, and ultimately pie consumption.
Ron Jenkins and Jorge Hernandez enjoy
each other and three-berry pie
Fun community retakes on traditional games included the Dildo Ring Toss (seen across from the Shooting Gallery), Suzan Revah's Kissing Booth (boys and girls interchangeable)...
and the George Bush Shoe Toss (four shoes per ticket, face hit wins first prize)
. 
Suzan had asked me to volunteer for the kissing booth, but the combination of scheduling conflicts with the required orientation and the thought of swapping spit with many strangers as H1N1 was going crazy led to by declining the invitation. I did note that the team did come up with some original rules, and the booth was very popular. I'll be volunteering next year.
I turned around from Fling the Frog just as Pollo finished inflicting "much more" on Leo and Tod. Pollo turned to me and asked "Did you see me molesting the Kissing Both boys?"
"No," I said, and indicated a circle around my mouth, "but I can tell."
That drag makeup is hard to remove, and the kids spent a good ten minutes trying.
. 
I ran into the boys four hours later in the Castro and the evidence yet remained.
All in all, it was fun for the whole family, no matter how you define the term.
. 
. 
This was the AEF County Fair's second year, and it looks like it will be a fun and profitable tradition to support their important work.
Flickr set
Held in the little-known San Francisco County Fair Building (adjacent to the entrance to the Arboretum) in Golden Gate Park, volunteers staffed a wide range of traditional carnival games and fair food booths while the "main stage" featured speakers, drag performers, singers, and dancers.
And of course, the Happy Penis.
Shout out to David Taylor.
Performances and speakers included Donna Sachet, Connie Champagne, Sister Roma and Pollo Del Mar (Vote for Pollo for Ru Paul's Drag Race). Pollo's performances included a rendition of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" in which she trans(!)forms from a Brittney-style catholic school girl to a raging bull dyke.
. And one danger of launching onto and off of folding tables in ill-fitting Birkenstocks: tumbling ass over tea kettle.
Professional on the stage as well as her street corner, Pollo quickly recovered and popped back onto the platform.
Some of the traditional carnival games had a decidedly San Franciscan take on them, and one or two put the carnal in carnival. Games included Plinko, Knock Over the Milk Bottles, Shooting Gallery, Ring the Bell with the Hammer, and fortunes tellers. RMJ staffed the Shooting Gallery for a while, and added a great deal to the game by requiring/allowing contestants to dig for their own arrows/darts and prize tokens in his apron pockets.
. . It was certainly that kind of crowd: hot and frisky.
Lance and Steve
(Hot certainly, but I make no assertions as to frisky.)
My favorite game, at which I became quite skilled, was Fling the Frog.
BJ Patnode flings the frog.
The bar was a hit too, as well as the traditional pie contest, and ultimately pie consumption.
Ron Jenkins and Jorge Hernandez enjoy
each other and three-berry pie
Fun community retakes on traditional games included the Dildo Ring Toss (seen across from the Shooting Gallery), Suzan Revah's Kissing Booth (boys and girls interchangeable)...
and the George Bush Shoe Toss (four shoes per ticket, face hit wins first prize)
. Suzan had asked me to volunteer for the kissing booth, but the combination of scheduling conflicts with the required orientation and the thought of swapping spit with many strangers as H1N1 was going crazy led to by declining the invitation. I did note that the team did come up with some original rules, and the booth was very popular. I'll be volunteering next year.
I turned around from Fling the Frog just as Pollo finished inflicting "much more" on Leo and Tod. Pollo turned to me and asked "Did you see me molesting the Kissing Both boys?"
"No," I said, and indicated a circle around my mouth, "but I can tell."
That drag makeup is hard to remove, and the kids spent a good ten minutes trying.
. I ran into the boys four hours later in the Castro and the evidence yet remained.
All in all, it was fun for the whole family, no matter how you define the term.
. . This was the AEF County Fair's second year, and it looks like it will be a fun and profitable tradition to support their important work.
Flickr set
LOL
This just in from Chuck:
"Not sure what was going on here."
But clearly we were having a good time!
Steeplechase wrap up post to follow.
"Not sure what was going on here."
But clearly we were having a good time!
Steeplechase wrap up post to follow.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Traditional Marriage
I am so sick of the Christianists arguing against equal rights as a defense of traditional marriage as by doing so they clearly have no freaking idea what "traditional" marriage means. Modern marriage is, in the history of marriage, about five minutes old.
And Thank God we have America's Best Christian to explain Biblical marriage:
Amen.
And Thank God we have America's Best Christian to explain Biblical marriage:
Amen.
Muppet Night!
Wakka wakka wakka that was FUN!
Shilpa and I planned a surprise Muppet night for Kevin, with dinner and a viewing of The Great Muppet Caper. Shilpa had never seen it, and Kevin and I hadn't seen it since it came out. Freaking funny on soooo many levels. (I never noticed the cameos—and Diana Rigg in a starring role.)
We kept it a surprise for Kev, and even so, he showed up with a complete fancy-cocktail bar (he's a professional mixologist now, complete with imported violet liqueur) and Muppet t-shirt (the one I gave him a while back). Destiny!
What inspired this:
We followed the movie with some Muppet Show clips. The DVDs feature a pop-up trivia feature which is not to be missed.
As Sandy Duncan sang in the first season:
What's a nice girl like me doing in a place that never closes?
...Now would you tell me what a nice girl like me doing by the dance floor after hours? Pouring over rows of whiskey sours?
Imagine her in the Castro for two-for-ones...
Shilpa and I planned a surprise Muppet night for Kevin, with dinner and a viewing of The Great Muppet Caper. Shilpa had never seen it, and Kevin and I hadn't seen it since it came out. Freaking funny on soooo many levels. (I never noticed the cameos—and Diana Rigg in a starring role.)
We kept it a surprise for Kev, and even so, he showed up with a complete fancy-cocktail bar (he's a professional mixologist now, complete with imported violet liqueur) and Muppet t-shirt (the one I gave him a while back). Destiny!
What inspired this:
We followed the movie with some Muppet Show clips. The DVDs feature a pop-up trivia feature which is not to be missed.
As Sandy Duncan sang in the first season:
What's a nice girl like me doing in a place that never closes?
...Now would you tell me what a nice girl like me doing by the dance floor after hours? Pouring over rows of whiskey sours?
Imagine her in the Castro for two-for-ones...
Monday, June 01, 2009
Datenight: North Beach
Shilpa and I finally had another date night together. A little one-on-one "no work, no other friends, get gussied and go out for a nice night on the town" night. We were late getting started as I spent most of the day and night cursing Comcast for making us all go digital and having to wire new boxes to every input in the house, and only after several calls and some online research learned that the little boxes are designed NOT to work with non-Comcast equipment like TiVo or ReplayTV, and upgrading to their inferior DVR is another ten bucks a month.
But I rant.
Shilpa and I found a nice sushi place on Fillmore in Pac Heights that we had not tried before. Ten Ichi's spicy tuna wasn't so hot, but their Dragon Rolls were amazing, and their "Clay" (it's at Fillmore and Clay streets) might be the best roll I've ever had. Yum.
Jude had called us earlier and we made plans to hook up with him and his BF Keone afterward. We found them in North Beach at the Church Key, an intimate and charming bar with no liquor, but beers of the world, some bottles priced at $40 and up. Tasty though, and good lighting and great service.
Shilpa and I really needed a date night—a night to get into pretty clothes and get out of the Castro.
Jude's friend Erdmann joined us shortly thereafter. Jude is always much fun and really ratcheted our night up to a party level.
. 
. 
Jude, you may recall, is a designer, and designed most of what he was wearing, including the hat. (Note to Jude: I want one.)
What really pushed the night into partytown was the late night venture into a closet-sized Chinese bar in Chinatown. It had two people behind the bar—the woman who I assume owns the place and another younger guy—and maybe two patrons, both Chinese. A trio of cute frat-ish boys joined us later, and a couple of cute (and drunk) girls an hour after that. The bar was pretty much ours, and we were having too much fun.
. 
. 
The karaoke was hilarious. Most of the songs were in Chinese, with the older bar patron crooning out what I imagine to be "standards," mixed in with renditions of songs like "Blowing in the Wind," in Chinese.
. 
The background videos were equally hilarious, as they were either cheesy 80's videos produced to go with the song, or random footage of the Chinese countryside, fishing villages/markets, or military parades—regardless of the subject of the video. Just for Shilpa, I did my best at "Knock Three Times" with poorly transcribed lyrics and completely effed up video accompaniment.
But by this time, we were all having a blast. I really, really can't carry a tune, but in this setting, there was no shame.
At the end of the night, I was asked to sing backup (yipes!) for the girls' "Total Eclipse of the Heart." The lyrics were so poorly transcribed, at one point it kept telling us that "turn around Bright Eyes" was "apologize."
It was almost too much fun, and entirely tragic.
But I rant.
Shilpa and I found a nice sushi place on Fillmore in Pac Heights that we had not tried before. Ten Ichi's spicy tuna wasn't so hot, but their Dragon Rolls were amazing, and their "Clay" (it's at Fillmore and Clay streets) might be the best roll I've ever had. Yum.
Jude had called us earlier and we made plans to hook up with him and his BF Keone afterward. We found them in North Beach at the Church Key, an intimate and charming bar with no liquor, but beers of the world, some bottles priced at $40 and up. Tasty though, and good lighting and great service.
Shilpa and I really needed a date night—a night to get into pretty clothes and get out of the Castro.
Jude's friend Erdmann joined us shortly thereafter. Jude is always much fun and really ratcheted our night up to a party level.
. . Jude, you may recall, is a designer, and designed most of what he was wearing, including the hat. (Note to Jude: I want one.)
What really pushed the night into partytown was the late night venture into a closet-sized Chinese bar in Chinatown. It had two people behind the bar—the woman who I assume owns the place and another younger guy—and maybe two patrons, both Chinese. A trio of cute frat-ish boys joined us later, and a couple of cute (and drunk) girls an hour after that. The bar was pretty much ours, and we were having too much fun.
. . The karaoke was hilarious. Most of the songs were in Chinese, with the older bar patron crooning out what I imagine to be "standards," mixed in with renditions of songs like "Blowing in the Wind," in Chinese.
. The background videos were equally hilarious, as they were either cheesy 80's videos produced to go with the song, or random footage of the Chinese countryside, fishing villages/markets, or military parades—regardless of the subject of the video. Just for Shilpa, I did my best at "Knock Three Times" with poorly transcribed lyrics and completely effed up video accompaniment.
But by this time, we were all having a blast. I really, really can't carry a tune, but in this setting, there was no shame.
At the end of the night, I was asked to sing backup (yipes!) for the girls' "Total Eclipse of the Heart." The lyrics were so poorly transcribed, at one point it kept telling us that "turn around Bright Eyes" was "apologize."
It was almost too much fun, and entirely tragic.
What if your commute felt more like this?
.
Embarcadero Sunday Streets - 04 By phrenologist
Embarcadero Sunday Streets - 04 By phrenologist
That would be happy making.
This photo has all sorts of awesome feeling.
the real Real Housewives
Shouts out to last week's trivia partners, the real Real Housewives of the Bay Area.
Gay Greg used to work with Bev and Pam. Bev and Pam were having their girls night out, and planned to visit Bev's son's bar, the Lookout. Knowing it's a gay bar in the City, they asked Gay Greg to join them. Knowing we hot Brain Farts every Wednesday, Gay Greg included us.
On the heels of the Pop 8 ruling, the theme was divorce. As usual, Pollo and Bebe brought up the train wreck that is reality TV, and The Real Housewives. They, of course, loved Bev and Pam and their gang, not only as Mother of the Owner, but as The Real Real Housewives (our team name, although the best team name appropriately went to "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Family Style")
The Real Real Housewives
. 
. 
Happy fun times and winners' shots. We did, of course win. It's our habit. C'mon, there was even a Buffy question—this game is so ours.
During the Price is Right round (of things you'll need when during your divorce, like menstrual cramp pain killer and Secret antiperspirant)one of the items was Summer's Eve Kootch Freshener or some sort of feminine hygiene spray. Being a gay bar, the crowd had little experience with this item and we let the women bid (although we lost that bid). Curiosity got the best of Bebe and they sprayed it around to see what it smelled like.
Wow.
Strong.
And a bit offensive.
Hostess Bebe or Pollo: "Ladies and Gentlemen this is what fresh vagina smells like!"
Which was pretty hilarious.
And led to an unfortunately out-of-context tweet/status update from me: "OMG. If this is what fresh vagina smells like I am so glad I'm gay!"
There was much comment.
Flickr set.
Gay Greg used to work with Bev and Pam. Bev and Pam were having their girls night out, and planned to visit Bev's son's bar, the Lookout. Knowing it's a gay bar in the City, they asked Gay Greg to join them. Knowing we hot Brain Farts every Wednesday, Gay Greg included us.
On the heels of the Pop 8 ruling, the theme was divorce. As usual, Pollo and Bebe brought up the train wreck that is reality TV, and The Real Housewives. They, of course, loved Bev and Pam and their gang, not only as Mother of the Owner, but as The Real Real Housewives (our team name, although the best team name appropriately went to "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Family Style")
The Real Real Housewives
. . Happy fun times and winners' shots. We did, of course win. It's our habit. C'mon, there was even a Buffy question—this game is so ours.
During the Price is Right round (of things you'll need when during your divorce, like menstrual cramp pain killer and Secret antiperspirant)one of the items was Summer's Eve Kootch Freshener or some sort of feminine hygiene spray. Being a gay bar, the crowd had little experience with this item and we let the women bid (although we lost that bid). Curiosity got the best of Bebe and they sprayed it around to see what it smelled like.
Wow.
Strong.
And a bit offensive.
Hostess Bebe or Pollo: "Ladies and Gentlemen this is what fresh vagina smells like!"
Which was pretty hilarious.
And led to an unfortunately out-of-context tweet/status update from me: "OMG. If this is what fresh vagina smells like I am so glad I'm gay!"
There was much comment.
Flickr set.
bamboozled
"Bamboozle" has been the word of the day over here.
New definition: "BAMboozeled" is having so much to drink that you fall down (and go BAM).
New definition: "BAMboozeled" is having so much to drink that you fall down (and go BAM).
run Jan run!
Glasgow Jan ran her first marathon over the weekend! And it turns out the organizers ran out of water, and there was no water at any of the stations for a six-mile stretch. It was a hot day, and runners "were dropping like flies."
Jan was even quoted in the BBC coverage.
Way to go Jan!
Jan was even quoted in the BBC coverage.
Way to go Jan!
the few-cher
I loved when MST3K would rip on old Visions of thte Future newsreels, but this Disney/ Monsanto Plastics House of the Future is creepy and funny all on it's own.
In the future ,houses will be made entirely of this futuristic "plastic." My first thought, "Um, those are not renewable resources." Who would have thought that the future of construction would be green? I cringe at how all of this is pretoleum based and not recyclable. And it turns out, many of the plastics are toxic.
It's also telling that the vision of the future is still all about the little woman in an apron cleaning and preparing dinner. Other fun terms "cold zones" and "irradiated foods." In the bedroom: "even the fabrics are of made-made fibers," because vinyl sheets are so comfortable to sleep in.
Also, check out the visitors to Disneyland. Did families really dress like that? The father is wearing a suit and tie, the mother a dress and gloves, and even the little girl is in a fancy dress. For an amusement park?
And part two, in which the living room has no video component to the entertainment system (built-in HiFi but no WiFi), the bathroom looks like an airport lav, and windows of "decorative laminated safety glass."
I sort of want to introduce them to the modern amusment park guests: obese and slovenly.
Oh wait. Here:
In the future ,houses will be made entirely of this futuristic "plastic." My first thought, "Um, those are not renewable resources." Who would have thought that the future of construction would be green? I cringe at how all of this is pretoleum based and not recyclable. And it turns out, many of the plastics are toxic.
It's also telling that the vision of the future is still all about the little woman in an apron cleaning and preparing dinner. Other fun terms "cold zones" and "irradiated foods." In the bedroom: "even the fabrics are of made-made fibers," because vinyl sheets are so comfortable to sleep in.
Also, check out the visitors to Disneyland. Did families really dress like that? The father is wearing a suit and tie, the mother a dress and gloves, and even the little girl is in a fancy dress. For an amusement park?
And part two, in which the living room has no video component to the entertainment system (built-in HiFi but no WiFi), the bathroom looks like an airport lav, and windows of "decorative laminated safety glass."
I sort of want to introduce them to the modern amusment park guests: obese and slovenly.
Oh wait. Here:
Friday, May 29, 2009
In the news
How funny. I was checking my stats and my minipost on Pink Saturday has already been quoted on an NBC site. And in the small world department, the photo he took from Flickr for the story is by my friend Kevin Goebel.
And I share the author's lament at the new city effort to basically crack down on fun—street fairs and flash games are being stifled.
And I share the author's lament at the new city effort to basically crack down on fun—street fairs and flash games are being stifled.
Totally Awesome Eclipse of the Heart
You loved the literal version of "Take On Me," now enjoy the literal version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart":
Tyger, tyger
Remember the dumbass thugs who taunted the tiger (and possibly climbed into the tiger's enclosure) and then got mauled (one died) Christmastime a couple of years back? They've settled with the zoo for $900k. Nine hundred thousand dollars!? Now it's a tragedy.
The SFist, again with the clever, put it this way: Anyway, the Dhaliwal brothers will split the money, which is sure to buy all of the Grey Goose, Drakkar Noir, and criminal defense attorneys they will ever need.
The SFist, again with the clever, put it this way: Anyway, the Dhaliwal brothers will split the money, which is sure to buy all of the Grey Goose, Drakkar Noir, and criminal defense attorneys they will ever need.
SFPD threatens Pink Saturday
I love Pink Saturday, even more than Pride itself. Apparently, the SFPD has been jerking around the Sisters for months and continue to delay/deny a street closure permit for Pink Saturday.
Pink Saturday is really my Pride event. It is a total community celebration, like Halloween without the costumes, messiness, tourists, straights, gawkers, and trouble.
And the SFPD better be prepared anyway—70,000 to 100,000 people are going to show up whether they assist in the organizing or not.
And the SFPD better be prepared anyway—70,000 to 100,000 people are going to show up whether they assist in the organizing or not.
jury dooty
I'm already disposed against my civil service as the voters/courts of California have ruled me to be less than a full citizen. And as such I am inclined to pay less taxes and provide less than full cooperation with jury duty.
Last night a cop pulled me over, lied to my face, gave me a citation for a moving violation I could not have committed, then even back-dated the citation by several hours. If the SFPD is happy to lie about something as trivial as the time of day, I am certainly not going to take their testimony as fact in a court of law.
At least there is WiFi. And I got here early enough to get a space at the table with a power outlet.
Although now I really need to go potty and don't want to leave my laptop lying about.
Y'all have a good Friday.
Last night a cop pulled me over, lied to my face, gave me a citation for a moving violation I could not have committed, then even back-dated the citation by several hours. If the SFPD is happy to lie about something as trivial as the time of day, I am certainly not going to take their testimony as fact in a court of law.
At least there is WiFi. And I got here early enough to get a space at the table with a power outlet.
Although now I really need to go potty and don't want to leave my laptop lying about.
Y'all have a good Friday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)