Year End Wrap-Up

I think that sometime this morning, after having a chocolate chip pancake, two sausage patties, and a cup of coffee, I finally got over my holiday hang-over. Thursday morning I was still bleary from one last evening of indulgence after helping the Drunk and Horny crew clear out of their ill-fated occupation of The Gingerbread House, and the weekend's rain and power loss mostly inspired me to stay home and huddle in front of the TV.

Actually, I'm a little disappointed in myself when I look back over the holiday festivities; I had a whole calendar of events that I wanted to check out, and yet most of my party time was spent inside private residences. I did make it out to French Kiss on the Sunday before Christmas, though it was obviously an off-night, and also found myself at The Transfer for part of DJ Kidd Sysko's set at Big Top, though it was also not quite what I had mind for the night. Aside from a social call at Lucky Pierre this past Friday those were the only club events I made it to over the full thirteen days I had off. There was also helping out with the Comfort and Joy Solstice and Afterglow parties, and of course Drunk and Horny New Year's Eve, but I can't really say that I partied at any of those events. Instead, the boyfriend and I hosted an orphan's Christmas at our place, enjoyed hanging out with Jeff and Gary and other members of the DnH crew after clearing out the Gingerbread House, and had quite a nice early morning of tuning our third-eyes when we got back from the impromptu NYE party that the guys generously held when their original plans fell through. This isn't to say that I didn't engage in some serious indulgence over the holidays, and, in fact, I let loose so much that some New Year's resolutions were made as a result.

Looking back over the year it seems that this was the year in which the party scene picked up a little energy, even though the continuing economic conditions of the city are making it increasingly difficult to re-capture the freewheeling party lifestyle that ruled back in the glorious pre-dot-com days. Several new parties, like Lucky Pierre and Frisco Disco, demonstrated that there is still an underground energy that people respond to, and Honey Sound System almost single-handedly revived the otherwise moribund gay dance scene. At the same time, there were some notable losses, like the demise of the How Weird Street Faire and the cancellation of Halloween in the Castro, and there are continuing issues around mixed use spaces in SoMa and the ability of the Entertainment Commission to keep our nightlife alive in the face of encroaching condominium development.

Even with the party scene picking up a bit, though, there remains the question of whether there are really enough people going out to support it. On many occasions I have gone out to an event to find it almost completely empty, leading one to wonder if we have enough of a party population to support more than a few club nights. Under these circumstances it's hard to muster much excitement for going out, since it's often a case of the same people, the same music, the same scene week after week, and there's nothing so discouraging as spending our hard-earned dollars for taxi rides, cover charges, and overpriced drinks (and all the bars seem to have raised their prices as of January 1) only to realize that the night we gambled on has turned out to be a fizzle.

Looking into the New Year I realize that these are the weeks of slack, the times when everybody hunkers down a bit and gathers their world around them rather than going out into it. My hope for this new year is that we will see a little more excitement return to our scene, and that I will feel a bit more anticipation for the approach of the weekend. I hope that reading this blog will help each of you find an adventure of your own, and I hope that the boyfriend and I will be able to show you a good time at Fuck Shit, Let's Dance. And finally, sometime this week let's all find a moment to raise a glass and say "So long, George Bush, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

The Lame-O Weekend

Grey skies, damp fog, chilly air, sniffles - all the elements came together this weekend to finally kick my hibernating instinct into gear. As the days grow shorter so too does my attention to the outside world, especially now that the boyfriend and I have the comfy apartment with the fireplace and enough room to entertain a few friends of our own with low-cost televisual entertainments.

We did make it out on Friday night to a couple birthday parties (again, what's with all the Scorpios around here?), one for Comfort and Joy impressario Kitten Calfee, the other for DJ Donimo at Heat. Kitten's party was jam-packed with burners, trannies, and alternaqueers, and after noticing that a significant percentage of the guys (and a few of the women) were sporting mohawks, I almost decided that I need to find myself a less-common coif. I spotted Juanita Fajita on her way to Raya Light's step-down party (where Juanita's performance included the consuption of a "beef liver" fashioned out of raspberry and blueberry jello) and watched a strip-tease in the living room, but the boyfriend and I left before everyone's clothes started coming off.

Heat was again a fun night of dancing, though it would have been nice to have had a few more people on the dancefloor with us. There were some great interpretations of 80s New York Studio 54 style, and performances of Grace Jones and Donna Summer that were nicely integrated into the DJ sets themselves. I spotted a photographer for a club glossy in the crowd and he certainly got some good snaps for the "seen out and about" section. His presence made me think about how few events there are in SF, a place filled with people who are into costumes and fine millinery, where there's really incentive to put on your fine flashy threads and strut around. I hope more people will get into Heat as a fun fashion scene at the December installment -it's even got me re-considering what I should do about my clubbing wardrobe.

And then, after Friday, we just pooped out. I heard that the Miss Trannyshack pageant at the Gift Center on Saturday night was actually kind of a bore - it got started almost an a hour and a half late and at 1.30 the final act had just performed. As my source told me, it was bunch of performances that had two elements out of five right - as we later decided, once you take the "shack" out of "trannyshack," it begins to lose its edge and just becomes another San Francisco institution with big wigs, like Beach Blanket Babylon. My big disappointment, though, was not making it to French Kiss at Pink on Sunday evening to hear JD Samson of Le Tigre - I had really been looking forward to a Sunday evening of drinks and electro, but the boyfriend and I spent the whole afternoon with our friend J shooting corny Christmas pix to send to our families, and by the time we had taken him out to dinner for his help, and settled down to the chores we needed to get done, I found it much more attractive to finish up a mission in Medal of Honor: Airborne and go to bed with some Nyquil for my cold than to rouse up the energy to go out. And that's how lame *I* was this weekend; how about you?

Upcoming Event: JD Samson from Le Tigre Spinning at French Kiss, Sunday Nov 18

I posted before about French Kiss at Pink, but haven't been able to make it there yet (school night and all that). But, this Sunday, JD Samson from Le Tigre is the guest DJ, and Mykill tells me that there are more special surprises in store too, so if this cold hasn't beaten me down I'll definitely be there. C'mon, it's a short week, go out and party on a Sunday night! $4 wells and $2PBRs! Craaaaazy!

French Kiss at Pink
10PM - "late"
$5 cover (what a bargain!)
2925 16th St. x South Van Ness

Upcoming Event: French Kiss Sundays at Pink, Sunday October 14 and Beyond

DJ Mykill dropped me an email recently to tell me about his new French Kiss night at Pink on Sundays that he DJs with Forever 21 "spinning the best in new electro, discopunk, bmore, indie rock remixes, mash ups, and various party jams. We have some great drink specials, $4 wells and $2 PBR's plus a free PINK shot for every guest from 10pm - 11pm." It's a tough night for me to make it out, what with my manager doing great things like scheduling meetings for 9AM on Monday morning, but it sounds like it could be a great way to pass a Sunday evening when you're up for the naughtiness of being out late on a school night. Watch for special guests, like tonights appearance by Larry Tee.