Upcoming Event: Queer Hellraiser Happy Hour at The Pilsner

The San Francisco Bay Guardian is having their 3rd Annual Queer Hellraiser Happy Hour, hosted by Marke B., at The Pilsner Inn (Church and Market), this Wednesday the 20th, from 5.30 - 8.00. Tunes by Bus Station John, drink specials, and Niman Ranch pulled pork sandwiches. Plus, spin the Well-Lubricated Wheel of Mystery, Mischief and Mayhem to win awesome prizes, including tickets to the 10th Annual National Queer Arts Festival, Frameline 31 LGBT Film Festival, Branchar & Lewis Day Spa for Men & Women ... and much more!

Mix Download: DJ Pup "Real Bad Chill Room" Audition

Okay, yours truly had a very quiet weekend since I had to get up at 9AM on Saturday and Sunday for a class that lasted eight hours both days. Urgh, and right when we had some nice weekend weather for a change as well. However, I did put Saturday evening to good use and recorded an audition for the chill DJ slot at the upcoming Real Bad party for this year's Folsom Street Fair. Though I suffered from the usual assortment of technical problems as a result of having a kinda sketchy recording set-up, the end result is, IMHO, pretty good, especially when you consider that it is recorded live, straight from vinyl (no Traktor trickery here, mates). Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

DJ Pup's Real Bad Chill Room Audition Mix

Upcoming Event: Uke-y Stardust, Saturday June 16

Okay, this is a little nutty, but when will you ever have the chance again to hear the Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" played from start to finish on ukulele?

Ukulele Apocalypse Presents:

The Rise and Fall of Uke-y Stardust
An entire evening of David Bowie's music, culminating in his glam rock masterwork, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars," from start to finish, on the ukulele.
Featuring:
Stella!
Five Cent Coffee
Just Henry
Liquor Cake
and Megan Lynch

Saturday, June 16
The Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street
$10
9.30 PM

Meth

Sad to say that it wasn't until I moved to San Francisco that I realized just how big a problem crystal meth is for the gay community. I've had two friends who were absolutely destroyed by it, and two other very close friends who have had intense struggles with it. At my first Radical Faerie gathering I was naively surprised to discover how many people there were dealing with it (or in it), and it has had a very negative impact on the gay party scene. Fortunately, meth use seems to be on the decline, but walking through the Castro yesterday I had two potent reminders of just what a scourage it still is.

First, I saw sidewalk stencils and posters for a new "Resist Meth" campaign, with constructivist imagery obviously copied from the famous "Obey" posters.











And then, stopping by to pick up my mail at Market and Sanchez, Chris, who owns the mailbox stop and is a recovering tweaker himself, noticed a little baggy with a tiny, tiny amount of crystal still left in it. At first he was going to throw it away, and then he decided that he wanted to really frustrate someone, so he dumped the contents on the sidewalk and split open the baggy.





It's an odd moment when you see both the problem and an attempt to solve it in the space of a few hundred feet like that. It brings home just how very real the problem continues to be.

Your Saturday Guide for June 16, 2007

We all know that next weekend is Gay Pride, right? And we've all taken off the appropriate time from work for preparation and recovery, right? No? Well, hope you have some sick days saved up, 'cuz after Pink Saturday, the Mikes on Bikes party, Afterglow, Drunk and Horny Pride edition, the "festival" on Sunday, and all the other regular stuff, you're going to bloody well need them. In short, everybody seems to be saving up their party energy for next weekend, but here are some events I think will be great fun if you're the sort who can party hearty from one weekend until the other. As for me, I've got DJ sets to practice this weekend.

Weeklies

Spunk
This new party at The Cinch features "electro-burlesque," "filthy go-go boys" and "circus acts." Well, that's quite a bit of entertainment right there. Rotating DJs (last week my friend Kitten had his DJ debut, which I was sorry to miss due to other committments), this week is Malakai. I believe that they're going for an electro groove, and this is a fun place to hang out on the Polkstrasse, so go check it out for something different.
9PM - Close (whatever that means)
No cover listed
1723 Polk between Clay and Washington

Drunk and Horny
Get drunk, flirt with boys, and dance to good-time party standards. Reliable, easy-going, and a short stumble home.
$5
9PMish - 2.00AM (with maybe an afterparty)
Underground SF, 424 Haight Street x Webster

Monthlies and One-Offs

Lotus Party
"True Dance Will Never Die" - now that's a slogan for a party that I can get behind. Co-sponsored by Soundworks, my guess is that this party will be a showcase of fine Chicago house and techo for a crowd of gay boys who dig it. DJs Gene Hunt, Kikkoman, Neon Leon, Gourachandra, and Spencer Drennan. No info on location or cost, but I bet it will be groovy.
Call 641-985-5999 ext. 26741 for deets.
UPDATE: FREE! Location info after 9PM, party starts at midnight!

Funrazor
The Evil Breaks kids present an all-night underground throw-down in a SoMa location with Kid Kenobi from Australia, Mancub (Space Cowboys/NetAmp), Mozaic (Nexus/Raindance), Aaron Jae (Evil Breaks/XM/Space Cowboys), Evinrude (Space Cowboys/Stimulus/NetAmp), Robb Green (Shameless), Dex Stakker (Opulent Temple)
$10 all night
11pm-7am
Hit the website link above for location.

Your Friday Guide for June 14, 2007

Well, what a crazy week this has been for yours truly. Normally I spend lots of time scouring through all the flyers and online listings to snoop out the interesting stuff, but this week there's been so much going on that I've not been able to ferret out much beyond the ordinary. However, if things go well tonight I may have something to share with you all that I hope will explain what's been occupying my time so much. Gee, I am such a tease.

Weeklies and Bar Nights

Charlie Horse at the Cinch
Best place to go out and have a cheap drink while being entertained by drag queen antics. Recently voted Best Drag Show in San Francisco by the SF Weekly! Music by DJ Dirty Knees and Bearzbub is more rock and new-wave oriented, but at least it won't interfere with your conversation. Check out my latest review of Charlie Horse at The Cinch.

Fag Fridays at The EndUp
Reliable, not all that exciting, but it's gay and you can stay until 6AM. Expect to pay around $20 to get in and to dance to pretty typical San Francisco deep house.

FUK Werk Fridays Happy Hour at 111 Minna TIS NO MORE. Got the word today from one of the BABD kids that they were just having too many issues with the space of the sort I mentioned in my review (esp. the bad sound part). Check out my review of Fuk Werk Fridays.

Editorial Aside: after some email with the above-mentioned BABD associate today I think these kids warrent further checking out, especially their FilterSF party scheduled for next Saturday. Certain circumstances involved with trying to break into the cabal of the SF music scene may have led to some unfortunate marketing decisions of the sort I brought up in my dicussion of their Tabu Sky Bar flyers, but I think they're overall good kids who are set on bringing some new blood into the scene, so let's go out and support them.

One Offs and Monthlies

The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Rhythm Society All Night Dance Celebration
If you ain't got an invite from a member you ain't goin', but this is certainly where I would like to spend my Friday night if I didn't have a damned class all weekend long. Check out my review of the last Rhythm Society event.

Glitterbox
The poster says "from the same souls who brought you Litterbox and Mad Magda's in the gay '90's." My stylist raves about the fun he used to have at Litterbox, and while I don't recognize the DJs Funkyard and Natureboy, the imagery is awfully glittery. With a special reception for Alexis Arquette following the premiere of her film at Frameline.
$5 before 10, $10 after
9PM - 3AM
The Cat Club, 1190 Folsom x 8th.

Okay kids, that's it for Friday, not much but maybe you just need to hang out and play some Scrabble with your significant other for a change, okay? And don't forget, next weekend is Gay Pride! Oh, the partying, the partying.

Reggae Artists Sign Tolerance Pact

Back in April I posted about an article on "murder music" in Planet Out, by way of Yahoo News, that pointed the finger at artists like Beenie Man for using their music to incite violence against gays. Now Planet Out reports that Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton have "sign[ed] a 'Reggae Compassionate Act' and promise to ban anti-gay lyrics in their music." It's nice to know that public pressure can still perhaps have an effect on people, especially when it threatens to hit them in their wallets.

Upcoming Event: Afterglow Fundraiser for Comfort and Joy, Saturday June 23 (Pink Saturday)

Okay, I'll 'fess up that Comfort and Joy is my Burning Man camp (even though I'm not going this year), and myself (DJ Pup), Kitty (Neco D), and The Boyfriend (Lord Kook) are spinning the hooj choons for this party. So if you want to finally see the faces that go with the names, have a lot of fun dancing to synthpop, electrohouse, and minimal techno, catch some crazy drag antics, and maybe (maybe) get a little frisky, then by all means, come check it out:


More info on Comfort and Joy

UPDATE: We are thrilled, thrilled to announce the addition of the Honey Sound System (DJ Pee Play, Kenvulsion, and associates) to the DJ line-up. The boys will be coming on at 4AM for a tag-team chill match that will take us through to the rising sun of Pride Sunday. Wheeeeeee!