ADRIAN DOES STUFF

Why do I have a blog again?

I think I need to figure out WHY exactly I have a blog. I mean, hell, it seems fun and all that -- and it MUST be, because EVERYONE ELSE has one. But I can't really keep up with it! It was originally supposed to be an electronic stand-in for my old journal -- you know, the old-school, "pen-and-paper" version. How 20th century, how QUAINT. But then again, I still HAVE a pen-and-paper journal. It's actually just my day planner, the same kind I buy every year. But after putting all the things I need to do in there, it ends up becoming a journal of sorts. So ... what the hell do I need a blog for?

And let's face it, do I really want to blur the lines between private journal and public blog? Well, maybe. But who the hell reads this web site anyway? Besides me? I mean, no one else really NEEDS to read it, it's actually only for my benefit. Sure, it's self-serving, a public diary. But ... oh well. It's easier for me to type than it is to handwrite all this stuff. Then again, as Ben says, "You know, you could just type it into MS Word, instead of posting it to a blog." And you know, he has a point.

So here I am, back at the beginning: What am I doing here? Well, until I really figure out what the fuck I'm doing this blog for, I'm just going to continue writing about the stuff I do. Because, you know, my sense of self-worth is only determined by how much STUFF I DO. (I'm kidding, actually. Right? Right? Yes, that's me, totally trying to convince myself.)

Too much going on!

So ... let's see ... what's been going on? TOO MUCH. But not so much that I've been really stressed or anything. Just pretty consistantly busy this past month. Been working on the Top Secret Project. It's pretty much done, but it's also one of those things that just when you think it's done, something ELSE comes along to delay it or fuck it up. So ... I won't believe anything till it's in my hot little hands. Next...

Been doing lots of DJ gigs over the past month ... DJed the Scissor Sisters afterparty at Bambuddha Lounge. I totally fucked up a mix leaning over and saying hi to Babydaddy and bumping the crossfader. CLASSIC. Other than that though, it was a great gig, one of our best sets ever. Unfortunately, when it was all over, we went up to their hotel room for the AFTER-afterparty, and the band were already on their tour bus, headed to LA to do a TV show taping the next day. And all the hanger-ons got kicked out by 3 AM. I didn't even get to say hi to Miz Ana! Oh well ... still a fun party.

DJed at Jeff's new club, Church of Elvis. Got to play lots of goth/indie-type stuff, which we don't normally get to do, so that was fun. It was still the mash-ups that got them on the floor though. Yes, I believe that has become our calling card.

Blah Blah Blah ...

I've been having a blast at Blah Blah Blah, mostly because I've been DJing my ass off there. D didn't even spin at the second one, and only DJed for less than an hour at the third one. Matt Hite's been doing the early set, which has been great. The last one seemed to attract lots of electro and mashup fans, and that seems to be where we're heading. There's so much great new electro coming out, and hardly anyone seems to be playing it. It's like when Jenny and Omar killed off Fake, that was the end of electroclash in San Francisco. The funny thing is, that's also when electro stopped just being novelty kitzch, and started being really GOOD. I've been loving doing these really electro-heavy sets, with some super dancey mashup things thrown in. And seeing as that I barely DJ at Bootie anymore, I must say that Blah Blah Blah has been quite fun for me!

Non-stop, six nights in a row

The second week in February was insane. I was out performing, DJing, or working in form or another for six nights straight! It all started on Tuesday at Trannyshack, where I performed "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey for Trixxie Carr's "Pillow Humping" soft rock night. And I did it karaoke-style, real live singing, no lip-syncing, which is rough to do at The Stud. But I had my trusty reverb box, so that made it all sound nice and tasty. Plus, Marcy and Tom got on stage with me and did a slow dance that turned into a striptease, and Metal Patricia joined me with a guitar-sync. Definitely one of my better numbers, but hey, it's hard to go wrong when it's Journey.

The next night, D and I DJed at the Nina Hagen show at DNA ... funny, because now I've opened for Nina twice: once with Blue Period, and once as a DJ. Too bad one of the decks didn't work correctly -- it was DJ Russian Roulette. You'd stick a disc in, cue it up, hit play, and it would be a completely different song -- even though the display would read that you were playing the track you intended to play. VERY fucked up. Made for a frustrating first hour, where we were freaking out, but then they got us a nice Pioneer CDJ-1000 to replace the fucked up deck, and it was all better. Thank gawd our DJ CDs are such a good mix of music!

On Thursday, Smash-Up Derby played a benefit for Mr. Nancy at Bottom of the Hill. It was our first official show with Trixxie Carr as a full-time band member, and we're all pretty psyched about having her be an official part of the band. We worked out two new songs -- one is a version of Party Ben's "Boulevard of Broken Songs," which mashes up Green Day, Oasis, and Aerosmith. The other is one we came up with in about two rehearsals – and we don't even really have a name for it – but it interweaves AC/DC, Joan Jett, and Nine Inch Nails, with me, Trixxie, and Jamie all singing around each other. The arrangement makes my head hurt, and we were a little worried about how it would go over, but we played it just fine. Jason's guitar amp blew out about halfway through the show, which really sucked, but overall, the show went rather well.

On Friday, we picked up Lionel Vinyl from the airport. He was our guest DJ for February's Bootie, and as always, it was really nice hosting a UK bootlegger whose work we love and respect so much. Ian crashed on our sofa, and for three nights we dragged him around, taking him to do the Sixx Mixx on Live105, to his gig at Club I.D. on Friday night, and to Rehab on Sunday. But really, it was all about Bootie.

Best ... Bootie ... Ever.

Not kidding. Our numbers have been steadily growing, and Mysterious D predicted that we might have a really good night, what with all our Valentine's festivities, not to mention just the fact that mash-ups are finally starting to be something here in America that we don't have to meticulously explain. Well, the hard work is starting to pay off. We had 350 people going bonkers, for just about everything we spun for the dance floor. It was a super-diverse crowd, a good mix of people, and everyone was there purely to have fun.

I spun in the coveted 10-11pm time slot -- what I teasingly refer to as "hardest job of the night," because I have to spin stuff that will get peeps onto the dancefloor, but can't be any of the guaranteed "Bootie big hits," because Mysterious D and Party Ben will kick my ass! They took over at 11, and I ran around making sure everything was running smoothly. Jay-R was already in the back room, which we had turned into a "Candlelight Lounge," and looked as happy as a clam behind the decks there. For the first time at Bootie, I felt like we really did something with that back room, and people were in and out of there all night, KK's birthday party with a Cher cake!

At midnight, Bea Dazzler did a performance to Miss Frenchie's "Beautiful Fashion People," turning herself into a paper doll. Then it was time for Lionel Vinyl's set, and he KILLED it! Truly one of the finest guest DJ sets we've ever had at Bootie, with the floor going nuts. I ran around taking photos, but I really just wanted to jump on stage and dance my ass off! (I did manage to dance a bit, and he spun for over an hour.) Closing out the night was Party Ben, keeping the dancefloor going till the bitter end, and closing out the night with "Boulevard of Broken Songs," which is turning out to be the standard Bootie set closer.

We were all elated that it was such a great night, and I was anxious to pack up and get Ian over to his other gig at the Blue Cube, where I could finally let me hair down and tear up a rug (which is hard for me to do at Bootie, because I'm always running around, dealing with club stuff.) Well, we got there at 2:45 am, and even though the party was supposed to go till 5 am, they were shutting down early because there weren't enough people there. VERY disappointing, I must say. I was so looking forward to a third Lionel Vinyl set. But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

So me, D, Ian, and Party Ben all went back to our place for drinks, snacks, and drunken conversation, joined later by our go-go dancer Jason, who wasn't ready for the party to end either. We were up until 6 am, with Ian eventually spinning a low-volume but still great guest DJ set ... in our apartment! (Hey, we have better CDJ decks and mixer at home then at Cherry Bar!)

Five parties on one night!

The past couple weeks have been spent catching up on GYBO, dealing with the TSP, trying to figure out various new mailing list programs, burning new Bastard Pop CDs, doing my taxes, running club errands, etc. The usual.

Last Friday, we crammed five parties into one evening. First stop, visit Spaz and Foxy at his little DJ gig at Spike's coffee shop in the Castro. Next, it was pizza party at Portia and Jason's house! We brought our own toppings, and Portia had prepared the dough. But then we had to leave to go to Sarah's party, so we took enough stuff to make another pizza over at her house, and took off – but not without first stopping at Cafe Flore to say hi to Nova, who was doing a DJ set there. Right when we showed up, one of his needles broke, skating across the vinyl. Who says vinyl is better than CDs? We hung out at Sarah's for quite a bit, making our pizza and drinking beer. Then we closed out our night by heading over to Shadowplay, Donimo and Dan's new club at the Stud. This is the first real club they've had there on a Friday night since we ended Guilty. We were there till around 2 am, but when the bar shut down, so did we. After all, we had to be good for Pop Rocks the next night.

Mini Bootie at Pop Rocks!

Yes, this past Saturday night was our experiment in doing Bootie as a bi-weekly, creating a sort of mini Bootie in the upstairs lounge of DNA, for their one-off party Pop Rocks. It was just me, D, and Ben, trading off on the decks whenever we felt like it, over the course of over six hours. And the time just flew by! We had a dance floor pretty early, and then it got insanely packed! Our room was definitely a hit of the night. We had so much fucking fun, and Ben was in, uh ... especially good spirits. I'd never seen him so ... lubricated! Definitely an absolute blast to hang out with. And the DNA staff were a joy to work with too, helping us out with lighting and such, which turned out to be CRITICAL when we did the midnight mash-up burlesque show with Lily LeRouge.

Anyway, we ended up having an afterparty at our house until around 6 AM. D and I were definitely feeling crispy the next day. I had big plans to have a few people over for an Oscar party that evening, but after our previous night, it was a party of three: me, D, and a pizza! Mmmmm...

So there's the update. Never a dull moment, that's for sure!