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Tuesday, 29 March 2005
I went to Trannyshack Reno and all I got was this lousy hangover
Actually, that's not really true. I'm not really all THAT hungover – and considering what a debaucherous bacchanal the annual Trannyshack Reno bus trip has become, that's saying something! Sure, I'm a bit crispy. But it's nothing compared to how I felt last year, where on Monday, I just wanted to DIE. It was a good trip.
It's sorta like a high school bus trip – if the school were run by a bunch of drag queens, freaks, and fags, and all the chaperones were left behind in San Francisco. Lots of drunken bonding with nightclub friends and acquaintances. Lots of funny conversations and snarky banter. Fun performances (mostly on the bus) and a few surreal situations. In other words, a total blast.
Each year, I mix up some alcoholic concoction for the ride and this year, instead of making another mix of vodka, cranberry, Red Bull, and vitamins, I decided to do something different. I made "Apple Pie" – but not like mom used to make. This was a drink recipe that was an entry in Piss Clear's Playa Iron Liver Contest, and damn was it tasty! Boil 3/4th gallon of apple cider, add a half cup of sugar, six cinnamon stix, and a bag of Hot Tamales candies. Boil until (mostly) dissolved, then add a fifth of vodka and another quart of cider. Mmmmm... You can't even taste the booze! Note for next year though: drain the cinnamon stix and undissolved Hot Tamales before pouring it in the bottles.
So the trip up was fun ... I modelled my Mr. David wedding outfit in the fashion show, and Jason brought his iPod with some Guilty and Bootie CDs on it, so we got to "DJ." Lots of impromptu performances and lip-syncs on the bus. When we did "Lip-Sync Roulette," Rentecca did "Angry Inch" from Hedwig. But she fell in the aisle halfway through it, so I performed the monologue and the end. Fun! Marcy Meow did lap dances and strip teases, and it was just silly fun the whole time. I love being surrounded by so many fun, creative people, eager to perform in front of a audience.
When we got to Reno, we stayed at the Colonial Inn – which kinda sucks. There's no casino attached to it, and it's a couple blocks away from any action. I wish we would have stayed at the Cal-Neva again. It was so much better there. But not as great as the year we stayed at the Sands – there, they had hot tub on the top floor! We met up with Patty O'Furniture and Tristan Shout for dinner over at the Silver Legacy, and that was SO MUCH nicer. Wish we could stay at a slightly fancier hotel. Oh well.
We had to take the bus to the gay bar where the Trannyshack Reno show was held. Once again, it was at a bar with incredibly SLOOOOOW bartenders, and WEEEEEEAAAAAK drinks. What is it with gay bars in Reno? For the show, I sung a customized version of "New York, New York," with the lyrics all changed: "Break open the booze, I've got a weave on today, I want to be a part of it, Trannyshack Reno ... I want to be in the biggest little city in the world, to find I'm dressed like a girl, on a busload of freaks, queen of the world, bottom of the heap." It went over rather well.
After the show – and after Patty O'Furniture got her car broken into – we went to the Cal-Neva, for some gambling (for D) and videogaming (for me). I'd barely gotten my game on, when D comes up and says, "I lost all my money." I'm like, "WHAT??!!" 
Then she whips out six large and says, "Sucker! I just won $600 on slots!" I'm like, give me $500 for safekeeping, and go gamble $100 and make us some more money! But she's like, no, we're outta here. We were there barely 15 minutes. Me, her, and Steven Satyricon walked back and party-hopped back at the Colonial Inn. i ended up getting five hours of sleep, and D continued to party and got ... um... 90 minutes of sleep!
We loaded up the bus at 11 AM on Sunday morning at went to Boomtown for brunch. BOOOOOO-town! That place sucks too. The buffet was HORRIBLE (even though I was going on about how "the lobster bisque is to DIE for!") Plus, there was no place to buy booze, unlike in downtown Reno. We had to walk across a huge parking lot to buy booze at the gas station mini mart. I wish we could do Easter brunch in downtown Reno like we used to.
Anyway, the trip back is kind of a blur. Me and Metal P. took turns "DJing." More partying. The back of the bus smelled. It took us forever to get back to San Francisco, and when we did, it was raining. Me and Steven Satyricon helped clean up the bus, and Dave the bus driver drove me, him, and D over to Cafe Flore for Juanita More's "Floored" party. How much do I love getting personally driven to the after-party in a tour bus? It was great, and Dave has so many stories. He seemingly knows every cruisey rest stop from here to Minneapolis. And he owns property near Lone Pine! How random!
So I ended up staying at Flore until 10:30 ... not that many bus people came over, but it was fun. I went home to crash, and Deidre stayed out partying – and ended up coming home at 9:30 in the morning! Woo-hoo!
Well, despite my best intentions, I didn't win "Best Drunk" this year. Maybe next year, if it's really the last year that they do the Trannyshack Reno bus trip, I'll win a "Perfect Attendance" award. Because ever since they started this thing back in 1998, I think I'm the only one who has never missed a single bus trip! And this a trip I wouldn't miss for the world!
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Tuesday, 15 March 2005
BOOTIE ... woo-hoo!
To give you an idea of what a fun night BOOTIE was last night, it's now 4:30 in the afternoon on Sunday and I'm just waking up (after going to be bed at 10 AM).
And D hasn't even come HOME yet!
Anyway, DAMN! A very kick-ass night. DJ Axel was impressed, seeing as that when he spun at Bootie a year ago, it was on a Wednesday night, and there were only about 120 at the club. Now we're on a Saturday and we've easily got three times that many people, getting down and having a blast!
Dada started the night with a really good rock mashup set, for the crowd that showed up early for the free Bootie CD. I then took over and got the crowd revved up, spinning a bunch of stuff I knew none of the other DJs would be able to get away with later in the night. At around 10:30 PM, I knew that was my last chance to play stuff like Poj's glitch mix of Daft Punk's "Robot Rock", so I did. I hate glitch but I LOVE this track! Fuck you, people on the dancefloor! I don't care if you can't dance to glitch, I'm playing it anyway!
Brat's "Big Shot Pimpin" was another one that's not exactly dance floor-friendly, but it got people in the club talking, which is always good. Then I stepped it up with a real solid 128 bpm dance set (thanks, IDC!), got the floor filled and set it up for Axel, who KILLED with his set! Heavy hitters all the way, and he even kept them dancing during his Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue mashups! Woo-hoo!
We had two performances in the midnight mashup show last night, the first being a very conceptual piece with Suppositori Spelling and Foxy dressed up like Kurt and Courtney, and doing agentlovelette's "Waiting For You To Send Me Angel," with Courtney shooting Kurt at the end. Very dark and twisted -- brought new meaning to the song!
Bootie faux queen favorite Patty O'Furniture dressed up like Marilyn Monroe-Manson, and performed to a new mashup by Tristan Shout that mixed "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" with "Rock Is Dead."
I gave away a shitload of DJ BC's "Beastles" CDs, which people were clamoring for all night. Hopefully everyone got one who wanted one (not like you can't download it for free!) It was a much better giveaway than me trying to raffle off a Virgin mobile phone, picking winners out of a beer pitcher, with no one claiming the prize. Mental note: no more raffles at Bootie. After the show, Party Ben and Mysterious D did a "Bootie greatest hits" set till the end of the night, and much partying ensued.
Anyway, it was quite a night. And we're already psyched for next month – DJ Zebra from Paris, France on Saturday, April 9th. Woohoo!
21:19 Posted in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Wednesday, 09 March 2005
Random tidbits of life and whatever
Metallica: what a bunch of pussies
Actually had some free time a week ago, so D and I rented Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. And just like PF told me, it definitely reminded me a bit of some of the drama Blue Period used to go through, especially when we would have band meetings, sitting around our manager's dining room table, hashing out shit. Not exactly pleasant memories, actually.
I winced several times while watching this film, and in the end, I can't believe Metallica actually authorized its release. They are NOT portrayed in a very good light, and mostly come off like a bunch of rich, spoiled, lazy, whiny pussies. James Hetfield can't be bothered to work on an album unless it's between the hours of noon and 4 PM. Lars Ulrich just whines about how he FEELS all the time. The only one who comes off relatively unscathed is Kirk Hammett, who lets the other two raging egos make fools of themselves, while he quietly just plays guitar in the background.
Anyway, bitter reminders of some of the band drama we dealt with in Blue Period – except that we couldn't afford to pay a therapist $40,000 a month (!!!!) to help us sort through our shit. Although we did pay our manager Danny $200 a month to deal with it, and I'm sure it couldn't have been worth it!
This month's Bootie CD rocks
How good is this month's Bootie CD? Oooooh, it's SOOOOO good. I think it's a really good mix, and I even managed to beat-mix four of the tracks together pretty seamlessly, so I'm proud of that. (I use Roxio Jam to create these Red Book-compliant Bootie mix CDs, and as anyone who's used this software knows, it's not exactly a great DJ mixing tool.)
Cip Lounge finally opened
The dive bar formerly known as My Place finally re-opened as Cip Lounge, and it's such a complete makeover, that the first time I walked in, I had to walk back out just to make sure that I had entered the right building! It's swanktacular. I'm just wondering what kind of clientele is going to end up going there. Cip seems to be going for the yupscale Marina/bridge-and-tunnel crowd, which is definitely different from the My Place crowd, that's for sure! I guess only time will tell.... it was fun DJing the preview party last week though...
Blah Blah to go monthly?
Rumor has it that Blah Blah Blah might go monthly – and very electro-heavy – while Bootie might go twice a month. Perhaps in ... May! Just in time for summer. Stay tuned!
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Wednesday, 02 March 2005
What the hell have I been doing for a month?
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 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!
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