Wed October 16, 2002-Left San Francisco and now I'm enjoying a retreat in a lovely Brechtian compound where I will spend some time writing my new one wo-man show "Orifice Descending".
Enjoyed my time in the bay area, but now I remember why I could never visit for longer than a week-end. Don't get me wrong San Francisco is a major Ms. gorgeous city and I went up during their Indian summer when the weather was almost a little too hot for my liking, but who couldn't resist those zaonic ocean breezes which purr through the peninsula making everything so crystalline clear. For the first time ever I saw zillions of for rent signs across the town. Unfortunately prices have only been reduced from $4000 a month to $3000 a month Why not a million a month, so I certainly couldn't afford to re-locate there. I was surprised to see when I first arrived that there are hardly any young people left---just old wealthy stoggies and trust fund babies, and the few diehards who managed to figure out a way not to get gentrified out of Dodge.
It was nice hanging out with photographer Marc Geller and company. He and his rock steady crew pooled their resources and bought a swellegant Victorian in the lower Haight. The place is magnifique! I wouldn't want to live communally though, but it seems to works for them. It sure was sweet soaking in their homestyle homeriffic glow. . .
Bruce "Judy" La Bruce's art opening at Peres Projects was certainly the highlight of the trip. It seemed like the most beaufiful people of San Fran came out for it. Russian dissident poet and sexthrob Slava was also out making the scene and breaking hearts and sphincters. I don't like art openings but this was an event unpara the big "L".
It was quite juicy running into Don Baird of the Hole in the Wall and Bay Area Times fame. He is always the brightest bay area light, and is a michieveous wit ta boot! I spent a lot of time hanging out with him and listening to the incredible music he spins at Hole and The Eagle Eye Cherry Tavern. Also met Heklina of Trannyshack. She reminded me of New York legend Happy Phace in and out of drag. Caught a little bit of her Trannyshack repertoire company at both the Folsom and Castro Street Faire's ---she and her Yarborough's and people are very much the aesthetics of San Francisco true and tried, I also went to their Tuesday nite shindig for about an hour of observation. All I can say is Falishpa!
Also at Bruce's opening was former porn ingénue Rusty Samuels, the ginger headed ex beau of my former film producer and cinematographer Lawrence Elbert. He looked great‹muscular and robust. He's such a sweet Huck Finn of a nelly boy. The Peres Projects gallery owner is an adorably pretty Cuban Jew named Javier. Later in the week he took me out for a fancy dinner at a restaurant not far from the gallery, where writer Adam Bloch also joined us. Adam is hysterical fun curmudgeon in a Jim Fourattish way. He's delightful and I enjoyed being around his gra-synergy. I also got to spend some quality time with "Judy" LaBruce on a Vertigo Tour along with that bubbling Brook boy who kindly volunteered his services as driver and guide borrowing Javier's sporty SUV compact. The highlight of the tourina was def the famous 1000 year old reds in Muir Woods. I could have done without the winding road up to the woods. I kept making Brook slow down and of course I was screaming and braking with my hands on the dashboard after every curve. We also took a side trip to Mill Valley to laugh at Grace Slick who was coming out of her house with one of her daughters.
Poor "Judy" was feeling a bit melancholia---her 14 inch dicqued Muslim lover ended their affair to return his homeland in Africa. Judy hadn't been in a relationship in almost 10 years, and she's never connected with anyone on such a spiritual level before. I wish I could have been more of a comfort to her, but I'm hardly an expert on male lesbian domesticity or conjugality of any kind. I wound up insulting Judyline when I muttered something about not finding her beau attractive. Her Muslim as she likes to refer to him is striking but not traditionally handsome in that matinee idol like way.
I spent a lot of time with them both last year when I was in Toronto on the Margaret Cho tour, and the man really charmed Margaret who isn't easily impressed. Now I'm most likely un-casted from Judy's next moving picure after the one he's beginning pre-production in Germany with long time producer Jurgen Bruninig. In fact I recommended by east German actress friench Susanne for the lead role and she got it. Susanne is the hot german girlfriend of my academic Jewish hunkina pal Mark Siegel.
On this trip to San Francisco I did a lot of tourista things, that I've never done before. I've been coming to the Bay Area since the late 70's but I'd never seen Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirradeli Square or gone down that famous crooked street, hell I'd never even seen Japantown‹which wasn't that interesting, and I hadn't stepped foot on the campus of Cal State San Francisco, which didn't have many campus thrombones to cruise, so I left in a huff. Oh and I rode a cablecar for the first time with some humpy British tourist who had amazingly thick calves.
Lunch reunion with my Afro Sister "Pop That Cherry" Jefferson and her son Immanuel Martin who wrote this great screenplay called "Card Center "that has a juicy role for me. Cherry is the same fun lady that I've known and loved for over 20 years. She lives in Oakland where she grew up and designs web sites with her own small business called Begonius Productions. It used to be called Dag, but people would always ask her what it meant so she changed it to Begonious which still confuses people. I told her to say its her maiden name. I also had a scrumptious home cooked meal by Quasi O'Shea formerly of Amoeba Records and Filmworks the art, movie and music collective that produced a lot of my early experimental film ouvre in the early to mid 80s. It was wonderful seeing him, he's gone through some personal trials but I think our visit prompted him to focus back on his art career. He is a very gifted individual and I'm lucky to own some of his more personal pieces including rare drawings in my private collection.
Of course I didn't meet any men up in the Bay Area who could give "The Doll" what she requires. I had some meaningless tricks, but that was even more than I could have expected. San Fran has never been a city where I connect with the mensis. That aspect of the place certainly hasn't changed.
My first Folsom Faire was solisic. I have to give them propers for their excellent crowd control and flow. Sunset Junction could stand a few lessons from their northern friendies. I liked seeing whordes of fugly naked men wanking sour crumply stiffies in full view of families. It just proved to me that San Fran is all about showing off, which is fine, but any real honest to goodness down home nastydirty they really can't muster the energies for.
I actually liked the Castro extravaganza more than Folsom. It was lower key, but served in just the right register. The main bandstand featuring Latino offerings was consistently amusing. I really liked the Mexican boy band whose name I've already forgotten. They were troupers had nice singing voices and put on a wildly energetic show.
I also had a swell time with Doug Gorden Bartels, who is the art director of Keyboard Magazine and lives in nearby Brisbane. I can see he's making inroads to flexibility and loosening up those mortars of rigidtity. His longtime pals Jeff and Sully who own a homomodern home on Portero Hill were also very lovely to be around.
Glad I was able to spend some quality time with Larry-Bobgoblin and Nicky "Giovanni" Leonard. Thankx to them I got to stay in the lap of luxury in a huge mansion overlooking the panhandle surrounded with libraric volumes of rare books, historic documents, sculpture, objects d'art and music of every genre from the beginnings of recorded time. I was never in any want or need. Larry and Nicky also put on an explosive weekly nite featuring social critics and humorists at the high tech Victorian Ganymede Center on Market Street. On my last night the boys took me to see the Mexican performance artist and Dadaist Astrid Hadad at the Brava Women's Art Creative in the Mission District. Seeing Astrid again really inspired me and now I'm anxious to add some new spices to my new one woman show that will premiere in the spring at performance art festival in Lisboa.
Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - Ran into Larry T and his gorgeous beau Conrad
on Hollywood Blvd. Larry T is famous for coining the term
"electroclash" and for writing the song "Supermodel" that put RuPaul on
the mainstream map. He was in town with his band WIT(Whatever it
Takes)who have been touring the world spreading the gospel according to
electroclash colonus. I'm so happy that Larry is getting so much
hoopla. He really is a red hot talent and very witty. He says his new
found success is because of taking a business class with Forum/Vanguard
the less cultish offshoot of EST. Larry literally kidnapped me and
forced me to go to dinner with him Melissa of WIT and the luscious
Peaches. All of LA is wrapped up in the house of Peaches right now.
She is so sexy and personable that we immediately bonded and became best
girlfriends. I also clicked with her manager Janice and pretty Mel.
After din at the French Market Place in Hogtown we went to some event
called The Short List. Its supposed to be honoring those artist who
don't sell mega millions, but it was pretty much straightforward music
industry crapola if you ask me. Larry and Peaches are great at
schmoozing and it was fun being in their orbit. The Nerds or is it
spelled Nurds who produce a lot of mainstream acts as The Neptunes or
something like that, performed with their band and were lousy. I
couldn't believe how people were making such a fuss. The Nerd kids were
cute and young but with less than less then zero personality. The same
for DJ Shadow. DJ's as stars that's a dumb idea. Its boring watching
someone spin records. What he was playing wasn't that rivetting, and
his visuals on three big screens weren't that arresting either. Some
dorkus from Universal Music was responsible for the event, and they had
tired Addidas as a sponsor.
The highlight of the evening was a surprise short set by Iggy Pop,
backed up by an all-star band that included the Hives and Mike Watt.
Halloween Night: Accompanied big daddy Athey at this night of Edgar Allen Poe
at UCLA's Royce Hall. Also performing was Kembra Pfahler of the Voluptuous
Horror of Karen Black and her girls Alice and Bijoux who are so sweet and
cuddly. The closed the evening doing a rock version of the theme from "Titanic"
Will Farrell of Saturday Nite Live Fame was a reader, also Harry Shearer,
Howard Hesseman from WKRP in Cincinatti. Diamanda Galas decided to nix it at
the last minute so Kembra had them use Ron and Ms. Trilogy of Terror herself,
Karen Black who read Fall of the House of Usher. She was brilliant. My
favorite Karen Black movie is Day of the Locust. Also Chloe Webb who played
Nancy in Sid and Nancy. Chloe looked really sexy and is such an underrated
actress. She is really devine. Oh and Athony and the Johnson's performed.
Anthony was on the compilation God Shaved the Queen, and was very dear, and is
a big fan of my group PME and Glen Meadmore. His music was haunting and he has
a very operatic throaty voice he reminded me of a young Klaus Nomi. Kembra
sang one of Antony's songs and tore the roof off of Royce. Also the amazing
Lou Reed showed everyone how a veterano can mezmerize. I usually hate
Halloween, but this year is was YAYA!
