Last weekend at FlashDance 29, Sister Viva L’Amour and Sister Selma Soul showed up & asked for the microphone & I of course, said “yes” immediately out of respect. They then proceeded to Saint me!! I’ve been Sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence!

Courtesy of Adele Burnes

This means so much to me I don’t know where to start!

To be appreciated is always nice, to be honored is even better, but to be honored by people you admire, that is simply fantastic.

For those of you who don’t know who The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are, check this great Wikipedia article* – but in the best sense of the words, I’d say they are the clown-priests of San Francisco, steeped in social justice, gay pride, high & low comedy, and irreverent demolition of many of the most troubling aspects of organized religion (like guilt and intolerance.) Add to that the fact that they bring flair, wit, and humor to all they do, and you begin to understand why I hold The Sisters in such high esteem. And now they have deemed me to be part of their world. Wow.

The proclamation says it all:

SAINTHOOD!

Absolutely, Totally, and Universally Administered by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc., The Sisters Hereby Forever Proclaim Amandeep Jawa

I now answer to “Your Saintliness”, or “Your Holiness”

-Saint ‘Deep

*Even if you think you know who the Sisters are, the Wikipedia article is a GREAT read. At the very least, check out their mission statement at the end of the “Inception” section & the list of my fellow Saints. I imagine those are the A-list saints (unlike lil ol’ me) – but nonetheless wow again! (Also there is a pic of Sister Viva L’Amour in the “Sisters at Reno Pride” section.

.ps for a few more pics go here…

.pps The Sisters’ website is here…

Note: the playlists for FlashDances 28 & 29 are after the break below…

I’ve been thinking about the future of FlashDance lately…But before I carry on with my thoughts, let me say how much fun the last 3 FDs, (27, 28, & 29) have been – I love you folks! Thank you for always making it worth the effort! And as for what follows, please don’t think it means I don’t appreciate y’all….

It is a mixed time for FlashDances & I’m curious what the future will hold for my beloved little party… As supa-fun as it still is, I’m beginning to wonder if after 5 years, FlashDance’s time might be ending….

On the plus side:

• the last 3 FDs have been FANTASTICALLY FUN!
• FD 27, the 2nd Annual Michael Jackson Memorial FD, was HUGE! (but it is different than a normal FD.)
• FD 28 reopened an area of the City that I feared we’d have to abandon due to a bad run in with the law near there last year…
• I got Sainted at FD 29!!! (More on that here – SO AWESOME!))
• I’m playing the best music mix I’ve ever done at these last 2…

On the minus side:

• Attendance was super sparse at the start of 28 & I almost gave up and went home (though it rallied into a great night.)
• We didn’t manage to have one in August (I was totally swallowed by the work monster) but no one seemed to miss it (usually I get emails.)
• At FD 29, attendance seemed down a good bit for a while, but luckily lots of random passersby joined in and it got big & super fun!

Some may say that I’m over-focused on attendance, but honestly it is about crowd-energy: a dance party full of people feels so much better than a dance party of a few people. And, depending on the size of the outdoor space, even a well-attended FD can feel sparse.  The size problem is often most acute at the start of FD – when I’m most nervous…. but maybe that’s my fault for being late so often… Then again, the FD list is now over 1875 people, so it seems like getting at least 40 people at the start of an FD would be easy.  Obviously, no one is doing anything wrong, if FD isn’t fun enough to sustain a critical mass, maybe it is just time to let it go. We’ve had a ridiculously fun 5 years!

Luckily, we’re not there yet, it is still super fun, It’s just that I’m wondering if maybe people are starting to move on… I guess we’ll see. For now I’m still having a blast, so we’ll keep going….

Which brings us to Halloween!?!?!? Given the drama of last year’s attempt at Take Back Halloween what should I do this year? I’m fairly sure I’ll do a FlashDance but hw, when, & where are all unknowns… Put your thoughts in the comments so everyone can discuss….

Click HERE for more…

Does anyone have any good pix from either of the last 2 FlashDances? I’d love to see them & use some for this post!

So another two months, another two good FlashDances. Both of these were a little smaller than I would like to be honest, but I still had plenty of fun. There were extenuating circumstances in each case, but still I can’t help but wonder if people still love ‘em as much as I do… I guess we’ll just see how it goes for the next few…

—

It turns out I had blown a bunch of easily replaced fuses & the next day, Sunday, we were back in business. So we headed back to ferry Plaza on a GORGEOUS Sunday night (three day weekend!) and rocked it out. Again I was hoping for bigger turnout, but given the reschedule & the fact that it had been Carnavale that day, & that many people are out of town, I think the 80 people or so (at the biggest) acquitted themselves quite well. The playlist is below.

Anyway – like I said, we’ll see how FD 27 goes. That one will be the Michael Jackson Memorial FlashDance in late June – it will be interesting to see what that is like – one year out from the best FlashDance ever! Check the videos of last year’s mega-awesome after the jump…

Click HERE for more…

a.k.a. my first attempt to restart large-scale Halloween festivities in SF

Ed. Note:

1. Ok, it has taken me a month to get around to posting about my Halloween party. LAME. Sorry! I hope some of you (any of you?) are still interested.
2. If you are just looking for pix of this year’s Halloween costume, check out the previous post … Rowrrrrr! (click here)
3. Finally, if you wanna skip my blather & see all the pics of the festivities (rather than the select few I’ve used here), I HIGHLY recommend Kevin Kranzky’s pix (& video!) here, and Steve Rhodes pix here – BIG THANKS GUYS!
4. Also, feel free to send me copy-edits and the like for this post (or any others) – I never have enough time to do a decent job on them! I’d appreciate it!

Courtesy of Steve Rhodes

Late September: David Miles* (a.k.a. “D. Miles” a.k.a. “Skate Godfather”) and I ran into each other and started talking about the need to remake a great Halloween party for San Francisco, in the wake of the demise of the Castro St. festivities.

Early October: My enthusiasm for the idea gets weighed down by my fear of getting smashed by the City and my fear that my Halloween costume will be a huge FAIL.

A week or so later: My continued fear about my costume began to be overpowered by the notion that something BIG and FUN needed to happen to fill the void of the old Castro Halloween. My fear of party failure, however, remained intact.

A week or so later: I realized that to attempt nothing was far sadder than a failed attempt. So, in my mind, it was ON. The biggest question mark was what would the City do if I tried to start a new free public Halloween party, like the Castro, but perhaps, eventually, even better? Would they shut us down? Throw us in the hoosegow? Look the other way? Realize that this was Good Thing™ and embrace our efforts? There was only one way to know…
Click HERE for more…

(photo courtesy Mike Bolger – check out his blog & pix here)

Saturday Night was our first FlashDance since the mega-over-the-top madness of the special Michael Jackson Memorial FlashDance. And while nowhere near as huge (nor will they probably ever be! ) this one was big, simple, low stress, and just kinda perfect…

I was surprised at how many requests for MJ there were (like I don’t play enough! )… but also the Bollywood stuff was well….

AWESOME!

Palak, my adopted little sis, with backup support from Kobie & Melissa(?) and an awesome tourist from Paris, busted the above totally impromptu Bollywood extravaganza to “Dhoom taana.” (I hope to have better video of this soon if someone sends it in! – I think a couple of folks shot it!)

I can’t wait for next FD!

click this link for the playlist: Click HERE for more…

or “Gay Pride + Michael Jackson Memorial Weekend & a few Thoughts on Joy”

(NOTE for non-SFers: It was Gay Pride Weekend here, a.k.a “Pride”, centered around the big Gay Pride parade on Sunday, as well as a huge party in the nearby Castro and numerous related events. It’s a big city festival for everyone – especially by & for the gays, but welcoming for straights as well.)

Yesterday on Facebook, I announced that the past 4 days have been the best four days of my life. Since I’m not given to hyperbole, it must be true .

Seriously though, that is a strong claim, and I should probably just say that I can’t think of a better four days in a row*. So let’s just say the past four days have been amazing and stack up against any in my life (wow!). I’m actually a little exhausted from how good it has been. Lots of dancing, lots of laughing, lots of sharing great moments with great people and even a few tears and reflection thrown in. And the weather has been perfect.

Here’s the video (Instead of watching here, I highly recommend going to YouTube, Vimeo, or Facebook & watching it in HD or higher quality):

Click below for the full story behind the video…

Click HERE for more…

UPDATED 1/16/10: I just came across the best video of the night yet (better than mine below) and a great video from the ride itself… see updates at the bottom.

Four or five news vans, 200 (300?) people, a musical bike ride through the city, sing-a-longs, moments of silence and tears. That’s the short version of Thursday’s special Michael Jackson memorial Trike ride and FlashDance. It was the best FlashDance ever.

Here’s the video (Instead of watching here, I highly recommend going to YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook & watching it in HD or higher quality)

Click the link below to get the full scoop, write up, playlist & more video:

Click HERE for more…

…wherein I briefly recount the initially ill-fated but ultimately triumphant FlashDance 21 mini-saga… (.ps If you have any good pics please send them along!)

Saturday 8 PM: I showed up (remarkably promptly) at Church and Market & set up. A small crowd of FlashDancers was already there waiting!

8:15 PM: After playing 1 song, a (remarkably nice) police officer showed up & explained that she already had a noise complaint & we had to go. Boooo! She suggested Dolores Park.

8:30 PM: Set up at Dolores Park – many folks walked on over from Church and Market (maybe 100 peeps) and we were good to go – or so we thought. There was another, smaller dance party going on nearer to the houses on Dolores – but it was clearly ending.

8:45 PM: 3 songs in and people were grooving, but Park Rangers showed up (I have NEVER seen Park Rangers in Dolores Park before!) They said that their supervisor called to say there had been complaints. (I’ll bet that the complaints were probably about the other party.) They agreed to not give me a ticket if we shut the music down. I was really, really bummed.

8:50 PM: Honestly, I was ready to give up but various dancers said “Let’s just go to 24th Street BART Station” – I agreed.

9PM – 11:30PM: We had one HELL of a FLASHDANCE!!!! It was awesome! BIG BIG thanks to everyone who came out for any of the various stops and BIGGER thanks to those who convinced me to stick with it. I had SOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!

A couple of lessons:

• FDs are RIDICULOUSLY FUN. Seriously, I’ve been so worried about getting shut-down & potentially having to scrap FD, I had almost forgotten. One of the reasons I didn’t get a May one together was that I was just worried about another cop-episode shattering my enthusiasm. I had just gotten over it by the time I scheduled June’s, but honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit precarious. Well, now I remember why this is all sooooo worth it. SO. MUCH. FUN. Thanks to everyone who pushed me into a better attitude.
• YOU MUST MUST GET ON MY SMS/TWITTER UPDATES. My messages weren’t as clear as they should have been, but many people figured out what I meant and showed up at Dolores Park & then 24th St BART. I’ll be clearer next time, but you really NEED to sign up for SMS messages! Click here & scroll down to the section about SMS updates for instructions.
• 24th St BART Rocks! The cops came by at least 3 or 4 times while we were there, but didn’t say anything. Lesson Learned. I think i may do the next one at 16th St Or Civic Center…..

Again – thank you ALL for such a fun night. Between that and Sunday Streets in the Mission the next morning, I’m still glowing!.

As a final note – here is the play list (more or less) from FD 21. I’m really happy with the mix. As always I’m always looking for more stuff to play – lemme know what you think….

• Flash – Queen
• Breakin’ Dishes – Rihanna
• Lovely One – The Jacksons
• A Love Bizarre – Sheila E.
• Soy Callejero (Mark Pistel Remix) – Los Mocosos
• Livin’ la Vida Loca – Ricky Martin
• Blame It On the Boogie – The Jacksons
• Poker Face – Lady GaGa
• Kids – MGMT
• Dime Que Te Quéa – Gecko Turner
• Tabba – DJ APS Feat. Mohammed Siddiq & Ranjit Kaur
• Bachna Ae Haseeno Revisited – Vishal-Shekhar, Sumeet Kumar, Vishal Dadlani & Kishore Kumar
• Be Easy (Koi Naa) – Nivla Feat. P. Oberoi
• Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – Beyoncé
• Stayin’ Alive – Bee Gees
• American Boy (feat. Kanye West) – Estelle
• Day ‘n’ Nite (Crookers Remix) – Kid Cudi
• N.A.S.A. Music (LA Riots Remix) – N.A.S.A.
• Lady Marmalade – Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya & P!nk
• Boyz – M.I.A.
• The Seed (2.0) – The Roots & Cody Chestnutt
• I Like To Move It (Racoon Remix) – Sacha Ben Cohen
• SOS – Rihanna
• Can You Feel It – The Jacksons
• Don’t Stop Believin’ In Planet Rock (Journey vs. Afrika Bambaataa) – A plus D
• Upside Down – Diana Ross
• Sexual Healing – Max-A-Million
• Rock With You – Michael Jackson

After FlashDance 20 (& dancing at Bootie afterwards) Saturday night, I was too much of a sluggolith to make it to the early parts of the always awesome Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Easter Bonnet Contest & Hunky Jesus Contest. Though I did fly by for a brief dose of Easter Drag Queen Goodness:

 

But the main event of the day was at 4pm on Vermont Street: The 9th Annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race… basically a bunch of people bring Big Wheels (and similar kids bikes) and race down the REAL windiest street in SF. This year’s edition was very nearly COPSMACKED – but eventually decency prevailed (BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO WORKS SO HARD BEHIND THE SCENES TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN).

I decided to bring Trikeasaurus….

But I didn’t ride down much…. Click HERE for more…

After the po-po frustrations of FD19, I decided to try to get over the bad taste in my mouth by just hitting it again. The very NEXT weekend!

(click the image to see all the pix)

It worked! FD20 was another excellent time. I think it was a little smaller than the average FD which always bums me out a little (less passersby in our location & farther from the Mission), but twas a fine time nonetheless. It was a beautiful night along the water & a much fun was had.

The faux-po (rather than the po-po) for the port did show up, and so we moved it to the Ferry Plaza, but that was fine….

(click the image to see all the pix)

BIG Thanks to Doug Herbek for his legal advice and Steve Jones for writing in the Guardian & most of all, all of you FlashDancers who continue to make FD SO. MUCH. FUN!

Here is the Playlist:

Click HERE for more…