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…

You know that feeling you get on New Year’s Eve? Since there are soooo many fabulous parties and options and groups of friends doing various things, it’s hard to figure out what to do! And then you second guess yourself all night: “Am I at the right party – is this going to be the most fun I could be having right now?”

Maybe you’re lucky and don’t suffer from that – but I totally do. Or did.

These last two years, I haven’t had that feeling at all! I’ve finally figured it out! I was right where I wanted to be & had a fantastic NYE. Since I’m a little slow, I actually had to be convinced both times – but both times it turned out to be perfect. And this New Year’s was even more fun than last!

Last year, my friend Dan & I put together our first “New Year’s Eve Bike + Music Ride” with our music bikes & a good number of our friends. Frankly it was a ridiculously good time. So you’d think we would just do it again this year and repeat our supa-fun time.

But somehow, we just couldn’t commit to it. Neither of us were super excited. Neither of us were quite motivated. We had this vague sense that it should/could/probably would happen – but that is not quite enough activation energy to get our selves into gear…

Luckily, our friends insisted. By the night before New Year’s we had agreed. By a few hours before our ride, we were getting seriously excited. About 30 seconds into our ride I realized “Whoah – there is NOTHING I’d rather be doing right now” and it only got better as the night went on.

This year our ride was bigger, but also it was a warmer night and tons of people were out on the street and cheering when we came by (sorry I don’t have more video of that). The cops were tolerant, the streets were full of happy people, we picked up new folks along the way, and entertained MUNI drivers, revelers, skateboarders, and the general public – it was BIG fun. We started at around 8 and biked til 2am!

I can tell you right now what I’ll be doing next New Year’s Eve as long as I’m physically able! You guys should come too! SUPA-FUN! I guarantee it.

(And if you want more video – I posted Dan’s excellent video after the jump – note that some of the footage is the same, but some is different)

.ps
And yes, just like last year I got up super early the next day and made it out to Breakfast of Champions with the Space Cowboys & danced out the morning til I collapsed. I LIKE MY NEW YEAR’S TRADITION!

So, how happy was I this morning when my friend Meli pinged me to show me this:

BEST BLOCK-ROCKIN’ BIKE

Amandeep Jawa’s bright blue, sound-rigged party-cycle — Trikeasaurus — is our bestest Critical Mass compadre and bike lane buddy, and an essential component of his impromptu FlashDance parties. This three-wheelin’, free-wheelin’, pedal-and-battery-powered funk machine has been bringing the party to the people — and leading spontaneous Michael Jackson tributes — from the Embarcadero to the Broadway tunnel for the past two years. Even if you’re just out for a stroll or a bit of that ephemeral San Francisco “sun”-bathing, when Trikeasaurus comes rolling along you just have to boogie on down the road, bust a move, get your groove thing on, let your freak flag fly, and insert ecstatic cliché here. We can pretend all we want in the privacy of our own hip sancta sanctorum that Destiny’s Child or OutKast will never move us, but somehow when Trikeasaurus comes bumping by, we just can’t help but bump right back. Don’t fight the feeling! Join the 500-watt, 150-decibel velolution today.

www.deeptrouble.com

Imagine how excited I was. And I loved what they had to say! They captured a lot of the ways Trikeasaurus brings the happy and they also put it so well “…insert ecstatic cliché here” indeed!

I’m a happy camper. This is one of those things that means something to me – THANK YOU SF BAY GUARDIAN!

Here’s the link to the actual online issue…. this is just one of numerous categories…

.ps

Oh and for those of you new to their BotB issues – yes, they make up categories as they see fit That being said there are a few music bikes of note in SF, so perhaps it can be said there were other options

.pps
This means that I’ve been a Best of The Bay in both of the local weeklies – woooooot! Once for Trike, and once for FlashDance!

(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…

Thursday: The surprise and tragedy of Michael Jackson’s death (and his tragic life) gave us the BEST FlashDance we’ve ever thrown, and that is saying something. More here. The bad news was that the Trikeasaurus sound system died, and three days before I was supposed to be in the big Pride parade.

Friday: I saw David Byrne in concert from 15 ft away. It wasn’t even the best DB show I’ve seen and it was still fantastic. Also, I resurrected the Trike sound system at great expense, realizing that the joy/$ ratio was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, dealing with the Trike and getting to DB precluded me making it to Critical Mass which would have been even more mega-fun.

Saturday:
- I made my sign for Trike for Pride (thanks for the inspiration, Chandra!). Here it is in the important constructed-but-tragicically-upside-down phase:

Given how many people took pix of JUST the sign I’d say it was a big hit. It also got cited in the SF Chronicle’s coverage of Sunday’s pride parade Though unsurprisingly, they got their facts slightly wrong (unless it was a T-shirt too – look at the paragraph under “T-shirt weather.”)

- I went to see the Dyke March & play music for the marchers. I had figured that it wasn’t my place to be in the march and I should just hang on the outside and play music for the lesbians, but they loved the MJ and the Trike (& the sign) and I got sucked into the March as well. The tail end of the March became “Mobile MJ Dance Party with the Happy Lesbians”. SIMPLY AWESOME.

Sunday:

- At 12:30am, I led a procession one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had asked me to help with. What followed was 100 people marching down Market to Union Square for a “Joy Blessing” service. That ended at 2am.

- Got home at 4am & went to bed at 4:30. 4 hours sleep = not OK.

- Got up at 8:30 am, shoveled some peanut butter into my mouth, and saddled up the Trike. I had been invited to ride in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s parade contingent “Byke Pride” and was super excited. Again SUPER AWESOME. Riding with my friends in front of thousands of cheering Bay Area folks was just so great. I played a little non-Michael stuff, but the crowd clearly wanted the MJ, so I obliged.

One particularly great moment for me was my little mini tribute to MJ, mid procession: During a pause in the parade, as we were halfway through the route, I played “Man In The Mirror” on the Trike, but stepped away from it so it was alone, with bikes gliding around it. It was kind of a “missing man” tribute. I don’t know if anyone got it, but it was a beautiful moment for me at least.

- After riding the parade twice (once again with our City Assessor (& friend) Phil Ting), I was out of gas (only four hours of sleep). I went home, plugged in the Trike and hit the bed for a 1.5 hour disco nap.

- At 2:30pm, Trike and I both recharged, I got up and zoomed back out to the post-parade festivities. I spent the day from their roaming around town booming the MJ tunes alongside Dan Nguyen-Tan’s 7-seater bike. We had our sound systems in sync playing the same music and brought the joy all over the city**. As always, Dan and his crew bring the fun in a similar but different style & we always have big fun together.

- At around 5:30pm, we then brought the music bikes into the post-parade party area at the Civic Center and rocked it out with a few more dance parties. Lots of random zany goodness. To wit, the lovely Alida Brandenburg & Jenny Yoshizawa showed up.

- 7pm after finally leaving the party, I finished it all off by a lovely dinner with Dan’s crew.

Tada.

So that was it. Simply fantastic. And I’m done. I have no energy for any more fun at the moment My Michael Jackson playlist is also done for the moment But I am still surprised and saddened that he is gone. Even now, the line near the end of “Man in The Mirror” – “You better get it right while you got the time” brings tears to my eyes and sounds like a call to action for all my failings and shortcomings as I get older. Did you get there, MJ?

But with the sadness, comes a clarity about my life and what I try to do. After watching crowds and crowds of people erupt into joy as I boomed Michael Jackson (& other assorted Jacksons/Jackson 5 songs), and dancing with so many people that were having a purely fantastic time to his music. It is clear that Michael channeled the joy into peoples lives, no matter his shortcomings (& they were perhaps vast). And Gay Pride is about JOY too, from the Sister’s “Joy Blessing”, to the parade’s celebration of liberation, to the dance parties with the happy lesbians, or watching Dan’s crew inviting strangers onto their group bike & “making their weekend”, to just watching Alida & Jenny getting their awesome on, I realize it is all about joy and channelling joy into the people around you. I’m pretty good at it in a small way, too. That makes me happy. I’m no MJ, and neither are you, but whatever you do to make people’s lives around you joyful, that is what it is all about. Get to it!

And again, thanks Mike, for all of it.

* Perhaps the first few days of some of my relationships, but those memories are colored by so much…. Maybe my safari in Africa back in 1996?

** Except for the one totally a@#*) cop who gave me a ticket. And note, giving me a ticket doesn’t make him a loser, but being mean about it and giving me attitude does. Grrrrrrr. I really *hate* dealing with Trikeasaurus tickets and the expense. Booooooo

Update: 6/24/10: Fixed typo: Africa safari was “1996″, not “2009″

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:

Around 3pm I heard the news. As disbelief broke, I found myself quitely crying (surprised myself) in my office. Friends started txting and pinging me on Facebook, knowing how much I’ve always loved Michael. Soon thereafter, first one, then more and more, started suggesting (& some demanding – I <3 you Alida! ) a memorial FlashDance...

It took me a while to get there. Mostly because I was just so sad. Would I or anyone feel like dancing? But the answer came in my thoughts on other people's Facebook posts trying to put MJ's sad tale into perspective & reconcile their sadness with the sordid details and innuendoes of his life. As I said on Facebook, "I know he had his problems, perhaps vast - but no one in the world brought the joy like Michael Jackson." It was always about the joy. No one brought the JOY, like Michael. And the one relatively small way I bring the joy is my Trike and my FlashDances. The way forward was clear.

So we were on. I sent out an email to my FD list, which was soon picked up by some blogs and SFStation (a local events site) & then SFWeekly's page. It was getting noticed fast. Other people had similar plans and I tried to coordinate...

At 7:15pm, I made it to the park where 2 news vans and maybe 10 bicyclists waited. We took it to the streets to cheering and dancing and lots and lots of smiles. Pretty soon, we were 20 or 30 bikes - this was on.

After a good hour of roaming San Francisco we rolled into the Embarcadero (UPDATE: video of the ride below!) - expecting there to already be a big crowd - but there wasn't. Some groups had evidently planned for something at 6:30 but I heard later that they didn't pan out. We rolled in and set up. What started at 20 people at 8:30 was maybe 100 by 9 and very quickly 200 soon thereafter.

It was epic. 3/12 hours (I brought 2 laptops) all Michael, The Jacksons, and The Jackson 5. We started with a moment of silence. We danced and danced. Even though we lost a speaker, and thus had only one working, it was non-stop for 3 and a half hours. There were news vans and reporters. There were visitors from outside the US and homeless folks. We had sing-a-longs & at least one brilliant Thriller dance. The vibe was more beautiful than any other FD - which is saying something... I think it was the best FlashDance ever.

It also was the kick off for an amazing four days. One more gift of joy from the man who has given so much of us the most. More on that soon.

'deep

.ps

***UPDATE 1/16/2010: Here is my favorite video YET of the evening & a GREAT video from the ride - thanks Patrick & Boris!

The ride:

******

I’ll update this with some more video as soon as people send it to me, but here is the best news footage I found, from KPIX. It is long, but if nothing else, check the 6:30 & 8:40 marks in the link below:
http://cbs5.com/video/?id=51897%40kpix.dayport.com

Here is some more of those amazing dancers… (and where I got my snippet from)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of7_2wF8DEI

Here is my “Best of Michael Jackson & The Jacksons” playlist – which was the basis of all the dancing this weekend:

• Just A Little Bit Of You – Michael Jackson
• Off The Wall – Michael Jackson
• Working Day And Night – Michael Jackson
• You Are Not Alone – Michael Jackson
• Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ – Michael Jackson
• Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
• Beat It – Michael Jackson
• Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson
• Bad – Michael Jackson
• Rock With You – Michael Jackson
• Black Or White – Michael Jackson
• The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson
• Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
• P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) – Michael Jackson
• Smooth Criminal – Michael Jackson
• Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (Live from the 1981 U.S. Tour) – The Jacksons
• Walk Right Now – The Jacksons
• Can You Feel It – The Jacksons
• Lovely One – The Jacksons
• Blame It On the Boogie – The Jacksons
• Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) – The Jacksons
• Sugar Daddy – The Jackson 5
• Mama’s Pearl – The Jackson 5
• ABC – The Jackson 5
• I Want You Back – The Jackson 5
• Love Is The Thing You Need – The Jackson 5
• Body Language (Do The Love Dance) – The Jackson 5
• Get It Together – The Jackson 5
• Little Bitty Pretty One – The Jackson 5
• (Come ‘Round Here) I’m The One You Need – The Jackson 5
• The Love You Save – The Jackson 5
• Stand! – The Jackson 5
• You’ve Changed – The Jackson 5
• I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix) – The Jackson 5

Also “Thriller” and “I’ll Be There” were in the mix…. especially “Thriller”….

UPDATED:
Looks like we got covered on NBC’s today show. Here is a snip from a longer segment (we’re around 0:28):

Here is the link to the full story.

 

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…. I was just there to watch and do my small bit to enhance the awesomeness that others had really created. So I perched up at the starting line and played a lot of amped up rock & power pop appropriate for such an aggro-fun race (“Sweet Child of Mine”, “Song 2″ by Blur, etc). The crowd and organizers were really into it At the end I did take Trikeasaurus down the race course with the big wheels – big fun (though dragging it back up was a beeeatch)

(Search YouTube for “Big Wheel San Francisco 2009″ for MANY more)

After BYOBW, some friends and I rolled to Dolores Park where we had an awesome impromptu FlashDance (call it FlashDance 20.5) at sunset – it was glorious!

Here are some o’ the tracks I played:

• Billie Jean vs Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Michael Jackson vs Indeep) – UPDATES SPIN
• Harder, Harder, Harder, Harder! (Daft Punk Vs. Passions) – Electrosound
• Stronger (Clean) – Kanye West
• Just Dance – Lady GaGa & Colby O’Donis
• Kids – MGMT
• Hung Up – Madonna
• Paper Planes (LAZR Tag Remix) – M.I.A.
• N.A.S.A. Music (LA Riots Remix) – N.A.S.A.
• That Dude – The High Decibels
• Dec. 4th, Oh What A Night – Jay-Z vs. Frankie Vallie & the Four Seasons
• We Don’t Stop – Michael Franti & Spearhead
• Music – Madonna
• Electro Jugni – Swami
• Desi Rock – SWAMI

For the past 3 years on Valentine’s Day here in SF, there has been a MASSIVE flash-mob pillow fight. They have all been moste excellente, but this one was even more vast than the last two…

This video, taken from high above, does it justice:

And though I had thought about skipping it this year*, the fear of Missing The Fun won out… so I assembled Trikeasaurus & headed out (I actually forgot my pillow!):

NOTE: This video is really long – so watch if you like, but for purposes of this blog post, definitely check out the start & if you want 1:45, 4:30, 5:00, & 6:40 as well (I’ll see if I can get a shorter edit)

In the end, I got my glasses broken, lost my favorite jacket*, inhaled a troubling amount of goose down, got my nose scraped, & Trikeasaurus was injured. And was it worth it? I think this next shot sums up my feelings….

Hmm, maybe having fun?

Bringing the music to the tired huddled…. um… combatants…
(courtesy of Zachary Hanna)

In a troubling note however, I was cited by the United Nations Commission on Costumes and Holidays (UNCCH) for a lack of bacon:

(courtesy of SFRichardT)

OMG! I soooo loved the UNCCH folks (check out their site!)

Next year, I harden Trikeasaurus, make some signs (“Don’t Hit Overhand – it hurts!”), and remember to put on my goggles BEFORE my glasses get broken.

Damn I love this town.

But why am I colorized? Is it that I’m OLD and need to be colorized to be appreciated by younger viewers? ……
(courtesy of Andrionni Ribo)

One more video….

* What’s wrong with it? Well, there are an AWFUL lot of feathers and debris after this thing is over – think snow drifts. Not all of it is decomposable either – a sad amount is synthetic. There were City street sweepers cleaning up afterwards though…. Why can’t my fun things be purely good all the time?

**I LOVE THE INTERWEBS. As I was looking for footage on YouTube, I found the video above by “overnightpro” & look what I found in the comments: “Rusoutdacuts: I feel kinda bad, some how my drunken self got a hold of the bike djs silver jacket, gloves, and blue key chain.” I’ve emailed him & have my fingers crossed!

Luckily Dan Nguyen-Tan convinced me to do a NYE Bike+Music ride with him. You have to see the video:

It was trans-stupendous!

I had planned to only go til 9:30 and then hit some parties, but we were having so much fun, we kept riding til midnight & then caught up with David Miles – of “Roller Disco in Golden Gate Park” & “Black Rock Roller Disco @ Burning Man” fame and watched fireworks at the Embarcadero….. So. Much. Fun.

Finally, I dragged myself home and went to bed at around 2:30 so that I could get up at 8am & make it to Breakfast of Champions with the Space Cowboy DJs!

Bob Seymour and I got there at 9 & danced til noon. Breakfast of Champions is insane in the best possible way.

And the Space Cowboys are one of my favorite San Francisco institutions: you always know what you’re going to get, and it’s always good. Electronica isn’t even my scene but they always bring the BIG fun. I luvs me some Space Cowboys!

So from now on, I know what I’m doing for New Years. I hope you do too (hint hint )

* Thanks to Mark Christiansen for much footage & Natalie Schrik for camerawork!

Step 2: Apply sparkly-yet-Indian Santa Costume

Step 3: Apply Trikeasaurus

Step 4: Find SF Santarchy & roam the streets with a few hundred Santas!

Step 5: Enjoy:

And a week later:

Step 6: Apply Disco Ball & Sparkly pants (of course.)

Step 7: Roam the streets & hit a karaoke bar

Step 8: Return to Step 5.

(click the photo to go to my Facebook Pix from Saturday)

 
I think I may need to revisit Christmas….

Although I’ve always liked the general goodwill/peace-on-earth vibe of Christmas-time, I’ve never particularly celebrated it. I’m not a Christian and I don’t really do the gifts thing. But the past two weekends have been some serious Christmas-y fun & I may be seeing the development of my own new Christmas traditions: Santarchy & maybe some yuletide DiscoBalling.

I’ve been on Santarchy once before and had a damn fine time, but eventually it turned into a drunken rabble (don’t get me wrong, I’m all for pleasantly buzzed people, but drunken rabbles? Not-so-much). This time (two Saturdays back) I had Trikeasaurus & it was 7 hours of nothing but ridiculous good times – till I broke Trikeasaurus**

Then this past weekend, I figured, “Well I have all these fun dancey Christmas songs…” why not hit it in my DiscoBall? So I grabbed some of my peeps, put on ye olde Disco Ball & had another good Saturday with amplified sound.

Here’s a little video of my adventures that night at Santarchy….

Here are all my Santarchy photos on Facebook… Check ‘em out!

And here are a bunch of great shots from Flickr.

Thanks electric heart, chocopups, steve rhodes, and plaid_iguana!

Anyway Big Big BIG thanks to all those who put together SF Santarchy 2008, and I’m already looking forward to NEXT Christmas.

* My favorite Xmas songs are “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by U2, and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon. But the Eels songs & the Elvis & The Jackson 5 & Aretha were great too! Here’s the full playlist of Xmas songs I used (not including my general Trikeasaurus favorites.) Clicking on the list will take you to the iMix on the iTunes Store….

• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2
• Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas – Eels
• Christmas Is Going to the Dogs – Eels
• Linus & Lucy – Vince Guaraldi Trio
• Christmas Won’t Be The Same This Year – The Jackson 5
• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – The Jackson 5
• Christmas in Hollis – Run-DMC
• Santa’s Beard – They Might Be Giants
• Santa Baby – Madonna
• Winter Wonderland (Single Version) – Aretha Franklin
• Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Single Version) – Bruce Springsteen
• A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives
• Jingle Bell Rock – Daryl Hall & John Oates
• Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – Diana Ross, Jackson 5 & The Supremes
• Please Come Home for Christmas – Eagles
• Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) – Elvis Presley
• Frosty the Snowman – Jackson 5
• Up On the House Top – Jackson 5
• Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer – Jackson 5
• Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto – James Brown
• Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon
• Jingle Bells – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
• Merry Christmas Baby – Stevie Wonder & Wyclef Jean
• Joy to the World – The Supremes
• Silver Bells – The Supremes
• The Little Drummer Boy – The Temptations
• Christmas – The Who

** Yep, I blew out all the welding on the speaker mount on Trikeasaurus during SF Santarchy shenanigans. Luckily, my friend Aaron Lander, the man behind Trikeasaurus, is repairing it. BLESS YOU AARON!

In another Trikeasaurus related note, I got a SECOND ticket from the cops for being too loud a month ago. Today, I went to the Hall of Justice, and luckily, this one, like the last one, was thrown out! Yippeee! It would have been $184. Eventually I may need a Trikeasaurus Legal Defense Fund, but not yet. Trikeasaurus is 2 for 2!

Also note that there are more pics and videos after the jump!

(Courtesy of Whole Wheat on Flickr)

Celeste and I were on our way to the Prop 8 protest last Saturday (11/15) & halfway there I started wondering whether we should go home and get Trikeasaurus. It was a bit of a debate because obviously you don’t want to detract from the cause or trivialize it.

It’s a tough call because the gestalt here in our fair city is strange: ecstatic, hopeful, and in giddy disbelief about Obama, but devastated, angry, and really heart-broken about Prop 8′s victory. (It doesn’t matter whether you are straight or gay – everyone I know is heartbroken about Prop 8.)

So what to do?

In the end, the gorgeousness and warmth of the day carried it. We figured “The Gays” + “sunny, gorgeous day” meant that in addition to being a protest, it was going to be a party.

So we turned around, went home, put together Trikeasaurus & headed out again.

It turns out we were right! PEOPLE LOVED IT and my wee trike became a bit of a rallying point.

Did I mention how much I love “The Gays”

I tried to keep the music “gay” & “love” themed (got a lot of ABBA & Madonna on) but the two biggest musical highlights were marching to MIKA’s (fantastic) “Grace Kelly” and realizing how appropriate it was (it could even be about being gay):

Do I attract you?
Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?
Am I too dirty?
Am I too flirty?
Do I like what you like?

I could be wholesome
I could be loathsome
I guess I’m a little bit shy
Why don’t you like me?
Why don’t you like me without making me try?

And then the second highlight, which was by far the biggest slice of awesome, was Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” a.k.a the song that has taken over my life. Someone suggested I play some Journey just as we were marching up to Powell & Market, and I hit DSB like I often do on Trikeasaurus. THE CROWD (AND ONLOOKERS) WENT WILD.

So since then, in addition to constantly playing DSB because I and everybody else around loves it, I’ve started getting on the mic & introing it with “To everyone broken hearted about Prop 8….”

Some will win some will lose some were born to sing the blues.
Oh the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on…

Don´t stop believing.
Hold on to the feeling.

Celeste works the cute….

And, as usual BK takes great photos, here’s one, but he has many….

UPDATE:

More Videos from Bill: