(Click here if you just wanna see pix of my costume, or click here if you just want to see “making of pix”)

So my long tradition of ridiculously ambitious Halloween costumes continued this year with my second attempt at a dinosaur (to see more, click here for a quick summary or here for all the pics). I did pretty well – I give it a B-.

(click the picture to see all the pix)

The genesis of this year’s dino, other than my general fascination with the beasties, was the last dino costume, the Deepasaurus (from Halloween 2006). While parts of it worked well (the head!), the totality of the costume left a LOT to be desired. As my friend Peat generously put it at the time “It’s a good 1.0″ Ironically, just as I was finishing that costume, I realized how to make it much better, and with MUCH less effort!

So now, 3 years later – I tried it.

(click the picture to see all the pix)

What I ended up creating, while much better than Dino 1.0, was a far cry from what I wanted (I made some mistakes!), but still I can’t really complain. It looked great in the end! My costumes are always an iterative process anyway… and I’m pretty happy with Dino 2.0 – The Glamosaur!

Read on if you want to know how I did it…
Click HERE for more…

[UPDATE 4/19/11: As of 2010 sometime, there are no longer any supermarkets in SF that carry this PB You can bulk order it from MN but it comes with a LOT of packaging and C02 emissions ]

Many of you know that there is only one dangerous addiction in my life. I don’t drink, or smoke (bleagh!) or do any of the (frankly, more interesting) substances available. But there is one seriously controlled substance in my life: peanut butter. I luvs me some peanut butter.

I could go on and on explaining that love, but suffice to say there was a point when the young ‘Deep, circa 5 or 6 years old, decided to seek a better parenting opportunity* by running away from home. To begin my new life on my own, I carefully chose the three things I’d take with me: a blanket, a spoon, and a jar of JIF Extra Crunchy: I have always been serious about my peanut butter. It is a conscious effort not to eat peanut butter every day of the week**.

So about a year & a half ago, I came across this blog post by someone who loves peanut butter even more than I do (shocking! & perhaps a bit scary, actually) & ever since I have been looking for this “Parkers Farm” Peanut Butter of which he speaks. It had been a long and fruitless search and I had all but forgotten, until one day on Facebook, one of my friends mentioned her favorite snack*** & happened to include the brand of the peanut butter involved! I realized that she knew where to find it! Woot!

After getting the scoop, I immediately went and bought some. And……. lo! I had been delivered from darkness! It is truly the best peanut butter I have ever had. Whether you like all natural or not, whether you like creamy or not, whether you like sweetened or not, it doesn’t matter. This is IT:

• in San Francisco, it can be found at Whole Foods South of Market. [UPDATE 11/23/09: I have been informed that it is also at Whole Foods in Noe Valley & Delessio's Market near the PanHandle.] All Whole Foods don’t carry it, but here is a link to the Parkers Farm company & I think they have a link to some of the distributors.
• It is kept in the refrigerated case (like where they keep cottage cheese and butter.)

If you like mainstream peanut butter (as I do), you’ll find the honeyed ones are where it is at!
If you like natural peanut butter, I still think you’ll like the sweeter honeyed ones, but by all means go for the “Plain” if need be. I prefer the “Honey Crunchy”, but the “Plain” is also great & a significantly different excellent experience from the honeyed ones. The “Honey Creamy” is practically as good as the “Honey Crunchy.” There is a “Plain Crunchy”, but they don’t seem to carry it at my Whole Foods.

The second amazing thing about this peanut butter, after the taste, is that it’s ALL NATURAL – and the ingredients are ONLY: peanuts & salt or peanuts, honey & salt (in the honeyed case). WOW.

The third amazing thing is that unlike all other natural peanut butters I’ve tried, the oil doesn’t seem to ever separate! They have some process miracle going on in there. Fascinating. My mind keeps returning to this question – how do they do it?!!!

So, get to it people! You won’t be disappointed! And if you are ever at my house, feel free to ask for a taste spoon. And thus I shall spread The Gospel!

‘deep

* Since my Mom will no doubt read this, let me state for the record that I was getting fine parenting of course.

** Unfortunately, the latest pictures of me suggest that I have been… BUT I HAVEN’T – which of course, begs the question “What is the point of gaining weight if you aren’t doing it by getting to eat peanut butter 24/7?” – clearly my life (& my waistline) is amiss! I need to fix that – but the good news is that means more PF Peanut Butter for all of you Use it well!

*** THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SHANTHALA!!! And big thanks to my favorite blog Daring Fireball, & ESPECIALLY Davenetics for bringing me to the light.

.ps It is amusing to me that both of my food reviews have taken on biblical tones, and probably heretical ones at that. I’m clearly gonna burn in hell.

(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…

If you know much about SF, you know that the SF Bay Guardian matters. It is the local-scene and left-wing-politics weekly and I love it. Every year they do a “Best of The Bay” issue wherein they give the low down on what’s what in my beloved Yay Area…

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!

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…

Dear SF Po-Po, why do you keep trying to put the SMACKDOWN on me? I am just trying to use my powers for AWESOME. Really.

So Saturday night’s FlashDance 19 was just kicking into STUPENDOUS-FUN gear and suddenly 6-8 cops showed up and put a SMACKDOWN on us. One was especially super f&%ng aggro: Before even saying word one, he had already plowed through one of my speakers and then started grabbing at cables on the back of my rig to yank them out. NOT COOL.

Click HERE for more…