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Posted on July 19th, 2008 by Jim.
Categories: Event Reviews, Travel.
Time certainly moves fast when you are having fun.
San Francisco Pride was the first part of the most recent activities during the past few weeks. Pride in San Francisco is always accompanied by many fun things to be a part of, from house parties with friends to great dance parties, to the pride event itself. Specifically, I was happy to see a few new events come into play, with the highlight of the weekend being the Frisco Disco dance party held at Mezzanine and the Unity dance party held at Temple.
Frisco Disco was a new twist on a fun party by a well known producer, Billy Worthen, with some fun shows and events, flow arts space for flaggers and fanners, and a great dance space with great music provided by DJ Cary Stringfellow. Frisco Disco was held on Saturday night of Pride, against several other events in San Francisco, but the crowd that attended was an attractive and fun group of guys who seemed to be in the spirit to show some pride and just have some fun. Unity, a party thrown by yet another very well known producer, Luke Johnstone, held on Sunday night of Pride, included top DJ talent Wayne G, Luke Johnstone, and others. The Unity party was held in the downstairs catacombs space of Temple night club, and was a nice blend of people and differing music styles. Both parties really painted a great picture of how the scene in San Francisco can be diverse, interesting, and fun. Sadly, while on my summer holidays, we found out that DJ Cary Stringfellow had passed away suddenly on July 6. The loss of a good DJ, let alone a wonderful guy like Cary, will leave a large hole in the dance community.
Tuesday, following pride, my partner and I gathered up our holiday gear and headed off to Barcelona, Spain, to begin our summer holidays. We had a few days to enjoy this wonderful city, seeing all the sites it had to offer. The city was clean and friendly, and certainly a place I will return to someday soon. The most memorable parts of the city were the wonderful architectural effects of Antoni Gaudi, and one that specifically calls greatest attention is the Sagrada Familia, or the Cathedral of the Holy Family. This amazing structure has been under construction for several decades and is not even 50% completed. It is anticipated to be completed sometime around the year 2030. You can see some of the amazing photos I took in my photo albums. Additionally, many other buildings around Barcelona show similar Gaudi styles.
After a few days in Barcelona, we caught a taxi to the pier and went off on the Atlantis Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona to Rome aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruise Liner “Navigator of the Seas”. This trip stopped at such wonderful ports of call as Marseille, Livorno, Mykonos and Santorini. Each port had some amazing sites to offer and each was a very unique experience. I have placed many photos of these locations in my photo albums as well.
Highlights of the cruise are many. But again, churches and ancient ruins dominate the list of sites to see in most towns.
We had another day at sea before ending the cruise in Rome. The entertainment on this cruise was wonderful, and the DJ talent as well. We were able to enjoy a few of the dance parties with talents like Paul Goodyear, Abel, Wayne G, and Shigeki. The parties were typical of the Atlantis team; well run, good music, great guys. The White Party was the one event we hit for the long haul, making it to the very early hours of the morning. The music that Paul Goodyear and Abel played was some of the best we had heard, and the light show by Guy Smith and Lasers by Kyle were perfect additions for creating the most amazing club scene at sea.
Finally, we ended our holidays in Rome. We were able to see much of the ancient ruins of the city including the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, and many others including churches, obelisks and columns all over the city. We also spent an entire day touring the Vatican, seeing the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, and St. Peter’s plaza and Basilica.
So, summer holidays come to an end. More travel on the horizon, more parties still to attend this year, and so much more coming up. Specifically, the Past Curfew Team will produce the Dore Alley weekend closing party, PLAY, at the DNA lounge on Sunday, July 27, with Lydia Prim. And summer would not be complete without Burning Man, Love Parade and of course Folsom Week, with the crown jewel of San Francisco parties, Real Bad. I will certainly report more on those events as they come up.
Posted on May 7th, 2008 by Jim.
Categories: Event Reviews, Travel.
What can I say – I had the most amazing trip to London during the May Bank Holiday - a 3 night, 4 day, whirlwind trip to the heart of the clubbing world. Travelling with my friends Leif and Steve for our 3 tour of the year, I was taken on a crazy trip to London to see the sites and taste the culture of dancing, British style.
We arrived early Saturday morning from our overnight flight to London. We hopped into a car (pre-arranged by Steve) and quickly headed to Vauxhall to the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel. The hotel was beautiful and well done and located just blocks from the London Eye, Parliament our beloved Vauxhall. We dropped out gear and headed out to Smith’s to have breakfast with friends (some visiting from San Francisco and some from London). After a hearty breakfast we all headed out sightseeing taking in the Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge and a lovely walk along the Thames. The day was packed with things to see, neighborhoods to explore and an 8PM ride on the London Eye. I took many pictures of the sites and they can be found here on my soap box.
Following a lovely dinner we all set out to get ready for our evening out and our weekend of dancing and mischief. The first stop on the tour was XXL London. This was a great club with a gear night and time to enjoy the first of a series of London clubbing experiences. XXL is under the train tracks in a series of several arches. This creates some fun places to explore and dance. We spent the entire night at this club, meeting many locals and catching up with other friends. The music was not over the top sensational, but it was clearly fun and easy to dance to. We ended the night in the smaller hours of the morning so we could get some sleep before the mother visit of all.
Sunday we awoke for breakfast and headed to the RVT (Royal Vauxhall Tavern). This is the mother ship of dancing for the bear and local scene, as some would say, and the experience did not disappoint. We got in line early to get our armbands and then returned later for the best show one could ask for, the Dame Edna Experience. It was fantastic, fun, silly, and just all around a good time. I loved every minute of this. Following this we got to dance and listen to one of my favorite DJ’s, Andy Almighty. The music was great, but we ended the evening at RVT a bit early because more was to come and we would be back again the next day.
Our next stop that night was the club called Fire and the night called Orange. This was another amazing space, set into the railway arches. Several dance floors, and eclectic crowd, and music that made you keep dancing with your hands in the air, a smile on your face, and non-stop excitement. The lighting in this club is amazing, using many new LED technologies that are available. We were also treated a set by our good friend Wayne G, who we regularly get to hear DJ in San Francisco and I have also heard on many cruises, however, this was London and made it very special. This club has an amazing light box room with walls and ceiling covered with individual color changing LED lighting technology, allowing large images to be swept, like on a monitor, across the walls and ceiling, for some amazing visuals. While the music was nothing amazing in this room, the light show made up for it. Overall, Fire is a hot club, well run, great space and fun. The crowd the night we attended was fun, and basically it was fun because of who we hung out with and because I was there with friends. There was a typical level of American Circuit boys in the club, and that was something that was a first for me to have seen in London. We made a very late night (or should I say early morning) of this club.
Our final day in London was spent at the RVT, with another Dame Edna show.
I met so many wonderful guys in London. Friendly, fun, easy going and more than eager to get to know us and who we were. This impressed me the most, and certainly has given me the longing to return to London again (maybe this August but certainly by New Year). I want say that Steve and Leif are amazing travel companions, making a weekend like this, something so special that I had to often contain tears of joy for the fun I was having. Not to be forgotten was the chance to reunite with Wil (who I miss from SF very much) and Marcus and James (who live in SF) and to meet Martin (Wil’s new beau) and several other new friends (Martin, Ian, Mark, John, Tony, Michael, and far too many more to remember all the names).
Until the next note, may joy fill your lives and may you have eternal fun in the light of the disco ball.
P.S. You may have noticed the new “Juicy’s Juice Box” name to the site. This was a suggestion from Leif and something I like. I am seriously trying to get myself to writing more and more. I hope you will stop by often and see what is new or set up your RSS feed to pick my new articles. Cheers!
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 by Jim.
Categories: General, Event Reviews, Travel.
Spring arrives to many fun events. The weather is improving and overall attitudes improve too. This year, as Spring has arrived, I find myself travelling more, dealing with some new challenges, and finding that life throws you lots of curve balls.
Let’s begin with the challenges.
Shortly after returning from Sydney, I received a call from my dad, letting me know that my mother was in the hospital, having suffered a major stroke and minor heart attack. The good news is she is well, and suffered very little physical issue. However, she has had significant brain trauma and is dealing with a level of aphasia. I am happy to report she is home, but many things have changed. Mom has some challenges with expressing herself, and seems most challenged in stressful situations. She is working with a speech therapist and a physical therapist, and is slowing getting her life back together. Her friends have been a source of amazement to me, as they prepare meals for my parents and visit on a regular basis. My dad is holding up pretty good and has been sending out a daily blog email of status on my mother’s health, which I think is ultimately a great deal of therapy for him. Keep them both in your thoughts.
Now with that going on, let’s talk travel - this year has been full of fun trips.
The most recent has taken me to New York, where I was able to catch up with my good friend Greg and enjoy a lovely home cooked meal with him in his new home. Additionally, I was able to celebrate my friend Noah’s birthday and have some fun times out with him (funny thing is that Noah lives in San Francisco, a former resident of New York, and I see him more in New York than I do in San Francisco). Later during the week, my traveling buddies (Steve and Leif) arrived and we all met up with more friends and we attended the annual Rites XXIX: Black Party event in New York. It was a great joy to have my two close friends with me and have us all share in that event together.
This past weekend I was able to enjoy a little time in Palm Springs for the annual pilgrimage to the White Party. The events were certainly more fun this year, the music happier, the crowd friendlier. As remarked by one friend, hopefully this is a change towards a better time in these community events. I really enjoyed this weekend time with my good friend Dan and his partner David at the lovely home they have in Cathedral City - the environment is relaxing and refreshing. Additionally, I was able to hang out with my buddy Eric who lives in Palm Springs and I was able to catch up with my good friends from Calgary, Neal and Denis and their friends Tom and Rome.
Soon, I will be jetting off to my first trip to London. I am very excited and looking forward to relaying what that trip is like.
Finally, other things in life are stable.
Coming soon, my partner John and I are planning a great European travel excursion on the Atlantis Barcelona to Rome Cruise, so stay posted for more to come on that.
Until my next post, Happy Spring.
Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by jim.
Categories: Event Reviews, Travel.
Changing things up a bit, I chose to join my two close friends (Leif and Steve) for a trip to Australia for the 30th Anniversary of Mardi Gras. Following a 14 hour flight from San Francisco we arrived in what has to be the most beautiful country on earth. Sydney is beautiful, clean, green and gorgeous. The people are extremely friendly and fun to be around and the events for Mardi Gras draw a mixed and fun crowd of all types of people.
Upon arrival we headed to our hotel for the first couple night accomodations, grabbed a quick shower and then headed out to tour the city. Later that afternoon we hit the Harbor Party and enjoyed and afternoon of warm weather, warm people, and great music. This was the first party for us of the Mardi Gras celebration, but the events had already been going on for a couple weeks. The entire day was a blast with meeting new friends from all over the globe.
During the week we moved to a lovely apartment in Darlinghurst, just blocks from Oxford Street. We settled in and started to take in and enjoy the town. Friday came and we celebrated Leif’s birthday by doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk. And then the party weekend came and we enjoyed much of what there was to offer with Mardi Gras and Toy Box parties.
Overall, my impression of this event and town is that they know how to do this right. I have never seen a happier, more beautiful people who want to celebrate life. The culture is not very divisive, rather it is inclusive. All you had to do is smile at someone to get them to say hello, something often unseen in the United States. The music and events were all very well orchestrated, well attended, and I mean right to the very end. The close comparison I could make is that this is something like a Burning Man event, but with running water and restaurants. The light shows at the parties, especially Toy Box have to be some of the best I have ever seen. Also, the music mixture was unbelievable, giving you the classic house dance sound in one big venue while crossing to the other building was an amazing trance venue. This is something you just do not see in the United States.
Overall, great impressions of Australia. First week over, heading for another week in Melbourne next, and then home to California. Check out my pictures.
Posted on September 16th, 2007 by Jim.
Categories: General, Event Reviews, Travel.
It certainly has taken me a few weeks to get back to the journal here and write something about Burning Man and the re-entry into normal life following the burn.
I am sure as you read this you are aware of the drama that unfolded at the 2008 Burn. First was the unscheduled burning of the actual man on Monday night (or Tuesday morning) during the lunar eclipse. The crowds that night were insane for a Monday on the playa, more in line with the typical crowd of a Thursday or Friday night of the burn week. John and I had headed out with intentions of enjoying the evening, seeing the eclipse and having a great night, but neither of us were very happy with the crowds or the attitude of lunacy that was surrounding the night. At about midnight we crashed and awoke on Tuesday to hear that the man had been burned. I took a bike ride out to see the man standing, charred a bit, bit still standing. Amazingly, the BRC team pulled him down and rebuilt and added neon back come Thursday night, in fact a phoenix then adorned his head. It was a beautiful sight to see, after several night of having a problem with bearings and reference without the man on the playa (for those of you who have gone you know how important he is for a landmark to find your way around at night).
Secondly was the suicide that took place at a favorite camp we enjoy, Comfort and Joy. This was a sad moment for both this camp and for the friends of the man who took his life. It seemed to cast a bit of a shadow on the camp for the week once word got out.
Other than that, it was a good burn, not remarkable, but good. I come away with a lot of great memories (see photos) of time with spent with my sponsored members of the camp and some good friends. I went to the festival this year, thinking I would not return next year, and take some time off, but I am leaning more towards going again.
Finally, it is September in San Francisco, which means another busy month. The end of this month will be crazy with the Love Fest on Saturday, September 29, and then all of the events of Folsom Street weekend, culminating with my favorite party, Real Bad.
Hope to see you soon, and if you are reading this and we have not chatted in a while, please drop me a line.