Uptown power outages be damned, downtown tonight it's What's My Line?

All of our clocks may be blinking twelve when we get home tonight, but train disruptions and exploding transformers on the Upper East Side are all the more reason to come downtown, to the air-conditioned environs of the Parkside Lounge, for a little cool game show action. What's My Line? Live in NYC! is tonight at 8:00; might as well leave work now, and beat the heat with the Parkside's ridiculous happy hour deals. Seriously, leave now. We'll see you there!

And, finally...

Exotic World Weekend 2007 in words and pictures.

Captain and Tuna-nille

Or Captain and Neptunille, we never completely settled on it. The Mermaid Parade was a lot of fun; the weather was perfect, amazing costumes, we were surrounded by friends. It was insanely crowded, and the ratio of photographers to just spectators was about 1:1. The whole route was basically one long photoshoot; when we got home that evening Jen got on Flickr just to check it out and nearly 6,000 pictures had already been uploaded, with the parade only a few hours over. It's ridiculous.

But, after years of wanting to do it and always having a conflict or reason come up, being in the 25th Anniversary Mermaid Parade was totally worth the effort. Our group made the wise decision of bailing out of the parade when it jammed up in front of the judging booth-we were not there to compete! The two of us ended up hanging out in front of the Sideshow bar, drinking beer, eating fried seafood, meetin' and greetin' the friends and associates who made their way there. Pretty awesome, actually. Next year, who knows what the whole thing will be? Anyway, more pix here if interested. Or just do a Flickr search and see how many thousands more are posted now!

Why is this funniest thing ever on the internet?

Can't. stop. watching it.

Love will keep us together...also alcohol.

After years of failed plans, we're finally going to be walking in tomorrow's Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. And what will we be wearing? Here's a hint:

The twilight of Williamsburg

Finally recovered from Exotic World Weekend by sleeping for approximately 24 hours and not answering my cellphone or checking email all day on Saturday, and while I still plan to write a proper overview of the epic weekend I haven't quite gotten that far, nor will I again tonight, because I'll be headed to Galapagos for the hot retro action of SO 8Tease! presented by Amber Ray. All '80's themed burlesque! Not only is that a hard-to-resist hook, but the lineup is fabulous too, featuring Frenchie Press, Scooter Pie (recently returned to the scene after a long absence!), Delirium Tremens, Tigger, Creamy Stevens, Clams Casino, Nasty Canasta, Honi Harlow and of course Amber herself. But to be honest the best reason not to miss tonight's show: it will very likely be the last time I set foot in Galapagos before its iminent, tragic closure and eventual move to DUMBO.

This really represents a sad state of affairs for Williamsburg; Galapagos, while not entirely free of annoying issues for performers and producers, has been a vital anchor to the Burg's arts and cultural scene since artists first started moving into the neighborhood. It's depressing that its making the financially necessary move to DUMBO, a neighborhood that, while grittily appealing in appearance, never developed into anything like the arts district it was leaning towards 6-7 years ago, and has instead pretty much devolved into a condo hellzone. And it's funny, on Saturday Jen and I had a real "fall back in love with New York after returning from our affair with Vegas" time in Williamsburg; a rainy walk through the Renegade Craft Fair at McCarren Pool, and sunset rum drinks and fried seafood at Surf Bar...but after tonight a big reason we ever come to the neighborhood will be gone.

Back from Vegas.

Still exhausted. And exhilarated. Detailed exploits to come, but for now, a peek at the first thing we were handed by Luke, who picked us up at the airport last Wednesday night: this article from City Life, LV's version of the Village Voice. It was a pretty great way to start the weekend.

AND this proves we were meant for Vegas!

Today we made the official announcement that the Exotic World Burlesque Museum will now be known as simply, The Burlesque Hall of Fame. It's a good decision; for an institution looking to build a stable, high visibility new home in a new city, with a rapidly growing international audience, a clear, straightforward name is vital. "Exotic World" just confuses people-not only because of the broad use of exotic to connote all adult entertainment, but in surprising ways: Vegas-based Board member Luke Littel has told me about the calls he gets from people looking to rent snakes and tropical birds! The place has had a lot of names over the years, but the fact is, from its very origins, when Jennie Lee founded it this place has first and foremost been THE Hall of Fame for this unique, specific form of art and entertainment. So, it makes sense; the name Exotic World means a lot to a lot of people and it will live on in the annual Exotic World Weekend and the Miss Exotic World Pageant title. But as Liberace here shows, the new name is really just coming full circle!

(photo from the collection of the Burlesque Hall of Fame)

This time next week...

It's hard to believe that this time next week, I'll be in Las Vegas; in fact, I will be at the 50th Annual Striptease Reunion Showcase, at the Shag Showroom at the Plaza Hotel on Fremont Street! Earlier in the day, I will have helped coordinate a half-mile long, 250-person bump 'n' grind kickline down that same street, all of them holding up their sections of a 3,000+ foot long, hot pink, ostrich feather boa donated by the world's largest ostrich feather company, all in service to setting the Guinness World's Record for the longest boa in history. I'm fairly certain that this is a record we invented last year when Laura came up with the idea. This is the insane shit that makes this Weekend the highlight of any year.

There are so many things to be excited about...the one and only Clams Casino will literally be the first performer of the entire Weekend when she takes the stage at the kick-off party Thursday night, on the stage at the Beauty Bar. Jonny Porkpie is running the official Texas Hold-Em Tournament (he's dubbed it the "Twirled Series of Poker"), starting at 1:30 AM at Binion's, after the show on Friday--in the Poker lounge next to the bar with the mechanical bull. Oh, and then there are the shows! And seeing people I haven't seen since this craziness last year! And all the sleepless (and gambling-less, eatless, drinkless) insane hard work to pull it off!

We've all been working so hard the past two months to make it all come together, and when it does it will still feel like a miracle. But I wouldn't miss it for anything. I'd love to say that I'd try and blog about it while I'm in Sin City this year, but that's just completely fucking impossible.

Meanwhile, venues are coming calling about Bump 'n' Grindhouse: the tour....

Oh yeah, and I have a day job!