ASSC: Chez Paree SF Highlights
San Francisco, Ca.
Saturday, 05/23/98 (920pm - 3am)

Swing Shift Dancers:   HAILY
Night Shift Dancers:   ANASTASIA   KITTEN      SUMMER      CASSIE
                       ISABELLA    LILY        ASIA        CHEYANNE
                       GINGER      DIAMOND     KIRA        HALO
                       SOPHIA      CODI        BROOKE      DEVON
                       JOJO        FARRAH


                      Spontaneous Combustion

In and around the house: Fingers, Borly, Dyn0, Jim (Vancouver), AZETA 
(outside CP), Ace, TIANA and friend, Sick66, LMR & RITA (just passing 
by CP).

920pm arrival. Doorguy Jess, Kenny, Danny. BROOKE on stage.

Red bowls with candy in the office upon arrival, courtesy of, I 
presume, Fingers. But he's nowhere to be found. I do the Dog Dish 
Dump and reorganize any candy redundancy.

Down a maximum dose of Extra-Strength Tylenol with my $4 Coke to wipe 
out a nagging headache that had been bothering me all day. And it's 
almost gone by the time for PrincAss DEVON's next stage set. Good 
thing.

HMS (High Mileage Seat): Slim steak & Gummi-lovin' redhead, PrincAss 
DEVON appears on stage. She takes one look at me, laughs, then licks 
her palm, reaches out and presses a major cowlick on my head down... 
Yeah PrincAss, I'm having a real bad hair day, as you can see ;-).

Fingers, Borly and Dyn0 return from dinner at P&Ps. Nice to see Dyn0 
again... and Borly, big guy, see? I didn't blow you off THIS time!  
;-)

Around 11pm or so. ISABELLA on stage during her third song, when I 
spot "Woo Hoo" Girl AZETA (not scheduled tonight) run into CP for a 
moment. She waves so I follow her outside. After some brief chit-chat 
she asks if we could do another... Safeway run!? Sure. So I grab my 
jacket and we take off! 

We arrive at Safeway, grab a cart and scramble in and out of the 
aisles like two wild kids ;-). Pea soup, dishwashing liquid, more 
Tylenol, Cherry Coke and 7-Up, etc. While I cart-sit waiting for 
AZETA who went to the bathroom, some street-looking dude walks up and 
asks if I have change for a quarter. I reach into my pocket and say 
"Yes, I do", but then he quietly says "Oh ok" and just walks away. 
Weird. 

As we approach the check-out line, I see that same "weird" dude being 
detained in the check-out line by uniformed store security. The dude 
starts yelling "Call the SF Police! Call the SF Police!"  AZETA and I 
keep watching as more and more security guards come to assist. Store 
customers start getting antsy (e.g. "Why *doesn't* someone call the 
SFPD?"). Anyways, we make it thru the check-out line and start to 
push our cart out to leave when AZETA suddenly realizes that she 
forgot to get mass quarters for laundry, so she gets back into the 
check-out line again. And pretty soon the (now) six or seven security 
guards have successfully wrestled the "problem" customer to the 
ground to subdue him. An astonished AZETA and I wind up following 
them out the door to the paddy wagon. What drama...

Since we were in the area, AZETA asks if we can drop by her longtime 
girlfriend's house? Sure. We arrive but find NO parking anywhere, so 
we stop near a corner grocery market and she calls her from a pay 
phone. Since parking was so difficult, she agrees to meet us outside 
her place. We double park along the street and see her friend waving 
at us from her doorway, dressed in a brightly colorful costume (she 
was apparently practicing for a street festival show tomorrow). She 
runs down the stairs and meets us thru AZETA's open car window... 
she's really friendly. Nice Scotch (or was that Irish?) accent. After 
AZETA returns from using her friend's bathroom, we depart back to CP. 

As we drive up O'Farrell on our way back, we pass the Great American 
Music Hall (GAMH), and an excited AZETA asks "Hey Bubba, you wanna 
see a show?" Uh, sure. Where? "There, at the GAMH... but only if it's 
cheap ok?" Ok, sure! In all the years I'd been going to the nearby  
New Century and Mitchell Brother's Theatres, I've never once stepped 
foot in the GAMH... "Amazing", I think to myself. So we drive around 
the block and I park momentarily in front of the GAMH so that she can 
find out how much it costs. She hops out of the car and disappears 
thru the theatre's front door, then returns yelling thru the open 
window, "It's free! Let's go ok?" SURE. So as she waits for me, I 
find parking on Ellis some two blocks away, and walk back toward the 
GAMH.

As I approach the front door, I see AZETA sitting against the wall 
just outside the theatre entrance, checking/fixing her makeup. When 
she sees me, she takes my arm and we run by the front desk and take a 
peek in the main theatre. Too crowded, so she leads me upstairs to 
the balcony. We go all the way to the balcony stage-front, but there 
are too many people in the way, so she grabs my hand and we run back 
downstairs. I tell her as we run down the stairs that this is the 
first time I'd ever been to the GAMH. "This is so much fun", I yell. 

We snake thru the crowd and go near the front left of the stage. Who 
IS this band anyway? (AZETA finds out the concert was "Modest Mouse 
and Seam", whoever/whatever they are). Listen to the music a bit when 
a security guard forces us back some behind the big throng of people 
again. So we drop back to about midway in the theatre, and a little 
while later, AZETA asks (while nodding yes) "d'ya wanna go". Yep, 
let's go. As we walk out of GAMH and start down O'Farrell St., I 
can't help thinking how much fun it is hanging out with this walking, 
talking ball of spontaneous combustion...

I drop her off back at her place, then head back to CP at 1215am 
or so. The office basically the same as I left it. And a little while 
after I get comfortable, who do I see walking toward me? None other 
than... TIANA(!!!), this time INSIDE the club, visiting with a 
friend. BIG HUG. We chat a bit, then she retakes her seat with her 
friend along the back wall. During the night, TIANA actually "does 
the basket" for some of the dancers... just like old times ;-).

Shortly after, doorguy Kenny asks in the general direction of the 
office, "Hey Fingers, is Bubba still over there?" and I, at the 
office PC, respond, "Ya, I'm here!". As I get up to see who it is, a 
smiling Ace appears thru the curtain. So Ace, you're here tonight  
because you, heh heh, "had to know", right?

As TIANA came by to tell me she was leaving, I steered her toward Ace 
who was at the bar getting change and they greet each other. "Hey, 
didn't we meet at a movie once?" Ace asks slyly. "Make a wish",  
indeed ;-).

Later in the evening, Sick66 arrives!

DEVON drops by the office and asks if I'd like to take a break with  
her. Sure. And Fingers too. So we three traipse over to the local  
pinball palace. We set up a game for three, when suddenly Sick66 
walks in. Says someone at CP told him we had taken a break, so he 
came to join us. Well, suffice to say I SUCKED royally during our 
game... couldn't sustain any "ball action" at all. After one game, 
PrincAss says she needs to get back to work, so PrincAss, Fingers and 
I returned, leaving Sick66 there... turns out he was on a major 
"roll".

After getting settled in the office, I am summoned to the front door by
doorguy Kenny and see... LMR and RITA! Seems they just returned from
Nob Hill Men with DARA LYNNE and Maz... lotion eh? What fun! They were
just passing thru so LMR gives me his pager # and we agree to get
together before/during/after(?) ASSCon3 tomorrow.

3am closing time. Wait to say goodnight to PrincAss. And GINGER and I 
are... on the road, again.


-Bubba