this is fyf

Everything you always wanted to know...but couldn't shut up long enough to listen to the answer.

Via: Pharmacy Technician

What are you doing for Hallowe'en?

Yes. That IS a Labryinth t-shirt!

What are you going to be (I still haven't a clue, but it's not likely to be either Luke Perry or David Bowie in Labyrinth.)?

Ancient Celts believed the membrane separating this world and the underworld, or afterlife, became thin and was breached by various spirits on All Hallow's Eve (they traditionally called it Samhain, I believe?). See, Samhain is believed to have marked summer's end (the word derives from the phrase for that in Old Irish, supposedly.), and the border between the "light" part of the year and the "dark" part may have seemed related to a thinning of this barrier between worlds.  The spirits who came through could be harmless, but were also potentially harmful. Costumes were worn both as a means to confuse the harmful spirits and - by young men - to symbolize the spirits of family who had crossed over, that viewers might remember those who had passed and respect their memory.

So...what are you going to wear?

Regardless, here's what you might want to do:

FRIDAY (Tonight):

Ladyfag's new Clubber Down Disco returns for its second night with Honey Dijon DJing and Tai Chi, One-Half Nelson and Casey Spooner hosting. Ryan Smith at the door, whore! Word to the wise? Arrive on the early side. There's more than one reward (i.e. - entrance) awaiting you if you do.

Similarly, Mr. Rich King and Mr. Gustavo Motta offer incentive to arrive to their Snaxx shindig early. They'll be wigging out (as you should be!) but the beer will be free (from 10pm - 11pm)! Also popcorn, peanuts and a surprise!

Uptown at mine and Tai's (well, EVERYone's) old haunt - Rebel - Peter Rauhofer and the WORK! crew (DJs Corey Craig & Nita Aviance spin upstairs and Ms. Roze BLACK is BACK hosting the party!) throw a night of Hallo-weenie craziness.

Bana is back, but they've been kicked out of their Downtown Fulton Street baths location at the last minute so are moving the VIP portion of the party out to Brooklyn to the site of the original banya party several years ago that kicked the whole shebang off. The baths there are SITTing, is all I'll say. Oh and transportation is provided (via go-go equipped...or equipped go-go? party bus.) from 15th and 8th Avenue (in front of Starbucks) three times: 11pm, 12am, and 1am with two return trips at 3am and 4am. I think you may have to already have a ticket to ride the bus, so hit up the website for full information and the ticket purchase link.

There's (what seems like) a thousand other options, as well. Find the FYF Calendar for those.

This weekend...

  
If your week looked like this...

So we're blowin' up here at FYF, kids. But who cares!? Does yesterday matter when it's the weekend and you want to know what to do? Not even.  So, without further ado, here's the (admittedly non-exhaustive, but expansive nonetheless) rundown:

Friday - Xavier gives you tall, lanky go-go during The Penny Arcade Experience (7pm, Le Poisson Rouge).  Snaxx puts a "Spring" in your step (10pm, Westside Tavern, Basement). Mr. Black teams with The Cock for...wait for it...Black Cock! (whodathunk?)...with Eddie and co. hosting the shit out of the space (11pm, The Cock).  Ricardo guest DJs with a at Hard On @ The Eagle (10pm, The Eagle), my boy Oscar Rada celebrates his birthday at a raucous edition of F*Word (Alexis Arquette will be in the house, leaving no doubt as to it being a wild night.) (10pm, Rebel) and Brian Rafferty and Ryan Sorkin launch a new night at The Norwood (like Soho House, but for artistic types) with the promise of MOREWOOD (11pm, The Norwood).

Saturday - Crisis on Eighth Avenue presents Dress'd To Kill! with guest DJs Gant Johnson and Austin Downey joining Rich King upstairs (10pm, Elevate); FYF Contributor, Dave Hughes teams with Damian Cote under his DJ pseudonym, Dave Huge, for Large Hardon Collider (10pm, Stonewall); DJ Jeff Jackson and Disco Connie are mighty real at Double Headed Disco (1opm, Nowhere Bar); DJ Billy Beyond is playing all the divas gays love at Dance: 208 (last hour is a Madonna-thon, but I don't think anyone from Glee will be there.) (9pm, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center), and Mister Saturday Night moves to a new, secret location in a loft in Brooklyn where residents Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter hold it down (well) all night by themselves due to their guest DJ Danny Wang being held up from attending by the volcano predicament in Europe. ("WHAT?! No Wang!?" I know...I know. Hopefully you got your fill Friday at Morewood.) (10pm, RSVP for location).

...and that's what's happening in New York!

Photo via Moss' brand new blog.

Spin the Deejay - Mark Louque

Your trusty correspondent took a week off last week, partially to recover from his trip to Berlin, where he attended the noted dance emporium Berghain, a club in the direction of which some ‘heads probably bow and pray five times per day'.   As you've read before, Berghain, located in an abandoned power station in East Berlin could easily stand in for any number of sets from the Tim Burton Batman films.  Seriously the venue is no fucking joke. This week’s featured jockey Mark Louque will be playing at Berghain in a few weeks!  So don’t step.

How do you organize your music collection? UGH...this is the hard part, but in a nutshell I organize my digital files in playlists and my vinyl by genre then alphabetized. I do not own any CDs.

What are the top five tracks in your iTunes, all time?

• Wax Poetic – “Sea Grass” (60 plays)
• LCD Soundsystem – “Yeah (Pretentious Version)” (54 plays)
• Matthew Herbert – “Foreign Bodies” (52 plays)
• Voices of East Harlem – “Right On Be Free” (49 plays)
• Britney Spears – “Boys” (48 plays)

What's your current typical tech set up for playing out? At home?   When I play out I use Technics 1200mK2 turntables with Ortofon Nightclub E styluses and my Black MacBook (which I've nicknamed 'Oprah'), Traktor PRO, and an Audio 2 DJ sound card. The only difference at home is that I use a Presonus Firebox for my sound card.

What requests won't you take?  I will not consider playing any artist whose name sounds like a baby's first word and other vomit of that nature.

You’re bombing. What's the next track?  Gwen McCrae – “All This Love”.  More importantly, what was the record that caused me to bomb? Get rid of her!

Who should play your funeral?  I would like a giant orchestra playing Chopin's 'Funeral March' at half speed for 24 hours straight.

What are you when you're not a DJ?  Full-time friend & lover, part-time know it all.  Oh, and I make music, buy/sell records, bartend, and argue with my dad about the effects of a patriarchal society on a man's ability to love - he doesn't understand.

You're trapped on a desert island. Which diva have you brought along to eat?  Aretha - DUH!!!

Top ten:

1. Falty DL – All in the Place (Rush Hour)
2. Pilooski – Rvng of the Nerds Vol. 10 (I Get Rvng)
3. Discodromo – Ionio (Hnysndsysm)
4. Erdbeerschnitzel – Tonight is Today (3rd Strike Records)
5. FCL Let's Go (Wax Recordings)
6. Unknown – Get to My Baby (TBD Extension) (Golf Channel Recordings)
7. Nick Chacona – Be Like Olive (Levon Vincent Remix) (Mood Music)
8. Rodion & Hugo Sanchez – Tape Oxyde (Hnysndsysm)
9. Brend Harris - “Making Love” (Dream Records)
10. Red Lion – “Living Together” (Claremont 56)

In addition to his impending dance with the bears in the pale Berlin moonlight, Mark has a busy April planned. New York dates include Rebel with Alon Geva on 4/16 (hey, that’s tonight!) XOO at Tandem in Bushwick on 4/17 (hey, that’s tomorrow night! (236 Troutman, Jefferson Stop on L Train), and the Cock on 4/30. He’ll also hit the Roxy in Boston on 4/29 and he’ll be playing Fag Bash in P’Town at the Fo’c’sle from 5/26 through the end of the summer. For more info, check Mark's website and his biweekly radio show and podcast “The Crave Club”.

Mister Dave Hughes has lived in Chinatown, the East Village, Tribeca, Long Island City, and Harlem, and he currently hangs his hat in Williamsburg. He likes politics, disco and whiskey. His writing has also appeared in Slant, New York, and other fine publications.  

Image via Mister Isauro Cairo

This weekend...

 
  

Alon/Zoltar and the rest of the House of Zizmor bring back Planet Zizmor in celebration of Alon's birth (Friday, F-Word @ Rebel); Sugar Daddy is back to give you your fix (Friday, Sugar Daddy @ Rush). The Times LEGO man (Christoph Niemann) launches his book, I LEGO N.Y.  (Saturday @ Powerhouse Arena). Crisis is sure to W.O.W (a/k/a Women On Wax) you with Jools Palmer, Christy Love (Hey Mama!) and  Dirty Jean trading off on the decks upstairs in the Panic Room (Saturday, Crisis on Eighth Avenue @ Elevate); and Mark Louque shows up twice in one weekend (Friday, F-Word/Zoltar's Revenge & Saturday, XOO @ Tandem)! 

Tony Asaro is that Unrelenting Monkey you may know from coat check/bar backing at the Eagle, but he's also a rising star in the song-writing world (specifically musicals) and his newest libretto (have no idea but it sounds freeing?) will be debuted at Choral Chameleon's Hymns for the Amusement of Children (Sunday, Hymns for the Amusement of Children @ Fourth Universalist Society).

 Mr. Billy Beyond's birthday is the cause celebre behind this season's Leather Squirrel gathering. Mr. Yarritu turns a delightful phrase in his invitation, particularly when it comes to the suggested dress code (usually utterly ignored in terms of attendees' dress, but hopefully completely indulged this fair Sunday!), so make sure to follow the link and read th'entire fink! (Sunday, The Leather Squirrel @ Julius')

A little taste ah "SUGAH" after the jump...

This Weekend...

 
 Malcolm McLaren

...Snaxx returns as if from the heavens (Friday, 10pm, Westside Tavern basement), DJs Bill Coleman and Lina were birthed at F Word where they're The Ones (Friday, 10pm, Rebel), Sparber and Ladosha are giving me a banjee effeck when they Move It (Friday, 11pm, Sugarland), Ricardo Studmuffin brings a dance party to the Eagle (Saturday, 10pm, The Eagle), Amanda Lepore is/is not in CRISIS (Saturday, 10pm, Elevate) Family Function continues to DYS all haters (Saturday, 10pm, Woody's), House's roots are showing at Trippin' on the Moon 4 (Saturday, 10pm, Santos Party House) while its legends continue to age (Danny Krivit's Birthday/718 Sessions - Sunday, 6pm, Santos Party House) and sister homo-pub GAYLETTER enters "midlife" to tunes from Michael Magnan and Telfar (Sunday, 10pm, Hiro),  

Other things happening this weekend (and just slightly less obviously gay/cruisy?): 

• Dunno him well, but Mr. John J. Zullo has a dance company that's performing at a festival happening in Long Island City this weekend (who knew?) and - shallowly - he's hot and looks extremely flexible (Saturday, 8 - 9pm, Green Space Studio) 
• Malcolm McLaren's death this week sent me down the Wiki rabbit hole after details of his life and others of his ilk. There, I learned a lot more about Jayne County ("Legendary!" was the previous extent.) that only increased my respect for her. I'll leave you to trace the degrees of separation, but a weekend long event at the Chelsea Hotel is named in her honor and is displaying some of her artwork. (Friday - Sunday, Chelsea Hotel - Opening event at 8pm on Friday)
• Speaking of queer rock and post-punk...QxBxRx may be showcasing the next wave this weekend? (Saturday, 10pm, Cake Shop)
• Girlfriend Greg Lockard and co-creator Mike DiMotta are debuting their new comic book  "Miss Thing Werk" at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Fest 2010 this weekend. Hi-larious! Congrats, boys! (Saturday & Sunday, 11am-6pm, 69th Regiment Armory)

And to all your birthday boys out there, Happy Birthday!

Image via