The "A very special makeover" Edition :: Rusty's Electric Dreams, Issue #109

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Rusty’s Electric Dreams, an inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff
Issue #109 :: The “A very special makeover” Edition :: 11:09:2016

A very special makeover…

The week I moved here in 1994, the Tales of the City mini-series aired on PBS. If you’re not familiar, it starts with Mary Ann Singleton, a young naive woman who has just left the safety of her family in Ohio for the wilds of San Francisco.

In the opening (?) scene, they show several Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (queer nuns) roller skating.

I have often thought of myself as a sort of “Mary Ann Singleton” over the years. (Now I feel more like Mrs. Madrigal… but that’s a different story!)

Well, the other day I scratched off a bucket list item I didn’t even know I had when a REAL Sister put on my makeup at my friend’s wedding!

A BIG THANK YOU to Sister (and makeup artist!) Flora Goodthyme!!

Plus, the wedding itself was OFF the HOOK. It was about as “San Francisco” as you get. It was high in weirdness: A pink Bunny officiated. The legendary Annie Sprinkle was a guest. A pro-dom clown named Ouchy deejayed while a band of his fellow Klowns shook things up on the dance floor. The bride, my dear friend Dixie, threw a rubber chicken instead of a bouquet. The wrong Landrover got tagged with “Just Married.” The couple’s dog, a giant slobbery St. Bernard named Quake, was the ringbearer. The day’s hashtag? #BentDix (for Bent the groom and Dixie the bride). There was laughter. There were tears. We’ll all be talking about this one for a long time.

I can’t wait to see the pictures.

Congrats to you both! Glad I could be part of it!

— Rusty Blazenhoff

p.s. A big FYI: I put together and scheduled this week’s issue BEFORE election day. My apologies if the content seems “off” today.

This space intentionally left done did

As seen on the Internets

:: Space Oddity: David Bowie’s Secret Obsession With ’80s Memphis Design
:: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/space-oddity-david-bowies-secret-obsession-with-80s-memphis-design/

:: Cognitive Bias Codex Thanks, Benjy!
:: https://cdn-images-2.medium.com/max/2000/1*71TzKnr7bzXU_l_pU6DCNA.jpeg

:: I’m really looking forward to this
:: http://www.vh1.com/shows/martha-snoops-potluck-dinner-party

:: “The bay area loves beads! I want to see what happens when they get together!” –Mark K.
:: http://www.dealtrackersf.com/18th-annual-bay-area-bead-extravaganza/

:: Infographics for songs Thanks, Piph!
:: https://thebolditalic.com/classic-pop-songs-reimagined-as-infographics

:: “American Steel Has Been Sold: Hereâ€™s What It Means for Bay Area Artists”
:: http://journal.burningman.org/black-rock-city/american-steel-has-been-sold-heres-what-it-means-for-bay-area-artists

:: “Manic Panic Isn’t Just a Hair Dye Brand: It Was the First Punk Store in America”
:: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/manic-panic-isnt-just-a-hair-dye-brand-it-was-the-first-punk-store-in-america

:: My friend Dan Shick on “The Sleeper Hit” (podcast)
:: http://sleeperhitpod.libsyn.com/20-dan-shick-steven-universe

:: Yes, Tonto… I am the Lone Ranger Thanks, Danger Ranger!
:: http://mentalfloss.com/court-ordered-unmasking-lone-ranger

:: “Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded”
:: http://www.nytimes.com/dalai-lama-behind-our-anxiety-the-fear-of-being-unneeded.html

Artist-in-Residence: Michelle Bert

Just before I started this painting I had a conversation with a person Iâ€™m very close with about how all people (including him) live their lives performing prescribed roles “like actors on a stage.” At the time I strongly disagreed, finding his perspective to be an abandonment of any sense of free will or individualism. The “we are all just sheep” argument I stopped fussing over in my early twenties. What was most bizarre about his perspective was how cheerful he was at the idea of being an actor. He said it actually awarded him extra freedoms, which I had equated to Nietzchiâ€™s perspective on nihilism- but I will refrain from that tangent.

At least that was my interpretation at the time.

This painting is called Seven Ages, as in Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man. I put myself (and you) in the balcony seats and the people on the stage are spread out in a grid like fashion to emphasize their effective relation to one another. This piece was the start of what has become an ongoing investigation and a sizable series (last weekâ€™s work included).

—Michelle Bert

Events of note

Shoot the Moon

Alameda, California [11/10-11/13] Shoot The Moon! Pacific Pinball Expo #7 [Tickets]

Various Cities
[Ongoing] Silent Book Club

[Until 2/2017] A Good Trip Tour with Shaune Mauss, comedy centered around psychedelics

[Until 2/9/2017] Mortified Live! “Witness a night of adults telling stories about their lives by sharing their most mortifying childhood artifacts (diaries, letters, lyrics, poems, home movies)â€¦ in front of total strangers”

[2017] Adam Ant goes on tour, playing his 1980 album, Kings of the Wild Frontier, live

Adelaide, Australia
[3/3-3/19/2017] Adelaide Festival Thanks, J James!

Alameda, California
[11/10-11/13] Shoot The Moon! Pacific Pinball Expo #7 [Tickets]

[12/10] Accordion Babes Cabaret Revue at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 8 PM [Tickets]

[12/10] SOLD OUT! Mid-Century Supper Club Holiday Potluck Extravaganza! at the Eagles Hall, 6 PM to 11 PM

Albany, California
[11/11] Secret Identities, the Real Numbers & Jason Berk at Ivy Room, 9 PM show [Tickets]

Austin, Texas
??

Berkeley, California
[1/6] The Lookouting: A Celebration of Lookout! Records at 924 Gilman

Black Rock City, Nevada
[8/27-9/4/2017] Burning Man 2017

Boston, Massachusetts
[12/17] A John Waters Christmas at Berklee Performance Center, 8 PM [Tickets]

Denver, Colorado
[4/8-4/9/2017] DINK: Independent Comic Expo, “Urban art with literature, zines, small press publishers, underground comix and cocktails!” Thanks, Mike McDaniel!

[12/7] A John Waters Christmas at Boulder Theater, 8 PM [Tickets]

Detroit
[April 2017] Allee Willis’ The “D” premieres at the Fisher Building, party to follow

Houston, Texas
[5/12/2017] Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds

Las Vegas
[Ongoing] Akhob, an immersive “Ganzfeld effect” experience by artist James Turrell at Louis Vuitton [by appt only: 702-730-3150] HIGHLY recommended!

London
[Until 11/26] Fridges Fight Back: a chilling look at the darker side of white goods, “a new exhibition curated by Bompas & Parr under the auspices of the British Museum of Food” at KKOutlet, FREE

Los Angeles
[Until 11/27] Guillermo del Toro exhibit at LACMA

[11/10] Sam Green & Yo La Tengo Live Score: The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller at Skirball Cultural Center, 8 PM [Tickets]

[11/19] Publication party for The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas at La Luz de Jesus

[11/26] Krampus lecture with costumed characters, slides, and video at the Goethe Institut

[12/2] Fourth Annual Krampus Ball with Dâ€™Oberlandler Bavarian dance troupe and others TBA

[12/3] CHARLES PHOENIX APOLLO SPACE CAPSULE HOLIDAY LIGHTING at Columbia Memorial Space Center, Downey, CA, 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM

[12/4] CHARLES PHOENIX RETRO HOLIDAY SHOW & BREAKFAST FOR DINNER PARTY at Friendship Hall, 6 PM

[12/5-12/8] Henry Rollins at Largo

[12/8] Los Angeles Krampuslauf at Downtown Art Walk. After-party with Rosemaryâ€™s Billygoat at the Regent

[12/10] Santacon 2016

[12/10] TORRANCE: Krammpstein at Alpine Village

[12/11] St. Nicholas-Krampus Play, Austrian folk songs and stories by Michael Kaufmann, from Styria, Austria.

[12/17 & 12/18] Charles Phoenix’s Retro Slide Show, “Live Comedy Performance Celebrating 50s & 60s Holiday Life And Style!, Brea, CA

[1/27-1/29] stARTup Fair LA, “Los Angeles’s contemporary art fair for independent artists”

[Starts 10/2017] Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at The Broad

[11/10-11/11/2017] National Beard and Mustache Championship

Malden, Massachusetts
[Ongoing] Boda Borg

Maxwell, California
[6/15-6/18/2017] Camp Tipsy 2017, “an annual rotten boat building contest and campout”

New Orleans
[7/18-7/23/2017] Tales of the Cocktail

New York City
Quirky NYC by Oriana Leckert:
:: “From Bumper Cars to Torah Taxidermy: A Guide to 25 of Brooklyn’s Most Unusual Museums”
:: “From Elevators to Outsider Art: A Guide to 16 Under-the-Radar Museums in Queens”

[Ongoing] Sleep No More at The McKittrick Hotel
[Ongoing] Jungle-Ized by Sound Collective, Free
[Ongoing] The Ferry Play on the Staten Island Ferry, $1.99
[Ongoing] More NYC events
[Ongoing] Madame Tussauds New York hyper-reality Ghostbusters Experience

[11/10] 55th Annual Gala for La MaMa experimental theatre (with a live performance by Allee Willis)

[11/13] California Typewriter at IFC Center, 1:30 PM [Tickets]

[11/27] A John Waters Christmas at City Winery New York, 8 PM

Oakland
[Until 12/11] Root Collection: 20 Years of the Patti Smith Collection at Mills College Art Museum
[11/16] #PATTIGRAM opening reception

[Until 2/17/2017] All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 at OMCA

[11/13] An Afternoon with David Sedaris, 4 PM to 7 PM [Tickets]

[12/4] KitLAB Maker Market at Gingerbread House, 1 PM to 5 PM

[12/6] Yarn 4 : Comedy Storytelling hosted by Heather Gold

[12/13] Tig Notaro at Fox Theater, 8 PM [Tickets]

[12/18] Radical Self-Love at East Bay Meditation Center, 10 AM to 4 PM

[1/7] Tycho at Fox Theater, 8 PM to 11 PM

[4/19-4/24, 2017] Psychedelic Science 2017 at Oakland Marriott Center [Tickets]

Oregon
[8/17-8/23/2017] Oregon Eclipse 2017, a “total solar eclipse gathering”

Pasadena, California
[11/25-1/28] Enchanted: Forest of Light, an interactive, nighttime experience at Descanso Gardens [Tickets]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Thank you, Stefan Jewett!
[Until 10/31] ERASERHEAD FOREVER exhibit at Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art

Plains, Georgia
[Sundays] (Former President) Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Class

Portland, Oregon
[11/20] PDX : Va-Jay-Jay Day! A Celebration of All Things Pussy!

Tulare and Sacramento, California
[Weekends until 1/6/2017] Global Winter Wonderland

San Diego
[12/15] Presentation on The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas at San Diego Art Institute, Balboa Park

[3/4-3/11] JoCo Cruise 2017, “a whole cruise ship full of music, comedy, and general nerdery”

Santa Fe, New Mexico
[Ongoing] Meow Wolf [Read this] [Tickets]

San Francisco
:: “Best storytelling events in the Bay Area”
:: Upscale vs. Frugal SF
[Ongoing] Elsewhere Philatelic Society
[Ongoing] More SF events
[Ongoing] Prelinger Library events

[Until 11/13] Into the Mouth of the Wolf Part 2, a hybrid storytelling and circus show at the Great Star Theater

[Through November] Come Out and Play SF 2016
Some highlights: Thx, Albert!
[11/20] The Dance and the Dawn: Dreams of Ice and Ash, “An improvisational theater LARP, with high drama and emotional investment.”

[Until 12/18] Home Land Security at Fort Winfield Scott and the Presidio, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 AM to 6 PM, Free

[Until 12/31] Real Housewives of Macaroni, New portraits by Jason Mecier at Dog Eared Books Castro, 489 Castro Street

[11/9] Equity with DJ JB and DJ Step 1 at Asiento, 6 PM to 9 PM

[11/9] Fireside Storytelling: “Caught in the Act” at Chez Poulet, 8 PM

[11/9] Bawdy Storytelling’s ‘More! More! More!’ at the Verdi Club, 8 PM

[11/12] Concert: The First Annual SF SingFest with Mark Growden’s Calling All Choir at Mission Dolores Basilica
[11/13] The Community Sing: The First Annual SF SingFest with Mark Growden’s Calling All Choir at Polish Club, 3040 22nd Street, 6 PM

[11/13] SF Punk-Metal Flea Market at DNA Lounge, 1 PM to 8 PM

[11/17] Flying Robot International Film Festival at the Roxie Theatre, 7 PM [Tickets]

[11/19] Aerial Imagery Workshop Day at Monument, 11 AM to 7 PM

[11/19] The Artumnal Gathering, 5:45 PM to 2 AM

[11/19-12/18] The Great Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace

[11/20] The Cannaisseur Series presents “The Harvest to Table Dinner,” Password: FRAULEINCHEF420

[11/30] A John Waters Christmas at Great American Music Hall, 8 PM [Tickets]

[12/7 & 12/8) “Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show Parts 1 & 2” at the Alamo Drafthouse

[12/8-12/13] Golden Gate Men’s Chorus holiday concerts

[12/14] Fireside Storytelling: “Hot!” at Chez Poulet, 8 PM

[12/15] Buzzed Bee, “drunken spelling bee with fabulous prizes” at Monument 140 9th St, 7 PM to 10 PM, Free to attend & $10 to play

[1/1/2017] The 17th Annual Breakfast of Champions, 6 AM to 6 PM [Tickets]

[3/12/2017] Breasts. An Art Exhibit of Form and Function. 6 PM

[10/2017] 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love

Santa Monica, California
[11/6] LA: Va-Jay-Jay Day! A Celebration of All Things Pussy!, 2 PM to 6 PM

Scottsboro, Alabama
[Ongoing] Unclaimed Baggage Center Thanks, Farrah!

Seattle
“The Obscure, the Charming and the Odd: Mark Pahlow’s Guide to Seattle”

Sun Valley, Idaho
[3/19/2017-3/22/2017] Dent 2017, a creative retreat for people who want to “put a dent in the universe,” as Steve Jobs once said. (Highly recommended!)

Vancouver, BC
Personal PiÃ±ata: Craft and Artistry Workshop with Meaghan Kennedy, 12 PM to 4 PM

Vienna, Austria
[12/8-12/11] Roboexotica, a festival for cocktail robots

HEY YOU, YES YOU

Know about a cool happening, soiree, and/or event? I can’t be everywhere and know about everything, so s hare it with me! I’ll do my best to include it in the next issue.

“Once you figure out what respect tastes like, it tastes better than attention.”

—Pink

Rusty’s Electric Dreams is a weekly inbox zine by Rusty Blazenhoff.

Rusty has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the quirky-cool corner of pop culture, including Pee-wee Herman, Allee Willis, Laughing Squid, and Archie McPhee. Her offbeat zine is chock full of art, unusual products, worldwide event listings of note, and other fun surprises.

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