Ward's Weekend of Weird

Friday night was an evening of epic people/goblin watching at the Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball.  Have a gander at the photo gallery here to see what we mean. From my scrawled, giddy notes, I present the best overheard comments of the night:

10:14 p.m., through the stalls in the ladies' room:

"I can tell these wings are going to be a pain in the butt!"

"I know! That's why I took my cape off." 

11:32 p.m., a man in a loincloth, talking to himself next to a mirror (in a quasi-faux-British accent):

"I have been glittered!"

 

From our photographer Timothy Norris, as we headed to the car, on the "Eyes Wide Shut" vibe:

"I'm a little disappointed we didn't get in a three-way with a goblin." 

Ahh, the serpentine labyrinth of fantastical masquerading! The mystical nature of the ego! Rubber elf ears! Good times.  

Saturday night involved a stop at the Gary Baseman show at Billy Shire. I spied Luke Chueh, Natalia Fabia, and Matt Mascaro among those in attendance, as well as pyrographer Jason Houchen, who's prepping for a solo show. But back to Basemen: plenty of bodily fluid, cartoons and blood:

Not in the crowd, necessarily

But in the work

Sunday, I smeared on sunscreen and skipped over to the Lotus Festival with my trusted comrade, Gemini. We ate a bunch of stuff we shouldn't have, and peeped some boat racing. Anyone who knows Gemini is aware that he enjoys Situations of the Ridiculous, such as proposing "What do you think the boat racers would do if I, like, jumped in Echo Park Lake, and yelled, 'I'm gonna win this thing!'"

Your answer is not important, as he's usually too busy laughing. 

Dragon boat smackdown: 

Hot dogs n' hipsters 

Gemini grubs a snowcone

And then, a $1 mistake:

We make the very bad decision to buy a bag of wheel-shaped mystery from a street vendor. I've always wondered, from a culinary and scientific standpoint, what these were. When the vedor asks: "Limon?" "Chili?" I say yes to both, only to discover that they taste like foam peanuts bathed in Tabasco.

We left them in a urine stained corner of a parking lot as a gift for anyone hungry/brave enough to finish the bag.

(If you have knowledge regarding their chemical makeup, enlighten me. I think they're made of corn?)