Sunday, February 01, 2009

Hygienic XXX - Opening Night


....and my day and night did end up getting better!

We started off the evening's festivities by having some delicious sushi at the Asian Bistro - J10X, being the brave one, sampled scallop and sea urchin for the first time: scallop was the winner in this taste test!

Then we flew off to New London. It didn't look as though we were going to get a parking spot anywhere near downtown and it was bloody freezing out. So, we drove along a couple of streets and magically found a spot right in front of the Dutch Tavern- booyah! So, we wetted our whistles with a pint before heading out into the cold. I was pleased to see my fave barkeep, Chris, wearing a t-shirt with my merstrippers on it....

We stopped in the Golden Street Gallery and the exhibit was a ton of photos and other ephemera from the 1988 Hygienic Arts weekend- it was really interesting and also kind of amusing to see pics of people that had participated in years past...

After a grueling block and a half walk to the Carriage House (formerly the Contemporary Design Gallery), where the Rock Fixxx was happenin', we were treated to an excellent set by Superbald. The sound was great in there, it was spacious, and some of the larger art pieces were in there too. There were singles by local bands to be purchased produced by Cosmodemonic Telegraph, as well as a drag show for some benefit we coudn't quite figure out....in any case, to my benefit, I love drag shows, of the queenly variety.

After Superbald, we popped over to the Hygienic Gallery...and had to stand in line....brrrr! I did see some old friends, which was great, and huddled right next to them while catching up. The show was better than the last few years, but it did have the numbing overuse of penises and male-friendly porn overtones, but at least it wasn't due to crappy collages. Once again, I have to go back again to see everything. I was delighted to see my poster design was a poster after all! (I will shut up about this soon, I promise.) So, I purchased a few, but I do want to go back as I liked one other poster and there was another t-shirt with just a ginormous lobster claw on it, so I hope there's a few left!

(I understand there was a large lobster pinata in the Hygienic Park that was filled with adult toys....we missed it! Actually, we would have done more, but it was ridiculously and uncomfortably cold out.)

Then we went back to the Carriage House to see Paul Brockett Roadshow Band's set- I'm digging the new songs! After that, it's a bit of a blur as I must have had a brief conversation with almost everyone in there...I knew so many people it was crazy! A gentleman who went to school with me at UConn actually recognized me - he's very nice and it was nice to reconnect. The odd thing is he works with my friend Trevor.......who is in Superbald with Ben....who is my supervisor's brother-in-law.....the six degrees thing was in full force! We watched a few songs by Fatal Film, and then we decided it was time to go- but not before having a nightcap at the Dutch. It was still nicely uncrowded (except for the jackass coughing on my beer so I would give up my seat- ok, pal, and here's your snide remark! Enjoy!), so it actually was a relaxing last pint before heading home.

So, the evening was a hit as a whole- lots of socializing, nice spaces, eye candy and good bands. The festivities go on through Feb. 14, so check 'em out!

3 comments:

C. Margery Kempe said...

Whooo hoo (except for the whole beer-coughing incident) and kudos again. Stop apologizing for being successful! Own it! Wish I could have been there.

The Queen said...

Thanks, KAte! They used that poster every-bloody-where- in the program, on the back of another publication, part of it was painted on the Carriage House....bizarre!

The Queen said...

PS I wish you had been there, too!