Baconfest and the Birthday of Charlie Parker

Saturday, August 29th
Baconfest! The morning greeted me to half a dozen tents being set up on the street below. There were a handful of food booths with bacon delights and a pig corral that held a very tired but cute little pink pig. At 11, Patrick (from Foundation next door) turned on the tunes and the party was started.

Part of the Pistol prerogative is "snaking" free food and booze. Baconfest is such an occasion where it is my duty to do so. From the secret location of my room, I surveyed the crowd with an an eye details to help the success of my snaking. Wristbands would be a problem, but not with long sleeves. I threw on my light thermal and went to see what Baconfest was about.

Baconfest was a testament to all that Bacon is - a desert, a pizza, an alcoholic beverage. There were large pans brimming with crispy strips and a vendor doling out the most delicious bacon barbecue sandwich I'd ever tasted. Since admission was thirty dollars, all of the food and drinks were free. Since the festival was in my front yard, the entire thing was free.

At two the festival wrapped up and I returned, well fed, to my base. Eventually I got so bored I needed to get out of my room. I went to the Plaza to scout out job opportunities. In the evening there was a show next door and I snaked some more drinks before going to bed.

Sunday, August 30th
I woke up at 9 and listened to my audio book for an hour while Cecil attempted to win my love back with the virtue of annoyance. At 11, Joe burst in and told me that if I wanted, the Hearts of Darkness' crazy red-head stepchild, The Dirty Force (Top of the Bottoms) were going to preform at a Jazz funeral/birthday celebration for the famous Charlie Parker, and if I wanted we were invited to go with.

Well, I wanted to clean the Pistol, but how could I turn down that offer? Originally we dressed in normal clothes, but Joe reported the Dirty Force were going to be dressing up, after all, they were taking part in a Jazz funeral procession - or more like were the procession (Dirty Force is a Funeral inspired Mardi Gras band). So instead of jeans, I donned a brown pencil shirt and forties style red blouse, red lipstick, and my new gold wedges. I finished putting up my hair and we were off.

There were four carloads of musicians and their instruments. We arrived at Lincoln Cemetery to find it full of cars. There were probably eighty to a hundred people standing around, a dozen or so with saxophones. We milled about for fifteen-ish minutes and then the eulogies started. There were four speakers followed by a jazz improve by the saxophone players. The event ended with the funeral procession by The Dirty Force. The whole thing probably lasted an hour and a half.

Joe and I went home, changed, and immediately left again for cheap Mexican food. Then we came back to the Pistol. I napped, then awoke to start sweeping and dusting.

At seven Halliday called and picked me up a half hour later - drive in movie at 8. We picked up a pizza, some drinks, and joined up with some of her friends that we'd met at the show on Friday. Halliday had tricked out her trunk with a cooler and blankets, although it paled in comparison to another couple who brought their porch rocker, table, and a rug.

The movies were Halloween II and Inglorious Bastards.

Halloween II was a grizzly attempt at making a horror movie but relied on cheap tricks to try to scare its audience. The effects used blood and guts as a crutch and the story was choppy at best. Not enough psychological play and too much stabbing. There is no way one man could kill a hospital full of people. Not even if that man is Michael Myers. Oh, and the whole "I love you brother" at the end. Lame.

Inglorious Bastards was supposed to be a film about killing Nazis and I was disappointed. I thought that Tarantino would have used his great tricks to make an excellent film, but I don't think the movie lived up to the trailer.

The night was fun none the less and I am going back to the drive in next weekend for Greaserama.