luv' parade

on a completely non-food related note, this was a pretty big weekend here in san francisco. not only did the fog burn away in what appears to be the very late commencement of our indian summer, but we had a bit of german nudie techno luvin street dancing festivities, otherwise known as the love parade, camped out around our stately civic buildings. Plus, we had its antithesis, the folsom street fair in the south of market nether region.

having seen the ultimate spectacle at a folsom street fair a few years back i haven't returned. i mean - don't read this next paragraph if you're squeamish - but once you've seen a half naked leather daddy with a tin bucket tied to his nuts and another guy ferrying over little bottles of evian (!) into aforementioned precariously suspended bucket until all those heavy little bottles mounded up in a terrifyingly low swaying pile, well, once you've seen that you've seen all you should. it was the ultimate folsom street moment for me and right then and there i knew there was no returning. all else would pale in comparison, and anything that wouldn't i want no part of.

dad, is that you?!!

so this year i took in the love parade. i was skeptical since this event was started by the germans and, in its native land, includes a lot of techno music and nudity. german nudity. well, let's just say i was a little afraid. okay, i was very afraid. i had flashbacks of a mid nineties trip to greece and the dozens of eurotrash littered discos belching out bad dance music and overly tanned girls sporting cornrolls and glittery make up a la christina aguilera.

but i was pleasantly surprised. despite being huge both physically and in numbers, and with the usual roving gangs of testosteron-driven walnut creek/sacramento mullet sporting dudes giving each other the high five for no apparent reason, it was a peaceful, well organized, well executed event. it was luvin. it had a good vibe. there was music. there was dancin'. there was also hard liquor for sale for just a few bucks more than the pathetically tiny dixie cups of beers they also had. oh yeah, and did i mention that there was a ton of food stalls. and here is the really impressive part: sufficient porta potties. unbelievable.

stationed around the little square of greenery in the center of the civic center buildings (you know, where the homeless usually camp out) were a freakin' lot of floats and buses and vans with soundsystems blasting out music. i think they were called "pavillions". there was straight up euro disco techno house curry mix music with the requisite terrible sound system; there was a group of breakdancers busting their gravity and ligament defying moves; there were a bunch of set ups with some more standard dance-ish music (standard in a good way, not the j-lo way); and there was my favorite little music spot hosted by the spundae people who were playing by far and way the most interesting music. i guess it's called drum and bass, and there was this red-haired guy that looked just like the littlest partridge making up vocals. a friend later informed me that this type of music was not considered jungle because of these vocals. can anyone explain the difference between jungle, drum and bass, electronica, techno, industrial techno, house, deep house, tofu house chop suey mix...

for those of you at work and wanting to waste a little more time in between sessions of tetris and solitaire, you can take this quiz to find out "what kind of techno are you".

the attendees were surprisingly diverse: the usual assortment of freaks, shy retiring office workers out in their finest s&m gear, normal couples, freaky couples, some families with baby strollers, even a few walker clutching old blue-hairs. and the best part: only two full on nudies who looked like they'd accidentally wandered over from the vollyball nets at the far end of baker beach. was that a beach ball they were clutching?

a motley cru of frustrated office workers...can you spot your secretary here?

and since this is a food blog, let me just say that the food stand selection was excellent. i was moving toward the pupusa stand when i caught the sight below. need i say i immediately lost my appetite, left the event and headed straight home for a wax job?