Category Archives: friendship

Cayenne Celebrates the Big 60th Birthday!

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A good time was had by all at Cayenne’s 60th birthday party here in San Francisco.

I performed a poem called “The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo” by Gerard Manley Hopkins in full ponce drag.

Other performers included Jim e Sparklepants, Ryan Mintz with his new hit “Welcome Home”, Peggy Leggs (thanks for helping with my makeup sweety!), Bimbo the Clown, Charley pole dancing, and a host of luscious models working the runway in the fashual (fashion ritual) organized by Jack Davis. After all the entertainment, Jack Davis led a ritual offering to Cayenne of all that those gathered felt he desired and deserved, followed by Cayenne speechifying a bit then cutting the amazing cake.

Check out the pictures and videos I took of the event (and please let me know if you’d like anything removed):

Partial Clip of Introduction to First Performance Set at Cayenne’s Birthday Party: http://vimeo.com/10369933

Jim e Sparklepants Performs Song for Cayenne’s Birthday: http://www.vimeo.com/10728948

Stardust Channels Gerard Manley Hopkins Reading “The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo” for Cayenne’s Birthday: http://www.vimeo.com/10730141

Ryan Performs “Welcome Home” for Cayenne’s Birthday:  http://www.vimeo.com/10731037 (you can also see and hear Ryan performing “Welcome Home” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIkJjUHTkk and please make contributions at http://ryanmintz.chipin.com/welcome-home-recording-session-and-release-tour so he can create his next album) 😉

Ryan Performs “Change” Song for Cayenne’s Birthday: http://www.vimeo.com/10731842

Keith Hennessey’s Comments for Cayenne’s Birthday: http://www.vimeo.com/10889417

Peggy Legg’s Song for Cayenne’s Birthday: http://www.vimeo.com/10888692

Bimbo the Clown Sings Cayenne a Birthday Song: http://vimeo.com/10358630

Charley’s Pole Dance for Cayenne’s Birthday: http://vimeo.com/10358938

Charley’s Pole Dance for Cayenne’s Birthday, Part 2: http://vimeo.com/10359009

Fashual (Fashion Ritual) Presenting the Jack Davis Collection (coming soon!)

Ritual for Cayenne’s Birthday Led by Jack Davis: http://vimeo.com/10370031

Cayenne’s Expression of Birthday Gratitude: http://vimeo.com/10370254

Cayenne Speechifying and Cutting the Birthday Cake: http://vimeo.com/10370278

Lunch With Andrew, Oxford and the Ashmolean Museum

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Written June 21, 2008, on train from Manchester, England, to Holyhead, Wales, for ferry to Dublin, Ireland

After a good veg breakfast the next morning, I took two buses to Salisbury, then continued on to Oxford. I walked from the train station to the Ashmolean Museum, where I met Andrew Hodges for a pleasant lunch. We hadn’t seen each other for six or seven years since he stopped at Mills College as part of his lecture tour for his book on Alan Turing.

The Ashmolean has a wonderful collection of 25th dynasty materials, which I photographed along with a few contemporary Assyrian items.

On Andrew’s advice, I took a walk through town to see the old campus halls, the church, and other beautiful buildings. Then, back to the station and on to Manchester.

Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and Back to London

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Written on June 13, 2008, at Eat and Two Veg Restaurant, London, United Kingdom

This morning, I had to go to Cambridge and Sarah was off to Kent, so we said our goodbyes. I caught the train to Cambridge and met a nice woman named Emily Esche on the way. She is studying archaeology and is particularly interested in studying human remains. So, we could talk shop. She later sent me an email with great advice for sites around Stonehenge.

When I got off the train at Cambridge, I was stunned by the number of bikes parked outside the station (the pic shows less than a quarter of the bikes).

I walked to the Fitzwilliam Museum and, since the museum’s 25th dynasty expert is on leaving writing her thesis, I met with a fellow named Anders Bell, who showed me an Assyrian artifact from the museum’s store (i.e. storage area) then directed me to the ancient Sudan gallery and three ancient Egyptian galleries, excellent for research purposes.

The next blog entry has a special feature on Pakepu’s coffins. He was a Water carrier who lived in Western Thebes around 700-650 BCE.

I managed to finish my work at the museum in 2½ hours. On the way back to the train station, I took a few pictures of the Scott Polar Research Institute and the wonderful statue of a nude young man outside it.

I also walked a bit further down the street and visited the cathedral on the way to the train station.

Then I hopped back on the train to London to check into the overpriced European Hotel near Kings Cross, into that small basement-level room with a loud bathroom fan and a musty odor with little room for anything else but the bed and the lamp next to it, all for the bargain rate of £45 (~US$90) per night. That’s actually a good deal in central London.

I massaged my body with a hot shower, then headed out to find free wifi, so I could search for vegetarian restaurants and queer bars. The Cafe Sosso closed just as I arrived, so instead I went to the (Quaker) Friends House cafe, which had also closed, but they let me site there in the courtyard and browse with my laptop. I found this excellent veg restaurant called Eat and Two Veg where I just finished an excellent meal of veg sausage on mashed potatoes with fresh-squeezed juice and a fruit cobbler topped with butterscotch ice cream for dessert.