Environmental strategery

In a few hours I'll be presenting my environmental strategy to a group of our company's executives. It's my first big presentation at the new company and I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous.

After catching up on hours of DVR watching last night, and wading through an episode of The Hills where my hatred for Spencer increased twenty-fold, I spent a few more hours conducting research and refining my presentation. Then, I woke up early, made it into the office by 7:30am (not an easy feat for this panda) and continued to tweak my slides.

Essentially, if I can't convince this group to buy into my strategy, and if I can't convince them to consider funding some new initiatives, my job will be really, really dull. At the old company, I would have known the players and been able to socialize my recommendations beforehand. Here, I feel like I'm going in a little blind and I'm not sure what the result will be. Ultimately, though, this is the type of challenge I was looking for when I switched companies, so hopefully things will go my way!

I turned to the stars for some direction, but my horoscope is less than helpful: "Check to make sure that you didn’t already purchase an item before buying. You’ve been so scattered lately that it’s hard to remember."

Folsom fun

Yesterday was San Francisco's annual Folsom Street Fair, a celebration of leather, kink, bondage and other fetishes. For me, it's really a wonderful excuse to get outside, enjoy the sun (it's usually an astonishingly beautiful day and yesterday was no different) and drink beers with some friends.

We saw the usual array of naked old men, bare boobies, assless chaps, leather harnesses and collars, whips, etc. And I saw a few too many of my friends' private parts as some of them enjoyed a game of "naked" twister at one of the booths.

All in all, it was a fun Sunday and a grand SF tradition.

Celeb sighting: Shacked Up

Last night, while having dinner, I noticed a group of overly muscular men waiting in the bar area. Each was stocky, handsome in a rugged sort of way and fitted in tight clothing. One had a particularly distinctive tattoo - one that covered his entire scalp - and I recognized him as porn star Francois Sagat, so I concluded it was a group of porn stars, enjoying a meal while in town for today's Folsom Street Fair. Further confirming my hunch, a van with a gay porn logo and various images of porn stars on it was parked right out front. Maybe to porn stars it's like going to a conference. And this was a working dinner!

Really? Watermelon?

Roommates A&J and I just abandoned a cab because the driver was homophobic. In San Francisco!

After a fun night on the town, we decided it was time to go home at a relatively reasonable hour. So, we left Deco Lounge (which was hosting a "best cock" contest) and hopped into a cab. We were discussing the various achievements and shortcomings of the contestants we saw when the cab driver said, "What makes you think I want to hear about 12-inch cocks?"

Roommate J answered, "What, do you want us to talk about vaginas and titties?" And the cabby said he preferred talking about vaginas. Big "watermelon" vaginas that he could dive into.

Because of his homophobia, we all jumped out of the cab. The Roommates walked home and I bought a bit of food from Safeway before heading home.

Citation needed

I had the great fortune of dining with Franny and her new(ish) husband during their brief San Francisco visit last night. They're a hot, in-demand couple, so I feel honored that I got them all to myself as we shared some salad, pizza and butterscotch pudding!

I'm pretty sure that it's only with these two that I could participate in a spirited discussion about wikipedia, the appropriate times to cite it as a resource, the changing nature of research and the evolving role of libraries. And somehow we managed to contain ourselves when someone at the next table started pounding the tabletop and yelling "Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong!" over and over again.

'Til now, I always got by on my own

It's been a long time since I've made it out to '80s night, but last night we made our own return to the '80s at the Cheap Trick/Heart/Journey concert!

Mattress rented a ginormous white van and shuttled 12 of us across the Bay Bridge to the sold-out venue. Given rush-hour traffic and all the thousands of concert-goers, we were stuck among all the slow, slow cars. All the parking lots were full, but Mattress did some fancy maneuvering and barrelled our way into a spot. I guess other cars just move out of the way when a huge white van full of rowdy passengers flips a bitch and tears into a parking lot.

We ended up missing Cheap Trick, but luckily we caught Heart. And of course, the highlight was when they performed "Alone." And let me just say that Ann Wilson has an amazing voice. She can totally belt out the power ballads and get the crowd going.

Of course, I had to purchase a concert t-shirt as a souvenir, and I managed to drunkenly lift an additional t-shirt while PorkChop distracted the vendor lady. I sort of thought she saw me take it, but I guess she didn't, so I ended up with two!

Journey was also very good, but it is kind of weird to witness a Filipino man who sounds exactly like Steve Perry. I think half the audience was Filipino and I heard several people shout out, "Yeah Pinoy!" Those Filipino truly are a proud people.

Golden Gate Gossip

There are many, many folks in San Francisco who feel that our city politics are ripe tabloid fodder. I'm not usually one of them, mostly because I can't identify many of the city's movers and shakers. We have magazines that celebrate the "socialite" lifestyle, columnists who judge local politicians' every moves and residents who insist on knowing the inner workings of those who occupy City Hall's hallowed halls. I, on the other hand, generally shy away from local political talk and focus on more important matters. Like how Blair Waldorf will be exacting revenge on some poor soul on Gossip Girl. Or how LC will react once she learns that Audrina and Heidi actually spoke together at a club on The Hills!

But last night Puppy and I dined with The Communist and her new fiancé. Both of them are entrenched in the city's inner workings because both are city employees. And it really is in their best interest to understand all the horse-trading that goes on between the city's mayor, his inner circle and the city's supervisors.

And I find it funny how The Communist and her affianced were able to casually talk about all the love triangles, our elected officials' drunken nights out and our city's inefficient lawmakers as if it were all a part of a Days of Our Lives plot. Or as if they were all public knowledge!

Crank yankers

I've gotten so used to receiving phoney calls from Selives that I nearly deleted a legitimate work voice message prematurely today.

When I retrieved my voice mail and heard, "Hi, my name is Paula from the San Francisco Free Clinic..." I immediately wondered how Selives got my work number. Then I wondered how he got a real person to call me. And my next thought was wondering how he got a girl to call me.

But I realized it was a legitimate call since Paula was asking The Corporation to sponsor some sort of event and was looking for the woman who held my telephone extension before she retired - the head of our Corporate Foundation.

Head of the class

This morning I was a guest lecturer for an undergraduate class at UC Berkeley. Every time I return to a college campus, I'm struck at how old I've become. The students in this class looked like children to me. Certainly I was much older-looking and more experienced when I was their age ... right?

During my little presentation, I asked several questions that were answered by blank faces and very little class participation. Several of the students were struggling to stay awake and others were "secretly" typing on their blackberries.

When I asked the professor for feedback, she assured me that this behavior wasn't unusual and that I had actually succeeded in engaging a fair number of students. Apparently, the 9:30am start time is still considered an "early" class, by college standards.

Mile high productivity

Thanks to the world of free wi-fi, I'm spending my two-hour layover in Denver online! I've actually been working on slides for a presentation I'm giving tomorrow morning and I took some time to do some research for work. I'm on my way back to San Francisco, super tired and feeling kind of icky, but I think I've done more work today than I have for the past three or four days.

Even though I'm grateful for this burst of productivity, I'm even more grateful for the fact that I don't have to get on four planes today, like I had planned to originally.

Wistful wedding

I just returned from Linda's wedding, which was held in a little chapel and the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh. It was a shmancy affair and the couple could not have ordered up a more beautiful day, weather-wise.

We ate, drank, danced, drank, reminisced, drank, made new friends, danced and drank our way through the night. It was a beautiful affair and Reebs, Dickinator and I thought about the next time we'd all be back together. Dickinator and I decided that we should either take some time to celebrate our birthdays in a warm locale with everyone or we should get married together and just have a big party with all our friends.

I'm sad that the wedding is over, because it's been very fun catching up with all my friends, but I do think it's time for me to return home. I'm especially excited that I bought a new plane ticket with my miles so that I don't have to make a trip from Pittsburgh to Washington DC to Montreal to Chicago to San Francisco. Instead of traveling all day tomorrow, I'm going from Pittsburgh to Denver to home, sweet home!

Chatty cabby

I just finished brunching with my former boss who recently moved from San Francisco to Pittsburgh. During our brunch, she asked me if I found the cab drivers in Pittsburgh to be particularly talkative and I realized that both my cab drivers certainly have been Chatty McCatterson.

My cab driver from the airport to my hotel was quite the jokester. He told doctor jokes, smoking jokes and a few that were bordering on off-color. We talked about his family, his kids, a recent trip to Atlantic City and local Pittsburgh sites.

The driver of my cab to brunch this morning was also quite loquacious, but once he learned that I'm from San Francisco, all he wanted to discuss was Nancy Pelosi. I didn't really have much to say in return.

I guess cab drivers here are more talkativethan the ones I'm used to. I wonder what tomorrow's cab driver will discuss on my way to the airport.

Playtime in Pittsburgh

So, I'm in Pittsburgh for Linda's wedding ... a celebratory occasion indeed. Because we weren't part of the wedding party, Dickinator, her boyfriend and I had dinner at a nice restaurant where we may have had a lot to eat and drink. And by the time we were nice and toasted, we headed out to the bar where the rest of our friends would be after the rehearsal dinner.

We had some drinks with Reebs, Linda and other folks from our undergraduate alma mater and actually closed the bar down at midnight. At midnight! So Dickinator and I headed across the street to a bar that was filled with cougars and enjoyed a few more libations unitl that closed down too. What is it with this city? I don't really understand when last call is, but it seems totes early.

Montréal à minuit

After spending all day with my co-workers, and since I'd never been to Montreal before, I decided I had to reward myself with a night out on the town. I took an ex's advice and hit the gay village, where the city's infamous boy strip bars are located.

To tell the truth, I found them kind of boring, with obviously straight men posturing and teasing the few patrons in the room. After the strippers performed, they would roam around the audience, trying to befriend the bar-goers and inviting them into the back for a "private dance." I like to think that it's because I don't look desperate, but I think I just look poor or something because at the first bar, none of the dancers approached me. More likely, it was probably because I had a look of shame/horror/disgust on my face. But at the second bar, I drank a bit more, loosened up and accepted one particularly stunning performer's invitation. I lasted only two songs though, because I couldn't really afford more than that and because my puritanical American guilt set in. When I let the dancer know that I was done, he complimented me on my willpower. At least I think it was a compliment! But I understand now why so many people go to Montreal for bachelor parties!

At around midnight, I decided it was time to return to the hotel and I was surprised that no one seemed to be out and about. In fact, all the bars seemed pretty empty, especially for a warm Thursday night. I walked along the streets and noticed the abundance of cabs, and noticed that the bar-hoppers who were out all looked very, very young. I guess they were mostly in their late teens, which I found a bit disconcerting.

Also along my walk, I watched a brawl develop and spill into the street. Two young men were wailing on each other, causing traffic to stop and onlookers to pause. Their friends were yelling at them in French and English to stop, but I guess the beef between them was too strong because they were still going after I passed out of earshot.

The highlight of my night out had to be the poutine. Puppy told me that it was his favorite part of Montreal, and I can see why. I don't really understand how this delicious late-night snack hasn't made it south of the border, but it's probably for my belly's best. I'm not even sure how it was prepared because it looked like they shoved the fries into the oven before pouring on the cheese curds and gravy. In any case, it was totes delish.

PresentatiOverload

The reason I'm in Montreal is to meet with our marekting teams and help them understand the environmental impacts of some of their decisions. I made my presentation this morning and I've gotten some good feedback, even if I felt totes nervous. It generated some good questions and some good lunchtime conversation, but now I find that the rest of the agenda has nothing to do with me.

So, I've come up to my room to tend to my e-mail and to my blog, wishing I were out and about in Montreal instead of cooped up in a hotel, acting professional and suffering through presentations about maximizing tradeshow investments.

Workplace politics

Tonight kicked off my official work duties in Montreal and I found myself amongst approximately 50 co-workers at a "networking dinner." I'd met probably 25% of these folks before, but a good number of them were strangers to me, hailing from Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Texas, Montreal and other far-flung places.

Somehow, I sat next to a Sarah Palin look-alike who had the same nasally voice and irritating politics. She made no effort to hide her ultra-conservative views and on top of it all, she was super loud, annoying and vociferous about her opinions. She cut everyone off and insisted on engaging me individually on topics ranging from the LZR swimsuit to Dancing With the Stars to the ASU Sun Devils to San Francisco. And I could tell that others at my table were growing uncomfortable with her chosen course of discussion, yet she continued, unfazed.

I learned that I should avoid politics in polite conversation, but Ms. Palin Doppelganger insisted on pulling me in. But I managed to resist the temptation to engage her and just sat silently until she realized that she was overstepping the line between personal life and office life. I think the problem was that she had no problem consuming glass after glass of wine even though she barely touched her food, for fear of straying from her strict Weight Watchers diet. Finally, she muttered something along the lines of, "My husband warned me not to drink too much and let my mouth run..."

It's a damn good thing that I'll never really have to work with her directly.

Shopping, strippers, saunas, salvation!

I just finished up a four-hour self-guided walking tour of Montreal. From my downtown hotel, I hoofed it along the main road, rue Ste.-Catherine, with two purposes: to find underwear and to find sunglasses (both of which I managed to omit from my luggage). I also wanted to explore this city, so I figured it would be a nice reason to get me out and about.

I made my way to Vieux-Montreal, whcih was one of the most charming areas I've ever visited. Its narrow, cobblestone streets and historic architecture were pretty and I enjoyed the juxtaposition between old and new. At times, it really felt like I had wandered right into the heart of Paris.

What was most interesting to me about my little tour is that all kinds of establishments seem to co-exist peacefully. I was walking along, noticing all the American and un-American brands: Gap, Banana Republic, H&M, Roots, when ... bam! ... a church! A lovely little gothic cathedral, set back from the main road. Then, a few paces further, a titty club! (My favorite was called the Pussy Corps.) Just peacefully situated alongside an Aldo shoestore. And sprinkled amongst the stripper joints, the churches and the shops were restaurants, bars and ... saunas? Just right there, beckoning horny patrons to come inside.

It's all a bit surreal to me, but I guess this American panda is a bit more puritanical than our neighbors to the north. The European laissez-faire attitude certainly has permeated Canadian culture in a way that never happened where I'm from.

And you'll be pleased to know that I was successful in purchasing underwear and sunglasses. However, things here in Canada are very, very expensive. And tax is quite a kicker! I can tell I won't be doing much more shopping on this trip.

Bienvenue à Montréal!

After a full day of travel, I've arrived in Montreal and I'm currently feasting on room service in my hotel room. I've never been here before, and I wasn't expecting to spend much time sightseeing, but it looks like I have a good amount of time tomorrow to explore, thanks mostly to the fact that I forgot my VPN token and cannot get into my work network.

I never really thought of Canada as being too exotic, but it really does seem like another world here. The default language is French (and similarly to France, when I try to respond in French, everyone switches to English) and there is sort of a charming old-world European feel.

I was hoping to catch up on some television tonight, but I cannot find the CW or MTV. What I have discovered, however, is that some American shows are broadcast in English while others are dubbed over in French. I wonder what determines whether a show gets translated or not.

Of lumens and foot-candles

I just attended an energy efficient lighting seminar that totally sent me to snoresville. I'm sure that lighting designers and other engineer types would have benefitted from the discussion of lumens, color rendering index levels, wattage and the sort, but I was totally lost in all the technical mumbo-jumbo.

I did appreciate the part of the session where the fellow turned up and turned down the energy levels to show how you could create "warmer" and "cooler" lighting schemes. Otherwise, nothing else was helpful for my job. And on top of it, the free lunch was pretty blah.

Matrimonial merriment

Thanks to Franny's marriage celebration, I enjoyed a little escape from the city this past weekend. Puppy and I drove out into the 'burbs for a really lovely party in the hills.

The Swerve was mostly there (except for Jillian and BFJ, who were both sorely missed) and it was sort of startling to see all the new babies together in one place! All of my friends were much braver than I, shacking up in the rustic youth hostel for the weekend while I decided to stay in my parents' home, a mere 5 minutes away.

The party was very nice, with lots of terrific food and wine, spirited conversation, fond reflection and reminiscing and heartfelt toasts. Even though the party's setting is less than an hour away from the city, it seemed like an entirely different world, with its campgrounds, the surrounding mountains and the clear, star-filled night sky. It was great to see almost everyone in one place, but it was too short-lived. I'm definitely looking forward to the next excuse for us to all assemble. Maybe when Jillian's baby is born?

I'm gonna wound you

VALedictorian and I went to See Spring Awakening last night after some cheap and tasty Thai food in the tenderloin. I didn't know much about the show (and VALedictorian knew even less), so it was kind of neat going into it with very little information. All we knew was that it cleaned up at last year's Tony Awards and that it couldn't be worse than the vampire musical disaster Lestat which we had seen together a few years ago.

So, the subject matter was a bit racier than I anticipated (including a scene and song dedicated to masturbation), but I really appreciated the way it tried to capture teenage angst and hormones, even based in the repressed setting of late 19th century Germany. The anachronistic songs, references and lighting schemes created a very interesting juxtaposition, but at times I felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be different.

Overall, the actors had very strong voices (one performer was a finalist in Canadian Idol) and it was a good show. Plus, the guy who played the lead in this particular production was quite the cutie - totally channelling Zac Efron throughout the show.

What's green and sings?

Someone brought a tub of Laffy Taffy and deposited it in our break room. And I seem to be on a mission to personally empty said bin and fill my belly with taffy (mostly of the sour apple variety).

I hadn't had these candies in years, but I've really been enjoying them ... and enjoying the inane jokes on the wrappers. What's 10 letters long and starts with gas? An automobile! What kind of animal is the most talkative? A yak!

And the answer to the title of today's post? Elvis parsley!

God hates fangs

I checked out the new HBO show, True Blood, the other night and I have to say that I'm intrigued. It's from the Six Feet Under team, so it has high expectations in my mind - expectations that weren't met in the first episode.

I'm hoping the characters become more interesting and nuanced, but since the first episode served to introduce this world where vampires are trying to assimilate into everyday society, I'll continue to watch. Also, I'll keep watching as long as Ryan Kwanten does scenes where he's nearly nekkid. It gives me something to strive for during those few occasions I find myself at the gym.

Selives claims he "loves" the show, and I hope to as well, but so far, it left me yearning for a Buffy reunion.

I wanna have boobies

I only watched a few episodes of the MTV show America's Best Dance Crew, but I loved the group Fanny Pak. They always seemed so fun and playful and ... colorful in their costumes and choreography. I'm really glad I caught their performance inspired by the Pussycat Dolls song "When I Grow Up" because it's totes rad! The internets tell me that the lyric is "When I grow up ... I wanna have groupies," but it really does sound like boobies and I was so pleased to see Fanny Pak grab their boobies during that part of the song. If you want to skip the intro and go right to the performance, it begins at 1:40.

You want a piece of me

MTV must feel bad for making Britney Spears open at last year's MTV Video Music Awards, where she performed "Gimme More" in a hazy cloud of confusion. I mean, why else would they give her three awards for one of her worst videos ever - the low-budget video for "Piece of Me"?

On top of that, why would they promote the fact that she was opening the show - with a lame intro and two lines? The highlights of last night's broadcast were performances by Christina Aguilera (so hot) and Kanye West (I hate to admit it since he vowed never to perform on MTV after he didn't receive any awards last year.).

Celeb sighting: le maire

I spent the entire day at a conference about corporate sustainability, trying to stay awake and engaged. It's not that it was a particularly bad conference, it's just that I am a particularly sleepy panda. I also feel like I'm so new in my role that I didn't have anything to contribute or enough context for some of the conversations. So, I was more in listen mode than anything else.

At lunch, San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom addressed the crowd of corporate folks. I'd never seen the mayor before and I must admit that he's a very good speaker. He seemed casual, articulate and focused without coming across as scripted or inauthentic. Plus, he really seemed to know what he was talking about - always a plus.

I also have to admit that I spent a lot of time staring at his hair and wondering exactly how he gets it all to stay in place like that.

Social Saturday

Last night Puppy and I went to a part of San Francisco neither of us had ever visited before. It wasn't terribly far away, but it felt like a completely different city altogether. Kind of like being in the suburbs!

We visited Work It and Animatrix to check out the beautiful new home they recently bought and to hear about their remodeling tales. After a tour and a glass of wine, we headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Little did we know that it was a sister restaurant to a Castro establishment we've been to - and that they have essentially the same menu! I, of course, went off-diet and indulged in two forms of carbs - mac & cheese and potatoes au gratin. One of these days, I'm going to take my diet seriously.

Afterward, we met up with Periwinkle for a few drinks. After vetoing a bar that was approximately 4 million degrees, we ended up at a karaoke establishment that featured a lovely bubble wall decoration and fake torches that kept going out. Some of the singers were pretty good, but others were ... not. I guess that's to be expected at karaoke and they all had more cojones than I did since they were up on stage singing!

We wrapped up the evening on the back porch of a bar, enjoying the rare warm San Francisco night, then headed home to snooze.

10 favorite albums

Puppy challenged me to list my "top ten favorite albums of all time" yesterday and I've been thinking about this list for several hours. He gave me the following reasonable qualification and sent me off: "For purposes of this task, the word "favorite" does not mean "best." For instance, Radiohead's "the bends" may be their best work but not your favorite album of theirs."

Many songs came to my mind, but not many albums. And of course on the short list were titles by Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, The Pixies, Joy Division, Pearl Jam and even Danity Kane, but I decided these would be my top ten (At least for now. I'm a changeable panda.):

10. Rhythm Nation 1814, Janet Jackson - To be fair, this was nearly a tie with Whitney Houston's debut album. But I remember riding in a bus on the way home from a swim meet in Reno and listening to this album non-stop on my Sony Walkman (the yellow sports variety, of course) and when a certain hunky high schooler defended my choice of music to a particularly insulting teammate, I was smitten. Plus, the video for "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" was uber-sexy.

9. Faith, George Michael - Boy did I crave getting my ear pierced and wearing a cross earring in it! I remember sitting in the back of the classroom, giggling with my friends as we read the lyrics to "I Want Your Sex" and thinking we were so rebellious!

8. Post, Bjork - She was the first person I ever saw in concert (when she was with The Sugarcubes) and I've continued to love her since. Truthfully, this and Debut sort of merged into one album for me but the video for "It's Oh So Quiet" is so fun and bouncy and ... unexpected.

7. Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos - Something about her voice on "Crucify" can still give me chills to this day. And for some reason, I found it much easier to write papers in high school and college while this album played in the background.

6. Live Through This, Hole - The last track of this album, "Rock Star," was one that I loved to blast and sing along with over and over again during some angsty moments in high school. I also remember listening to this in the car with SameBrain and she always made me skip a certain track that she found offensive.

5. Metallica, Metallica - Every single song on this album was awesome, especially "The Unforgiven." And we had a running joke about how Metallica should cover "My Lovin'" by En Vogue.

4. Singles, The Smiths - I don't know if it's fair to include a greatest hits album, but I'm doing it anyway because I had a poster of Morrissey in my dorm room when I was a freshman in college and I think every proper gay boy of the '80s could appreciate the melodious angst of The Smiths. Plus, the intro to "How Soon Is Now" still gives me the goosebumps.

3. Baby One More Time, Britney Spears - I love me my cutesy teenage girl-woman singers and Britney is the ultimate! Although this obsession began with Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, Britney brought it to a whole new level and "Born to Make You Happy" is still a frequently played song on my iPod.

2. The Immaculate Collection, Madonna - I'm surprised this CD even survived college, where it was played to death at every single swim team party (among other important occasions). The weird, screechy interlude in "Like a Prayer" irritated me at first, but I grew to love it.

1. Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins - I was obsessed with this album in late high school and was thrilled to finally see Billy Corgan and friends perform live during my senior year. This may be a bit morose, but I had a vivid plan to end my life very dramatically and "Disarm" would be blasting through my home when my poor family would stumble upon my lifeless, teenage body.

So, there you have it. My ten favorite albums. As you can tell, it's as much about the memories as it is about the songs. Any surprises? Any startling omissions? Comment away and let me know yours!

"Physically, I was born a male"

Ugh. I spent two hours last night watching the season premiere of America's Next Top Model. Why can't I wean myself off this horrible, horrible Tyra Banks ego-boost?

Since it's so early in the competition, there's a glut of contestants and I can't tell who I'm really rooting for, but a few stand out. Everyone seems to be abuzz about Isis, the transgender contestant who really does take some fantastic pictures. Puppy and I were both pleased to see one of the three Brittanys get the boot, thanks to her horrible personality. Selives reports that he's gunning for Clark, the bitchy Southern belle. I kind of found Marjorie's overwhelming nerves and awkwardness to be charming.

But really, what is up with the whole "future" theme (and Mr. J's terrible hair)? And slapping "Eco Friendly Is Fierce" on a bus doesn't make this show environmentally sustainable! Plus, it's like even Tyra can't even take this show seriously anymore. It's camp overdrive.

Al fresco feasting

The weather has been so lovely in San Francisco, and last night proved to be too irresistible to stay in. Dyson, GarGar and I went to Ducca for its weekly Wednesday night outdoor barbeque and enjoyed some roast pork and barbeque octopus for dinner. It's become quite a popular attraction, and since they don't take reservations, Dyson and I hovered around tables that looked like they were nearing the completion of their meals and pounced on one as soon as they received their bill. GarGar had just returned from a trip to Spain and Morocco, so it was nice to hear all about his travels while sipping on wine in the cool evening air.

It was Juanita MORE's birthday celebration last night so after dinner we met up with Mahogany Sparkle, Roommates A&J and Blanca, who had been picnicking in Dolores Park. As expected, the celebration was joyous and merry, with free-flowing booze and carefree boys. Kitten and Puppy also showed up, so we spent much time taking glamour shots in the back room, against the Dior-themed backdrop.

90210

Unsurprisingly, I spent last night watching the series premiere of 90210, the modern-day spin-off of Beverly Hills: 90210. In my youth, I did follow the high school adventures of Brenda and Brandon Walsh, Kelly Taylor, Dylan McKay and Donna Martin for the first few years, but I was not a loyal viewer. It's spin-off, Melrose Place, however, did keep me fully engrossed throughout its melodramatic run.

It was nice to see that the new 90210 retains some of its adolescent, moralistic storylines and didn't try to take Gossip Girl to the West Coast. You can already see that 90210 has laid the groundwork for issues-based episodes around drug addiction, parental control, academic stress, etc. I only wonder how soon it will descend into the over-the-top soap opera of the original. Does anyone remember when they introduced Brandon's girlfriend Emily Valentine who slipped him a hit of the drug "euphoria" at a rave and ended up setting a homecoming float on fire?

My favorite moments of last night's show were when they'd give nods to the original. Like having Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez as the school reporter (and having a teacher ask if the girl is 30 years old), making one character Kelly Taylor's younger sister, and including the fumbling Nat, still proprietor of the Peach Pit. And I do admit that I felt chills when Shannen Doherty appeared, bringing Brenda Walsh back to life!

Furthermore, the inclusion of Jessica Walter as the main teens' drunk grandmother is brilliant! She brings shades of her Lucille Bluth character from Arrested Development back to television - a refreshing addition, indeed.

One minor casting problem I couldn't get over was Rob Estes as the principal/father who brings his family back to his Beverly Hills roots from Kansas. Doesn't anyone realize he was already part of the 90210 universe, as Kyle from Melrose Place? Where is the continuity police?

Labor Day debrief

Oh internets, it's been a busy and fun long weekend for this panda! San Francisco enjoyed an unusually hot weekend and, with no set Labor Day plans, I was free to bop around and enjoy the time off from work. Looking back, nothing really happened, yet a lot happened, so here are some of the highlights:

* Sitting next to a man with an inappropriately loud guffaw at a screening of Hamlet 2 with Puppy.
* Playing a bar video game where you must detect differences in two nearly identical pictures. Pictures of naked ladies making sexy faces at you!
* Running into Throbby, who was back in town from New York and tearing things up in San Francisco.
* Kitten's mom getting a little tipsy and rolling her eyes at her son's antics, including shoving a champagne flute into his mouth.
* Sitting in Mattress and Beetle's backyard, sipping cosmos with Roommates A&J and Selives, who had been evacuated from New Orleans thanks to Hurricane Gustav, dressed in a clown suit.
* Watching a group of Asian girls give each other haircuts and squealing with delight while one of Puppy's friends prepared a delicious dinner.
* Encountering a drag queen dressed as a neon-colored pregnant girl (Bristol Palin?) who was doling out jello shots through hypodermic needles.
* Trying desperately to stay awake for the final Big Top party, only to attend for 30 minutes before returning home to slumber.
* Forcing down a shot of whiskey, courtesy of Dyson's boyfriend.
* A lovely Labor Day brunch at the Beach Chalet, enjoying the view of the beach-goers.
* A drunk Beetle who kept insisting that I blog about certain events, most of which I've forgotten.