This document consists of:
1. Notification of Gothic Funk Party #8: The White Party
2. Photos of the Party
3. Sky's Account of the Party
1. Notification of Gothic Funk Party #8:
Notification written by Skylar.
SUBJECT: GF8
BODY:
HEEEEEEY YOUUUUUU GUYYYYYYYYS!
from conception to realization, it has only been a year, but there has yet
to be a better time for this, so get ready:
GOTHIC FUNK #8: WHITE PARTY!
Saturday, July 15th
3pm until its over
Promontory Point Park / Hyde Park
wear white, eat white, drink white. a lightness of being, in the most
bearable fashion. we all know that alcohol doesn't go over so well on a
saturday afternoon at the beach, so i would like to make arrangements for a
pre-party, for those appreciators of spirits among us. while a major factor
in GF8 is throwing out the notion that we are inherently crepuscular, it
isn't unlikely that some of us will linger to see the park close. at that
time, or earlier, it would be swell to have a place of retreat, be it the
same location as pre-party, or anywhere else accessible. in the plainest
manner, everyone is invited to coordinate this. you have something to
contribute? white, things? white food? white drink? a fair complexion?
speak up, at once!
"Are we not gods? And are we not unprecedented in this: our steadfast
betrayal of our own past, just as it barely reaches the age of victory, and
our steadfast rage, raised above the planet like a hammer whose time has
come? Planet Earth begins to shake already at the heavy tread of our feet!
Boom, you [white] sails of time!"
--
2. Photos of the Party
3. Sky's account of the Party
GF8: THE WHITE REPORT
lessons learned in white
the white party was originally planned for summer '05, but due to other events, the weekend of choice bounced around a lot. the final choice was for a weekend in august, but that turned out to be the weekend after connor & jess married, & would not be back for it. plus, everyone decided it would be a great time to move, which seems to take precedence over party-going. nevertheless, this summer came around, & the GF beastie woke up with RITES OF SPRING, so my determination to take it to the beach was double.
the weekend turned out to be perfect, if you like a high of 97. earlier that morning i was out shopping for the day, & decided that being in direct sun all day would be downright hazardous. all attempts at securing a large tent or some portable shelter fell through, so we opted for the point, with trees, grass, a breeze, & a fire ring. i would in no way list this as a loss.
its important to observe that all people, operating independently, have patterns. the people we are romantically attracted to, the secrets we choose to keep, & especially our timliness for events are all very meaningful patterns. i am typically attracted to geeky, confident, liberal women. for the most part, i gave up keeping secrets years ago, except the few that i only keep because i enjoy them. when i say the party starts at 3, dammit, you know i mean 4. i had a feeling that not everyone would understand that, so at the last minute i sent out a notice that it would really be starting at 4.
i arrived right on time at 5, & found a couple of people waiting. the great thing about a party with a visible costume theme like all white is that it should be easy to find. i must remember this for the future. maybe the carmen miranda party would fly afterall. the challenge was that many people do not have a complete white outfit, particularly pants. i knew this, & was curious to see what friends would come up with. girls had good luck with white dresses & skirts, & most guys had very light khakis. it was successful enough that other parties on the point noticed, & all of our guests found us easy.. er, easily, rather.
the white food was tricky, but i dont think anyone went without. grilled white fish & white potatos, white corn chips, & white pasta salad were all at the park, with french limonade & other pop. aside from some challenge in choosing our method of starting the grill, there was little worry about progress. food which is to be prepared during the party is great, but it forces things into a schedule, if only for a while.
i was immensely happy that polish horseshoes was so popular. for a while, we had no empty bottles to balance, so we used shoes, which somehow seemed at least as appropriate. then we found a few bottles in the grass, & eventually had large limonade bottles for targets. i didnt expect nighttime frisbie to work very well, but the game kept going well after sundown. when no polish horseshoes went on, casual frisbie on the lit path was perfect.
around 9:30 or 10, initiative for a campfire sprang up. this was only slightly more organized than the grill lighting, but we ended up with a small focal point to collect around. there were a few south-siders down on the break wall near us, who invited us to have a beer. i walked down & met them, had a cheap beer, & took in the lights to the south. around then i called connor, since this was the first GF event he was unable to attend. so far we had all of the tenets of GF: this was both fully unlike other events, but somehow felt like a continuation of every event leading up to it.
a short while later, colin & nora arrived, having been out of town earlier that day. it was then that we realized that a small miscommunication earlier in the night regarding the time we would be moving to moomers for the afterward had led to putting them out, expecting us much sooner than any of the guests seemed ready to move. i had expected that we would be getting a move on around 8 or 9, but it didnt seem right to force the party out of the park any sooner than we had to. by this time, however, it was already coming up on 11, when the park was to close, so within a few minutes we were picked up & mobilized.
it was still close to 80 at 11pm, & being indoors wasnt intuitive, but with the back porch & the door open, moomers was very suitable for white fondue, white sangria & white russians. i had accurately calculated the ratio of bread, apples & cheese, but terribly underestimated the partys ability to consume it all, & in only minutes, it was only a pungent memory. the attendees had turned over; a few left directly from the park, while others joined us when we arrived at moomers. we lingered an hour or two with drinks, & in a fashion unusual for GF events, we all departed at nearly the same time.
there never was a pre-party. the reasons i believe are 1) i was still making preparations for the party at the time that there might have been one, 2) we never actually secured a location for one (moomers being unavailable while everyone was out of town, & 3) it is challenging to move a party from place to place while maintaining its cohesion. perhaps we could practice, with a GF pubcrawl. if there were to be another event similar to this, i dont even know if i would want to plan a pre-party. we seemed to have a very natural progression the way it was.
