Friday, September 4, 2009

It's um...research!



Those of you that are Facebook friends with me know that I was itching to go to the drag show at Ripples bar last night. Ripples is one of the longest running gay bars in Long Beach. Every Thursday they have their "Dreamgirls Revue," which I've been to a few times. I hadn't been in a long while, perhaps 6 or 7 years, but the Thursday night drag show is always there, waiting for your return.

Why the sudden interest? Well, I am just interested in drag queens generally, of course. I mean, that just goes without saying. But I'm also going to incorporate the Dreamgirls Revue into my Axis of Ava comic. I'm hoping to incorporate a vampire drag show at a club I'm calling "The Black Veil." And I want some of the backgrounds, landmarks, and people to be authentically Long Beach. Well, as authentic as you can get in a world with vampires.

The show, of course, was amazing. So versatile. The ladies had different things to offer. One was more into 80s power anthems, one gave us Etta James and torch songs, and another gave us pop songs from Kelly Clarkson, Robyn, Pink, and Lady Gaga. Let me tell you, I was afraid the world would fall in on itself when Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" came on. She's pretty much a drag queen herself, so a drag performance? I thought it would mess with the space-time-continuum or something. But we survived.

Can I tell you my favorite part?

I love Stevie Nicks. I always have, so a Stevie Nicks performance was a real treat. She came out to my personal theme song, "Stand Back,"* which is so totally an obvious choice! But even better. EVEN BETTER: in between songs, she performed the Saturday Night Live "Stevie Nicks Fajita Round Up." So you know I love Stevie Nicks, have I told you that I am like a Xena: Warrior Princess fanatic? No? Well it's true. I currently have a life-sized cardboard cut out of her in my faculty office. She stares students down, giving them her best smolder. Guess who plays Stevie in that sketch? Lucy Lawless. Check it out here, it's hysterical:


Lucy Lawless spoofs Stevie Nicks



So my worlds collided to reward me with the performance, to which I apparently was fated to go. I had hoped someone would be into going with me and nobody was on such short notice, then, at the last minute, my friend Matt texted me and invited me there because he was celebrating his birthday there with some friends. I don't know how much will make it into the comic, but it was a good way to start off the long weekend. Other than the hangover today. I'm just getting on in years, I guess. I don't recover until around 5 or 6 the next day if I have too many. Lame.

*my other personal theme song? "Bossy" by Lindsay Lohan. Check it out.

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