Barbarella's Backstage Pass

Halloween, Speakeasy, Drag Queens & More!

Barbarella — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:28:33 +0000

So many fun events, so little time. So let’s get started with a bit of an update, my dear, wonderful, fabulous readers. First off, I think I missed posting my column from last week, about my agonizing over what to wear for Halloween. I called it HALLOWEENIE, because of my inclination to weenie out of having to wear a costume at all. David uploaded our costumes from last year onto Huffington Post, where you can rate our cleverness (or lack thereof), link to that pic RIGHT HERE. My column this week is about a speakeasy I recently attended. It’s called BEE’S KNEES in the BARRIO, and for this I made a video so you could feel like you were right there with me:

This past weekend was plenty busy, from Josue’s exhibition at CECUT in Tijuana (photos can be seen HERE), to Tantrums & Tiaras, an awesome drag queen competition for which I was one of the judges. I only got a handful of pics from that event, they’re right HERE. It was a fantastic show, one of the contestants, Aneeda Greencard, rode onto stage on a REAL LIVE DONKEY! Highlight of my evening, seriously. The event raised over $40,000 for Mama’s Kitchen, and this was just its first year! After the show, I hopped in a party limo with a handful of drag queens and bar hopped. My only complaint was that I didn’t end up with glitter on me by the time I stumbled into my condo.

I’ve been spending a lot of time helping out with Orchids & Onions, and the date of the big awards show is fast approaching! It’s gonna be rad. If you don’t have your tickets yet, get them, because we’re putting on a helluva show. Nothing like live donkeys on stage or anything, but if you’re into design and architecture, and don’t mind a bawdy emcee like myself mocking the industry, then this is the event for you. Okay, on to other things for a bit here. Promise to get back at you soon with more fun goings-on!

Ass-Masters and Fun Shit

Barbarella — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:40:40 +0000

What day is it, Thursday? I swear, with this breakneck schedule I lose track. Seems every day there’s more shit to do, more shit to plan, I forget to stop and breathe. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night, though, a relaxing dinner at my sister’s place in San Marcos, away from the hubbub of the city. Tonight I’m attending an underground warehouse speakeasy party, so it’ll be doubly nice for the downtime on the flip side. Ah, so Thursday means I have a new COLUMN out! This one, called “Pokémon,” is about the day I took Dad to get his colonoscopy. Sounds nasty, but trust me, it’s not — it’s more a portrait, a slice-of-life snapshot of my father, whom I adore. In the video, I share a few shots from the day I accompanied Dad to the 9-11 Memorial, and then feature Dad telling some of the jokes he’d told me on our special, ass-centric day out. The second half of the vid was filmed in my home office. You can see the short video right here:

While I’m on the video front, I don’t believe I’ve yet posted my latest NBC spot. I’m bummed, I had a few funny things to say, but it goes so fast, too fast. I’ve been told my next segment will be longer, so I can reach my full sparkle potential. Anyway, here it is, me talking about the sugar skull course I took at Vintage Religion in North Park:

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/video.

Now there’s just one week left before the big Battle of the Bar Queens: Tantrums & Tiaras event, so if you don’t have your tickets, get them now! On the web site (linked), I see they have added some new judges and special guests. Should be an outrageously fun evening, I can’t wait! Speaking of fun, I’m going to see the Lion King this week with my father, and looking forward to another Broadway show, especially this one, about which I’ve heard wonderful things. On Monday night, I’m meeting with the O&O peeps to work on the script for the big awards show. A lot of work is going into this show, many many hours. I have high hopes.

Naughty Girls & Generation Gaps

Barbarella — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:47:17 +0000

The fact that I’m two weeks behind on my update should be a testament as to how busy I’ve been lately. Busy to the point of cracking. It seemed like such a good idea at the time to sign on for all the shit I’m caught up in now, but now that I haven’t had a day to myself in awhile, I’m starting to lose it. Back to that in a bit. First off, let me catch you up on my latest columns. In PARTNERS IN CRIME, I discuss friendship, and why it’s important to stay playful. I’m still looking for the pictures of that actor Steph and I kidnapped, and when I find them, I will post them here, so stay tuned. I know where they are, just don’t want to deal with getting the box down just yet. This week’s story is another fun and lighthearted piece about the age gap between me and my man, and how the gap affects our approach to the New York Times. I called it, GENERATION GAP. A few fun stories, no videos for those because I failed to catch Steph on film, and who wants to watch a video of me and David arguing over the paper?

So what have I been so busy with? Well, for one, the Orchids and Onions dealio is sucking up a lot of my time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a blast, and the awards ceremony (on November 12) is going to be spectacular as a result of all this work everyone’s doing. I rode along with the jurors to view 26 nominees (a full day, into the night) and then sat in on the jury deliberations (5 hours the other evening). Still have meetings set up to attend, and things to prepare, script to write, videos to make, etc. Like I said, time consuming. I better get a cookie at the end of all this. I like cookies. As if I didn’t have enough going on, last night was my HOA meeting (that’s always fun… not), and this morning, at the butt-crack of dawn, I was on NBC/KNSD to screen the short video I made of a recent sugar skull making class I took at Vintage Religion. B to the IZZY. No wonder I’m a fucking nut case this week.

Fun and Exciting Announcements!

Barbarella — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:14:10 +0000

There are so many cool things in the works and on the horizon that I don’t even know where to begin. Okay, I’ll start with a friend’s exciting news. My friend Kerry, screenwriter extraordinaire, currently working on a handful of projects with A-listers, was just mentioned in Variety Magazine regarding one of her projects with Darren Aronofsky, and her name is in the subtitle! See the ARTICLE HERE. So happy to see her receive the attention she deserves. Speaking of attention, before I get to my little announcements, here’s my column from this week, which is all about my own personal houseboy, aka THE DETAILER. I’m surprised more people haven’t jumped into the comments section to offer their opinion of what today’s acceptable PC term for “maid” is. But on to the stuff I’ve got going on…

The web site for Battle of the Bar Queens: Tantrums and Tiaras looks absolutely fabulous! And now, the contestants and judges pages have been added. Check out my fellow judges for the event RIGHT HERE. I’m really looking forward to this, it’s going to be outrageous and fun, so if you’re in San Diego, get your tickets (for a good cause, Mama’s Kitchen), and come out to see for yourself! It’s Sunday, October 25. Booyah. But wait, there’s more…

On November 12, I will be MC-ing the big annual Orchids and Onions awards ceremony, to be held at On Broadway this year. We’re planning some fun stuff for this event that has never been done in previous years. If you’re not familiar with O&O, I suggest you check out their site and see who was nominated for best AND worst designs in San Diego this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun for me to be on stage to facilitate the show. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I think anyone can buy tickets, and it’s quite the extravaganza, so get yours now!

But what’s up? Right now I’m in L.A., David has a number of his pieces hanging at the Pacific Design Center and there was a fun reception event for the whole “blue” building last night. We’re staying at a hip new hotel, the Palihouse. I posted some pics on Twitter, you can see my timeline there for them, but with this new camera David got me for my birthday, expect more higher resolution photos coming to my albums here soon. And TODAY, is our anniversary. Seven years since I met him in person, at Nunu’s, after chatting with him online for a few weeks, and we’ve been together and happy ever since. I repeat, Booyah.

Germaphobe? Sure.

Barbarella — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:22:15 +0000

This week I poke fun at my family and reveal my neurosis, again. The story is called INSIDIOUS INFECTIONS, the insidious part being that infections are spread by close ones, and most likely, children. I made this video for my own amusement, and I giggle every time I watch it:

So I’ve had a bit of a scratchy throat these last few days, hoping that guzzling tons of water and getting plenty of sleep is going to make it go away before tomorrow, as tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY, and I plan to feel great for it. Tonight we’re having friends over for dinner, David’s cooking up some tasty stuff, he always does. No wonder my pants are tight. I need to put a kabosh on his tasty cooking, go back to eating lean ground turkey and broccoli every day. Or not. Life is good, why not enjoy it? That’s really all I have for now, deadline day, must get my calendar selections in. I have some more information on upcoming shows that I will be a part of, I’ll post those in a separate entry. Oh, yes I will.