carnEVIL 2011!
Music: Pale Saints: In Ribbons (1992)
In 2002 I started throwing an annual costume party, first at my home in Baton Rouge and now continued here in Aus-Vegas. I've always thought it was a good time for friends and colleagues to mingle (and merge); like Mardi Gras, Halloween is a holiday for collapsing hierarchies: kids get to be adults and demand treats from other adults; adults get to regress to childhood again; girls get to dress like hos; and boys, well, boys get to dress like girls. Not that any of these transformations doesn't already happen on a daily basis (just ask my colleagues how childlike I can become at any mention of a 9:00 a.m. meeting). The longer I do it and the older I get, the more I like to turn over the theme to those more younger and creative than me. And this year is proof positive this is good judgment. As a co-host, I'm really only the DJ with party favors (that is, lighting)---the real creative genius behind this year's party is Rob Mack and Ashley Mack (no relation except that, um, they are geniuses).
This year's theme was "carnEVIL," to be interpreted however one wished. The living room/dance floor was transformed (with the aid of crafty tablecloths) into a big, red top tent! It looked amazing, and made for a fantastic dance floor once the fog machine and lights got spinning. Just beyond that was a Fun House/Hall of Mirrors animated by strobe lights (aka, the pukey-room; also see Herr Gravitron). The kitchen became a glow-in-the-dark Midway Graveyard, with lots of strangled stuffed animals hanging on nooses. There was a staging area, and a refreshments area, of course.
Out in the back patio was the biggest surprise: A bouncy castle (a.k.a. the Vomitorium)! The bouncy castle was truly over-the-top and an outstanding hoot (and folks used it, I'm happy to report, without . . . "incident"; wardrobe malfunctions? Yes. Motion sickness? No.).
Perhaps owing to the theme this year, the costumes were both amazing and incredibly creative. I liked almost all of them, but among my favorites: Maegan's super-creepy "Bloody Mary" costume, which won the award for "Scariest." Basically, she appeared as a sink and mirror, but when she turned on the light inside her witchy face greeted you (sucking on a sippy cup of booze, of course). I found Camille's ringleader costume smashing, and we looked great together!
The funniest costume went to the corndog-(non)chomping Bachmann duo, who temped everyone on Saturday with their corndogs---rubbing them on their faces, each others' faces, the faces of strangers. Them corndogs really got around . . . and the pair cinched (or clenched?) the "Funniest Costume" award. There's too many good costumes to mention here, so, I'll invite you to live vicariously through the photo gallery here. Suffice it to say at some point in the evening I stopped taking photographs to protect the guilty. If you were there, you know what you saw. If you weren't, well, you'll just have come next year---the tenth annual costume party bash DJ-ed by yours truly, and sadly, the last to be hosted by our creative party geniuses, Rob and Ashley. Until then . . . .