What do “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” “Miss Otis Regrets,” “Love for Sale,” and “Begin the Beguine” all have in common?

Well, the first was written by Ellington, and the other three by Porter, but as I was sitting listening to the gifted Tommi Rose sing at Wednesday night’s performance, I realized that I had unconsciously ordered these songs in such a way as to tell a story of love found, lost and avenged, fallen off the deep end, and fondly remembered. So, I relaxed a bit about what to say to the audience before and between songs.

Of course, staring out into the audience of 50 or so patrons, many of whom I knew fairly well, after having not sung in public like this in several years, didn’t help me remember the opening note to the first song, and I floundered about like a wounded moose on-stage until I suddenly caught the melody again, and my voice came back strong and clear. I recovered that song, and went into the next three songs with more confidence, and ended Begin the Beguine with a long sustained note that lasted a heck of a lot longer than I thought I could hold.

The evening’s entertainment consisted of Carla Ozard, a professional theater and cabaret singer, Tommi Rose, who was the Mistress of Ceremonies at the famous Finnoccio’s club in North Beach for 15 years or so, Donna Sachet, who doesn’t need much of an introduction, me, and magician Scott Alcalay, who’s on LJ as scottasf, I think. And the headliner, the dance/hiNRG diva recording artist Vicki Shepard, who did a lovely jazz set for us.

Ann Walker, who plays Lavonda Dupree on Logo TV’s hit series Sordid Lives, was our host for the evening, and she was as charming and funny as you’d expect of someone who’s been in show business for a long time. I fell in love with her instantly! And for some strange reason, she was enjoying my company as well, so we chatted about politics quite a bit, and other things. I don’t really know much about the TV show she’s on, but apparently everyone else in the place did, as people kept coming up to her and gushing about it. I know the movie upon which the show is based, though, so I’m not a complete moron.

After the show, a bunch of us headed across the street to Martuni’s and sang a few more songs and had, of course, martinis. But we were hungry, so Tommi, Matt Consola, Ann, and I piled into Tommi’s car and headed up to Sparky’s, where we had a late supper. Finally, though, it was time to go home, so Tommi gave Matt and I a ride home, and I assume dropped Ms. Walker off at her hotel.

So, despite the embarrassing start, a lovely evening!

August 31st, 2008 | Bears, Hairrison Street Fair, Music, Singing | 1 comment

The Team Bear Massage and Cuddle Tent got off to a rocky start: there was no tent in which to massage and cuddle! When I arrived at 09:30, the fair was in a state of disarray, with many tents still not erected. Apparently, the tent vendor had been on an all-night meth binge, and he showed up with not enough tent equipment, so many of the tents were not assembled or erected, including the cuddle tent.

I was dreading what to tell all of my volunteer MTs who had agreed to work for me for this event. They started to arrive one by orne, and I briefed them as to the situation. Fortunately, they all took it with good grace, and we hung out in the shade at the Team Bear Beer Booth while we waiting to see whether we’d be working or scrubbing the event. I wasn’t going to let them work in the full sun all day, certainly; that’s just heat stroke waiting to happen.

But, right around noon, I was informed that some tents were on their way, and we had two 10×10 shade tents provided to us, which we quickly assembled and set up on the sidewalk across 12th street from the Eagle Tavern. It turned out to be a favorable location for us, as there was plenty of foot traffic, but not too much.

The cuddle tent portion of the event, though, was a bust - the promised bean bag chairs did not materialize, and with the tents half the size of what we were originally told, we went with all massage. It didn’t matter, though, as we had a great time.

I was the barker for the tent, calling out in my stage voice, “GET YER RUB-ON! TEAM BEAR MASSAGE TENT! MASSAGE FOR CHARITY!” I know I could be heard from far away because heads would turn whenever I called out, which was about once a minute or so. Tons of people came up to me and the tent during the course of the day, and I collected the donations and assigned the client to the MTs. I didn’t do any massage myself all day, but was on my feet all day in the sun.

We collected over 700 dollars for Team Bear, though, so it was a great day in that department.

After the fair, Kenn gave Bjørn and I a ride home, and we delivered Paul’s table back up to Twin Peaks where he lives.

Thank you, Bjørn, Peter, Kenn, Charlie, Paul, and Shane for all your hard work today! I and Team Bear really appreciate it! And thank you to all you wonderful LJers and others who stopped by and donated! You have gotten Team Bear’s fundraising season for ALC8 off to a rousing start!

August 31st, 2008 | AIDS/LifeCycle, Hairrison Street Fair, Life in San Francisco, Team Bear | No comments