THIS POST RATED
June 23, 2006
Berkeley, California
Okay, I'm out of my funk. Instead of reflecting on all that is going wrong in the world, my life coach told me to embrace all the positive things in my life, so I am.
Probably the most fun I've had lately was at the anti-war/anti-Bush/anti-right-wing nude bike ride in San Francisco a couple weeks ago. When it comes to social change, few things are as dramatically effective as exposing one's naughty parts in public. As a regular "Breasts Not Bombs" protester, I can personally vouch for the power of exposed appendages and the socio-political impact they have.
Scooter and I prepared for the strenuous ride by conditioning with several bowls of Pepe's finest herb, followed by some delicious brownies my sister had sent from Hawaii. Yum! Sufficiently fortified, we headed downtown. After we arrived, we unloaded the bikes, smoked a joint, ate brownies, took a nap, smoked another joint, ate some more brownies, listened to some Joan Baez on the radio, took another short nap, then got naked while we ate brownie crumbs.
We noticed many people around us had written clever sayings on their bodies with grease paint, and this (and the brownies, I suspect) inspired Scooter to new artistic heights with his own body art. While most people wore simple political sayings such as, "Bush lied..." etc., Scooter went for a more artistic depiction of his ideal scenario. He painted his mid-torso with flames like hell, and his ahhh, his "body part" as Ann Coulter! In all fairness the detail, while tiny, was incredible and up close looked just like her. The small wig he fashioned from a friend's cocker spaniel's hair completed the work once Superglued in place.
While I'm a big lover of the arts, it took me about one second to decide not to ride with Scooter after seeing this "artwork." I certainly have no hang-ups about the human body, but in my opinion Scooter just looked plain weird, and then there was the danger of other bike riders coming in close to see what was in his lap and creating an accident. Boy, was I wrong! As it turned out, Scooter was the hit of the event, and spent more time posing in front of the cameras than actually riding. Finally, in a moment of frenzied inspiration and in front of a large crowd, he set fire to his pubic hair, turning his nether regions into a kinetic work of art (he later named "Die You Bitch") that the San Francisco art world is still breathlessly talking about two weeks later.
I have new-found respect for Scooter as an activist and an artist, and can hardly wait to tell him that several galleries have sent letters expressing interest in his "work" after he's released from the burn trauma center. I just hope he still has his canvas.
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