Exhaustion and Dehydration

It was a scene straight out of Dante's Inferno: Big men in strange masks and costumes shouting insults at one another, slamming each other to the ground, and fighting to the bitter end, occasionally interrupted by exotic women in fancy-dress, stripping down to almost nothing, teasing all who watched.

And that was just in the parking lot at Hill and Olympic; unfortunately, I had to quit watching if I wanted to get a good seat at Lucha VaVoom!

Sorry.

(On a side note, I think something's happened to me since I moved to Blogger.com; I used to cuss a lot in my posts, and would frequently resort to biting sarcasm to make a point. There was never any of this Henny Youngman bullshit. Oh, hey...!)

Yeah, so as I pointed out in the previous post, last Thursday was the second night of the Halloween edition of Lucha VaVoom, and I was on hand as usual to witness the mayhem.



[Edit: I must point out, as usual, that Lucha Va Voom is a show that is co-produced by and co-stars my sister, Rita.]

Present on the card were Technicos (good guys) like the lavender-but-lethal Cassandro, Los Gallineros (my favorite male wrestlers), the agile Human Tornado (as deadly on the dancefloor as he is in the ring), and crowd favorite Tsuki. Among the Rudos (bad guys) were Blue Panther (who seemed like a good guy this time), the extra-evil Dr. Wagner Jr., and making his L.A. debut... El Chupacabra!


Los Gallineros: THESE chickens are gonna tenderize YOU.

The bouts were excellent, and many a ringside patron were rendered collateral damage. True to his name, the Human Tornado once again flew out of the ring towards an opponent at near-supersonic speed; I honestly don't know how he does it.

As for those majestic maids, those dazzling domestics, those high-flying something-that-begins-with-H-and-has-to-do-with-women-who-clean, the Poubelle Twins...well, they were stuck baby-sitting the theater owner's spoiled daughter. And they were not having a good time of it, as the curly-haired brat caused trouble every step of the way. Eventually, it came to blows (which seems to happen a lot at this show), and the little tyke turned out to be surprisingly adept at martial arts. Fortunately, there just happened to be a wrestling ring nearby, and the Poubelles used their prowess to subdue the little girl into the ultimate finishing move: A forced apology to the crowd.

As for the burlesque part of the show, well, it may have been the best assemblage of top-heavy talent in Lucha VaVoom history. First off was a special Halloween act featuring Kitten DeVille and Ming Dynatease as Siamese twins, who undergo spontaneous separation sugery at the hands of a brawny swordsman. But it all turned out for the best, as the girls proved that two bodies are better than a mass of conjoined tissue. Later, we were treated to a stellar set by a girl with a stellar set, Summer Peaches. Also on hand were perennial favorites Ursulina and Erochica Bamboo.

And then there were the Wau-Wau Sisters. Holy crap.

In a (divinely?) inspired routine set entirely to Night Ranger's classic 80's tune "Sister Christian", the Wow-Wow Sisters -- a blonde and a brunette -- portrayed a pair of Catholic school girls who discover that the most important thing in life is faith. And the second most important thing is having red-hot sex with each other. Seriously, the Wau-Wau Sisters took the most hackneyed erotic stereotype imaginable -- the girl in the Catholic school uniform -- and created something that was entirely their own, and which became a truly erotic experience for the entire crowd (and all with no actual nudity). Indeed, Mrs Arhythmius expressed a desire to be placed between the Sisters during some of their more...athletic maneuvers. Oh, and it helped that the routine was genuinely hilarious...at least if you find the sexual objectification of Christian iconography, and Jesus, funny -- which I do.

And finally, after the show was over, another defining moment of my existence occurred. Yes, as I teased in the previous post, I finally realized a dream: I met the Poubelle Twins. In person.

I've been sworn to secrecy on the particulars of the meeting, but the photo below should tell you all you need to know. The five-foot-eight Cheshire cat in the middle is me.


Bibi (left) and Fifi Poubelle have Your Host surrounded.

Merci, Poubelles! You have made a happy man simple! Or something...

As usual for me the day after Lucha VaVoom, I awoke Friday morning bone-tired, and with a splitting headache. Unlike the celebrity affliction, I was suffering from genuine exhaustion and dehydration, brought about by not eating lunch (as usual) and skipping dinner (not usual) to stand in line for a few hours, and then see the show for a few more hours. *Sigh*, You know...if I'm gonna get the fucking hangover anyway, I might as well take up drinking; at least then I'll enjoy some of the benefits first.

But isn't that what Lucha VaVoom is all about? You can't get pleasure without a little pain to go along.

Night of Joy indeed

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Strangers, a dream of mine was realized last Thursday night. No, I did not become a dashing and incredibly lethal member of the British Secret Service – I’m talking about that other dream. Yes, that is correct: Thursday night was the Halloween edition of Lucha Va Voom, and for the first time, I was able to meet, live and in person, those incredible luchadoras, the Poubelle Twins.

More on that later. But first, an album review that is directly related to the fantastic events described above.

Sometimes I seek out certain albums because I am as intrigued by the personality of the artist as I am by their music. Such is the case with Suki Tawdry.





The way I see it, there are people who lead interesting lives; there are people with multiple talents; and then there’s Barbara Ann Duffy. Barbara is the vocalist and lyricist of Suki Tawdry. She also has another career as a luchadora, under the nom de guerre “Bibi Poubelle” – AKA one half of the Poubelle Twins (her sister Vera is the equally dangerous Fifi Poubelle). I provided a tiny bit of background when I last wrote about the Poubelle Twins, but for the whole story of their current activities and very intriguing history, definitely check out their website, www.deuxfilles.net (or click on the link to it up there in the first paragraph).

Before I ever listened to Night of Joy, the full-length CD from Suki Tawdry, I had a pretty good idea of what it might sound like, and it turned out I was not far off. As a musical project, Suki Tawdry just seems like a fitting extension of the personality of the singer. If Wednesday Addams ever were to start a band, it would sound a lot like this.

The sound is straight-up Cabaret: I guarantee that if you ever found yourself wandering the streets of Paris or Berlin late one rainy, misty night, and were drawn to a smoky, nondescript club by the sound of a piano and a forlorn voice singing about the uncertainties of life and love, the music would be that of Suki Tawdry. Not literally, of course. (Although, who knows? Because, when you tried to find the club two days later, you couldn’t. Those dank-yet-magically-surreal European nightclubs always seem to disappear after you visit them.)

But if I must make the requisite musical comparison in order for this to be a legitimate album review, then the obvious choice is Portishead. Although they didn’t invent the sound, Portishead’s “Electronic Cabaret” music is certainly popular, and some tracks on Night of Joy are reminiscent of the British duo – most notably "Mais je vous aime", which I have added to the playlist. The song features those simple, retro-sounding guitar chords that might sound familiar to fans of Portishead, or Les Paul guitars in general. The lyrics are not in French, and I can prove it: I followed sparkling green (The color of her eyes) / She led me to her beautiful beautiful / Last night I inquired about her finger's size.

In fact, the lyrics throughout Night of Joy are the most fascinating aspect of the album. Most of the songs tell a particular, unique narrative, such as "Mr Flowers Visits Dreamland" (also added to the playlist), a tale of heartbreak and revenge set in a steamy Southern dancehall: Her eyes burned into his / As her hand flickered over blurred tatoos / Seeing them in her memories blurred long ago through tears of youth.

And then there's "Booze Blues", a tale of a woman relying on pure love to sustain her marriage to an alcoholic: Your booze blues gonna carry me to my grave / I suppose in the big scheme, it's OK. It's a truly bittersweet song, with a genuine-ness that is rarely achieved in modern music. Hell, pick any track on Night of Joy, and you'll find a story worth reading.

Which brings me to the only criticism I have about the album: The music. As I mentioned before, this is Cabaret, and the music is definitely true to its nature -- a little too true, which is the problem. I would have enjoyed at least a little more variety in the arrangement, and perhaps some more memorable melodies to go along with the stellar lyrics. Is there a way to make Cabaret music more melodic, without rejecting its purpose? I don't know, but I'd sure like to hear someone try. As it is, repeated listenings of Night of Joy only make it better. Like a fine brandy, you don't chug this album down; you've got to savor it with multiple smooth sips.

This album is populated with such an intriguing cast of characters, it's made me greedy for more. Here's hoping that a certain globetrotting singer/songwriter/wrestler/adventurer soon provides us with more stories to drink. Otherwise, I'll have to comb every smoky club on every dark side-street in Europe, until I hear that forlorn voice.



Liza -- NOT the Cabaret singer I was
looking for...

Welcome to the NEW Minor Notes

Actually, it's really just the same ol' Minor Notes, but in a new location.

You see, the purpose of this blog is to discuss artists in rotation on Estrogenius, and...whatever else strikes my fancy.

Something that does not strike my fancy is having to repeatedly post entries like "Sorry you couldn't reach the blog, the host server crashed again." Hence the change of hosts from crash-tastic Aplus.net to (hopefully more stable) Blogger.

I am keeping the old Minor Notes page up as an archive. It's still at the same URL -- http://arhythmius.com/pblog -- but if you have trouble reaching it, then you'll know why I moved here.

So, yeah, anyway... Welcome!

Regards,

Arhythmius