Our Hearts Know No Restrain... [#2]

I do not know if you remember the first post thus titled, since it has been a long time since... At any rate, the nights out with friends have grown increasingly fun over the months, even though their frequency may not be that high.

This particular one should normally go last, seeing as it is the most recent but really, I wanted to post it while it is still relatively fresh in the memories of all involved. While working on the "Science of Love" theatrical show, IndieAnn and I had noticed, on our way from a late-night rehearsal to the metro station of Kerameikos, a bar/club named the Eccentric Fox (which I have recently seen mentioned as Intrepid Fox): it seemed incredibly interesting, part semi-underground garage, part wire-fence cage and 100% cool feeling, its walls filled with posters of Iggy Pop, Black Sabbath, The Doors, The Beatles and even the 1922 "Nosferatu" film poster, among many many others. There were those of us among the SciCo troupe who had been talking about going for a wild night out drinking for ages, but had never got around to it. Seeing that place, IndieAnn and I thought it would be perfect.

That was sometime around March: even though we played the "Science of Love", prepared the "Science of Ecology", played it at the EcoLife Festival, we still hadn't managed to arrange the fabled night out, until the 18th of June, when we played "Science of Ecology" as part of the Fringe Festival. I have to tell you, playing for a very limited audience may have its perks (less fear of making mistakes, less noise, pressure, etc.) but oh, the vertiginous feeling of having tried so hard to put up a decent, quite complex theatrical show within 15-20 days and then facing the deafening echo of a near-empty hall... Let's face it: not very pleasant for most involved. For myself, besides the incredible advantage of being an insensitive bastard, I believe that the very first events of Ordre de Ciel at KABATZA were very instructing: 7 people, 2 of them the members of the (then) team, another 2 the barwoman and the manager and a grand audience of 3, myself included. Until we drew in the anime crowd (that is, for the span of around 4 months), that number never went over 15, so rather empty spaces do not really depress me. The presence of Mai-chan and Flexxy among the audience was quite enough for me, although there are very few things like the rush of a full house.

At any rate, the troupe was not really in the mood, it was our last show for the season and some had other plans. Thankfully, Nickolas (a member of the troupe who had to remain at the sidelines for "Science of Ecology" due to day-job demands - i.e. working on finishing his Ph.D.) was also there and one of our newest members, Julie, had friends waiting for her... at the Eccentric Fox! Therefore, absolutely refusing to listen to IndieAnn's excuses, finally a company consisting of Mai-chan, Flexxy, Nickolas, IndieAnn, Julie and her two friends, Tina and Eva, as well as yours truly, found itself at the much-discussed destination.

Interestingly enough, the DJ pair of the night was all set for 80s and 90s (and a bit of 70s) retro-action (well, for most of the night anyway, until they had gotten bored or tired and started the mixes from Hell) and we had Mai and Flexxy with us. Well, you will get the idea...

Nickolas, displaying his ticket for
"Science of Ecology"...

...here with IndieAnn and Julie.

Indie has serious issues with staying put for a
decent photo (I kill you!).

I mean, come on! Even I stayed put, although
I am probably the least photographed individual,
both for the practical reason of being behind
the camera, as well as the aesthetic one.


And we're not even drinking yet...

"Not for long...!"

Tina, who was very fond of my cane
and hat (that hat is insanely popular -
I could never beat it, even with a stick).
Did I mentioned I went there wearing
more or less my Hercule Poirot outfit
from the show (with the exception of the shirt)?

Mai-chan and Flexxy...

...who danced so hard that people
cleared some space to watch them!

Flexxy and myself, with Indie laughing her ass of
in the background. Right, brilliant...

Given that we were there to drink, I
simply HAD to acquaint some people
with the legendary "Bears"!
(A "Submarine" variation with
Beer, Tequila and Ursus - Ursus
goes first and the rest follow).

First one went to Flexxy...

...and the second, well... let's just say
that if Mai is a crazed dance-machine
when sober...

Three Crazed Belles: Julie, Eva
and Tina (Eva simply would not
stay put for another photo...).

"I am entitled to trying on all
of Speedo's hats" (yessiree
and no lie dear readers).

The "Bear" and Mai effect:
Stage 1 - Shy Diva.

Stage 2 - Dance Mayhem.

Stage 3 -Ourg!
(Temporary bear persona).

...aaaand Stage 4 - *ahem*.

Tina turned out to be an...

...amazingly fun person...

...and quite the party animal!

As for Flexxy, as per usual, he did not stop at all...

...whether dancing with Mai or Tina, until he reached
his first limit, but we left before he had the chance
to do his Limit (and skull) Breaker.

Julie, also sporting the notorious hat,
although it gives her a rather different air.

You know, I have realized that though I do not
dance in general (and when I do, I do it badly),
maybe alcohol is not the key to it, but rather
a type of music I cannot really place but originating
in my childhood, along with excellent company...

...which was exactly what the

people in ours constituted...

...alcohol consumption and...

...inherent craziness notwithstanding
(I really like this photo).

As one amongst us put it, our company was "super" without trying to be anything other than people with genuine desire to have fun and relax after a taxing day. Of course, my continued restricted mobility over the past 6 months (i.e. I have become a slothful furry animal) meant that the next day I felt pain in places of my body whose existence I keep forgetting, but it was a welcome pain, a muscle memory of having a good time.

Of course, since everything is connected, one of my common courtesies of the night resulted, indirectly, in a string of peculiar and not entirely pleasant experiences for one of us. However, I have come to understand that a certain level of entropy is unavoidable around me or perhaps around any sort of good intention and those strings of seemingly randomly interconnected events is nothing more than the definition of life. As I said before, so far as the good outweigh the bad, even slightly, be grateful. I know I am.

Here's to your health,

Speedgrapher

P.S. I have seen a number of disturbing things in my life, but Flexxy doing the "Macarena" is in a league all his own. Cheers!

Our Hearts Know No Restrain... [#1]

...be it in joy, anger of pain. Hello dear readers! It has been a long while, I guess but the trappings of real life have slowed me down to nearly a standstill as of the past one-and-a-half month, condition which thankfully changed only this past Saturday, when an amazingly large company of people gathered for Bunnydragon's birthday. When I came home, looking back at the pictures, I was reminded of some other, entertaining instances I had not blogged, so I started sifting through them.

This here is the first in a series of posts to follow, documenting crazy nights out with friends. Some faces are probably familiar to any of you who read Otaku Lens but, truth to tell, I had been thinking for a long time that the posts there seem to infer Japanese-themed is ALL we do, which is inaccurate. Hence, I decided that some of the other fun stuff we do, should go here. You will often see links back and forth between the two blogs, as it is very likely that there may be cross-references (such as today),

In later posts, you will bear horifying testimony to karaoke nights, Carnival antics and much more! However, THOSE sets of hilariousness are not ready to be posted yet. In the meanwhile, for a first taste, here's our "after-party" to the Final Fantasy Cosplay, on the 20th of December 2008. The following took place at the MAD club, somewhere near Kerameikos Metro station. Enjoy!

Louiza & Milk: craziest bunch of girl
friends anyone can hope for.

Ed Elric sporting a Road Camelot (D.Gray-Man) T-shirt,
Tsiroto and beer-guzzling Milk.

Ploutonas's look of exasperation. Dude, it's not my
fault: I had tucked the camera away until Kyoshiro
prodded me to take it back out!

Cheerio, ladies and gents! (Well, only the ladies show
here...).

Louiza's outfit DID um... attract
some looks. *ahem*

Flexxxy: "Dude! Whoa!"

No real party is without didi-
dollie-doll around...

...here looking eerily like Goldie
Hawn in her early days.

Louiza dancing and me shooting. The second
picture of Louiza dancing, on that night, made it
over here.

I think this one speaks for itself...

...as... well... does this but, um...
(Milk: Mistress of Making Faces).

A Shiverspine Moment: Ploutonas, Tsiroto and Kain...

...a really... tender moment.
(Kidding, kidding!)

It's too bad I could not get a better angle
of this one: Louiza is actually hanging
from the club's door, feet off the ground!

Sokail: beer-drinker, Northron,
barbarian and... 80's headbanger!

Well, that's all from that night, since we WERE more than alittle tipsy and I could not really shoot very straight. However, the upcoming posts will be much more fulfilling and funny, I promise you.

Until then, keep your noses clean,

Speedgrapher

Inebriation & Intoxication: A Parody

It is, of course, widely known that under the influence of alcohol or drugs, one may get unreasonably violent with minimal provocation. However, that also holds true if you are clean as a whistle but your social networking tends to revolve around hooligans, soccer players or just punks with nothing better to do. This here video (and kudos to edgepunk1 for broadcasting it - it's really made my day) interbreeds the two types of senseless violence in a thoroughly funny way (and might I add, with a simple little song that tends to stick), for 2 minutes and 48 seconds of pure entertainment. However, it maintains a fundamental truth: too much violence is rooted in stupidity. Enjoy!

Speedgrapher

Right Place

Since the last video and commentary were a bit on the serious – even sad – side of life, here is a focused look on a disorder, though viewed through the rosy lens of humor. Our Japanese clerk suffers from typical OCPD, commonly known as Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder which, yes, is a different condition than OCD, i.e. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The latter is related to an inherent anxiety, which requires the individual to perform certain “rituals” (as in “repeated, simple actions with inherent symbolism to the initiator”, NOT voodoo, wicca or what-have you; pinching your eyes closed repeatedly, craning your neck, counting things in prearranged sets – twos, fours etc – are all valid examples); the person suffering from OCD fears that not performing the ritual may have dreadful consequences and whenever their thoughts veer towards the object (or objects) of their anxiety, the rituals kick in. In truth, it is a much more complex disorder than the above simplistic description; however the goal here is not to bore you to death with Psychology 101. If you want the poster child for OCD, check out Melvin Udall, as portrayed by Jack Nicholson in “As Good As It Gets”.

Our OCPD clerk suffers from a much more mild condition, related to his sense of perfection. It derives form the fact that, when things “do not seem right”, they cause him anxiety, thereby driving him to correct them, just like our clerk does. Furthermore, the person suffering from OCPD cannot be dissuaded from what he does and is very rigid about the correctness of it. In effect, the video’s name is absolutely correct and in a completely metaphorical manner, so is its ending (setting bones is effectively, “putting them in their right place”). Well, the socks are a bit of a stretch, but it is the time-honored tribute to everyone’s lolita complex.

In any event, very fun to watch.

Speedgrapher

A little note from ergo proxy:

As you might have noticed the website now has a new writer! I would like to welcome Andreas Michaelides (Speedgrapher) aboard and to thank him for contributing his eloquence to easy subjugation. Also the commenting system now works so feel free to leave any messages with your ideas comments and opinions. That’s all from me… Enjoy