the haight street fair...and my novel

Well, I do not usually miss our performances/events. But Kittee, our Siamese cat, got sick fast the night before the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair. So Linda, Mikee, and I stayed home to take care of him… Letting Jen, Alexi and Corey man the LUVER Booth. So I spent the day writing my novel!

DA BOYZ:
After we had the beautiful booth set up, Jen and Alexi headed out to search out coffee and treats, and Corey stayed to watch the booth and finish putting the streamers up around the front legs ... They came back with mochas and a scone for Jen. We split a Phoenix choc. chip cookie Jen had brought home. The mochas were great! We would remember this place for next time. Alexi also got us some "real" food ... we split a breakfast burrito and a spinach feta pie ...

Then people started strolling through the fair, light traffic at first, but soon very much packed ... beyond anything we have seen up to now! At the peak of the attendance, it was a wall of people moving past the booth, and people had a hard time stopping even if they wanted to. But nonetheless we were getting fliers to lots of people! We kept evolving our little rap throughout the day ... people really liked hearing "anti-corporate" "anti-capitalist" "no limits" "no censorship"!

But early on, you called and we found out that it did not look good for you guys to come because Kittee was not doing well ... Alexi relayed that he was exhibiting signs like Cyb before she died ... was having trouble walking ... it made us cry. Poor Kittee ... We were bummed too that you guys would not be there, which you confirmed later. We kicked it into high gear! But of course, throughout the day, we couldn't help thinking of how much fun Frank would have had with all the people coming by ... he would have had a field day, really worked the crowds, not to mention all the babes!!

It was really fun to outfit our red, white & blue cowboy hats with the LUVeR fliers! We were cute! The booth looked amazing ... And like at every event, you felt like people really responded to the vibe of LUVeR ... coming through everything ... the backdrops, the text of the laminated sign, which a lot of people would just stop and read ... what we were saying ... everything ... A lot of people said the booth "felt good", that it was good vibes ... that it was the most beautiful booth, best hats, etc.! Throughout the day, a lot of musicians came by, and were totally thrilled to have an outlet for their music, and also at the possibility of being on Frank's show! The CDs again were a major hit. We just wished we had more!! But even when it was down to Happy Turtle, Bell the Cat and Skip Skiffington, it was still fun describing the selection to each new person who stopped by ... people got a real kick out of hearing about Rod Weston's mythology of Skip Skiffington, born out of a basement in Missouri ... and a collector's item to boot! The loquats were a big hit too, and it meant a lot to people to hear that it came from our own tree in Berkeley ... the whole day was like this ... really personal, even though in a sea of people rushing by ... Also, a lot of people took the performance fliers and were turned on by them ... there were a good number of people who actually lived in Oakland, knew about the space, and were interested in coming ... Then there were people like NSide, a jazz poet, and Kara from Sarathan Records, the label for Two Loons for Tea, who already knew about LUVeR, and were jazzed to see us there at the festival. NSide said that Frank had even invited him to attend a Temescal performance, and he might "see us there!"

It was always neat too how many different kinds of people came by the booth, all ages, all walks of life ... all different interests ... and it felt like there was something at the booth for everyone! And people were really generous with donations!

Time slipped away! And it was demanding! We ran out of all of the fliers! We needed more coffee! Alexi made a coffee run in the later part of the day, and we were renewed! At some point, we also had lunch ... sausage sandwiches and a spinach potato knish, which were all pretty good ... Fair food .... Jen had a chicken shawerma ...

Then the fair people were coming by and telling us we needed to start packing up! The fair was over at 5:30pm on the dot! But people were still coming by, lots of people, and wanting to find out about LUVeR, etc. We were talking to people and giving away the very last of fliers even as we were packing things up ... Another whole level of the day was the people coming by on the sidewalk behind the booth, which we had not interaction with ... but we could hear them from time to time, reacting to the "B" side of Mikee's backdrop, the farting woman with the eye in her pussy! At the end of the day, there was another group out back, two girls and a guy giggling, and looking at the free stuff ... they really weren't sure what was going on with that woman!!?? They were curious to see the other side. Corey gave them all fliers for the performance, saying that the backdrops were always hung at the performances ... when they peeked around, they liked the other side too ... the guy just stood there with his mouth open, saying, "Whoa ... whoa ...."

So we packed everything up ... had to unearth the stinky cesspools, which seemed to have grown during the day! We were getting good at packing everything up really quickly and well organized! Soon we had it all piled on the sidewalk, and Corey ran up to get the truck, and we were loading it up, wiping down with handiwipes, and heading out!

We talked about the fair on the ride back ... it felt like it was still happening ... it was a surreal after glow ... still riding along on the experience as we drove home. Back here, we unloaded the truck, gave Cookie lots of love! Then before long we were coming down to the PH to hear the latest chapters of Frank/Aurora's book. Amazing ... all these things woven together nonlinearly ... Frank's biography, descriptions of intimacy and philosophy, bits and pieces from our everyday life, and goofy jumps into unexpected places ... describing something that you couldn't wrap your mind around, that more sort of enveloped you ... and then for a while it would get very concrete, and very deep, and all of those things that were jumping around would resonate ... it was like a performance, or like Mikee's art ... interconnecting, hitting you on deep levels .... putting you into a trance ... funny!

Then we told you guys some about the day, and heard about how it had gone with Kittee from the night before ... We had missed you, but you had no choice .

JEN:
The boyz plan on how to put up the banners better worked really well. We used heavy duty clamps and zip ties. They went up fast without any problems. Then we got the LUVeR banner up. Next came the decorations and the front table set up. Everything looked so good when we got it out. Did some fun stuff like put the Chapped Lap's in a hanging basket. Had the great pic of Frank Spins Hot Wax too. The large big banner for the back went up last. The boyz had prepared it by rolling it up the night before. We were so glad that we had gotten there early because it was tough for the latecomers as space on the street was now limited and trucks were squeezing by. Once we got the booth set up, Alexi and I went to go get mochas and something to eat. There was a small cafe on Cole St. that served pastries. I had a scone and the boyz shared a whole wheat organic breakfast burrito and a spinach turnover. We got back to the booth and started handing out flyers to the people that were already walking up the street. The fair officially started and the crowd increased quickly.

So many people! We were handing out a lot of flyers and people were taking the cds, buttons, stickers. It was a lot of fun! A spoken work poet stopped by and said that he sent us his stuff. Corey knew it! He was glad to see us. There was a also a girl that worked for a recording label who knew us because one of their bands, Two Loons For Tea, was on The Shaman's Den. And at another point a guy came by who said he knew about Frank. He said he's always wanted to know what goes on in Frank's mind because Frank is brilliant. Other people got the Fiesto cards to send their music in. There were film makers and djs, all of whom we told about starting a show on LUVeR. People loved the booth, the great murals, the colours. We gave out Mikee's cards telling the ones that wanted to buy the murals that Mikee does commissions. We handed out performance flyers to locals, and a few lived in Oakland and knew where the Temescal Arts Center was. We told them it was in danger of closing due to the noise complaints and they all rolled their eyes saying that was lame. There were people who stopped by from Florida, New York, and a few from Southern Ontario. All could listen to LUVeR when they went back home!

Alexi went out to scope for food. Corey reminded me that we had snacks so I started to scarf down the trail mix until we got something a little more substantial - but it was just fare food. We cried when we heard about Kittee's health and that Frank, Linda and Mikee couldn't leave. Frank would have worked this immense crowd. He would have had a field day! It was turning into a wall of people!! At one point the people almost became a solid mass herding by. Few stopped because they were just being carried with the crowd. We handed out so many flyers because all most could do was stick out their hand to take it. Some people did stop though. We handed out a lot of The Magical Act of Doing to people who were hungry for more. Many people who stopped got what we were doing. They said keep going! One couple stopped and said that there was a great vibe to the booth. Another girl stopped by who said we had the best booth, the best costumes (we had the cowboy hats and luver tees on), and the best snacks! The loquats were going just as fast as the chocolate. Pretty soon we were out of buttons and stickers. We were down to just Happy Turtle and Skip Skiffington cds. We were folding up the large LUVeR flyers because the small ones were all gone, and people seemed reluctant to take the bigger ones. We had put the donation basket beside the free cds and there were a lot more bills being dropped in there! There were a lot of musicians that started showing up as well and then signed the contact sheets and said they would love to be on the Shaman's Den.

What a day!! We couldn't believe how many people there were. At one point I took a short walk around. There was nothing particularly eye catching. Lots of food vendors and some of the same stuff you see at all the fairs like t-shirts, fake tattoos, leather purses etc. Down from us was a bootleg cd stall and they were playing music all day that we could hear. On the other side of us was a car repair stall that advertised showing you how to fix your own car. It was one of the more interesting things there. The guys who set it up were a little gruff at first telling us that we were slightly over the line and they would need all the space available, but everything worked out in the end and one of them warmed up to us right away, while the other guy came around at the last minute and apologized for earlier. We had a great time! People were coming up to the booth at the last minute and we even had to take some of the flyers off of the bows that were decorating the booth because we had run out of them. Our load was lighter as we packed up.

It seemed to end pretty abruptly. The organizers went around telling everyone that it was over and to start leaving. The thick crowd dispersed and then it was trickles of people. The locals started to gather together. Once we got everything packed up and onto the sidewalk again, we had to tackle the mess over the sewer. We put the plastic tarps into a couple of bags and then Alexi gathered up all the soaked paper. We thought at the beginning of the day that we would need incense to get rid of the smell, but it didn't bother us all day because the fair smells took over - popcorn, grilling chicken etc. But once it was over, the old Haight smell was coming back. Corey got the truck and we loaded up keeping a close eye on everything. It was a quick drive back to the city talking about all the amazing things that happened today. We were blown away.

We got unloaded here and then came down to hear Frank's writing for the day. It was the nonlinear novel, several chapters. It wove in and out of our consciousness. Feels like a dream to hear/read it. Bits of Frank’s life, of his writings, emails, experiences, all dancing together, bobbing up from the whole and then melting back in again. Some parts just make you laugh! Some parts become linear for a second and then are off again, into the tangle of images and expressions. Listening is letting go into it, surrendering to it, because you can't hang onto any one thing or you will miss the next. We loved it. Then we told you about our day. Was unthinkable that you weren't there, but you had to stay home because who knows what Kittee is going through. He may have been much worse had you left him. We were all starving so we came back to the bh and everyone got dinner ready.


In Freedom,
Frank Moore