PEACE MARCH NYC 4/31/06

I knew Saturday was going to be an incredible day the moment I checked my myspace inbox and found a message from new wave goddess Lene Lovich. Last time she graced our shores--she lives in a castle in England!--I took her on a dizzying tour of the garment district's fabric shops the way only a drag queen can, honey! And she wants more! She's a PETA person who Dan Matthews introduced me to. Lene hit it big with her first two amazing albums while I was living in London in 78-80 and to this young queen, the combination of her clinically beautiful face blankly staring out from her publicity shots, braid-sculpture hairdos and that other-worldly voice, she was right up there with Debbie Harry and The Selector's Pauline Black in the style icon/brilliant musician category. Of course it didn't hurt that shewrote/sang back-up on Cerrone's disco records and her pr machine, playing up that kooky-cool new wave factor, claimed she first made a living recording screams for horror films. At the time, I was also very impressed with the singer of the Tourists, an adrogynous young pixie who wore oversized--I mean REALLY oversized, about 20 checks per dress--harlequin print mini-dresses who became better known in the 80's as Annie Lenox.

On a very different note, I ended the day on myspace as well, e-chatting with a drag named Sharrissa Diva Iman Honie-Kisss, the recently crowned Miss Teen Iowa! I hope that Iman one day learns of her new competition! I worship the queens and trannies on myspace! Not that I'm trying to Hiney-Kisss Miss Honie-Kisss or anything! Little did I know, it was to be a whole day and night fuelled by off-beat superstar power!



SHARRISSAONMYSPACE

First stop, to grab my Wigstock partner Scott Lifshutz and sometimes trusty camera and headed over to the peace march which convened near Union Square. I didn't see any of the march's "headliners", Susan Sarandon, Jesse Jackson, Cindy Sheehan or Randi Rhodes, but with eye candy like George W. Bush and his cronies in chains parading to cheers, jeers and chants, who the hell needs headliners? George's buddies Rummy, Cheney, Osama and Saddam even joined him!



The crowd literally cracked Condi-loser Rice's face--unless someone had been sitting on face, like that Jack Straw, who seemed smitten with the Alabaman temptress on her recent trip to the UK, and who slept in her private plane's bed as "Aunt Tomasina" laid out on the floor? Did you catch that one a few weeks ago? Bizarre! MORE



But I'm glad all the uniformed cons got a day pass from the institution. Imagine if this protest worked and the whole crew was impeached, jailed and put into the psych ward. I actually do believe that W has a screw loose in addition to being a heartless crook. Just an observation. But keep our expectations high, ok? As Dorian Corey once said, "You shoot an arrow real high, hooray for you!".



Not that I'm a clown who frequents Hallowe'en specialty shops for it's oversized, inexpensive costumes or anything, but are Donald Rumsfeld masks really that common, or did these people actaully have them made? Very dedicated if so! The sunny, breezy day was a perfect setting for the triumphant (because of the turnout) and sad (because of the reasons behind it) procession. With participants from Katrina survivors to veterans to union workers to environmentalists to immigrant rights supporters to churches, the wide variety made it seem like the whole world hates Bush and what he stands for. These aren't liberal left-wing extremist kooks!



OK, so maybe that was the wrong photo to illustrate my point. But most of the protesters, in the tens of thousands, looked just like you and me. (Well, like you and me in sensible shoes with modest wigs and only half a can of Sherwyn-Williams on our grizzled mugs.) Although, I'm forced to admit that the classic silhouette of the dunce cap, here updated with a makeshift brim, does lend an air of kookiness. Sorry, gal, but I was familiarized with that particular silhouette from every conceiveable angle and lighting scheme quite often as a youngster so I'm a little over it. personally. Of course, silhouettes of any kind are not at issue here. One has only to glimpse at the desperate expression of the child by her side as she pitifully gnaws on a water bottle to learn how topsy-turvy our world's become.



One sign of the beginning of the slow road back to normalcy: a wig-wearing security guard, dammit!



The vibe was so inclusive that it made you just wanna stand up and shout "DOWN WITH BUSH!" at the top of your lungs.

Of course, being a slut, certain protesters made ME wanna lie down and shout "UP MY BUSH!".



But I soon steered my mind back to the cause...eventually...



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Buoyed to see a healthy Chinese contingent, I tried to order some egg rolls, but found my appetite even more stimulated by the silken strands caressing the ivory skin of this young morsel in the foreground! Aren't I awful?



Here's a few of my favorite signs. They aren't all cute or funny, but I don't think these messages are ever heard often or loud enough while that bastard is sill in the White House destroying the world with my tax dollars. Well, when I get around to filing my taxes, that is. Missed that derned deadline again!











I couldn't recognize this image, but Scott explained that it was a muslim woman with her injured child. Doesn't look like the lovely, exotic muslim women I've seen. That big-ass foot doesn't look like any woman of any race I've ever seen. And I look at a lot of "women" with big feet at my "job" regularly.



The older crowd totally stole the show. Ignoring their bunions and brittle bones, they took the the streets in peppy spring attire like this pink argyle sweater, with canes if necessary.



Is this lady's white walking stick for the blind? I guess my blind readers won't be able to answer that, so I hope you'll help me. I'm not that familir with their accoutrements--though Lypsinka is. She claims she gets very lucky cruising the Institute For The Blind in Chelsea. But the Personification of Pizzazz's gargantuan libido aside, can you imagine being blind and braving a crowd of thousands with your hearing offset by the din of competing chants?



Not that the march was about fashion, but this sassy visor certainly caught my eye. Love the way it fluffs the hair worn underneath the bang!



Seen marching with the NYC Quakers, this ol' gal killed me, with her colorful beret and glad rags. How determined she is, with her roll of leaflets clutched tightly! Her pleasant smile took me back to one of the few things I learned in college: HOW TO DRINK HEAVILY IN THE DAYTIME! No, it was actually a psychology class. And since I know you are wondering, yes, I did flunk the course. Anyway, the lesson that stuck with me is that really old folks are divided into 2 categories. (Hopefully this isn't some ancient theory which hasn't been taught in 50 years so y'all can't spook MY real age!) One category went for "it" and whether they failed or succeeded financially, they'd followed their dreams and their consciences and had done their best. They found themselves surrounded by family and loved ones as they entered life's final chapter. The other category had not, and died bitter and quite alone. Maybe she was just having a rare good daym but I can't imagine that this ol' gal is in anything but the first group. And didja know that Quakers have been performing gay weddings for years? My parents are Quakes and would die if they learned that their transvestite son was using it's sinful blog to promote their religion.



As I gazed out at the hand-made signs and the marchers from all walks of life, all sorts of issues came up. Like "Honey, that child may look retarded scartching his face like that but he is WAY too old for a stroller!"





I spotted a whole bunch of kids. The one above was cute as he can be, but bless his little heart if that dadgum sign of his don't make a lick o' sense. Still, he gets an E for effort. (2 E'S, actually, cuz he wanted to buy one for a friend.) Nice people! At least he was there. I saw so few young adults. As Scott explained to me, the kids in Paris just took to the streets and had an unfair labor law OVERTURNED. It seems most of the youth in the US care more about Lindsay Lohan than Cindy Sheehan, or their rapidly being overturned rights to privacy, health care, ability to file bankruptcy, need I go on? I felt that the older attendees knew this drill. They'd done this before, when things had gotten so off course that they had to take to the streets to demand that their concerns be dealt with. They valued their voices and used them. I think this was used to be called democracy, long, long ago...

And where were the gays? What's up with that? This should have been like a fucking gay pride march with gay couples prancing wildly in all manner of gender-fuck bridal attire! Don't y'all know how completely intertwined the gay agenda is with the same enlightened thinking which has arrived at conclusions like that the government should not be silencing the scientists who warn of global warming? Or preventing women from getting abortions? Or bungling Katrina and Iraq? Or monitoring our emails? Hiya, Georgie! Oh, I shouldn't be so hard on the fucking gays for not taking an interest in the march or the world's destiny. It IS kinda tough to do a booty bump in the middle of a daylit street! (I, however, managed to.) Our people are the world's best at making a fashion statement. Let's try another kind that's just a wee bit more meaningful than Dolce, gurl!

Talk about standing up and making a gay statement! I passed this heavenly creature on my way home. S/He regularly poses/begs on 6th Avenue and 12th Street, always in all white. Today it was featuring white ponytails bound every couple of inches whith a white little girl's balled ponytail holder, positioned ever so neatly. Dailily featuring white mascara for your nerves.



But the elusive butterfly turned away, camera-shy. I thought I might offer it a tip for it's "entertainment", though unsure of the protocol involving club-kid he/she beggars.



I gave up and it opened an umbrella (guess what color!) and started babbling in the manner of your garden-variety simpleton. No matter, I had a different simplton altogether on my mind. That evening, Dina Martina was cutting up at The Cutting Room in her solo show SEDENTARY LADY.



I'd hoped to get this entry up earlier and review her show more fully, but since tonight's the last night of her sold out run, I'll discuss her in detail later since she'll be back in December and in Provincetown all summer. DO NOT MISS THIS NUT! INDESCRIBABLY SENSATIONAL! So wacky that when this thing goes into the audience as it often does, people are actually frightened! But in the best possible way. Her DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA finale can't be topped, but I'm sure she can.



Costumed to showcase her ample camel-toe, the crowd roared with laughter throughout her set, her patter and choreography every bit as insane as her look. Whoopi Goldberg had been in to see her earlier in the week, and I gagged to look over at the bar and see AIR AMERICA's RANDI RHODES, my idol! I ran over to introduce myself and gushed," I'm your #1 fan!", and gagged again as Cindy Sheehan interrupted me and said "No, I'm her # 1 fan!". Randi below stealing my and Jayne County's favorite jowl-hiding pose! This woman knows absolutely everything! I loved her comment the other day that Bush not only fucked up this country, but his othr ventures as well, including owning a baseball team and TRADING SUPERSTAR SAMMY SOSA! Excuse me for a moment, but I just can't think of "trade" and that Dominican god without drooling and I don't wanna short out the computer. But it was moronic of Bush.



Dina and Cindy even performed an impromptu peace finger-puppet revue which had me howling "Look at the camera, idiots!" That's Ann Wright on the left, who Chip Duckett identified. In his words she's "Not nearly as well known as Cindy, but absolutely no less a hero. After a lifetime of service with the military and the foreign service, she resigned immediately when the Iraq war began."



What a perfect end to a perfect day and evening, as the girls agreed to pose for (my admittably terrible) pix after the show. For those of you are as in awe of Randi and Cindy as I am and hungry for any trivia about them, they are both sweet and Cindy is quite tall. And look at Randi's knockers! Now I know why she constantly opens her show with Rusty Warren's BOUNCE YOUR BOOBIES. There's a free ringtone of this comedy classic on Randi's site: THERANDIRHODESSHOW.COM



I strongly urge everyone to tune in to Randi's daily broadcasts on AIR AMERICA from 3PM-7PM. Even if you think you hate politics, Randi provides the most entertaining introduction to current affairs I can imagine. AND IT'S FREE, YA BASTARDS!