Officer's Ball

Finally, Halloween fell on a Thursday — free admission to Pleasure Island for me, and the traditional gay night at Mannequins (a.k.a. Many-queens). The last time this happened was 1996, back in the waning days of the club's heyday. Back then, they plussed up the hourly on-stage dance routines; brought back glowing, smoking bins of mannequin parts; and interspersed "live" mannequins with static ones on the old third-floor catwalk entry, to prey on the unsuspecting. It was a one-night return to glory. Little did we know then that by the next time we had a Halloween Thursday, the third floor would be closed more-or-less permanently, we could walk right in on the ground floor, there would be absolutely no entertainment (save the DJ), and no efforts to decorate (save allowing the Cast Members to dress in the costume of their choice). If it wasn't for all my friends who go there, the fantastic DJ (most nights), and our favorite bartender, I doubt I'd set foot on the Island anymore.

That said, though, I had a blast last night. This year, Dan and I went Army. He was in woodland camouflage; I was in desert. (By my accounting, this is one of two Halloweens I've celebrated with Dan that didn't involve him wearing a wig and/or dress. Thank goodness for small changes.) I struggled with this year's costume for a month. I'm not exactly pro-military, and I figured that with my luck, W would decide to take some form of military action yesterday morning, making our costumes tacky at best, a mockery at worst. Of course, I also toyed with making it even more controversial: I wanted to buy iron-on letters and put "Don't Ask" on the back of my shirt, and put "Don't Tell" on the back of Dan's. Lack of time killed that idea.

The early portion of the night featured revelers in the requisite pirate, "death," vampire, and not-really-a-costume attire one expects. One group had selected Batman-related villains as their theme. (Actually, I'm not sure they all planned it, actually — I think they may have found each other on arrival.) I didn't notice any UPS Delivery Persons this year.

My good friend Chris A. from Tampa arrived, and fortuitously, he was in his Airman's jumpsuit, so we matched — it looked planned. Unfortunately for us, military was extremely popular this year. We counted two other airmen (with Marines or Air Force patches), two full-dress-whites Naval officers, two Seamen complete with nifty white cap, and a handful of assorted camouflage arrangements. I don't recall seeing this much military in the past; Is it the current political environment, or (as was suggested — and who am I to deny) the man-in-uniform fantasy informing people's choices?

"Most Fabulous" costume goes to the woman in the Egyptian Queen dress and headgear (enhanced by her graceful dance skills), accompanied by a mummy.

Also got to see Bj, who (we realized) I have not seen since about October 6. After calling me while I was in the restroom (actually fortuitous, because I never would have heard it ring on the dance floor), she stopped by the rotating dance floor to say hi and introduce us to a friend from work, before heading off to catch the Halloween shows at Comedy Warehouse and The Adventurers Club. Today she wings her way to New York City for her second full marathon in 3 weeks. Wish her well on her run — I know I do. Even if she gets to see even more Broadway shows before all the running.