PCP Review

So what is PCP? The letters P-C-P are a bit of a pun, as PCP is a drug (which people often use at PCPs) or can be an acronym for "Palm Court Party". There are usually 3 PCPs per year (though this is now being contested), one in October to celebrate Halloween, in February for Valentines Day, and one at the end of the acedemic year to celebrate graduation.

The Halloween one is supposed to be the biggest and best of the three. This year the theme was Dr. Seuss, which was a sterling idea. There were a number of Sneeches, Daisy-Head Mayzies, Whos, ect. I went as Sally from Cat in the Hat, if she had ever left her house. 'If she had left her house' because I wore a hat, which I am sure she would have worn when she left the house (you don't really need to wear a hat at home). Other costumes were the usual lewd business that seems to be a pandemic. Some people got creative though, for example there was Birdflu (grim reaper robe, with little kid ducky costumes stuck to it), Little Pete from Pete and Pete and Arny the Strongest Man in the World, und so weit. There were some scary costumes, the creepiest I found to be was the Panda suit. Who was it behind that mask?

But in the end what did I think? The decorations were certainly an accomplishment, palm court was transformed into a Seussian cloudland. However, other than the set up, and a few more people (I was told there are usually more people at PCP), as well as all the other PCP paraphernalia (people tripping left right and center, security checks, police everywhere you turn and knowing the chillout room is there), it was ok. I guess an alright first PCP. I had a decent enough time. The organizers did a brilliant job, I had good company for the most part, and other than a couple of scratches nothing too bad happened to me (I didn't even get a run in my stockings).

Club Reviewed: Firestone

So I had my first US club experience the other night in Orlando. It's about a three hour drive, and we left at night for the show. Pretty much it took a while to get on our way, but eventually we were [on our way].

We arrived in time to not have to pay entrance which was cool. I, however, immediately noticed something wierd... they were letting everyone in. No dress code. Also the crowd seemed pretty young, but I just assumed this was the norm here. We found some fellow New College students soon enough, who were enjoying the chill out garden zone. Or maybe they just weren't really too into the 'scene'? (I don't know for sure, but it may have been implied). For most of the rest of the evening I was struggling with trying not to be too mean looking, not to be bored, and not to be homesick (don't ask me for where, that could be a seperate note). To an extent I added considerably to the awkwardness levels and bringing the mood down.

Overall the club itself was very nice. Good sized with one main dance floor, a hip hop floor, and a more chilled lounge which had lounge music,house (i never thought I would, but I miss it) , some recent genre of rock music ect. Nevertheless, the crowd interfered with the levels of enjoyability. They were not the usual crowd club (they were really only there to see girl talk), and didn't particularly know how to behave, which came off as rude. They were always in the way for one thing. Also there was little to know territorialism. Other oddities were the fact that all the girls were dressed pretty much the same, which some may call "fashion" but I call 'clonism'. I checked out Vogue USA's latest issue to make sure, or maybe I should have checked teen vogue? Continuing, there was an ATM in the club (so convinient), and lollipops in the gross women's loo. I won't comment to extensively on the rest of the bathroom, but there was a sink full of lollipops, and a lot of products, which was pretty cool. In closing my assesment of the club was great setting, tighten up who you admit.

Girl Talk. What's that? Other than the main event that night, it's this guy Greg Gills, and he's a DJ of some sort (to put it simply). He mixes songs people enjoy together, layering and interweaving them. A bit like combining chocolate ice cream, tempura maki (my favorite sushi), and pickles. Only it sounds alot better than that stuff would taste. His show was very rigorous. The crowd was dripping wet.

Girl Talk packed the main dance floor. By 1.20 it was it was full blown. At 1.45, his tie was on his girl friend, I didn't see what had happened to his blazer, and his shirt was open. 1.47 was when that too came off. The set up was him at his computer, playing his stuff. He was initially in a pants, a dress shirt, blazer and tie. His crowd connection was amazing, they were very moved. There was alot of reaching out to touch him, to be sprinkled by the water that he drank and sprinkled on the crowd, to be as close to his platform as possible. At 1.55 he got down and joined the crowd after having anounced the concert part of the performance was going to begin. People oriented themselves towards him as he did some kind of screamo sounding singing on a mic to some stuff he had mixed. 1.58 he goes down, but is raised up in the crucifix position on a crowd surf, chugs some champagne out of the bottle, and ends the show by 2.00. The whole thing made me think of what it must have been like when Jesus came to town in Biblical times (I guess Crime & Punishment opened my eyes to biblical imagery on every other corner).

At the time I was thinking, 'this is interesting'. But having slept on it, it was a great show. I also couldn't help wondering if he couldn't be persuaded to come by New College...