We like explosions! That leave us feeling good!

Happy 4th Of July y'all!

I spent the 4th pretty much the same way as I've spent it for the last 3 years:
on the beach, at Playa Del Rey, listening to my brother spin, and catching rays.
Every 4th, the sibling brings all his DJ gear and plays for this guy from 2pm
to 11pm. He sets everything up on the condo's deck and proceeds to blast
unsuspecting beachgoers with an assortment of tunes ranging from old rock
to brand new World Dance music, with just about everything in between,
except for Country.
Last year, I helped him set up then I bailed for the rest of the day and hung
out with friends. This year, I actually stayed at the party...

Police presence was rather heavy and diversified. There was a mobile HQ truck
(about the size of Ironsides' StepVan [ooooh, old TV reference!]), bicycles,
SUVs (possibly Chevy Blazers), bikes, ATVs, and the occasional chopper.
I snapped pictures of them all, and I plan to put them up somewhere once
I get the photos developed. I'll probably put a title on the page that will
read: "The LAPD wishes you a happy and safe 4th Of July 2003".
It will be a hoot!

We got all the gear set up at around 2pm, and DJ Pascal started off with a
couple of mellow tunes from "1 Giant Leap". Then he played the "Star Trek:
Voyager" opening theme (he just likes it), and segued into "Not Gonna Get Us"
by those wacky Russian lesbian chicks, TATU (he likes that tune too).
At which point, DJ Jeffrey, who is the other DJ and is not my brother, made
a stupid mistake and wrecked the momentum. He stepped up to the decks and
placed the headphones on top of the CD control unit, pausing the CD playing.
Trainwreck! Idiot! Doofus! And this is a guy who actually plays at gigs
and clubs and stuff! I couldn't believe it! Argh!

So DJ Pascal chased him off and played something else, I forget what.
Some other tunes played included, in no particular order, "Satisfaction",
"Another Brick In The Wall", "Jean Genie", "Starting Over" (John Lennon,
the crowd didn't like that one), "Beautiful" (the current Snoop Dog hit),
various House Music tracks, various impossible-to-find-in-the-US Samba
tracks, some current pop hits ("mObscene", "Jumpin Jumpin", others...),
some thumpin' Indian dance stuff, Brazillian Drum'N'Bass (it's new!),
and lots of other stuff, 'cause my bro can play anything!

I took off for an hour to go home, check on the answering machine, check
on the computer, and relax a bit. Then went back to the party.
Had to take a different route because the main road was blocked off.
This happens every year, because the Marina Del Rey fireworks are set up
in the same section as the main road leading to Playa Del Rey. So the cops
block it off to keep anyone from being too near the fireworks firing base.

The sun set, the music played on for a while, then stopped as the fireworks
started going off. If you stood on the beach, you could see the Marina Del Rey
fireworks right there. Then the Santa Monica/Venice fireworks further North.
Then if you turned your head to the left about 45 degrees, you could make out
the Malibu fireworks across the water. Malibu apparently has a bigger fireworks
budget because their bursts seemed larger and lasted longer. At one point,
there was a huge sphere of yellow dots in the sky and it lasted so long and
stayed so perfectly still in the air that it looked like some huge, solid,
evil, hovering orb of yellow lights. Like, trip out!
If you turned your head to look South, you could make out the Manhattan Beach
fireworks, as well as another display further South.

This is all in addition to the small fireworks diplay put on by various
individuals along the beach, from pathetic little whimpering minirockets,
to booming/zooming/exploding fireballs.
My favorite was a little number that just sits there and spits out little zippy
screaming rockets that go SNAP! That thing just went on and on, spitting its
little rockets one at a time, or sometimes in bursts of two and three.
I swear, the thing lasted for a whole minute! I want some! Lots of fun!

After the large fireworks display was over, the music came back on.
At around 10pm, some junglists showed and proceeded to play, what else, Jungle!
It's a Jamaican variant of Drum'N'Bass. Fast beats and lots of "toasting"
(talking in that nearly incomprehensible Jamaican "patois").
Then the music stopped at 11pm. The neighbors turned on their own music at
this point, and played mostly Trance...

And they played "The Tony Danza Song"!!

Okay, actually, it was a Trance track that contained the words "put your
hands up" over and over at various points. But it sounded for all the world
like the guy was saying "Tony Danza"!!!
So me and DJ Jeffrey started saying "Tony Danza" over and over and over
at the appropriate places in the track. We did this while packing up the
gear, running up and down the stairs and through the alley.
It's one of those stupid/funny moments in life.

I live for those...

Anyway, it's late, I'm tired, so off to bed I go.
Oh yeah, at the party earlier, a bottle of Fanta Grape got the better of me and
exploded messily when I unscrewed it. I guess it's true, soda IS bad for you.

Th' hell?

That was weird.
My previous LJ entry, the one about my 4th Of July, was locked!
I have no idea why.
I had to go in and modify it.

Hrrmmmph...