I just spent the weekend out at the Oregon Country Fair west of Eugene. Volunteered as a greeter with Kathy and Sue, thus was able to be among the priveleged gazillions who get to camp at the fair site and roam around after the public is swept out at 7 PM. I wore costumes all 3 days, the most popular with the public was the Boy Scout in a skirt: full uniform including Eagle rank patch and my old merit-badge sash, classic smokey-bear hat and canteen, and a black and red flowered skirt. People love a Boy Scout gone bad.
As freak fests go, the OCF is pretty good. It certainly has a very long history, was a pioneering event of its kind. Having been twice to Burning Man, it is hard for me not to make comparisons and contrasts between the two. OCF is more strictly a hippy fest (whatever the term even means these days) whereas at Burning Man there is a much higher quotient of other stripes of freak, from anarchist Mad-Maxians to bespectacled engineers who build flaming gyroscopic rocket dragons in their spare time. Part of the difference just has to do with the environments in which the two fests are held: soft green woods versus a vast flat playa upon which you can build any manner of nutjob visionary art project or rave dance-camp.
Then too, whereas there is no buying or selling of any kind (except for coffee and lemonade at Center Camp) at Burning Man, OCF is one big temporary forest-town of handicrafts and food. Everything sold must be made by the vendor. Lots of music too, leaning heavily toward early-twentieth century revival, jug bands and dixieland and the like.
The Saturday night vibe at both fairs is very similiar: giant roving party, everyone decked out in costumes, glow sticks and E-wire. OCF was heavy on impromptu string-band performances, marching bands, felliniesque silent clowns, stilt walkers, etc.
One thing about Burning Man i prefer over OCF is that once you're in the gates at B.Man, no one ever once asks you to see a pass. The attendees are also the participants and creators of the event and (almost) nothing is off limits. Whereas at OCF it seems like someone is asking to see my "staff" wristband every 10 yards, especially at night. I understand the reasons for this but i prefer a more open system. Burning Man raises its bar with a high ticket price and arduous physical circumstances but once you're past that, it is the biggest social experiment in sheer human freedom ever undertaken.
Having said all that, the people at OCF are by and large the sweetest bunch of folks i've run across, and i hope the Fair keeps flying its flag for a long long time.
Sitting here watching a PBS shlockumentary on Liberace, and i don't know whether i find him and his outlandish costumes ridiculous or amazing, and if amazing, whether ironically or seriously. I used to dismiss him outright, but jeez: first of all i play piano and sing too, and moreover i have been going hog-wild lately getting crazy costumery at thrift stores for a gig as a greeter at the Oregon Country Fair next weekend. When joe and jane public (and their kids) get off the shuttle busses for their day of fun and zaniness, there i'll be, looking dare i say flamboyant (although i have a redneck costume too) welcoming them. Sure, its just a role, but it puts me in a place where Liberace, or later-model Elvis, or any other loonily but creatively clad entertainment personality becomes a model rather than an object of derision.
I'm in Seattle, the main thing i've been doing is attending the wedding (and related activities) of my good friend Mr. Matthew Howard Gould to Jennifer Paget. I confidently predict that this is a marriage that will last. They are both too intelligent and grounded and values-driven (and Catholic) for any other result. I was a groomsman so wore a tuxedo, let me tell you i looked pretty sharp. The bride and groom looked splendid of course.
Also hung out with my friend Sung Kim who recently moved into a collective creative space called Luscious. They've got a great thing going there, their intent (already realized at their opening event last thursday) is to be a space where artists can come together to collaborate in ways that put them outside their ususual modes. The space itself is in an old-school brick loft building, very unrefurbished, at 3rd and Jackson. Most of the building is filled with non-yuppie creative people, a more rare kind of place in Pioneer Square these days than in years past. Used to be that most of the great old loft buildings were owned by an eccentric and benevolent absentee landlord named Sam Israel who had no interest in doing anything other than collecting rent and maintaining them in a satisfactory sort of circa 1948 condition. After he died in the late 90's, coincident with the ridiculous boom years, his heir company Samis Co. undertook the physical gentrification of most of the properties, displacing scores of artists. Nonetheless there's still lots of artists hanging on and even flourishing (creatively) in Seattle. Mild adversity helps a creative community. Helps forge purpose. Today there is some really outstanding stuff coming out of Seattle. Some of it, like the Degenerate Art Ensemble, may be setting new standards, on a par with or beyond anything coming out of New York, LA, or wherever else.