Kurt and Arnold had some guys over to their new place downtown last Friday. We had drinks, went out for Chinese, then came back for a game of Trivial Pursuit - The 90's Edition.
A few thoughts:
- Downtown is far more interesting than it used to be, and I could see living down there. It was nice to be on streets that weren't dominated by tourists. It felt urban, and in a good way. If it was closer to a beach, or had nicer parks, I might consider a move.
- I miss playing games. We played a lot of cards in the Midwest, and even in San Francisco people would have game nights. But that doesn't seem to happen here, at least not in the gay world. You pull out a deck of cards, and these boys run for the exits. So I was looking forward to a night of Trivial Pursuit.
- Except that I somehow missed the 1990's. I was expecting - and somewhat worried by the potential of - endless trivia about Friends, Nirvana, and The Real World. But it was harder than that. I had no idea what half the questions even meant, much less what the answers were.
Now I have some excuses - in San Francisco I was more active in queer & anti-war politics and didn't have time for pop culture. I missed the infamous incident where Queer Nation activists took emetics and then posed as extras on the set of Basic Instinct, but I was there for the great debate afterwards on whether or not projectile vomiting on Sharon Stone was a valid form of protest.
I was completely cut off for two years in Micronesia and six months in Indonesia. LA burned without my participation, I wasn't there when OJ did or did not do it, and I didn't even know who Kurt Cobain was until I read his obit. Later I was a poor grad student without even a television for a couple years. This was pre-internet, so I only had two sources of pop culture: the bar and the beach. If it wasn't a dance remix, or if a Hawaiian boy couldn't play it on his `ukulele, then the odds are I didn't hear it.
That still leaves a couple years where I was theoretically present and tuned in. But I was completely lost in that game. Either it was poorly written, or I am more out of touch with America than I thought. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be too. We gave up after two hours.
A few thoughts:
- Downtown is far more interesting than it used to be, and I could see living down there. It was nice to be on streets that weren't dominated by tourists. It felt urban, and in a good way. If it was closer to a beach, or had nicer parks, I might consider a move.
- I miss playing games. We played a lot of cards in the Midwest, and even in San Francisco people would have game nights. But that doesn't seem to happen here, at least not in the gay world. You pull out a deck of cards, and these boys run for the exits. So I was looking forward to a night of Trivial Pursuit.
- Except that I somehow missed the 1990's. I was expecting - and somewhat worried by the potential of - endless trivia about Friends, Nirvana, and The Real World. But it was harder than that. I had no idea what half the questions even meant, much less what the answers were.
Now I have some excuses - in San Francisco I was more active in queer & anti-war politics and didn't have time for pop culture. I missed the infamous incident where Queer Nation activists took emetics and then posed as extras on the set of Basic Instinct, but I was there for the great debate afterwards on whether or not projectile vomiting on Sharon Stone was a valid form of protest.
I was completely cut off for two years in Micronesia and six months in Indonesia. LA burned without my participation, I wasn't there when OJ did or did not do it, and I didn't even know who Kurt Cobain was until I read his obit. Later I was a poor grad student without even a television for a couple years. This was pre-internet, so I only had two sources of pop culture: the bar and the beach. If it wasn't a dance remix, or if a Hawaiian boy couldn't play it on his `ukulele, then the odds are I didn't hear it.
That still leaves a couple years where I was theoretically present and tuned in. But I was completely lost in that game. Either it was poorly written, or I am more out of touch with America than I thought. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be too. We gave up after two hours.
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