1.31.99

    Last night was an evening of firsts for me. I went to my first sushi bar and was later sacrificed as a virgin at a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

    It all started innocently enough with an online chat session with the members of Webgrrls L.A. Someone brought up RHPS and I mentioned that I found it fairly incredible that I had never gone before. Instant cries of "sacrifice the virgin!" came from all sides and it was decided that we all must do an outing. No pun intended.

    I met up with eight other Webgrrls at the hole-in-the-wall Liquid Kitty. It's on Pico, just West of Barrington and bears a neon sign with martini glass and cigarette. I don't think I ever saw the sign on and there's no real banner stating that the dark door is the entrance to the Liquid Kitty so perhaps they don't want to be found.

    The interior was very dark with orange/yellow lights set into the walls. The bar was gorgeous and curvy and their selection of alcohol looked extensive. Their house drink, The Liquid Kitty, comes with a filterless Camel. How chic. Personally, I had a very large and luscious Cosmopolitan. I'm so predictable.

    I called ahead to make sure that they were going to be open and it appears that they typically have live Jazz on the weekends and various bands during the week. We got there right when it opened and didn't see much in the way of music. I have to drag some of our swing friends over there. It was just toooo cozy for words.

    Detail: the cat with leg lifted marked the door to the men's room, the kitty sitting marked the ladies'.

    Conversation was pretty typical for a group centered around computers and computing. We talked tech and IMac and browser stuff and what's happening with our own servers at Webgrrls International. It's nice to have that outlet, though.

    Afterwards we went to Mizo212, a sushi place. Actually, it was a Shabu Shabu place which I'm told differentiates it as a place that specializes in meats like chicken and beef rather than fish. Fine by me. It was absolutely delicious.

    I had the beef which comes raw and sliced paper-thin. There were three silver bowls of water kept boiling at the center of the table. You dip your meat into the water and let it cook for a few seconds until it turns brown. Then you could dip it into two sauces, a salty soy or a sesame mustard, and eat. The meat was so tender and so good.

    Also with my meal were some funky mushrooms, carrots and a variety of lettuces. A bowl of rice came on the side and some noodles. I also ordered green tea (which burnt my tongue severely) and some Saki. I've never tried Saki before and I found it to be pretty tasty. Reminded me a bit of a B-52 but without the creme.

    I thought the interior of the restaurant was interesting. There were huge windows on two sides wrapping around the restaurant. A large bar was set up in a horseshoe around the kitchen. Everything was very clean and bright. The wood was a light-colored and all the metal parts wersubtlye stainless steel. Accents were done in red but subtley here and there. There was a long low bench in the front window for people to wait there turn at the bar. Since we were a group we got the one lone table in the bed. Good thing it was a little secluded as part of the dinner conversation centered around internet porn.

    The clientele varied but there were a few Asian businessmen with briefcases and quite a few young couples of varying backgrounds. Our waiter looked like a raver with a shock of orange hair. He was very sweet and very attentive.

    I'd like to take T. with me sometime and I'm eager to try the fish sushi. The food was so interesting and the atmosphere intriguing. I don't think I could eat it all the time, though, because I'm having a few... uh... aftereffects of the meal.

    Anyway...

    The evening's pièce de résistance was, of course, Rocky Horror Picture Show at the art house Nuart Theatre on Santa Monica Blvd. As a "virgin" I bore a lipsticked 'V' on my forehead thanks to the leader of our group, Shirley. For her, apparently, going to the Nuart was just like old times since she knew just about everybody. There couldn't have been a better way for me to experience this because, as luck would have it, it was "Alumni Night" and many of the previous players came to help out with the show.

    I don't want to insult any hardcore Rocky Horror fans by trying to describe what goes on but basically the Theatre actors act out the film on a stage as it is projected onto the screen. There's lots of audience participation and during certain segments it is considered good play to throw rice, confetti, toilet paper and tortillas. Since it was a night for the Old School there was tons of stuff flying around. I must have ended up with a handful of rice in my bra from it skittering down the front of my shirt. Uncomfortable but very amusing.

    At the beginning they called up all the "virgins" and somehow I got picked out of the crowd to be "sacrificed" with three others. They made some speech about marriage and men and women and I was paired up with a guy and fellow virgin to compete against another virgin couple. He had to carry me halfway up the aisle and then I was to hop and his back and he had to carry me back to the stage. Somewhere on our way up the aisle he tripped and we both hit the ground. I got serious rugburn on the palm of my hand, a sore shoulder and smacked my already sore knee on a chair. Undaunted, he had me hop on his back and somehow we got back to the stage where we were declared winners. It doesn't end there.

    They told him to lay on the ground. Then they told me to straddle him. I turned to one of the people and said, incredulously, "You want me to straddle him?!" I was told not to sit on him (as if I would have) but just stand over him. So, I did. Then one person got each of his limbs and a person on either side of me grabbed my hands. Four times they hoisted him in the air, consequently hoisting me in the air. I'm sure I looked like a delicate flower.

    My God.

    I laughed about it and it was amusing but I felt sorry for that guy. We both got "diplomas" and were sent to our seats. I figured that they'd do some more virgins after that but they didn't! I was part of the main show. How amusing. I still am not quite sure what I think about all that but boy is my body sore today. I think when I hit the ground I may have done some major damage. A few of the "alumni" came up to me later and told me what a good sport I was. It was an experience.

    Today was a lazy day. Did the Super Bowl thing and tried to stay awake. I'm exhausted. Not looking forward to tomorrow, a second day in court. On that note, I better head to bed.

    ~/~ Let's do the time warp again... ~/~