tavallai.com

KICKING OFF A YEAR BY GETTING LOADED... ON FONDUE
Click on pictures to enlarge.

What can be said about a big pot of melting Swiss cheeses laced with enough booze to put the Betty Ford center on alert from 3000 miles away? I wouldn't know where to begin,

but it's definitely a good way to kick off a night. New Year's Eve is one of those nights that many people plan from months ahead - I remember doing so for the big anticlimax that was Y2K and ended up getting burned. I didn't plan a thing for 2001 and ended up having a blast.

So this time around, no solid plans were made - and I'm thankful. A number of us had circled a few clubs' names on a list of things to do on New Year's Eve, but by the 30th, we were already clubbed out, having gone to see Mark Farina at the DNA Lounge the night before. Fortunately, Jess & Gareth were kind enough to extend an invite to their NYE soirée at their kickin' SF space.

I have to say, I'm really glad we went. While Dave unfortunately had to leave early, Vince kept up with me 'til the dawnish hours - long enough to get friendly with Bocce, apparently (above right).

It was great to not be in a booming club, and instead having a somewhat more mellow evening with new friends. Of course, I have to give many thanks to Eugene (left) for proving to the world that I am not the only double-fisted drinker around. Though no one got crazy enough to get arrested, many bottles of beer and red wine conspicuously disappeared - as did a lot of cheese.

Unfortunately, my pictures of the cheese fondue a la Jess did not come out (thanks, FujiFilm!), but the memories of the warm gooey sustenance will last through the year. However, we're fortunate enough to have photographic evidence of Owen double-dipping the chocolate fondue... (Only kidding, but he does look a tad bit suspicious, doesn't he?) But who could blame him? If you think Nutella's too addictive,

Allyson's chocolate concoction (left) was enough to send a chocohlic like me into fits. After a while, some of us were searching for any type of food to dip into the chocolate. If we could stab it with a fondue fork, it was goin' in.

It wasn't long until the giant Dance Dance Revolution pads were pulled out, and all of a sudden, the night was reminiscent of the best damn parties from adolescence - good food, great company, and games! I've only played DDR once before, and for good reason - the little kids at the arcade routinely humiliate me at these new-fangle games that use some sort of giant dancing sensors instead of an archaic joystick.

Mindy (whom V & I bumped into @ Macworld last week of all coincidences) schooled us in DDR, proving that you don't have to be a 16 year-old in super-baggy pants and a flipped-over visor to be good at this stuff. Though I'm sure it doesn't hurt.

Things eventually got serious, as two brutal competitors duked it out as the best-DDR-player-whose-name-starts-with-'O' competition ensued. Despite my partial Asian blood and years of game geekery, I did not prevail. It's the cheese fondue's fault, I say.

Naturally, I had no clue how brutal the evening's competition would get until Jess announced that it was time to play the

"Celebrities" game. I'd explain it, but if anyone reading this has never played and gets an opportunity to do so in the future, I wouldn't want to ruin the first-time fun of learning it on the fly. After drawing names from a hat, we divided into two teams. Before the game even started, the air was thick with competitive tension. For team photos, the aptly-named Team 2 formed a pyramid. Jennifer taunted us from the top. Heather put on her meanest game face, and Eric momentarily got lost in Bocce's enthralling eyes. (Talk about a New Year's kiss!) With no time for these high school shenanigans,

Team 1 (as in "We're #1") played it cool and posed as a too-hip-for-you "Brady Bunch" on the stairs. Sure, we weren't as flashy or energetic about our display of team spirit, but that's only because we didn't need to be. We were the epitomy of calm confidence, ready to easily make mincemeat of our adversaries. And so we did. Before the game broke down into the almost hopeless charades round, Team 1 was leading by a score of 72-48. Team 2 then made the correct choice of throwing in the towel and forfeited. (Ok, so we had another party to get to.)

Mid-game, the clock was about to strike midnight, so the traditional bubbly was broken out.

We made our toasts, screamed our greetings, and listened to the fireworks (or were they bullets?) exploding in the distance outside. With the champagne working its effervescent magic, it suddenly became a bright idea for all of us with cameras to take pictures of the "Red" theme some of the women were showcasing. Here's my submission to the

"Show Us Your Red" photo contest (left). I probably should've cheated and used Photoshop to make them all the same shade of red, just to make mine that much cooler - although we all know that Jess' copy with her "disappearing hand" will end up the winner anyway. See what that Celebs game did? There's really no contest, but now I'm in that competitive mentality.

Eventually, the party moved to another venue. We got our sober Audi drivers to caravan us to another house party, over in the Noe Valley area of the city.

Yeah, we arrived late (sometime around 2:00 am), but there was still plenty of music. The funk was being laid down by a couple of DJs manning the decks - Will was quite good, if I remember correctly. There was still a good amount of the sauce to guzzle down. Lots of new people to meet. Tons of New Yawkas, proving once again that there "ain't no party like a West Coast Party." And, oh yes, Sushi! Someone was making sushi in the kitchen, and it didn't take long for me to join in and try my hand at rolling up some vegetarian maki and tuna maki. Although my level of intoxication was rising by the minute, I think the stuff came out pretty nicely. There would be more photos from this segment of the evening/morning, but apparently I'm not even able to work a boneheaded disposable camera after a few drinks. Regardless, most of you who know me have seen enough tipsy pictures of me. Although I wish I had the one of me trying to teach someone to dance. Now that's a funny thought altogether - me teaching dance. Haha.

In all, it was a great New Year's Eve. I'd like to thank everyone who made it such a blast. You guys rock! (Extra special thanks to Gareth for letting me try out his 1200s, which are now on the must-buy list. Argh.)

TOP LEVEL >>>	PRIMARY • TEXTUAL • VISUAL • AURAL • X • PORTFOLIO • FORUMS

SUB >>>	INDEX • ORIGINAL • FAIR USE • ALBUMS


ALL CONTENT ™ & © OMID TAVALLAI,EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE NOTED	CONTACT OMID