A Saner Shade of Crazy

You may remember that Halloween in the Castro had become too crazy to be fun, and in fact had become dangerous, what with that shooting and subsequent stampede two years ago. So, last year, city officials, lead by our district's Supervisor, Bevan Dufty, shut the Castro down for Halloween. It was a controversial approach, to be sure, but tonight has shown that it was a wise approach.



It was hard to get good photos since I'd only brought my iPhone, and it doesn't have a flash. I hope these pictures give a sense of the evening.

Yes, the Castro was crowded, but not nearly so crowded as it has been in years past. In fact, there were baricades in the hood, but they were set up to keep people on the sidewalk, not to keep traffic off the streets. While there were places of pedestrian congestion, it wasn't bad. Most interesting to me is the fact that people who were milling around really seemed to be there to have a good time. So, even though there was some crowding, particularly in front of bars, people maintained a good attitude.



Costumes were clever, and there were a number of Sarah Palins, as one might expect at a celebration of all things horrifying. There was a group of Mormon Missionaries, who were favorite picture subjects of many of the revelers. I was asked by a number of people to pose with the missionaries, no doubt because I was dressed as what could probably best be described as Satan's pimp.



Politically-themed costumes were de rigeur, with the afire mentioned Palinplex, marriage sets and this elaborate vehicular "tribute" to Senator McCain and his Kibrickian sensibilities:



And, of course, what would a street party in the Castro be without some man-flesh?



The guy on the right's t-shirt says it all.

Even though I'm a nervous wreck about whether Prop 8 will pass or fail, my town has brought back something I fell in love with when I first moved here. Let's hope it can stay small, local, and fun for years to come.

-- Post From My iPhone