The Bicycle Diaries: Need Weekend Plans?

Hey All. Happy Solstice! Well, a few days ago. This past weekend I went on bike camping trip and it turns out a handful of "unique" people were camping to celebrate the solstice. We have LARP-ers (live action role play) and a group of ladies all into Wicken. But of course we didnt see them. We were too busy celebrating the solstice on our own.

That is not what this post is about. So I'll move on. This weekend, as many of you may or may not know, is the MPLS (well, twin cities , I guess) PRIDE!!! Very exciting for the Queer community.

Every year, I look forward to PRIDE. It is typically a fun filled weekend of music, art, queers and some booze, among other things. My favorite part of PRIDE is the Parade, but that's because I love all parades. But I also love just hanging out in Loring park among other people either in the same boat as myself, or in support of the boat I'm in.

Friday night marks the 6th annual Uptown PRIDE block party. This year black Blondie, Chasity Brown and a handful of other will be playing. Here is the link: http://www.uptownprideblockparty.com/

This Block party is usually a really good time. Lots of people out dancing and celebrating and just having a good time. I'm hoping to make it to see a few bands.

Also on Friday night is a special edition of TWILIGHT at the Kitty Kat Club. I personally LOVE the KKC. The atmosphere is great, along with the smoking deck and photo booth. That is where A and I had our first date:) I'll be honest though, I've never been to Twilight. Neither has A. We are both interested in possibly hitting this up too.

Lastly on Friday is a burlesque show at Patrick's Cabaret. This is pretty close to our house. would be a fun time. we have never been there either. But we will see what Friday Bring.

Saturday is all the fun of hanging out and walking around and stopping at different booths all in the wonderful Loring Park. Well, i like it anyhow. It is a nice big park right on the cusp of Downtown. And it has a big pond/lake in the middle of it. I always see people canoeing on that pond during pride.

We usually BYOB, and watch drag shows, or check out different bands (some of which are terrible...) and maybe get some food. I think we will go early on with the pugs, then take them home and head back out later in the eve to possibly see THE VILLAGE PEOPLE! that's right, The Village People are playing our Pride. I think this is ridiculous and amazing. It is all because the MPLS Pride is the 2nd biggest (to San Fransisco) in the US. pretty sweet, huh?

And Sunday is the Parade. I love the parade. You could really see just about anything there. I think the Parade starts at 11. We will probably go back down to Loring after that, at least for a little while. Then perhaps hit up the 19 Bar, the oldest Gay Bar in MPLS. Who knows.

One pretty stupid/cool thing that is going on this year (I'll mini explain and leave a link to read the full article) is that the people in charge of PRIDE and the Park and Rec board are in a huge battle over free speech versus harassment/safety, or something to that affect. This is all because some dude and his bible thumping wife keep coming into the park (the one that is RENTED OUT FOR PRIDE, thus "Private-ish property" for the weekend/people who rented have a say as to what message is coming out of it and what is going on in that park) and trying to pass out all this biblical stuff, including bibles. The people of Pride have no problem with the guy standing across the street, or even setting up a BOOTH across the street. But coming into the park? It's like letting a bunch of Nazi's talking about Anti-Semitic stuff at a Jewish wedding. What the hell? Anyhow, way to go MPLS Pride peeps. Read more at the link below.