Spotted in San Francisco's Castro district last Saturday while slurping coffee with friends: the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, preparing for the Tour De Castro. This tricycle drag (queen) race benefits the AIDS Lifecycle charity, and it's part of a longstanding tradition. The air was warm, the outfits fabulous, the cause a noble one.

Above, a friendly guy named Chris, who very kindly obliged when I asked if I might snap a photo of this fierce tattoo that stretched from shoulder to shoulder. "Your back looks amazing," I stutter, "I mean, you look great from the front, too, but --" He stops me. "Honey, don't worry," he sighs, "Everybody always wants it from behind."

The scene along the sidewalk was Fellini meets Almodovar meet Monty Python. Contestants only sprinted for 10 or 20 feet at a time on their tricycles, then ducked in to air-conditioned bars for pomegranate martinis. Hey, the better to keep your false diamond eyelashes fresh.

Scenes like this make me proud to be American. I snapped some video (Link, 00:00:27) and stills (Link to photo set) with a new, palm-sized Canon Powershot SD360 I bought last week (which I'd marry if it had a pulse and a steady job -- I really love this sweet little ultracompact). I'm going to embed the video via Revver's Flash player below, and see if that works okay for BB readers. Forget it -- Revver's embedded player causes problems for too many of our readers. Here's a direct link. And here's a related post on SF metblog. (Thanks, Violet Blue!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 04:48:37 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments