Klown Abduction

Saturday, March 21, 1998

A group of friends had decided to go and see the newest Jackie Chan movie this afternoon. I took the bus over to the U-district, and did some shopping before the show.

I've realized that I need things like contact lens solution and shampoo in three places: at home, at work (I often shower at work), and packed in an overnight bag. So I bought a third set of everything, and a bag to put it all in. I also treated myself to Ludens Honey-Licorice Throat Drops (formerly cough drops, but the drops are non-medicinal and don't do anything for your cough, so they had to change the name) and a Symphony bar for the movie.

We had a great turnout for the movie! Jane, Luke, Kate, Glenn, Vonda, Randy, Tami, A.P. McQuiddy, Carl, Karrie, and Lesley.

The movie, "Mr. Nice Guy," wasn't the best Jackie Chan by far, but it was enjoyable if you like that kind of thing, and I do. The best parts were a sequence in a construction site with blue doors, and the grand finale. Afterwards we walked down to Big Time brew pub and had snacks and beverages. A nice, companionable afternoon. I always like being invited to join a group!

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I had been out earlier in the morning on a mission to Costume and Display in the north end. I wanted to get some clown gear for our Cacophony event, the Klown Abduction.

After some discussion, we decided to all ride in Jayson's van. Tom Lawrence had gone over to his place a little earlier for a clown makeover, then they picked up first me, then Nick. We drove over to the Greenlake area, first to meet up with Eric, the fifth abductor, and to go to the home of our intended victim.

Unfortunately, our intended victim, Yasha, wasn't feeling well enough to be kidnapped. So we burst into his place and told him why we would have grabbed him, if it had been possible. He is a long-time Cacophony member who has been invaluable to us, in creativity and soul. The weirdness of his spirit has done a lot for us! Plus, he's a great guy and we miss seeing him. In the picture, he is the one with the blindfold, not dressed as a clown. I'm on the right, in black. I decided to go for an elegant, refined clown, rather than the scary or military look favored by the rest of the crew, so I wore my short, black dress made of crushed velvet, with white gloves and every possible hairbow and flower on my head.

So we proceeded, sans Yasha, on to the Seattle Funplex. Of course the first thing that happened when we got there was some kids thinking we were there to entertain them! A girl reached up and grabbed Jayson's red nose, and pulled it off! By accident, I think; she was probably trying to make it squeak. We explained to the kids that we weren't on duty, and union rules prevented us from being funny. We bought a package deal allowing us each one round of mini-golf, one round of lazer tag, one ride on the Jet City Express, and one ride on the bumper cars.

We took a trip on the Jet City Express first thing, which ride was really a Tilt-a-Whirl carnival ride. I was laughing maniacally throughout, just because of the bizarreness of the image -- five clowns being the only passengers riding around and around on this ride. Since there were no kids, I think the operator got us going faster than normal. This was a great wake-up and warmup for us.

I've always had a fondness for miniature golf. There was one of the "Putt-Putt" courses near my home when I was growing up. The course at the funplex has holes designed after various Seattle landmarks. The only drawback is that the course is in such bad condition! But that didn't really matter, since we weren't that serious about the competition. (But I won! yay!)

I decided to give the lazer tag a miss, and just observe from the booth. The other guys seemed to enjoy it, though! The bumper cars were great! That's an activity that I've never really liked much. I don't like the jarring when you get hit, which is really the point of it all! But the cars here had air cushions all around, and if you got hit you just went sliding or spinning away. The steering was done by a handle on either side. The spread-legged seat might have led to a free show for anyone watching me. I was wearing tights, though, so not too much was revealed.

Pinball is one of my favorite games, so we played a few rounds. I played "Independence Day" which is a good game. Tom was playing "Apollo 13" which turned especially exciting for him when he reached the special 13-ball multi-ball level! By this point we had exhausted most of the funplex possibilities, and we were ready to move on.

We drove to Sunset Bowl in Ballard, intending to visit the lounge and sing karaoke. But it was so jam-packed there that there wasn't room for us! So we decided to visit another traditional Seattle venue, Dick's Burgers in Wallingford. (Homer voice: mmmmm. Dick's Deluxe...) A yummy snack, and we were ready to call it a night.

Just to keep our intended victim guessing, we told him that we might grab him some other time, when he least expects it! And we mean it, too!

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