Cacophonous Holidaze: LA’s All City Toy Ride Tonight & Santacons Galore To Follow!
Yes Virginia, there will be more Santacons! Tomorrow, Saturday December 12, dozens of Santacons will create cacophony around the planet including
Albany, NY
Aspen, COAustin, TX
Calgary, AB
Cincinnati, OH
Dublin, Ireland
Ferndale, MI
Houston, TX
Kalamazoo, MI
Los Angeles, CA
London, UK
Nashville, TN
New Haven, CT
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Oslo, Norway
Ottawa, ON
Paris, France
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Rochester, NY
St. Petersburg, FL
Salt Lake City, UT
San Francisco, CA
Seoul, South Korea
Stockholm, Sweden
Vienna, Austria
Washington DC
West Palm Beach, FL
Organizers in LA expect around 500 Santas; SF will have 3 Santacons which will merge and converge over the event with at least 1000 Santas participating. Portland regularly hosts 3,000-5,000 Santas.
In Ventucky, we will hold a second bike riding Santacon Sunday December 20 at 12:30pm–that’s 12/20 at 12:30! We’ll ride from San Jon Road and the beach bike path to the Ventura Harbor for some shenanigans then ride north to downtown for some dancing and more cacophonous activity.
Learn how to prepare for a Santacon here including links to Santacon Carols, how to make a Santa suit, and Santa’s Code of Conduct. Find a Santa Con near you here.
Tonight, bicyclists from all over L.A. County will descend on Downtown L.A. bearing toys to be collected and distributed to kids by a local charity like they do every year in an All City Toy Ride; this year the Midnight Ridazz will be assisted by the East L.A. woman’s shelter in giving out the toys.
Rides begin in EVERY corner of the city Read more…
Two great wine events tomorrow on the West end of Main Street, Ventura: a wine tasting to celebrate VCCool’s new 501c3 status from 6-7pm at J’s Tapas 204 E. Main and a wine tasting and buy extravaganza from 6:30-9pm at Jonathan’s at Peirano’s. The food is fabulous, the atmosphere cozy, and both are conveniently located right next to each other and across from the San Buenaventura Mission in downtown.
First up: As the eyes of the World turn towards Copenhagen, Denmark and how our Global Community will address Climate Change, VCCool invites you to share an evening with us here at home. As a non-profit in Ventura that specifically addresses the issue at a local level, VCCool needs your support.
Join in conversation about building a sustainable future together during a lovely evening of wine, food, and friendship. This gathering is a free event with the purpose of raising funds, and nurturing friends and supporters as VCCool celebrates acheiving its 501c3 non-profit status as well as an amazing history of local action. The event also offers a sneak-preview of some exciting plans for 2010 as well. Bring your checkbook and make a powerful stand for climate protection by supporting a local organization that is working hard on climate action almost every day of the year.
Next: Get amazing wines at amazing wholesale prices, at the Annual Taste and Buy Event, Thursday December 10th 6:30-9pm at Jonathan’s. Taste over 30 wines from many of the best regions for only $10. RSVP today by calling 805-648-4853!
Be sure to say hi–I’ll be the one passing out Santacon Ride flyers (12/20 at 12:30pm) and Tweed Ride flyers (2/5 at 5:30pm). If it’s not raining, check out my pink bikergo locked up outside. Ask me and I’ll let you take it out for a spin!
English Composition students from Gwendolyn Alley/ArtPredator’s Ventura College classes as well as Alley herself will read prose and poetry from their recently published class anthologies tonight, Tuesday Dec. 8 and next Tuesday Dec. 15, 7:30pm in the Artists Union Gallery, 330 S. California St. Ventura California. The reading is free and all are welcome.
Pictured are students from Alley’s English 2 class at the conclusion of the recent successful Eco-Fest which they organized last Thursday. Christina Henderson drew the poster; an image with students and the poster graces the cover of their student publication.
More pictures and news of the event are at The Write Alley.
Ozomatli Headlines SF’s Sea of Dreams NYE
How will you ring in 2010?
If you can make it to the SF Bay Area, consider joining all the freaky fun Burner/ Lightening in a Bottle types attending
SEA OF DREAMS NYE 2010
THURSDAY – 12/31/09 NEW YEAR’S EVE
8PM-4:30AM
18+ Admitted/ (no ins & outs) |||| BUY TICKETS HERE!
Costumes More than Encouraged – 
Come Dressed as your Dream!
Share that Dream with Others
@ SF CONCOURSE
635 8th St. San Francisco, CA 94103
[MAP]
featuring
||||||||| LIVE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES by:
> OZOMATLI (full live 2-hour set) (bio) Read more…
Next First Friday ArtRide: The Tweed Ride February 5
Last night’s Santacon was great! (I promise to post pictures as soon as people send them to me.) A big thank you to Jim Luttojohan and the Ventura Visitor’s Center for welcoming our merry band of Santas, and to Milanos for all the pasta and salad (so much so that we took a lot of leftovers to the Salvation Army–nothing like warm pasta on a cold night), and to Anacapa Brewery for the wonderful porter!
So what’s up next? How about another Santacon Ride–going to the Ventura Harbor and then downtown Sunday Dec. 20? Stay tuned here for details!
Not sure what’s up for January 1, but there will be a
Tweed Ride
Friday, February 5th, 2010Meet 5:30pm
Artists Union Gallery, CA St & Ventura Beach PromenadeRide 6pm
To Art Studios & Galleries
Socialize 8pm
Laurel St. GalleryJoin Dapper Lads & Lasses
in finest tweeds & gowns
for a jolly ride about town
on our two-wheeled steeds!Prizes for Dandies dressed most ingeniously!
Bring your own device for portage of libations & money for hooch.
No lycra, jeans, or modern garb on this ride please!
We ride every First Friday!
SANTARCHY 101 2009: How to Prepare for a Santacon
YES, you MUST wear a costume. NO, you can NOT get by with a red shirt and Santa hat. It’s about the FUR!! (See in the picture of us from last year? Fur! White Fur! Lots of it!)
BE CREATIVE, ya lazy bum! Jeans, in particular BLUE jeans, will be removed and destroyed without warning. Don’t tempt us. Red jeans might make the grade.
Bring innocent toys to hand out to kids and naughty toys to give to adults.
IT IS YOUR CIVIC DUTY TO MAKE PEOPLE WONDER WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.
Santa doesn’t get arrested. Always remember the four F’n rules of Santarchy:
(1) Don’t f* with kids.
(2) Don’t f* with cops.
(3) Don’t f* with security.
(4) DON’T F* WITH SANTA!*
VENTUCKY SANTARCHY 101
SAVE SANTA FFARTRIDE Fri. Dec. 4
4:45 MEET at Ventura College, Day & Telegraph
5pm RIDE to the Transit Center at the Pacific View Mall
5:15pm Santas Ride Pacific View Mall
5:30-6pm MEET Aloha/Fountain/Artists Union,
Ventura Beach Promenade, CA St & the sea
6pm RIDE to art galleries: Bell Arts, Laurel St. CSUCI & more
745pm MEET Ventura Visitors Center for LIBATIONS!
Beer from Anacapa, Food from Milanos $5-15 suggested donation
9:45pm SANTACON Pub Crawl Downtown Ventura
Last December, in advance of our first Santacon, I posted lots of information to prepare Santa for the Santacon:
In particular, I’d like to call your attention to “Santa’s Code of Conduct” excerpts below:THIS SANTA CON is for cyclists! THEN it’s a pub crawl!
This is an ALL AGES Santa event!! Until the PUB CRAWL. Download and bring your own copy of the Santacon Carol Book here: http://santarchy.com/other/santacon-carol-book.pdf
T0 prepare, consider doing a few practice runs of some of your favorites! One of mine is “Georgie Baby”; here are the lyrics and here’s Earth Kitt version “Santa Baby”.
Read the rules again! You MUST wear a costume to participate, half ass Santa hats, Christmas shirts, and the like are not enough! DO NOT show up without a costume even if you just want to observe. If you are not in appropriate attire do not expect to hang with the Santa pack. If you want to roll with Santa you must be dressed as Santa!
Santarchy takes place in major cities all over the world involving tens of thousands of Santa’s. It is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious, non-sensical celebration of holiday cheer, goodwill, and fun. There is no good reason to dress up in cheap Santa suits, run around town, sing songs, have strangers sit on our laps and decide who’s naughty or nice…but it’s a lot fun…so Santa does it anyway. Everyone loves Santa and Santa loves everyone!
These Rules and Reminders were taken and adapted from other cities. Please read them so you are not the idiot Santa who gets kicked to the curb.
Can’t afford a Santa costume? Make one! Red sweats, faux fur and a glue gun will get you in the club!! here is a link to instructions: www.knowledgehound.com/khhow2s/make_santa_suit.html
Stick with the pack and you shouldn’t get lost or hurt too badly. If you see more than one pack, stick with the biggest one. Or not. It’s Santarchy, not follow-the-effing- leader. Santa is welcome pretty much anywhere he enters.
BRING YOUR OWN CUP!
Bring a cup for a friend!
Santa contributes cash (not trash)
and combats climate change.
What would the North Pole be like without snow?
Bring money for public transit, alcohol, food, donations, taxi fare. Pay your own tab, donate, and tip the staff like Santa would. Read more…
Wake Up! It’s Time for this Year’s Santacon!
Santacon 2009 is coming up soon–time to wake up and get your Santa on! Watch some of the antics of LA’s Midnight Ridazz Santa Con Dec. 6, 2008 then click here to find a Santa Con near you!
For those of you living near Art Predator, you’re in luck–Santa and Ms Claus are leading a merry band of Santas around town on bicycles this Friday Dec. 4! The ride leaves Ventura College at 5pm, then joins the regular ArtRide which will leave the Artists Union Gallery by 6pm.
If you go to a Santa Con, you gotta wear a suit! Here’s how to make one. 
To consider how antics such as these fit into a global picture of change, subversion of the dominant paradigm and more, buy yourself a copy of Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant Lot Gardeners Are Inventing the Future Today by Chris Carlsson (AK Press 2008). Visit Nowtopia on the web at www.nowtopia.org
For stories, pics and other details about Santa Cons here, there, and everywhere, search this site or check this site out which offers a collection of Santa Con carols including my favorite, Georgie Baby. If you need to remember the tune, or just want to see a wonderful version with Eartha Kitt, it’s here.
Let It Snow! Thanks WordPress! Happy Holidays!
Did you notice it’s snowing in the Black Rock Desert in my Burning Man header and across these words? While it may indeed be snowing right now in Nevada, and in fact I have been to the Black Rock desert when the playa is covered in snow–a lovely sight indeed– this time it is the elves at WordPress bringing the snow for the holidays once again.
Thanks WordPress for the early gift! Read about it here on the WordPress.com blog.
December What’s Up :: November Wrap Up
WRAP-UP What a month November was! Even though I didn’t put up the most posts (that record belongs to August with 47 posts) or get the most hits (only 9,459–the record is September 2009 with 16,701) I did reach the milestone of 160,000 page views this month and I must say that
November was certainly my most amazing month as a blogger. Not only was it my two year bloggoversary and I hit 150,000 page views, but I spent my bloggoversary in Portugal!
I mean–how many bloggers can say they went to PORTUGAL on an all expense paid trip to WINE BLOG?? Not too many. I know for a fact that I am the only one that Enoforum Wines took on an exclusive tour of the Alentejo wine region.
That’s right–it was me and Jo Diaz, their US publicist, climbing all over castles, interogating winemakers, tasting wine from barrels and bottles, and sampling the amazing Alentejo cuisine Read more…
Eco-Pirates Present Eco-Fest: A DIY Day of Action Dec. 3 & Save Santa ArtRide Dec. 4
On Thursday December 3, the Ventura College Eco-Pirates (a/k/a students in Gwendolyn
Alley’s English 1A & 2 classes) invite you:
The Ventura College Eco-Fest:
a Do It Yourself Day of Action
Thursday December 3,
8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the quad
RIDE YOUR BIKE to SCHOOL
& get a free bagel from Noah’s
& get it looked over by a mechanic
& get your winter riding lights on!
BRING YOUR COFFEE CUP to the quad
& get a free cup of coffee from Starbuck’s!
Learn why you should ride your bike
Learn how to grow a salad
Learn about DIY & self empowerment
Learn about the threat of plastics to local ocean ecosystems
Listen to music, watch films & more:
Gifts & crafts by local artists
Tables with info from local environmental organizations including VCCool & City of Ventura
Environmental Services
Friday, December 4, Save Santa ArtRide:
What will happen to Santa if the North Pole melts?
Calling all Santas, elves, polar bears & reindeer!
4:45 p.m. Meet at the corner of Day Rd & Telegraph
5:00 p.m. Ride down Telegraph to Main
5:30-6:00 p.m. Meet at the Artists Union Gallery
6:00 p.m. Ride to art galleries and studios
7:45 p.m. Socialize: Meet at the Ventura Visitors Center, 101 S. CA St at Santa Clara
for food from Milanos & beverages
$5-$15 donation for all you care to eat & drink
For more information, see Wednesday’s article in the Venture Breeze by Tim Pompey or my guest column at the Ventura County Star: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/nov/29/wheels-of-change-turning-in-ventura/
art predator 