Ah, 'tis that time of year again for $9 Bud Lights and a bevy of beautiful beefcakes shaking their stuff on stage -- the crowning Mr. Marina 2014.
Last night's festivities kicked off at the Regency Ballroom packed to the rafters with a heady blur of neon, pastel, party dresses and Wolf of Wall Street t-shirts; I couldn't tell if I was in Vegas, the Hamptons or the Jersey Shore. Disoriented I made my way through to the crowd (most of whom brandish -- or wear -- their favorite contestants' swag) and head to the bar because as MC and Mr. Marina founder Brianna Haag reminds me, those drinks are philanthropic tonight!
So now we come to The Real World San Francisco Ex-Plosion, Episode 11. Allow me to make the obvious Spinal Tap allusion, because we are of course at "11." "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever." Every time this show starts to get some inkling of nuance that might portent something deep, it quickly veers back into its normal two-dimensional stasis of booze and booty. Not that I seem to be complaining, because I am glued to each episode. It must be Stockholm Syndrome.
What's 25 feet tall, covered in "flames," and is coming to San Francisco? No, it's not some new terrifying type of car. It's called "Soma", and it's an interactive sculpture built by the Flaming Lotus Girls, a San Francisco-based art collaborative known for creating gigantic interactive "fire" sculptures. And starting this spring, it will be stationed at Pier 14 for a year.
Made up of LED lights and steel, "Soma" is built to look -- and act like -- the cell body of a neuron -- it has two "nuclei" which interact with each other, and the center of each one is made to look like a spinning ball of fire.
The Write Stuff is a series of interview profiles conducted by Litseen, where authors give exclusive readings from their work.
Will "the Thrill" Viharo is a freelance writer, pulp fiction author, B movie impresario and lounge lizard at large. His novels A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge, Chumpy Walnut, Lavender Blonde, Down a Dark Alley, Freaks That Carry Your Luggage Up to the Room, It Came From Hangar 18 (with Scott Fulks), and the entire Vic Valentine, Private Eye series (including Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me, Fate Is My Pimp, Romance Takes a Rain Check, I Lost My Heart in Hollywood, and Diary of a Dick) are now available. Actor Christian Slater is currently developing a film version of Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me. The original "Vic Valentine" cocktail is now being served exclusively at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda, CA.
When people ask what do you do, you tell them... ?
I'm a writer.
What's your biggest struggle -- work or otherwise?
Turning my passion for pulp into a lucrative career. Basically: making money. I have no talent for generating wealth. I'll settle for a steady income.
