Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Guavaween 2004
Sunday
October 31, 2004
Taking a break from the election work, I took part in the fun and revelry of Guavaween 2004 last night. It was my fourth Guavaween to take part in, and while it might not of lived up to last year's wildness, it certainly had its moments.
|  | I found angels in Ybor at Guavaween 2004.
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Unfortunately my brother Matt couldn't make it this year, nor could Slick (Richard Karg) or even James Maynor (who had a cameo the Friday of last year and hung with me at it two years ago). This time around, my friend Bill Cunningham, who I've known since my freshman year of high school, came over to take part in his first Guavaween.
We watched some college football, and much to Bill's displeasure, his Florida State Seminoles lost. It certainly made Miami's later loss much less satisfying for him (since that would've potentially put FSU in a position for a BCS bowl bid). Meanwhile, BCS-buster Utah just keeps on winning, and if they win out, there's no reason they shouldn't be in a BCS game. And it's not like Oklahoma is out of the woods yet (playing at Texas A&M yet, whose only loss this season was to... Utah) and Auburn (who has to win out in the SEC, including the Title game, which is like trying to run a gauntlet. Imagine if somehow Utah ends up getting to play for the national title?
|  | I look sad in this pic, but only because I had to stop drinking to pose for it.
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I went as a pirate, and since Bill didn't have a costume, I let him wear my pimp costume that I wore two years ago. It worked out perfect. The hat fit him, unlike for me two years ago, where my massive cranium was far too large for it (and no, I'm not kidding; most hats don't fit me).
My neighbor Brad returned from his trip to China last night. How's that for timing? I had been feeding his fish for him while he was gone, and as a thank-you gift, he brought me back some sort of Chinese alcohol. I'd tell you the name, but I was rather tanked when he told me, and the box and bottle is marked entirely in Chinese writing. It's not designed for non-Chinese literate people. It tastes quite like brandy. It even came with its own corkscrew bottle-opener, which is most interesting.
Anyway, after much "pre-partying", Bill and I met up with some girls here in the apartment complex and we headed down to 7th Avenue (both of us adorned in beads that I've collected through the years). This time around the crowds didn't have the crushing "unmovable" feel of years past (2001 and 2002 in particular, since last year I didn't really get to experience -- read the story of Guavaween 2003 if you haven't already).
There were some cool costumes, as you'd expect at Guavaween. It was by far the warmest Guavaween of the four that I've experienced, but unfortunately that didn't seem to lead to an increase in flashing. If anything, it seemed to have an inverse effect. Damn.
Overall, it was a real fun time. The hangover today was no fun, but I've cut back on my drinking, so when I do go "all in"... well so it goes. Next year hopefully Matt and Slick can continue their "every other year" tradition of making it down here for Guavaween, and Bill said he wants in next year.
Election day is two days away. I'm not sure how it's going to play out, but I found a website with an interesting look at how the two major candidates have done in the polls since May. Check out Florida and how it's flipped back and forth from Bush to Kerry. The site is electoral-vote.com.
As I type this, a Jim Coats radio ad is running on WFLA-AM. You know, for all the Bubba haters out there, Coats is sure running alot of advertising against him. Not only that, but get this: Governor Jeb Bush on Thursday named Coats as the interim Sheriff. As if that couldn't have waited until this Wednesday, if it's Coats going to win. Some people wanted to try and denigrate Bubba's campaign run, but he's been out there meeting with people in the community on the grass-roots level, talking with groups, etc. Win or lose, Bubba ran the right way. Well enough where it went all the way to the Governor appointing his opponent into the post, potentially swaying voters, less than a week from the election. Politics is a dirty game. But I knew that going into this whole thing.
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