New Zealand time
Current mood: enthralled
Category: Blogging

Made it to New Zealand!!! we're at the start of the dateline...so a day ahead of most everyone! (First to see the sunrise.)

We made it to the airport in time... after having my van break down the night before on my way to my 331 DJ gig. (Stacy, my dancer, helped me through that... and Raymond, my lead guitarist, joined in at the end of the night to help me get the van home... got it running again, but it totally quit 3 blocks from home so the 3 of us had to tow in through alley-ways the rest of the way using my big old tow chain. this all at 4 am...and having to be at the airport by 1 pm the next day!!
so I slept well enough on the flight...(as well as one can sleep cramped into an airplane seat for 16 hr's!! (13 hr's from LA)

While in LA, we visited two friends during our 6 hr layover. and they took us to Venice Beach. took photos...will upload them next blog.

The weather here in NZ is early spring... rain today, but has been sunny and cool. (Cold at night...but not too cold.) Matthew (Madmat, my NZ promoter, and sub bass player for the tour,) and his husband Eddy's house is where we're staying. it's BEAUTIFUL!!! on a hillside in a valley on the ridge over Wellington. We can just see the ocean through the vortex of the valley. (mor pix next blog.)

Last night I performed a pre-tour gig at the Hummingbird. midnight till ...2 am? 2 sets. just me and my electric, and Matthew plugged his bass into the PA to join me .

The Hummingbird is a restaurant during the day...and turns into a bar and hang-out place late night... so an interesting crowd... not all expecting someone like ME to suddenly set up on a created stage, and perform... but after the first set kind of cleared out the people who were not expecting the show, those who stayed, joined the ones who came by FOR the show and the second set, which went over very well. A nice way to start the tour with this unadvertised solo special gig.

the Official Tour starts Thursday (Wed early morning for those back home in the US) at the San Francisco Bath House. http://www.sfbh.co.nz
and we'll go from there for the rest of the gigs, and the other cities.

Till then I'm in rehearsals with my NZ back-up band, and enjoying New Zealand in Wellington.

When I get back home Sept. 4th I have a DJ gig at 'Nick and Eddy' (somehow I'm going to need to figure out how to get my records and turntables there and home without the van!! (till I get that fixed of course) so please drop over...I'm going to see if I can score a good NZ vinyl or so while here to bring home for my DJ set(s)

OK gotta scram... more later, and I'll add PIX soon.
Venus

(PS Thanks to everyone who signed up to our e-list and made it to our in-studio invite-only performance/party !! Lovely!)

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"Thank-you for defending me" ref: ’Space-Lounge’ Tuesday’s
Category: Life

So I gathered from what was told to me by one of my 'Space-Lounge' Tuesday night regulars as I was ending the night's DJ set... There was some sort of disparaging comments made about me behind my back by a few newbies to the "Space-Lounge" experience which of course includes in addition to the music I spin; ME and my trans-self...

They evidently weren't up to speed on dealing with it all, and had to make some noise about it out on the patio.

Well, my regulars stood up to them and defended me and the music, and the night as a whole... so I just wanted to send out a big 'Thank-You All!!'

I am proud to be Trans. And though I tour quite a bit all over the world... I am proud to live and work in Minneapolis. This incident reminds me of why I choose 15 years ago to be out as trans-person. The need to say that we as trans-people are here; that we only want to be a part of and to add to the community we live in with the talents we can offer.

I know it's at times hard for people to understand why we're trans--- and at times I know people have to express their difficulty in understanding... but at times it crosses the line and becomes angry, and then who knows where it could go... I've seen it go pretty badly. And often I'm having to deal with all that on my own... even while I'm working.

I am proud that my Tuesday regulars stood up for me when I wasn't even aware it was going on.

Thank you all so much. I have confidence again that the world is indeed changing, and some day all this just won't be an issue.

-Venus

...(ps ... remember I'll be in NY recording on my new CD this next Tuesday the 22nd while Lori Barbaro fills in for me DJing at the Space-Lounge'... I'll be back the Tuesday after (the 29th) and the Tuesdays on from then ;)

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How will this work??? DJ Nick and Eddie Sat July 12th (TOMORROW)
Current mood: rebellious
Category: Blogging

So I dropped into Nick and Eddie this aft to talk about the parking tomorrow night around there (Nick and Eddie 1612 Harmon Place) As I'll be bringing the "Vinyl-Venus Space-Lounge" there Tomorrow night July 12th (Sat) (I normally do them at the 331 Club on Tuesday nights... so this is a chance to come see it if you don't like staying up late on Tuesday ;)... Anyway, since the Basilica Block Party is going on the same night I figured Parking is gonna be tough... and Doug sez "well, there's Valet parking of course that they offer which is equal to the area lot parking prices... but that I should remember that the Block Party will shut down at 10 pm, so it should clear up parking-wise after that.

SOOO... IF you're already down there for the Basilica Block Party...PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE come on by Nick and Eddie right after (it's just around the corner overlooking Loring Park) to take in some of the 'Space-Lounge' vinyl that I spin...(and will spin till close at 2 am) and IF you're coming down for the 'Space-Lounge' in particular ... then don't worry so much about parking... use the valet parking, or wait till 11, then park wherever. Hope you can make it... I'm planning some fun stuff for the night. If you wanna dance, I can do that, if you wanna just listed to the bits of Vinyl from the 70's Glam, 80's punk and New Wave... etc that I've collected up, sit back and give it a listen ;)

--Venus

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Venus DJ’s Space-lounge tonight -- Rake Blurb about it!!
Current mood: artistic
Category: Music

Got a nice blurb about my DJ Space-Lounge gigs Tuesday's (tonight) at the 331 Club N.E. Mpls.
wheee...stop in if you can. say Hi... I spin about %95 vinyl and looking for that other %5 vinyl replacements ;)--Venus

http://www.rakemag.com/blogs/secrets-day/2008/06/vampire-mutants-are-expanding-boundaries

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Venus DJ’s 331 Club Tuesdays
Current mood: adventurous
Category: Music

Yup...for now...at least though June. so if you haven't been, PLEASE do plan a drop in this month. I've collected up about 100 real vinyl records from Lynn and my own collection, and a bunch I've been coming across in NY, and here in Mpls, and even up in Duluth... at this point I'm doing about 95% real vinyl spinning, (and yeah about 5% CD's cuz I just have not as of yet found these particular songs on vinyl... but searching for them.)

Tonight I think I'm gonna pull at least one song off an old PIL album... Flowers of Romance... before they started sounding pop with their hits... but I'll also throw in one of their later hits too ;) cuz I like them as well.

also got a few new tiny 45's from Pauly's old collection, (the person who runs the 'myspace/venusfanspace' site ) see if you can spot them tonight.

dodge the rain drops and come on in for a bit... I'll choose fun songs from back in the day... but only the ones I love of course!!

--Venus

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AZ tour thoughts 2006
Category: Life

I began writing this a week after returning from the last tour with my new back-up band: "The House of Flowers." in Oct. 2006... we performed in Kansas, New Mexico, and then toured around in AZ, making it all the way down to Bisbee, and ending with a performance in Scotsdale AZ for their big Fetish Ball there:(http://www.azfetishball.com/)

This blog is more about my thoughts during the tour rather than a blow by blow gig review. I hope it's of interest to those of you reading it.

Care,
Venus DeMars
-- and the
'House of Flowers'



A week ago I was standing in a desert, in a sand covered parking lot outside a trailer home, with a 2-year-old toddler named Cameron. Cameron was talking non-stop, very seriously, as he gazed out towards the mountains on the horizon. Cameron doesn..t speak English, or any other known language for that matter, or perhaps he can, but doesn..t want to, or perhaps he..s taking his time moving from his own language to a learned one. Whichever the case was, he talked.

There's an idea that when we're born, and up until we begin to speak language, we remember all out past lives... kind of a culmination of wisdom handed down from life to life. It's all forgotten when we begin to use language, and we journey on into our new life never really knowing direction, or purpose. That's kind of the reason right there... to discover our direction, through trial and error. Then when we die, we remember it all again, and the newest life's learning is added to our collected wisdom. ...That's the idea anyway, or one idea.

I watched Cameron "talk" and I listened.

Perhaps he talked about life. Talked about conflict. Talked about missed chances, or loss.
Perhaps he talked about the search, the journey Truth discovered. Answers found. Questions revealed.
Perhaps he talked about death, and sadness, or perhaps what he hoped to learn in this new life of his.

In that desert, I watched two lives that had spiraled out of orbit... broken away from their natural inclination of closeness, and replaced with anger, frustration, and opposition. The Daughter taking care of the lost, now found Mother. The found Mother now taking from the Daughter.

I saw these two lives, and for a short time, I believe they remembered how it should be. What could be, what perhaps was long ago. Their embrace was real. Their tears were true.

Then I watched as they flew out of orbit again.

And even so, I watched them continue to pull.

In this desert I feel a power older than us. Not a god. Not a 'caretaker,' just a power. Other people knew this before, I think. It seems to live separate from us, but also in us, just out of reach. We can..t own it, but at times it owns us, and we are one.

I feel this "power" where I live too. I..ve watched us pull at it. Pull it into our worship. Pull it into our obsessions. Pull it into our attempts to understand.

I pull.

When I toured New Zealand two years ago, I met some of the Maori people. I learned that their facial tattoos were handed down from family. Earned. Given. Transforming.

I pull. I take. I feel lost. I try.

I have 3 tattoos. I created them. I asked them to be put on my body. I pulled them from somewhere deep inside me. I pulled them, carved them, suffered them when I felt alone. They ground me.

We despair. We search. We drift in and out of orbit. We pull. We take.

I am transgender. And because I..m not transitioning, I am both sexes. I find this place a place of strength, and a place of increased learning. At times it is more difficult than I can bear, and at times it is all I want. It is who I am.

Our tour to AZ ended with our performance at the 2006 AZ fetish ball. We performed for a very large audience. We played with an ancient power. We pulled. And we took. We tried to give what we could. We tried to understand.

I saw variations of the 'Sundance'. Empowering. Stunning. Undirected. Undecided. Simply experienced. We pulled hard.

I saw love, I saw life, I saw sex, I saw lust, I saw humanity, I saw chaos, I saw order. I saw an ancient thing, untamed. Unguided.

I was onstage. I lost myself. I lost my individuality. I became breath. I became dust.
And for a short time, I thought perhaps I remembered something.

But now I've forgotten what it was.

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