A Christmas Story

""Hi Santa" they all said. "Hi Santa" I said back to them all individually and collectively.
Saturday, Dec. 13 I and some other Tiki Centralites were in Los Angeles participating in my second Santacon--a rough and tumble Santa "convention". This year the Santas (that's what we call each other-no 'human' names allowed!) rode the LA metro system and made various stops along the way to hit the neighborhoods and to check out the local bars.
To see 200 racous Santas roaming the streets is quite a sight and that isn't even taking those DAMN ELVES into consideration!!!
Yes the elves were revolting this year (so to speak). They were protesting the poor work conditions at the North Pole, low wages, lack of benefits, losing jobs to foreign countries, etc. Those damn elves were whining about almost everything!!! At the Highland Park station, the Elves even ambushed the Santas with almost military precision!! After the ambush those trouble making elves joined the group of Santas while carrying their picket signsand chanting anti-Santa slogans!! What can I say--we Santas rule and the elves suck!!
After some of the Santas sat in the Lotus position and mediatated around the giant christmas tree at Pasadena's city hall, we ended up at some nasty modern mall in Pasadena on Colorado Blvd. The shoppers were quite bewildered (as were people all day long) to see this congragation of shoddy male and female Santas. After going into some island themed bar at the mall and promptly leaving, we Santas ended up at some other bar and restaurant and ate and drank (mostly drank) the rest of the afternoon away!!
It is hard for me to explain the appeal of Santacon, but once you dress up, spread some Christmas cheer and drink some Christmas beer, you'll want to do it again and again. Santacon 2004-I AM THERE!!"

Have a nice Tiki Day!

[ Edited by: mrsmiley on 2003-12-22 12:21 ]

Some choice shots:

Tina as Hunter as Santa:

Santa likes McGriddles®:

Santa likes MilkBones®:

Santa likes mistletoe:

Santa had a great time. Here's more pics.

I love this one. Trader Pup leads the group in meditation. The guy drinking out of a paper bag behind him is Mr. Smiley.

photo by Dana Watanabe

Santa did sustain some arrests this year and that kept things interesting.

In the above photo Santa is meditating to the Christmas tree that we discovered in Pasadena's City Hall. There was a santa who had an amplifier strapped to his back, through which we were treated to the melodious tones he played on a cheesy kiddie keyboard, general hollering and in this case, "OHMMMMMMMMM...OHMMMMMMM". Quite a humorous scene. Our first stop was the L. Ron Hubbard Dianetics Center and they were very good sports about it. Santa just can't seem to leave those Scientologists alone. This particular destination was a change from the regular trips to L. Ron Hubbard Winter Wonderland on Hollywood boulevard. That poor Santa gets it almost every year. In fact, you can briefly see that he is visited in this video from a SantaCon that happened a few years ago. This is a fine video: http://www.weirdamerica.com .

Santa stumbles

CB Howlie Claus on the subway

On 2003-12-23 10:25, floratina wrote:
I love this one. Trader Pup leads the group in meditation. The guy drinking out of a paper bag behind him is Mr. Smiley.

photo by Dana Watanabe

Is that Shag in the upper right of the picture? (standing to the left of Mr. Smiley)

[ Edited by: martiki on 2003-12-23 11:38 ]

That guy does look like Shag!

Here's Humu and Pup on the subway platform via phonecam. Note Pup's jaunty stogie and Humu Humu's gratuitously placed mistletoe:

[ Edited by: floratina on 2003-12-23 11:44 ]

Excellent Christmas cheer, both in Santa costumes and and in (distilled) spirit. Tis the season!

Great stuff! Looks like a lot of fun was had by all. They have started doing Santacon over here in the UK (Though they should call it FatherChristmascon). Seeing all the laughs had by the Tiki Central members of Santacon 2003, perhaps I'll join them next time...

http://www.xtinalamb.co.uk/santacon/

Trader Woody

I have always thought the UK SantaCon had the most attractive site. I noticed greater homogeneity of dress with the UK santas in the pix I saw. I like that. Like they all got the shipment of Santa outfits in the mail just that day. I am envious of the great locations those Santas had. Very inspiring. Hmmm. Santa Monica pier would be a good place to go next year. I really liked this collection of photos...
http://www.shitbags.co.uk/photos/santacon/

Here's some more LA SantaCon Photos:

When Elves Attack:

Photo by Dana Watanabe

Those Damn Elves deserved it. Now get back to work, you little bastards:

Photo by Dana Watanabe

There was a production company in the middle of a shoot. Of course Santa couldn't resist interrupting it:

Photo by Dana Watanabe

Dogpile!

Photo by Santa Tan

[ Edited by: floratina on 2003-12-24 10:58 ]

I only have one thing to say to Santa Pup:

FCK YOU, and FCK YOUR VANILLA SCENTED BUCKLE!

Those British santas are......ZAZZ!

Santa under arrest:

Photo by Ben Simpson

and another:

Photo by Ben Simpson

Santa's goin' down:

Photo by Ben Simpson

There was another Santa who escaped and ran down Colorado Boulevard (of Rose Parade fame). Security chased him down the block and across the street, that must have been the most surreal scene for all the cars waiting in traffic.

[ Edited by: floratina on 2003-12-24 11:28 ]