Mus-tache to Pass (and Other Weekend Spectacles)

i do my best to fill my life with exciting and unexpected bits of magical goodness. living in la, and having a quirky and spontaneous group of friends, helps a great deal. friday looked promising as i arrived at an impromptu barbecue, complete with a toast to michael joel fox (a celebrity in his own right, but not to be confused with 'back to the future''s michael j. fox), enthusiastic conversation about banana clips, and a few intense and hilarious rounds of apples to apples. dancing, games, sleepovers, breakfast at produce bakery /pro-DUCE by-kerry/, and shopping in downtown la (including acquisition of the desirable and scarce hair pieces commonly known as 'banana clips') made the weekend, at least, outrageous and historic.

but the icing on the cake came 1/4 of the way into tj and my beach bike ride saturday evening. we were approaching the bridge connecting ballona creek with the strand when we heard a group of people chanting: "mus-tache to pass!". upon their hairless faces were drawn exquisite and diverse mustaches.

we rode past, smiling politely, until i thought aloud: "do they want...? should we...?" tj and i turned around, they cheered, and i inquired: "am i to understand you are offering free mustaches?" a very intoxicated woman confirmed my belief, an equally drunken gentlemen approached with black face paint and a third member of the movement came in to document the event with a high-quality camera. the collective chant changed to "best mustache ever!" as tj and my faces were painted and the moment was thoroughly documented. we rode away confident that all parties involved were thoroughly satisfied with said event.

tj rode another 10 miles with me as we fielded shy smiles and "nice 'stache!" remarks from beach onlookers. after tj turned back home, i continued south, lost in thought: how could one write about such a movement? "mus' 'stache to pass"? no..."mus-tache..." no no. "must-ache to pass"? no no no...my thoughts of troll-like strangers on the ballona creek bridge were only interrupted by intermittant remarks on my elaborate and fake facial hair and the incredible sunset.