As some of you know, I have made my own Christmas tradition since moving to LA. 95% of the people I know in this city fly home to be with their families for the holiday, which leaves me and a handful of orphans alone in the city on one of the deadest social nights of the year. It was Christmas Eve 2007 when my friend Leon had the idea to hit up some pretentious, hipster-scum East-side bars in an attempt to spread Christmas cheer. He found an old mouse costume in a closet and asked if I wanted to wear it as a joke. What began as a modest proposal has grown into an annual event here, with more friends each year joining me as I crawl my way to different bars in full mouse regalia.
2007 was the Echo Park bar crawl, which included a memorable trip to Little Joy, where passing cars stopped to ask for photos with the giant mouse, and a table of sullen fauxhemians actually smiled as I entertained them. In 2008 we brought the mouse costume to one of the douchiest areas of Hollywood, the Cahuenga bar scene, where Beauty Bar, Burgundy Room and Big Wangs were successfully transformed into merry watering holes. There was karaoke, dancing, and a very strange guided tour of Kitchen 24 after hours. Last year we visited 7 Grand downtown, where the bar owner thanked us for proving to his wife that there was a purpose to opening the bar on Christmas Eve. We wound up at Jumbo’s Clown Room, where the dancers took an instant liking to the mouse, using his nose as a kind of second stripper pole. The evening ended with a huge “Mouse!” chant as I exited the bar after closing, followed by a victory lap around the strip club parking lot. Where will this year take us? God — and Mouse — only knows…
In celebration of my annual holiday tradition, here are the ten best photos from the past three years. I’ll post some of tonight’s photos tomorrow, so be sure to check back and find out what great moments were captured during the 2010 Christmas Mouse LA Bar Crawl.
Erin and Shaun. They've been part of the Mouse gang since '08. Here pictured at Big Wangs in Hollywood, shortly before I performed an interpretive dance as Leon the Lion sang "Baby Got Back".
Disabled girls love the mouse. I'm pretty sure this looks like Mouse is eating her ass, but clearly she's wearing pants. Mouse gets all the girls...and some guys, too!
Jumbo's Clown Room c. 2009. They didn't like the idea of people taking pictures in the strip club, but there were about a dozen shots that survived the "NO CAMERAS!" cries from the bar's owner. There's also a very blurry one where the mouse is watching a girl spread her legs right in front of his face, but it's almost unintelligible.
This is where it all began. Strolling through Echo Park in 2007 with Phoebe and Sari. Leon photographed that year.
Leon the Lion, Mouse, and two girls who were standing in line somewhere on Cahuenga to get into a shitty Asian bar. We don't wait in lines, but we stopped to take some pictures with the common folk.
Hipster twins love Mouse.
Outside Little Joy c. 2007. What are the odds a mouse runs into a guy with a Mickey Mouse tattoo on his forearm? Eh...in Echo Park? I guess the odds are pretty good.
The OG Mouse year, 2007. Inside Little Joy, teaching a British hipster chick how to shoot pool.
Animal sandwich c. 2008 at Burgundy Room (I think?). Look at how fierce Leon is as the Lion. Tom has a lot to live up to tonight as he assumes the Lion costume and all the pressure to perform comes with it.
This picture is actually the reflection in the mirror at the back of the stage in Jumbo's Clown Room, c. 2009. That dancer put the mouse nose in places you could only dream of sniffing.
