Geek Prom 2007

Saturday night Ben & I attended the 2007 Geek Prom at the Science Museum in St. Paul. It was ... well, let's just say it was geeky. The music, provided by E.L.nO., was decent, danceable, and fun. I wonder if all geeks love the 80s, or just the ones who were there.

Sadly, there was no drunken debauchery. Well, maybe a little - but I'll get to that in a minute. They advertised "a cash bar" but all they had was beer, wine, and an appalling blue thing that approximated a martini in some vague way. Perhaps it was the Vulcan equivalent.

So shortly after the new king and queen were crowned (a friend of ours was last year's queen, which is part of the reason we went), I was looking around the room, and suddenly the door on the men's room flies open, and 5 or 6 naked guys come running out onto the dance floor, then out into the next room, then back into the restroom. Hilarious. On principle alone, I declared it the high point of the night. Then a rent-a-cop (possibly St. Paul PD, but I'm not sure) shows up, & after the guys get dressed, they're escorted out of the building.

I'm wondering, was there really a need to arrest these guys? This was a private-ish event (open to all, but in a private venue, at least), open to those 18 and up, and it's doubtful that those present had never seen a penis before. In fact, as I noted immediately afterward, for most of the guys there, it was the closest they'll ever get to seeing a naked woman.

So, everyone has a good laugh, and the audience applauded the streakers after they came out of the restroom, in an effort to show support for them and disdain for the authority figures. No harm done. Well, I should clarify. Some harm did befall a few innocent bystanders (including last year's queen) when the cops decided an appropriate response to streakers is the use of pepper spray. Yes, they sprayed several people with pepper spray (though apparently none of the streakers showed any ill effects). Jackasses. That's all I can say.

P.S. One of the streakers had been dressed up as a little lad who loves berries and cream. Yeah, it was creepy.