Don't F* with Santa from Austincacophony

Last night, M and I wound up at the Gingerman with the Jew and the Arab (The Jew is prefers to drink between the two highways vs. venturing into Hipstertown.).   It was a low key evening of beer and conversation.  Meanwhile downtown was being invaded by hundreds of Santas.

Santas?  Yes, Virgina, last night was Santacon. According to the Wikipedia, Santacon is
a mass gathering of people dressed in Santa Claus costumes parading publicly on streets and in bars in cities around the world. The focus is on spontaneity and creativity, while having a good time and spreading cheer and goodwill.

I had received a Facebook invite not too long ago from the Austin Santa Rampage group, inviting me to join them for Santarchy/Santacon.  There plan was to swarm the downtown area from noon-until the bars closed.  I was surprised that there were so many rules for this mass gathering of jolly people.  The first rule about Santacon is that you can’t talk about Santacon.  Seriously.  There was the FB invite with vague instructions.  If you RSVP’d yes you were sent an email with additional details (Santa rules/guidelines, the starting point, and a website to read the FAQs).  From the website you could get the Twitter account to follow so you knew what bar the Santas were invading.

The Great Wendini (my new yenta) invited to roll with her Santa Posse. I spent a chunk of yesterday developing my Santa outfit (which involved a cape trimmed in gold and silver garland).  By the time 7pm rolled around I decided not to join the herd.  I could do a small social gathering/costume party but not this.  This was going to be overwhelming.

According to the rules, Gingerman was to be a Santa-free zone (we spotted a few renegade Santas on the back porch).    After Gingerman, M, the Jew, and myself went to 24.  It is in the old Waterloo Icehouse location.  I wasn’t that impressed.  It was partially due to the waiters inability to tell us what cheese was on the cheese plate.   The prices weren’t that great either.