Totally caught by surprise, the publisher of the Beach's weekly Wire newspaper, Carl, collected the admiration of so many of our friends like Mark and Dr. Brad. Trapped into entering our side door, he and Thomas found me picking up chairs in an empty room and folding a few, prearranged napkins. "Oh, the air conditioning is not working and the manager moved the party in the front room." Like all moments of surprise, Carl should have realized I would not be doing that, but that is the fun of confusion.

Patrick and his boyfriend and club promoter, Dustin Reffca, were on hand early, too, but had no idea what the night held in store for them.

Jeremy need not worry about my "entertaining" other captains because the ravishingly handsome Captain Marc of the Polish brigade has been more than occupied (in a good way) by the super cuddly Josh.

FernanDcute and Queen Cabaret outdid themselves in a striking performance of opera, sport themes, and drama. This night was pure Palace: a place of gathering, social interaction of the highest order, political thinking, of friends.

A remarkable array of club people like Twist owner, Joel and his boyfriend, club legend Gerry Kelly, and a batch of promoters and DJ's stopped by before their nights began to say "Hi".

"Take Me Out To The Ball Game" took on new meaning, too, as Geraldine got up to the mound and started batting some type of squish balls into the crowd as Carl pitched.

Dustin and Patrick were immediately rounded up and "convinced" to bare their bodies for the birthday boy's use. The only words of comfort I could say to them were, "Don't worry. It's not going to be like an Aztec sacrifice." (But, there's a new idea...)

There was more than a little hesitation and anticipation in their faces as the ceremony was about to begin.

Carl got to do something never done before: "Double Dip" on the body shots. But he attacked the front line of shooting with the usual gusto he shows every night. Note the left hand outflanking the mouth. Von Clausewitz couldn't have done better; occupy the main line while maneuvering the flank. It's a classic.

Queen Cabaret adopted a "sports" look, but I don't know... Would you tackle something like this, and I mean the one on the left?

There were a lot of bitchy comments about the night, but as my mother used to say, "The truth is a bitch, not me."

Saturday holds another birthday party for the provocative Cosette at 6 PM in the back and then there is the colossal party for my old friend and boss, Gerry Kelly, "King of South Beach" at his club, Fifth. There seems to be no end in sight of the madness.