I must admit that contrary to my normal habits, I didn’t do much consumption of food at the Fluff Festival this past weekend in Somerville, MA.  I was too busy sweating like a little piglet, as I’m sure you can see from the back of my hat hair.

But food concocted with Fluff was there aplenty:

I especially liked this Fluff injected chess set:

I never learned how to play Chess so the accuracy or lack of it is of no consequence to me.

There were at least twenty Fluff-filled foods submitted. I meant to get an overall shot of the table so all the food was represented here but my brain was too sweat-filled to think. The only thing I really tasted was the Fluffy chicken, mainly because if there was a recipe that combined Fluff with chicken I wanted it. I must say it was very tasty and delivered quite a kick.

Of course, Fluffernutter’s were definitely well represented:

Fluff filled trophies were given to the winners.

aKitschionado Rusty Blazenhoff documented me sampling them:

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who won as I was too busy mopping myself off in the darkness of the tiny VIP room, which was thankfully air-conditioned and had a watercooler. My hat was slathered with about twenty coats of Liquitex acrylic and it was like having your head topped off with a sauna.

I also did a lot of sitting around outside trying to drip dry while Booty Vortex played.

I have to say that funk cover bands usually drive me nuts but these guys were the joint.

I conducted them playing many a rendition of “September”, the official Fluff song this year.

Oops, am at Logan airport and they just called my flight for boarding. More Fluffiness tomorrow…

In view of the fact that I’m racing around my hotel room throwing things in my suitcases – impossible for me to travel with just one – trying not to muss or crush my most most Fluffy of wardrobe…

… I must do abridged version of my Fluff report today, as if I stop to compose in my usual festidious, over-stimulated style of reportage I will not only miss my plane but my upcoming live show will end at intermission as I won’t have finished writing it. I have  several drafts complete but I’m pretty sure I’ve written the Nicholas Nickleby twelve hour version and the task of taking out a cleaver and chopping it down still remains. With only 3 weeks to go, completing this mission, not to mention finishing the set, the prizes, the souvenirs, the food, and all the other things that go into any event Allee Willis, I realize that I must put my time into scriptwriting as opposed to going over the 700 or so photots that aKitschionado Mark Blackwell, or Daddy as I call him, took as he followed me around through the weekend of shenanigans.

But three aKitschionados made it into the Boston Globe again today with a very cute photo:.

And I will show you Susan and I announcing this year’s Pharaoh of Fluff winner, Brian whose last name I unfortunately don’t know but can vouch that he’s a nice guy and a very good dancer as he boogied to his version of my “September”, which all contestants were required to change the lyrics of to an homage about Fluff.

And here I am with aKitschinados Rusty and  Scarlett (I have a horrible memory for names so I hope I have the wee one’s right) displaying the beautiful trophies about to be handed out to the Fluff cooking contest winners:

I’m not sure what shape I’ll be in tomorrow as my plane doesn’t arrive in LA until 11 PM tonight, which means I won’t get home before 1 AM and tomorrow is an insanely packed day, making up for my four days of absence. But I will do my best to post more Flun photos of the fest.

In the meantime, don’t forget to eat your Fluff today.

 

PICK OF THE DAY

Fluff it up

In 1917, Archibald Query invented Marshmallow Fluff in Union Square, Somerville. Of the many Fluff-focused tributes at Saturday’s Marshallow Fluff Festival, check out games including Pin the F on Fluff Boy, Fluff Fishing, and Fluff Jousting. Artists, musicians, performers, inventors, vendors, and humorists include songwriter Allee Willlis (“Boogie Wonderland” and “I’ll Be There For You”), and Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady from “The Brady Bunch”) whose Fluff-inspired artwork will be on display.Sept. 24 from 3-7 p.m. (rain date Sept. 25). Free (except for food and some activities). Union Square Plaza, Somerville. 617-955-0080. www.unionsquaremain.org/fluff-festival

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2011/09/21/list/gPFmlDfXZvTDfVWicHY19O/story.xml


If anyone’s going to be in the Boston area this coming Saturday, head to Somerville where thousands of Fluffed-up folks will be honoring Fluff, the marshmallow food topping invented there, and where I’ll be judging the 70’s fashion show while people cremate my song, “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, by changing the lyrics to reflect their love of Fluff.

I’ve  been laboring on my outfit for the last 48 hours, the beginnings of which you can see above. I refuse to slop Fluff in my hair, as many of the participants do, so choose instead to ruin a few hats and shirts experimenting with Fluff-like effects so that I, the judge of the Pharaoh of Fluff fashion show and songwriting contests, look like I’m in the swing of the Flufftivities. I still have about 40 pounds of glue to go but that shirt will be covered like shag carpeting smothered a 70’s living room by the time I’m done.

More details on the Fluff festival here: http://unionsquaremain.org/fluff-festival/pharaoh-of-fluff/

It’s really completely nuts for me even to be leaving my desk let alone fly east to the Fluff Festival this coming week, an extravaganza honoring the creation of the marshmallow foodstuff created in Somerville, MA. where the annual festival takes place. But I have official duties there and made arrangements to attend long ago, before I decided to jump off the cliff and perform live in a few weeks for the 1st time since jumping off my own stage in the middle of a song 37 years ago.

I was going to the Fluff Festival not just for the foodstuff but for the kitsch of the event itself. Those who choose to honor Fluff attend the festival in theme attire, dine only on those substances made with Fluff, sing songs about Fluff, etc. I didn’t expect to be in full Fluff kitsch mode until I arrived there next week but, lo and behold, I just saw this:

Evidently, as I’m chained to my desk in LA, I’m supposed to be judging a fashion show in Cambridge in about 6 hours. Obviously that’s not happening. Obviously it was never supposed to happen. Obviously it’s a very kitschy moment when one is booked at an event they had no idea they were supposed to be at, and it’s happening thousands of miles away in only a few hours.

I will be there in excellent fashion NEXT Friday. Until then, thank you for the pre- Fluff Fest flubb. These kinds of occurrences only whet my appetite for even larger doses of kitsch upon landing.

 

So as I was saying yesterday, this last weekend at Willis Wonderland we aKitschionados from The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch saw the light of Fluff!

For a quick recap if you were too lazy to click on that link, many of us are converging on Somerville, MA. September 24th to attend the fifth annual Fluff Festival to celebrate the marshmallow food topping in the city it was invented in. aKitschionado Rusty suggested that we first convene at Willis Wonderland in LA, the physical arm of AWMOK.com, and spend a day cooking with Fluff. Bear in mind that many of the aKitschionados in attendance had never met before and only knew each other by commenting on the kitsch they’d submitted to AWMOK. So everything served had to be a real icebreaker. As such, the first course was Fluff inspired sandwiches…:

… accompanied by Goldfish in sea foam dip vegetables:

All of which was washed down with Flufftinis…:

…an original recipe by aKitschionado iamfluff, a.k.a. Susan Olsen, a.k.a. Cindy Brady of the Bunch:

Extra points were earned for color-coordinated food, dishware and clothing:

Even more points racked up for color-coordinated lamps and other sugary Fluff alternatives:

aKitschionado Mark Blackwell scored even more bonus points for coordinating his jellybean tribute to The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch with the aforementioned lamp and M&Ms.

I hope anyone reading this appreciates the importance of color-coordinated meals and accoutrements. If there’s any question at all about the importance of food and furnishings color-coordination, please refer here.

The main course was delicious and nutritious Fluffernutter cake. I know this photo’s blurry but so was my vision after the day’s 21-gun sugar salute.

If you think that cake is gooey, let me tell you that as the party hostess who had to clean up – actually I didn’t clean up at all as the aKitschionados are a very conscious and esthetically tidy breed – there were vestiges of Fluff everywhere. Like on Mark’s pants:

Slightly less lava-flowish-of-Fluff were the fried S’Mores made by akitschionado Snappy P.

Technically, there’s no Fluff in this recipe but as its fraternal twin, marshmallows, are a key ingredient the Willis Wonderland stove did not discriminate.

Many aKitschionados came bearing gifts. Doug Wood, for example, brought me a lovely kitsch-filled basket:.

One of the gifts was a practical Hostess Twinkie holder:

Many aKitschionados were jealous of my acquisition:

Just as important as protecting your Twinkies is protecting your Pringles. Thank you, aKitschionado Windupkitty, for the lovely Pringles protective case.

By the way, a practical party hint: name tags are essential. Even if your guests know each other for a hundred years it gives them an opportunity to express what they’re feeling in name, which acts as much of an icebreaker at a party as food no one has eaten since they were 11 years old.

It also saves the host or hostess time in making introductions.

As I said, the bulk of the day’s festivities centered around cooking and eating. But aKitschionados were free to wander around Willis Wonderland to enjoy the artifacts they’ve been seeing in my posts since I first launched AWMOK.com in 2009. Many of them also enjoyed the fine reading materials scattered around.

and

That book deserves a close up:

In fact, my whole Soul kitsch collection deserves a close-up. Here’s but a few of the shelves of it:

I think Fluff is a soulful food. It recalls one’s childhood and brings feelings of peace to the mind if not the blood vessels, as aKitschionado John Zenone experiences here:

Off in my recording studio, I was showing some of the aKitschionados some more of my Soul kitsch collection:

You might want to see the front of that picture frame:

As much as I covet my James Brown autograph, I covet this bit of Soul kitsch almost as much, Sammy Davis Jr’s last stash of marijuana:

Slightly easier to see than the cannabis in that last photo are the edges of the round circle rugs that cover the floor in my recording studio. They’re there to protect the plastic that’s actually the floor surface that scratches as soon as you breathe on it. Here’s what the floor looks like in real life:

Despite signs posted all over begging aKitschionados to carefully step on the rugs, several of them found it necessary to defy their leader’s command. Bad girl, kookykitsch!

And Meshuggah Mel!

And Rusty!

And Ken!

Although it was close to 100° and muggy, we also spent time outside.  That’s where my over 200 pieces of bamboo dinnerware are.

And for anyone who missed the sugar inside, there was plenty of cotton candy floating in the pool.

Food that floats is something every party chef should consider when throwing summer parties.

So all in all, a good and Fluffy time was had by all!  Come back again soon, aKitschionados. See you all in Somerville in “September” one way or the other.

 

Photos: Allee Willis, Prudence Fenton, Mark Blackwell, Rusty Blasenhoff, Ken Dashner.