1. The Champagne of Beers – Miller High Life (in a can)
Sure, champagne is fancy, but why risk raising a half-filled, dainty glass of traditional bubbly when you can toast to a WHOLE 12 oz. can of the most premium bubbly of all? Your ticket to The BASH at Des Moines Social Club includes a midnight toast to  ”The Champagne of Beers” Miller High Life. Your hand will thank you for filling it with this cold, premium brewed beverage. And the best part is… as long as you raise your pinky, it’s still classy!

Photo via flickr: fincher69

2. Des Moines’ favorite Drag Queen – Champagne Showers
As if the “Champagne of Beers” wasn’t enough, the “Champagne of Des Moines” will also be gracing the scene at The BASH. Voted Best Drag Queen in Cityview’s Best of 2009 Issue, the lovely Champagne Showers will surely pop corks this NYE with another amazing performance like this one.

Tickets are avaiable through iowatix.com:

Bash Bundle – $100 – 5 tickets for the price of 4 (Offer ends Dec. 20th)
The Bash Party Pass – $50 – includes admission and all you can drink Smirnoff Vodka and Goose Island Beer
Bash Pass – $25 for admission

1. Colourmusic

2. Leslie Hall

3. The Poison Control Center

4. St. Vitus and the Taxi Dancers

5. Christopher the Conquered

And that’s just the first five reasons!

For $25, you will receive over 6 hours of exclusive, unique entertainment all in one space.
Live music, aerial artists, ice sculpting, fire performers, DJ sets, burlesque performers and countless local celebrity sightings will be engaging you all night. Hors d’oeuvres from Gateway Market and a Miller High Life Can, the Champagne of Beers, are included in the ticket price! All proceeds benefit the Des Moines Social Club’s programming.

Live Performances by:
Poison Control Center
Leslie Hall
Colourmusic
St. Vitus and the Taxi Dancers
Christopher the Conquered
Champagne Showers
Aeriel Performers – Ann Stimmel and Julie Betts
Fire Performers
Ice Sculpturers
DJs

What: The BASH
When: December 31, 2009, 8pm – 4am
Where: Des Moines Social Club
Tickets: $25 @ iowatix
RSVP on Facebook and tell your friends!

Holler at your girl if you plan on attending, and tell me what you’re looking forward most to at the DMSC’s premiere NYE celebration.  No, I’m serious – leave me a comment. Do. it.

What: NYE 2010 presented by Flatform w/Alex Brown
When: Thursday, December 31st, 2009 @ 9pm
Where: Vaudeville Mews, 212 4th Street, Des Moines
Tickets: $10 @ iowatix.com
RSVP on Facebook

And now for the best news evah! – You don’t have to wait until NYE to start experiencing this party. Effective immediately, you must arm your mobile devices with a QR code reader (for iPhone / for other phones), and keep your eyes peeled for the NYE 2010 promo posters while navigating the streets, venues, coffee shops and local businesses of Des Moines. If you see a poster, activate your code scanning app and scan the QR code on the poster. What happens next will blow. your. mind. Dramatic? So is your mom. Scanning the QR code will cause your browser to launch and blast off to an event specific URL. You can also follow along at www.nye2010.info to download digital mixtapes, access limited edition prints, win VIP giveaways and more.

If you’re reading my blog, you’re either rad and/or a geek, so you probably already know about QR codes, especially those of you in the Twitter community who have been sporting QR codes on your TweetUp Badge (thanks, @richdrake) since last spring – but just in case, I bring you this explanation freshly swiped from Wikipedia:  A QR code is a two-dimensional barcoding system created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. QR stands for “Quick Response,” as the Japanese creator behind the idea of the code wanted information to be deciphered at an elevated speed (fast like rabbit). QR codes have been widely used in Japan for years now to link information to objects and spaces such as billboards, magazine ads, buildings, etc., but are just recently starting to catch on in the U.S.

So, what does all of this mean? The idea of linking information to spaces and objects is not a new concept, but the innovation behind QR code technology has simplified the process. Like any other communication technology that makes our lives easier and accessing information more convenient, expect to see widespread use of QR codes in the future and lots of innovation and information connected to locations and objects. Can you think of any other innovative uses for QR codes in Des Moines? Leave me a comment!

Des Moines Dear Jack screening with & Q/A:
Date: Friday, November 13th
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Fleur Cinema & Cafe
After-party: The Grand Piano Bistro
RSVP on Facebook & help spread the word!

*There will also be a screening for for Dear Jack on November 12th in Ames.

Dear Jack is a documentary that chronicles the year that Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate singer Andrew McMahon spent battling acute lymphoma leukemia at the age of 22. (Read the full synopsis here.)

ISU alum Corey Moss co-directed, wrote and produced this 78-minute feature documentary. Moss is an executive producer at Yahoo! Originals, where he created “Primetime in No Time,” the highest-rated show on the Web. He has also written and directed short films starring Jackie Chan, Brett Ratner and Jamie Kennedy. Moss will be in Des Moines for the upcoming screening, and there will be a Q&A with him following the film.

Learn more about Dear Jack and the Dear Jack Foundation:
Film website: dearjackmovie.com
Dear Jack Foundation: dearjackfoundation.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dearjackhq
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/dearjackfoundation

How Andrew’s story hit home for me in 2005:

In 2005, I was working as a Project Manager at A.D.D. Marketing in Los Angeles, CA. My job was to coordinate street teams in major cities all over the nation, arm them with swag, and send them out on the streets to promote movies, music, extreme sports and various other products. There was one project in particular that I was really excited about working on during the summer of 2005 – Something Corporate singer Andrew McMahon was getting ready to debut his solo album Everything in Transit for his side project Jack’s Mannequin, and I was assigned to coordinate street teams to promote the album.

But then the news came. I remember riding my longboard to work that summer day in June (cuz that’s how I rolled in Cali) and arriving at the office to hear the news – Andrew had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I thought, “This can’t be – he’s only 22… and he’s got a new album coming out… and he’s awesome and invincible!” But it was true. Andrew had just told his record label Maverick Records, and they had called us to put the project on hold. Our office, normally high energy and rocking out to satellite radio, was silent that day as we all sat in shock of the news. I remember thinking to myself, “He’s gonna get through this – his fans will help him.”

I’m really looking forward to this screening, and I hope you all will join me. If you don’t know Corey Moss yet, you should come to the screening and meet him. He’s one of the most driven people I know, and he’s representing Iowa like a rockstar in LA with all of the amazing things he’s accomplished and currently working on. I can’t wait to see what he does next!

Margot Tenenbaum costume: $25.85 (Faux fur: rented from Atomic Garage – $15, loafers: The Salvation Army E. Court – $5, nude slip: Goodwill S.E. 14th – $1.90, white gloves: The Theatrical Shop – $3.95)

I’m a gal who loves to play dress up, drink bevies, dance and socialize, so when I heard about the A Night of Wes Anderson party at the Colonade in Des Moines, I knew I had to attend. Since it was already cool enough to be featured in the ReadyMade Society Pages, I’ll simply provide you with a recap with lots of resources, so you can begin to understand the radness of this party.

Let me just start by saying that I’m not even exaggerating when I say this was the best theme party I’ve ever attended, and this is mostly due to the fact that so much creativity and thought was put into every little detail of the experience. From the promotion (invites designed by Alicia Vreugdenhill) and post-coverage, including its very own tumblr, to the décor (photos on flickr) and dance your face off audio/visual awesomeness provided by Flatform, to the effort and creativity put into everyone’s costumes – it was truly the ultimate Wes Anderson experience in party form. Bravo to Alicia Vreugdenhil, Erin Stover, the Mars Cafe crew and everyone else involved for orchestrating such a fun night! Here are some of my favorites:

Favorite room: The Life Aquatic Room, which was actually a bridge that perfectly connected the duo of decorated apartments, featuring red carpet, aquatic rope and lots of white lights (which I’m a sucker for).

Photo via http://wesandersonthemeparty.tumblr.com

Favorite bevy: The Punch (I’m not sure what all this had in it, but the Hawaiian Punch disguised the plethora of hard liquors perfectly and was like a candy cocktail for my moping soul.

Favorite snack: Butterscotch sundae cupcakes in honor of moi, Margot Tenenbaum.

Photo via ReadyMade Society Pages

Favorite costume: Chelsey Hanson as The Octopus

Photo via http://wesandersonthemeparty.tumblr.com

Favorite accessory: Scuba flippers (on a girl I didn’t know)

Favorite moment: Watching John Pemble cut a rug.

Favorite awkward moment (every party has one): guy who asked me to “fake” make out with him to make his friend jealous.

I was honored to attend the party with my good friends Katie Bryan and John Pemble – and later joined by the lovely Amy Wright. Many people don’t know this, but Katie is so creative that she couldn’t wear just one costume – she was actually wearing a mashup of two Wes Anderson costumes! Her bottom layer (white long johns) represented Max Fischer, Captain of the Fencing Club (amongst other clubs & societies) from Rushmore, complete with her homemade fencing saber, which she left by the front door upon arriving at the party – while her outermost, visible layer paid homage to the Belafonte Crew from The Life Aquatic. Here’s 12 seconds of footage from the party courtesy of John Pemble: