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What makes a good party?

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Goodness Gracious Meme

14:41 / 10.11.02

Simple question. I've never had the knack of throwing good parties, but going to a halloween party that's been spectacular every time I've been (three years running) got me to thinking about this.

What are your ingredients for a good party?

Lilith Myth

14:51 / 10.11.02

surprisingly strong punch, more alcohol than you can shake a fist at, people who don't all know each other, the ability to introduce people and mingle. oh, and not really worrying about it, just enojoying it.

Matthew Fluxington

15:02 / 10.11.02

What Lilith said, but throw in a DJ who plays music for the audience to get off on, and not so much for his/her own pleasure. The best party DJs are there to get people on the floor, to get them moving. If you have a good dancefloor, a good bar, and a good mix of people who know each and don't know each other, it will work out really well.

Linus Dunce

15:12 / 10.11.02

As many single people as possible, or failing that, people at the tail-end of a dysfunctional relationship. I love my coupled friends, but they are crap at parties. They either flirt like mad, just to prove to themselves they can still do it, or set about being matchmakers. Ruins it for everyone.

Tryphena Absent

15:55 / 10.11.02

Three very silly men who dance a lot, drink a lot, make everyone laugh a lot and get up on speakers and wave their arms around a lot. It helps if you've known them for a few years as well and it's best if you know everyone in the room quite well! At least that's what I found last night.

telyn

16:01 / 10.11.02

You need enough people so that if there are those present that don't like each other, they don't have to sit and be polite.

A lush venue with lots of different areas is always a good plan.

pointless and uncalled for

16:10 / 10.11.02

A large stereo, nice open fields, an alarming amount of good quality LSD, a well prepared bonfire, chocolate, bread, water, a slinky and at least two of the following in your music collection; Two Spiritualized albums - a collection of Goa Trance - some dinner jazz - Illcommunication, the Beastie Boys - Gregorian Chants.

Cannot go wrong with that kind of set up.

Loomis

16:44 / 10.11.02

A central location helps. It ruins the momentum a bit when half the guests can only come for a two hour window and overlap with each other, leaving an average of six people in the room at any one time.

Matthew Fluxington

16:48 / 10.11.02

It seems that Potus and I have very, very different ideas of what a party is...

Decorations and themes are cool and fun, but don't get too hung up on that, cos invariably lots of people will come who won't know about it and/or won't care one way or another.

One thing that has always gone over well at parties I've had a hand in organizing: a kissing booth area.

Mazarine

16:52 / 10.11.02

Veggie and/or cheese platter. People can thus gnaw on carrots during awkward pauses. Minimal clutter so that no one trips, enough chairs so that no one's lurking uncomfortably. Trivial Pursuit if all else fails.

Eloi Tsabaoth

21:27 / 10.11.02

Three things: Jelly shots, Costumes, Bouncy Castle.

Spatula Clarke

21:39 / 10.11.02

And a doggy bag at the end, with a slice of cake in it.

The Return Of Rothkoid

22:18 / 10.11.02

Fairy bread.

Seth

22:38 / 10.11.02

Potus: your party terrifies me. Is your definition of a good time causing people major psychological damage? Cos that's kinda cool and everything, but how do you protect yourself?

I guess the LSD is supposed to counterbalance the rest of it, to make it survivable.

Spatula Clarke

22:59 / 10.11.02

I don't know... it all sounds very tasteful. And look! He's even left a few magazines piled up on the coffee table... what's that? Why, I'll have some more of that delightful little Chardonnay, darling. Mwah.

The Natural Way

09:41 / 11.11.02

Bengali: Was talking to Frerelyboy about my bro's big uberdrinking at parties and, well, what he could do about it. Fraser suggested that Dadam's problem had something to do with the fact that he never turns the DRUNK into...something else. I think the bigman hit on something there, something applicable to partying/parties generally. If you want the thing to rock all night, the drink has to go bye-byes at some point and "something else" has to be dug out.... And that, for me, is why Halloween parties are so neat - there's a copious amount of mushrooms available; which, after the booze, create a really refreshing vibe. They turn the whole thing on its head. Mushrooms, in some weird way, can be a much more sociable experience than alcohol - the interaction can be deeper.

I humbly suggest that Goan trance and LSD have more to do w/ raves than parties.

Goodness Gracious Meme

10:00 / 11.11.02

Think there might be something about having different spaces/vibes going on that makes for a good party. Having chilled monging space separate from big-up dancing is a *cool* thing... and having plenty space to move around/settle is good. The more options the better, almost makes it feel like several parties. Gardens/outside space is nice.

There was a point at this Halloween party where there were so many people you could literally only stand up, and stay in one spot, talking to the people hemming you in. Not good.

This particularly if you've got different drugs at a party, there may well come a point where, for example, the drunk people want to be shouty and jump up and down, which could well be the last thing you want/can cope with if you're tripping.

Oh, and a *varied* supply of music.

pointless and uncalled for

10:09 / 11.11.02

My apologies, I didn't realise that party had to mean drunken overload and I would like to suggest that I have seen more major psychological damage happen at one of these than any other kind of party.

Nonetheless on the confined to a house with the CD set on stun party front I would advise following the footsteps of the hosts of one party that I attended. They were able to secure the use of a water cooler whaich was filled to the brim with vodka cranber with some orange peel and an ice dispenser on the side.

that

10:18 / 11.11.02

Offtopic (I hate parties, so any ontopic input is unlikely from me anyway), but the use of the word 'monging' worries me. Seems likely that it comes from the word 'mongoloid'? My cousin has Downs, so I might be over-sensitive here, but I think its entirely possible that word should be looked at more closely before it gets chucked around...

pointless and uncalled for

10:28 / 11.11.02

From UK Dictionary of Slang

mong

Noun. Imbecile, idiot. Offensive expression alluding to someone with Down Syndrome, being Mongoloid. Derog.

Verb. To reach a drugged state where activity is on a low and mental faculties are incapacitated. Used frequently within the 'ecstasy' fuelled 'house' scene. Obvious relationship to the derogatory version of the noun 'mong'. [1990s]

Never knew that before.

The Natural Way

10:32 / 11.11.02

Eh?

Are you american or english? Doesn't everyone know both meanings?

pointless and uncalled for

10:36 / 11.11.02

I never knew about the relation to Mongoloid. Sometimes these things just never occur or get explained to you. Mainly this happens to me, but on the bright side this means that on average all of you should be far better informed because of my stupidity.

The Natural Way

10:41 / 11.11.02

Had to ask 'bout yr nationality becuase, as far as I'm aware, every kid in england must surely know by the time they step into the playground what a "mongy" is. Didn''t you guys ever pull the face and rub the chin and, well....am I old?

Kit-Cat Club

10:43 / 11.11.02

I didn't...

Widespread usage doesn't make it any more acceptable though, really, does it? Not that much slang makes any pretence of being acceptable...

pointless and uncalled for

10:44 / 11.11.02

Never ever came across that. It may have something to do with being schooled in Devon but it is more likely to be my own personal cranial deficiency.

The Natural Way

11:00 / 11.11.02

Where did I say its widespread usage makes it more acceptable? Where did I infer it? I was just surprised Potus had never heard the word used in its more "insulting" aspect before.

The Return Of Rothkoid

12:16 / 11.11.02

Um, surely that's implicit in the whole "every schoolchild in england" bit, eh? And the inclusive "didn't you guys ever...?" bit.

But you know. Back to the party.

The Natural Way

12:26 / 11.11.02

How the fuck is it implicit in those questions? I was simply weirded out by the fact that Potus had never heard the word used like that before, not making a statement about how, because we all did it, it was cool and okay. One more time: I WAS POINTING OUT WHY I WAS SHOCKED THAT POTUS HAD NEVER DONE THE PLAYGROUND "MONGY" THING, NOTHING MORE.

I don't know.....

Fucking barbelith.....

You know, I'm actually a bit insulted by this. Put the knives away please.

grant

13:46 / 11.11.02

Looking over the edge of social acceptability without teetering off.

Critical mass: parties become self-maintaining once enough autonomous individuals arrive and interact.

Lots of little hiding places or areas with different ambience.

Things to consume that are not alcoholic but are indulgent - that way, fewer people make that choice to have one more (ill advised) beer, and instead have chocolate mousse or a Yoo-hoo or something.

Jack Fear

13:58 / 11.11.02

Games in one room.
Musical instruments lying about prominently in another.

A quiet place to talk.
A loud place to sing.
Sufficient size in the venue that you can meet interesting people during the walk from one to the other.

People you know.
People you don't know well enough.
People who will surprise you.

And loudly seconded Grant's option of indulgence without intoxication.

Punji Steak

14:34 / 11.11.02

Grant - Critical mass: parties become self-maintaining once enough autonomous individuals arrive and interact.

Christ, it's a party, not a petri dish...

Mazarine

14:36 / 11.11.02

Enough toilet paper. Obvious, maybe, but see how long the party lasts without it.

Goodness Gracious Meme

14:46 / 11.11.02

Cholister: I *really* wasn't aware of the alternate connotations either and am truly sorry for any offence caused. I was using it pretty much exactly according to the second definition given as a slightly performative 'hey, cool party, maan' linguistic play (hence 'big-up dancing') and wasn't aware at all that it had a derogatory root. Sorry.

Back to topic.

This:

People you know.
People you don't know well enough.
People who will surprise you

sounds like the spot-on social mix for a party.
Places to wander around. Like I say, gardens and lit/dark spaces enclaves goooood. Contrasts...

And differing sorts of parties, of course... some parties need lots of delicious food... indulgence gooooood.

Whisky Priestess

14:51 / 11.11.02

At least ten spirits and five mixers (for cocktail purposes - that's if the party is bijou, i.e. under 30 people). Snacks that don't take too long to prepare. Drinks that do (but are impressive). Strangers and friends (never all of one sort - very intimidating/incestuous). Pretty people, clever people, funny people, sexy people, and most importantly, people who are prepared to help you clean up the next morning.

Punji Steak

14:52 / 11.11.02

Actually, some of the parties I have been to were more like petri dishes, in regard to the general level of hygiene. Strangely they were quite often amongst the best.

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