Greg of Gama-Go says:
Last Thursday was my girlfriend’s (Ericka) daughter’s (Noa) 15th birthday. An exciting day filled with challenges. Not the least of which was getting Noa a decent present. I picked up a gift certificate to Aquarius Records, but it seemed like I should get her something else. Something from the heart.
Why not tap into her natural teenage angst & go for a piñata effigy of her mom?
I checked with Ericka, she was a good sport and down with the concept of letting her daughter wack the bejezus out of her paper clone.
Next stop — San Francisco’s renown Piñata Art Studio (located at Mission and Silver). I had met Romeo Osorio some years back when I needed a couple piñatas for a company party. Romeo’s soft spoken demeanor belies his tremendous talents. He’s a veritable maestro of maché.
I brought him a couple of photos & he set to work. A scant two days later I was picking up a gigantic version of my girlfriend’s head. Sure, it was a bit of a simplified portrait — but the resemblance was striking.
The day of the party arrived and soon it was whacking time. We congregated at the appointed piñata hanging tree. The audible buzz of teenage excitement filled the air. We got Noa blindfolded, spun her around, gave her a broom & started taunting her with the ancient, traditional piñata-busting chants. Chants like: “Hit it!” and “It’s behind you!” Somehow Noa zeroed in on the enormous head with the sure guidance of a JDAM bunker-buster & hit it with a sickening smack. Candy spilled everywhere. Noa stayed focused on the task at hand, landing blow after blow. A cry of savage joy escaped her lips as she wound up and delivered the final strike.
It was a smashing good time for us all. Our only remaining challenge is to figure out what to do with the creepy beat-up giant head sitting on our dining room table. Seems a bit disrespectful to toss it in the compost bin.
