CAN I BE Leah Garchik for just one sec? Thanks. OK, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Nov. 7, seen outside the Ferry Building; minutes later, chatting inside with Dave Chappelle after his lunch at the Slanted Door. Turns out Chappelle was in town for one of his very secret gigs at Punchline, where he briefly quipped about the encounter later that night. As reported here by Synthetic Pleasures friend, man-about-town, and Birdman Records head Matthew Johnson, Chappelle said, "So, I'm at the Ferry Building to check out the prince, and the cops are hassling me. 'Stand back!' And then Gavin comes over, goes, 'Dave!' and puts his arm around me, a personal escort past the mess. He introduces me to the prince, and what does the prince ask? 'Dave, I gotta know: What's up with season three?' "

Later that week, at the Bay Guardian's very own Goldie Awards, at 12 Galaxies (Nov. 10), where I failed to meet up with Johnson, though randomly succeeded in meeting Super Ego's Marke B., finally, another monumental meeting took place between Bay Guardian editor and publisher Bruce B. Brugmann and SF Weekly music editor Garrett Kamps. Believe what you wanna believe, but there are plenty of us – between us and them – who consider one another friends, and I count Kamps as one of mine. He told me that his 30-minute convo with B3 over free beer was quite nice and added: "For anyone who doesn't know – I didn't – Bruce Brugmann is a gigantic man. I'm six-five, and he's taller than me. If he wrestles like he converses, watch out. Also, his wife buys his ties for him, and she has good taste." And now back to our regularly scheduled club news and reviews.

Tag: laughingsquid10

When Laughing Squid, the Web-hosting-service-turned-online-arts-community started, 10 years ago, "tagging" (in the digital-photo classifying sense) was hardly a glimmer in Google's eye. Podcasting? Nope. Video blogging? Never heard of it. Blogging? Maybe, if you call a bulletin board system a blog. But thanks to the people behind organizations like Laughing Squid (www.laughingsquid.com), who built up the corners of the Internet more or less as a frequently unpaid pet project, communities now can be formed without their members ever leaving their iMacs' sides. Want more proof of what strides communication technology has made? Think, for instance, about an episode of Three's Company set in 2005: AOL Instant Messenger, picture phones, pocket organizers; the show's pretty much over in the first five minutes, right?

So sometimes technology can be the ultimate buzz kill. Other times, like when its makers and avid users decide to get down and rowdy and actually gather in person (Web site announcements like "If you are shooting photos, blogging, podcasting, or video blogging, the tag for the event is: laughingsquid10," notwithstanding), things can get pretty out of control. At the site's incredibly hyped and well-attended 10th anniversary party, at Varnish Gallery, Nov. 12, the scene was part Burning Man Decompression party, part Macworld convention. Flames were thrown from scantily clad circus ladies. Doggie Diner heads were put to use in unmentionable ways. Cyclecide did some crazy-ass shit on dizzying, bike-related contraptions. They partied like it was 1999, but recorded everything in a manner fit for only 2005 and beyond.

It's 10-year anniversary madness for everyone these days, and techno party of yore MAD had its that same night, at Rx Gallery. Long before yours truly floated ashore here, MAD was the techno-acid-house-electro weekly at the Bahia Cabana, at Franklin and Market Streets, from 1995 to '97. "It's a Korean barbecue now," noted erstwhile resident DJ Monty Luke (who runs the awesome Juicy Bitz blog, from which I'm constantly tempted to crib clubbing notes). Of the original night's success, main organizer and decksman Alex Windsor said, "People thought we were crazy to throw a weekly on a Monday, but we had a crowd the first night."

Throughout the club's two-year duration, MAD hosted everyone from Carl Craig to Alec Empire, "who were all more than happy to play for way under their normal booking fee to support what we were doing," Windsor added. And the crowd was just as thick that recent weekend with the reunited crew of Windsor, Luke, Joe Rice, Jon Santos, Sho, and Ethan Miller all basking in techno's current resurgence in SF. Leading the revival these days is Rx's amazing Kontrol party, which takes place the third Saturday of each month, if you're also feelin' the vibe.

And hell, while we're on the topic of techno 10s, yep, longtime promoter (and Rx organizer) Will Linn and his Blasthaus posse are coming upon theirs as well. To mark the occasion, Ninja Tune's Amon Tobin and Mego's Pita are swinging by Mezzanine for X. Gawd, 10 years? I guess I'm starting to feel a bit old all of a sudden.

Monty Luke DJs with Hesohi Wed/23, 6 p.m.-2 a.m., Blur, 1121 Polk, SF. Call for price. (415) 567-1918. The Juicy Bitz can be found at www.justiceleague.com/tsm/blog.

Blasthaus presents X with Amon Tobin and Pita Dec. 2, 9 p.m.-3 p.m., Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. $15. (415) 625-8880.

Kontrol takes place the third Saturday of the month, Rx Gallery, 132 Eddy, SF. (415) 474-7973. Check www.kontrolsf.com for times and prices.

Email Ken Taylor at synthetic@sfbg.com.