Friday, September 26

X Games Staff Flys at Flugtag

Press Release

Who can save the world from its funklessness? In 1975, it was Bootsy Collins, the ultra-talented, ultra-flamboyant bass player on Parliament's legendary album Mothership Connection. September 20, at Red Bull Flugtag Los Angeles, it was five co-workers fresh from presenting ESPN X Games IX, and they had the crowd funkin' with a Mothership Connection tribute.

We said this was the X Games staff. We did not, however, say this was the X Games editorial staff. If we were a part of the Mothership Connection crew, grammatical errors like these would never happen. Unless, of course, there was alcohol involved.

"Bootsy is still making music," says team pilot Molly MacDonald, "but I doubt that he'd want to drop 30 feet into Santa Monica Bay. So the best our team can offer is a humble imitation of P.Funk." P.Funk, for anyone who has never cut loose to a 70's groove, stands for Parliament-Funkadelic, two related bands who put the irresistible "Pure Funk" beat on the charts.

Plans for the ship were anything but humble. Teammates MacDonald, Michelle Merwitzer, Sheri Sternberg, Richard Bigge and Norman Barajas launched a replica of the flying saucer that graces the Mothership Connection album cover, and they did it in appropriately funky style. All five team members put a glide in their stride and a dip in their hip by emulating Bootsy's typically understated wardrobe: star-shaped glasses, towering headgear, plenty of lamé, and, of course, boots. Platform boots. Big, shiny, platform boots.

"I hope they don't weigh me down and drown me!" says MacDonald, pre-take-off. "I mean, the beach is my favorite hang-out, but I usually go there in flip-flops."

How'd they do? Well, let's just say they didn't get too far past their funk.

Lately, MacDonald and her crew haven't had much time to hang out at the beach, let alone work on their aircraft. All were involved in putting together ESPN X Games IX, August 14-17 in Los Angeles and are beginning work on ESPN Winter X Games VIII scheduled for January 24-27, 2004 in Aspen, CO. "It's a blast, but it's huge," MacDonald acknowledges. "Flugtag will let us kick back after the LA Games, and it'll definitely be a change to be in front of the crowd instead of behind the scenes."

And could the Mothership Connection take-off win Flugtag's Grand Prize? In the words of Parliament, "Funk is its own reward." (Which is the only reward the team left Santa Monica Pier with, considering the Mothership landed before it ever took off. Nice effort, though, guys. P.Funk would be proud.)

(The Mothership Connection team consists of pilot Molly MacDonald, Norman Barajas, Richard Bigge, Michelle Merwitzer and Sheri Sternberg. Sternberg lives in the San Francisco Bay area. The rest of the team is based in Los Angeles.)