Martine Rolls: Laughing in the face of death

He has just two more months to live but instead of sulking about dying, he is throwing a huge party. I really admire Kevin's attitude.

Did you see Kevin Major's story with an open invitation to his "bad taste celebrity roast party" in last Saturday's Bay of Plenty Times Weekend?

Kevin, who once ran for mayor is a bit of a celebrity in Tauranga.

He has just two more months to live but instead of sulking about dying, he is throwing a huge party.

I really admire Kevin's attitude.

The idea of having an outrageous bad taste party because he knows his life is going to end soon and to go out with a bang instead of a whimper is fantastic.

I have just emailed for my invitation. This is a night I do not want to miss.

Kevin, who achieved notoriety for dressing up in drag to win the "most outrageous" fashion prize at a Tauranga race meeting, may be terminally ill and riddled with cancer but he's still a party animal.

"I have never done anything normal in my entire life, and I'm not about to start now," he said.

Black humour is brilliant and I know from experience that having a laugh can be an effective way to deal with grief and tragedy. But it takes a very strong person to pull it off.

For Kevin's upcoming party, people are expected to make an effort with a real bad taste outfit. I have a close friend who knows Kevin well and I'll be her date on the night.

So now all we have to do is decide on what to wear.

I just felt a pang of regret for throwing out my tacky velvet cow-print flare pants a while ago.

They would have had another excellent use.

Would those leopard skin tights still be in a drawer somewhere?

We've still got a few weeks to prepare so we'll be browsing Trade Me, the op shops and costume hire places if we have to so we can put together outrageously crazy matching outfits.

That'll be half the fun.

In case you missed it in Saturday's paper, Kevin's story and contact details can be found on here and on www.facebook.com/bayofplentytimes.

Speaking of parties, if you are thinking about organising something original for your own bash but are low on creative ideas, you can get a little help online.

You can even download free invitation templates from the web.

For children's parties - and I've been stuck there a few times myself - there are some great ideas on www.kiwifamilies.co.nz.

I wonder if my two boys would like to invite their little buddies to a Fear Factor birthday party later on this year?

There are many other party ideas mentioned on kiwifamilies.co.nz and most are much less eccentric, but I guess this one stood out as I still have Kevin's bad taste party fresh in mind.

The story is written by Kerri Tilby, Tauranga's own guru on sponsorship, marketing and fundraising for not-for-profits.

It's nice to also find out that she is a gifted party planner.

"Boys and girls of all ages, even teens, will enjoy getting gross with this Fear Factor birthday party", she says.

I think it might also work a treat for adults.

It sure beats the cliched eighties party or gangster night ideas (not saying that they can't be a lot of fun).

Kerri suggests making a batch of jelly in individual jars, then drop in plastic flies and insects.

Put the invitations in waterproof seal-easy bags then poke them into the jelly jars.

Your guests will have to scoop out the invitation before they can even read it. Yuck!

Another tip: Have ordinary party food but add green food colouring to everything to make it look mouldy.

Or drop scoops of boysenberry ice cream into batter, and then deep fry them in hot oil until the batter is crispy. When the children bite into them the ice cream will ooze out like brains.

Kerri, what is it that makes your creative juices flow like that, darling? And can I please have a drop or two?