Sweeps!

KESQ Channel 3 just led their 11PM broadcast with their much-hyped "Special Investigative Report" on rampant sexual activity in a "local Palm Springs neighborhood."  Surprise, surprise, it's all about Warm Sands.

For about a week, the station has been running ominous promotional commercials about their special two-part "investigation". And of course, both anchors stared gravely into the camera and warned that the footage was not suitable for all viewers.

Complete with nearly a minute of greenish night-lens photography, reporter Jeff Stahl narrates the 4+ minute report.

Some comments:

1. When exactly was this taped? Participants appeared to be wearing minimal clothing. And nighttime temps have been in the 30s-50s for the past 4 months. The breathless reporter indicated that it was tape from the "Palm Springs Police". Yet he also cites that only a handful of men have been charged since 2007.  So if the tape is from the police, and only a handful have been charged, was this footage pre-2007?
2. The reporter interviewed a straight married couple who recently moved into the area. Using his portable video monitor, he showed them the footage, causing the woman to scowl and look away quickly. Both were identified as "Warm Springs" residents. So, if the station cannot even properly identify the location, can we trust their reporting at all?
3. The footage is rather explicit. Even with blurred splotches, it's clear what is happening, although Jeff Stahl is quick to point out the "oral copulation".
4. Stahl also interviews another "Warm Springs" resident, who points out that the neighborhood gay resorts have cleared brush and added lighting. And that the activity has decreased substantially.
5. In his narration, Stahl cites a survey that claims "38% of the participants are straight married men, 38% are gay men, and 24% identify as bisexual". It wasn't clear where whose numbers those were. He is also quick to point out that they "arrive alone and leave alone."

Most in the gay community are aware of the Warm Sands neighborhood. Many have probably taken a stroll through the area at some point.  Many may have stayed in the area prior to making Palm Springs their permanent home. It does have the highest concentration of gay resorts, so there are tourists coming and going at all hours.  

Generally, KESQ posts their video reports to their website within a day or so. It will be interesting what comments they receive. 

Ah, life in Media Market #133.

Jump, Jump, Jump

Unleaded Regular Sunday 02-17-2008 = $2.99

Unleaded Regular Tuesday 02-19-2008 = $3.09

Unleaded Regular Thursday 02-21-2008 = $3.19

Looks like we will have $3.99 way before summer arrives.

OCS: Reality Check

Yes, David Brooks is a conservative. And, yes, David Brooks is raining on the parade. And, yes, he details OCS -- Obama Comedown Syndrome.   

How is a 47-year-old novice going to unify highly polarized 70-something committee chairs? What will happen if the nation’s 261,000 lobbyists don’t see the light, even after the laying on of hands? Does The Changemaker have the guts to take on the special interests in his own party — the trial lawyers, the teachers’ unions, the AARP? 

The Gang of 14 created bipartisan unity on judges, but Obama sat it out. Kennedy and McCain created a bipartisan deal on immigration. Obama opted out of the parts that displeased the unions. Sixty-eight senators supported a bipartisan deal on FISA. Obama voted no. And if he were president now, how would the High Deacon of Unity heal the breach that split the House last week?

The victims of O.C.S. struggle against Obama-myopia, or the inability to see beyond Election Day. But here’s the fascinating thing: They still like him. They know that most of his hope-mongering is vaporous. They know that he knows it’s vaporous.

Of course, St Hillary is mostly to blame for this. Is it possible to run a worse campaign? She should have sent Mark Penn and his "MicroTrends" packing after Iowa. 

Post Valentines Day

Keeping Up With The Times....

My first major exposure to "gay media' came when I moved to Washington DC in 1983. A short time thereafter, I discovered the Blade. The Washington Blade was pages and pages of news, commentary, and of course, personal ads.  The newspaper became a big part of my weekly routine. By 1985, I was working a 3PM-12M schedule, so I would take my dinner break, walk a couple blocks to Connecticut Avenue, pick up a fresh new copy of the paper, and read the paper cover-to-cover while dining at Long John Silvers Fish N Chips.

The weekly gay paper was wonderful. When I moved back to the midwest a couple years later, there were a couple floundering gay weeklies in Kansas City. They usually lasted only a year or so. There was minimal news inside -- they were mostly bar and nightclub advertising.  And personal ads. The granddaddy of midwestern gay periodicals, the Gay News Telegraph was published out of St Louis and was a MONTHLY! 

By the early 1990s, I had found my way to southern CA. San Diego was blessed with at least three weekly papers. It was great to be getting all my gay news in a timely manner. The internet was bubbling up, but most gay media remained in print. Update and Gayzette and Gay Times all flourished. I could stay current on politics and social organizations and bar activities. The personals were (gladly) fading fast.

My brief foray to AZ was like stepping back in time.  The Echo was published bi-weekly, so once again, it was Stale News City.  Over time, other bi-weeklies and monthlies appeared, so at least you would receive new "news" each week.

Palm Springs is blessed and cursed with gay media.

The Bottom Line magazine is glossy, well-produced, loaded with ads and features, and a good resource for the local scene.  It usually publishes 100+ pages. But it only comes out every other week.  Yawn. So the "news" value is greatly diminished.  As such, it does a good job to promote upcoming general interest events, often including rather extensive articles/interviews with celebrities passing through town.

Pulp magazine is published by the same company as The Bottom Line. The two magazines alternate publication weeks, so at least there is new material hitting the streets each week. Pulp used to be a tad, um, sleazy-ish, but over the past year, the content has improved greatly. It's become a good mix of social events, sex advice, porn columnists, and health issues.  The cover  still often highlights a porn star (or two). But that's a good thing, right?

The Desert Daily Guide publishes a weekly smallish mostly black-and-white tabloid-size mini-magazine.  While they have beefed up their content lately, many of the articles are unfortunately dated, due to the early publication deadline. They added a sports column late in 2007 and you can't really cover sports 10-14 days after something happens. Though they get props for at least trying.  Even worse is the often grammatically- and spelling-challenged weekly ramblings from a local barback. Most of his opinions are dead on, but a proofreader would be helpful. They used to have a great local gossip columnist, but apparently he created too many waves and fled town. Darn. Also, it seems that many of the bars have greatly reduced their DDG advertisements, although the two-week daily planner was revamped last fall and remains a good source for tourist and local alike.

Talk magazine debuted a couple years ago. A full color old-format-TV-Guide-sized magazine, it looks great week after week.  Usually the cover is bright and cheery, highlighting an upcoming event or local personality. Inside, there is a great range of columnists, from a transgender to leather bar owner to pet maven.  Also included is a weekly Bear Talk column, which highlights local events and personalities. The ads are bright and colorful and current.  However, there isn't much "news" aside from items covered by the columnists.

Palm Springs newest media entry is the oddly titled "Palm Springs Live Online". Chockful of photos taken at various venues, it actually contains lots of great information. They recently revamped their event listings, which now seem to comprise half of the newspaper. There are a few columnists who also seem to have worthy commentary. Alas, it too only publishes EVERY other week.

Even now, nearly a decade removed from living in San Diego, I pick up a copy of The Gay And Lesbian Times just about every week. It is newsy -- local, regional, national, international. There is a great mix of columns on sports, legal matters, health, fitness, and social events. It's quality journalism. And yes, even though the internet feeds us information faster than we can handle, I still enjoy picking up an actual paper and reading it the old fashioned way.

Not

Just cancelled my three free nights in San Francisco. Oh well. My heart just wasn't into it. Strangely, since moving to Palm Springs in May 2006, my desire to travel has declined, no, scratch that, it has fallen off the cliff. When I lived in AZ (2000-2006), I was "away" from Phoenix roughly 30-40% of the time. I couldn't wait to get on a plane and get away. Maybe it's because I have hit 46 of the 50 states. Maybe all the travel delays and restrictions and annoyances finally have had an effect.

Or maybe I just like being here.

No IBR 14 for this bear.  Maybe IBR 15 ??

To IBR or Not To IBR ?

That is the million dollar question...

Or maybe the $1.98 question.

I have trekked to SF for the International Bear Rendezvous at least a half-dozen times before. OK, so slap me silly, but I actually have never registered for the event (slap), but I must admit it can be a fun weekend to see the town overwhelmed by beardom.

Yes, I recall the uber-debauchery of the mezzanine level at the former host hotel. Yes, I fondly  recall the elevator insta-pickups of the late 1990s. Yes, I recall the jammed houseparties way up near Twin Peaks, and a few clothing optional ones near the Castro. Yes, I recall waiting in line for AN HOUR to get inside the LoneStar.  And yes, I recall that amazing weekend when City Hall became Marriage Central (even if it was the weekend I was dumped by the woofy guy I was seeing).

The lines to get inside anywhere can be a royal pain. It's hardly even worth the wait, is it? But then again, I am hardly a bar maven. SF is a bearish city 365 days out of the year, but it is kinda nice to be in the city when woofy guys are falling all over themselves. There is so much going on in all the venues, offical and otherwise.

I bought a ticket to fly up weeks ago, just in case I wanted to get away on dreaded V.D.  Now it seems like I have found really cheap (ie FREE) places to stay.

It looks like it will be warmish (65+) and delightful in Baghdad By The Bay. Even when it's cold and dreary, SF is a fun city to visit. Then again, it is a holiday weekend in Palm Springs and we are hovering near 80 degrees for the rest of the week.

Decisions Decisions.

 

Twenty-Five Years Ago

Time flies.

I walked into my first gay bar in February 1983.

I was seventeen (and a half) and thanks to my 6'0" 230-lb frame could easily pass for the Over 21 crowd.  I grew up in the nearby St Louis County suburbs, calling the local gay hotline whenever my mother would take my brother off to baseball practice, swiping copies of Playgirl from the neighborhood convenience store, and pining away for a classmate or two at my all-boys Catholic High School.

I could never really come up with a good reason to take the family car into "the city" until the second semester of AP English and AP History kicked in. We were given assignments that required research at the venerable Washington University, which somewhat straddles St Louis City and St Louis County. Suddenly, I had a perfect excuse to disappear for hours and log plenty of miles on the odometer.

In the pre-internet world, information about the gay community was not easy to find.  When I was 15, I had discovered the local gay hotline. The number was staffed with a live person nightly from 6PM-9PM. At other times, it was simply a recording of bar events and activities. So I became aware of mysterious places known as Clementines and Montes and Club St Louis.

Finally in February 1983, I took a diversion from the Wash U library and drove to Montes. It was early, 6PM-ish or so on a Friday evening. I had selected Montes because it was right off the interstate and I figured it would be easy to find. (As it turned out, six years later I would end up having my first STL apartment only 3 blocks away from the then-abandoned bar.)

So on a warmish February evening, I drove 30 miles and found the unmarked bar. It was in an older building, more houselike than strip mall. I parked and went inside to find about 20 other gay men. For the first time in my life I was in the company of men I knew to be gay. (The gay teachers in high school were hardly openly out, after all.)

The crowd was mostly older. I think that Montes had a reputation for being a "wrinkle room". It was Happy Hour time, so the men were a mix of suit-clad businessmen and casually dressed older gents. I held my head high and walked directly to the bar. 

Terrified that I would get carded, I ordered a simple soda. The bartender handed me a big mug of Pepsi. I quickly paid and moved away. I didn't want to linger and face any questions.

I walked to a corner and observed the small crowd while gulping my soda. My intention was to stay for only a few minutes. After all, this was a big step. I don't recall too much about the bar itself, just that it was covered with Anheuser-Busch merchandise. This was St Louis after all. I vaguely recall one 30-something businessman type attempting to strike up a conversation, but my intention was not to get picked up or even to to get chatty. As my glass emptied, he offered to buy me another and I declined, instead excusing myself and heading out the door.

I think I was inside for a grand total of 20 minutes.

I went back to the family car, jumped in, sped back onto the highway, and raced to Wash U to get some research done to justify my hours away from home.

Montes was an abandoned building by the time I moved into the "Fox Park" neighborhood six years later. Now, the building is long gone and a shiny McDonalds graces that corner.

I never bothered to sneak into any other St Louis bars that spring and summer. By autumn, I was on my way to Washington DC, where the legal drinking age was still eighteen. My parents dropped me off at the dorm one August afternoon and that night I was making the 12-block walk to Dupont Circle.

I had some exploring to do.                                                                      

Brilliance

I always liked Jake Tapper.   The Cult of Obama.

Tied.....Well Mostly

So now we are tied.  Well mostly. Thanks to the latinos and the ladies, St. Hillary seems to have gotten the headlines and the buzz. Her resounding victory in CA on Super Duper Tsunami Tuesday was made even moreso thanks to (false) expectations set by the Obamaniacs. The O-rgasms fell into the trap. "We're gonna win CA! We're gonna win CA!" they shrieked and giggled like the starry-eyed idealists many of them dream to be.

Oops.

So the race continues. The Obamaniacs have the enthusiasm. Which is exciting and fun to watch. But watching his "victory" speech late Tuesday night, it was starting to feel like old news.  Someday, O will be forced to actually say something concrete. Flowing poetic oratory is nice -- and inspirational on occasion, but you know, we actually have quite a few problems and issues to resolve as a nation.  

To be fair, the speech given by St Hillary was pretty bland. And the crowd less drunk with enthusiasm. Efficient and competent. That's her strong (pants) suit. Reportedly, she is charming and mesmerizing in person one-on-one -- which does come through when she visits Letterman, or Tyra, or the Hallmark Channel infomercial-land, or MSNBC.  

600+ convention delegates will be selected for the balance of February. Nearly all the states are slamdunks for O. But thanks to proportional allocation policies of the DNC, St Hillary will get her fair share, although the media mavens will begin falling back in lust with the Big O.

She has already signed up for any debate who will have her. It's a format that she has proven fruitful in the past, while he every so often seems confused or caught off guard.  One analyst noted that she is able to speak in sentences while he requires multiple paragraphs. 

The battle continues.

Meanwhile, ex-POW, partially-crippled, twice-married, 1980s-scandal-plagued, media darling, straight-talk-expressed, diminutive senior senator from America's 48th state plods along, winning bare pluralities in the red states and larger ones in the blue states.

Tortoise and hare, anyone?

42.5 Years Of Living

Here's the rundown:

1. Sunset Hills MO
2. Rolla MO
3. Somerville NJ
4. Dunellen NJ
5. Ballwin MO
6. Chesterfield MO
7. Washington DC
8. Willows CA
9. Washington DC
10. Kansas City MO
11. St Louis MO
12. Kansas City MO
13. San Diego CA
14. Phoenix AZ
15. Scottsdale AZ
16. Desert Hot Springs CA
17. Cathedral City CA
18. ????????

He Shoots, He Scores !

I grew up in the midwest and have been a St Louis Blues hockey fan for as long as I can remember.  NHL hockey rinks are filled with big, beefy, studly, agile men, so my appreciation for hockey players has only increased through the years. Of course!

I only get to see 8-10 Blues games a year, mostly thanks to the four games apiece they play against the Ducks and the Kings. Toss in a few national telecasts on "Versus" (gag!) and that's about it.

Last night, the Blues hosted the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim (No Longer Mighty) Ducks at the Scottrade Center in snowbound St Louis.  Usually, games are more exciting when the goals are piled on, but the teams battled to an intense 0-0 tie after 65 minutes of regulation and 4-on-4 overtime. Years ago, both teams would have fled the scene with a single point apiece and team standings would include the just-awful "tie" game. The NHL wised up a few years back and added the shootout. Sure, there are purists that just hate the concept, and yes, even the FSN Prime Ticket Anaheim announcers grumbled that it was a shame that one goalie would get saddled with the loss after playing shutout hockey for regulation.

But that's the breaks and the Blues finally ended the game with two quick goals on their first two shootout attempts while the Ducks ineptly failed twice. A much needed win for a team rebuilding toward their former glory.

The Blues had one of the longest playoff streaks in sports history, making the NHL playoffs for an unprecedented 25 consecutive seasons (1980-2004). With a bit of luck and grit, they hopefully are back on track for a playoff appearance.

Oh, and thanks to the NHL Center Ice Free Preview Week on Time Warner Digital Cable, I'll get to see another game in just a few hours.  Go Blues!