San Francisco Pride Weekend

It's not over yet and all I can say is OH MY GOD!!!!

I was expecting something fabulous. I mean, Pride in Gay Mecca has to be. But I really wasn't prepared for what a massive event this is.

I had a great soundtrack from Energy 92.7. They're doing "Pridemix Weekend" all weekend long, and it's smoking hot. I love it.

Friday was Planet Big. Lots of big guys and the guys who love them.

Saturday I went down to the Castro for the Pink Saturday celebration. I went pretty early in the day and it was pretty wild. I can only imagine how crazy it got after the sun went down. The entire area was closed off to traffic and throngs of people crowded the streets. I went to my favorite bar in the Castro, 440 Castro (used to be Daddy's). The place was packed and they had cute dancers for eye candy. Then I went over to the Edge. Kind of an older crowd and so packed I couldn't even move around. Then off to the Lone Star. I was pretty buzzed by the time I left. Fortunately I took BART so I didn't have to drive.

Then today was over the top. The parade started at 10:30 and lasted until about 3. I got there late and there was still two hours of parade left. The crowds in United Nations Plaza, where the festival is being held, were unbelievable. Shoulder to shoulder all the way. I haven't experienced anything like that since the Super Bowl was in Houston.

Honestly, it was so overwhelming I really couldn't take it, so I walked down to the Lone Star and it was also packed.

I came home for a disco nap and I'm going back out tonight for Planet Big at the Stud.

I also got a chance to ride the MUNI subway for the first time, from the UN Plaza out to Castro. All I can say about that is OH MY GOD, but not in a good way. I now understand why everyone hates MUNI. IT SUCKS!!!!!! I could handle all the drunk lesbians on my car. But just getting a ticket to ride was a horrible experience. It only takes coins, and the station person won't sell you a ticket or give you change. You have to get change from a machine, but if you don't have any dollar bills, you are SOL. It was a very unpleasant experience. Come on MUNI, get your shit together like BART.

The thing that has really struck me this weekend is how big of a deal Pride is, not just to the gay community, but to all of San Francisco. Everyone comes out. I was amazed at how many breeders I saw there.

I am totally worn out, but it was well worth it. Pride in San Francisco is an experience that all queens should experience at least once in your life.

I'll post my pics as soon as I buy a new USB cable for my camera.

Close But No Cigar

So apparently in Dallas it's more important for the mayor to be straight than to have any experience whatsoever in matters of city affairs.

You may have heard that Dallas was on its way to electing an openly gay mayor, making it the largest city in the country to do so. But it was not to be. When the votes were counted, Tom Leppert defeated Ed Oakley by 58% to 42%.

Now that they've lost, the spin in the Dallas gay community is how great it is that an openly gay man came so close to winning the mayoral election. And that's true. I don't want to take that away from them.

But the reality is this: a man with absolutely NO qualifications to be mayor of America's ninth largest city soundly defeated an experienced city councilman who happened to be gay. This Leppert fellow had no name recognition. He has never held ANY public office. Hell, he's only lived in Dallas four years and he hasn't even voted in any previous mayoral election.

Apparently the majority of Dallas voters believe being straight is more important than being qualified, and that's very sad.

We Are Parasites

I watched Lord Of War, the Nicholas Cage movie, this weekend. In one of the scenes, he's in a plane full of weapons, and it has to land on some deserted road in Africa. Anyway, through a turn of events he is handcuffed and made to sit by the plane for 24 hours. During that time, the locals come and strip the airplane. They showed it in a time-lapse video, all the little people scurrying to and fro stripping this plane until there was nothing left. I couldn't help but think how they looked like ants stripping a dead carcass. And it made me realize we are parasites.

I've had a less than spectacular week. After arriving in San Francisco last weekend, I started being bothered by allergies. Started out with a scratchy throat on Saturday, then sniffles on Sunday, then sneezing on Monday. By Tuesday I had a really bad cough. I called my allergy doctor in Houston and they called in some Zyrtec for me. Also had some emotional issues going on. It's just been a crappy week all around. I'm feeling better now. Not 100%, but getting there. I hope I'm back to normal by the weekend. Some of the gay pride activities start this weekend, like the San Francisco GLBT Film Festival. I would like to go to some of that.

Next weekend it's the official Gay Pride weekend. For me it starts with the "Bears in Boxers" beer bust at the Lone Star Thursday night. It's also kind of an official welcome to San Francisco night for all the bear tourists coming to town for the weekend. I'm looking forward to that.

Then over the weekend there are numerous festivals, etc., and the weekend is capped off by the Gay Pride parade down Market Street on Sunday afternoon. They're expecting over a million of us for that, so it should be pretty spectacular.

This story just coming out makes me sick. Edith Rodriguez died in the emergency room at Martin Luther King/Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles. Now people die in emergency rooms everyday, but this is a special case. The woman came to the hospital bent over in pain. She was vomiting blood. Lay on the floor of the emergency room for hours. Two people called 9-11 from the hospital seeking help for her. And the emergency room staff did NOTHING to help her.

This was the woman's third visit to the hospital. She had come in three days earlier complaining of terrible abdominal pain. The hospital staff said there was nothing wrong with her and sent her home with prescription strength ibuprofen. When the pain became worse the second day, she went back to the hospital and was told the same thing.

The real story is that she had developed gallstones, and by the third day these gallstones caused a perforation in her bowel. When she went back to the hospital the third time, the staff wouldn't even treat her, even though she was passed out on the floor vomiting blood.

I know that big city emergency rooms can be a stressful place. And a lot of uninsured people go in for non-emergency situations. But how can you pass out on the floor vomiting blood and be overlooked? This thing sounds like something from a bad horror flick.

As far as I'm concerned, this hospital should be shut down, and the staff should be charged with manslaughter.

Made it to Tucson

Made it to Tucson last night about 7. Love driving those higher speed limits. It's 80 in Texas and 75 in New Mexico and Arizona. I gained a couple of hours because Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time, so right now Arizona is on the same time as California.

I stayed at Crossland Studios, which is an offshoot of Extended Stay America. I always saw those in the midwest, and they look clean and nice from the outside, but they're kind of rinky-dink. Kind of a low rent version of Extended Stay. The rooms are quite small. Not even a bathtub, just a shower. But I guess I can't complain. It was only $48.

Took Buster to a dog park to let him stretch his legs. He's been pretty good on the trip so far. Mainly just passed out in the back seat. I was having a little trouble getting him to do his business. He's not used to doing it on dirt and rocks, which is about the only thing they have in Tucson.

I've got to tell you, I now understand the whole "it's not the heat, it's the humidity thing." 91 degrees feels a lot different in Tucson than it does in Houston. Much more comfortable. And last night, it was 80 degrees with a stiff breeze blowing, and it was downright chilly. I turned the AC off in the room and just used the fan setting, and I slept just fine.

So today it's off to LA. I wish, like the old song, I was "99 miles from LA," but unfortunately I have a little under 500 miles to go today.

Woe is me, I'm in BFE

Well I'm in Fort Stockton, Texas (pop 7,286) for the night. Not exactly a hopping nightspot. Fort Stockton is roughly midway between San Antonio and El Paso, and you can't get more BFE than that.

Fort Stockton is such a happening place that the highlight of my evening was watching the Repuglican debate. UGH.

There are a couple of advantages to driving through BFE Texas, however. First of all, there is some pretty spectacular scenery out here. And the speed limit is 80. Hot damn.
Tomorrow I make a mad dash for Tucson. Thursday is for L.A. And I'll arrive in the city on Friday.

It should be a busy weekend. It's Planet Big on Friday. Beer bust at the Lone Star on Saturday afternoon. And I've been invited to a party Saturday night. Hope I have the strength after driving 1,924 miles.

There's this hot new dancer at the Mine. Usually I'm not all that impressed with those guys, but every now and then a really hot one cums along, and this guy fit the bill. He's young, muscular (defined, not muscle-bound), beautiful body, shorter, and Hispanic. And he wears a baseball cap while he's dancing. He wears the cap down over his eyes so you can't see his face. The mystery is very sexy. GRRRRRR

I had the oddest thing happen on Friday. About three weeks ago I was at the Mine and this cute guy stuck a trick card in my pocket. It said "love your ass. wow." So anyway he was cute so I got a trick card and wrote my name and number on it and gave it to him. He didn't say anything, just smiled. I never heard anything from him, so I forgot all about it.

On Friday I get a message on my voice mail. It's a woman. And she says "This is IP relay operator 83 with a message for Fred. Hi Fred, this is ________ I'm the guy who stuck the note in your pocket at the Montrose Mini Bar. You gave me your phone number. Please text me at ______."

Well I was like freaking out. What the fuck is an IP relay operator? So I did some checking and discovered that's what deaf people use to make phone calls. So the guy's deaf. Now I know why he didn't say anything that night.

Friday night was leather night at the Ripcord. I wasn't in a leather mood so I didn't wear my harness. Just my leather wristband. Leather night always brings in a different crowd. And a lot of women. It's weird seeing some guy getting lashed by a woman on the patio. I guess that's what they mean by pussy-whipped LOL.

I've spent most of the weekend getting ready for San Francisco. I'm going to be looking for a place to live this time out. I asked a couple of friends to keep an eye out for me and they've given me a few leads to check out. I have this one friend who has a rent controlled apartment. He only pays $1,000 a month. He gets that deal because he's considered "low income" because he only makes $60,000 a year. I figured it was some dump for that kind of money, but I was shocked when I went there. He has a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment on the 22nd floor of a downtown highrise. With an absolutely stunning view. I wish I could get a deal like that.