Another Non Gay Day In The Gay Mecca

Saturday March, 12, 2011.

There was nothing specifically gay again today.  I went shopping in Union Square and bought fabric at Britex.  Most straight men don’t do that, but I don’t know many other gay men who would either.  I had dinner on Castro Street at a restaurant that definitely had predominately gay men as customers, but I am sure straight men and women would be welcome if they could pay their bills.  I did go to a gay bar after dinner so I guess that was a specifically gay thing.  I only had one beer though, partly because of my compromised cardio pulmonary function, but also because it was too noisy.  Now I am going to bed at Beck’s Motor Inn, and there seems to be a party going on next door.  That has nothing to do with being gay.

A Day In San Francisco

It was not all gay in San Francisco today. In fact not much of it would be considered gay.  Most of my day was spent at SFMOMA. I did some shopping on Castro Street,  and went back for the first movie of a triple feature at the Castro Theater.  The theme of the triple feature was girl empowerment.  It seemed to be a primarily gay and lesbian audience, but I am sure there were many there who were just film buffs.  After watching The Craft, which had no gay content, I went to the Midnight Sun for a beer and back to my hotel.

It was not a particularly “gay” day in a city which is definitely gay, but Gay Life’s Like That.

Goodbye Palm Springs Hello San Francisco

According to Riff Markowitz 56% of the population of Palm Springs is gay. I would not be surprised if he made that up.  After ten days in Palm Springs I did not get a gay vibe while I was there, other than at CCBC and a few bars that I visited.

I have been in San Francisco for about three hours and one walk from Beck’s Motor Inn to Castro Street and back and I feel more at home as gay man in San Francisco than all the time in Palm Springs.

More to come.

The Palm Springs Follies

Wednesday March 9, 2010

This will first be a comment on The Palm Springs Follies and then a rant about the host Riff Markowitz.

The Follies were just as I suspected they would be, a troupe of former entertainers who still have it in them to entertain but like all of the rest of us have met some limitations.

There are eleven women and five men in the company.  They are all entertaining but their days as high kickers are over, except for a couple of the men who could still get the feet over their heads and one who could do a flying splits move.  Of the five men three are gay.  The costumes are quite spectacular and the music although obviously digitized is good and did not overwhelm the singing voices of the all seniors cast.  The youngest cast member  is a woman who, if  I remember correctly is sixty two.  The oldest is also a woman and I think she is seventy eight.

The Four Preps were the guest stars last night and although only two were original to the group they sounded very much like they did in the 50’s and 60’s when they were popular.

I am glad I got my ticket at the discount price of $52.00. I think if had paid the full price of $72.00 I would have been disappointed with what I saw.

Now Riff Markowitz.  He is the host of the show, and I believe the owner of the company. He insulted everyone in the room.  He made jokes that were slurs against, Jews, young people, gays and seniors.  I did not laugh at his jokes, nor did I applaud anything he did.  As a senior gay man I was doubly insulted and his slurs against young people and Jews just embarrassed me. He is a comedian in the same vein as Don Rickles and I always found him offensive too.  Joan Rivers is cut from the same cloth and thank goodness they are all fading out.  Unfortunately, just like cheap polyester, they won’t go away.

The seniors and the gays in Palm Springs, and without those two groups Palm Springs would be a ghost town, should take action and boycott The Palm Springs Follies until they replace Markowitz with someone who is more aware of the changes in sensibility to all identifiable groups and who understands that entertainment doesn’t have to be offensive to be entertaining.

The Outdoor Bath House

I am staying at Cathedral City Boys Club – CCBC – in Palm Springs California.  Alfy, who I met the first night I was here, refers to it as an outdoor bath house and he is pretty much right. There is cruising everywhere on what has been told to me is a 3.5 acre establishment.  It doesn’t seem that large to me, but hey what do I know about how big an acre looks.

I have been here seven days and I have been cruising with varying degrees of success every day and night. It is beginning to get a little boring, but I will no doubt go for a little look around again before retiring tonight.

Many gay men would deny knowing anything about this kind of cruising for sex thing but most of us do.  Most men would have given up on it by my age though.  Perhaps it is because I came out late and still feel like I am making up ground.  I have never had a full time lover, and quite frankly I enjoy the chase in places like this. Most of the guys I have met here at least want to exchange names and where we are from.  I don’t really care all that much.  I am not here to find a lover that is for sure, and really not even a friend.  I am just looking for a warm body with whom I can  share some intimacy.

A friend once told me that I seemed to go for exotic men.  I can now add, Egyptian, Cuban and Mexican to my list of exotic breeds.