Phew! Was it fucking hot this weekend at Palm Springs Gay Pride or what? And I'm not talking about the 85 degree desert sun beating down on my sheltered white skin either. Between sidling up to Jeremy Bilding from Channel 1 Releasing (who, it turns out, is not an old friend of mine, Paul What's-His-Name from Phoenix, Arizona with the gap between his two front teeth and the Texas accent), meeting an Austin Wilde who was clearly not amused with my guerrilla celebrity-journalism camera work, finaaally meeting Zach Sire from Unzipped.net, and spending the better part of my weekend with Phil Bleicher and some of the sweetest and hottest guys from Flava Works, I found myself slathered in Pride ooze. There was up-and-coming and so-nice-it-quivers Baby Star, accomplished webmaster Rock of Rockafellaz: The Gangstaz of Porn and RawRods.com (and his blog), Flava Men's Ken Mariano, who's so genuinely sweet I kept waiting for him to evaporate into a candy bar or something, Dan, their immediately likable art director, Whitebread, their principal photographer, who is doing some amazing work for Flava Works, and of course, the pièce de résistance, the creamy vanilla center of the sugary Ring Ding: Cody Kyler who, for those of you who were wondering, is one of the most polite and most enigmatic of the new generation of pornlings. They were out their filming some scenes for upcoming productions. In this shot (from my very crummy MyTouch camera phone) Baby Star is showing us what was in all-too-short supply in Palm Springs:
Below, that's Rock on the right and me on the left, disguised as sagebrush, trying to touch Baby Star's right knee.
Baby Star re-attaching his left leg after it fell off in the jacuzzi.
It's a good thing the U.S. House of Representatives passed healthcare legislation because I'm going to be needing some public health assistance if I stare at this photo of Baby Star three seconds longer.
This is the Helios Resort in Palm Springs where much of the work was done and where, late Saturday night and into early Sunday Morning, older men with flashing plastic toys attached to their pubic hairs and other assorted sexual innovators participated in a Palm Springs sex party. (To the tattooed Latin guy with the flat top? Call me.)
This is a partial shot of a giant, outdoor-slash-indoor inflatable Lubricant ad. You'll notice how Baby Star poses himself: For him, it's more than just a latex-compatible lube in another publicity shot. It's a penis.
The Pride festival was small, probably 100-150 vendors. Smaller than what I'm accustomed to, I should say, but still a wonderful opportunity to celebrate that which makes us different. It was weird, though, talking with Denise who was working at this one jewelry display and who got married last year to her current wife, knowing that I can't legally marry the person I chose. Very Kafka-esque.
This is Tab Hunter, a "teen idol" from the early sixties and one of Palm Springs' native sons. He was in over forty major Hollywood features and probably had as many actors in him. This is Tab featured at the future site of the Wellwood Murray Memorial Library. (Because gays cruise libraries.)
Thin-leg sensitive patios at the Courtyard Marriott on Tahquitz Boulevard, Palm Springs, California.
There's more, of course: Judy Shepard, the achingly hot Indian guy in the elevator who I initially mistook for Latino (I asked, he told), the boy who asked me for a dollar for a bus but wouldn't take a ride instead, the biracial, anorexic guy with the huge flaccid penis at Helios Resort who seemed less a vacationer and more an escapee, Gerald Ayres. It goes on. It was fun. You should go next time.
With all the good things you had to see, just knowing that you were in the presence of that racially insensitive sack of shit, Zack Sire makes it a good thing that I didn't even try to venture there.
Posted by: Tré Xavier | November 09, 2009 at 09:22 AM