More vacation highlights

Mon after a light breakfast on the terrace the 3 of us spent the day at Green Chairs, next door to Blue Chairs.  The actual name is Ritmos but everyone calls it Green Chairs because most of the beach chairs are green. When it was time for some hydration I had tequila and limeade which was absolutely delicious.  

Clever use of the portrait mode for this shot

As I was getting into the ocean I realized I was still wearing my sunglasses.  Rather than get out of the water to put them away, I decided to just be careful and hold them to my face if need be.  But before I could get fully into the ocean a large wave came up and yanked my sunglasses off my face before I could secure them.  Fortunately there is no shortage of locals walking around the beach selling sunglasses, hats, jewelry, henna tattoos, and massages.  So I treated myself to a pair of "Dior" sunglasses!

My new "Dior" sunglasses purchased from a beach vendor

I picked them because they were unusual.  I hadn't seen anyone else wearing this shape of lens.  I got many compliments on them throughout the week.  After our day at the beach we stopped into Blue Chairs hotel for their Foam Pool Party.  

Crowded Foam Pool Party

We didn't stay very long because it was really crowded and there was no place to sit.  After returning to condo for showers we headed back out for dinner and ended up at Derby City Burgers (which Spouse mistakenly called Dirty City Burgers because he can't hear).  The burgers were delicious and so were the fries.  

Me & Spouse at Derby City Burgers

Afterward we walked over to Mr Flamingo, an indoor/outdoor bar which was so crowded we ended up hanging out on the sidewalk, where we met Kirk & Mark from Portland.  Then we went back to Los Amigos for another visit before going to CC Slaughter for their disco party.  Oh my god, the music was SO GOOD at the disco party!  We danced without stopping for well over an hour, in flip flops.  There was even a trio dressed in Abba-like satin jumpsuits!

The disco party

While at the disco party I had to take a picture of this guy's t-shirt:

On Tues we went to the Mantamar Beach Club for the day.  It was another beautiful day, and we had food and drinks on the beach.  That afternoon we went to the Mantamar's pool party where we had fun frolicking in the water with lots of other guys.  Afterward Spouse went back to the condo while Carl and I went for massages.  One of my favorite things to do in PV is to get a massage because they're so relaxing and so inexpensive.  An hour massage was 500 pesos which is about $25 USD.  What a bargain!  After our massages we walked next door to the Blondie's Slushbar and had a raspberry/lime/gin slushy before returning to the condo.  Deelish!!

We walked to Tizoc for dinner and had an absolutely amazing Mexican dinner.  We'd eaten here on our previous trips and it was just as good as ever.  Then we walked back to Blue Chairs hotel for Bearaoke on the rooftop.  It was hosted by Tammie Brown, season 1 contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race.  She was actually very funny!  She said everything twice; once in English and again in Spanish. Some of her 'filler' dialog as she awaited singers to enter the stage was hilarious.  We had a fun time.

Carl watching Bearaoke

No, I didn't sing at Bearaoke.  I did sign up, but it was going on 1am and the 3 of us decided to go home before my name was called.

Disappointed with LOGO

For several years I have enjoyed the programming on the LOGO network, a cable station with GLBT-themed programming.  I enjoyed watching gay-themed films like "To Wong Fu: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar", gay-themed original series like "Noah's Arc", and a gay-themed comedy show called "The Big Gay Sketch Show".  I always knew where to turn when I wanted a dose of gay in my entertainment.

But about a year ago or so, something changed, and not for the good.  In place of all that GLBT-themed entertainment, LOGO now runs series like "16 and Pregnant", "Teenage Mom", and "Roseann".

WTF???  I understand that MTV owns LOGO and those shows air on MTV, but why in the world would a network for GLBT people run programming about unwed teenage mothers???

Until a month ago the ONLY GLBT-themed show on this network was reruns of past seasons of "RuPaul's Drag Race".  As much as I enjoy watching that show, I don't need a 12-hour marathon of an entire season in 1 day.

Just recently LOGO has added "Will & Grace" reruns which is fun, but it doesn't make up for all the hours of programming geared toward MTV audiences. 

Where are the gay-themed films, original series, and comedy shows???

Indeed I am disappointed with LOGO

Reality

As a general rule I do not watch "reality" shows.  They seem so scripted and contrived that to me they are anything BUT reality.

I do watch 2 shows where contestants are eliminated weekly, although I don't think of these  as "reality" shows:  Project Runway and RuPaul's Drag Race.  

 
Neither of these shows seems to fit the typical "reality" show formula where contestants are baited into fighting with each other and encouraged to be outrageous. 

There are occasional fights and outrageousness for sure, but they appear to me to be genuine and not induced on Project Runway and RuPaul's Drag Race.  

I have never been entertained by my limited viewing of "reality" shows as I usually am with these 2 shows.

Recently on Project Runway the judges felt the contestants did such a poor job on the menswear challenge that they refused to declare a winner for the challenge and they sent not 1 but 2 contestants home that night.

Recently on RuPaul's Drag Race the bottom 2 contestants who 'lip-synched for their lives' both did such a fierce job that RuPaul did not send 1 home, allowing both to move on to the next round of competition.

Do you watch either show?  What are your thoughts?

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of items too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post. Let's get started!

My friend and frequent humor contributor Jared is back with more laughs. I received this with the subject line: The Pope's mug shot after being arrested on 1,347,692 counts of child molestation".
This past Mon was the season finale of RuPaul's Drag Race and, although I enjoyed watching the season, I was not happy with the winner Raja. Although Raja's looks showed a lot of diversity, I thought Raja simply looked too much like a skinny man in a wig and dress. I would have liked Manila Luzon to win. She was pretty, versatile, and funny.

Another 'beauty' from Jared:
Isn't THAT classy??

I received an invitation from the owners of a local bar/nightclub to a planning meeting this evening. I was honored to be asked, and rather surprised at what I learned at the meeting. I can't say much at this point, but I will say that I will be learning the lyrics to 9 songs over the next month! More details later.

Another doosey from Jared:

My friend Rick shared this with me. To many people the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a somewhat abstract concept. They know it bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, but beyond that, its effects have not been widely reported or understood. How does it impact every day life? How does it really injure same-sex couples who can now get married in certain states? Ron and Tom's story shows this in very real terms.

Yet another gem from Jared:

As expected, the Governor of DE Jack Markell will sign the Civil Union bill at a ceremony and reception next Wed evening, May 11. Hurray!!! I would love to be there, but its in Wilmington about 90 minutes away. But its free and open to the public. Civil unions go into effect in DE in Jan 2012.

Return of RuPaul's Drag Race

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited about the return of RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3) last night.

I have absolutely no interested in doing drag, but I do appreciate it for its humor, glamor, and general over-the-top point of view. Those queens who really work at it have elevated drag to an artform in my humble opinion. I think RuPaul is gorgeous, funny, and a very savvy businessperson.

So it was with some anticipation that I snuggled in at 9pm to watch the hour long casting episode. Dressed as a man, RuPaul introduced us to each of the 12 new contestants using video clips they submitted to the show as auditions.

Mixed between these were some of the entrants that did not make it onto the show, but were noteworthy in some way. And for the 1st time this year, RuPaul held an in-person open casting which we were privy to see. Also included this season were the videos of the guys trying out for the 'Pit Crew' positions, and I was a little surprised that 1 of the guys selected for the position has chest hair!

After the casting episode came the 1st episode of the new season. It began like the previous 2 season openers with the cast members entering the work room 1 by 1 and getting to know each other. Once all 12 had arrived, Ru showed up and explained there was a surprise awaiting them. The Pit Crew guys wheeled out a large box and out popped Shangela, the 1st drag queen eliminated from season 2. She explains later in the episode that she auditioned again, just like all the others, and was happy to have a 2nd chance. Ru also explains that not only do they have a larger number of queens competing this year, but that the size of the cash prize for the winner is also larger this year: $75,000. Additionally, the episodes are 90-minutes long this season.

The girls have a Christmas-themed photoshoot with legendary photographer and uber-hottie Mike Ruiz (right), then Ru takes the queens to a thrift store and explains that they are to create a holiday outfit ("Christmas Couture") using clothing and items from the thrift store and Christmas decorations they'll find back in the work room.

On the 'main stage' RuPaul is joined by Mike, Santino, Michelle Visage (Ru's old friend from her late-90s talk show 'The RuPaul Show'), and Bruce Villanch who seemed to have no purpose in the episode other than to be dressed as Santa. Ru introduces this week's special guest judge Vanessa Williams, who looked a little washed out but still amazingly beautiful.

The Christmas Couture fashion show begins and we are treated to/tormented by a wide variety of outfits, from cute-n-clever to hot mess. The 11 queens who are safe are identified, and Ru tells the final 2 (Venus D'Lite and Shangela) that they'll have to lipsync for their lives. I felt kind of bad for Shangela because she was the 1st girl to be eliminated from season 2, she auditions and makes it into season 3, but is in the bottom 2 and up for elimination after the very 1st challenge.

Venus and Shangela begin dancing and lipsyncing to Vanessa William's "The Right Stuff" (I love that song!) and everything seems normal at 1st. Then about 1/2 way through we see Venus pushing and shoving Shangela. In 1 of those cut-away testimonials Mimi Imfurst explains that "Venus started getting rough and used Shangela's lamp shade skirt as a weapon", which made me laugh out loud! The next thing you know Venus pulls her wig off by its decorated ponytail and swings it in the air, letting it fly to the back of the stage where the safe girls are staring in disbelief. Next Shangela's wig comes off, as well as her shoes. Then we see Shangela's paper lamp shade skirt being placed around her neck by Venus, along with more pushing and shoving. I notice that Shangela is still lipsyncing as if her life literally depended on it, while Venus seems more intent on beating up Shangela than lipsyncing. There was a desperate quality to Venus' behavior that was both sad and entertaining at the same time. It was the hottest of messes!

At the end of the song/brawl RuPaul admits that what she's witnessed here has made her uncomfortable. She says she expects her girls to out-perform each other, not out-gun each other. Apparently due to her bad conduct Venus is told to "Sachet away" and Shangela is safe to compete again next week.
I noticed in this episode that RuPaul used a good bit more street slang which thrilled me to no end! I love it when she gets a little 'ghetto' and ends a sentence with "Oh-kuy?" (rhymes with oh-guy).

Immediately following episode 1 was the 'Untucked' show where we are treated to much of the 'behind-the-seams' drama and dishing that took place, especially in the interior illusions lounge.

All in all it was a fabulous 3-hour extravaganza full of glitz, glamor, and spirit gum!

Its International Drag Day!

That's right - today is International Drag Day!!

Let it be a chance to celebrate one of the most iconic areas a gay culture and life!

So why not celebrate by 'dragging' yourself up, or by going to support local drag acts in your community.

I'm taking today as an opportunity to pay tribute to some of my favorite drag performers below, in no particular order.

Christopher Peterson

RuPaul

Charles Bush

Miss Coco Peru

Divine

Charles Pierce


Crush du Jour: Paulo Quevedo

No point

I'm not going to recount our weekend activities because, for the most part, they weren't worthy of repeating. Our friend Tim did not stay in town long enough for us to get together. We just did a little shopping, cleaned the house, went for a walk, and I did some cardio at the gym.

There's practically no point to this post, as I have nothing of note to say, other than thank god for my blogger buddies and TV. Regardless of how boring or UN-noteworthy your day is, Monday's mean Undie Monday, White Meat Monday, Big Bang Theory, Dear Genevieve (why is this show in repeats already???), and RuPaul's Drag Race. Tonight is the season finale where we'll find out which queen wins!

Crush du Jour: Fernando Mesquita

Tuesday tidbits

Its snowing today, but its a little too warm for it to stick. Our street, yard, and cars are mostly just wet, with a few white patches on them. The forecast is not calling for any accumulation.

My sinuses are bothering me again, although Spouse keeps telling me I have a cold. I think he's just saying that as an excuse for me not to hug and kiss on him. My sinus cavities feel like they've been filled with cement. I took the last of my over-the-counter sinus meds last night before bed. To avoid having to go out in the sloppy weather today to get more, I've talked Spouse into stopping on his way home from work for me.

I weighed in this morning, and it was NOT good. I gained 2 lbs. Ugh. I'm not surprised at all, as I really lost control over the weekend. Fri night we had dinner with 'the usual suspects' and my meal came with french fries, all of which I ate. Sat we went out to lunch with our weekend visitors and my sandwich came with french fries, all of which I ate. Sat night we went out to dinner and my chicken entree came with french fries, all of which I ate. Sun after the Plunge we went out to lunch with our visitors and my sandwich came with french fries, all of which I ate. In case you've lost count, and who could blame you if you did, I ate french fries 4 times in 3 days. I knew it was bad but I did it anyway. That's the part I don't understand.
So who else caught last night's premier of "RuPaul's Drag Race" on Logo and LOVED IT like me? I have been a fan of RuPaul since day one, and even enjoyed Ru's TV show on MTV back in the late 90s, but to be honest, I did not have high hopes for Ru's new show. I was afraid it was going to be yet another attempt to cash in on the 'reality' show trend. But last night's premier of Drag Race was actually good! The contestants weren't quite as fabulous as I was hoping. Most seemed more bitter than bitchy, but I am totally in love with Tammie Brown, the Bette Davis look-alike. As usual, Ru cracked me up with all her funny phrases, like "Its gettin' severe up in here" and "I’ve consulted with the judges, my lawyer and housekeeper”. I'm tellin' you, Ru is the best!!!

If you missed last night's premier, I'm sure Logo will be re-running it 78 more times this week, as they do all their other series. You can also watch the entire episode online here. Or, better yet, read David Dust's hilarious recap of the show!

Crush du Jour: Josh Ohl