Happy Monday! Not to tease you or anything, but it’s so nice not to have to worry about what day it is anymore, at least for the summer. Monday, Hump Day…whatever…it’s all the same to me and I love it! Anyway, it’s a beautiful day once again, summer life after another beautiful weekend…



The Grove Saturday

On Saturday evening I ventured back once again to Cherry Grove. After returning to the city during the week it was nice to go somewhere close by, and besides the weather was absolutely perfect! I hopped on the 8:20 ferry and I was off. I stopped for a slice of Cherry Grove pizza before heading to the bars and this really nice dude who works there gave it to me for a buck fifty, just because I had a great smile! It was the beginning of a fun night.

I went to Cherry’s at first and was surprised to see that there were only a handful of people in the bar. It was weird because as I said it was such a beautiful night, but even the ferry wasn’t that crowded. It was strange, but once again I saw my friend Michael and we hung out for a little bit. Apparently the weekly drag show at the Ice Palace had started a little early and that’s was the reason for the small crowd at Cherry’s, which got really busy later on.


The lifeguards all aboard

Lifeguards!

When I had first gotten to the ferry terminal I saw this group of nice-looking guys. I didn't realize it until the ferry started moving that they were Fire Island lifeguards, who were going to the Grove to try and raise money for an upcoming competition in Cape May. One of them got up from his seat upstairs on the ferry and solicited donations for their cause. They were selling lifeguard t-shirts and such and they were going to have a 50/50 raffle in all of the bars.

Of course, with gay people there's always a little naughtyness, and one dude from the boat asked what else he could buy with his money. With that, another lifeguard jumped up from his seat, lifted his shirt and said, "I'll give ya a lap dance."

"Oh my, we've got abs!" I Facebooked right then.

The dude had what looked to be a ten-pack. I couldn't help but smile at how cool these obviously straight guys were. It turned out that I saw them again dancing at Cherry's with each other and pretty much everyone else. I donated my $10.


The lifeguards whooping it up on the dance floor

All in all it was a fun night, with of course a lot of dancing and a lot of sweat. I actually left a little early because Saturday was also the opening night for Alfie’s Bar in Patchogue, which I told you about the other day.



Alfie’s Guys Night Out

Well, I can’t really gauge how the first night at Alfie’s was because I didn’t arrive until 2 A.M. By that time, there weren’t many people left, but from the chatter going on I think the guys were pleased overall with the turnout. I did stay until the wee hours, not really sure if I wanted to reveal my identity to George, the owner, for whom I penned the piece on Examiner. In the end, he never recognized me and I didn’t say who I was. I’m not really sure why, but who knows???

I did meet this nice guy named Ozzie who was very chatty with me. He told me he was a drag queen at several place on the island and I could definitely see that. I forgot his handle, but I know he performs at Circus Wednesdays, so I may hit it one of these days. Ozzie was a character, funny and sweet at the same time. Hopefully I’ll see him again and hopefully I’ll get to Alfie’s earlier so that I can give it an honest review. They’re having a White Party next Saturday so we’ll see…



Cherry Grove in the Daytime

I’d almost forgotten how nice Cherry Grove can be during the day, as well. The place is so beautiful. Being over there at anytime feels like you’re on a vacation even though you’re just a few miles from home, and the daytime has a whole different feel to it that the night. There are no cars and no roads, only boardwalks through a little town of bars, restaurants and gift shops. Then of course there’s the beach…I think that maybe I will hit it the next, or the first, time I make my way to la playa (I need to go...someone told me the other night that I was really white.)

Anyway, yesterday I planned to spend the day with my good buddy Laura Kim, who just turned 40 a couple of weeks ago. She and I hang out every now and again, mostly for a bite and some chit chat, and I wanted to treat her to a meal for her birthday in a special place. We’d been to the Grove together before and so she was up for it as well as I.

I can’t say enough how beautiful the weather was, clear, sunny skies, warm temps and beautiful views. We’d both been really hungry once we got over there on the ferry so we headed to Cherry’s Restaurant, overlooking the Great South Bay. We were seated for Sunday brunch in the cushiest chairs I’ve ever sat in overlooking everything below. Even though breakfast was not on our minds, the breakfast choices on the menu sounded delectable and so that’s what we ordered. LK had poached eggs with crab cakes (not my thing, but they looked good) and I dined on steak and eggs, which were out of this world.


The view from brunch at Cherry's Restaurant

After brunch it was time for one of Laura Kim’s favorite pastimes (mine, too!), shopping. We hit all of the gay shops in the Grove, she trying on a dress or two and I buying a cool muscle shirt. It’s funny but of all the times I’ve ever spent at the Grove I never went shopping. It was obvious, though, that LK has because she knew the guys in the shop at the Ice Palace, who were absolutely giddy when they first saw her.

After a few rounds of window shopping, we had some ice cream, which I’ve been eating too much of lately. I couldn’t resist the “Moose Tracks” with the peanut butter cups inside and LK had some black cherry with Oreo cookies in em’. Yum!


Pina Colada!

Burlesque at Cherry’s on the Bay

By that time I was ready for a cocktail and I suggested we hit Cherry’s. That was where the real fun began! Laura Kim and I chatted, mixed and mingled at Cherry’s for a few hours, having fun all along. At 5 P.M. they had a burlesque show featuring a guy and a girl doing several R-Rated numbers in front of a largely unappreciative crowd.



Me and LK with our cherries

Really, they weren’t very good, although there were moments of fun in their show. The gal did a few comedic renditions of songs like Rebecca Black’s “Friday” and other such camp, stripping layers of (some very cool!) costumes along the way. The dude mostly stripped, in a burlesque sort of way, with some theatrical movements and props helping him out. At one point, Laura Kim mentioned, to my agreement, that we’d seen way too much of his ass. Really, the whole thing was a little over the top and the crowd weren’t enjoying themselves too much. In fact, by the time we’d left, most of them weren’t even paying attention.

The audience participation portions of the show, which I always hate, had one fun spot and another moronic one. The more enjoyable of the two came in the form of a cute twink, whom the dude in the show dubbed as the New Go Go Boy. The poor guy was stripped down to his skivvies and at one point the guy from the show even yanked them down, giving all a quick glimpse of his buns. He took it all in stride, though, and for me at least it was the most enjoyable part of the show.

Next came the beer drinking contest. Two members of the audience, one guy and one gal, were chosen to drink a beer from the crotches of our hosts. It was everything everyone hates about these types of shows, idiotic and stupid, but the worst of all was the last skit we saw.


The beer drinking contest...pretty much the only pic of the show I can share with you...

It was the dude’s turn to entertain (?) and he came out with a large lollipop to the sounds of the song “Candy Man,” by Sammy Davis, Jr. He did his thing, slowly peeling off portions of his costume right down to his g-string underwear, and that’s where it got downright disgusting! During the number, a couple of strippers came into the audience passing out Hershey Kisses, which were a little soft from the sun. As they did so, the dude peeled one and ate it, then grabbing his stomach with a painful looking grimace on his face. That was when he revealed his buttocks once again, spreading his cheeks to reveal the melted chocolate caked all over his crack.

“Let’s go,” I said to Laura Kim.

Without a word, we got up and left, headed for the ferry. It was a disturbing finish to what was otherwise a pleasant day at the Grove. LK and I came home and we made a tray of my world-famous mac and cheese, with spicy pepper jack, filling ourselves happy on what I must say was my best ever.

Well, folks, that’s all the time we have for today. As always, I am forever grateful for your readership and I hope that you enjoy my little space on the Web. Here’s a video of another “Candy Man,” one I like, by the Mary Jane Girls. Enjoy!




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Happy Saturday night everybody! It’s been a long, busy day and I’m a little beat. I just wish life would slow down sometimes so I can just kick back and relax for a change…maybe come summer! Here’s what’s going on:

Last night at Bunk House – literally!

Upon hearing and reporting on the news that the Bunk House was officially closing this weekend, I called my buddies Dita and Blanche and we all agreed to go there one last time. Though the Bunk was never any of our favorite bars, it has been a staple of the gay community of Long Island for a long time, and we’ve all had our moments there, so it was fitting that we had one last drink and dance in the old place.

The three of us met there for a few drinks and a couple of dances like we used to do more often back in the day. Rich and I got there first, around 11:15, and it looked like it was going to be a slow night, sadly. They had just announced the closing of the bar at 4PM, so at first I thought that if more people would have known it would have gotten a bigger crowd, but happily the place packed it in later on.

Blanche was the last to arrive and the first to leave…he was tired and maybe just a wee bit cranky, lol. It’s okay, though, because the three of us shot the breeze just like we always do and I even got both of them on the dance floor for a bit. Once Blanche had left, Dita and I danced some more and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. It was towards the end that he finally expressed sadness over the demise of the old standby.

“Now I’m getting a little sad.”

I knew what he meant. Even though the place has had a lot more downs than ups in recent years, it was still a place where we’d spent many a night having a good time. The downs, though, undoubtedly left us all with sour thoughts in our minds:
At one time, for a long time, there was a horrible odor permeating the bar area towards the front of the building. It smelled like puke and the disgusting smell lingered there for months at least. The Saturday night crowd became smaller and smaller as more people headed out to Industry in Levittown for Gation Saturdays and the $10 cover charge had gotten to be ridiculous, especially considering other, better bars that charged the same or even less to get in.

The biggest thing that irked me about the last incarnation of the Bunk House came in the form of a Mylar balloon. I remember when the present owners first took over. There was this silvery, broken balloon stuck in a branch just over the fenced-in area over the outside deck. It stayed there for months, possibly even years before it was finally removed. That to me represented what had gone wrong there in the first place. It was often filthy all around, with cigarette butts and garbage strewn everywhere, broken bricks on the stairs, and eyesores such as the balloon adding to the negative atmosphere of what the Bunk House had become.

Thankfully the owners got their act together the last year or so, and thanks to ‘Da Bunk’ Fridays they actually got their crowd back. They say they’re moving to a new spot in Patchogue very soon. There’s a gay night going on tonight at a place called Alfie’s on Rte. 112 in Patchogue. I’m wondering if that’s going to be it. I’ll keep you posted as I hear news, but wherever the new place may be, and whatever they call it, it won’t be the same. That unassuming building on Montauk Highway in Sayville has seen a lot of action over the past 30 years or so and to me that will always be the real Bunk House.

As Rich and I headed to our cars to leave the Bunk for the last time, he turned to look at it and said he was going to miss it.

“Me, too, Dita, me too!”

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I received an invitation through Facebook today, one which came unexpectedly. Though rumors and speculation about the closing of the Bunk House have run rampant for almost two years, no one knew exactly when that end would come. For me and my friends, that end will be tonight, and for everyone else the bar that's been around for thirty years or so will close its doors for the last time tomorrow night.

It is truly the end of an era. The Bunk was the very first bar I ever set into, and though my relationship with the place has had its ups and downs over the years, especially lately, it's sad to see it go. I just published a piece on the announcement, which you can read here. In the meantime, I have to start getting ready soon for my own finale at the joint.

The Facebook invitation and its ensuing commentary says that the Bunk House will reopen soon in another location, perhaps in the town of Patchogue where I live. That could be cool, but I'm thankful it's summer and at least I've got Fire Island for a couple of months, but then what? We'll just have to wait and see...

Here's a song tribute to the place that holds so many memories for me. It's one of my favorite slow jams and it kind of fits the way I'm feeling right now at the end of this era. Enjoy 'Reflections (I Remember)' by Mary J Blige:





P.S. - On Sunday, the Bunk House will be holding an auction of many of the items found in the tavern, from pictures to urinals and more. Some of the proceeds will be going to Thursday's Child charities. The auction begins at 8PM. Check out the Bunk's Facebook page here for more.

Stay tuned for more on this as things develop.
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Tonight is a very special night at Gation Saturday’s in Levittown. Every Saturday night, Long Island Hotspots puts on one of the hottest gay parties on Long Island, and tonight hopes to be one of their best. On hand to perform their new single 'Push It' live for the always happening crowd at Gation is the fast and funky band Jessie and the Toy Boys.

Jesse and the Toy Boys will be the opening act for Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears on the upcoming “Femme Fatale” tour, and fans of Britney will certainly love the pop-dance-electronica sounds of this entertaining group. ‘Push It’ is one of those songs “that sticks to your brain long after you’ve heard it for the first time,” lead singer Jessie Malakouti says in a recent interview. With a guest rap interlude by hip hopster Yelawolf, this one has all the makings of a dance club smash.

Regretfully I won’t have a chance to make it down to Gation tonight due to other commitments, but if you’re a Britney fan and you love to party, get yourself down to Gation tonight and check out what’s sure to be a rockin’ blast! In the meantime, check out ‘Push It,’ by Jessie and the Toy Boys:




For more on Gation Saturdays, check out their Facebook page here and the Long Island Hottspots page here for more on their weekly Gation Saturdays and Da Bunk Fridays.

To check out more on Jessie and the Toy Boys, check out their website right here.
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Today is Easter Sunday and I have a hangover! I haven’t had a hangover for as far back as I can remember, but at least I remember last night, which is a good thing. I just took a couple of aspirin and I’m hoping that by the time I finish this, the pounding will stop. Ah, the price you pay for a good time!



Monster Ball

Last night a friend and I went to see Lady Gaga perform her Monster’s Ball show at the Nassau Coliseum. It was the first time I ever got tickets to a concert on the same day as the show, and it was tense almost all day long as we watched Stub Hub throughout the day hoping that the right tickets would come available at the right price and in the best spot. We got lucky! Instead of ending up in the rafters, which we expected, we got primo seats in just the first section up, Row A, directly opposite the stage. We couldn’t have asked for better, except….well, more on that later!




I love going to concerts! I’ve been to many of them in my life and I still get as excited as a kid in a candy store whenever I’m going to one, and yesterday was no exception. As soon as we booked the tickets, my mood immediately elevated. I grabbed my iPod and went straight to my Gaga folder. I remember when I first heard Fame Monster; I liked almost all of the songs the very first time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here that Gaga wouldn’t be as popular as she is without good, quality music, and her music IS quality!

Check out Goo Goo Over Gaga

After an awesome dinner at Bertucci’s, my friend and I headed off to the Coliseum. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of traffic and we were there in no time. Not since the last KISS concert I went to have I seen so many people in costume. Gaga’s were everywhere, and in all stripes. There were bubbles and lace, sequins and heels, construction stripping and soda can hair rollers. I loved it! At one point a rather large bald man in fish net stockings, high heels and full makeup walked out on to the floor of the Coliseum to the frenzy of fans. He entertained them all by getting down to Michael Jackson. The party had just begun.

Next came a deejay and then the opening act, a punk/dance band called Semi-Precious Weapons. Not my kind of music, but during their set they had said that they’d been touring with Gaga since the beginning. She came to one of their shows in the city and liked what she saw, and so she’s a fan.

After the band had finished their set, it would be a long wait til Gaga. The set had finished at 9PM and Gaga didn’t come on until a little after 10. It was a frustratingly long hour, but once she came on all was forgotten.




Now I’m going to save the total review for a Y!CN article, but what I will say here is that she was great. The show was completely entertaining and she sounded just like her records. She played all of the hits, with the curious exception of her latest, ‘Judas.’ I was stuck in a section of farts who made me wonder why they had even come to the show in the first place. They sat for ‘Love Game,’ ‘Just Dance,’ and even ‘Telephone.’ I’m not the type of person to just get up and block views, so I just sat there dancing in my seat, but by the time she played ‘Poker Face’ I couldn’t control myself any longer.

The show was fast-moving, with nothing but up tempo stuff, except for a piano rendition of ‘Born This Way’ and a new song called ‘You and I.’ The rest was good, danceable joy, with ‘Paparazzi’ being one of my personal favorites!

Gaga spoke a lot!

“LONG ISLAND,” she screamed more than a dozen times to the frenzied response of the audience. She spoke of being bullied as a teenager and how her story should inspire others. As in the song, ‘Born This Way,’ she preached on the fact that everyone is special, no matter what their story, and I think that’s one of the things that empowers herself so much with her fans. It was the song she finished with, and when it was over, everyone walked away smiling. Stay tuned for more…

Gation Saturdays

After the concert, my friend and I headed out to Industry Nightclub, home of Gation Saturdays, one of the hottest gay nights on Long Island. All cylinders were a go last night as the club was simply a ten-minute drive from the Coliseum, and I wasn’t the one driving (thus the hangover!).

Gation was packed with people of all kinds, and thanks to my good buddy who recognized me a couple of weeks ago I was put on the guest list for a discount. Bingo! It was a blast from the get-go as my friend and I danced all night long, getting down and having fun with our fellow club goers. The music was awesome and a Britney Spears lookalike (uncanny!) performed some of that singer’s best, much to the delight of dancers all over the club.


I'm in there somewhere!


Britney?

At one point, there were these three Latino guys dancing near us and suddenly one of them grabbed my friend from behind, whispering sweet nothings into his ear, I think. I laughed my ass off until his two friends sandwiched me during ‘Till the World Ends.’ As it turned out, the first guy, who sidled up to me after awhile, was Colombian, and he told me in very broken English that he was looking for a boyfriend. I just smiled and kept dancing, pretending that I didn’t understand him. My friend and I shared a chuckle about it afterwards and went on with our night.

I got home around 4AM, the same time I usually get home from Splash. It was a nice change of pace for me and I think I may go there again on a Saturday when I don’t feel like venturing into the city for some fun. Thanks to my friends from Long Island Hottspots for bringing some fun back into Long Island gay clubs. Check out their Facebook page here. (and thanks to them for some of the photos posted here!)



Happy Easter!

I never was a religious person, being born and raised in a non-practicing Catholic family, so I’m not ashamed to admit that to me Easter is simply one of those religious holidays where I just have to spend time with my family. This will be my only form of writing today because I have to head out to mom’s for dinner at 3.

Not that I don’t believe in God. I do! I just don’t necessarily ascribe to any of the organized religions’ teachings specifically. I wrote a piece on it once; you can check it out here if you like:

Thoughts on God

Anyway, I do like Easter. It comes at a time of the year when the weather is turning nice, and I always liked coloring eggs, even though as a child I was deathly afraid of the Easter Bunny! So, to those who celebrate the holiday, I say Happy Easter to you all!

Well, it’s late already and I need to shower for Easter dinner. I hope to see my new friend later on tonight, at least for a bit, so I probably won’t be back on here until tomorrow. In the meantime I’ll leave you with another Gaga video, of course, to enjoy. Next up, Kylie!!!! Have a Happy Day!



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