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I Have The Best Friends
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I've had so many things on my mind lately, it's just been a matter of finding time to actually sit down and write a little bit. I've been thinking a lot about my friends and friendship lately. I don't know if it's the result of the emotional after effects of the recent parties or not, but it's been something that's been in the forefront of my thoughts.
I really have to say that I feel like I have the best friends in the world. I know probably everyone thinks that, but I really do. My friends are all amazing and beautiful people in every aspect. Every single one of them is non-judgemental, loving, caring, and a true friend in every way. I really love them all like they are my family, and enjoy spending time with them, going on trips with them, and just having them as a large part of my life.
Mark & Andrea hanging in the park at Phoenix Pride 2007
Tony, Bernard, Jerry, Philip, Rob & Justin at the White Party Palm Springs 2007
It seems like lately Justin and I have been meeting so many new and interesting people, and I can see our circle of friends slowly expanding every year. I would consider myself to be a very lucky person to be fortunate enough to meet so many amazing people. It sort of really hit me last weekend when I was talking to Andrea as we were walking around Phoenix Pride and I asked her what she thought about Rob. She said to me that he was great, and what really hit home was when she said "You guys always seem to meet the nicest people" I'd have to agree. I don't know if it's because we have little time for foolishness and flaky people, or because we tend to attract really down to earth, genuine friends, but either way it's really been a very positive experience for us.
I was explaining to someone that we started calling ourselves the SF Boys because Justin, Philip, Bernard and I used to all live in San Francisco and hang out together. Over the past few years our group of SF Boys has expanded to include old and new friends spanning San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and now even London.
I guess the bottom line here is this is what life is all about, at least for me. Great times, and lifelong friends with whom you can share everything. All I can say is that I really do have the best friends in the world and I can only hope that others are as fortunate to have friends like mine. Cheers!Labels: Bernard, Gay Life, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Philip, Tony
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Phoenix Pride 2007 Friday Night at Burn Nightclub
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In what seemed to be much like an extended continuation of the White Party we once again set the town on fire this weekend to celebrate Phoenix Pride with a few of our friends.
I think Philip has been out to Phoenix for the past few years, and what worked out once again as perfect timing, Philip arrived on Friday evening to stay the weekend on his way back to Los Angeles from a business trip in Nashville.
Our Irish friend Rob, one of the newest additions to our circle of Circuit friends from the UK, arrived on Friday evening as well. A little back story on Rob. We actually met Rob back in October at Black & Blue in Montreal and managed to keep in touch. Having a break from his current contract in London, Rob decided to take a holiday and head over to the states to join us for the White Party Palm Springs, and whatever other trouble he could get into. We talked him into taking a detour through Phoenix to spend the weekend with all of us on his way back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas.
Rich, Justin, and Rob
Justin, Philip & Rob
Jerry & Philip
Rich & Jerry
Tracy & Bruce
Jerry, Mike, & Nate
Starting the official Phoenix Pride weekend properly, we headed over to Burn Nightclub where we met up with Tracy, Bruce, Mike & Nate. We had a few drinks and danced to the beats of special guest DJ Lee Thornhill. It was a mellow and fun way to kick off the weekend with friends.Labels: Burn Nightclub Phoenix, Gay Life, Gay Pride, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Philip, Phoenix
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WPPS07: Rich & Justin
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It was such a beautiful day last Friday when we arrived in Palm Springs, I believe around 90 degrees and sunny. You couldn't ask for better weather for a party. Justin, Jerry and I arrived at the hotel around 3 PM, checked in and headed up to our room.
As you can see from the pictures below, Justin and I stepped out onto our hotel room balcony for a brief celebrity photo opportunity ...
  
The back drop of the party, hotel and mountains was simply beautiful and provided us with the perfect setting for a few new photos. Aren't we both so damn cute :-)Labels: Circuit Party, Justin Chanley, White Party, White Party Palm Springs
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White Party Palm Springs 2007 Review
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This is the text of my White Party Palm Springs 2007 Revew as posted on Circuit Party Insanity ...
It’s been interesting reading all of the reviews of the weekend and I truly love that fact that all of us can attend the same events and have such different interpretations of how things went. It just goes to show that the world is a great place with people of diverse interests, that no matter what, some will be pleased and some will not, it’s just life. I think most of the reviews so far have been dead on and after all, they’re simply just interpretations of someone’s personal experience and do not necessarily reflect everyone else’s experience.
This was the 2nd white party for my friends and I, and we had an absolutely amazing time (again). Arriving on Friday from Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London, we attended almost every event. The Friday night party, the pool parties, after hours with Tony Moran, the White Party, the T-Dance, the closing party with Rosabel (amazing!!!), and finally even hit up Oasis for the final afterhours with DJ De Leon. It really was a jam packed, world wind weekend for many. What it really comes down to for us is that the parties are what you make of them. I went with my best friends in the world and while the music at one party or another may not have been the best or exactly what we like, we all went with an open mind, danced our asses off, had a blast, saw some old friends, and met a ton of new friends. It’s amazing how many people you can meet when you walk around with a smile on your face.
So with that said I realize that I’m not a veteran of the White Parties’ past, so I can’t relate to how the past 2 years have compared to the past 10 years, but what I can say is that for me it’s really been a unique and wonderful experience to be surrounded by so many beautiful and happy people who are there for the sole purpose of celebrating life.
I really commend the DJ’s because it’s not an easy task pleasing everyone, and let’s face it, every party is a different experience anyway, that’s what keeps it interesting. Friday night was probably not Tracy Young’s best performance, but it wasn’t a complete wash. Kimberly was great as usual. Despite some minor technical glitches, Brett was able to keep us going with some awesome music long enough until we were finally able to take a bathroom break when Kelis came on. Offer Nissim was amazing to finally see live and was a complete trip to watch. Tony Moran kept us going all night for after-hours with some really great dark beats. Manny was well Manny, which is always consistent and knowing how to show the crowd a great time. While the White Party in my opinion was better this year than last, my favorite party of the weekend was by far the closing party. Able and Ralph Rosario were simply over the top with keeping the energy going. When they ended the night at 4:15 AM, the room was still full with applauding people who wanting to keep the night going. Not wanting the weekend to end we headed over to Oasis to catch the end of DJ De Leon’s set and dance away with many other familiar faces from the weekend.
I’ve heard many people complain about the heat in the closing party, but to be honest that’s one of the things that my friends and I love the most about the closing parties (it’s been our experience that most closing parties seem to be dark and really hot). There is just something primal and raw about having so many barely clothed, sweat-drenched guys in one room dancing their asses off like the party is never going to end. While I know it might not be the safest environment for some, I absolutely love it!
So now that I’ve had some time to rest and recover, I look back upon the weekend with very fond memories and know that I will be back again next year to do it all over again once again. Palm Springs is indeed a wonderful place for a party, and I would hate to see something this special ever come to an end. Thanks to everyone for one hell of a great weekend! Cheers!Labels: Circuit Party, DJ Abel, DJ Kimberly S, DJ Offer Nissim, DJ Ralphi Rosario, Gay Life, White Party, White Party Palm Springs
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Back from The White Party Palm Springs 2007
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Yes the rumors are true, I'm back in town. Justin, Jerry and I arrived back into Phoenix late tonight. The day started off getting back to the hotel from the After-Hours party around 9am following 18 hours of dancing with no sleep for two days. After seeing the boys off, Jerry, Justin and I called down for much needed late checkout which resulted in us leaving Palm Springs a little later then anticipated.
Tony, Bernard, Jerry, Philip, Rich & Justin on the Hotel Balcony
Rob, Tony, Jerry, Philip, Bernard, Rich & Justin before the Party
Anyway it was a world wind weekend of non-stop dance events. I think at this point I've had about a total of 4 hours of sleep since Friday with only had 1 hour of sleep from Saturday morning to right now, so as you can imagine I'm completely exhausted and on my way to bed. Before I log off, I first wanted to post this quick update. I'll write my full posting regarding the entire weekend sometime later this week.
One last thing before I go ... On Friday night at one of the parties a gentlemen whom I've never met walked up to me to ask if I was Rich Brown. I probably looked shocked at first but immediately answered yes thinking he didn't look much like a hit man or process server. Well as it turned out, it was Rick from Atlanta who stumbled across and has been reading my blog. Wow, who says the world isn't a small place? Rick told me it was his first time at the White party but he was sure to be back again next year. I saw Rick several times throughout the course of the weekend and he always had a huge smile on his face. If nothing else, that's what these parties are all about. Friends, meeting new people and having fun. Congrats to Jerry and Rick for surviving their first White Party. Until later, Cheers!Labels: Circuit Party, Gay Life, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, White Party, White Party Palm Springs
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This Is It! White Party Palm Springs 2007
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Wow, I can hardly contain my excitement. In less then 24 hours I will be basking in the warm sun of Palm Springs and surrounded by 20,000 of the finest gay men to gather in a single place for the weekend.
That's right kids, this is it, the White Party Palm Springs 2007. This is the weekend we've all been working so hard for all year long.
Jerry, Justin and I will be headed out first thing in the morning for our weekend getaway. I'm so looking forward to the weekend and I'm sure I'll have plenty of photos to post when I get back. Happy Easter weekend everyone! Cheers!Labels: Circuit Party, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, White Party, White Party Palm Springs
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Weekend Update
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*Yawn* That's about as much as I can say at the moment because I'm tired. Really tired to be honest. I didn't get any rest this weekend as planned, but as usual it's totally my fault. I keep telling myself that I'm going to start going to bed early, but when it comes down to the wire I just can't do it.
Friday night was somewhat quiet, Justin and I went to the gym a bit later in the evening. When we got home it was around 1AM and I tried to go to sleep shortly thereafter but I mostly tossed and turned until 3AM. After looking at the clock I decided to just get up and work on my taxes which I had already planned for Saturday morning anyway. I'm glad I was so motivated because I got them done, but then I ended up just staying up until Justin went to work at 7AM. I finally did fall asleep around 9AM only to be woken up by Justin around noon when he got home from work so that we could head out and do the things we had planned.
Saturday was spent at the salon with Justin getting his hair cut and colored, and then walking around the mall picking up some last minute items before the White Party this weekend. Around 9PM we headed up to downtown to pick up Jerry and go over to Burn for the Junior Vasquez event. I'm not going to even talk about that because the night was mostly a blur which inevitably ended up with Justin and I passing out at Jerry's house and waking up at noon on Sunday. It was not really the way I had envisioned spending my Sunday morning.
We returned home, fed Berger, grabbed a bite to eat and watches some television before heading back out downtown again for a little shopping and dinner with Jerry. We didn't drink and got home at a reasonable hour but after cleaning up a bit we still didn't go to bed until around 3AM.
So what that said, I am tired and with the White Party coming up this weekend I really need to get some rest, so tonight I think I'm going to really make an effort to get to bed early. Anyway that was basically the weekend, nothing out of the norm. Only 4 days and counting until the White Party. I'm getting excited. Cheers.
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