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Tuesday, November 27, 2007 |
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Social Woes?
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I was reading the news this morning and I stumbled across an article regarding France.
"PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Life has not improved for the inhabitants of France's poor, ethnically diverse suburbs ... High unemployment, underperforming schools, poor relations with the police, inadequate housing and controversial new immigration laws have created a generation of frustrated youths ready to turn to violence at any time ..."
Immediately I realized that this article could have been written so as to replace 'France' with 'United States' and still be accurate. What does that say about our society in general. It appears that both the United States and Europe are facing similar problems regarding education and unemployment.
I don't think poor education, unemployment and inadequate living conditions are something new to anyone as these problems have persisted in certain regions of the world throughout history. I do however believe that they're becoming larger issues in the traditionally more developed countries and something we as a society are going to have to address before they become a trigger for a host of other problems that span the globe.
I don't want to get into a long winded discussion of my feelings on this topic because I'll start rambling about class societies and other things. At the moment I only have one question. Is all this simply a product of our respective governments or does it point to some other underlying social issues?Labels: Random Thoughts
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007 |
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Rich, Justin & Antonio
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Well if you haven't noticed him yet, there's been a new addition in many of my recent photos. This would be Antonio. Here's the story, at least the part I'm willing to tell ...
Burn Nightclub on November 17th, 2007
Cibo Restaurant with Friends on Nov 9th, 2007
Ticoz Restaurant, & Charlie's Bar on November 4th, 2007Justin and I met Antonio at the Monster Ball over Halloween Weekend. I noticed Antonio early in the evening because he was hanging out with a few of our mutual friends and quite honestly I thought he was cute, but I'm certainly not one to ever go up and blindly introduce myself. Later, as the dance floor was starting to clear out, Justin, Jerry and I were dancing with one of our friends and I asked him who the other guy was, so he introduced Antonio to us.
Immediately following the Monster Ball, Justin, Jerry and I hitched a ride with our friend KC and headed back to Jerry's house for a slightly impromptu after-hours. It was really just going to be a few of us hanging out, listening to some music and sobering up. On the way back to Jerry's, one of our mutual friends called to find out if we were doing anything because he too was not ready to head home just yet. Jerry invited him to come over and hang out with us. In a random twist of events, he unexpectedly showed up with another one of our friends as well as Antonio.
As everyone arrived, Jerry immediately broke out the mini disco ball he had been hiding from us for months to help set the mood for the dance music. The after-hours was fun, we were all just hanging out, listening to the music, dancing a bit and talking. At one point Justin and I looked at each other, glanced over at Antonio, and then both made our well rehearsed face gesture to each other, letting each other know we both agreed he was cute.
Later, as early morning moved in and the temperatures dropped, Justin became a bit chilly. A few of us were standing in Jerry's kitchen talking when Justin walked in and was shivering. Someone remarked "It's not cold in here, why are you shivering?" Antonio got up off the counter, wrapped his arms around Justin and said "Awww you poor thing, come here, I'll warm you up ..." Antonio put his jacked wrapped, arms around Justin and hugged him until he stopped shivering. In trying to understand the pairing situation of the group, Antonio asked Justin if he had a b/f. Justin pointed over to me and said he's my partner of 7 years. Antonio simply smiled, nodded and said "oh cool, he's cute."
Later as the morning progressed forward, Antonio, Justin and I ended up sitting together on Jerry's couch talking and I'm not sure how the conversation started but someone said something about their type. Justin looked at Antonio and said "honestly, I usually don't go for Latin guys, so you're not normally my type but you're cute" Antonio laughed and said "well honestly, I usually don't go for younger guys either, and your partner is more my type, but when you came into the kitchen shivering I thought you were adorable." I just laughed at them and said "I think you're both cute!" Antonio looked at Justin and I and said "I think you're both cute too!" As it turned out, the interest was mutual on all sides.
As the three of us continued sitting there talking, I decided that I would give Antonio our contact information so that maybe we could hang out sometime. I reached in my pocket, grabbed our personal contact cards, handed them to Antonio and said "You should give Justin and I a call sometime and we should hang out." He looked at me and said "Well what are you guys doing later today?" I just smirked and simply said "You!" We all laughed and the morning progressed from there. I'm sure you can guess how the rest of the day went, so I'll just leave it with that. ;-)
Actually it's been almost a month now that Justin and I have been hanging out with Antonio. He's a super sweet, genuine guy, with a huge heart, a great laugh, and a big smile. It really has been a lot of fun spending time with him and getting to know him better and Justin and I both enjoy the time we get to spend with Antonio these days. When I look back on it, It's really random how we met only just recently because after comparing notes, we realized we have several friends in common, and have been to many of the same events together over the past few years. It's almost strange that we never met before that night at the Monsterball. I suppose timing is everything.
Let's be honest here. I know I've always said I was going to be more open with the details about my life on here, well it doesn't get much more open then this. I know all this may seem overly complicated for an outsider to understand, even my close friends aren't entirely clear as to what's going on here, and for that matter neither are we. Justin and I have had numerous conversations about the implications of all this, and to a certain extent, it's even brought forth issues we've personally never dealt with in our own relationship, which I believe is actually a good thing, because we've now been forced to talk about and hopefully resolve them. The bottom line here is that Justin and I are taking one day at a time right now and simply having fun and enjoying our life together. It's always been my mantra that life is too short so enjoy it while you can, try every new experience, and live it to the fullest. That's exactly what we're doing. Justin and I have opened our minds to new experiences, we communicate and openly talk about things with each other, we're enjoying every minute of our lives and we're happy. Can you really ask for anything more out of life?
Anyway, I just thought I'd give you the background story in case you were wondering why this random person started appearing in our photos. Trust me, there will be more stories to come. Cheers!Labels: Antonio, Gay Life, Gay Relationships, Justin Chanley
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007 |
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Thank You To My Friends
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I just wanted to take a second and send out a big thank you to all my friends, especially those who went way out of their way to come out to Phoenix for the weekend. Their trip, partially to celebrate my birthday and partially just to hang out together and go to the Trade Superheroes Party at Burn, was a complete surprise to me, and turned out to be a really fun time for everyone.
It's times like these when I realize how lucky I am, and what great friends I have. While I'm sometimes sad that not all of us are together in a single city these days, it just goes to show that no matter how far the distance, as long as you communicate, make time for each other and really care about each other, distance is never an issue.
I always tell outsiders when they meet us at a party, a pride festival or some other event that I truly have some of the very best friends in the world. You won't meet a more genuine, caring, easy going, and fun group of guys to spend time with and call friends.
The core crew consisting of Bernard, Philip, Tony, Justin, Jerry and I all have this unique dynamic between us that allows us to travel together, laugh at each other, understand each other, and just have some serious fun wherever we go. Over the years we've expanded our crew, added new boyfriends into the mix, and met new extended friends, but the one thing that always remains constant is the bond that holds us all together. It's unique, it's special and it's the reason I know we're all going to spend many more fun times together with each other.
I love you guys. Thanks for making the past year a really special one, and I look forward to so much more to come. Cheers!Labels: Bernard, Friends, Gay Life, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Philip, Random Thoughts, Tony
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Saturday, November 10, 2007 |
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Trade Superheroes Party At Burn On November 10th
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It was Burn Nightclub's one year anniversary and the night of the Trade 'Superheroes' Party with DJ Alexander and Flava. It was one of the reason's the gang was in Phoenix, and a party Justin and I have been looking forward too since it's announcement at the last Trade Party back in August.
Justin, Antonio and I decided to go all out and dress up for the event.
Antonio (Superboy), Justin (Green Arrow), Rich (Batman)
Jeremiah (Riddick), Jerry, Philip & Bernard
       
The party was a huge hit. We arrived shortly after midnight and the club was already packed. We met up with our friend Gracie who was there with the headliner DJ Alexander and a few of their other friends from San Diego.
If you haven't seen him yet, DJ Alexander is amazing live and certainly doesn't let the crowd down. This was our third time hearing him spin, with the first being at the Tribe Boiler Room Party during Long Beach Pride and the second at Rich's in San Diego. We enjoyed the music and partied all night long with our friends. Around 1AM Flava came on stage and performed for two songs. Having seen Flava perform at almost all the recent circuit parties we've been too, it was slightly surreal to have this performance being in Phoenix.
We ran into several old and new friends and the night just flew boy too fast. It was great to spend the evening in Phoenix with my Crew and turned out to be a total blast.. This party was most definitely a great way to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Burn Nightclub. Cheers!Labels: Bernard, Burn Nightclub Phoenix, Circuit Party, Dance Music, DJ Alexander, Gay Life, Jeremiah, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Philip, Phoenix, Tony, Trade Party
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Friday, November 09, 2007 |
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The Gang Hits Phoenix For A Weekend
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Yes I do realize that I haven't posted in a while which in my case is indicative of the fact that I either have too much going on in my life to take the time to post, or that I'm in a self-imposed rehab from society. In this case it was a combination of the two.
I was pleasantly surprised the other weekend when my entire gang of friends showed up in Phoenix for the weekend. Bernard from San Francisco, Tony & Justin (DJ) from San Diego, Philip from Los Angeles and Jamie from Toronto. For one short weekend, they all converged upon Phoenix to hang out and party it up. It was almost one month to the day from our cruise that we all last saw each other.
Prior to our cruise I had mentioned to Philip about the Trade Superheroes party on November 10th, and asked him to come out. I also mentioned to the other guys, but everyone apologized saying they couldn't make it for one reason or another so I thought that only Philip and Jamie were the only ones coming into town for the weekend. Justin, Antonio and I picked Philip up at the airport and then headed over to Jerry's to pick him up and head to dinner. Once we said our hello's we walked inside and were startled by Bernard, Tony and DJ jumping out from behind the couch. Apparently it was all planned out on the cruise and all the boys managed to keep it a surprise from both Justin and I. I was really happy to see everyone because I was just texting with Bernard earlier in the day saying how I wished he was here for the weekend. He totally hammed it up and said "Me too, take lot's of pictures" I was in complete shock, it was a really great surprise.
Jerry & Bernard
Tony & Dallas Justin (DJ)
Justin, Rich & Antonio
Philip & Jamie
The Gang hanging out chatting after a few drinks
Another one of the Gang hanging out on Friday night
We gathered the group together and headed over to Cibo's on 5th Ave and Fillmore for a bit to eat before Jamie's flight arrived. Cibo's is a quint, trendy, Pizzeria located inside one of the early historic homes in the Roosevelt district and it offers some of the best pizza in the valley. We enjoyed our pizza, a few bottles of wine and then agreed to meet up over at Amsterdam after picking up Jamie from the airport.
Around Midnight we reconvened for a few drinks at Amsterdam. It was actually pretty crowded for a Friday night and we ran into Travis, Nester and a few other friends. It was a beautiful evening out and great to have the gang together again in Phoenix of all places. This was the very first time we've all been together here in Phoenix. We hung out for a few cocktails and then decided to move the party and the gang back over to our house for the rest of the evening. It was a fun night, and the beginning of a a really long weekend to come. Cheers!Labels: Antonio, Bernard, Gay Life, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Philip, Phoenix, Tony
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007 |
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Noize Magazine Issue 54
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I was contacted several months ago by Noize magazine regarding their interest in a piece which I wrote regarding the Evolution of the Circuit. Well, the new copy of Noize arrived on Saturday and my article has been published in the latest issue on pages 44-45.
   
Check out Noize magazine at http://www.noizemag.com for more information and a copy of their latest issue.Labels: Circuit Party, Gay Life, Random Thoughts
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Sunday, November 04, 2007 |
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Saturday Night Out with Justin, Antonio & The Jerry's
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We looked at Justin's schedule and he had to work early on Friday morning, so we both agreed early in the week that we would just stay home, take the weekend off from everything, detox a bit, and just hang out. As is usually the case, that didn't last long. Because Justin did work on Saturday morning, he went to bed early on Friday night and I sat in front of the TV for a bit before falling asleep on the couch. After Justin got home on Saturday we did some cleanup around the house and I finally let him know there is no way in hell I'm staying home on a Saturday night.
I quickly grabbed the phone, called my friends and soon enough, Justin and I were headed out on the town with Jerry, Jeremiah & Antonio.
Rich, Antonio & Justin at Ticoz over dinner
Antonio, Justin and I headed over to Jerry's where we picked up the two Jerry's (Jerry & Jeremiah). and then headed to Ticoz on 7th & Camelback to start our evening with dinner & drinks. The same people that own FEZ and Switch Bakery also own Ticoz. We've been there several times before and I really enjoy the food and the atmosphere. After finishing up with dinner we headed down to Burn Nightclub for a typical Saturday night of dancing.
The Boys in Black: Justin, Jerry & Jeremiah at Burn
Justin & Rich at Burn. Isn't Justin's shirt the cutest.
Justin wasn't feeling too great after dinner, so he mostly stood off to the side and Jeremiah had to work early, so he didn't stick around at Burn for too long before heading home. As for Jerry, Antonio and I, well we had a great time. All I know is that I was dancing my ass off all night. Burn never really did get that busy which is sad, because the music was pretty damn good, but none the less I met a bunch of people and it didn't stop me from having a good time.
As Burn wound down for the night, Justin, Jerry, Antonio, Antonio's good friend Ron and I jumped into a cab out front around 2 AM and headed up to Charlie's for some after-hours dancing. The cab driver tried to throw in a extra charge and had an accent so thick no one could understand him. The highlight of the cab right was that at one point the driver was still trying to talk to us and Antonio looked at him and said "I'm sorry I can't understand anything you're saying right now ... but can you pull over because I'm going to throw up" The driver quickly pulled over and sure enough, Antonio jumped out and lost it. I think the driver was horrified at the fact that after just a minute, Antonio actually got back in the cab again. Antonio looked at the driver and said "Don't worry I didn't throw up on your cab!" Once again the driver started saying something we couldn't understand, but none the less he proceeded on his way and we all arrived at Charlie's in one piece without anyone else getting sick.
Wow, what happened to our shirts? Rich, Antonio & Justin at Charlies
Rich, Jerry & Antonio at Charlie's
We ran into Joel and his crew at Charlie's as well as this cute boy named Junior from Miami, who we actually met in New York in line for Stereo. I did know that Junior was dating someone from Scottsdale, I just didn't know it was one of the guys in Joel's entourage. It's such a small world. Once again we danced our asses off before the dance floor cleared out around 3:30 AM.
Justin, Jerry, Antonio and I left Charlie's and headed over to a private after-hours party just up the street with some friends. The party was actually winding down when we got there, so we made our appearance, and quickly decided to call it a night.
What started out to be a quiet weekend, turned into yet another fun filled Saturday night in Phoenix. Cheers!Labels: Antonio, Burn Nightclub Phoenix, Gay Life, Gay Restaurants, Jeremiah, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley
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