Earlier this week, the blogosphere blew up over the photo of a Marine's homecoming kiss with his boyfriend. To me, it was on par with the infamous end of WW2 photo of the soldier kissing the nurse ... passionate and genuine. This is a little feature that one of the news programs did on the couple - just ordinary guys in love and a moment captured forever. (BTW I didn't create this graphic, I discovered it on the net, thanks to whomever did put this together) :)
Good morning, peeps! Hope your past week has been a good one.
The other day I was admiring the new Mad Men ad in the subway and, as a lot of men do, coveting the
Don Draper look. I looked at my ratty jeans and my tight t shirt and worn tennis shoes and was struck by the somewhat sad, maybe somewhat charming thought that I was a Don Draper kind of guy trapped on an Archie Andrews budget. Welcome to 21st century New York, right?
The ratty jeans btw were really ratty - a ripped hole along the inside left leg, left over from my "I'm too sexy for underwear" phase (the hole was conveniently - and naturally - away from anywhere that anything popping out would get me arrested but close enough that anyone within a few feet radius who cared to notice would think that something possibly could).
I know this is trivial and probably, for a 48 year old (this Friday March 9th), a bit ridiculous. But lately I've felt the need for a little extra added attention to this kind of stuff. With the job search dragging on and some medical stuff happening with family (not my own absent biological one, my acquired one) I've been a little down in the dumps for the past few weeks, as I've alluded to in past posts.
Let's look at this from a different angle though. A couple weekends ago, New York gym trainer Roman Ragazzi apparently took his own life. For those of you that follow porn, you'll remember that Roman was outed by the New York Post when he was working for Raging Stallion a few years ago as a former Israeli military trainer who worked at the Israeli consulate. Although I didn't ever know Roman personally or professionally, I do know that this caused a lot of problems for him. Whomever outed him really should burn in the deepest darkest pit of hell.
Why he would commit suicide, well, although I didn't know him, I can extrapolate from my own experience. Aside from Tag Ericksson's recent success landing a Bravo real estate reality show, it's not that easy for a former porn actor to land a 'second act' especially if one is unwilling or unable to slink back into obscurity.
Maybe this happened to Roman, a despondence that life will never progress - and worse, because of being outed, maybe he couldn't go back home.
For me, I am inspired by people like the legendary Jack Wrangler who had a great second act. I am encouraged by the optimism of people like Michael Brandon who have had to overcome some seriously huge obstacles but are emboldened to be a success despite all of that rather than letting their problems overwhelm them.
And I am encouraged by following my old peeps from the porn industry on Facebook, seeing the neat things that they are doing with their lives especially my old friend Cameron Mitchell who is now an enormous (and even hotter than he was 'in the old days') bodybuilder in Chicago who owns his own personal training business.. congrats Cam and Julie!
None of this realization has come easily. But you know, I think that it's actually harder to opt in than opt out and I've never been one to shy away from doing the hard work.
As if on cue, this morning a friend sent me links to these You Tube videos of Idina Menzel's recent concert in Toronto (below). The first one is of course just the right thing to hear given these thoughts and the other, well, it just plain made me laugh out loud.
Now, if you're down in the mouth and I know many of us are, I can't offer you any quick and easy solutions - I don't really have any myself - there are still hundreds/thousands of people looking for work in this city for you know like three or four available jobs, but the key to this really is just to keep on moving forward, getting out of bed in the morning and doing what you need to do to .. opt in. Stay in the game, and don't believe that it won't get better (and if you can't find that kind of positivity in your life, stay out the way of those of us who do!).
And as for being a little like Archie.. well, I can think of worse role models - I mean, he's got a lot of people who love him, never ages and currently is showing off his political side (not only are Archie comics featuring a very prominent gay character, but they are also addressing the Occupy Wall Street movement.. very progressive for any "comic book" but especially for Archie). And you know, he's a fellow redhead and I dig my fellow gingers. :)
Good morning peeps! I'm in suburban Delaware working for a friend and I'm finding the suburban life to be kinda awesome. Is it because I'm working or because the friend I'm staying with is a lot of fun to hang with; is it because suburban guys are as fascinated with me, the city guy who runs a weekly show
Anyway, I'll be back in town tomorrow (Wednesday) morning just in time for the seventh anniversary of The Will Clark Show feat. P*rno Bingo which will feature David Drake as his newest creation, Tawny Heatherton along with stripper Jay Roth with a special appearance by singer Vicky Modica (courtesy of Rock N Rawhide) - and possibly a brief moment with our friend Kylie Edmond who was at the Grammys this week (now there's a box of chocolates being delivered just in time for Valentines Day.. except that in this case I know just how delicious each and every chocolate is - take that Forest Gump). The night will benefit our friends at the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project.
Speaking of Kylie, on Saturday night she'll be performing and I'll be emceeing Folsom Street East's Fetish for Fashion show to benefit Housing Works at the Center at 208 W. 13th Street. Lots of incredible designers are bringing their work to be shown, sold and auctioned off including the king of New York leatherworks, Mr. David Samuel Menckes - who made me the most awesome pair of assless chaps in 1997 (and redone in the mid 2000s because my legs had muscled up since then - just sayin) which I will probably be wearing (but you know, with some sort of pants thing underneath because it is after all the Center and not Folsom East which is the last time I wore them (good God, they might still have whipped cream on them from the pie eating contest last June.. OK no just kidding, I had some hot young guy clean that up months ago! <wink>) :) And speaking of hot guys, there'll be plenty on hand modeling all the incredible leather fashions. Bring a bib. :)
And speaking of Folsom East, I've been hired to emcee the event again along with current Mr. Fire Island Leather and emerging drag QUEEN of New York, Dallas Dubois. More on this in the upcoming months (but I'm very excited to be working with her. She. Is. Awesome. :) )
Finally, thanks to those of you who came out for this past Sunday's Leather Pride Night event at the Eagle. Through sales and raffle tix, we raised over $1200 for the event which will take place on Saturday June 16th at XL. More on this too in the coming months.
Leather Pride Night kicks off leather pride weekend here in New York, and the next day, Sunday June 17th, is the annual Folsom East Fair which will take place on W. 28th Street (and folks, last year we were the hit of the High Line - you know, I can snark on New York tourists quite a bit but to the credit of folks from whereever, people were totes OK with photographing a street full of kinky men and women - honestly Folsom East is probably the most interesting, least sanitized event happening in New York City these days - come be a part of it... because don't you want to end up on the Facebook page of a tourist from some far flung state or country? I do!) :)
That's it for today, have a great Valentines Day no matter if you're single or coupled up (or even 'troupled' up - that's the new word for a threesome relationship) because you know, there's always a need to spread the love you have with those around you. Remember, in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make... make sure you get to take a ton. :)
Welcome to 2012!!
My biggest wish for each of us is that we have an incredible year ahead of us, find everything we desire and come back here a year from now with that kind of goosebumpy adrenalized rush topped off with a goofy crazed sweaty smile saying "THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A YEAR! WHAT A RIDE!!"
I wish us all love, I wish all employment, I wish us all the creative fullfillment of our dreams, I wish for us the best sex of our lives and I wish for me and all of you that we share it together whether it be here, Facebook, at Bingo or wheverever the four winds take us over the next 12 months.
This year I'm Dancing at the end of the World .. but Mayan calendar schmayan calendar - it's only the end of the world ...of pain, and here's the a new world of unlimited joy!
Who's with me? :)
Good morning all - today I'm at home repainting my second bedroom, making homemade soup and well, as always blogging. The music is pumped up and I'm already making tremendous progress, but wanted to stop for a moment to post this video from the Gay/Lesbian Anti Violence Project.
Although most of us have endured anti-gay slurs (although how can calling me a "cocksucker" be a slam? especially when it's yelled out a car window by a carful of drunk straight guys as they're speeding by - it's hard to take that seriously) but thankfully most of us will never know the horror of being attacked like Dave Pittock describes in the video below.
I know I know.. you read this blog for the hunk o the day or for Bingo pics and I hit you all up for causes all the time, but I hope that if you have a couple dollars that you need to burn off anyway before the end of year (you know, if you need to make one last charitible donation for tax reasons) or if you just know how important of a cause this is, that you will consider clicking here and donation to AVP today. The work that AVP does is vital to the health - both physical and mental - of our community.
If you're not able to help financially now, hopefully you'll consider passing this post on to your friends - because not only does AVP depend on your financial support, but they depend on all of us to let our entire network of LGBTQ friends know that should the need arise (God forbid) there will be help (and all of us should carry AVP's emergency hotline number in our wallets or as a saved numbe on our cell phone just in case).
Meanwhile, AVP will be joining us for Bingo on January 18th and if you're in New York City then, I hope you'll join us for a night to raise a bunch o bucks for them. :)
"I'm poor, black, I might even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here." Celie, The Color Purple
Some months back my Los Angeles friend Jodie Hart invited me to participate in his mid-December fundraiser at an MCC somewhere in Louisiana. He told me the details but I didn't really hear what he said through no fault of his own; I just said yes. You know, there are just certain people that can ask me to do something and I'll agree without knowing or caring much about the details. Jodie is one of them.
You see, Jodie and I go way back --about twelve years or so. I'm not quite sure how we became friends but there was definitely a good chunk of time during 2000 when I was grieving the end of an important relationship and I leaned on Jodie for a lot of emotional support. I was also being chiseled away daily by many in and around the gay porn industry for my stand against barebacking in gay porn movies. This wore on me tremendously although thankfully I did have friends, like Jodie, to emotionally support me throughout.
Jodie not only read Tarot cards at the Bad Boys Pool Partys in LA and Palm Springs but eventually began to play piano at one of the weekend events. People appreciated a quiet moment at the end of the evening and Jodie was (and is) brilliant at this.
But the time we spent together was a kind of difficult time for both of us, each for our own reasons....and over the years we (I think I can speak for him LOL) became quite fond of each other, laughing a lot and telling tales of our friends and "foes" in the industry, makking light of some of the most troublesome people and blaring "bubble gum" music on my car's CD player when we'd travel to Palm Springs.
In short, Jodie saved me.
I got to a point where I wouldn't/couldn't do an event without Jodie being a part of it. Although Jodie referred to himself as Aunt Clara (some medication he took at the time made him slightly absentminded - not enough that I would worry about him, but enough that "Clara" was apt), I often looked to Jodie as a kind of security blanket, someone who knew how to take care of trouble and watch out for snakes -- and in Los Angeles, and at that time, there were plenty of snakes to watch out for.
However, although I had great success with the Bad Boys parties and my weekly Cocktails with the Stars show, I yearned for a return to my New York life. I missed my Jodie but needed to go away and heal from the stuff I'd gone through. A sensitive person can only take so much, and after awhile, I not only knew my time there was over, but that a New York adventure was calling me and about to begin.
And so, many years later, last Friday December 16th, I boarded a Jet Blue flight bound for New Orleans. Jodie picked me up and drove me to our destination: Baton Rouge where he was set to produce an evening of gospel music at the MCC church there as a fundraiser for "Paws and Claws", an animal rescue organization.
Strangely I never once thought I'd be an odd fit for this type of event - but maybe that's because a few months ago I was ordained as a ministry through Open Ministry.com so I could perform legal marriages in New York state. What started out as a kind of lark almost has become what might be a new path for my life to take.
This whole process started over the summer when I discoverd that a close friend had a severe drug problem and I made a choice to intervene. Intervening, if you don't know, means, at least for me, that you love the other person enough to put yourself through the immense pain of having a front row seat to addiction. It would be easy to walk, run the other way, but I couldn't do that, not with this friend. He had saved me too.
It wasn't a fun time for me as I was also breaking up with my boyfriend, moving back into my own apartment, looking for a full time job and Pieces was going through it's calamity with the W. 8th Street Community Board. To help myself cope, I went to a Nar Anon meeting (for friends and relatives of addicts) to find out what I could do to help my friend.
To be honest, I found the Nar Anon meeting to be dour and depressing. I realize that it's not fun and games, but I wondered - would it be so awful to crack a joke?
A week later when I was mentioning this to my friend (and also, like Jodie, a Reverend and Tarot card reader) Roger Anthony Yolanda Mapes (who's wedding I would later attend as part of the Halloween parade) he suggested I start my own support group and make it a little more fun, to show some glimmer of hope and joy for those scared at the thought of losing a loved one to a bottle, a pill or a syringe. Somehow we both spun that out into the path of going into the ministry and this idea was born.
I've gone through some struggle with this and I'll write about that another day, but suffice to say that I wondered if it was something I ought to do until I remembered the couple dozen years that I've been raising money for various organizations. If that's not a type of ministry, what is?
The first morning of the trip, Saturday the 17th, Jodie rushed us up out of bed and out of the hotel to drive three hours north to a family reunion celebrating his paternal 2nd oldest Aunt's 90th birthday. I thought it was a terrible idea the logistics of traveling three hours one way, seeing the family for a few minutes and then driving back three hours -- but that didn't seem to phase him even though we had only 7 hours to get there and back for an evening rehearsal (we would end up getting back with literally a minute or two to spare).
But I'm glad we went because the trip turned out to be a joy as we caught up on years and years worth of news and I got to see the Louisiana and Mississippi countrysides. It reminded me a lot of the backwoods of where I'm from in Wisconsin and I rather felt as though it were me going home instead of Jodie.
Now I don't know what I was thinking, wearing a too tight-even-for-a-big-city-gay-bar-shirt, but there I was standing next to Jodie in the middle of the deep south with gay boy muscle poking out of my gay boy shirt. Seriously What Was I Thinking? <wink>
Although Jodie told me that I'd think they were hillbillies, I found everyone I met to be charming and exciting - it too felt like home but because of my own crooked family dynamics, I've not been to a family reunion since I was a teen. I transposed faces of all the people I knew when I was a kid on the folks standing around and it kind of became like it was my family. Naturally, most of those that I remembered would now be long since passed away, but it was nice to brush by the sensation of family again.
At one point the kids and grandkids of the birthday "girl" stood up to make testamonials - glowing reports of a life well lived by a hunched-over old woman who had taken in her fair share of relatives and become a second mother to many.
One woman, who had been orphaned, testified of the love of her adopted mother by telling the story of how she, the daughter, had done something that she had been ashamed of and had been scared to come clean to her mother, only to be reassured, lovingly, "what kind of mother would I be if I didn't forgive?" If there was ever a true example of a real Christian, that would be it. The daughter stifled tears at the telling of her mother's grace and I admit I choked up too ... and I didn't even know their names.
The food was delicious and plentiful, the soda spilled generously, a makeshift band of guitars and a keyboard played gospel music in the corner and life in this tiny corner of the Earth could not be sweeter. This is what real life is like. KFC and homemade casserole, kids playing tag with each other, finding it endlessly amusing and relatives trading family stories, fighting those battles that only really matter to the tribe they belong to - but that is everything. How I miss it.
We drove like a bat out of hell back to Baton Rouge for the rehearsal and the gospel performers spent much of the evening vocalizing and learning the order of music as another one of Jodie's relatives made a crockpot of rice to go with the delicious pot of franks and beans. It was like I'd gone to heaven.
Sunday evening, December 18th, people arrived at the church and the gospel concert began. Nervously I wondered if I could make jokes about religion or if I were just to introduce people. But I found my groove soon enough (in part due to the exBF who sent me an encouraging text just before show time) and emceed brilliantly (if I do say so myself... lol). I told stories and talked to the singers and was moved by the things that each, in turn, had to say, not only about pets that meant a lot to them in their lives, but how being together with other "strays" was healing their heart.
What struck me most was that the 40 or so people in the church were actually listening to me speak - something that never really happens at Bingo in the big city. It's something that has been bothering me for quite some time to be honest.
Anyway, Jodie played the piano to accompany several singers and did a couple numbers as well.
The whole night went incredibly well and well, it was kind of neat to look over to stage right and see Jodie's smiling face looking back at me. :) Seemed like old times. Or maybe, seems like future times.
Afterwards we dragged ourselves back to the hotel and all climbed into one room to go over the highlights of the evening. We ordered pizza and tried to figure out where to get booze on a Sunday night in a city that doesn't sell liquor on Sundays. We all thought of everything else except that. But it didn't matter, the company made us intoxicated. And I could listen to those male Southern voices all night long and then some.
The next day on Monday the 19th, Jodie and I drove to New Orleans. After beignets in the Quarter, he drove me to the area that had been flooded the worst. I saw the abandoned houses with the X's and the numbers of dead written upon the doors. It was all I could do to stifle my own sorrow of the loss, now so many years in the past. So many others lost, swept away by a misfortune not of their making. And yet the neighborhood lives. It thrives. There are blocks of brand new business sprouting up. True, there are blocks still decimated even this many years, but healing is happening there, it is.
As we began our trip out past the Quarter, Jodie couldn't bear to drive down Poland Street, where his favorite restaurant, Dempsey's, had been located. He feared that they had long since gone out of business and this loss would be the most crushing for him.
But, upon my return home in New York, I did a Google search and found that the restaurant was still there.
It had survived. Like Jodie had survived. Like I had survived. Through all the trials and tears (and fundraisers!) we have shared over the years proving that it takes a lot to keep us down for long.
And all I could hear as I boarded the plane back to New York was - "We may be poor, we may even be ugly, but Dear God, we are here. WE ARE HERE..... " And so we are.
Promoter Tom Blunt does the impossible - a monthly show at the Tribeca Y featuring a rotating group of themes, celebrities and odd ball entertainers ranging from the sublime to the magnificent and back to the sublime again - in short it's "only in New York" extravaganza that we're so lucky to have as part of the queer cultural landscape.
Tonight, December 17th Tom's got a special guest, read further to find out who.
Meanwhile I'm looking to have Tom back to The Will Clark Show in 2012 - one of the most charming guests from 2011 (and that's a very crowded category as there were a LOT of fabulous people crowding that stage at Pieces!)
Tom Blunt
Website: http://meetthelady.com
What you do in the world work-wise: I'm a film journalist, I produce and host fun cinematic events for the 92nd Street Y, and I'm also the tech director for the new show "Never Sleep Alone" at Joe's Pub.
Upcoming Gig: On Saturday December 17th Louise Lasser (TV's "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman") will visit the Y's Tribeca screening room to revisit and discuss her amazing career with the likes of John Epperson, Rachel Shukert, and myself. Louise is a personal hero of mine, so working with her to plan this event has been life-changing. Also I now get late-night voicemails from her saying things like, "This is not a harassment call," which couldn't be more thrilling.
2012 Wish: I've had a pretty awful two years in the romance department. If this doesn't turn around soon, I'll be praying for the meteor strike that ends all biological life on Earth. No pressure, guys.
Something that went horribly wrong in 2011 that you will fix in 2012: I bought a pound of nougat at an Italian street festival -- it was so big that the vendor had to break it up into chunks with a hammer so that I could eat it. Also that day I got really sunburned. The fact that I only didn't spend more afternoons this way is something I profoundly regret and intend to remedy in the coming year.
Where do you want to be able to say looking back on 2012 on Jan 1st 2013?: "Whatever, Earth had its chance."
Best New Year's Eve Ever: NYE always sucks, but last year on New Year's Day I was hiking through the woods and found deer tracks in the snow. I decided to follow them as far as I could, and after about an hour of tracking I actually caught up with the deer themselves. They were not happy to see me, but I still considered my little adventure to be a good omen for the coming year. (If you look at Louise Lasser as a sort of metaphorical deer, I think it came true!)
Worst New Year's Eve Ever: They're all bad, aren't they? As an event planner I object to people throwing huge parties in the middle of the night in the dead of winter. Your guests have to simultaneously look nice, stay warm, endure miserably slow commutes, AND appear to be enjoying themselves. I prefer not to play these holiday mind-games with people; the only kissing happening at my place on NYE will be between me and this tin of Danish butter cookies that my laundromat gave me for being a frequent customer.
Just posting this now but the night was timeless - on Wednesday November 16th, adult video star Antonio Biaggi, singer Matt Ryanz and comic book creator Ivan Velez Jr. banded together, joining me as my guests on the Will Clark Show raising over $500 for an incredible cause: The Bronx Community Pride Center.
Velez is a bit of a hero to me - I read his original TALES OF THE CLOSET should be required reading for anyone coming out - they are timeless, fresh and empowering no matter who you are or where you come from. As a comic book lover since I was 10, holding a comic book in my hand with out LGBT characters was all kinds of awesome. So thank you Ivan and thank you for coming on my show! :)
You can click here to see the original event page featuring Ivan's and Matt's extensive bios and you can click here to see the free gallery of images from the night! (Photos by AB)
A beautiful video from Get Up Australia on the value of getting married - even if for us reading this blog are already a sold audience, it's still an incredible sentiment and something to share with those you love. Enjoy and share. Please.
Ok so first of all, the new bar will not be called "Pieces". I'm hoping for The Will Clark Bar --and since I called it first, that means they have to give it to me, right? You can click here to go to iPetition to demand the name.......... er, Ok I don't really want to go through all that work of putting all that together.. so... Whatevs. <LOL>
Anyway, as you may have heard by now, last night the Community Board for midtown unanimously approved the new business for the Pieces staff. After months (and MONTHS) of anxiety, worry, concern, letter writing, list making, garnering support, etc it was while I was interviewing Jamye Waxman tonight at the show that I said "any moment we'll know the result" and bartender Chris just sort of said "oh yeah they called and it was unanimous". It was kind of anticlimactic - I get more excitement when I ask him to take his shirt off (which actually I guess makes more sense! LOL)
But I'll take it over more drama! LOL
Thank you Community Board 4 for making this happen so easily. BTW there was little opposition at the CB4 meeting a few weeks ago and absolutely none at last night's meeting. Awesome!
Demolition on the new space reportedly starts today and the expectation is that in four months (in about Februaryish it seems) we'll be moving to 697 Tenth Ave pictured above. (But don't call it Pieces! Just refer to it as The Will Clark Bar and we'll all get along just fine.)
More details to come in the coming weeks/months... but for now, the Will Clark Show feat. P*rno Bingo will continue at Pieces located at 8 Christopher Street on Wednesday nights from 8pm to 10pm! See you next week when my guests are Emily McNamara and the hottest man in NYC: Torez! All to benefit God's Love We Deliver!
Will Clark has been involved with the erotic entertainment industry for 25 years. He has appeared in 48 XXX films, produced 10 Bad Boys Pool Partys and 10 Bad Boys on the Hudson events, 144 nights of "Cocktails with the Stars", 470 editions of "The Will Clark Show feat. P*rno Bingo" (raising a quarter of a million dollars for NY/NJ non-profits), 40 "P*rn Idol" events, as well as hundreds of other events raising funds for LGBT charities. He still emcees, officiates at weddings and makes appearances at bris's and the openings of shopping malls. He is currently in semi-retirement, waiting/looking for the right project to come along.
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