... Hello Spago

While Sunday was my last day at The Farm, yesterday was my first day at Spago - Beverly Hills, probably one of the most prestigious and well known restaurants in the country, if not the world. If for no other reason, you may well have heard talk of Spago at Oscar time, since anyone who's anyone attends the Wolfgang Puck-run Governors Ball after the ceremony.

My role will be that of Special Events Manager in the restaurant's Special Events Department (duh!). Spago has one of the largest private dining room facilities in LA (the city is unlike DC which has ample events spaces to hold your bar mitzvah, corporate retreat or holiday party), which combined with the restaurant's reputation should make for a very busy but interesting time, and certainly be a great resume builder!

Mike Ergas Robbed at Nationals!

2005 NATIONALS UPDATE:

"Mike Ergas Robbed at Nationals!" So reads one of the forum posts on the Muscle Mayhem board.

Mike got 2nd in the Heavy Weight class (so does not recieve his pro card), but there seems to be some dissention in the ranks. Having seen the pics (he was as hard as nails) and read the discussion, fans are rightly outraged at the decision. Clearly there was some politicking going on, and as one fans writes, "I'll tell you right now that if he didn't win his sexuality may have been a factor." What was I saying in my previous post? Hmmm!

Anyway, here are some pics of the the clear winner!!!

2005 Bodybuilding Nationals

For the uninitiated, the 2005 NPC National Bodybuilding Championships are being held this weekend in Atlanta. This is the top amateur show in the US, where all the guys who win their weight classes receive their pro cards and go on to "play" with the big boys in the IFBB.

From perusing my blog you may have noticed I'm a little bit fascinated by big guys. On my numerous trips down to The Firehouse with Cary I've spotted a number of these lads, and I've mentioned the gay-for-pay and soft porn aspect of the sport, but when it comes to being simply an Out & Proud gay man, save for the legendary Bob Paris, it just doesn't seem to be an option in bodybuilding.

Now, I have it on good authority that one of this year's top contenders is a big homo (plus I saw him out at the Avalon one very gay night). It would be amazing to see him win his pro card and then officially come out... But it just won't happen! A man with big muscles in a thong, is a man with big muscles in a thong no matter what his sexual preference, but the sport's "straight" fans can't get passed the notion that they could possibly admire a gay man's physique. Professional bodybuilders rely heavily on the sponsorship deals they can secure from leading supplement companies (like Twinlab and MuscleTech); sadly an openly gay pro would be dropped (or just never picked up) like a slippery dumbbell. And yet, how many gay boys do you see working out at your gym? And aren’t they all on something or other?

Anyways, some of my personal favourites going into the weekend are DC's own Rob Kreider, upstart Vlad Kogan, Greg Jones, Jeff Schwartzer and Mike Ergas.

The following vid-link takes you to Graphic Muscle's predications for the show, and towards the end of said clip you'll see Mike Ergas is all his carb-depleted glory!

Good Bye Farm...

After three long and exhausting months I've made the difficult decision to leave The Farm. As I draw to the end of my final week, I know I made the right decision to move on (the job was just not fulfilling enough; most of my staff had more to do than I did; and the catering arm of the venture was never really going to come to anything, mainly because I was not the point person at the Beverly Hills location). But leaving "my guys" is going to be really difficult!

I've mentioned in previous posts how many of the waiters are actually working actors, but they are still some of the best waiters I've ever worked with (and trust me in my day, I was good!). They've explained what it's like to be struggling actors in LA, so I've gotten a totally different, psuedo-insiders perspective of "the industry." It's a whole lot different than the stuff you read in Entertainment Weekly I can tell you!

Working at The Farm has also been incredibly good for my ego. The coffee bar guys have nicknamed me "Buffy" (and not because of my Sarah Michelle incident), and to the kitchen boys I'm "Rambito" or "Little Rambo." For a gay boy with self-image, Adonis complex-esq issues, this consistent positive feedback that I look built and beefy has been revelatory!

On the whole, I don't think I have ever worked with such a good group of people. People who take pride in their work, who seldom bitch, complain or mess up, who are honest and trustworthy and hardworking, and yet, in my opinion, so undervalued and so under appreciated.

If it weren't for Vic, Nat, Kristen, Miguel, Manuel, Paul, Damien, Julio, Jaclyn, Liv, Mia, Mike P., Leah, Martin, Lilas, Shortie (and everyone else) the last few months would have been truly impossible!!!

CELEBFLASH ULTRA II: Swellin!!!

Somewhere in my head I've got this list of people I'd like to see or meet or whatever (James Marsters, Carrie Fisher and Sheryl Lee are all currently at the top)... But then there are those celebs that you've forgotten about, they're not currently hot or in vogue or the like, but then you meet them, and it's like WOW!

So Friday night at The Farm I had one of those WOW! experiences. In walks the original queen of shoulders pads and the gin bottle, the oil baroness herself Sue Ellen Ewing! Although I'm totally bowled over to be standing right next to Dallas royalty, none of my guys know who the hell Linda Gray is. Yes my friends, it's a sad fact that the kids of today cannot appreciate the true genius of the primetime super soaps of the 80's!

Anyways, this is another one of those moments where I have to say something, but unlike the Sarah Michelle incident, this time I'm pretty coherent and composed. I simply tell Linda how many hours of pleasure she gave to my family and I as we sat enthralled by her Dallas going-ons, the way she chewed the scenery and how I loved that particular episode where she emerged drunk-as-a-skunk from the dumpster.

On top of still looking damn hot, Linda was so sweet, accepting my adoration, asking my name and introducing me to her husband. Because she was so gracious, I naturally, comped her brownie sundae (it's my last week after all). Well this lead to hugs and kisses on the cheek, oh and did I forget to say that she thought I was just a kid myself. Anyways, safe to say, we're new best friends!!!

Little Known Fact: On the famous poster for The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman is seen behind Mrs. Robinson's shapely leg. However this leg was not Anne Bancroft's, but instead belonged to the then unknown model, Linda Gray. Linda went on to play Mrs. Robinson herself in the West End, in London, in 2001.

F**K these Wife Swappers

My latest forays into the dark side of LA's creative underbelly has unearthed the new extended version of Justin Tanner's Wife Swappers at the Third Stage theatre in Burbank, and F**K, an as yet undistributed documentary about said title word (whose vowels have been removed to protect the innocent), that had its world premiere at the AFI Fest here in LA on Wednesday evening.

Wife Swappers is about a group of middle aged OC swingers and the fresh meat that comes to one of their parties. Bawdy hilarity ensues entwined with topical socio-political mutterings and chew-the-scenery melodrama. The ensemble cast is truly great and includes a friend of mine, Victoria Prescott (yes CSI's Judy Tremont), the reason I went to see it in the first place. You can tell the cast is thoroughly enjoying themselves, which encourages the audience to let loose and do the same. I left the theatre wishing there was much more and now feel it imperative that I see Tanner's apparently classic Zombie Attack!

F**K is filled with much posturing over the use of this supposedly foulest, yet most recognizable, of English words by both those on the Left and Right (though it's safe to say the film leans a tad more to the left). Crammed with interesting tidbits (Robert Altman's M*A*S*H was the first movie to use the F-word in 1970) and the talking heads of Kevin Smith, Jeanne Garofalo and Pat Boone (who uses his own name as his own sanitized cuss word - B**NE!), the documentary is fundamentally concerned with the Freedom of Speech in the US. It does not however shy away from giving us every possible use of the word in any imaginable context (or so it seems). If this movie ever should come to a theater near you, please do go see it!

Note: In addition, I just saw Jarhead, and may now be totally in love with Jake Gyllenhall - I just wish he had a bit more of an ass!

CELEBFLASH: Hunks & Hotties

I doubt Jesse Metcalf's abscence from this season's Housewives is the reason people have been tuning out, but I sure do miss his oh-so-pleasing-on-the-eye phsique (in person he has a great chest). But like any other schmo even Jesse M. has to wait in line at the Sprint store.

Dan Cortese, you remember him from back in the day on MTV Sports and Melrose Place. Now he's got 2.4 kids in tow, but still looks damn tasty! Didn't we all think Veronica's Closet would have been a good show if Dan had taken his shirt off more!


Admit it, in his day didn't Harry Hamlin clash your titan dressed in that toga? And that bit on LA Law when he and Susan Dey sucked down those helium balloons? Made my heart melt! And aren't Lisa's lips now way overly botoxed?


Mia Sorvino don't you wish you hadn't won that Oscar for woody's 1995 Mighty Aphrodite? OK, so you followed it up with Mimic and Romy & Michelle - both high art films! At least you've got a hot husband to push that stroller!

Not the Rugby I Remember!

UPDATE: As pointed out by Heath, the men will be at The Abbey signing calendars on Saturday evening!

In my exhaustive internet travels I came across this...



The 2006 Rugby Guys calendar (and behind the scenes DVD).

These are not exactly the lads I recall from my days on the rugger field at Wellington School (though there was this one guy... Mark Scriven... all muscle, fantastic calves, probably my very first gay crush).

And all but one of these guys are gay! You gotta love that. Big, strapping, rugby playing, gay jocks!

So Totally LA!

I have a (310) cell number, complete with new phone and texting.

I talk on said phone in the car without an earpiece, while eating, weaving in and out of traffic, intemittently cussing at other bad LA drivers.

I'm on first name terms with Emmett from QAF (yes, we finally chit-chatted just the other day).

And now, just like everyone else, I'm all inked up. I have myself a nice little tattoo! And I'm totally stoked about it! (See Exhbit A below)

"What is it?" you may well ask.

Well, since I am a total Star Wars geek, I decided to have the Clone Wars logo, from the Dark Horse comics, forever painted on my left shoulder. Cool, huh?

So cool in fact here it is again (only less shiny).