Calgary Road Trip Revisited (Twisted Element - part 2)

Was verbally spanked last night by Klaus for not continuing the Calgary Road Trip saga. I'll pick it up again, with one final note regarding Twisted Element...
Apparently, there's a strong health and safety ethos in the gay Calgary nightclub scene. The men's washroom had a very lovely 'glory hole' between the two stalls. It came complete with toilet paper padding around the edges so as to avoid any unpleasant nicks! It's good to see the mo's in Calgary are doing their part to prevent tetanus. I mean really, what good's a fag with lockjaw?

where the Hell is Matthew Harding?

Awhile ago, Jason told me about a video blog of a guy who was filiming himself dancing around the world. At first, I thought it sounded a bit cheesy but I finally just got around to checking out this guy's blog.

HOLY CRAP! After watching the first video, I actually began to cry. Now, I've been called the Ice Man on more than one occasion, due to my aversion to crying. However, there was no holding it all in this time. This guy has traversed the globe so many times and done his stupid little dance with people from just about every culture you can imagine. Its such a powerful series of images. It show's just how beautiful our planet is and reminds us all of just how similar we are.

After a bit of research, I found out that this guy has been doing this for a couple of years already. He was a gamer who was credited with the concept for a game called "Destroy All Humans" and he didn't want that to end up being his legacy so he eventually quit his job to do this project. I'm not sure when or where the Stride Gum sponsorship came in, and I don't really care.

Here's the link to his blog. Do yourself a favour and check it out.

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

WESA 30th Anniversary Celebration

Spent this past Sunday at Brockton Oval for the West End Slow Pitch Association's 30th anniversary. In many leagues this might not be a big deal, but WESA is the longest running gay sports league in Vancouver and as such, is something to celebrate.

Yours truly was invited to play in both the Mable (lesbian league) vs. WESA and the All-Stars games. How did I do, you ask? Well, lets just say I had fun. I did not even get onto the bases once, in either game. Ah well, it's good to be humbled sometimes. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Here's a pic of me getting ready to swing. The look on my face is all business, but don't let it fool you!

Jason was also invited to play in the rookies game. He did very well and he had a great time too.

A few of our friends came out to cheer us on. Pictured are Klaus, Eric, Remy, Miguel, Blair, Bev and "Roxie".

The Shane Factor

On our second night in Calgary we went out to Twisted Element. One of the few remaining gay spaces we could find in Calgary, I might add. I had been there once before (years ago) and the place had not changed much, if at all. My memory of my previous visit is a bit funny, to say the least. Although, I could have sworn the basement level had pool tables instead of a cabaret lounge the last time. Anyway, the place is decent and the crowd was cute, so we had a good time.

One notable oddity in the place though was the appearance of many of the lesbians. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the popularity of the L Word has resulted in legions of lesbians doffing plaid shirts and sensible shoes for the "Shane look". Don't get me wrong, she's very fashionable and very attractive, but there almost seemed to be some sort of Stepford House Wife air to the place. In fact, at one point later in the night, my friend Klaus turned to me and said, "Oh look, Shane from season 3 is going home with Shane from season 2."

WTF?!?

I guess it's just a pop culture thing, or a Calgary thing, or maybe a lesbo thing. Who knows? In any event, the Shane Factor was in full force that night and I found myself wondering why no one wanted to look like Phyllis (too old?) or Helena (too lipstick?). It seems Calgary lesbians only have eyes for Shane.

Get Aboard the Band Wagon!

On our second day in Calgary, Klaus, Jay and I came back to the hotel after an afternoon of walking around, shopping, and sipping cocktails on a sunny patio. We had a slight buzz on but nothing too serious until Klaus turned on the TV and there was the most ridiculous movie on! It was a 50's style gangster musical called The Band Wagon. I don't know if this is a well known movie in this day and age or not, but it should be. It is one whacked out musical that you've got to see to believe. People were dancing, be-boppin', and scatin' all over the place; with a hefty dose of gun play mixed in and a string-heavy sound track to boot!Funniest thing I've seen on TV in awhile. We were almost in tears!
I'm going to download it and have it playing silently on the TV the next time we have a party just to see how many people get sucked in.

Calgary 5 Hotel

We stayed at the Calgary 5 Hotel because it was right downtown and because the rate was reasonable (there was a gay rodeo discount, if you can believe it!). When we got there, we pulled into the parking garage and noticed that every single spot on the first 3 levels was reserved for some business or another. The spots were clearly marked with a sheet of paper inserted into a plastic pouch and then 'tastefully' taped to the front wall of each stall. The water stains and blurred print assured me that the paper was not laminated. I immediately had a sinking feeling about our accomodations but didn't say anything to Jason. We finally parked the vehicle, grabbed our luggage, and headed to the elevators. In a brilliant effort to foil would be robbers, the hotel rigged the elevator so that it had to go to the lobby level before it could go up to the rooms. So, if your room was on the 20th floor and you just came back and parked your vehicle, you would have to travel back down to the lobby, then press the 20 button to go back up to your floor. WTF? How does that prevent a robbery? Anyway, we had to register at the front desk, so it didn't matter to us at the time.
Whe we arrived at the lobby, my uncertainty about our choice of hotels was somewhat allayed as the lobby was tastefully decorated in a modern style. We checked in and the staff was friendly and efficient and in no time we had our room cards. We went up to our room and as we walked through the front door, we must have walked through a space-time portal because we arrived in a 1960's West End appartment complete with original appliances and fixtures! It was kind of funny. If you didn't look out the window, you would have sworn you were in the West End. For the life of me, I don't know why I didn't get a picture of it. After the initial shock, I poked around a bit and found that despite the older decor, the room was quite clean and the bed (with the exception of the rock hard pillows) was quite comfortable. Plus, it had a nice gym, sauna, and outdoor swimming pool.