September was one heck of a busy month, and thankfully with this climax comes a lull in October.
We already included coverage of Calgary Pride in the last edition, so the next major thing to happen was the grand opening of a new LGBT nightclub in Edmonton the weekend of the 14th: Evolution Wonder Lounge.
Evolution set up shop in what some may remember as the PLAY Nightclub space. While the layout has remained roughly the same, the owners have gone great lengths to break the "dark and dingy gay bar" stereotype with their offering. From white floors and furniture in the lounge area, to an abundance of LED and other lighting cycling through the colours of the rainbow, the place is anything but drab.
They brought out quite a roster of celebrities for their grand opening weekend, three of whom you might have read about in our previous edition. As a bonus, we were able to do a video interview with Chi Chi LaRue, the legendary drag queen and porn producer herself, while she was in town!
The Friday Night was a meet and greet, where customers had the opportunity to casually interact with Chi Chi, Christopher Daniels, Tyler Saint, and Matthew Rush. On Saturday however, Chi Chi did some DJing for part of the night, while the 3 porn stars put on a steamy stage performance. They wrapped the weekend up with a Sunday afternoon T-dance.
But prior to heading over to the Evolution T-dance that Sunday, Steve and I went to Earl’s on Jasper Avenue for a special media event launching their new Brunch service across the US and Canada. Funny enough we had to turn them down for the event in Calgary, so they instead invited us to one in Edmonton.
The brunch items on the menu, such as the Sourdough French Toast, the Croque Madam, and the Eggs Benedict all looked as good as they tasted. Even though we were given sample-sized portions, I was completely stuffed before the final plate came. Seeing the full portion sizes, a single item would be more than enough to satisfy a big appetite. You can check out the photos we took on our website (http://www.gaycalgary.com/n980) – or try the dishes for yourself! Earl’s now offers brunch Saturday, Sunday, and holiday Mondays until 2pm.
The next weekend, on September 21st we headed southeast to Medicine Hat for their annual Pride festival and dance. It was a slightly shorter trip than the one we usually make to Edmonton, although heading in the direction of Saskatchewan, the land was noticeably flatter (in fact, the most memorable part of the trip was the unpleasant stench near Brooks).
Steve had visited Medicine Hat for the Pride Festival last year with his friend Don, while I was covering the AIDS Walk in Edmonton. So this year was my first time at Medicine Hat Pride – actually, the first time in my life that I’ve ever been to Medicine Hat, period! I can’t say we got to see much of the city, but the organizers were kind enough to make hotel arrangements for us so that we could spend the night and enjoy the full extent of the dance.
The weather was quite nice for the festival in Riverside Veteran’s Memorial Park. Lots of businesses and non-profit groups from Medicine Hat and across Alberta had set up tents and booths. We were treated to a brief drag show and some belly dancers on the outdoor stage. I got to impress some people with my rarely-used Frisbee skills for a whole five minutes, and got to eat one of the biggest freezies I’ve ever seen (considering I’m diabetic...actually, I only ate about half of it).
The drag show at the dance was quite entertaining, and featured a number of queens who had driven out from beyond the Saskatchewan border, like Yada Ya-Oughtta-Book-Ahead, Jenny Talia, and Kricket. The host, Medicine Hat local Sabrina Seville, was a laugh riot on the microphone.
We headed back quite early in the morning so we could arrive back in Calgary in time for the AIDS Walk. I said last month we had to make some choices with so many events happening that particular weekend, so while we made it to Medicine Hat Pride and the Calgary AIDS Walk, we missed covering Banff Pride, ISCWR Investitures, the AIDS Walks in Edmonton and other cities, and (break my heart) the ARGRA Hot Tub Party.
On Wednesday the 25th, the ISCCA resumed their monthly drag shows at Cowboys. Though we missed April Storm on the mic (as she had gone into drag retirement during Pride), the girls found their stride – although a little rushed by the new DJ. Keep an eye out for more such drag nights to come.
The weekend of the 28th, we were kept very well occupied with the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo. We got to spend some quality time with our newer Edmonton writers, Farley and Marissa, as we lined them up to do celebrity interviews when the publicists could squeeze us in. Though we didn’t get to do another interview with John Barrowman, we did get the opportunity to have a casual chat with his husband Scott when he stopped by our booth. Otherwise, we handed out some magazines, gawked at some good looking men, played out some irreverent physical comedy on an eerily realistic baby doll, and generally geeked out.
A funny story: back in June, as we were heading back from Lethbridge Pride, we had stopped in at Fort MacLeod just to check it out. We still had our GayCalgary t-shirts on as we walked into an antique shop and bought a small Snoopy ornament that we found. The owner noticed our shirts and told us a story about how recently, a gay couple had been in there and bought a large booth seat that had been used in the diner scene in Brokeback Mountain. We joked that we probably knew them, for how small the community can be sometimes.
As we were chatting with the couple that own the Trekcetera Museum in Vulcan, they mentioned having recently acquired a piece of the Brokeback Mountain set – sure enough, the booth seat from the diner scene! To quote a t-shirt that was generously given to us by MoL Gifts & More, "If you’re going to blow my mind, could you at least swallow?"
That Saturday night, the Pride Centre of Edmonton held the Paint the Town Red Gala as a fundraiser. It was a very upscale evening with some fun performances, and great dance music to finish off the night.
Though our press deadline was impending the next weekend, we couldn’t miss the ISCCA Hoedown out on the Regency Ranch. This year’s "Run Bitch, Run" included the option of paint grenades! Unfortunately, it was very difficult to hit the runners with them.
I was the only one up for trying to tackle Les in the Slippery Bear event this year, so we made a fun photo shoot out of it. Les and I both stripped down to our undies, we slathered Les from head to toe with vegetable oil, and then I had to try tackling him to the ground.
I wasn’t as quick to get him down this year as I did the last time. Since we did it on the grass rather than in the soft dirt that would get stuck in the oil, Les stayed slippery enough that he was able to break away from my grip several times. Also, last year we did teams of two, so with only me chasing him he had a lot more room to escape. Eventually I did get him to the ground, after one failed attempt almost took his underwear down to his knees. It’s a lot of fun if you don’t mind getting dirty, and especially if you enjoy man-handling a lubed-up straight guy in his underwear!