Summer on the Sunny South Side

16. July 2008 by admin.

Hot, humid, sunny days are upon us.  This weather keeps me in doors with the exception of an occasional dip in the pool.  Something I can’t do at this moment because I am sitting in my office on the South Side trying to catch up some work.  Yesterday was the display ad deadline for the August issue of Out.  Things pile up around here this time of the month.

Wow, there is a lot of excitement these days.  OTV and www.outonline.com are up and running. Doing very well, I must add.  Great response Pittsburgh!  Many of you are starting to tune in daily.  Listen, believe me when I say it was not my intention to use this blog as another resource to promote Out’s website. :-)

I want to talk a little about Pittsburgh’s Pride week.  It is still fresh and I have a lot to say about the subject.  Those who know me, know I have a lot to say about everything.  Love, sex, religion, politics, money and Eddy… LOL. 

On June 19, Ed and I were fortunate to go to the SPLASH party on Mount Washington at the home of Peter and Steve.  We heard the rumors and knew what to expect. :-) These guys know how to throw a party!  It was wonderful to see 300 or 400 glbt or glbt friendly people having a great gay time.  The city view is breathtaking from their 10,000 square ft. party palace.  It is no wonder that their home has become a Pittsburgh gay and straight party destination.  The rent boys only added more excitement and eye-candy to an already hot and successful evening.  What a great idea having that event during Pittsburgh’s Pride week. 

The following Saturday, we met our friends Bill, Greg and Harry at Pride in the Streets at 7pm.  Ed and I had tickets to see Joan Rivers at the Byham Theater, an event sponsored by the Lambda Foundation.  We were concerned that turnout there would be affected by Pride in the Streets which was only a few blocks away.  Joan was very funny and entertaining.  She worked the good size crowd.  We enjoyed every minute.  If you ever have the opportunity to see her in person, do it! 

Later that evening we left the theater and headed back to our friends and the big party on Liberty Avenue.  We danced, sipped a few cocktails and enjoyed the music–so much that we stayed well past 2am.  Ever been to a party with 6,000 gay men?  We expected huge lines to the port-a-johns, but were pleasantly surprised.  Someone thought well in advance and created an port-a-john city on a side alley.  No long lines, unless you were in one of the packed bars and no waiting.  Perfect!  

Let me tell you something…this was a well organized event that included good entertainment, state-of-art lighting system and professional stage.   The energy level was high, the crowd was hot and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  The VIP tent was well staffed and quickly became a hang out for the many rent boys and the “be seen” crowd.  Do you like hot guys and rubbing elbows with some of the glbt community’s most well-known people?  I suggest spending the extra money for a VIP ticket next year!   

Hats off to Gary, Peter, Steve, Jeff and Tom of the Delta Foundation for a great job and for securing permits that allowed us to party on a major Pittsburgh street for hours.  Like I said above, we stayed until a little after 2am knowing that we needed to return to the same location the next morning to setup Out’s booth for the Pride Festival.  It was tough, but we were able to get setup before the parade started.  It was a day to be proud, and proudly we showed up by the thousands.  There is absolutely no question.  This was the largest glbt event in Pittsburgh’s history. 

We are starting work on our new studio for OTV on Thursday.  Please let me know your ideas for talk shows.  We welcome your video too.  Send comments and videos for OTV to tony@outpub.com.  Sorry…2nd Out website promotion. 

Got a question or suggestion for Tony’s TimeOUT blog?  E-mail me at tony@outpub.com

Stay cool and check back tomorrow.  Thanks for reading!

Tony

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