13. August 2008 by admin.

It has been so busy!  I don’t know if it is because I am trying to get so much done before I leave for vacation or if it is just a busy issue. 

I need help!  No, not that kind of help :-(…OK, maybe sometimes, a little.  Any display advertising salespeople looking for a job?  tony@outpub.com.  Position available immediate.

I have asked most of my customers to submit their artwork and ad copy early this issue.  Ads started flowing in last Friday.  On average, ads come into the office the day of deadline or the day before.  To receive them this far out from deadline really helps me. 

My goal is to have all ads accounted for and invoiced by Friday.  I will need to complete our advertising control sheet before I leave.  Since I will be on vacation all of next week, Jeff will need the sheet to help determine where ads and editorials will be placed. 

Usually, I would never be out of the office during such an important time of the month, however I had to work with availability of the Rehoboth Beach guesthouse www.lighthouseinn.net.  We usually visit Rehoboth in June.  Matt and Jerry, Lighthouse owners were able to accommodate our request.  Thanks Guys.

The office will survive without me for one week.  I will have my cell phone, which can surf the net and pull my e-mail, and my laptop with me. And, maybe my video camera too. 

I am connected…wired.  No one will even know I am gone!

All my best,

Tony  tony@outpub.com

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12. August 2008 by admin.

I forgot to mention that www.outonline.com offers FREE CLASSIFIEDS.   We are testing a new classified advertising program on our website that promises to be quite effective.

Please continue to place classifieds in our printed newspaper for a small fee.  The cost helps offset printing costs of the newspaper.

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11. August 2008 by admin.

Monday, the boys came home.  I picked them up at Max and Ermas in Monroeville.  I guess driving 9 hours from Chicagoland builds up an appetite.  It was wonderful seeing their beautiful, smiling faces.  They were really missed…except Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. 

The office has been busy today.  Display ads have started to arrive for the September issue.  I love early birds.  Most of our advertisers know that we are going to Rehoboth Beach www.rehobothbeach.com  for a week starting Saturday.   Many of them have or will submitted their ads early.  Thank you folks! 

I am considering taking our video camera with us.  An RB Tony’s TimeOUT video blog might be fun, but I have to be careful.  Ed doesn’t like me to work on our vacations. 

Ever been to RB?  Gay guys from Pittsburgh are well represented there.  It is a very gay friendly town and very welcoming to families like ours. 

We are staying at the Lighthouse Inn www.lighthouseinn.net.  The guesthouse is 1/2 block from the beach and a short walk to most of RB’s excellent restaurants, shops and clubs.

The owners, Matt and Jerry are wonderful hosts and very good friends.  We have know them for several years and they still get excited when we arrive or at least they act that way…LOL.  They treat the kids well and even babysit for us so we can go dancing at Aqua, Cloud 9 or cocktails at the famous Blue Moon for a night.  Really special guys!

I can’t wait!  Anyone else from the region going to Rehoboth this weekend?

Until tomorrow…TONY
tony@outpub.com

WWW.OUTONLINE.COM

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10. August 2008 by admin.

It is so easy for me to get behind on my blog.   I have an active life.  Not so much because of the kids or Out www.outonline.com.  Ed and I have always been busy people.  We are not the types to spend a weekend in or sit around the house.  Although, there is nothing wrong with that.   Check out my garages at home and it is easy to think these guys are lazy or they are very busy.  We only purchased the house 2-1/2 years ago and one garage has been a storage location since.  Guess who’s side? 

Well, as advertised, we went out Saturday night after spending the day at my mom’s birthday party.  Getting a late start, we had to pick and choose where to visit first.  Dancers definitely influenced our decision.

First stop, Real Luck Cafe www.myspace.com/realluckcafein the Strip.  For those of you who are familiar with this club know the second floor bar houses dancers on the bar…nude!  We headed to the second floor, ordered cocktails and hung out for a while.  It was Saturday night after all and no kids (other than the dancers on the bar).  We were going to make a night out of it…a long night.  The music was good, the new lighting system on the dance floor was impressive, and the dancers were young and ?

Opportunities like these don’t exist every day for us, so we planned our next stop–P-Town and yes, they have dancers too.  We finished our drinks and headed to Oakland.  I had this idea to drive through Polish Hill on our way to P-Town.  As we passed Donny’s Place, we noticed the parking lot was packed.  I asked Ed if he wanted to check the place out as we have never been to Leather Central www.geocities.com/pghlc/.  “OK”, he answered.  Into the parking lot we headed.  Unfortunately, the lot was full.  The parking lot attendant informed us that parking was available on the hill.  As we attempted to exit the lot, he stopped us and said he had just the perfect spot for us and directed us onto the sidewalk between the fence and a pole that had bike attached to it.  He squeezed us in so tight that I was afraid to move forward.   Not to mention, it would have been impossible for me to open the car door. Understand, my car is huge.  We have a very large SUV.  I have to close my side mirrors in parking lots and on the street or other cars hit them.  Don’t have to worry about them being hit while entering my garage.   I don’t know what this guy was thinking.  He admitted this to me later.  Needless to say, I parked on the hill above the bar. 

The entrance to LC is at the rear of the building and leads you directly into a large bar.  If you proceed through this bar and down the steps, you enter into the lower section of the main building.  OK, ask me!  What the hell are you and Ed doing in a leather bar?  Good question.  It is oblivious that we are not leather guys.  The only leather we wear is our Bostonian shoes and no-name belts.  Listen, we like and respect all types of people and groups.  There is no question…we stood out, but we were treated well.  I had a great conversation with ex-bar owner Chuck Honse who was in attendance.

Tick. Tick. Tick.  Time was running out on our “night out on the town” without kids evening.  Bars and clubs close at 2am in PA.  With dancers in mind and dollar bills in pocket, we headed off to P-Town www.ptownpgh.com in Oakland.  Upon entering the bar, it was oblivious that we missed the dancer, but we were greeted by friendly bartender, Sam and had a nice visit from one of the owners.  Thanks guys. 

Ed ran into a UPMC employee.  This guy told me several times how lucky I was to have Ed.  Umm…HELLO, this I don’t know?  He mentioned it so often that it became clear what he was doing.   I am pretty secure, even when people flirt with my boyfriend.

Last Call.  Such dreaded words.   Oakland back to the Strip to that private club in the alley.  The door swings open and there she is!  Nancy.  OMG… 

Nancy is Nancy.  No fluff, no bull-shit, tells you like it is (or how she thinks it is) lesbian or as she prefers to be called gay.  It is her belief, we are one giant group of gay people and should stick together.   Maybe there is something in that statement I agree with too. 

In my line of work, you have contact with many people each and every month.   Some colorful, some not so much.   It is no surprise that most of my customers become my friends.  Nancy is no exception.  She is very entertaining.  We sat with her at the front door for most of the evening…I mean morning and drank soda.  Yes, I said soda.  To make a long story short, we didn’t get home until 5:30am!  Once home, we grabbed something to eat and then…CENSORED.   Ask me…  Slept in and then…CENSORED.  Crawled out of bed at 11am.

Later Sunday, we headed to Pet Land at Pittsburgh Mills, ate an early dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and finally went back to the Mills to catch The Dark Knight in the Imax theater.  Great weekend babe!  Thanks…

How was your weekend?  Did you make it until last call?

Tony tony@outpub.com

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9. August 2008 by admin.

Guess what?  We stayed in Friday night.  I didn’t know it was an option, but sometimes having a quiet house, a large screen HD TV and a comfortable sofa can be more rewarding than than cocktails and dancing.  I also have Ed, the icing on the cake…   Ed, I am sorry.

And, yes I watched some of the Olympics opening ceremony.  One word–Incredible!  Although, I love sports, I really wasn’t into the Steelers much this evening…

It probably was not bad idea as Saturday would bring a lot of activities.  We are celebrating my mother’s birthday on Saturday and an evening out in town that evening. 

There is no doubt that I will have lots to say about Saturday. 

Please keep the comments coming…

Tony
tony@outpub.com

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7. August 2008 by admin.

Let me start by saying THANK YOU! 

Why, you may ask? 

I have been doing this blog for several weeks and the numbers keep growing.  David, our website manager for www.outonline.com / OTV and the person behind www.gaylifetv.net, presented me with some impressive news.  It appears that 1508 of you tuned in Wednesday to Tony’s TimeOUT!  1508!  WOW!  Thank you for reading, people!

If you have followed the classifieds from me to Ed that have appeared in every issue of Out over the past 19 years, you know that I am a man of numbers.  I love statistics about Pittsburgh, Out newspaper, www.outonline.com (huge numbers too), my relationship, inches (had to add that one in there for all you size queens and yes, Ed and I have many of them), economy, approval ratings and more.  Nothing is more rewarding than BIG numbers!  Usually…

Kid Free Weekend…almost as exciting as Kids Eat Free.  We are still planning to go out Friday and Saturday nights.  If you see us out, come over and say hello.  I know there is a show at Pegasus and the Eagle, Bear weekend at Camp Davis, Mardi Gras at Roseland starting Friday and Boots and Boxers at the Eagle on Saturday, plus dancers at Real Luck, Images and P-Town.  I am sure Donny’s, the Link and others have some action going on this weekend.  Morgantown is always an option too.

We have a party Saturday afternoon that we cannot miss, so a weekend at one of the area camp grounds is out of the question.  Hmmm…maybe Saturday night?  Where are you going?

If time permits, I might identify our location on Friday and/or Saturday nights.  However, I suspect downtown and Strip locations with dancers.  We have a lot of dollar bills in our pockets.

Enjoy your life, its the only one you have….right?

Tony

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5. August 2008 by admin.

Pretty uneventful day.   You decide.

Last night we went to Chris’ hockey game.  His team lost, but fortunately they are not out of the playoffs.  I must admit, I haven’t been to many of his deck hockey games this season.   Their schedule is really crazy.  It is not unusual for them to play at 10pm,11pm or even 12am.   I prefer daylight, sun shining and very hot.  Get my drift?   Sure you do, perv.

On the other hand, football–his favorite sport is another story.  I have only missed a few games dating back to his midget football days, through high school and now college.   It doesn’t matter if they are home or away games.  Ed and I travel…and travel well we do.

After the game, we enjoyed dinner at Ed’s mom.  We needed to drop off the two younger boys and their luggage for their trip with his mom and dad to Chicago.  Yes, it is the second time they have been in Chicago in the past month.  We spent 4th of July week there.  And, yes, we are going out this weekend.  Hopefully Friday and Saturday nights.  Any suggestions for Friday or Saturday?  E-mail tony@outpub.com or post here. 

Please, don’t hesitate to say hi!  We don’t bite…

Its usually slow around here for a few days after the release of the newspaper, but today was different. There seems to be a pretty good buzz about www.outonline.com and I spent a good part of the day talking to clients about the website’s great numbers and reasonable banner rates. 

If I thought the website would dominate my day, I was sadly incorrect.  Add me to the list of credit card fraud…again.  Well, actually it was Ed that had one of our credit cards stolen last.  As I was checking out my National City points for my Visa, I discovered not one but eight fraudulent charges!  My first reaction was how disappointing it would be seeing my points drop.  Then reality set in.  I rushed to call the my credit card company.  I was placed on hold, transferred and asked stupid questions.  Finally, I was told I would receive a form to fill out in the mail.  Why do I feel this is not over?

No traffic on my way.  Hurray!  I don’t know why I get so excited over such stupid stuff.  It was now 7:30pm in the evening and rush hour had been over for a bit.  Not in the mood to make dinner, I called Foxs’ Pizza and order two large pepperoni pizza, two chef salads an a order of wings.  Wonderful weekend food.  At home, I had two 21 year old guys and Ed to feed, so this was my answer.   Maybe more of a payback for being in charge of dinner.   Finally, I sat down and enjoyed my meal while watching Weeds on Showtime.  Don’t you just love that show?  Everything seemed perfect again.

Enjoy your day!  Thanks for reading.

Tony

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4. August 2008 by admin.

It was such an adventure getting to Butler to pick up the kids from camp on Friday.  The parent’s dinner was served at 5:30pm or 5:45 gay time.  If it was the camp ground’s intention to serve us the same food our kid’s ate, they succeeded.  Actually, it wasn’t bad, but being throw into a room of other parents was awkward.  It was strange not knowing if the couple sitting across from you were going to be your kids best new friend’s parents. 

My eyes searched and searched the cafeteria trying to identify at least one other gay or lesbian person.  Big surprise, I thought we were it…  Later that evening, I discovered we were not alone.  The camp ground was blessed with family (other gay men).  Did it really matter if they were out or not?  The rainbow tattoo was all the affirmation I needed.   For obvious reasons, I really don’t want to get into too many details here.

Friday night and so much to do.  It took about an hour from the camp ground to our east suburban home.  I finished the eventful evening by doing some uneventful things, grocery shopping and cleaning.  Remember, I have 75 people coming to my house the next day.  Jeez…have you read any of my postings?

You are partying with friends, it 3am Wednesday morning.  Buzz buzz buzz…it’s 7am–the alarm clock is buzzing, silly.  Your’e going to be late!  You drag your ass out of bed, grab some coffee and a quick shower.  Before you can comprehend what you are doing, you are at work, at your desk and doing what you are suppose to be doing.  Well, Saturday morning was kind of like that for me…minus the partying and work part, but it felt all the same.   Once my coffee buzz kicked in, I was cleaning, shopping, decorating, setting up tables and chairs and stringing clear lights.  Outdoor parties are so complicated.

It is now 5pm and people are arriving…early.  Never, ever arrive early to my party.  You have been warned.  The party started well and headed into the night with a smooth vibe.  The music was soft, the food met all expectations and the drinks were flowing.  I was very pleased with the turnout.  It is always wise to plan for more people than invited.  By doing so, I had plenty of food and drink for the 75 people that showed up.  Only one person got drunk and it was not a twenty year old.  The last guest left at 1:30am, I think.  Under the influence myself, I cannot be sure of the exact time.  Just kidding…but I did have a few cocktails.  Why not–I wasn’t driving and boy, did I need it!

After only getting a few hours sleep Saturday night, sleeping in until 11am Sunday morning was just what Ed and I needed.  I have to admit, that was the longest we have spent in bed together without… well, you know.

We rolled out of bed, got dressed and headed to the other side of Plum for a Bird Social.  We met our friends Mark and Dennis.  They breed and sell a variety of birds.  Maybe I can get them to advertise on www.outonline.com. 

This week should be interesting.  The younger boys are heading to Chicagoland with their grandparents and the oldest back to school Friday.   Guess what we are doing this weekend?

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3. August 2008 by admin.

Ideas, suggestions or comments to
tony@outpub.com

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1. August 2008 by admin.

Hi Folks!

WOW, what a week it has been!  We were so busy getting Out’s August issue completed and out on the newsstand.  My staff and I are busy planning some new and historic changes to the 36 year old Pittsburgh’s Out.  The excitement level is incredible!  In addition, the new website has been up and running for almost one month.  Check it out at www.outonline.com and send me your feedback. This website is updated daily and offers the region local and national news, FREE classifieds, OTV streaming video, video blogs, calendar and a lot of information only available in Out’s newspaper.  More importantly, www.outonline.com was developed with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in mind!  I believe that it is important to included everyone.  Having said that, we need your help.  OTV is now accepting video blogs, recorded glbt events, drag shows or video performances of any kind.  This is your chance to be a star!  www.outonline.com has thousands of viewers!  Send me your videos at tony@outpub.com.

OK, now that the newspaper has hit the streets, we can relax around here for a few days.  The OTV studio is under construction and needs some of my time.  I must admit, it is impossible to understand how important and large the newspaper is until you help out with the delivery.  Call me a delivery guy, too.  It gives me the opportunity to visit with many of our fine outlets and advertisers.  Unfortunately, it is very demanding especially in humid and hot weather. I do not like heat, at least not that kind…

Another benefit that comes to mind, is the chance to get comments about the newspaper and the city.  The comment that came up over and over yesterday was the economy.  Folks, the glbt bars, clubs and businesses in this city (and other cities) are struggling.  Almost everyone is dealing with a decline of business, especially the bars and clubs.  The excuses I hear often are the economy, internet, and DUI laws. There has been a lot of national glbt attention identifying our community as a gay and lesbian hot spot.  And, while I believe this is correct, I am not sure we are supporting lgbt businesses like in the past.  Blame it on the economy and less disposable income because of gas prices or some other reason, but lets support these businesses. 

The more lgbt money spent, the stronger our regional lgbt economy becomes and the more it benefits you.  Let me explain.  Your glbt dollars goes towards glbt employee payrolls, advertising in the glbt newspaper, and other glbt purchases.  We all have employees to pay.  Our employees take their had earned glbt money and spend it in GLBT establishments.  We all become stronger because of it.  Next time your bored, visit a lgbt business and spend your lgbt cash.

If you have been following my blog, you know tomorrow is the big party and our younger kids have been at camp all week.  Am I ready?  Hell no!  Tonight we pick up the boys from camp.  Dinner at 5:15pm and talent show entertainment show at 9pm.  How exciting.  I am not sure if other parents realize Ed and I are a gay couple with children. To be honest, I really don’t care.  It is no secret that we are two gay men with kids. We live our lives out (in many ways, LOL) and would never hide being gay and a non-traditional family.   We are proud.  It would also send a horrible message to our kids by denying who we are and what things are important to us.  Please remember this message, but make the choice that you are comfortable with.  I believe there is nothing wrong with being glbt, so why send the wrong message to others. 

It is my hope that glbt people see us as an example that you can be happy, have a healthy relationship, and raise a family in the suburbs.  It is not always easy, but, really is anything worth while easy.  We work hard in employment, so why not work hard where it really matters.

Take care and have a beautiful weekend.  Check back later this weekend for an update on the party and my weekend events… I am sure the party will be very eventful.

Tony

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