Summer really kicked off with an awesome Pride celebration here in Portland. I know we celebrate it in June to commerate Stonewall, as well as keep it close to the Boston and NYC dates so we can get some of the national talent up our way, but this was one of 2 Pride Celebrations in the last 10 years where weather didn't screw it up or at least have us all on the edge of our seats wondering if anything would be cancelled. We may have our share of hot days in May and June, but the true summer weather doesn't break in Portland until July. I think we should have our Pride in August when the weather is perfect! Anyway, that rant aside, mother nature provided us with absolute perfect weather for the parade, the live music fest in the park and the Pier Dance Saturday night.
The Springstreet Sessions have been a blast this summer. Ben Hammond, Andi Fawcett, Vanessa Torres and Mark Nelson have been awesome! What a great treat so see and hear such amazingly talented people in such an intimate setting. Go to www.springstreetportland.com to ck out the schedule. Note: This Wed, July 19th, will feature Tracie Callahan and not Joshua Eden.
The Idols. How cool that I not only met Andy Bell of Erasure, but I also got to hang out with him. As a matter of fact, I got an email from him the other day. After meeting him, he came back to the bar a week and half later for 80's night and hung out with patrons at the bar. He was funny, personable and just a blast to be around. Many celebrities could learn a thing or two from him about being gracious. 
Then just weeks later, I go to the Madonna show and turns out my 24th row ticket was better than a front row ticket, as she performed so much of her show on the catwalk right next to me. Nice job Madge.
Living right on the Marina has been pure heaven this summer. The only two draw backs are how damp the down stairs is thanks to how little sunlight it gets and being right next to the water. My bath towels have to be put in the dryer. The only other draw back are the friggin' spiders. I'm not afraid of spiders, but I'm just sick and tired of walking into giant spider webs when I go outside or into the garage. By next summer, Russ and I will have bought a place--most likely not right by the water--so I'm enjoying this little piece of heaven as long as I can. Fortunately, it's Lance's condo and he and Mike should be living back up here by next Spring.
Cashetta the Mistress of Magic. She performed in Ogunquit and she was a total riot. Almost nothing better than laughing from the gut for over an hour. Not only was she incredibly funny, but her magic will blow you away. And yes, it's true, I won her balloon blow job contest on stage druing her show. Check out her website www.cashetta.com. She's performing in P-Town all summer, so be sure to check her out if you make a trip there.I don't see many films in the theatre anymore, mainly because of how disrespectful theatre goers are these days. I'm constantly amazed at how rude people are during movies. How could anyone think that having a conversation in your normal talking voice during a movie is okay? Can you really not do without your cell phone or text messages for the length of a movie? I get that for some teenagers, going to the movies is one of your only escapes from your parents, but really, "Shut the fuck up during the movie!" Thank God for Russ's 42 inch Panasonic Plasma Flat Screen TV in our living room. It really is the next best thing. Okay, enough of that rant, now on to the movie.... Superman Returns was a great film. I
t really does pick up right where Superman II left off and really carries on the Superman tradition. I was beyond impressed. I had read that it wasn't as good as the Spiderman Movies or the last Batman, but I have to disagree. Spiderman turned into a crybaby and since he wears a mask, you have to wonder how much of him is really Tobey Macguire. And we've had so many Batmans in the last 15 years that I'm to the point where I just don't really care about Bruce Wayne and his tormented past anymore. Granted, I thought Christian Bale did a great job, but once you put the mask on, he might as well be Michael Keaton or Val Kilmer. Brandon Routh does an excellent job as both Clark Kent and Superman. You know that some of his stunts are done via CGI, but what's awesome is you can see him the entire time. He brings a level of believability to the character that Tobey or any of the Batman's could ever hope to do. And nice touch at the end having Lois Lane's son in Aquaman PJ's--or bedsheets, I can't remember.
80's Night on Fridays at Springstreet have become a hit. It draws a great regular crowd. They love to play "Stump the DJ," but they rarely succeed. I was a teenager in the 80's and I know more about 80's music and pop culture than is probably healthy. My mother refers to my knowledge of music and pop culture as "useless information" and once said to me, "You know, if you could replace all that useless information in your head with something of intelligent significance, you'd be a genius." I was 16 at the time, so my apt response was, "Yeah maybe, so what's your excuse for not being a genius?" I don't think I was allowed near a telephone for a week after that. Funny how I've lost a lot of my interest in pop culture. Celebrities are too accessible these days, we know too much about them. I miss the days when finding a cool picture of Madonna meant going to the store and thumbing through magazines tryin to catch a glimpse of her. Oh well, I guess it's all part of growing up. What goes around comes around. Every Friday night, I feel like I'm DJing my Prom.Last but not least, two upcoming events that I'm sure will be awesome are my August trip up to Rangeley. A few days relaxing by the lake will be awesome. Also, Sept 10th, I'm going to have my "Ten Years In Maine" anniversary party out at Two Lights State Park. Fun will be had by all. One more thing, go to www.mondoricko.blogspot.com and check out my friend Rick's blog. He's a writer on the upcoming telenovella Fashion House starring Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild. You can see the awesome previews on his site.
One final thing....I swear, this is it. I was bored at work today so I was checking out the websites of friends. I went to the website for Blackstone's -- a great bar here in Portland. One of, if not my favorite bar in town. It's owned by my good friends Ralph and Butch. I think they've owned it for 17 years. I was just there Saturday night and I try to stop in on Tuesdays for Happy Hour to say Hi to Will, their bartender. I make him music cds to play at the bar. 
So, I was on the site today and they had a link that said, "See what the Christian Civic League thinks of us." I clicked on it and there was a very amatuer video taken at this year's pride fest. I know they meant it to show what horribly evil and nasty people we are, but the video came off more as a video promoting the pride fest. They refer to the belly dancing segment as "lewd dancing sets the tone for the day." Ha ha ha. What fucking idiots. There's nothing lewd about Belly Dancing, it's an actual art form. It's funny at the end when you see the photographer about to get his ass kicked by a woman who didn't want to be filmed. I'm not advocating violence or assault, but you can see he was clearly antagonizing the woman.Happy summer and as always, thanks for reading!
