St Patrick's Day

Here is what happened on St Patty's Day. First of all I went to the Sage celebration at their offices (basement meeting room). There were about 18 to 20 people in attendance. The theme of the party was an Ode to the venerable Potato with baked potatoes for everyone along with a variety of fixings. These were nice big Idaho potatoes and there were lots of them in a big Nesco Roaster. There were an assortment of veggies and dips. There was a green custard pie, brownies and chocolate cake with green frosting. Scattered across the tables were green foil covered chocolate Irish coins.
Song sheets were passed out and we attempted to sing several Irish songs. It would have been better if music were available to accompany us. I will say it was fun, off tune and all. What can I say? You had to be there.

Later on that evening I went out to see what might be going on in the Third Ward area. First I went to the new Pump House where the younger crowd were having a good time. After that I went to M's where a small crowd hung around. I was going to try a couple of other palces but there wasn't parking close enough. I paseed by the old M&M, now an Irish Pub which was packed wall to wall. I guess we don't celebrate that much like the straight people do. They get special days, we celebrate when ever we want to. After all I'm not too crazy about Amateur Night anyway. Hope y'all had a good weekend.
TTFN

Thought You'd Like to Know Dept.

IT COULDN'T HAPPEN TO A NICER GUY

Coral Ridge

Dr. Kennedy suffered a heart arrhythmia leading to cardiac arrest on Thursday, December 28. On Wednesday, January 3 he underwent a procedure to implant a pacemaker/defibrillator.
Worshipers at Fort Lauderdale's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church offered prayers Sunday for the full recovery of the Rev. D. James Kennedy, the church's charismatic leader after he suffered a massive heart attack.
Kennedy, 76, a leading figure in the Christian conservative movement, was rushed to the hospital Thursday night after suffering the attack. His condition, initially seen as grave, has been showing improvement, church leaders told the congregation on Sunday.

Could this be God's vengeance for all the anti-gay venom he has been spouting against us? Is Karma finally catching up to him? I don't know but for some reason I have no sympathy for the man. That is too bad because I like him once upon a time. It wasn't until he decided to jump on the bandwagon along with the rest of the wingnuts and religious fanatics that I lost respect for him.
Don't get me wrong, I wish him a successful recovery, however I hope this is a wake up call for him and a sign that he must change his ways. God is shaking his finger at you Mr Kennedy. The next time you may go down for the count. Gods watching and I don't think he's too pleased with what is going on. He is telling you that he is still in charge and he isn't happy.

Just thought you would like to know.
TTFN

Eating out with Sage

On March 11 Senior Action in an Gay Invironment (SAGE) met at the Tazbah at about 5:30 pm for a nice sit down dinner. There was a selection pork, chicken or fish. There were fourteen people present. The dinner was hearty and the portions were generous. The appetizer was soup or salad. I had the salmon which was grilled to perfection. Others had boneless pork chops and some had the chicken which I think were good sized breasts of meat. It was topped off by piece of cake.

This comming Saturday SAGE will celebrate St Patties Day at the SAGE offices on north farwell. I hear they are going to serve authentic Irish fare along with fun for all. So if you want to celebrate, but don't care for the bar scene, this is a good event to go to. It will be from 1 to 5 pm and will honor the venerable "Irish Potato" SAGE will suply baked potatoes along with various toppings. Bring something to share if you can something green would be nice. I hope to see you there.

Castaways Beer Bust at Kruz

Last Sunday from 3 pm to 7 pm the Castaways had their Beer Bust. I came at a little after three and the bar was starting to get crowded. By the time I left at about 5 pm the bar was crowded. There were raffles and some nice prizes were won by various patrons. Kruz is where the old South Water Street Docks used to be. The bartenders are a friendly bunch. They have a internet jukebox that plays almost any tune you can think of. There is a out side patio with a tent conopy and heater for those cold Wisconsin nights. I hear that one of the bartenders signs for those of you with hearing imparment. Looks like the Leather sceme is alive ald well in Milwaukee.

Visiting Interweave

Having been a member of the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee some time ago but still keeping in contact I decided along with a friend to go to the UU Interweave meeting last night. The church has worked hard to become a welcoming congregation to all LGBTIQ people. This was a planning session for the upcoming year to focus on the direction Interweave wants to take.
We discussed about a dozen different topics that we felt that needed to be addressed. After much discussion, the top twelve items were written down on large sheets of paper and the members were instructed to choose three most important topics that need to be addressed. The rest were designated as medium or long range goals that will be addressed sometime in the future. Since most of what Interweave has done seems to be centered on Social Justice issues, it was agreed that perhaps it would be better for us to change from a Special Interest Group to a Social Justice Group because the focus seems to have turned to more civil rights issues for LGBTIQ people within the community.
Beyond that the two co-chairs will be ending their tenure and they are looking for volunteers to step up to the plate. If anyone is interested contact the current leaders and express an interest. I'm sure it will be an interesting and rewarding experience.
The next scheduled meeting will be on April 12 at 6:30 pm. 1st UU at Astor and Ogden. Hope to see you there.

Update on the Leather Bar Arrests

The curious person that i am, I obtained the Police report of the incident that I mentioned below. Four guys were arrested for Lewd and Lascivious behavior. They posted bail and are scheduled to be tried just after the Real April Fools Day (April 15) . So far they are free on bond and whether they will have to serve any time or if they will be fined won't be known until then.

So what is the moral of the story? I'll say this. Its OK to cruise the gay bars and pick up a new trick but don't let lust get the better of you. Keep your zipper up and take him home or wherever and then do him in private. Yes indeed the cops do visit the bars and they will arrest you if you misbehave. I hope you get my drift. Have a good time and stay out of jail. That is no fun at all.

In the meantime I'll keep you posted as to the fate of our friends. Thats all for now.
TTFN
G.

Eldon Murray passes away

Another one of Milwaukee's Gay leaders has passed away on March 5th 2007 after suffering a heart attack. The first I heard was that he was at Veterans Hospital and it sounded as though he was recuperating. To find out more here is the link to the Cream City Foundation website. For more information. You can go here to the LGBT History Project
Sage had an article about him in their newsletter. This is a sad day for our community. We have lost three of our elders this year so far. Lets hope there are no more passings. Please check the newspapers for the death notice and funeral arrangements.

4 Arrested at Leather Bar

One of Milwaukee's well known Leather Bars was the target of an under-cover sting. In the early morning of February 1st two under cover officers visited the back room of this notorious hangout and arrested four men engaged in lewd acts of misbehavior. The owner, according to the police report "entered the back room area twice, approached the men but did nothing to discourage or stop this activity." the men acknowledged him on both accasions but did not stop theor activity. Needles to say they were taken into custody.
I have vistied the bar in question on many occasions and observed similar activity. Guys if you want to have some place to meet you are going to have to keep your zippers up and take your libedos elsewhere. I understand the excitement and thrill of possibly getting caught, which unfortunately was not the case. Is losing you job and reputation worth it? I don't think so. Not only that, you now have a permanent police record.
The fact is that we are losing bars due to the gentrification of the Third Ward but lets not make it even harder for the owners of these establishments to keep their licenses. So lets behave ourselves and take it to the streets. If you got to do it take him home or whatever.

Here's the Dish on the Predefest Town Hall

Last Thursday February 15^th Pride Fest held their Town Hall Meeting at the LGBT Community Center on Court St at 7 pm. Some found out about the meeting by email and others found out about it through ads in the local gay rags. The headline said “Help build Wisconsin’s largest pride celebration” which turned out to be more of an informational meeting than anything else.

Yours truly was looking for answers to questions as to whether Pride Fest would reinvent the wheel again this year. Apparently so as Scott Gunkel is now the spokesman and a mostly new Board has been formed. They are Paul Masterson of the Gay Arts Center fame and Paul Williams along with Pete Mins as Co-Director replacing the departing Mike Hall who had been recalled to active duty you know where. Sam Christianson (Proud Crowd), Dan, David Boda (Community out reach) and Jef Montoya (religious activities). Still needed is a Female Co-Director. Strange that there isn’t some kick-ass Lesbian who wants to come forward.

Yup its going to be three days, and yeah they are hoping to keep the Ticket price at $12 given that the cost of things like insurance and entertainment doesn’t keep rising. Talking about figures, they claim that we had a record attendance of 23,839 people, they claim to be the largest crowd so far. Neil Albrecht the new treasurer said that they raised $441,207 of which expenses were $439,301 giving a grand total of $1905.99 Whoop te doo.

The final debt reduction payoff of $31,774 along with a total contribution to the community of $10,000 came off the revenue. Don’t ask me how they came up with this figure but they claimed revenue of $85,000. Math is not one of my strong points so don’t ask me what that means. You’ll have top ask them. They said that they now only have to put a $3,000 down payment to reserve the festival grounds and and about $28 to $30 grand just before the festival to get things going. At least that is the way I understand it. They are shooting for 25% profit, whatever that means.

As usual they don’t have a Volunteer Coordinator and they are shooting for March to either get one or get the ball rolling on recruiting volunteers for the various positions needed. Lets hope they can get someone soon as I suspect that it will be business as usual scrambling to get negotiations done on time.

Now for the juicy part. There will no longer be any flags down Wisconsin Avenue. Not just us but every festival too, courtesy of our glorious budget cutting County Executive. Oh and you’ll love this one. No more shuttle service to Pride Fest either, unless someone can schmooze someone in city or county government to provide those nice Trolleys. As we all know parking is atrocious anywhere close to the Summerfest grounds and so is the cost. If you ask me, someone is going to have to come up with a plan soon or there will be Hell to pay especially those who are disabled. Besides who wants to maneuver past those annoying protesters who perennially gather on the corner as you enter the Fest? They didn’t do too well with the Pride Guide and they are thinking about eliminating it or making it much smaller. Personally I think it would be a major marketing blunder if they did away with it. Smaller is ok. We really don’t need something like a magazine, just something like they do at State Fair with the weeks calendar of activities. A three day one should be breeze and can be filled with ads to fluff it out. It also needs to be made to be stuck in the back pocket comfortably, that’s all.

At the end suggestions were made about filling vacant time on the main stage. Cooperating with the Parade and the possibility of moving to a warmer weekend which is not possible for the foreseeable future. It is something nice to look forward to if the opportunity arises. Did I tell you it was in the basement? Not exactly the warmest place in the world.

That’s the Dish for now
TTFN.

Do I have the Dish for You

In case you didn't know, one of our own is off to Kuwait and possibly maybe even into Iraq. Not his choice mind you and what he told me was that it may be at least two years and possibly three. Now that is a real bummer because his enlistment in the Reserves was supposed to end in two years. He had a going away party at one of our watering holes. Worried about his mortality he joined MMCC and is off to battle. I know that this has to be quiet but the silence is deafening. Just to give you a little hint, he was Co-Producer for Pride Fest.
Speaking of Pride Fest, I wonder what they plan to do in his absence? Two to three years is a long time to be away. My question is, will the replacement be temporary as it should be? Word is that they have already found a replacement. Not even a word on the website about his departure and no mention that they are looking for a replacement either. I don't know about you but that just doesn't sound right. Are they going to do a search for his temporary replacement or appoint an interim Co-Producer until a suitable substitute replacement can be found?
Shouldn't we be honoring our men and women in uniform who have served and are serving our country? How about those who lost their lives and limb? Wouldn't it be fitting that we honor them during Pride Fest?
Too many questionsand not enough answers. Tell us what you think.