Online Dating Tips

And now, a guest post for your enjoyment!

Have you or someone you know ever tried dating online? Many people have and have been successful, yet just as many come away from the experience unsatisfied and vowing they would never try dating online again.

Gay dating online is difficult, especially if the site is expensive or doesn’t have updated information. It’s frustrating to find someone online and then realize that your gay or lesbian match isn’t even a member of the site anymore.

There are lots of online dating sites out there, but finding the right one can take a lot of trial and error. When looking for a gay dating site, there are some things you can do first to help narrow down your choices.

To start with, be sure to check out the site and see if it offers everything you’re looking for – make a checklist of the membership benefits you want and then eliminate the sites that don’t offer them.

If possible, sign up for a free trial membership to the sites you like. This can give you access to bios, personals, and pics of other members. If you see someone interesting make a note of where you found them and use the data to help make your choice.

Last but not least, when you’re trying gay dating online, make sure you are honest in your profile. Finding the right homosexual partner will only happen if you are truthful about your own likes, dislikes, and personality.

For example, if you love dance music or you’re into pop culture make sure you put that in your profile. Being completely honest when using a gay dating site like PrideDating.com for instance, will help you find the right gay or lesbian match. Whenever you choose online gay dating sites, use these tips and avoid the disappointment.

OMG! Billy Herrington!

It all started with an insane video that Adam from This Boy Elroy posted... insanity like only the Japanese can conjure. Sadly, YouTube has already removed the video. Nonetheless, in the past 24 hours I came to learn much more about the bizarre elements of Japanese pop-culture, notably that they have an obsession with porn star Billy Herrington, who was big in the late 90s. (I remember seeing him dance here in Phoenix around 2001 -- he was even hotter in person!)

I don't claim to understand the whys and hows, but he now has his own action figure (figma for the purists)(even creepier than normal action figures) and is known as "Aniki" or Big Brother. Even though Billy is getting older and isn't close to being in porn shape anymore, it's great to see him back in the limelight, even though the whole phenomenon seems bizarre.

Porn stars with their own "action" figures. Ah, the insanity of the Japanese. You can read even MORE insanity about Billy's recent Tokyo appearance.

(From BoingBoing via QueerClick)

Masterbeat New Releases - Pop - 2/15/09

There's been a whole lot of new releases over at Masterbeat in the past month. I'm going to break them down into a few posts.

Masterbeat New Releases - Pop - 2/15/08

• Britney Spears - Circus (Linus Loves Mix)
  Okay, Britney's still a mess but I know The Gays still love her, so I can't ignore her latest release. For the record, I may not be the biggest Britney fan but she's had some memorable tracks over the years and some have been downright enjoyable. In stark contrast, Womanizer made my ears bleed. Fortunately, Circus is a definite step up from that. This is a mediocre track, so it's all up to the remixer to make it interesting. Junior Vasquez has three mixes, the Ringleader Mix has a funky bass line that separates it from the Club mix and Electric Circus mix which are solid but a bit plodding for my tastes. The release includes two mixes by David Morales -- the Camp David Remix and the Camp Epic Remix, the Camp David Remix is a bit lighter has more energy. Friscia and Lamboy have a mix with more of an electro feel that's got a good feel. My favorite of the bunch was the Linus Loves mix, which, like Morales's Camp David Remix is a bit lighter with good energy.
• Beyonce - Diva (Jeff Barringer vs. Fingaz Extended Mix), (Redcap Mix) & (Maurice Joshua Extended Mojo Remix)
  Okay, I REALLY don't care for this track, so I chose mixes that had elements that made the track interesting. First off was Maurice Joshua's groovy style that seems to work with just about any track he works on. Classic groovy house feel with healthy doses of piano and groovy bass line. So silky smooth that it almost makes me ignore the rest... almost. The Redcap Mix goes for the other extreme -- the word that comes to my mind for this track is gothic. Something about it really worked for me. Finally, I really dug the Jeff Barringer vs. Fingaz Extended Mix -- it has a dubby feel at points with more of a techno feel. Definitely not what I'd expect from a Beyonce remix, which is probably why I like it.
  
• Deborah Cox - Beautiful U R (Soulseekerz Club Mix) & (Yinon Yahel Club Mix)
  Praise Jesus, Deborah Cox is back! Okay, I love this track for all the reasons that I disliked Beyonce's Diva -- that is, Deborah Cox comes through with a track that is beautiful, uplifting and shows that pop music doesn't have to be crass and jaded. This release includes a mix by the Soulseekerz who I absolutely adore. This isn't one of my favorite of their remixes but it's solid and high energy. Massimo Nocito comes through with more of an electro-ish feel, though it's not straight up electro. My favorite is the Yinon Yahel Club Mix that manages to feel grand and soaring and has some more trance elements. I know there are some tracks from the early 2000s that this reminds me of, though I can't put my finger on them right now. Welcome back, Deborah, I missed you!
• Solange - T.O.N.Y (Lost Daze Extended Remix)
  Ah, listening to Solange is so refreshing because it's like hearing Beyonce before she started taking herself SO seriously. I love the Lost Daze Remix -- it's like listening to something from the Motown days. The other remixes are solid, but they end up sounding very routine and contemporary, where the Lost Daze mix ends up coming off sounding classic, very much in line with the original track.
  
• Brandy - Long Distance (Jody denBroeder Club Mix)
  Another solid track from Brandy. This release only has two remixes -- the JodyBroeder Club Mix and the Dub. denBroeder comes up with a solid pop remix, doing a good job moving the track from a slow ballad to the dance floor. I was surprised at the energy the track managed to find considering the original. This isn't a peak hour track but it's definitely something that would be great to help bring a crowd to a more relaxed place.
  

Extra Secret Sauce, Please!

Okay, there's a glut of bareback films out there with titles like, Dude, Swap my Cum, My Guy Creampie and Sperm Attack. If you hadn't guessed, these videos tend to be a little... base. What about those with a more... refined attitude toward semen?

Today you're in luck because now there's Natural Harvest - A collection of semen-based recipes. File this under, "I shit you not." With recipes like, Creamy Cum Crepes and Tuna Sashimi with Dipping Sauce, and the Almost White Russian, along with a bevy of colorful photos of the prepared dinners as well as nutritional information, Natural Harvest is perfect for those out there with a discriminating pallet. The author has also noted in the recipes when ingredients can be omitted in order to bring out the flavor of the semen.

So, when you can't decide between a bareback orgy and a Pampered Chef party, there's no need to compromise. Natural Harvest is here to help.

Consider This Your Subpoena

Gurl, where was Kristin Chenoweth when so many people I knew turned into crack heads? Listen to Whitney, crack is whack!

Seriously, though, while crystal meth is a problem in the gay community and elsewhere, it's so refreshing that we can start to laugh about it. In my mind, that's a sign that a big chunk of the battle is already won.

(Thanks to Andy at Towleroad.)

Best. Title. Ever.

I was talking with Adam about going to see the new X-Files movie tonight. I was checking to make sure that it was out, popped over to a movie site only to discover the best movie title ever: The Midnight Meat Train. Ok, I know it's really another edition of "oh.my.god. we're.all.going.to.die." starring Tori Spelling and featuring a flesh eating Nicholas Cage, but this is the best title of a real thing that sounds like porn since Dexys Midnight Runner's, "Come On Eileen."

The Midnight Meat Train? OMFGBBQ, how many gay men haven't ridden that? Or wouldn't enjoy riding it? What makes the whole idea even more delicious is the caption on the film poster on the right: "The most terrifying ride you'll ever take." Yeah, that's what all straight guys say until they actually ride the midnight meat train... and then he tells you that he was sooooooo drunk and he's never done ANYTHING like that before, he swears and please don't tell anyone... and oh by the way, why don't you give him a call sometime so you can chill, watch SportsCenter, drink some beers and "hang out," ya know?

Heh, thinking of a straight guy calling the midnight meat train "the most terrifying ride you'll ever take" makes me think of a guy who's been featured on StraightHell.net. (Definitely NSFW!) Either that or he hasn't been able to admit to his friends that he's been featured on Sean Cody for the past 6 months.

In any event, I'll leave you with the above mentioned Dexys Midnight Runner for all you nostalgic types.

Marc's Bonus Midweek 'Pumped' Beef Haiku

With muscles gleaming,
"The glitter makes us look butch,"he kindly explained.

In Search Of...

One of the things I fell in love with about dance music was the variety of music out there that isn't being played in the mainstream. Even if it's a song that's part of the mainstream, I love that various remixers and DJs are able to take the song and make it their own.

Part of the fun for me was exploring the music out there and finding tracks so many different tracks that I had never heard. I suppose that's what led me to become a DJ -- being able to find things that I wasn't hearing anywhere and putting them all together into a unique expression of me.

In the years I've been a DJ, I've had many people ask me where I find my music and where they can find particular tracks. Unfortunately, most of the time I've had to tell people that there isn't any easy way to find the music that I've been playing. It's especially frustrating because there's so much music that I love that I'd love to share, even more than I could possibly play.

Some of that began to change with the coming of Beatport. Beatport was the first major online dance music retailer I encountered back in '04. Since that time, their collection has grown and they've become a major source for the music I buy -- my tastes tend to be much more underground, so I really enjoy being able to search through a large catalog to find tracks that I enjoy.

Since that time, there have been a bevy of new sources of online dance music sites -- I had actually considered compiling a guide to buying dance music online because there are so many. At the same time, I'm reminded of something important -- while I enjoy searching for dance music and digging through a lot of tracks that I don't care for to find a handful of tracks that I enjoy, there are many people out there who'd prefer to have someone show them what's really good and how they can buy it.

As I mentioned, my tastes tend to run more to underground tracks, but I've enjoyed more mainstream tracks as well. One of my big frustrations (that I'm sure I share with countless other DJs) is that remixes of more mainstream tracks are very difficult to get. The record labels in the US have never really embraced dance music and have been prone to release tracks only after people are tired of hearing them.

Fortunately, Masterbeat, which went from a label selling dance music CDs targeted at the gay community to online dance music, has been working to bring major labels into the 21st Century by beginning to offer their tracks online. This is a very good thing -- it's a more enjoyable experience when I can find mainstream music easily and also know that the artists who make it are being supported.

I know that RCA offers tracks on iTunes, but I've never really enjoyed trying to find dance music online with iTunes and I've been turned off by having to purchase dance tracks in AAC format, which aren't compatible with the software I use to mix CDs.

I've noticed that because I'm not playing anywhere currently that I haven't had quite the interest in keeping up with the music that's out there. I know that in many ways that's because I haven't really had the kind of outlet I need right now. With the rise of so much music being available online now, I've decided that I'm going to start writing more about the music that I find and making it easy for you guys to listen for yourself and buy the tracks you enjoy. So look for much more to come!

Denver Recap part 1

Now that I've had a chance to recover from my trip to Denver, here's the scoop. Not only was this my first trip to Denver, as well as my first chance to visit my friend Paul (on the right) since he moved back to Denver several years ago (he's visited Phoenix a few times in that span), but it was also my first chance to meet Paul's partner, Michael (on the left), in person. We've gotten to know each other via e-mail, chat and over the phone, but it was a great experience being able to meet someone in person and have the friendship already be there in part and yet take a more concrete form.

Denver had a very familiar feel -- it's a western city and felt like a combination of being in Phoenix and Flagstaff at the same time. Unlike being in Philly, where I took the train almost everywhere we went, Denver was very car based, although we did think about taking the light rail at one point... but we never quite made it. It's a difficult mindset to change in the west -- whereas some of the people I met in Philly didn't even own cars.

I had heard many good things about Denver's downtown. Coming from Phoenix, I'm always interested in experiencing more of a big city feel, as Phoenix's downtown has never been very interesting. I was impressed with the architecture of Denver's art museum, which is much more adventurous than anything we have currently in Phoenix. I also liked the open, grassy plaza areas around the capitol and city hall. Having open, enjoyable public space is a very good thing. Phoenix, take note.

Another similarity between Philly and Denver is the availability of funnel cake. I had never heard of such a thing before my trip to Philly, which rather surprised Eric. I guess the closest Arizona equivalent that I am aware of would be Indian Fry Bread. No matter where you go, if you're at some sort of outside fair, there must be plenty of fried dough available in one form or another. For the record, I didn't eat any funnel cake, though I did end up having a sopaipilla at Little Anita's for lunch. (The sopaipilla was good, the rest of the food -- not so good.)

Back Home

I'm back home after several days in Denver. Took most of today to get caught up with sleep. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow.

Rocky Mountain High

I'll be heading to Denver for the first time tonight to visit my friend Paul (and his wonderful partner, Michael) for his birthday and to catch Denver Pride over the weekend. I plan on taking plenty of pictures and hopefully there will be lots of salacious bits that I couldn't possibly blog about.

Apocalypse

So it's almost 10pm on June 16, 2008. Gays began marrying at 5:01pm in California, not long after the California Supreme Court's ruling that struck down the state's ban on gay marriage. God's retribution was swift and sure, as several large meteors devastated the Golden State, wiping out most of the state's large population centers. To make sure He wasn't missing anyone, the Divine mutated most of the state's agriculture to turn the rest of the population into monstrous, flesh eating zombies. The Rev. Fred Phelps, of Westboro Baptist Church, finally having been vindicated after many long years of being called a hate-crazed lunatic, issued a statement: "I told you so. We were right about the gays, now maybe you'll believe me when I tell you that God hates shrimp."

Wait a second... I guess that didn't happen -- it was an odd amalgamation of the plots of Deep Impact and The Happening ("oh. my. god. we're. all. going. to. die. *yawn*") that came in a dream I had during a nap I took earlier. Heh. The funny thing is that the picture of Meteor Crater comes from a funky creation science website that strives to help push creationism into public schools. This is, of course, preposterous, as we all know that the Earth and all of creation was touched by the FSM's noodly appendage. When will these heathens see the Divine noodly goodness of the FSM? Fortunately, the FSM is much more merciful than some of the other false gods out there.

Consensus Reality

I needed a distraction today but Adam wasn't online, and he's usually the one I'd call on in this sort of situation. Fortunately, the Universe provided me with another Adam (he of This Boy Elroy) to confound and frustrate.

Essentially, he brought up the growing slate of self help literature, especially the whole The Secret phenomenon. Being versed in the ways of science, he's particularly perturbed by what he believes is the hijacking of some scientific principles for what he describes as a "spiritual justification for greed."

Personally, I will readily admit that there's a whole lot of marketing going on with most of that, although from my experience, I believe there's some truth wrapped up in the marketing if you're willing to look for it. While I don't come close to knowing all their is to know, I have come to accept that most of what I do know is inherently bound up with the perspective that I hold. I don't know if there's any objective truth one could glean from my life other than my own conclusions about how this world operates for me. That's my daily experimentation of life in a holographic universe.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Adam, who champions objective, scientific truth. I suppose our discussion got down to one basic thing -- the idea that scientific discourse is, at it's heart, a rhetorical style. While Adam describes scientific discussion and analysis in terms of "facts and truth," I see the use of data and interpretation that are being used to reinforce a particular worldview -- that is, reality by consensus.

I'm not sure that I really have a point with this -- it just served as a pleasant distraction. Yes, sometimes I venture into odd stuff.

A Pirate's Life

I've been eagerly awaiting my good Pirate friend Jon's return to Phoenix. It had been a while since I was able to visit him in Palm Springs and he hadn't been able to make it out here either. Thursday marked the first time we had gotten a chance to get together in 3 years or so.

I had thought that we might make a return to Tasty Kabob, where we had gone out last time he was in town. In fact, Jon still asks me about Tasty Kabob from time to time. Instead, being an Asian food aficionado, Jon suggested that we try out Roka Akor, a high falutin' Japanese place that happened to be right across the street from his hotel.

Roka Akor is the first US version of Roka, a Robata-style Japanese grill. The other three restaurants are in London, Macau and Hong Kong, which leaves Scottsdale in some rather heady company. I'm not the uber-trendy type, nor am I an expert on Japanese food but I definitely enjoyed the place. It was classy, yet simple, the service was excellent, and the food was top notch. I ended up enjoying some things that I didn't think I'd care for, so adding that on top of excellent company, it made for an excellent evening.

We could have stopped there, but if a fellow Pirate is in town, you'd be mad not to go lookin' fer booty. YARR! So, we made the trek across town into Phoenix intending to do a little plunderin'. There may have been strippers involved, but there's absolutely no photographic evidence of any such activities. There was, however, a nasty straight chick who thought that a bar full of gay men wanted to see her fulfill her life's ambition as a pole dancer. Oddly enough, this bar wasn't quite as classy as Roka Akor. Nonetheless, it was a nice counterpoint to the earlier Scottsdale experience. To top it off, Jon & I decided that we absolutely MUST tour Europe together... and soon.

Good food, grog, good Pirate friends, and hot man-wenches. A pirate's life, 'tis for me.

Movin On Up 2

I ended up back at Portland Place this weekend -- I was invited to a big gay party that one of the residents had on the roof Saturday night. As I mentioned before, I could really get used to things like this. My friend Jayson and I agreed that it's the perfect location to be Phoenix's version of Top of the Park in San Diego.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the San Diego scene, the Park Manor hotel in San Diego, located right next to Balboa Park, hosts a big cocktail party on their roof on Friday evenings. The gays are there en masse. Hot gay men, cocktails and breathtaking views. It's a winning combination.

Of course, the breathtaking views weren't limited to the Japanese Friendship Garden or downtown. There were some very hot bartenders as well. I'm usually kind of wary of hot straight bartenders, but these guys ended up being very friendly, and combine that with a hosted bar, it made for a great time.

One of the things that I enjoyed most, in hindsight, is knowing that only a few days ago I blogged about enjoying my last visit to Portland Place, and let the Universe know that I'd dig more. Well, thank you, Universe, for such a speedy reply. You did a great job!

Bad Hobbit!

Adam sent me a Youtube link a few minutes ago that seemed to captivate him. As I watched, it seemed to refute a number of my deeply held conventions... First -- midgets. Midgets usually make for interesting videos, right? A long, proud tradition of dwarf tossing can't be wrong. Drag queens? Fierce! Spoofs of politicians? De-lish! So a latino midget drag queen proclaiming herself "La Pequeña Hillary Clinton" should be a show stopper, right? Um... not so much. Maybe I'm just feeling a little too picky this evening. Decide for yourselves.

Sauce

After spending the past couple of weeks house sitting for my Aunt & Uncle and their cat, Eddie, and a busy few days of family and Easter, Alex suggested we have some social time together. We decided on heading to Sauce for dinner, though this time we went to the one in Scottsdale rather than the one off Glendale and 16th. There were a few benefits to heading into Scottsdale -- first off, it's a clear reminder that while the economy in the rest of the country may be headed into the tank, there's still plenty of conspicuous consumer spending going on. That means there's money to be had, which is a very encouraging thought.

The other biggest benefit, to be sure, has to be the menz. The first one that caught my eye was a little young... an attractive Sauce employee in his black, fitted Banana Republic button down shirt and snug khakis. While my initial impression was that he had a very high gay quotient -- the spiky hair, the chunky yet stylish shoes... though with today's youth there are times I have trouble distinguishing between gay and metro. I was going to reserve judgment but as he lightly sashayed to our table to deliver our food, it was becoming rather difficult to leave him in the metro category.

That raised another interesting question -- just how many variations of gay movement are there? A few came to mind -- to sashay, to saunter, to prance, to mintz... there are so many subtle variations. I wondered how many others might recognize. In stark contrast there was this floppy haired emo kid busing tables who looked like a young Severus Snape. His arms rarely moved as he slithered between tables and the kitchen.

Our attention quickly turned to a prime ASU beef who was grazing on a salad with a friend. As I was with Alex, I thought about letting my paparazzo instincts take over but I fumbled with the camera on my phone, nervous that the beef would realize he was being photographed, and wasn't able to get a shot.

We then made our way over to Fashion Square in search of more beeves for our viewing pleasure. Wandering aimlessly, it was if the Gods intervened to give us direction -- Collegiate Closet. It was indeed a sign - if we were in search of eye candy, there was only one place we need explore.

Cliché? Perhaps, but this particular stereotype is based in truth. As Alex and I made our way through The Temple of Homoeroticism, we spotted him -- a handsome, hunky college-aged veal clutching his dowdy girlfriend by hand, as if she were a talisman that could ward off evil. To boot, he dragged what appeared to be his mother and aunt in tow -- perhaps he hoped that their combined strength would save him. Alas, we all know that you cannot be saved from what comes from within.

Echeblog Election 2008

Its election time, as if you didn't already know that. As much as I'm hoping Obama will become this country's next President, there are more pressing issues at hand. Specifically -- who is in line to be my husband. And so, I'm presenting Echeblog Election 2008! You guys will get to pick who you think would be the best fantasy husband for me. So, I now present the candidates!

Brady Quinn
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Brady (the one on the right) and I both attended the University of Notre Dame, though not at the same time. We're both Scorpios as well and that could either mean we're able to understand each other on a very deep level or it might be a recipe for disaster.

Michael Churchill
Ok, he's from New Jersey but he looks like he could have been one of the several hot Mormon kids I grew up with turned beef. The crystal blue eyes and blond fuzz stretched over the flawless chest pretty much embody every Junior High and High School fantasy I ever had. I don't know a damn thing about this guy, but with a face like that, does it really matter?

Gage Wilson
Ok, he's from Sean Cody and supposedly straight, but a) he's still having sex with guys and b) we're allowed to delete those
inconvenient details in an exercise like this.

Ben Browder
I didn't want you guys thinking that I was only going for the 20-something ones in this. Ah, Bens!

Jake Gyllenhaal
I love the beard, Jakey! I definitely think you traded up when you left Kirsten for Reese, but now its time to leave behind these foolish games and settle down with the right guy.

Let the campaigning begin!

Not A Shocker

I try to keep the celebrity stuff to a minimum here -- its not really my bag and there are plenty of people who can do a better job, but I just couldn't resist this...

Ah, Jesse, its about time.

(Ok, for the record, he's not really coming out... yet.)

America Calls, Hollywood Answers.

Last night I went with Alex to see Enchanted. An enjoyable Disney flick. Aside from confirming that there are no straight animators and talking about Patrick Dempsey with a Prince Albert, the previews served the real excitement of the evening...

Ask yourself, "What is your heart's true desire?" No, it isn't "true love's kiss," its a sequel to National Treasure. Fear not because Hollywood is making your dream come true.

I admit, I went to see the original National Treasure when it came out. While the original was just a mediocre knockoff of The Da Vinci Code, it wasn't too bad -- the cute Justin Bartha made it watchable. They laid the groundwork for a sequel in the first film, though I had no clue that the first did well enough to justify a second film.

So the first film wasn't THAT bad, what's my beef with the sequel? Two words: Nicholas Cage. As I've written before, I've never been a big Nicholas Cage fan and having also watched Ghost Rider with Alex I know that Nicholas Cage is looking AWFUL these days. If they made a remake of John Carpenter's classic They Live, Cage would be a shoo-in for one of the aliens... I thought that was the reason they cast him in Ghost Rider -- they could just light his fake hair on fire and save money on special effects.

That said, I'll probably end up catching this one on NetFlix just so I can watch Justin Bartha. Thank you, Hollywood.