by Eric A. Crabtree
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Ambush Quote of the Times:
Ambush is a great advertising medium and Ambush is very supportive of the Gay events in Austin.--Claire Santacroce - Owner - Wizard of Austin.
The OZ Parties Cook/Campout
The OZ Parties for HIV+ singles is having an outdoor cookout on Sat., May 15, 3-9pm in the wooded grove behind 2507 Mitchell Lane (near Manchaca and Slaughter). This particular event is welcoming both single and attached guests, and optional overnight camping is available for those interested (please bring own sleeping gear). $5 contribution or potluck dish is encouraged, BYOB please. Flyers & maps are available at Lobo Bookstore and Waterloo Counseling or call 512.406.6408.
3 Gay Male
Fundraisers/Contests Featured
On Sun, May 16 at 8pm, a benefit for Mr. Austin Leather - Michael Fowler will be held at Dick's Deja Disco located at 113 San Jacinto St. Many guests and diva performers will be on hand to entertain. All donations at this event will benefit Michael Fowler who will compete from Austin for International Mr. Leather 1999 (IML) to be held this year in Chicago on May 28-31. Last year's IML winner was Tony Mills, Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather. Tony won from a field of 62 contestants from six countries, 24 states and Puerto Rico. A contest for Mr. Austin Leather '99 will be held later this year. More info on Mr. Austin Leather and the Mr. International Male Leather Contest may be obtained by contacting Michael Fowler at 512.323.0470 or by visiting the Web site at www.IMRL.com or at www.ambushmag.com/is1598/austin.htm.
The Mr. Gay Austin USA 1999 Contest will be hosted and sponsored by and at the Forum on Sun., May 16 at 9:30pm. This contest features C.J. Brooks who went on to compete and earn the title of Mr. Gay Texas USA 1998. The Mistress of Ceremonies and entertainers for the event will be Kelly Kline, Paris Chanel, & Goldie Haines. No Austin contests for Mr. Gay Austin USA have been held in Austin for several years. On Sun., more than $500 in cash and prizes will be given away to the contestant winners whose entry fee is $75. Registration begins at 12 noon on May 16. This contest is the direct preliminary to the Mr. Gay Texas USA '99. More info may be obtained by contacting Eric Halley at the Forum at 512.476.2900 or from C.J. Brooks in Houston at 713.861.7545 or 713.398.4067.
The Mr. Gay Capital of Texas All -American 1999 Contest will be held at Rainbow Cattle Company on Thurs., May 20 starting at 9pm. Produced by Tim Caswell's Falling Anvil Productions, Mr. Gay Capital of Texas is the direct preliminary to the Mr. Gay Texas All-American Contest to be held later this year. More than $150 in cash and prizes will be given away to the contestant winners whose entry fee is $75. Christian Martinez, Mr. Gay Texas 1998 All-American & C.J. Brooks, Mr. Gay Capital of Texas, will make many special guest appearances. Also performing will be Goldie Haines, Miss Gay Capital of Texas America 1998. Masters of Ceremonies for Thurs. night event will be Ashley Collins & Tim Caswell. More info On the Mr. Gay Capital of Texas All -American Contest may be obtained from Falling Anvil Productions at 512.494.0294.
Lust In Space Slated
Memorial Day Weekend will soon be here, May 28 - 31 when Ben Parsley and Splash Productions host Meltdown '99 - Lust In Space. Meltdown is billed as the start of Gay/Lesbian summer in Austin providing 5 major circuit events throughout the city. On Fri., May 28 it's "First Call" Oil Can Harry's, the Official Welcome to Austin Party with DJs Dig'M, Miss H and Licious. Cover is $5 at the door starting at 8pm. On Sat., May 29 it's time to head again back to Lake Travis and Hippie Hollow with the 'Margarita's Lake Lounge featuring DJ Rick Herrington (Dallas). At the lake party barges will be loaded with food, drink and hot guys! Tickets are $60 per person and the event lasts from 11am - 5:30pm. After the lake it's time to rest up and then hit Meltdown '99 - Lust In Space. The nation's fastest rising circuit star DJ Roland (Ro) Belmares; (Forum's resident DJ) will be providing the travel from 9pm- 4am at La Zona Rosa, 612 W 4th St. Advance tickets are $25, $30 door.
After La Zona Rosa, don't dare go to sleep. It's time to embark on your "Journey to Planet K" with DJ Michael Tank (Houston) in an after-hours event at Twist (505 Neches), $10 cover at the door. Tank will be pumping the cosmic sounds from 4am - 10am. Sun. night, May 30, DJ Don Bishop (Palm Springs) presents Summer Tea upstairs at The Forum from 5pm - 10pm. Downstairs starting at 10pm, DJ Lydia Prim (New Orleans) takes control and creates Aurora at 10pm - dawn. Advance tickets are $15/ door $20. VIP Weekend Passes to Meltdown 99, which includes all events above, are only $99. Buses from the host hotels to Margarita's Lake Lounge Dock and back are $20 extra. Host hotels include the Radisson on Town Lake and the new Homestead Village on First St. and Barton Springs Rd. Free VIP shuttle bus will be running Sat. night from both host hotels to the main event and also the Twilight after-hours party and back to the hotels from 11pm - 7am. Shuttle will be $3 per trip for non-VIP pass holders. Tickets are on sale now at Lobo Bookstore, N8 and Outlines, student discounts are available with proper ID. Party tickets, travel, hotel & party info, may be obtained by calling 888.558.1791 or 512.478.1791 in Austin or by visiting the Splash Productions via the Web at www.partyaustin.com. A portion of proceeds benefits Austin AIDS care facilities.
PrideFest '99 Scheduled
This year's PrideFest '99, hosted by the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, (LGRL) will take place on Sun., June 6 from 12-7pm. The event is located at Fiesta Gardens in Austin. Texas Gay Pride will feature lots of entertainment, great music, and lots of beer and food booths. Among the featured bands will be Ginger McKenzie, ButtaFly, and Quatropaw. There will also be a poetry slam from 2-5pm. Other scheduled tentative events like volleyball tournaments will be held. For further information regarding Pride and/or to reserve booth space, please contact LGRL of Texas at 512.474.5475 or via the Web at www.lgrl.org or E-mail at lgrltexas@aol.com.
Splash Weekend Remembered
by Eric A. Crabtree & Vincent DuDonis
Some 2000 Splashers made their way to the Lake and thousands more reveled in and around Austin all Splash Day Weekend long. The weekend started for both Vinny and I on Thurs night when we papered the city with the Splash edition of Ambush. On Fri., night, I attended diva Thelma Houston who performed and grooved for 45 minutes at the Edge. Vinny had to work. It was then off to Oilcan's and the crowd was wild and the dancing fantastic. The next day was my most anticipated day because The Forum was hosting their Dance One Party sponsored by Genre magazine. Before hitting the Forum, I had made arrangements with my circuit boys from Lexington, JJ and Rob, to meet at Splash Video Bar for a quick drink. They had communicated with me earlier that their friend from Boston, Clifton, came with them to party. I met the boys at Splash and the rest of the weekend turned into the most enjoyable Splash Day Weekend I have ever had. I was in love with this Boston hunk; he was very interested in me. We hit it off at first sight when I ringed his and my friend's necks with the first of many glow-stick rings. Speaking of which, the whole weekend was a glow-stick weekend where we never lost sight of each other in the crowds. We would just look for the "other couple" fused together in one big glow and find each other again. We cruised Splash, had a drink or two and then off to show Clifton Oilcan Harry's before hitting the Forum and then back to Splash for their best Chest Contest at midnight. More drinks and dancing ensued and then it was back to the cars to deck out with our alphabet garb and glow-stick attires.
We hit the Forum amongst a mass of revelers and decorations early to sign up and be in the Dance One Video. By 10:30, both Clifton and I were grooving and moving all over the place. We did manage to get up "on the boxes" and dance our asses off like nobody was watching. We knew that cameras and eyes were on us the whole time. The night progressed when we traveled back to Splash where guest VJ Jimmy Bartlett from Dallas packed the place. We entered JJ in the Best Chest Contest where he did not win, but we think he should have (JJ was the one in the jungle shorts). Afterwards, we floated back to the Forum and met up with Vinny. We danced the night away with Circuit DJ Roland (RO) Belmares till 4am. Closing the Forum, we regrouped and headed on over to Ben Parsley and Splash Productions Twilight after-hours at Twist. Here DJ Jamie J., of Club Universe in San Francisco, continued our never-ending beat and dancing feet with both JJ and Ron dancing atop the huge speakers. We called it quits at around 7:30am and then regrouped at my nearby condo. There it was decided. I begged and pleaded with Vinny to represent Ambush today on the beer barge and to have fun, and take pictures. After persuasion, he was off to change into his cute Splash attire. Clifton and I traveled back with JJ and Rob to their place, an hour east of Austin to a 6-acre ranch. We ended Splash Day Weekend among good circuit CD music, good company and all inside the gardens of good and evil on a ranch, far away from the lake but in each other's arms.
Neither Rain or Shine Kept Splasher's away from Lake Travis on Sun., even though it was overcast and rained slightly this day. An estimated 2000 Splashers attended according to the Austin Tavern Guild. Wind and clouds had no effect on the spirit or fun of the first big party of the year. While Eric was around a ranch some miles away, I floated in on the beer barge around noon. As you looked out over the rocks then at all the boats, it seemed that there were more boats. That was only for a little while. About an hour later truckloads of people showed up. Pretty much all of them showing off their stuff, even one person in a black dental floss suit (there are pictures). Even the naked Lesbians with their bouncing bosoms were enjoying the day. Towards the end of the day they had a bare chest contest which went over really well at the beer barge. All in all it was a good safe First Splash Day and then I went home. Eric, on the other hand, was no where to be found. No problems happened at the lake and everyone that attended, despite the weather, had a good time.
After Eric and the boys woke up at the Ranch, it was nighttime and time to party again. This time Vinny was no were to be found so Clifton and I traveled back to Austin. We started Splash Day night at RCC where we caught the tail end of their Splash Beach Party featuring the Austin Babtist Women. It was then over to Charlie's Austin where we watched a hot Manwatch dancer and saw Lauren Taylor take her Final Walk as Miss US of A. Afterwards, we traveled to the Forum to dance and then over to Oilcan's where we closed down the dance floor. We tried the Forum again and after begging both DJs Filthy Rich and Dig'M before to keep spinning, Gay Austin's Nightlife had ended at 3am. Both Clifton and I were still bound to dance; we wound up in each other arms yet again on Paradox's dance floor in the middle of a crowd of young breeders. We ended our Splash weekend at my condo and slept maybe an hour before heading back to East Texas and our friend's ranch. After grabbing his belongings, Clifton was off to ride to Houston with Rob to catch his flight back to Boston. I slept at the ranch and it was already mid-Monday morning. I woke up later that night and drove home and back to reality. The weekend was topped off just right when my ex decided to surprise and give me a color printer for my computer. Yes Sir! Splash Day Weekend was great. As my friend's Rob and JJ put it, "We look forward to those special times. It makes us feel alive." I agree with them. I felt alive and am smiling today about the memories, the fun, the boys, the surprises, the music, Clifton.
1999 Pride Concert - "Naked Man"
The 1999 Pride Concert of the Capital City Men's Chorus proudly presents their 1999 Pride Concert of - "Naked Man" on Sat., May 22. The concert will take place at 8pm with one performance only at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin located at 4700 Grover Street. Admission to this concert is free and open seating starts at 7:40pm. Jeffrey Jones-Ragona is the Artistic Director.
Originally commissioned by and dedicated to The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, "Naked Man" with music by Robert Seeley and words by Philip Littell, is a choral work exploring the experience of the Gay man in our modern world. It artfully touches on the experiences of shame, loneliness, discrimination, and loss, while bringing one back to an experience of pride and hope. We are all naked to the world ... when we share who we are.
This year's concert also features special guests performances of the Alamo City Men's Chorale. The Alamo City Men's Chorale brings their own style and talent to the stage, as they celebrate the close of the CCMC's 10th Anniversary Season. For more info on CCMC or the concert, please contact 512.477.SING.
