an after-party at the hotel (Sandblast Sunday with The Maverick Men)

Sandblast Sunday really should have started with something more substantial to eat. Oh well.

The Berkeley Hotel was running a special where you could check out at 6pm for an extra $25, so my room packed up and moved into the other room our crew had gotten. And then the drinking started. Before we hit the pool party, Morehead I ran down to the coffee shop in the Pavilion for another cherry smoothy to spike.

Honey, by the time we got to that party, it didn't even matter that it was overcast! I had a nice glisten going; I was wearing one of my favorite speedos; and DJ Steve Sidewalk was giving me exactly what I needed! With our poolside dancing, lip synching and fake voguing, I was asked later in the night if I was one of the go-goes they'd hired.

This whole time, I still hadn't met Brad, the executive producer of Sandblast and the man responsible for my stay at the Berkeley 2 weekends beforehand. I finally got Sidewalk to point him out. And it just so happened that he was hanging with TheMaverickMen.

In my very limited experience with porn actors, I've grown to not expect very much as far as ease or pleasantness in interacting with them. However, Cole (the daddy) and Hunter (the cub) seemed really fun to be around right off the bat. Not creepy or skeezy at all! Of course, when they invited me to an after-party at the hotel and Cole even gave me his number to make sure I caught up with them, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. At all.

image courtesy of TheMaverickMen

But there was no way I was missing this party.

Then the beach balls came out. I had my camera in my hand with the wrist band in use. And as I went to spike the ball into some unsuspecting cutie's face (because I flirt like I'm 4), I felt my camera slip out of my hand.

I watched it fall. I figured it wouldn't bounce 3 feet and slide into the water. Then I figured it wouldn't sink to the floor of the pool as quickly as it did. A nice bottom, who was already in the water, dove down and grabbed it for me, and I ran upstairs to blow dry it. I probably could have saved it, but I got bored pretty quickly.

At 3, I rallied the troops for our next group stunt: grass skirts and lays. I didn't realize that the grass skirts had like 4 strands of 'grass' each, but it was the perfect time for a costume change! The crowd loved it.

Around 5:30, my people started prepping to gather their stuff and leave. As I was feeling 'adventurous', I had the front desk hold my bags and went back to the pool.

After grabbing dinner with a fuck buddy from my past (a serendipitous run-in), I returned to the hotel. When I turned down the hall towards the room, I realized I was headed for the one with the door open where the music was coming from. This obviously wasn't some sketchy sex party (whew).

It was quite the opposite, actually. I, being shirtless, felt slightly underdressed. But I was immediately offered a cocktail when I grabbed a seat next to Hunter and Brad.

Thank god for Brad. He was just as curious about Hunter and Cole's careers as I was, and he was asking all the questions that I'd feel weird about asking someone I'd just met. How did you start? How do you find guys? What's your MO? Do you guys have a type? They even got into a discussion about monogamy and long-term relationships. I had very little to add to the convo, but I was mesmerized! Hunter and Cole are really just two guys who are cool to talk to and fun to hang out with. It just so happens that they fuck guys on camera. Really fucking well.

image courtesy of TheMaverickMen

PS, their Deep Woods Fucking DVD: highly recommended (my suitcase barely hit the floor before I popped that badboy in my laptop the next day at home).

I ended up missing the last train that night, but I was offered one of the 2 pull-out couches in the hospitality suite (Cole, being the sweetheart that he is, would not leave until he knew I had a place to rest my head that night).

Did I mention that my camera was fine 3 days later... but that I ended up losing it between that weekend and posting this? Yeah.

Click here to check out my day trip to Sandblast '10.

Click here to check out TheMaverickMen's blog. NSFW, of course. 

ANNOUNCEMENT: Kulurz All Day Happy Hour Launches Sun, 10/2

Adriel Wilson (you may remember him from Chi Chiz) is launching a new Sunday party, and y'all know Sunday is my favorite day/night to go out! Check out Kulurz at Gstaad (34 w 26th St) for an all-day 2-4-1. The party starts at 5 and rages on til 2am (free before 8, $5 after).

This weekly party kicks off this Sunday with DJ Poison spinning top 40, hip-hop, house and classics. Come check out one of Flatiron coolest lounges (without the trendy-lounge prices). See you there!

Click here to RSVP on Facebook. 

Click here to check out 5 ways to get more messages on Grindr. 

the aforementioned shower partner (Sandblast '11 Part II)

Click here for Part I.

The Sandblast beach party was jumping by the time I got there. Just about everyone was shirtless and sweating like crazy, which, of course, made everyone look hotter. It was pretty damn packed, and I recognized boys from Grindr the City left and right. Not to mention porn star Eric Rhodes and non-porn star Carson Kressley.

I opted to stay off the dance floor (as fun as it looked, the heat with the alcohol was draining), but I did hang with Justin Luke by the bar (in the shade!). He took me over to the tent for Camp, a gay camping/partying weekend in PA aimed at a 30-and-under crowd, and introduced me toDC/PA promoter James Tate. His team of tent go-goes all looked amazing in their Aussie Bum speedos!

After a few hours at the party, I went back to the room for a much-needed rinse before I headed to the Empress, which was surprisingly dull at that point. Then again, the outdoor dance floor at the Beach Party was still packed when I passed by on the way.

We all ended up meeting back at out hotel room to customize the "I love NY" tshirts that AdamFaceHunt had picked up for us. I tried to do a cool crisscross pattern thing, but it ended up being a slight disaster.

The others headed to the Empress for dinner (and to get a wrist band to avoid the cover for Paradise) while Morehead and I cabbed it to a friend of a friend's BBQ at a beautiful house that happened to be a few miles from the hotel. Our hosts and food were both amazing, and between the Limoncello and 'porn shots' (you pour some kind of German pixie stix powder in your mouth, take the shot and swish it before swallowing), we were more than ready to join our boys and head back to the Empress.

. o (Did SEPTA just get out of the shower with a kid I recognize from Pieces? Oh my.)

Now, I'm not one for trying to sweet-talk my way into a door at a club, but when I saw that line down the block, I figured our group costume had to give us some kind of social currency.

Me: "Hey! So you see how festive my friends and I are! All for your party! Can you let us in, man?"

Bouncer: "Well your friends have wristbands, so they can go in that entrance over there."

Me: "Cool, what about my friend and I here? We're trying to make a group entrance!"

Him: "Look, you have that blog, right?"

Me: "TheBlackoutBlog.com! That's right!"

Him (opening the velvet rope): "Yeah, I thought I recognized you. Come on in."

Me: "Nice! Thanks man!"

Apparently I'm huge on the Jersey Shore. But not huge enough to avoid that $15 cover.

image from Enrique's facebook profile 

We met up with the other boys and all headed for the dance floor, but after a few songs, everyone kind of split off to do various fruit loops. I ended up hanging out with Enrique (owner of Face2Face spa in Chelsea) and his crew for most of the night.

When I got back to the room, SEPTA and the aforementioned shower partner were on the pull-out couch, which left me with a queen bed to myself!

Did I mention what I found in the bathroom?

Yeah.

Coming up in Part III, the Sunday pool party, the after-party with the Maverick Men and what happened after I missed the last train back to Manhattan. 

Click here to check out my sketchy trip to Chicago.

I knocked on their door (Sandblast in Asbury Park & The Maverick Men)

The Friday of Sandblast was the day that it hit 100ºF in NYC. I was aiming for the 5:07 out of Penn Station, but due to complications from the heat, everything was delayed. NJ Transit was being quite vague about how delayed each train was, so I ended up missing 2 trains before leaving around 6.

I had this conversation with Med School Mess.

Did I mention he left Penn Station an hour after I did!

I had to make the best of my situation while I waited for the transfer.

Med School Mess and I arrived just in time to miss dinner at the Empress, so we just went directly to the Berkeley to meet the rest of the boys staying there with us.

Shower. Change. Drinks.

That night was the kickoff party at the Beach and Aqua bars (basically, 2 sides of one wrap-around venue on the beach). Corey Craig, one of my fave NYC DJs, was spinning a surprisingly housey set (perhaps appropriate for the circuit crowd). Double Dutch, whom I hadn't seen in forever, was getting quite touchy-feely with two guys, one of whom backed off after a bit. It all fell apart when I witnessed a not-so-common scene for NYC: the moment when both of them realized that neither was willing to bottom for the other.

And out of nowhere, NYC party promoters Alan Picus and Justin Luke (you know, the guy who wrote Gulliver Travels) showed up! I ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. It's always a treat to hear a nightlife person's perspective of someone else's event.

The next morning, the 8 of us that had booked the rooms together tromped downstairs for the hotel's breakfast buffet. I think everyone was still a bit tipsy from the night before because we were loud and giggly as hell! Luckily, it wasn't too crowded.

Med School Mess in the elevator: "You've heard of Irish coffee... Well, this is Polish coffee.”

Me: “Like with vodka?”

MSM (wearing a smug grin as she went to take a sip... and then): “Agh! This tastes like shit!”

Me: “How the hell are you a doctor!”

After my first meal in almost 20 hours (not counting the screwdrivers and that amazing cake-flavored Pinnacle vodka drink Alan had treated me to the night before), the boys got their stuff and headed to the beach. I stayed back for a few to get some work done (I had two jobs this summer, girl!).

This year, Sandblast's Saturday beach party moved to the opposite side of the Pavilion from the gay part of the beach. I was hoping the gays would adjust accordingly, but they all camped out in their usual spot (you couldn't even hear the music from the party).

“Oh my god, y'all! Amy Whinehouse is dead!”

“For real?”

“Yeah, the BBC reported it! And they report shit that CNN misses!”

image of Ari Kiki from Jessica Versace's facebook profile

As I tipped my water bottle to her memory (ever so slightly), I wished aloud that we had some music.

Med School Mess: "My friend has a boom box he's not using. Want me to grab it?"

Turns out some 21 year old MSM had met in Miami this past winter was at the beach and had abandoned his towel to go play in the water after his hung-over friends ditched. MSM trotted across the insanely hot sand to dude's towel (where no one had been sitting for a long while) and grabbed his stereo.

Me: “You totally look like you were stealing that. Sketchball.”

His 21-year-old, TSWB friend joined us and insisted that we do a shot on the beach. It would have been rude to turn him down.

Around 3, some of our boys packed up to hit the Berkeley's pool. I had managed to negotiate a wristband for the Sandblast party, but I hadn't actually been inside yet. I left with them (stopping in the coffee shop in the Pavilion for a cherry smoothy that was even amazing before I added the vodka), dropping off my beach stuff in the room.

Then I saw this on Grindr.

In the time it took me to tweet the screenshot, I'd already gotten a message from them. Turns out they'd seen my tweet, too. 

My first thought was, “D. Kareem, don't you dare! They probably have hidden cameras all over that room.”

5 minutes later, no one answered when I knocked on their door. Just kidding: it was like 2 hours later.

Did I mention that my experience inside the Sandblast Beach Party, our show at Sunday's pool parties and my actually catching up with the Maverick Men in the hotel will have to wait for a subsequent post? Yeah.

You should definitely plan on attending Sandblast Weekend next year. Click here to see my top 10 reasons why.

Jackie Collins' Goddess of Vengeance

Earlier this week, I got the chance to attend a press event for Jackie Collins' new novel, Goddess of Vengeance. For those of you familiar with her work, it's part of the Lucky series. It was an intimate event with about 30 attendees (not to mention complimentary lichee martinis topped with champagne!) at the library in the Hudson Hotel.

As we gathered around for the reading, Jackie complained about not being able to find the scene that she wanted to sample for us: "I hope no one's easily offended... I  really want to read the elevator scene, but we'll have to go with the scene with the two hookers."

Yeah, my kind of book.

Collins has had such a charmed life, and to hear her speak about it and her writing process was inspiring. Her warmth when she signed my book and took a photo with me seemed genuine, much more like she was happy to be greeting fans and social influencers than fulfilling yet another obligation for her publisher.

On our way out, we each got a fierce gift bag (hell, it might be my new beach tote) containing two of Collins' previous books and a coffee mug! I only had a vague awareness of Collins' work before this event, but I can't wait to dive into Lucky's salacious world!

Goddess of Vengeance is available now from St. Martins Press. Special thanks to Simone Grant for setting this up.

Click here to check out my Top 11 Tips for Online Dating and Hookups. 

Click here to buy Goddess of Vengeance on Amazon.


Click here to follow @JackieJCollins on Twitter. 

boys that look good in jock straps! (Totally Tyler's b'day at Pop Burger and Splash's F Word)

Remember that Friday when I’d stayed at Campus Thursdays way too late, and it took the train a ridiculous amount of time to come, and I went into work on about 2 hours of sleep? Yes, that Friday!

Well, after a disco nap, I caught up with Totally Tyler and his crew as they were wrapping up at the Chelsea Pop Burger. PS, can we have a short conversation about how NYC has burger joints with bottle service! Not that we got it... that was the table of straight people from Jersey.

some picture Totally Tyler de-tagged on Facebook.
Owner of this picture: if you're reading, let me know if you want me to use your name with this.

The plan for the night was to head to Splash, and I had gotten a few of us on the comp list for that night, saving us $10 each. But we had to get there before midnight. We left Pop Burger on 9th Ave and 15th around 11:35, hoofing it to 17th at 6th ave. Why was our group of 15 strolling like it was a tour of historic Charleston? At the third stoplight that separated the fast walkers from the rest of the group, I went into every-man-for-himself mode. Shit, we only had 10 minutes to spare, and you never know when there'll be a line!

Luckily, we made it in before our deadline and even had time to grab a $1 well drink before they ended at midnight (Blink got 2... as if she needed them).

Blink: "Aren't the go-goes here usually twinks?"

Me: "Nothing wrong with a little bit of muscle. I maybe it's time you branched out from the twinks."

Blink: "I likeTSWBs, not twinks."

Me: "Okay, fine, you like twunks. Same diff."

Blink (after a pause): "Maybe you should start calling me Blunk!"

She is kinda old…

Friday night at Spalsh is a party called The F Word, and the theme for the night was jock straps. Let me tell you: Mark Nelson and Michael "Formika" Jones know how to find some boys that look good in jock straps! My favorite two both looked Latin. One was a huge muscle queen who totally took advantage of the downward lighting in the center of the back bar. I really wasn't prepared when he turned around and had his perfectly massive ass exposed. It was just sensory overload. Like you could literally suffocate trying to—

image from Totally Tyler's facebook profile

*clears throat* Excuse me. 

Anyway, my other favorite was compact, perfectly cut and had way too handsome a smile to be dancing on a bar. He had a playful personality and really knew how to work the crowd. At one point, a straight black woman was going to tip him, and it seemed like he'd temporarily forgotten his target audience at that moment. Right as she was about to tuck her dollar into his jock, he grabbed her hand, bent over and ran her dollar (which was still in her hand) right over his hole. Her reaction (screaming, dropping the dollar and running away) brought me, the go-go and all her friends to our knees laughing.

On my way back from the bathroom, I bumped into a short otter whom I'd seen checking me out earlier. His telling me I was the hottest guy in the club helped to balance out the slightly weird vibe I was getting from him.

After chatting for way too long, we walked out to 6th Ave to catch a cab to his place. As every New York resident knows, you have a better chance of catching a cab when a white guy hails it than a black guy. So as I lingered by the curb, I didn't notice Totally Tyler and his boys loitering on the corner.

Totally Tyler (loud enough for the whole block to hear): "You know, D. Kareem, as the top, you should be hailing the cab!"

Did I mention I eventually found out that this guy was a top, too? Yeah.  

Click here to check out my first night at Pop Burger with Totally Tyler.

Click here to check out Totally Tyler's blog. And look out for his upcoming book, Your Boyfriend and Other Guys I've Kissed. 

"Cash bar?!" (my family reunion in NC, Part I)

Click here for Part I.

Back at the hotel, I caught a nice 30-min nap before free drinks at the manager's reception!

I ran into my Rich Uncle in the lobby. 

Me: "Hey, are you guys headed to the airport in the morning? I wanted to see if y'all had room for me."

Rich Uncle: "Oh, yeah, we have room. But we're leaving around 5:30."

Me: "In the morning?!"

Rich Uncle: "You see, I get scared traveling to the east coast in July. There's a lot of delays because of thunder storms. So I always book my flights to get in well before the heat has a chance to build up those storms."

Me: "Wow. That does make sense. But I think I'll just get Dad to drop me off."

I was a bit confused when I walked up to the bar at the reception since there were only a couple of people right in front of the 2 bartenders. Everyone else was standing back a bit from the bar, so I assumed they had drinks already.

Me: "Oh, are you guys waiting for the bar?"

Polite woman: "Yes, we are."

There was almost no one right at the bar because they were forming lines to order drinks rather than crowding the bar like New Yorkers do! How civilized! Then again, they have room to make lines.

I was so caught up in the bartender's carding me that I almost didn't notice the brands of liquor. Let me put it this way: the only name I recognized was Gordon's. No wonder these damn drinks were free.

image from fark.com

After a riveting conversation about social media marketing with my small-business-owner brother-in-law (nerd alert), Hippy Cuz joined us as we walked to our banquet hall.

Hippy Cuz: "You know it's a cash bar, right?"

Me and my bro-in-law in unison: "Cash bar?!"

Y'all, we walked in, and I swear to you, soft drinks were $3, beer was like $6.50, and mixed drinks were $9. In North Carolina!

I took note of my brother’s disappearing with a couple of cousins also in the 40-year-old range who are known for their (former) party prowess. I also noticed my aforementioned brother-in-law was nowhere to be seen. A few minutes later, I told Hippy Cuz to follow me and bring the iced tea sitting with her place setting.

On the way, we ran into my rich uncle's wife.

Aunt: "Where are y'all headed?"

Me (in defensive-adolescent mode): "Um, up to our suite."

Aunt: "Oh, okay. Because I was looking for [her niece] since she had the kids."

Me: "Oh, uh, I haven't seen her."

Saved by the (elevator) bell. The 12-year-old in me thought I was about to get scolded and sent back to the table.

I knocked on the door to the hospitality suite (where my sister and bro-in-law were staying), and my brother answered the door. As I suspected, the cousins and my bro-in-law were there having a drink, so I led Hippy Cuz to the bar.

After "tightening up" our drinks (thanks to a great uncle for that phrase), we went back downstairs with significantly lighter drinks to joined the buffet line.

There were words and speeches and even a few plaques. And my 12-year-old nephew was really turning out his DJ set with the old-school jams! He even worked a flawless mix out of the Wobble song (it's a line dance... there's a vid of Beyoncé doing it at a block party in NJ somewhere).

Older male cousin: "Would you like a glass of wine?"

Hippy Cuz: "Sure! Thank you!"

Me (after said cousin walked away): "Worrrrrrrk"

10 minutes later, Emcee Dad announced that it was open bar.

Hippy Cuz: "Did you hear how the bar was suddenly open?"

Me: "Uh, [Rich Uncle] put his credit card down?"

Hippy Cuz: "No! Apparently the bartender [works in Rich Uncle's industry]. He recognized Rich Uncle and said he wouldn't charge us!"

And just as I was about to give her the 'really?!' look, she added: "He called his wife, [a fellow worker in Rich Uncle's industry]. She's on her way!"

Me: "Well, if it's not true, it's a great story... Let's go with that."

I went over to order a drink, and the way the guy was gushing over Rich Uncle seemed to be consistent with Hippy Cuz's story. That is, until he added the dollar amount of my order to a written list behind the bar.

Hippy Cuz: "You're coming with me."

Me: "Why?"

Hippy Cuz: "Come ON!"

Me (as we approach the bar): "Aw, hell no!"

Y'all, Huppy Cuz is so adorably first-year-out-of-college. She'd ordered us tequila shots. At a family function. The bartender did his best to make it look not-trashy: in a full-sized glass with a salted rim and a lime-wedge garnish. 

So I took the shot with my little cousin. At a family function.

The after party involved drinks, spades and trash-talking in my sister's suite til about 2am.

Older cousin with kids: "These kids got it good, runnin' around a nice-ass hotel for a family reunion. When we were kids, family reunions were a damn cookout in Freeport! And you wanna talk about bein' hungry after 8? That how you get sent to BED!"

Other cousin with kids: "And they didn't let us hang with the adults either!"

First cousin: "HELL naw! Remember when we were at the house in Roosevelt with the spiral staircase, and they had sent all the kids upstairs? And we were all crowded at the top of the stairs in our pajamas trying to listen in on the adults partyin' downstairs? And then we all came tumbling down the stairs? Man, they didn't even know we were there they were partying so hard!"

Did I mention that the only dent I made in my brother's gifted Dominican rum came in the form of get-over-the-hangover shots with Red Bull chaser before I caught a ride to the airport? Did I mention it seemed like a great idea until I got stranded at said airport for half the day because of a storm on the east coast? Yeah. 

Sadly, beach season is over. Click here to check out this post on Black Pride '10 at the Riis Beach.