Guess Where I Fall

A recent SFgate article on the mass exodus of middle and low income earners from SF. . .

From 2002 to 2006, the number of households [in San Francisco] making up to $49,000 per year dropped by 7.4 percent, those earning between $50,000 and $99,999 declined by 4.4 percent, and those bringing home between $100,000 and $149,999 fell by 3.9 percent, according to Census Bureau estimates. In polar opposition, the number of households making between $150,000 and $199,999 surged 52.2 percent and those earning more than $200,000 climbed 40.1 percent.

“A kind of derogatory term for the city would be Disneyland for yuppies,” said Hans Johnson, demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California.

Funnily enough, I was speaking with someone this weekend about the fact that I may soon be moving to the East Bay. A big fan of pro-and-con lists, my friend cited the former as being: real seasons and hot summers and comparitively cheaper rent. High and bold on the con list? It is the East Bay. Crime, for starters, and a dearth of any real gay nightlife.

If I end up going to school ‘over there’, it will seal the deal. Not a shock for my friend from across the bridge. “I’d just assumed that is what the guy, which I thought was you, was doing in your dixie exile header. . .staring across the water to the east bay, through all that damn SF fog.”

South Carolina Is So Gay

I won’t bore you with the whole article, which you can find here but I will snip out some gems that I can respond to, given I was raised in this charming state.

Tourism experts puzzled by rejection of SC gay ad

By PAGE IVEY Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C.—In late June, travel agent Matthew DeGuire got a call from a customer about an ad in London’s subway.”South Carolina is so gay” read the ad, alongside others touting Las Vegas, New Orleans, Boston and Atlanta as also being “so gay.” The ads were timed with London’s annual gay pride festival.

“He was pleasantly surprised about it,” DeGuire said of his client.

But several state officials, including Gov. Mark Sanford, think the ad went too far. While the state’s tourism agency initially agreed to pay $5,000 for the ad, the governor and other officials are now refusing to pickup that tab, saying taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be used to promote any group with a particular social or political agenda.

Well no shit. it sounds like someone accidentally hired a moderate into SC government. What were they thinking?

“South Carolina is not typically known as a gay travel destination,” said John Tanzella, executive director of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. “But there are things for gay people to do there.”

Basically, ‘run’ or ‘remain in the closet’. Or sit and stew in the smoke filled splendor of a SC gay bar and see for yourself what a lifetime of cigs and fried foods can do to the face.

Thomas did not return telephone messages left at his Greenville law office last week seeking comment. He told Time magazine for an article last week that he thought the ad might mislead gay travelers about what is in South Carolina for them. “They’ll get off the plane and say, ‘Where are the gay beaches?’ and no one will know what they are talking about.”

To get to the gay beach, such as it is, in Charleston, follow Folly Road until it dead ends into the beach, hang a right, go down as far as you can, park in the Folly Beach Park parking lot, then go out to the beach, take a right, and walk until the coast begins to curve inland. It isn’t worth it, trust me.

From Russia with Gloves

I wonder if one hangs out with a lot of magicians, if one then eventually learns to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Along the same lines, despite my best intentions to let the magic remain a mystery, I’m slowly learning the tricks of the trade that professional bottoms use to manage their own irrigation. One friend has a red rubber bag with a hose in his shower, while other friends have various shower nozzle attachments and the like. And more than once I’ve found a bewildering collection of disposable surgical gloves in people’s medicine cabinets. Not that I snoop. I collect spare Cialis.

Given that I’ll be traveling far and wide with a few of these professional bottoms next week, I thought of suggesting a side trip to honor their much appreciated dedication.

Monument to enema treatments opens in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — A monument to the enema, a procedure many people would rather not think about, has been unveiled at a spa in the southern Russian city of Zheleznovodsk.

The bronze syringe bulb, which weighs 800 pounds and is held by three angels, was unveiled at the Mashuk-Akva Term spa, the spa’s director said Thursday.

“There is no kitsch or obscenity, it is a successful work of art,” Alexander Kharchenko told The Associated Press. “An enema is almost a symbol of our region.”

The Caucasus Mountains region is known for dozens of spas where enemas with water from mineral springs are routinely administered to treat digestive and other complaints.

Kharchenko, 50, said the monument cost $42,000 and was installed in a square in front of his spa on Wednesday. A banner declaring: “Let’s beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas” — an allusion to a line from “The Twelve Chairs,” a famous Soviet film comedy — was posted on one of the spa’s walls.