Category Archives: surfers

A Place Called Hula’s


Hula's

Hula's

In previous posts, I mentioned how I was in Hawaii recently. My mother underwent surgery and thankfully it went well.  Prior to that I had been in Guam to attend my sister in law’s funeral.

Alex

Alex

During the time I was in Hawaii,  insomnia took the best of me and I would spend my nights at a gay bar called Hula’s on Waikiki Beach.  This bar has been there for years and has a balcony that runs the length of the entire bar.

The guys can lean back and look over and see all the surfers walk pass on the sidewalk below.  While I was there it was like an eye candy parade of Abercrombie and Fitch models and Island boy beauties. These mostly straight surfer dudes did not seem to mind the cat calls from the boys on the balcony.  There were too many returned smiles.

The bar at Hula's

The bar at Hula's

However, during my visit at Hula’s I felt like any amateur writer, I was absorbing all the personalities and and stories there.  I met individuals from all over the world that came to enjoy the beauty that is Hawaii.

There was Alan from Germany… he was the unabashed flirt.  There was Alex from Los Angeles, the witty one who kept us laughing and was cynical about almost everything.  However, he really cared deep down inside.  There were the retireds who were enjoying their financial freedom.  There was Rob from San Francisco spending time with his 14 year old son.  There was the bartender John from Moby Dick’s in San Francisco visiting his boyfriend, Mark from Tahiti.  There were my Aussie friends vacationing and partying like twenty something year olds do all over the world.  The list goes on and on.

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The point is, I was able to hear their stories.  I got lost in the stories of their lives that I forgot my sadness. I was able to laugh.

It was more than going out for a few drinks for me at a gay bar.  I needed a place to go to feel again. I was numb from the impact of the recent weeks and from a lot of my own personal stuff.  These people were helping me feel alive again.  Thank , God.  I thought I was losing that part of me.

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Filed under Gay, Gay Images, Gay Men, Gay Pictures, Hawaii, Homosexual, Honolulu, Queer, surfers, Uncategorized, Waikiki

Waikiki on My Mind


After mom’s surgery, I had a couple of days to enjoy Hawaii a little.  On the last morning I was there I walked down to Waikiki beach before the large crowds took over and enjoyed the relative quietness of it all.

I was grateful that mom was doing well. This summer was hard on my family with the passing away of my sister in law and with the surgery of my mother. We still are worried about my brother in law who had a heart attack and is undergoing an angioplasty this week.

However, this one moment in Waikiki,  was peaceful for me.  I have had trouble sleeping and I needed this quieting, this peace to my soul.  I will write more about my experiences in Hawaii. For the moment, Waikiki is on my mind.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki

Waikiki

Along Waikiki Beach

Along Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach

By Waikiki Beach

By Waikiki Beach

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Filed under beach, Beautiful places, Beauty, Family, Hawaii, Mother, Oahu, Summer, surfers, surfing, surgery, Uncategorized, Waikiki

DVD Review: Tan Lines – A Coming Out Story Overshadowed By the Bizarre


 

I watched the 2006 Coming Out movie, Tan Lines, directed and written by Greg Aldridge.  I came away from watching the film with very mixed feelings about it.  The central story focuses on the coming out of story of a young man named Midget Hollows ( Jack Baxter),  who lives in a provincial town in Australia, and his love afffair with his best friend’s troubled brother.    There are enough powerful themes within that story and well written plot lines to be more than enough to fill a complete movie.

 

However, the movie attempts to bring in all kinds of other bizarre subplots that range from sexual extremism to religious  symbolism, that the  story between the two boys almost becomes muted against the distraction of everything added to the film.

I felt like I had a figurative stomach ache and emotional nausea after digesting everything that I saw on Tan Lines.  I never want to revisit those characters again.

 

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