TRAILER: Desert Migration

About the documentary:

The spotlight shining on the fight against HIV has dimmed in recent years. The virus itself has been downgraded to a ‘chronic condition’. The elderly are, to a certain extent, shuffled into a corner. Aging people with HIV even more so, ignored and forgotten. But they are a reminder not to be complacent. A reminder that HIV is still a big deal. It’s not a case of just taking a few pills and you’ll be fine. These survivors are a reminder of that, but they are also a testament to strength, resilience, and endurance. Using these individuals, "Desert Migration" discusses subjects that relate to us all; HIV positive or negative, young or old. How do we approach our own aging, and the notion of mortality? What gives us the will to create, to achieve, and even to live at all, as our minds and bodies deteriorate? How resilient is the the human spirit?

CALIFORNIA: Former Rancho Mirage Mayor Scott Hines Commits Suicide

Via the Desert Sun:

Former Rancho Mirage Mayor and City Councilman Scott Hines died Saturday night. The Riverside County Coroner's office confirmed Sunday that Hines, 45, was pronounced dead shortly after 8:20 p.m. in his Palm Springs home. A cause of death was not listed. His biological mother, Cindy Gough Montgomery, wrote about his death in a Facebook posting. "We had a horrible tragedy in our family last night," she wrote. "My son, Scott, lost his long time battle with depression and died last night. Please keep him and our family in your prayers." Hines, a father of four, was adopted and raised by Delores and Michael Hines, with Montgomery re-entering his life when he was 22, she later wrote. In another posting, Hines' husband, Kevin Blessing, said "I am less of a person today as I will no longer have this man's wonderful energy around me, at the same time I am so blessed to have had him in my life in the first place." Hines said he was moving to Palm Springs after he was ousted in the April 2014 Rancho Mirage City Council election.

According to his husband, Hines had been diagnosed with liver cancer. Hines last appeared on JMG during his 2014 city council campaign when Rancho Mirage voters received anonymous anti-Hines flyers that spelled out the word "FAGS" in its headlines. (Tipped by JMG reader Eduardo)

CALIFORNIA: Anti-Gay Flyer Roils Small Town City Council Campaign

James Mills reports at Frontiers:

In mid-February, some Rancho Mirage voters opened their mailboxes to find an anti-gay postcard attacking openly gay Councilmember Scott Hines with the message “Send Hines Packing Back to Palm Springs (where he belongs).” The postcards feature a shirtless picture of Hines with a caption in rainbow-colored lettering that says “No More ‘Fab’ Party Guy Scotty.” The letters of the message line up vertically to spell out “FAGS.” The mailing was sent out without a return address, so no one knows who sent it. Hines, an educational technology company CEO and former Air Force Intelligence officer, has been careful not to point any fingers, but many residents suspect the postcards came from his campaign opponents, a group Hines sometimes refers to as “The Gang of Four.”

Hines opponents, which include an openly gay man, adamantly deny having sent the flyer and suggest it may have come from a Hines supporter who wants to make them look bad. One opponent has even filed a complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and demanded that all candidates take a lie detector test. During Hines' last election campaign, voters got robocalls which declared that Hines would "infect" Rancho Mirage with "Palm Springs-style" values. Hit the link for more. (Tipped by JMG reader Leif)

Porno Pete: The Hot Bods On Those Juicy Muscular Circuit Boys Are Simply Ridic!

(Via Towleroad)

International Bear Convergence 2014

This promo clip is garnering criticism on Facebook.

UPDATE: And poof, it's gone.

Afternoon View - Palm Springs Detritus

Many thanks to all the wonderful and supportive folks I met at Palm Springs Pride! Executive director Ron De Harte and his team delivered a truly flawless series of dizzyingly diverse events over three days and there was just no way to attend all of them, although I think I gave it a pretty good shot. Special shout-out to the crowd at the JMG meet-up, where Bare Chest Calendar man Kelly Rivera Hart gifted me with the 2014 edition, which includes added messages to me from this year's featured hunks. The calendar benefits San Francisco's AIDS Emergency Fund and you can get it right now. I'll post a slideshow of the meet-up as soon I figure out where I put the file when I crashed back into the hotel that night. Go home, Joe, you're drunk.

Photo Of The Day

So that was very cool. Mine was the first car after Dykes On Bikes. Thanks so much to the many JMG readers who came to the meet-up and who cheered during the parade. If I wasn't already sunburned, you'd have seen me blushing like crazy. And big thanks to the organizers at Palm Springs Pride. What a perfect day.

Top Dog

I came across this ad in the local bar rag, Odyssey.

Morning View - Liberace's Star

Afternoon View - Bella De Ball

I ran into Bella De Ball and her giant inflatable self at the Palm Springs Pride Fest, which runs all day today and tomorrow.

Morning View - Theft Deterrence

Afternoon View - Palm Springs Tram

When Dr. Jeff suggested that we check out the Palm Springs Tramway today, I looked at the little old hill behind our hotel and said, "Sure, we've got time." What he did not tell me is that the tram climbs 8516 feet from the Coachella Valley floor and up "North America's sheerest mountain face." The tram does this WHILE ROTATING. Next to where the tram lets you out is Mount San Jacinto, which is the sixth highest peak in the lower 48. Ow, my balls. Ow.

Morning View - Forever Marilyn

You can't tell without a human in the shot, but the statue is 26 feet tall. It arrived from Chicago last year and goes to New Jersey in 2014.

Tomorrow: JMG Meet-Up Palm Springs

Swing by Oscar's in Palm Springs tomorrow between 8-10PM and meet your fellow JMG readers. There's a big block party right down the street at the same time, so....convenient! Facebook event page.

Afternoon View - Palm Springs

Flying into Palm Springs you see endless beige deserts and rolling barren mountains. Then, quite suddenly, the landscape is punctuated by randomly connected squares and rectangles of bright green. Somewhat like this view from my hotel room. It's hot here! And not just because I ran into a couple of dozen bears at the airport.

JMG Reader Meet-Up Facebook Page

I made a Facebook event page for the Palm Springs reader meet-up. So you can stalk each other in advance. I'll post another reminder late next week. Clickity if you can drop by.

Join Me At Palm Springs Pride

We'll be holding the meet-up for JMG readers at Oscar's, which I'm told is right around the corner from the giant Palm Springs Pride block party that night. Thanks very much to Oscar's for hosting us and to Bud Light for sponsoring our meet-up. Hopefully I won't get too hammered as I'm scheduled to be princess-waving the next morning. (I'll do one of them there Facebook invite thingies too, so you can stalk your fellow readers.) By the way, what goes with a purple sash? I don't want to clash.

Berlin To Headline Palm Springs Pride

Somehow I've never seen Berlin, so I'm rather excited about this. Details are here. Trivia: Giorgio Moroder won one of his three Oscars for Berlin's Take My Breath Away, which was on the Top Gun soundtrack. (His other two were for the score for Midnight Express and for Irene Cara's title hit from Flashdance.) Here's Berlin's 1983 club smash.

Palm Springs Interview

There's a short interview with me today over on the official website for Palm Springs, where I talk a bit about their coming pride event and the history of JMG.  We haven't yet picked a venue for the readers meet-up that weekend, but I should have some news on that soon.

Press Release Of The Day

Just in from Palm Springs Pride:

Greater Palms Springs Pride announced today that Sochi Pride 2014 has been named the Grand Marshal of the 27th annual Pride Parade. Sochi Pride was selected to demonstrate solidarity with the LGBT community in Russia and raise awareness of the increasing anti-gay atmosphere of discrimination and harassment of the LGBT community in the Russian Federation.

With the recognition of Sochi Pride, Greater Palm Springs Pride invites Pride organizations from around the world to stand together in a shared vision of equality for all people and march for equality at Sochi Pride scheduled to occur on the opening day of the Winter Olympic Games February 7, 2014. Sochi Pride will be a march to display worldwide unity against homophobia in Russia.

"We will lend our support to the organizing committee of Moscow Gay Pride and founders of the banned Pride House Sochi in their efforts to organize the Sochi Pride march," said Ron deHarte president of Palm Springs Pride. "We invite any and all who share this vision to gather with us and keep the world's eyes focused on Russian's crimes against LGBT individuals."

I love it!