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My summer, or, how I survived a three-month sunburn

I'm sharing these vanity shots for a reason. I spent my summer thinking I had been applying sunscreen liberally until I looked back on these photos last night. My summer began out simply enough, in Toronto on Memorial Day with my friend Joe, looking pasty white. Three weeks later, in Vancouver, shown here on my birthday with Xander, I was getting a touch of rouge.

The worst was yet to come. A sunny 4th of July weekend in Fire Island left me with the tomato neck you see here (with Justin). It was a very hot day when this photo was snapped, hence my rather sad look. Three weeks later in Miami, I was looking a bit more tanned as I withstood hurricane force winds on the roof of the Raleigh Hotel, but if you look under my collar you can see a severe tan line.

A couple weeks later, again in Vancouver, I looked like I'd had my face splashed with a light dusting of paprika -- or the effects of excessive exposure to the Pacific sun. Closing out the summer in Miami two weeks ago with my friend Ryan, my skin had remarkably returned to its pasty state. Thank goodness!

So basically, that was my summer. Thank god for Kiehl's moisturizer. The moral of my silly tale: apply sunscreen and apply some more! Your skin will thank you later.

Posted by Sebastian / SFGW / September 29, 2006 /

Buffalo: Who Knew?

That's the headline the Buffalo Convention and Visitors Bureau has front and center on its web site. And it's certainly fitting. Everyone knows I'm an unabashed booster for Buffalo, and every visit I make back to the city I continue to be impressed by it; the architecture, the Olmsted parks and parkways, the history, and the surprising vitality of the place are all so alluring. But the best part about my love affair with Buffalo is that all my friends (those who've never been there) are in complete disbelief, so it remains a well-kept secret even though I can't shut up about the place. That said, I'm not moving to the Queen City anytime soon, but I certainly enjoy my time there.

I remember when I moved to Boston from western New York in 2003, I was shocked at how sedate the social scene in Boston was; my frame of reference was Buffalo, where every street is chock-a-block with bars, clubs and fabulous restaurants. This weekend I was able to check out a relatively new one, the Buffalo Chophouse, where my friend Jay and I grazed on one of the best cuts of beef I've ever had after sharing pre-dinner drinks with Andrew Peters. Afterward we hit no less than three bars before calling it a night -- I never could no that in Boston. (Well, two bars, maybe.)

One of my fav quotes about Buffalo, from the New York Times: "Buffalo has an even longer history of architectural distinction than Chicago; you could do worse than to take it as a textbook for a course in modern American buildings."

Related: buildings i like

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / September 27, 2006 /

Buffalo Bills

Just in case my recent Vancouver kayaking photos did not prove to the disbelievers that I am truly a jock, my friend Jay snapped this photo of me today at the Buffalo Bills home opener. Buffalo lost, but hey, when you're drinking Canadian beer for three hours it doesn't really matter. Our seats were super -- look how close the field is!

Posted by Sebastian / Buffalo / Sports / September 24, 2006 /

City and Colour

I've been in love with the solo act known as City and Colour since I first heard them/him this summer in Vancouver. The St. Catharines, Ont.-based Dallas Green is one of the best crooners I've heard recently. I highly recommend the album, "Sometimes," available on iTunes.

Posted by Sebastian / Music / September 18, 2006 /

Condi's Canadian Boyfriend

During her trip to Nova Scotia last week to thank Canada for its efforts on September 11, ~~Con Job~~ Condi Rice stirred up rumours that she is romantically involved with Peter Mackay, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs and the most eligible bachelor in Ottawa. A front page photo and story in the New York Times didn't help dispel the rumours. (Notice the Tim Hortons coffee in her hand as the pair walked along the shore.)

"It took a two-hour flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, this week, followed by a 90-minute motorcade north up Highway 102 to Pictou County, for Ms. Rice to find herself linked to someone with similar star appeal: Peter MacKay of Canada, the single, sophisticated foreign minister, routinely named Canada’s sexiest M.P. by The Hill Times in Ottawa, and the closest thing to eye candy on the diplomatic circuit. Tall, athletic, young, blond and recently dumped by his girlfriend, a fellow member of Parliament, Belinda Stronach, who parted with him when she switched parties, Mr. MacKay does not look like your usual foreign minister."

"The State Department has been quick to dump cold water over MacKay-Rice innuendoes. 'No, there were no candles,' Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said in exasperation when reporters asked for further details about a working dinner on Monday when the two sat side by side at the Pictou Lodge Resort. Mr. McCormack pointed out that the dinner was not even intimate: 14 aides and six security guards were present."

“It was a well lighted dinner, with electricity-based lighting,” Mr. McCormack said.

Posted by Sebastian / Canada / Politics / September 17, 2006 /

Thomas Roberts

Today marked the biggest splash in the gay media world in some time: everyone in the blogosphere seemed to take note of CNN anchor Thomas Roberts' public coming out this weekend, which happened mere days before today's announcement that CNN is canceling his 4-6 p.m. news slot on Headline News.

I was shocked when I first read of the outing news on my friend Johnny's blog--not the news itself, since I've always known Thomas is gay, but because I never realized how outing can be such a story for some people. It feels different when the news is about someone you know and is highlighted and magnified by someone else you know. And every other gay blogger in New York. (To be straight, Thomas outed himself--the news just spread like wildfire.) I won't go on and on about the details: you can read more over at Towleroad.

On Thursday night Thomas and me and our friend Javi whiled the night away at Buck 15 in Miami Beach. We laughed and drank and danced till we couldn't stand anymore. I never could have imagined that four days later his sexuality would become the obsession that it has become. Coming out was his own decision, and we applaud him for that. But right now it feels as though the fuss surrounding coming out would be easier to stomach if it was about a complete stranger.

Posted by Sebastian / Media / September 12, 2006 /

Miami

I spent the weekend down in Miami, where the temperatures never dipped below 100 and the humidity always seemed to exceed 200%. I shot this photo on Saturday afternoon from the 16th floor of the Loews Hotel on Collins Ave. in Miami Beach. In the distance, across Biscayne Bay, you can see the soaring skyline of downtown Miami.

I was in town for the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association's annual conference (my fifth--I'm getting old), which was was fabulous as ever. Below, from one of the many conference events, my friends Itay and Javi look just a touch devilish.

Posted by Sebastian / Florida / September 10, 2006 /

Is Canada ready for a gay premier?

I had to laugh when a reporter for Le Journal de Montreal, the main French-language daily in Quebec, called me a few weeks ago to get dirt on Andre Boisclair, the former Boston and Montreal party-boy-turned-party-leader for the Parti Quebecois. Andre's back in the news this week, but for the first time it's not because of resurgent rumours about his drug use and various sexual escapades.

This week Andre told the CBC that he believes Quebec is ready for a gay premier. And the Harvard grad wants to be that man: "I think I can contribute to changing the mentality," he said in French during an interview Tuesday morning. "All the better if people hear about my story and recognize themselves in it."

365 Gay writes: "A gay premier in Quebec could set in motion an interesting fight for the future of Canada. An openly gay member of the federal government is seeking the leadership of Canada's Liberal Party. Scott Brison is considered a long shot to win the Liberal nod, but no one in the party is counting him out. Brison was Canada's first openly gay federal cabinet minister."

Posted by Sebastian / PQ / September 6, 2006 /

Vancouver

I am convinced Vancouver sunsets are the best around. I caught this shot tonight around 7:30 while out on the water in Burrard Inlet. The sail-shaped roof of the city's cruise terminal is on the far left. Earlier in the evening, four cruise ships slipped out of their berths and made their way in a regal procession underneath the Lions Gate Bridge and into the Inside Passage toward Alaska. You're looking at the priciest stretch of real estate in all of Canada.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / September 3, 2006 /

Grouse Grind

There is probably no experience more quintessentially Vancouver than doing the Grouse Grind, a serious schlep up the face of Grouse Mountain, a soaring peak across the harbour from Vancouver. The trail is 3 kilometers up and the incline is quite steep.

It takes about 1 1/2 hours to ascend the mountain, but it's an easy hike and the views from the top make it well worth it. Underneath the cables of the Grouse gondola you can see the towers of downtown Vancouver and the green finger of Stanley Park jutting into the sea. Though it's hard to make out, there is a cruise ship in the very center of the photo headed for Alaska.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / September 3, 2006 /

Photographic evidence of my athleticism

I like to think I'm pretty damn athletic, and finally I have photo evidence. After forcing my friend Julie to do 15 kilometers of bicycling around Stanley Park and around the entire downtown peninsula of Vancouver, we proceeded to spend the afternoon kayaking. These shots give you an excellent idea of the scale and aesthetic of Vancouver, and Yaletown in particular.

Public art is everywhere in Vancouver: here are two fine examples from Coal Harbour.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / September 2, 2006 /

Spotted in Vancouver

I've got gorgeous friends. Snaps for Jules for capturing me in this silly moment, splayed up against the Seawall in Stanley Park. She looks great set against the backdrop of English Bay.

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / September 1, 2006 /

Gone far, far away

I've flitted off to Beautiful British Columbia to share Vancouver with my friend Julie, one of my bestest friends. She's never been to B.C. so I've got a serious schedule planned out for her that includes Grouse Grind, Stanley Park runs and bikes, drinks in Yaletown, and to please Jules, a little crazy drag at the Odyssey.

Every time I return from Vancouver I'm asked to describe what it's like to people who've never made the easy 5 1/2 hour flight from New York (closer than California!). I never know what to say. One writer puts it this way, “The city that Vancouver most resembles is Honolulu, which also has a lot of people squished into a small area bordered by mountains, hyperinflated real estate values, a sense of disconnection from the rest of the world, and, not least, a racial and ethnic mix of Natives, Europeans and Asians.”

Related: Vancouver Snaps

Posted by Sebastian / Vancouver / September 1, 2006 /