From: "Kent ."
Subject: btlist: Dear Diary-- The Big Day! (Meetings, Gloucester, Cutty Sark)
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 21:52:31 PDT

Saturday June 13-- A Very Lucky Day, I hope!

Dear Diary,

Doesn't my body know any better? Another 4 hour's sleep *precisely*
and I'm awake, mind racing. I don't usually have such trouble
adjusting to European time. Well, at least it was light outside when I
woke up-- then again, Dawn comes early this far North near the Summer
Solstice. Well, Diary, the three of us met up with Rich (somehow we're
almost always about 10 minutes later than we plan) and after a Tube
ride, arrive with 4 minutes to spare at the Docklands Light Railway
station next to the Tower of London. Just as well we're the first.
About 10-15 minutes later Sandra and her friend, Olga, arrive. Sandra!
In-Person-Sandra!!! At LAST!!! It's unbelievable to meet someone you
know so well for the first time-- does that make sense? I'm so happy
to see her (and Olga!) so we get to chat waiting for the Dutch
Contingent to arrive. It's cool temperatures for us, which makes it
*real* cold for Sandra, so the Arsenal scarf she bought is both a
souvenir and a necessary accessory for her.

A bit later, our group Leaders materialize (OK, I just thought "get off
the escalator" too mundane a description for so stellar an event!) I
immediately recognize Andre, and Martijn is with him, along with guys I
don't recognize and-- and-- Gavin K.! (DishyChris on IRC). This is
too much, really! I start to enter a pleasant state of giddiness
(which I exit and re-enter many more times today.) After a flurry of
excited greetings, we're on our way to Greenwich and the Gloucester,
where we'll be hanging out a couple of hours to allow everybody to
rendezvous before we go to Thamesmead. The Docklands Light Railway's
first car has a lady giving a guided tour of the area the train is going
through (the train is computer-controlled and has no motorman/driver),
an extensive waterfront refurbishment project with hotels, offices,
shops, Europe's tallest glass-walled skyscraper (50 stories high, I
think she said-- I wasn't able to count that fast to check her out!) and
soon we're at the end of the line. We exit and proceed through a foot
tunnel under the Thames. The Dutch guys take advantage of the
excellent acoustics (and their pretty impressive voices) to strike up a
jolly song. I don't remember what it was, but it puts us all in an
even happier and more uplifted mood. This is going to be so much fun!
When we exit the tunnel the Cutty Sark (a clipper ship from the tall
ship sailing days) is right alongside. We walk three short blocks
(more or less) down the streets of Greenwich and suddenly there we are
at the Gloucester-- THE GLOUCESTER. We trundle in and look around.
There's two framed BT posters on different walls, a few people at
tables, reading and drinking, some kids in the corner-- not a 100% gay
group, it seems, but who cares, neither are we fans! I'm chatting with
new friends and having the time of my life. All of a sudden Andre
introduces me to another long-time list member and IRC regular, Tory A.
(from Canada). She's been staying with Gavin K.-- this is their first
in-person meeting, too, although they've been corresponding for a long
while. I introduce myself to a quiet (and warmly handsome) fellow near
me and he says his name is Joschi. Joschi-- from IRC! I'm yet again
stunned by happiness (I hadn't been able to run into Joschi, whose real
name is Wolfgang, on IRC for a while and had no idea he'd be coming).
It turns out he came, from his home in Worms, Germany, on his own to be
here this weekend. Brave fellow, it seems to me. Thank goodness I am
a good swimmer myself, because you could very easily drown in Wolfgang's
eyes. I babble on about how excited and happily surprised I am to see
him here-- I am just so tickled! Andre gives us some news. It turns
out the bar's owner had suddenly died the preceding week, and was buried
only yesterday. Despite this sad news, the shindig planned for us is
still a "go" (I have already noticed the little flyers announcing that
the Gloucester is having a BT Theme Night, in our honor). Dre explains
that the bar is including a complimentary buffet for the whole of our
group, now numbering more than 27 fans. We're sure being given the
Royal Treatment. When we return to the bar later in the day, the
bar is also going to have a screening of BT (which is something I'd been
hoping mightily would be possible sometime during the weekend--
thoughtful Gav has brought his copy of BT just in case.) On the flyers
it mentions that "Katrina and the Boy" will be performing cover versions
of songs we know and love from the film-- little do I suspect just how
excellent a show we will receive. I suggest maybe we can arrange some
kind of group gratuity for the Gloucester to show our appreciation, an
idea those in earshot agree with. Dre also lets us know that the Dutch
Fanclub will be offering BT-related merchandise. Gorgeous Martijn (a
"life of the party" if there ever was one!) happens to have for sale
some plasticine-covered copies of the weekend's program with maps and
photos (the majority of which was incorporated on a URL listed as the
BT-Channel "Topic" just before we left.) He says he has ten copies.
"One sold here" I say immediately. I get one of the black-and-white
versions (although the cover with the logo is in color)-- a nice
souvenir, I think. Little do I know (you sense a pattern here? :))
*how* nice-- even precious-- it will become.

We then gather our group, already growing in size and comfortableness
with each other, for the short walk to the Cutty Sark pub (BT's The
Anchor). I talk to Alex, who is from Italy but I only know that
because he tells me-- his English is so perfect (OK, my ears are
American and I couldn't say where in England he comes from, but I sure
would never have guessed it was from the part called *Milan*! Am I
getting my geography skewed here? :)) At least Gav pegged the
*country* right where Ian was from. <G> Also along the way, David L.
of the stories list introduces himself to me and we chat while walking.
He has a friendly smile and his eyes twinkle. Arriving at the Cutty
Sark, I notice there are additional faces and I wonder who they are, but
I notice they too have British accents, so I of course conclude they
must also be Italians!

We go into the warm confines of the Cutty Sark where some of the group
has lunch, at Dre's suggestion (he is always solicitous of us and lets
us know what we will be doing and when, and in general is invaluable as
an organizer-- you'd never know how much of the day is done "on the
fly", as it all seems very well-planned to me.) Martijn takes pictures
with his digital camera. As well, Sandra is capturing scenes from the
bar and we try to match the reality of the place to our fantasy creation
in the Christmas-themed story we recently sent to the stories list.
Some clear revisions are needed-- Sandra's video camera documents the
interior (mine has given up working in the too-damp air :-( ). We are
standing on a landing on the upper level (there are actually a few
different levels and open areas in the pub), chatting, and suddenly I am
introduced to Ian, source of a good number of scans on Eric Perkins'
Megawebsite. He has an interesting accent, with a tinge of a Scots
burr which is understandable, as his home, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, borders
Scotland. At some point, the idea comes up to have the fans present
sign my program book as a keepsake. I try to have as many as possible
present sign my book. Gavin K., the lusty Singaporean, signs in
Chinese characters; he doesn't say what it means, but he cautions that
the translation is not something I'd want to ask a conservative
grandmother to do for me. Hmmm. The way he smirks, I get the
distinct feeling even a *liberal* 25 year old might blanch!

Our forces re-gathered and re-charged, we walk to the 180 busstop to
journey to Thamesmead. The rain is a bit steadier now. I help
shelter Martijn under my umbrella. He uses his cellphone (ingenious
communicators that those things are) to send an SMS (short text message)
to another Dutch email friend, Gerben, who wasn't able to come to the
meet. "Kent says 'Hi'" is all the cleverness I can come up with <G>.

We board the 180 bus, now painted neon green and bright blue, and decide
to all ride the upper deck. Joe and I sit behind Sandra and Olga, and
enjoy more socializing. Soon, the sights we came to see are in view,
as Dre points out the Thamesmead apartment buildings, looking just like
you'd expect (especially if you see the shot Andy uses for the Fiction
Archive's Title Page.) As we get out at the stop on the 180 route
Jamie and Ste had gotten *on* at, I overhear a child and mother comment
on the strange sight of so many people exiting just here. "Mum, why
are they getting off here? There's not anything to see, is there?"
The Mum concurs. If only they knew. We are approaching Mecca.

continued...

Kent

*****************************************************

From: "Warwick
Date: 20 Jun 98 09:05:40 +0100
Subject: Re: btlist: Pride UK 98

> Hi all you wonderful BT's

Sorry I couldnt make it last weekend but I was Cooking for the Food
Chain (a charity which cooks a sunday meal for people affected by HIV
and AIDS which has Jonathon Harvey as a patron). So my duties to
organise a scrumptious meal took all weekend.

Ihope we can organise a get together a Pride I suggest that we meet up
for a drink on the way to Clapham. Last year we we cut out of the
march early at green park and went for a drink at Victoria station and
caught the begining of the march as they arrived and piled into trains
there so much fun the trains are packed the poor old hetros didnt know
what had hit them and Clapham junction was a sea of rainbows.

Any one else have any ideas?

Also I have some spare tickets if any one needs them.

Be Out , Proud and Party it will be a briliant day.

Warwick

*****************************************************

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 13:13:35 -0400
From: MGB
Subject: btlist: famous door

The photos are up! The photos are up!!! Check out color photos of the
Chicago cast at:
http://www.tezcat.com/~fdoor/BeautifulThing.html#Photos
Im jumping up and down with excitment in case you were wondering!!!
MGB

*****************************************************

From: "Kent ."
Subject: btlist: Dear Diary: Thamesmead, Return to Gloucester
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 20:17:30 PDT

A Rainy Saturday (but who cares) in Thamesmead!
June 13, continued:

Well, Diary, are you still with me-- still up for more of
this one incredibly event-filled day? I know I will be
adding extra pages to you before I finish this!

Getting out in Thamesmead (TM, let's call it so I don't
run out of ink, OK?), we first proceed up over a long
ramp. This is the same one on which Sandra pushed her
trolley at the beginning of BT. We gather under an
overhang and finally get to meet our illustrious tour
guide, Marc, and his equally-illustrious wife, Sarah. It is still
raining. It turns out we are now under the
general area where THE flats are. [My memory gets hazy--
maybe water-logged, too!-- and I may make the odd mistake
here and there, so anyone who can correct me, please do
so!] We are immediately brought "behind the scenes"
(something I had asked for many months ago in a post
concerning the filming of the finale), as Marc explains
some discrepancies between the filmed TM and the reality.
For example, he points out that once Sandra has pushed
her trolley over the ramp, she would not have used the
elevator "up" because she'd already be one level up above
the elevator's ground-floor stop. He also says that the
finale was filmed first of all, when people didn't have
any idea what the movie was about, and that the producers
handed some locals £5 to be extras. I forgot to ask him
if anyone was shocked at what kind of movie they were thus immortalized
in! We continue our tour by going down to
the parking garage, where the scene was made of the Family Pearce's
return from the boxing match. Oh-- this is a
non-sequitur, but I want to add here: speaking of
sports; I had always thought that to macho American
ears, calling soccer "footie" seemed a bit, well,
*delicate*, using that diminutive. Gav L. (whom we were
so very lucky to have as our almost-constant companion for 5 days and
aren't you all even more jealous now! :)) tells me to say it as a
slightly-garbled two-syllable word with
a half-pause in the middle-- "fuh eh", the "t" just
barely pronounced-- shows how much I know, having thought
it was "Foot ee". Guess who had the Delicate
Pronunciation!

Sorry about that, Diary, but you (the most intimate of all my friends,
except for Joe, of course!) know how I can be!

The garage has been renovated already, to some extent, and I only know
it is still a dark dank place, heavily done in the severely plain
architectural style one might call
Concrete Doric, like any garage tends to be. Next we go
along the lake, at the far end of which we see the
Southmere social club used as the Swan. We take some
pictures. Halfway along, Marc stops us to explain how
the filming ran into trouble because the sun kept giving a bad glare/
lens flare when they filmed here, as this side
is where the sun sets. If I remember aright, he also
said that the production company had to put some paper or
other non-reflective something-or-other over a large
number of building windows to cut down on the glare.
Where we are stopped, Martijn has braved the sprinkles
(and him with a mild ear infection, too!) to sit on the
spot where Sandra saw and comforted the weeping Ste.
Marc explains that just at the corner ahead is the spot
where the boys jump in the water ("Give us me ball back"). He adds
that partly due to the fact that some
nomads/gypsies/homeless people had set up a camp at one
end, the water was polluted with all kinds of nasty
thingies I will spare you, Gentle Diary, the revulsion of
spelling out. Just think this: They had pigs and the
piggy-bad-things were part of this fetid stew. This is
relevant because it seems that, even though when people
would accidentally go in the water, they were rushed to
Hospital (kinda like the image one has of a soul unlucky
enough to enter the Hudson River back home!), it seems no
one informed the *actors* of this fact before they did
their cavorting and splashing. They were reportedly not
pleased, needless to say-- but apparently no one went to
Hospital, either. Our point man, Andre, goes ahead to
ask if our group may "invade" this space, to us it's "The
Swan", for a bit. The host graciously accepts our
somewhat sodden presences into the club. It feels very
nice inside to me-- dry and comfortably warm. People sit around, dry
off, chat some more (I get more people to sign my book, including Marc
and Sarah.) Now I notice that
Sandra, with her three homemade BT-T-shirts, is not the
only one to have a BT-picture on a shirt. Terry B.
introduces himself and says he wished that Sandra (the
Madrid one!) could be here, as he would like to meet her.
Letting him know that she *is*, I promptly take him over to where my
darling Sandra sits and make the intros. She is radiant with her usual
warmth in greeting Terry. On
the way out of the bar, Terry and I discuss the relative
merits and de-merits of those stories that were written
indicating the boys had sex after the end of the
Peppermint Foot Lotion scene. I say that since it is
part of my own experience to imagine sexual activity at
that age, I always thought it possible. Terry shares an
experience from his own life which reflects on another
aspect of the verisimilitude of Harvey's characters... and now we see we
are at the actual entrance to the elevator
Sandra used. But the elevator isn't working, it seems.
The locals who proceed past it after seeing us gathered
around are probably unaware that it is out of order, but
know it would take some time for them to get a turn in the small
elevator behind the queue of us gathered near the
door!

Instead, we walk up the stairs to the level where the
flats are. We are asked to be quiet and not linger
outside the doors of these real-life homes, and we are
courteous as we file past all the doors, the last three of which are THE
doors. We are now at the open area at the
end, outside and near to the flat used as Leah's.
So much of BT was shot RIGHT HERE and it feels ike you
are in the movie yourself, I think. It's like entering
Jamie and Ste's world-- the doors are still blue, and I
hadn't noticed the differences, like the absence of the
hanging plants and the trellis; for me, I noticed the
things that were, and felt, the same as in BT. There was no way to
properly absorb the feeling, really. We were
there as a group, and there was conversation and
excitement; if I could, I would go back alone and just
stand there, to think and dream. But in that small space was
concentrated a potent essence of BT. More pictures
taken. This is the wall, where Leah balanced
precariously. We later learn that in fact, had Tameka
fallen, the netting a scant few inches below would have
stopped her from hurting herself-- but the real-life
distance *is* high from here to the ground below. We
note that the space where the garbage chute is, is
narrower than it seems in the movie-- oh, here I should
add (as we are outside Jamie's living room, as it were),
that Marc later explained that the living rooms were made
to look much bigger than they really are-- his own living
room is the same size; they all are, apparently-- by the use of
wide-angle lenses. Also, the area is not where
the sun sets, so the crew used auxiliary lights to
brighten up the area of the landing when necessary.
Olaf, from Germany (another fan I would've thought was
Italian, as his English was also beautiful to hear <G>)
points out later that he noticed that you can still see
the holes in the door from when, in BT, the flat's numbers were three
digits-- the 269 was because, I believe, that
is the number of the bus Jonathan Harvey used to get to
work-- so much for the theory it was a clever sexual
in-joke! Now (and maybe before the movie was made, too)
the doors are numbered just 20, 21, etc.

Now we go down the same stairs Ste used to meet Jamie at
the finale. We walk down those very same steps. It
feels eerie. I ask Joe to take a picture of me coming
down, and I actually don't keep my umbrella open for the
photo-- when I let my hair get wet, Diary, you know it
must be for a special event! The plaza is before
us again. At the left end, on a slightly jutting-out
angle of the plaza, are the pay phones Ste is near when he talks to Leah
about her knowing any gay blokes. To the
left are the benches used in the publicity shot of Ste
with his arm around Jamie. A couple of the Dutch guys
(Henri, I think, is one of 'em), recreate that pose,
overlooking the TM apartment buildings. We leave the
plaza by the Tavy Bridge, the one Ste was on after
rejecting Jamie at the party, when he got offered drinks
and a shag. Before we cross it, we pass the two benches
Jamie approaches in the beginning of BT, the left one
(facing up the stairs) being the one he jumps over. I
wonder aloud if anyone is going to jump over it as the
fans did during a previous meet. It is wisely pointed
out to *un*wise me that with all that rain, the bench
would be a slippery thing indeed to try and leap over.
We cross over the highway, Terry stopping and looking
over the side as did Ste. Some more snaps (I'll get with the Program
regarding using the British slang for photos!) are taken. Now we are
gathered along the lower level of
the ramp which switchbacks up to the bridge. Some of the group are
alongside Marc at roadside as he explains some
more aspects of the filming. We learn that the movie
company isolated the area of the flats when they did the
filming. Also, were it not for the fact that another
building's flats were being renovated, the movie might
have been filmed using a different building altogether--
imagine if Leah and Jamie and Ste lived in a high-rise.
For the scene where Leah is rescued by Tony from the
zooming cars, Marc tells us that the movie company
actually made a shortcut in the grass median, joining the
lanes of traffic (so that the same cars could loop around
faster) and it would look like there were a lot of cars on a busy
street, when it was just the same small number of
cars going round and round a small circle. I ask Marc
whether or not the people in the area were aware that a
movie was going to be filmed, and whether or not there was any
particular reaction after BT was released. He said
that the filming came as a surprise, and that the local
reaction after BT came out was "indifference"; that
people to this day don't know a movie was made in TM.
Soon after this point, a little white car (that's what
Joe remembers; I thought it was a bus driven by Sandra
Bullock) raced through the turnout lane for the bus stop,
purposely splashing those closest to roadside. Not
funny. At all. Although the group that gets doused by
the wall of water takes it better than I did, who didn't
get wet much at all. I thought it was a really nasty
trick, and not least because there stands Marc at road's
edge, and he walks with assistance of a cane, and he got
splashed a lot. Well, we reboard the 180 for the ride
back to the Gloucester. I am glad I have this
travelpass, which makes the not-infrequent trips by Public Transport
pretty easy. Terry mentions that since he can
get to the area pretty easily, now he knows exactly where
to go, he will try and return on a sunnier day to take
pictures before the area is renovated.

On the way back, Joe and I sit behind Robert P. of
Holland, and Ian, and in front of Terry and his lover.
We get to talking about the function of local housing
boards and subsidized housing, and the differences between our
respective countries' standards-- architecture,
housing stock, cleanliness. Well, it was more
interesting than it sounds!! really! <G>

As a wise man has written :

And-- There's MORE to come! :)

Kent
hoping all these details aren't boring you to tears!

*****************************************************

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 21:14:09 -0700
From: Jean
Subject: Re: btlist: Dear Diary: Thamesmead, Return to Gloucester

>hoping all these details aren't boring you to tears!

nope!

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 23:31:04 +1000
From: Andy
Subject: btlist: Age of consent

Hi Listers,

I know we've discussed this previously here but couldn't let this quietly pass.

You may recall reading in a magazine article on Eric's site where Jonathan
Harvey said "...part of the reason for writing this play was a sense of
outrage at the UK's unequal age of consent laws. This has since been
lowered to 18, but it still should be 16 in line with heterosexuals."
(Australian Campaign, September 1996)

Well for me, part of the joys of working in a newsroom is I get to scan the
newswires now and then. Today I stumbled across this...

"England's House of Commons is expected to vote tomorrow (Monday) in favour
of lowering the age of consent for homosexual males from 18 to 16.

Gay lobby The Stonewall Association says 430 members of parliament, out of
659 are prepared to back the change.

<snip>

Political parties are allowing their members a free vote on the issue.

Another homosexual pressure group, Outrage, says about 100 gay rights
groups are planning to demonstrate on Monday outside the House of Commons
to celebrate the expected approval of the measure."
(Source : AAP)

I hope this all works out well for our UK friends on this list.
Andy.

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 10:21:26 -0400
From: Eric
Subject: Re: btlist: Age of consent

Uh, Andy.....

Isn't that little bit of ascii art the UK eqivalent of "up yours"?? In the
US that would be a peace sign, but not there! :-)

-Eric

>I hope this all works out well for our UK friends on this list.
>Andy.

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 15:32:28 +0100 (BST)
From: Chris
Subject: Re: btlist: Age of consent

On Sun, 21 Jun 1998, Eric  wrote:

> Uh, Andy.....
>
> Isn't that little bit of ascii art the UK eqivalent of "up yours"?? In the
> US that would be a peace sign, but not there! :-)
>

Nah thats a "V" for victory... other way round is up yours :-)

--
Chris

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 16:45:15 -0400
From: Eric
Subject: Re: btlist: famous door

Down boy!! Now don't get too excited, but they just added three *more*
color shots today! :-)

Best,
Eric

At 01:13 PM 6/20/98 -0400, you wrote:
>The photos are up! The photos are up!!! Check out color photos of the
>Chicago cast at:
>http://www.tezcat.com/~fdoor/BeautifulThing.html#Photos
>Im jumping up and down with excitment in case you were wondering!!!
>MGB

*****************************************************

From: "Kent ."
Subject: btlist: My Gloucester Evening
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 17:41:04 PDT

June 13, continued:

We get back to the Gloucester, excited, happy, HUNGRY! (I always skip
lunch, maybe today would have been a good day to have not followed my
usual practice!) There are tables at one end (where the stage was in
the movie, and where an only slightly-raised platform is IRL that night.
The seats are leaned into the tables and there's a sign on each saying
they are reserved for the Beautiful Thing Fanclub. We sit down for
drinks and more chatting, as people have had time during the day to
strike up new friendships. At this point, Andre asked me to take up
the informal collection, which I did (I just give the total to Martijn
to tot up-- all I know is there's lots of weight, and lots of "paper",
too). Dre also wants me to inform our group while I'm going around
that there is a Dutch BT poster which we should all sign, as it will
become a permanent part of the Gloucester's wall décor and memento of
our visit. A picture is taken of Martijn and Andre holding the poster
before it gets signed. I'd finished speaking to just about everybody
when we went to the buffet the Gloucester'd laid (lain? oh well,
*put*!) out for us-- fried chicken, sandwiches, puff pastries, pizza,
little sausages, pineapple chunks-and-cheese appetizers, etc. It's a
wonderfully kind and generous gesture-- both very tasty, and very
filling. It sure hits the spot! While enjoying dinner, BT is being
shown on a pull-down screen. This was my first viewing of the movie in
wide screen format (or any screen except a TV!) and there are a number
of scenes that really do seem better in that format. Everyone sat in
rapt attention, or mouthing the lines to themselves. Rich was at the
table with Joe and me, Alex was to my right at the same table as Sandra
and Olga. It was another magical moment to be sharing this experience
with 26+ like-minded devotees, plus the bar's Saturday crowd. At
movie's end, I started to applaud, only to learn from Robert that in
Europe, that isn't the custom. (I still clapped in my heart.) After
the movie ended, we had an opportunity to order our BT-towels, shirts,
boxer shorts ("I Love Jamie" cost more than "I Love Ste" for some
reason), additional programs, a CD-ROM with all photos from our weekend
plus those of the previous October's get-together. The Fanclub did a
brisk business, as I had told Dre and Martijn they would.

Shortly after, our evening's planned live entertainment, "Katrina and
the boy", performed. Katrina was very charming, witty, and a bit of a
Linda Henry lookalike. She had a marvelous voice, not at all fazed by
the increasingly smoky room, and the warming temperature in the
Gloucester. She referred to the fanclub as "The Beautiful Things".
She told some jokes (I can only remember the one she said was her
current favorite: A chicken and an egg are in post-coital afterglow,
sharing a after-shag cigarette. One turns to the other and says,
"Well, I guess that solves that age-old question now, doesn't it?").
She even did an impression (it was of a cat's hind quarters and it
doesn't translate well, but Robert took a photo, which *does*). She
had some between-song patter, but for us the highlight was that she sang
4 (I think it was 4, including her encore) songs from BT. She invited
us to sing along with her when she sang a Mama Cass number, which we
did. At the top of our lungs (but over the speaker system she was
using, you really could only hear her). One other song (not from BT. I
had never heard of it before) was also done with audience particpation
on the chorus. When she did her encore, "Dream a Little Dream", Gavin
K. and Martijn slowdanced on the stage and Robert and Henri did the same
in the space in front of our table. Even if you didn't, you danced the
mood from where you sat. It was really special-- I wish I had a more
evocative way to describe it-- fill in your own term here for "warmly
happy".

After she finished came the next Highlight in a day filled with them.
As you now all know (I shall stop this pretext of Dear Diary-- I am
writing not to it, but to *you*), Linda Henry was there. Let me say
that when I first saw her, I almost thought she was Katrina, getting an
after-show drink at the bar, because Linda's hair was now a much whiter
shade of blonde (the color Katrina wore) than in BT. What can I say
about Ms. Henry that hasn't already been said? For me, it was
wonderful to note how gracious she was, unfailingly attentive and
responsive to every fan-- she really looked you in the eye. We had
each our own chance to actually talk one-on-one with her. No one was
rushed aside; everyone had the time to make his/her own Linda Henry
memory from that personal contact she gave you. I only was in earshot
to listen to Sandra speak to "Sandra" before I spoke with her (although
I am certain I overheard Linda say to someone else that she thought it
most likely that, after the dance at the end, she figured the boys would
stay together maybe 10 minutes in the real world). I remember that she
was genuinely interested to learn that Sandra (the Madrid one!) had
written stories inspired by the characters of Jamie and Ste, and asked
Sandra had she ever considered submitting her work for publication-- I
think she even suggested a screenplay. Then I had my chance to talk to
her. When I told her my lover, Joe, was here with me, she looked to
where he was (at the end of the bar, camera at eye level) and said "Hi,
Joe!" with a wave and a smile. I said to her that I was really struck
how young people, and not just young people, came to see in BT the hope
that happiness could enter their own lives, that the feeling of the
finale was a "feel good" feeling one could have about *oneself*, not
just about how nicely the movie ended. She said she thought it sad to
think that it would take a movie for people to feel good about
themselves; they should feel that way about themselves anyway. But
not everyone does, as she was told firsthand by some of us. She also
said she thought that even when a parent (and she is a mother IRL)
rejects a gay child, that the parent is responding to her psyche (by
which she meant societal conditioning that "gay is bad"), instead of to
the gut feeling that a parent has, to protect her child. She also said
(I did overhear a couple things, I guess!) that she had all these cute
young men coming up to her and saying they wished she were their
*mother*, and she might wish for a different sort of compliment! (I am
paraphrasing here.) I agree that she was genuinely moved by what she
heard from us; she stayed and talked at length-- long after the bar
would normally have closed (which was very early, "last call" being
before 11), it seemed. Thanks again to the Gloucester for staying open
for us to have that time with her.

Linda was astounded that we had all come together from having met on the
Internet. I think we *all* (Linda and the fans) got an immeasurably
great deal out of being able to meet. I had the distinct feeling that
this would not be the last time Linda would try to meet the BT Fanclub.
(It turns out she lives near the Gloucester.)

I would add here that everyone who spoke with her might kindly consider
posting what *you* remember about your chat with Linda.

Eventually, it was time for us to go. Ever-thoughtful (and resourceful
and hard-working) Andre asked the Gloucester management to arrange for
taxis to take us back to our various destinations, yet another kindness
for us strangers in London with no easy way back there from Greenwich at
past 12! (The Docklands Light Railway having stopped running its last
train by then.) Oh, about the collection-- the group's gift, totalling
£90 was at first refused by the Gloucester, but eventually accepted as a
contribution to a Memorial Fund in honor of the recently deceased owner.

Our mini-van driver (who was gay) left off first Tory, then (near
Paddington Station) Rich, Gav L., Joe, Wolfgang, and me. It was by now
quite late. We bid goodnight to Rich in his hotel and I thought we
could help find more explicit directions for Wolfgang at the station,
thinking there might be some all-night info booth. Wrong! As
Wolfgang (who likes night walks, he said) opted to go to his bus stop
from where we were, I decided that there was no way I'd leave him to
walk that distance alone at night with only his map for company. Joe
insisted he come along, too (he kidded me, "And what would I tell your
parents if you never came back!"). Gav (the same guy who was walked
off his feet Friday, and had gotten virtually no sleep the preceding
night) also refused my suggestion that *he*, at least, get back to the
Hotel and get some sleep. He said he would definitely accompany us as
well. That's just the kind of guy he is, you know? (Love ya, Gav!)
So the four of us walked through Hyde Park (this was becoming familiar
by now!), heading South to the stop for Wolfgang's night bus. My fears
for his safety-- honed by living in NYC-- were groundless, thankfully.
As a matter of fact, in the Park we passed several groups of late-night
revelers, dressed to the nines. If *they* were safe from muggers...!
After waiting a while for Wolfgang's bus (which was taking its sweet
time arriving, but it was after 2:00 by this point), and seeing that
other people were also waiting with him, we left on our way back to our
own Hotel. (Wolfie's bus arrived in about 5 minutes, he told us the
next day). Gav, Joe and I copped out after a short walk and hopped a
cab the remainder of the way back.
Back then, to rest up for our next day's fun (and no, I still couldn't
make myself sleep more than 4 hours!)

Kent

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 18:19:05 -0700
From: Jean
Subject: Fw: btlist: My Gloucester Evening

>boxer shorts ("I Love Jamie" cost more than "I Love Ste" for some
reason)

They were sold only in pairs, yes? You didn't separate them, did you?
Noooo!!!! Recall!!!!! Urgent Recall!!!!!

>As you now all know (I shall stop this pretext of Dear Diary-- I am
writing not to it, but to *you*),

Gasp

>(and no, I still couldn't make myself sleep more than 4 hours!)

more time for remembering details, yes?

Keep em coming, Kent, thanks! J.

*****************************************************

From: Sven
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 21:22:31 EDT
Subject: btlist: Just a quick question

A little off the subject, but how many of my fellow BT'ers have this kind of
trouble:

I work in fast food. At work (even moreso than at home) I am openly gay;
about 99.7% of my coworkers know, and those who don't have only worked there
for a couple of weeks.
Due to some obscure cosmic mistake, more than half the women in the store
(including the married ones) honestly think that I'm going to be their next
boyfriend. I've tried everything I can think of, from discussing my sexuality
openly to flat out comparing notes on how hot the last customer was with them,
to get the point across to them... nothing helps. AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!

Any suggestions?

Steve

*****************************************************

From: Donald
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 22:31:04 EDT
Subject: Re: btlist: Just a quick question

THat is SO Hilarious that you should bring that situation up. I recently
gaduated from High School and my senior year I just said forget it, and let
most people know (NOT my family though). I could have had any girl on the
entire campus with that bit of knowledge public. At times it got quite
humorous--my straight male friends had NO girls hitting on them while I had
girl after girl. One went so far as to try to convince me to drink (which I DO
NOT do) in order to "bed me" as I later heard her telling a friend. All my
male friends said it was unfair because when I needed to be seen as not gay
and opted to have a gal on my elbow, I had the most beautiful ones.

I always sat back and just laughed. This is pretty much how I handle it now
still. In my field--gays are quickly found to be "not performing job
adequately" and replaced so sometimes I egg it on. This also provides some
GREAT office gossip...which I find interesting!

I know this is a perverse way of handling the situation, but felt I had to
share. Let me know what happens.
DOnald T.

*****************************************************

From: Donald
Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 22:37:26 EDT
Subject: Re: btlist: Just a quick question

Sorry, I forgot to mention the reason they go after us gays is because tehy
would feel quite triumphant if they were able to, and I quote "convert a
queer."

*****************************************************

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 21:50:05 -0500
From: Gary
Subject: Re: btlist: Just a quick question

Donald wrote:
>
> Sorry, I forgot to mention the reason they go after us gays is because tehy
> would feel quite triumphant if they were able to, and I quote "convert a
> queer."

Or else they just find us absolutely fascinating! <G>

Gary
--

*****************************************************

From: "Neil
Subject: btlist: FW: (Fwd) Beautiful Thing play - Edinburgh 98
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 09:09:35 +0100

Hi all,

I've just received this information about the Edinburgh performances of BT.
You will note there is an open invitation for anybody on this list to go
behind stage! Would somebody like to suggest a date? Saturday 15th would
probably be best for me.

Get in touch soon.

Love

Neil.

P.S. Are any UK BTers going to the Palace of Westminster tonight for the
Age of Consent vote?

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter
Sent: 19 June 1998 00:05
Subject: (Fwd) Beautiful Thing play - Edinburgh 98

Neil

The fringe programme has now been launched and is available by post
by telephoning 0897 500 678.

Tickets can be purchased by phone on 0131 226 5138 from Monday 22nd
June, Monday to Saturday.

To reprise our info, from the programme:

ABSOLUTE BANANA THEATRE COMPANY
Venue 123 - Southbridge Resource Centre, Infirmary St Tel: 558 9991

BEAUTIFUL THING
Jonathan Harvey's feel-good comedy, recently a hit film, treats the
story of first love between two teenage boys with compassion and wit.
A modern day urban fairytale, both hilarious and moving.
"Infectiously funny" Variety.

August 9 - 22 (not 16) starts 13:15
Tickets 6 pounds / 4 pounds (conc)

We are also doing two pre-fringe performances in Birmingham on Aug
5/6 at 8pm, in the Wellington Hotel, a pub in Birmingham's gay
village.

Please ask all BT list members to come and say "hi" after the show.
Oh, and watch out for our free bananas hitting the streets of
Edinburgh.

We are also planning to recreate the final dancing scene from the
film at various strategic publicity sites in the city - complete with
portable sound system!

cheers for now
-Peter

*****************************************************

From: Gavin
Subject: btlist: My Outing in London Part Two by Gavin Larkin.
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 09:04:23 +0000

My Outing in London Part Two by Gavin

I awoke early Sunday morning and the first thought that entered my mind
was did it really happen. I had too think about it for a few seconds
just to convince myself that it did. Had I really done that, had I
really seen that, had I really said that, had I really met that person,
had I really made her laugh. Yes I had.

I lay there a bit knackered but content, then I thought of the day
ahead more fun just hanging out with the BT gang. I went down too
Breakfast on my own as Kent and Joe were still sleeping off the events
of the previous night. However I was determined to get my moneys worth
as Breakfast was included in the price of the room.

I met up with Kent and Joe in the lobby around 11.00 and we set out to
meet Rich and then off to the blonde bomb shells digs. As we were
looking for the right house who should be waving at us out of the
window but that happy smiling German guy Wolfgang he looked totally
refreshed, obviously doesn't need much sleep, lucky guy. We climbed
the stairs to the top floor and again it seemed like we were entering a
small part of Holland reserved only for BT fans. I looked enviously at
their cooked breakfast for a while much more impressive than the
cornflakes and bread roll I had managed to eat.

We sand along to some of the BT songs, well I tried to but I can't sing
to save my life so I was just content to listen to the others. One of
the Dutch guys had such a lovely voice, his name was Robert I think and
just too shut my eyes and listen too him sing was heavenly.

Then Martijn, Robert and Kent did a little dance routine to "Oh ah just
a little bit..." which was very entertaining but looked exhausting. It
was no wonder Kent had a rosy glow too his cheeks when they had
finished. Once we had organised ourselves and solved a few problems we
set out for a stroll around Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus. We
split up into smaller groups and agreed to meet back at a certain spot.
Our group was made up of Kent, Joe, Rich, Andre and myself possible a
couple of others but I can't remember. This was the first real
opportunity I had to talk to Andre, he seemed to have an amazing grasp
of the English language and he even laughed at my jokes. He advised me
on what size bottle of Peppermint Foot Lotion I should buy. We all
chatted as a group while walking along. I told Andre I was not out yet
and he seemed amazed, perhaps it was because that here in London I felt
free to act how I liked and was more confident. Anyway he put on a
fake look of astonishment and then said you mean your bent as a
corkscrew. It lightened things up a bit which was what we all needed.

I knew then that I had met another gem, he cared about my feelings, we
had never met and hardly even conversed by email but he cared and that
was so nice.

We spent a nice afternoon just walking round the shops and just
chatting. Then it came time too say goodbye too a few members of the
group who weren't as lucky as myself being able to stay for a few days
more. Each goodbye was tough it was like having a mall part of the
whole removed. However I was still happy to be there with all the
people that remained. We decided to take a stroll thorough London by
night, with the lights and everything it was quite spectacular. I was
lost for a while in the beauty of it all, then my mind went back to
some of the people I had met. Specifically those that weren't here
now, I thought it was such a shame they couldn't see this. Standing by
the water fountains in Trafalgar square was so special, made even more
so by the people I was with.

We finished our stroll around midnight and after waiting ages for a
non-existent night bus we hailed a taxi. Kent, Joe and myself were all
knackered but talkative all the same. We had agreed with Andre and the
rest of the blonde bomb shells that we would meet them at Waterloo
station to say goodbye and I personally was pleased to get one more
chance to see them all again.

We arrived at Waterloo around 1.00pm and waited, it was Martijn we saw
first skipping along towards us. After a good morning hug with Kent
and myself as well as a kiss on each cheek (which was very nice) we
followed him to where the others were waiting.

The last part will be along in the next couple of days.

Laters then,

Take care,

Gav XXX.

*****************************************************

From: "Peter
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 09:25:32 +0000
Subject: btlist: Beautiful Thing play - Edinburgh 98

Hi all,

Neil just sent this email to the list. As the producer of the
Edinburgh production I can wholeheartedly recommend it (well I would
say that - although given its not actually in rehearsal yet.....)

If you all fix a weekend date (Saturday 15th is good for us) then we
can arrange for a get-together with the cast after the show (it
finishes around 2:45pm) and perhaps adjourn to a local pub for a
drink or two.

As to "behind stage" I think it will be a fairly minimalist
production especially as we only have 15 mins to get in and set the
stage - expect 3 doors (does anyone know a good joiner?) and little
else.....

By the way, the Fringe office opens for ticket sales today but if you
prefer I can reserve tickets for you all at the venue box office,
which we have some control over. Anyone want to email me either here
at work (PM-5048@MAIL.NECGROUP.CO.UK) or absolutebanana@cryogen.com
and I'll be happy to help.

And Eric has put some pictures of the cast on to the website - take a
look.

All the best and see you in Scotland!

-Peter

> Hi all,
>
> I've just received this information about the Edinburgh performances of BT.
> You will note there is an open invitation for anybody on this list to go
> behind stage! Would somebody like to suggest a date? Saturday 15th would
> probably be best for me.
>
> Get in touch soon.
>
> Love
>
> Neil.
>
> P.S. Are any UK BTers going to the Palace of Westminster tonight for the
> Age of Consent vote?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter
> Sent: 19 June 1998 00:05
> To: Neil
> Subject: (Fwd) Beautiful Thing play - Edinburgh 98
>
>
> Neil
>
> The fringe programme has now been launched and is available by post
> by telephoning 0897 500 678.
>
> Tickets can be purchased by phone on 0131 226 5138 from Monday 22nd
> June, Monday to Saturday.
>
> To reprise our info, from the programme:
>
> ABSOLUTE BANANA THEATRE COMPANY
> Venue 123 - Southbridge Resource Centre, Infirmary St Tel: 558 9991
>
> BEAUTIFUL THING
> Jonathan Harvey's feel-good comedy, recently a hit film, treats the
> story of first love between two teenage boys with compassion and wit.
> A modern day urban fairytale, both hilarious and moving.
> "Infectiously funny" Variety.
>
> August 9 - 22 (not 16) starts 13:15
> Tickets 6 pounds / 4 pounds (conc)
>
> We are also doing two pre-fringe performances in Birmingham on Aug
> 5/6 at 8pm, in the Wellington Hotel, a pub in Birmingham's gay
> village.
>
> Please ask all BT list members to come and say "hi" after the show.
> Oh, and watch out for our free bananas hitting the streets of
> Edinburgh.
>
> We are also planning to recreate the final dancing scene from the
> film at various strategic publicity sites in the city - complete with
> portable sound system!
>
> cheers for now
> -Peter
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> Peter

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:02:58 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: London Pix

Hi Eric, one and all

I just got to read this email, and would like to say,

sandra, please get some pics, I know I missed the gathering, but some
photos to view in the privacy of my own home would be great, especially on
my bedroom wall, along with the pics of Ste and Jamie, which I've got
also.

stu.
x

On Thu, 18 Jun 1998, Eric wrote:

> At 06:26 PM 6/18/98 +0100, you wrote:
> >Hi Eric, I see that you are alive, still.
> >
> >
> >
> >In reply to the letter, below, I wouldn't mind seeing these london pics,
> >are you gonna put them on the web ?
> >
> >stu
>
> I will put up London pix if anyone sends me some (I'm sure Sandra will).
> However, Linda Henry has asked that any pix of her NOT be posted to the
> web, so I won't do that. However, I'm sure some pix of her can be emailed
> to anyone who would like to see them, as long as it is agreed they will not
> be put up on any website, and are only viewed in the privacy of your own home!
>
> -Eric
>

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:05:42 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: ticket for Edinburgh stageplay

Hi Dirk and welcome to the BTList, on behalf of us all.

I hope you enjoy your stay, and remain with us all, for eternity.

About the BT play, I can't make it, have alternate arrangements, - work
etc.

See you around sometime.

stu
x

On Thu, 18 Jun 1998, Steffen X. wrote:

>
> Hello everybody,
>
> my name is Dirk. I'm new on the bt-list.
> I'd like to say "hello" to everybody on that list.
> I'm on holiday in UK in August.
> I've heard about the BT stageplay in Edinburgh.
> Does anybody know, if it's possible to order a ticket right now ?
> I'm so happy if I get the chance to watch it!
>
> Bye,
> Dirk.
>
>

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:07:18 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: London Pix

Hi Sandra, stu here.

Just a quick thank you for taking these pictures, R u gonna put the
Thamesmead ones on a web page, something snazzy.

stu.
x

On Fri, 19 Jun 1998 jmcs wrote:

> Hi everybody!!
>
>
> > At 06:26 PM 6/18/98 +0100, you wrote:
> > >Hi Eric, I see that you are alive, still.
> > >
> > >In reply to the letter, below, I wouldn't mind seeing these london pics,
> > >are you gonna put them on the web ?
> > >
> > >stu
> >
> > >I will put up London pix if anyone sends me some (I'm sure Sandra will).
>
> You can bet!!!!! I only took a couple pics of Linda, but as soon as I
> develop them (this Saturday), I'll send them to Eric. As for the 60 pics
> I took at Thamesmead, the Gloucester and the Cutty Sark, I'll choose the
> more 'artistic ones', so to speak!!!
>
> Take care.
>
>
> Sandra.
>

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:11:52 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: My Outing in London by Gavin!

Hi Gav, now because the admin guys didn't want long messages, i'm making
this one brief.

In response to your weekend bash, in London for the BT Gathering, I
suggest you put everything you wrote in the email, onto your web site, so
everyone can access it, plus it's more easier to read overall.

stu
x

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:39:24 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: Age of consent

Hi Andy

Neat piece of ascii art, now all we need is one of the BT poster, any
offers.

By the way, the handy work below is a symbol of 'peace' and as we say,
'peace man'.

ha ha

stu
x

On Sun, 21 Jun 1998, Eric  wrote:

> Uh, Andy.....
>
> Isn't that little bit of ascii art the UK eqivalent of "up yours"?? In the
> US that would be a peace sign, but not there! :-)
>
> -Eric
>
> >I hope this all works out well for our UK friends on this list.
> >Andy.

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:43:59 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: Age of consent

As I didn't notice that this message, was originally about the age of
consent, i posted my views on the ITN website, so if you want to read it,
check it out, by going the news story about the age of consent being
reduced, followed by the story, followed by comments , and check mine out.

see u in the fast lane,

stu
x.

On Mon, 22 Jun 1998, Stu wrote:

> Hi Andy
>
> Neat piece of ascii art, now all we need is one of the BT poster, any
> offers.
>
>
> By the way, the handy work below is a symbol of 'peace' and as we say,
> 'peace man'.
>
>
> ha ha
>
>
> stu
> x
>
>
> On Sun, 21 Jun 1998, Eric  wrote:
>
> > Uh, Andy.....
> >
> > Isn't that little bit of ascii art the UK eqivalent of "up yours"?? In the
> > US that would be a peace sign, but not there! :-)
> >
> > -Eric
> >
> > >I hope this all works out well for our UK friends on this list.
> > >Andy.
> > > ."". ."",
> > > | | / /
> > > | | / /
> > > | | / /
> > > | |/ ;-._
> > > } ` _/ / ;
> > > | /` ) / /
> > > | / /_/\_/\
> > > |/ / |
> > > ( ' \ '- |
> > > \ `. /
> > > | |
> > > | |
> > >
> > >(To view ascii art use a mono-spaced font.)
> >
> >

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 15:44:32 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: Age of consent

sorry forgot to mention the web site address.

sorry folks.

stu
x

On Mon, 22 Jun 1998, Stu wrote:

> Hi Andy
>
> Neat piece of ascii art, now all we need is one of the BT poster, any
> offers.
>
>
> By the way, the handy work below is a symbol of 'peace' and as we say,
> 'peace man'.
>
>
> ha ha
>
>
> stu
> x
>
>
> On Sun, 21 Jun 1998, Eric  wrote:
>
> > Uh, Andy.....
> >
> > Isn't that little bit of ascii art the UK eqivalent of "up yours"?? In the
> > US that would be a peace sign, but not there! :-)
> >
> > -Eric
> >
> > >I hope this all works out well for our UK friends on this list.
> > >Andy.
> > > ."". ."",
> > > | | / /
> > > | | / /
> > > | | / /
> > > | |/ ;-._
> > > } ` _/ / ;
> > > | /` ) / /
> > > | / /_/\_/\
> > > |/ / |
> > > ( ' \ '- |
> > > \ `. /
> > > | |
> > > | |
> > >
> > >(To view ascii art use a mono-spaced font.)
> >
> >

*****************************************************

From: ep
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 12:10:56 -0400
Subject: Re: btlist: My Outing in London by Gavin!

Hi,

In reference to the below, if anyone wants me to post their London reports
on my website, I'll be happy to. However, I will not do so unless I am
asked by the author of same.

Best,
Eric

At 03:11 PM 6/22/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Hi Gav, now because the admin guys didn't want long messages, i'm making
>this one brief.
>
>In response to your weekend bash, in London for the BT Gathering, I
>suggest you put everything you wrote in the email, onto your web site, so
>everyone can access it, plus it's more easier to read overall.
>
>
>
>
>stu
> x
>
>
>

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 17:18:24 +0100 (BST)
From: Stu
Subject: Re: btlist: My Outing in London by Gavin !

Hey Eric, thanks for replying so soon, I appreciate you helping out with
this matter, I mean their's so many accounts of what happened, it's
difficult to read them all, so if you guy's could put them on a web page
it would be appreciated, plus it would make the site more cooler than it
is already.

stu
x

On Mon, 22 Jun 1998 ep wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In reference to the below, if anyone wants me to post their London reports
> on my website, I'll be happy to. However, I will not do so unless I am
> asked by the author of same.
>
> Best,
> Eric
>
>
> At 03:11 PM 6/22/98 +0100, you wrote:
> >Hi Gav, now because the admin guys didn't want long messages, i'm making
> >this one brief.
> >
> >In response to your weekend bash, in London for the BT Gathering, I
> >suggest you put everything you wrote in the email, onto your web site, so
> >everyone can access it, plus it's more easier to read overall.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >stu
> > x
> >

*****************************************************

From: jmcs
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 16:32:55 +0000
Subject: Re: btlist: London Pix

Hi everybody!

> Hi Eric, one and all
>
> I just got to read this email, and would like to say,
>
> sandra, please get some pics, I know I missed the gathering, but some
> photos to view in the privacy of my own home would be great, especially on
> my bedroom wall, along with the pics of Ste and Jamie, which I've got
> also.
>
>
> stu.
> x

Sure, don't worry, Stu! I'll send some pics to Eric, but it'll take a few
days 'cause I'll have to send them to him via ordinary mail since I don't
have a scanner. A situation I plan to remedy, but it may take a while.
Besides, you have no idea about the prices of making copies from original
pics! The quality is excellent, as Kent may tell you, but your pockets
lose 'consistency', so to speak! But I'll send him a few pics, you can be
sure of that!!

Take care.

Sandra.

*****************************************************

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 18:06:01 -0400
From: Eric
Subject: btlist: Somebody please catch Sandra...

...before she hits the floor with a *thud*!

Thanks to Jeffo, there's a new Scott Neal picture up, this one with Tameka,
that I've never seen before. The top of Scott's pix page.

and, oh yes!, there's much more to come! :-)

-Eric

*****************************************************

From: "Kent ."
Subject: btlist: Sunday, June 14: Bonding
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 19:14:13 PDT

Sunday June 14, 1998

You might have thought the entire weekend had been done in one day, and
a good part of it was, but an interesting part was not. The first
thing Gav and I did (besides be our by-now-usual 10 minutes or so late
to meet up with Rich), was go to Sandra's Hotel, where Joe was going to
catch up with us. We had to say goodbye to her and Olga there, as
their plane left too early for them to partake of any group activities
that day. I gave her a couple things I had brought in for her Birthday
(mark those calendars for July 13!) so I could see her open them in
person. Gav, having been told by a little bird (OK, it was the species
"stool pigeon") of the upcoming occasion, also got her some cute
things-- soccer ball balloons and the soccer player equivalent of Animal
Crackers (kinda macabre, that last one! :)). After a very heartfelt
goodbye, we fellas set out for the Gay Embassy of the Netherlands (the
duplex apartment where Dre, Martijn, and crew-- including Gavin K.--
were staying).

Wolfgang, Olaf, and Ian were already there. We rested up in the cool
living room while the guys finished their breakfast. Some CD's were
put on, including the BT soundtrack. There was a singalong to the
Evita soundtrack, and some general horsing around. At one point,
Martijn and Robert started energetically dancing to a song from a Dutch
children's TV show (the tune was the same as "Ooh... Aaah... Just a
Little Bit"). They looked very well-rehearsed. It turns out that the
dancing was actually an aerobics routine, and they showed me the "steps"
so I tried to follow. It was fun, although when I was done the room no
longer felt so cool. I stood by the open window for a while. There
was a nice cool breeze blowing through the window that warm afternoon.
It was a mostly sunny day, after a small sprinkle passed by (this *is*
London, after all). Once when the door to the hall opened, I heard the
lovely strains of singing to a piano rendition of a BT song. When I
went into the dining room, I saw a few of the guys gathered near the
piano, where Andre was playing beautifully. It was fun to join in,
although I got there toward the end of the singing. Their voices were
impressive, especially Robert's. Despite his later (typically modest)
remark that his breathing technique "was all wrong", all *I* could tell
was that he sang with clear-toned power, and had a truly lovely gift I
was pleased to hear him utilize. David arrived. We continued to sit
and enjoy ourselves while the Dutch guys got themselves ready for our
afternoon's activity; from the options Andre offered, we decided to go
into London, around Leicester Square, and do some shopping-- which
should be a Qualifying Sport at the Gay Games, I think.

We went in together to that area (meeting up with Tory at the Arsenal
Underground station), and enjoyed a walk through Covent Garden (now a
covered mall, actually), seeing street performers as well as having a
pleasant stroll. Some of us made a stop at The Body Shop-- need I tell
you what for? For those of us with the least "in London" experience,
Dre kindly served as tour guide and organizer/ group leader. And,
mostly, as friend and companion. We re-grouped and tried to see if
there was a musical playing in town that we might go see together, but
no luck. So we continued walking about, just enjoying the time we were
spending together. At one point, Martijn and Robert left the group and
we later learned they had indeed gone all the way to the Gloucester.
One phone communiqué made Dre suspect that Martijn might have a Big
Surprise (Tameka) to bring along. Those cellphones allowed the
divergent groups to keep in constant contact with each other, and I was
impressed by just how useful they were. And by the fact that so many
of the guys had one-- in the US, they are still a bit on the expensive
side to be used so regularly. Some of us went to the Tower Records and
HMV Record stores, scouting out prices for BT videos and the CD, also
checking out the gay book section at one place and recommending our
favorite authors/ books. Patricia Nell warren's "The Front Runner" and
books by Gordon Merrick were on those lists of personal faves. We
explored the possibility of taking a bus ride of London by Night, but
the schedules didn't seem convenient.

At supper time, we had to bid goodnight and "see ya" to Rich (who had an
early flight the next day), Ian (whose train home would be leaving
soon), and also to David. I *hate* goodbyes! Gavin K. took little
convincing *not* to return home as early as he had been planning.
Those of us who had not eaten yet now opted for a fast food supper, and
then shopped some more, waiting for night to fall. Dre suggested the
Trocadero Mall, which had some fun touristy shops, and (for the
Americans) a kind of "Spencer Gifts" store (posters, jokey gifts,
novelties). We enjoyed a wander through this high-tech designed mall.
For example they had a Free Fall ride built in the center of it, and in
fact the main area was Sega World. Dre said it used to cost £5 just to
walk through it, but since it was now free admission, we all decided to
have a look-see. There were lots of sections on a number of levels,
some featuring multi-player video games, racing games, motion simulator
and 3-D rides, etc. Wolfgang tried to get Dre to allow himself to be
strapped into a kind of "electric chair", which apparently built up a
static electric charge of a great number of volts. Dre at first made
it seem he would play along ("But look, this one is broken-- too bad!"),
but when we came across a second chair, fully functional, he wisely
begged off the dubious-- pleasure? We were just goofin' as we
meandered through the arcade. On the way out, there was a bit of
risqué mischief with a tubular length of marshmallow (it was colored
pink on the outside, so I leave it to your own fertile imaginations what
"game" we were playing. And I *won't* tell you whose prowess was the
greatest at, um, "marshmallow ingesting"!!!) By now it was getting
dark and the neon lights were having a greater effect on the buildings.
Meeting back up with Gavin K. and Tory, we headed South to Trafalgar
Square and then down past Downing Street towards Big Ben and the Houses
of Parliament. Wolfgang had to say goodnight, but Joe, Gav, and I had
arranged to meet him the next night at 7:00 for dinner, as he was in
town until Tuesday. About this time, I had the opportunity to speak
more with two of our number I hadn't talked to much yet. I enjoyed
getting to know Robert S. from Holland (who shared his coming-out story
with us), and Olaf from the former East Germany. Having gone through
all that Cold war stuff, I was interested to get a real person's
perspective on Life Under Communism and its effect on being gay, and
life in general after Reunification. I was enthralled by everything he
told me (he was very patient with what must have seemed like a hundred
questions!!) and felt enlightened by his sharing his experiences. We
then caught up with Martijn and Robert P. and learned that their
surprise was that Robert's pictures had been developed. His shots came
out great (but then he had a handsome bunch of subjects, including Linda
Henry)! Now we were at the area where we could walk out on the bridge
and get a nice view of Big Ben. I resolved to finally use the tripod
Joe and I'd been schlepping around, and braved a larger-than-you'd-think
amount of traffic to cross to the other side of the bridge and get a
time-exposure picture of Big Ben. I took it from almost the exact same
spot I'd remembered being at on my first trip to Europe in 1980
(memories!)

We worked our ways back to our individual bus stops for the rides home;
this was goodnight and goodbye for some of us. But I was glad to learn
that Andre had forgotten a tape he had brought to be delivered to Eric
in NYC-- this meant we had an excuse to meet the Dutch guys the next day
and see them off at the train station. Gav, Joe, and I waited a long
while for just the *right* night bus; when it refused to come (!), we
hopped another, rode it to the end of its line at Oxford Circus, and
took a cab soon after that to get us back the rest of the way to the
Hotel, at a more reasonable hour-- we had already gotten more than our
money's worth from our travelpass!

About this day: there were some things that happened that truly show
how close a group we had become. When one of our number had problems
locating his personal belongings due to a hotel mixup, another person
generously offered his time (and his car!) in an ultimately successful
search for the missing items. When another of us had his cellphone
stolen, Dre pitched right in to make sure the thief couldn't run up a
huge bill, and everyone else with a mobile phone offered theirs to be
used for this or that emergency call. One friend helping another. A
group of friends spending time together. This is what Sunday meant to
me.

Kent

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