Erik Rhodes in "Ex-wars"

Erik called me the other day to say he would be in LA for a shoot and do I want to tag along with him for the weekend since we hadn’t been able to catch up with each other when he was here in SF for the GayVN Awards last month.  Erik hates San Francisco, and with my employment (or lack of) situation, we seldom get to see each other anymore.   I checked my Southwest points, and since I could get a free ticket and my boyfriend is in a tennis tournament anyway all weekend I decided to go.  So Friday afternoon I fight my way through the SFO check-in and security screening to catch the LUV plane to LAX.
Erik has a Falcon assistant meet me at LAX and I assume he’s still busy on the shoot.  I told him I want to check it out sometime but, Erik being a shy guy at heart when you get past his muscled porn-star exterior,  I haven’t pressed it.  I tell the driver to head up La Cienega because it looks like he’s going to try getting on the Santa Monica freeway instead, and I nearly have a panic attack.  We’re headed to the Marmont.  I stay there whenever I can to soak up the celebrity history.  Keep your shiny cool W in Westwood; give me John Belushi’s bungalow.  I don’t tell Erik that.   He just thinks I get a special rate at the Marmont.
I’m not even fully checked in  and I get a call from Erik, on his way to get me.  It turns out he finished shooting Thursday; today he was on a “personal errand.”  Shy yes, but horny too.  Mary, Joseph and Jesus hasn’t he been laid enough this week? Three hours later we’re seated at Mozza’s the new new in spot for foodies in LA.  I’m impressed, and we get a great table too.  We’re pretty looped already from cocktails (sidecars, Erik sticks with the classics) at Abbey in WeHo.  We chatted with Chi Chi for a while there (love her!).   But too soon we’re in the car again and head off into the traffic on Beverly, with Erik’s Falcon assistant, and Erik is trying to tell the guy how to get to the restaurant.  I try to think of a polite way to tell Erik he’s reading the google map reverse directions but the driver is already pulling up under a portico and we’re there.
So like I said, we get a great table; in fact we’re within spitting distance of Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey (I thought those two had broken up?) so I have to force myself not to gawk.  Then I see why Erik has brought us here.  Erik gives a royal hand-wave to a table (next to the kitchen LOL) and I recognize among a group of people apparently having some sort of party one of Erik’s ex’s.  So I know something’s up, and can’t wait for the fireworks to break out.  Porn-star bitch fight? Tossed martinis?  This trip is so worth it already!   I look  around for  Chi Chi’s reality show “Live and Raw” crew in case they’re hidden somewhere here.
Anyway we take our time ordering and have another cocktail.  Next thing I know Erik decides “it’s time.”  He tells me to get down under the table.  Do I hesitate?  Do I question why on earth I should get down on the floor under a table at Nancy Silverton’s new restaurant in Larchmont on a crowded Friday night, just a spit away from Jake Gyllenhaal?  Hell no!  I’m on my hands and knees hidden under the long-drop tablecloth but for my Ferragamos (yes you heard that right; I may be unemployed but I’ve got good shoes).  Erik didn’t brief me, but he knows I’m one to play along with a prank.  I hear him making a low-frequency moaning sound, gradually rising in volume and pitch, and this repeats and he throws in some oh yeah oh yeahs.  I get it so I add in some muffled choking sounds.  I’m wondering if he’s seen When Harry met Sally, isn’t he too young for that?  I’m worrying I’ll never get back in this restaurant but then again I’m only in because of Erik anyway.  So I keep playing along.  Luckily, and this is relative to the context, his ex arrives quickly to start the porn-star bitch fight so I get out from under and pretend to go to the bathroom before I get a drink thrown at me.  Erik and his ex trade insults that would have done Joan Crawford and Bette Davis proud.  His ex runs out of the restaurant.  No drinks were harmed in the exchange.  Erik is such a great guy he tells the waiter to charge the other table’s tab to him.  And with that, and before I can even nibble an hors d’ouevre,  we leave for a private party.

And, one week ago… and further adventures….

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Erik Rhodes at the GayVN 2008 show

Update:  Erik’s “Ex-wars”

Superstar hottie but perennial runner-up Erik Rhodes extended his streak as the Susan Lucci of gay porn again this year.  He certainly deserved a win.   He made the best of it though,  letting a fan give him a blowjob while he enjoyed the ceremony from his front row seat.   I guess the Gift Center security detail didn’t have a view of the front row because reports from the event stated that they were very animatedly trying to prevent the naked shennanigans that were taking place in the six story glass elevator.

Erik wrote in his blog Slipping Away that he made the best of the weekend in spite of the loss.

“Apart from losing my awards, i did have a pretty amazing night. I’m not sure how i determine what makes an amazing night? But i guess i’m equating my night the amount of gorgeous guys i got to hook up with. I know that i was basically doing it to make myself feel better, but fuck it. it was totally worth it and justified in my eyes. When else do i get to play around with the guys from other studios?
Which leads me to “The Pretty Russian”. I woke up this morning, cuddling with one of the cutest guys i have come across in a long time. I stared at him while he slept. There was something about the hair on his stomach that made me think, “Jesus, this is why i love being gay, this is why i love men, this makes me happy”. I laid my head on chest and went back to bed with a smile on my face dispite my vicious hangover. “

Gosh I wonder what the winners got?

Related posts:

Erik wins! Finally!  Really

Erik Rhodes in Ex-Wars

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GayVN 2008 Awards – So ovah!

Update here.

Last night the 2008 GayVN Awards show was held here in San Francisco, in the trade-show-cum-Folsom-dance-event space known as the Gift Center.  Surprisingly the buzz about this event has been largely negative.

For one it seems everyone was disappointed that Kathy Griffin was not hosting it again given how sucessful  she was last year when it was at the iconic Castro Theatre.  No explanation has been forthcoming on this but its widely known Kathy Griffin herself was miffed about this as well.  Her competing live comedy show, at the Castro Theatre (touche!), sold out while the GayVNs which sold out last year did not sell out this year.  Now I will say the Gift Center can probably hold a much larger crowd and I don’t know how many more tickets were on offer this year than last.  I’m just saying Kathy Griffin took the night last night.

Second, the Castro Theatre is a gay icon in itself that seemed to work perfectly for the GAYVNs last year.  And the location is central ‘hood.  The Gift Center compared to the Castro Theatre, well, let’s just say it should have been a last resort.   Probably logistically easier to set up and arrange everything.  But there’s no ambience my dears.  And its in the middle of nowhere.  I mean, who wants to pull up in their stretch limo all muscled up in  tux over ripped jeans and tank top ready for the gay-parrazzi only to step out and find – there’s nobody else here.  Lord, they might as well have kept it at a hotel in the San Fernando Valley.

Last Night’s Big Winners:

Best Picture – Grunts (Ben Leon, Chris Ward)

Performer of the Year – Jake Deckard

Best Actor – Jake Deckard

Best Supporting Actor – tie of Ricky Sinz and Christian Cruz

Best Solo Scene – Ricky Sinz

More coverage from The Sword here.

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