“Walter, fix me a drink!” In the 1960s, 70s and early 80s we always saw characters on TV drinking all the time, either at home, after work, during lunch, or pretty much all the time.
Everybody seemed to have a little cocktail bar set up in their living room. And then all of a sudden, everyone got rid of them. Except for TV shows like Absolutely Fabulous and Sex and the City, we seldom see TV characters getting drunk like we used to. What happened?
Are we drinking less today, or are we hiding it better?
On today’s show, Feast of Fools teams up with Project CRYSP, Chicago Task Force on LGBT Substance Abuse and Sidetrack to bring you a very special live podcast forum about our complicated relationship with alcohol.
Meet the experts-
Dr. David McKirnan, Professor of Psychology at University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Research Investigator at Howard Brown. He began studying alcohol & drug use among GLBT people in the mid-80s and he later examined the intersection of substance use & HIV risk. Think of him as the Dr. Kinsey of booze!
Lisa Rivitz, the Program Manager for Recovering with Pride Substance Abuse Program at Howard Brown Health Center. Her work focuses on addictions, 12-step recovery for substance abuse and other compulsive behaviors, working with individuals to overcome their abuse with drugs and alcohol.
And meet two bartenders from your favorite gay bars in Chicago, from Sidetrack Paul Davis and from Minibar, Tom Andrika. Paul’s been in recovery for as long as he’s been a bartender at Sidetrack, which has been called the “best gay bar in America.” What’s it like to be a bartender at such a well visited place when you don’t touch the sauce?
In 1946 Tom Adrinka’s grandfather opened up a bar in a small town in Ohio called “The Gay Bar” but it wasn’t a gay bar. But as gays became more visible in the coming years, his grandfather changed it to the “Twin Rivers Tavern.” It’s funny that fate allowed him to have two gay grandsons!
Today he works at Minibar, a gay bar in Chicago known for their sexy male bartenders.
Listen as we talk about what it means to drink responsibly, how to avoid those nasty hangovers and clear up some misconceptions on mixing your drinks.
True stories about boozing it up from Chicago’s gay bars plus questions from you in our audience! Click here for a photo gallery from the event (pictures by Fausto Fernós and Rick Aiello).
The podcast that comes with a little extra sauce on the side- Feast of Fools.
Check out today’s sponsor:
Gay, Sexy, Healthy- Lifelube.org
Your “big tent” guide to gay men’s health,
from sex and drugs to Faeries and Bears
Your friendly concierge for all that’s gay, sexy and healthy.
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18 Comments
Comments
You boys are FAAAAAAAAAAAST!
Wow, LifeLube and Project CRYSP toast to your timeliness…. Thank you both so much.
For even more glass taking, we have more, more, more photos from the event here http://flickr.com/photos/jim_pickett/sets/72157606355518781/
And we did a blog post on the event (the morning after…) here
http://lifelube.blogspot.com/2008/07/taking-glass-at-sidetrack-community.html
I look forward to reading people’s opinions on the forum and the topic in general here.
Great show guys, it’s interesting to see you boys interact with a live audience. The point that Dr. McKirnan made about the ways gay men differ from straight men as they get older is really interesting. Wish I could have been there!
Did anyone else think that the self-described 23-year recovering alcoholic sounded wicked drunk when he was asking his question? I think he was obviously just nervous, but its amazing how much it sounded like intoxication.
When it was said straight boys and gay boys drink about the same amount, but gay boys don’t indulge in weed like their straight counterparts, I completely agreed that. A lot of my gay friends don’t smoke weed, I wonder why that is. I know I stopped smoking weed because it didn’t do anything for me, it smelt bad and i just got sleepy and hungry.
This may sound bad, but I believe there are a lot better drugs (for getting high) than weed.
Me and my friends drink pretty much the same (way too much) as straight guys at a party.
I know I don’t have the best relationship with alcohol either, but after all of this talk about alcoholism i’m def. starting to do some self evaluating,
I never smoked weed, but I do love to drink and always have. Now that I’m a bit older, it’s harder to recover so I don’t drink as much. Which means I don’t go out as much either.
The Windy City Times did a good story on the forum in their July 30 edition
Here is the link:
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=18996
If anyone here would like to write about their experiences with alcohol, or other substances, please let me know. We would like to run these sorts of stories of LifeLube.
The only thing I got out of this show was the fact that the only way gay men can have a fun time in life is with alcohol. So sad! Nothing wrong with a couple drinks here and there but if someone asked you to give it up for a month and you panic, you should probably get some help. Sure it tastes good and it’s fun but it’s not critical to live a happy and fun life.
At allegid partys in which my friends and I would allegidly drink. I used alchol as a way to become straight. Cause being young i didn’t want to say I was gay but when a drunk chick sits on your lap and wants to make out what guy would turn it down, except a gay one, so I would down my drink and play straight. But that allegidly happened.. I enjoy your regular shows more but these live forums are eye openers. Thanks for all the info guys I’ll keep it in mind when I go to parties.
Chicago Gay Examiner blogger Michael Lehet attended the forum and took copious notes, basically a transcript or “live blog” – capturing pretty much the entire discussion. Check it out. Amazing Michael.
http://www.examiner.com/x-443-Chicago-Gay-Examiner2008m7d30-Live-Forum–Lets-take-a-glass-together
Oh, wow. I love Paul Davis. I remember him from when I lived there 10 years ago. Hubba.
Derek Nicoletto
http://www.totblog.net
thank you for this info guys! i don’t drink myself and my roommate didn’t much when I moved in but a recent love interest has somehow got him out of sorts and i wasn’t sure how to approach him to encourage him to slow it down a bit. your show gave me good ideas about how to help him get it back under control.
Glad the forum was helpful to you Kendall!
Hey guys! WONDERFUL PODCAST and a the subject of the podcast was a GREAT idea. As a gay guy that has an alcoholic mother I can not tell you what this episode meant to me. I always think that when I have a drink I’ll turn into an alcoholic – let me tell you this episode put this absurd feeling into a whole different perspective. I am really proud that there is a podcast like the FOF that shows a whole different side of being gay then the standard ‘queeny’ view the world has of us. Keep up the good work!!!!! Hugs, Carlos