julius

The B&W photo on his ad looks like he might have long hair - tell me it's true!

To each his own, of course, but I would hate for people to take away from your statement that #1 - Bruce Beckham - is not hot in person. That was not my impression at all when I first met him; if anything, I was taken aback that he lived up in person to his photogenic promise. If he's not your cup of tea, then he's not and that's that. But if he is, I promise you won't be disappointed meeting him face-to-face.

Strap it to the outside and tell them it's a very expensive designer bag.

I'll add that the guy is constantly traveling. Seriously, look at his calendar; he literally commutes every week to cities all over (and sometimes out of) the country. Even when he's home on weekends, he's often on the road to Boston, or NYC or somewhere hours away - all to make it easier for the guys who want to meet him. Be patient and optimistic. TB is both, so you'll get along fine.

Mike Grey! Man, was that beautiful Brazilian amazing! Just the mention of his name brings up some great memories!

I've got Hashimodo's disease (and he's got mine).

Sir Philip Sassoon (1888-1939), British politician and socialite

1) Well-reviewed guys on Daddy's are professional and will be understanding of your intimidation and can cater to your vanilla needs. Just talk to them and discuss what you're looking for, and you will find most of them personable and agreeable. 2) Keep your expectations reasonable; elaborate fantasies or numerous demands aren't really conducive to a good session. Again, your provider is a professional - let him do what he knows how to do! 3) Trust your instincts - if it doesn't sound right or like a good fit, it probably isn't. 4) Above all: you are entitled to have fun - so have some!

As TB would say: “hooker drama”. After many years, I’ve learned that cancellations, with or without notice or excuses of varying degrees of believability, are part of the territory. It’s annoying and sometimes infuriating. But it’s unavoidable. Honestly, how I handle it depends much on the guy and sometimes my mood. I might give the guy another shot, I might not. One regular is such a friend now that a cancellation from him is no more upsetting than it would be with any other friend. There’s another regular whom, by all rights, I should never give the time of day given his repeated incommunicado no-shows and lame excuses, but I have a soft spot for the guy and for some reason I put up with it. Yet another (5-star celeb as far as these forums go) will never hear from me again after a half-hour’s notice cancellation with a ludicrous excuse after days of planning and multiple confirmations (all at his insistence) topped off with a nasty text from him when I dared let him know I was annoyed. This last guy is incredibly well-reviewed here and the recipient of lavish praise, but the way I see it isn’t that I missed out on a great time with a top-notch provider, but that he missed out on one of the most easy-going, loyal, generous and undemanding clients he’d ever know. I say that because I hold myself to the same standards as I hold the escort. I try never to cancel; I can remember only once doing so because a hurricane forced me to cancel a trip, and I called the escort immediately and told him the truth. I don’t play games - a booking is a booking - and I keep my word regarding time, date, place, price and all other particulars. I always have a backup plan. I only hire when traveling, so I make sure I have a Plan B (totally agree with the “take one for the team” mentality). That doesn’t always work out, though, so I have a nice meal, or a movie or some other event on the back burner just in case so I don’t feel like I’ve wasted a night. Or day – I’ve grown to appreciate nooners. Lunch or afternoon sessions are much less subject to cancellation due to a better offer coming along, and give more time to schedule an alternative for that day if they do cancel. BTW – since I’ll be in Boston soon – who was the incredible last-minute stand in?

This reminds me of the story about Princess Margaret and Elizabeth Taylor, when they were at some important function. Taylor was wearing the famous 33+ carat Krupp diamond, which Princess Margaret said was pretty, but that she thought such large diamonds were vulgar. Taylor persuaded the Princess to try the ring on, whereupon Taylor purred "There. It's not so vulgar now, is it?"

I agree with you, littlenut. There's been plenty of hot escorts with whom I've had fun, and while very few have been real jerks, many weren't especially chatty or considerate or even friendly. (Which is fine - I'm not paying them to sell me a timeshare.) But it's always the nice guys that I'll hire again and again. Tristan Baldwin is, for good reason, at the top of many peoples' list (mine included), but they don't come any nicer than Vin Marco, Ben Kieren and Bruce Beckham: stand-up guys, all.

Big points to him for a sense of humor!

Rock Bottom (There actually was a porn star by this name, but it really is the best, um, gag p0rn name ever.)

Smart, sexy, funny and a fantastic BFE, so be sure to make a date of it. His photos perfectly capture his impish personality, but he's no twink: he's a handsome strapping six-footer and an aggressive tiger in the sack. You will not be disappointed!

Well, I meant locals who hire locally, but you're absolutely right in that most tourists are interested in different pleasures (if you can call it that). There are a few escorts who travel here, especially during Carnival or Southern Decadence, and I when I have asked them about traveling here (or others that don't) their responses tend to be one of two things. First, like everyone else who visits New Orleans, working is the last thing they want to do when they're here, so many don't advertise. (I once ran into the late, great Arpad Miklos and his partner on the St. Charles streetcar, both looking every inch the tourist with their camera slings, water bottles and fanny packs.) And second, they tell me the clients here are pretty flaky, and I have no trouble believing it. Eccentricity is not just tolerated but cultivated here, and of course the city is traditionally and staunchly Roman Catholic, and there's a history of guilt and shame that goes with that. I can't count the number of older men who are still closeted, or have an "arrangement" with their wives, or waited until the kids were grown and in college to come out. I suspect there are no shortage of young men here whose favors are readily obtained, but in strictly a hush-hush, wink-wink, who-you-know kind of way (like just about every other desirable commodity in this city). Yes to all, though the Treme is recently gentrified and - like the Marigny - suffers from some discord between long-time locals and arrivistes. Absolutely. The University district, Riverbend and Oak Street corridor - collectively called Carrollton - is a great neighborhood with lots of shops, restaurants, etc. but still not at all commercially over-run. (Guess where I live?) You say that now, but it lasts from March to November, and it's relentless. Except for the hurricanes. There's a reason we move so slowly.

I suppose I take it a little personally when people trash-talk New Orleans; it’s been my home for over 40 years. I must iterate what others have said: if you come here and never leave the Quarter, then you really have a very narrow view on which to judge the city. I agree that the escort scene is surprisingly bleak here. When I was much younger (back before the internet, in what Bambi Lake called “the golden age of hustlers”) there were plenty of eager guys here to pass some time with; I remember a beautiful kid Donnie with almond-shaped eyes and a dragon tattoo that coiled around his torso and down one leg. But that was a long time ago, and things have definitely changed. AIDS was a factor, and so was the oil bust, and so was Katrina. My own two cents is that nowadays there’s simply not the clientele to support a good escort scene; New Orleans proper is actually quite small, and it’s certainly not wealthy. So now If I’m going to hire, I prefer to do it with well-known, top-notch guys rather than take a chance on something less than stellar, and that means going out-of-town. That said, it has become my personal mission to nag, tempt, cajole, coerce, seduce and otherwise convince Tristan Baldwin to get his fine self down to New Orleans at least once. He’s shown me around both Boston and L.A., and I am determined to return the favor.

Noël Coward had a great trick when forced to sit through a terrible play in which a friend was performing. Afterwards, he would walk up to them, beaming, and exclaim: "Darling! 'Marvelous' isn't the word!" Similarly, Harold Ross, editor of the New Yorker, was a master of faint praise, once writing in a letter of recommendation: "the man who gets Mr. Jones to work for him will be lucky indeed."

Bruce Beckham is the real deal: built, hung and handsome. Super nice guy, and very accommodating.