With the end of 2008, I felt a life tune-up was in order. So to celebrate the New Year, I made an appointment at one of South Florida’s newest spas, the Spa at the Cabanas Guesthouse. A collection of little cabanas, as the name implies, The Cabanas Guesthouse is hidden behind a high fence along NE 26th St., but inside the property opens to a lovely view of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The Spa is located in one of the cabanas, tucked into a little corner near the water; owners Norman Lachance and Flash Thunder-Fire (such a combustible name for an expert at achieving peace and serenity!) have remodeled the place from top to bottom, turning it into a refreshing oasis with a breezy allwhite interior. I was expecting it to be nice, but not as nice as this. My treatment had three parts: first I began with a full-body scrub, using Babor’s Aromatic Body & Bath Oils and pure Sea Salt ($85). Norman’s hands are big, and strong; the scrub itself felt like a massage, without ever being too harsh from the salt.

Then he wrapped me in a foil sheet to let the oils soak in, which had me worried when I made the appointment, as I though I would be too twitchy to hold still while I was wrapped up like that. But lying there, listening to the music, the experience was very relaxing. After Norman removed the scrub with a warm towel, he popped on his glasses and swung around a light, to take a look at my face. “Hmmm,” he said, as he looked at my pores.

Yes, there was a lot of work to be done. So he treated me to the Anti-Aging Facial ($129), including a collagen mask and exfoliating treatment. It was, without question, the best facial I have ever had—I wouldn’t let anyone come near my face for the rest of the day, in fear they would touch it and spoil the shimmery softness achieved by Lachance’s magic touch.

Lachance then returned to my back, and applied a Hot Stone Massage ($145), a luxurious massage aided by the placement of warmed, smooth rocks along my back. Again, those hands—those amazing hands!—found each knot, yet he never used too much force. He combined this with a Chakra Balancing Massage, to balance my “energy centers and relax the central nervous system.” Shirley Maclaine would approve.

It was definitely a day of indulgence; but any one of these treatments on their own would have been fantastic. I feel so spoiled now! I can’t wait to go back.

TIME
7:00pm – 9:00pm

LOCATION
Galanga Restaurant · Thai Kitchen & Sushi Bar
2389 Wilton Drive
Wilton Manors, FL

EVENT DETAILS
Why do fools fall in LOVE? Here’s your opportunity to sit, greet and mingle with available singles in Ft. Lauderdale. You’ll have two to three minutes to chat and secretly scope out the competition, while trying to make the right connection with that special someone. This Fools’ Day event will be hosted at the patio of Galanga Restaurant, in the heart of Wilton Manors.

This is a one night-only event where we will have the ladies and the gents, in separate areas, as they enjoy select specials on beer, wine and sake while they try their luck at the fools’ game of LOVE. And if you have to ask why its worth it, then think about the last time you had 20-30 eager prospects in a row, who were there to actually talk and possibly hit it off???

$12 Member price
$15 Non-Member price

To purchase tickets please visit mglff.com or call 305.534.9924.

Miami & Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals
P.O. Box 530280
Miami, Florida 33153-0280
(305) 534-9924

Fort Lauderdale – The 32nd anniversary of Pridefest is scheduled for Saturday, and Sunday March 21 & 22, 2009 at the very popular Holiday Park/War Memorial Auditorium. Pridefest is a celebration and tribute to the LGBT community and its unique culture. The weekend-long event includes a special tent and dance floor for your dancing pleasure! with local DJ Miik (Sunday) and DJ  J. Roxx (Saturday),  Also featured are over 300 vendors, music, food, Games and Florida’s largest Aids Quilt display.

As usual, there will be non-stop entertainment both days, with an outdoor stage highlighted by national recording artist Lori Michaels & The Girls, Shelina, Howard Tonkin, Nelson Polanco and many more surprises! Official Pridefest events will be held at several of the nightclubs and venues in town starting on Friday, March 20 at Living Room Niteclub for the Official Pridefest Opening Party and Saturday March 22 at Sidelines Sports Bar and continuing through Sunday night.

The hours are Noon – 7 p.m. both days, giving our local gay clubs the opportunity to continue celebrating Pride well into the night.

Pride South Florida is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization run by unpaid volunteers. We aim to produce a highly professional Pride Festival that is not only economically valuable to our community to promote itself as the #1 Gay and Lesbian destination in the U.S.A., but also benefiting South Florida GLBT community organizations: Proceeds from Pridefest are distributed through a grant program each Spring.

For more information on Pridefest events, volunteering and other activities, please visit their website at www.PrideSouthFlorida.org or call the PrideLine at (954) 561-2020.
Here’s what you need to know…

When:       12:00 noon – 7:00 p.m.   Saturday, March 21st and Sunday, March 22nd

Where:      Holiday Park / War Memorial Auditorium – 730 North Federal Highway,
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Tickets:     All ticket proceeds benefit our community – See our Grants Page
$8 per person per day
$5 per Student per day (w/valid ID)

o Great DJ’s!
o Dance Tent with Dance Floor
o Food Court and Cocktails
o Outside Stage
o Fabulous Merchandise and Vendors
o GLBT Support and Education Information
o Games
o Florida’s Largest AIDS Memorial Quilt Display

The last election was a roller coaster for the GLBT community. The most gay-friendly president in history was elected while a strew of anti-marriage and anti-adoption laws were all passed through in California, Arkansas, Arizona, and Florida.

For days after the election, protests raged on throughout California, sometimes even turning violent, while in Florida people remained complacent.

Until Saturday, November 15th when protests throughout the entire county, including cities in Florida, were all taking place at 1:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Fort Lauderdale had a huge turnout, with over 1,000 people rallying on the streets outside of city hall in downtown.

A rainbow flag was held across the steps in front of the building with different minorities, sexualities, and genders all holding a piece. A woman in the front cried out, “But I’m straight, should I still hold it?” and the organizer of the event, Bishop SF Ma-Hee, proclaimed, “It’s okay, we want everyone fighting for us.”

And that was certainly a huge element of this event: people from all different backgrounds standing together for one cause. Older Fort Lauderdale residents in wheelchairs rallied alongside children. A mother nursed her child in one area, as two older lesbians held hands, waving miniature rainbow flags.

Rabbi Andrew Jacobs came to the speaking area holding his young son donning a Mickey Mouse hat. He explained to the crowd his purpose in attending: “I believe in a God that has no patience for these forms of hate…on behalf of the Jewish community we fight this lack of tolerance.”

There were many different religious organizations showing support. Bishop Reed of the Christian faith began the protests with an invocation, asking, “God the courage to believe we are indeed loved.”

The rally focused on using religion to help the GLBT cause, countering all the discriminatory ways religion has been used to keep gay equality from happening.

Bishop SF Ma-Hee led the Fort Lauderdale branch of this huge protest, and she brought a spirit of electricity to the crowd, jumping around and shouting different chants and words of strength.

She repeatedly asked participants to stay away from any forms of violence in the protest. The recent California protests were marked by sporadic instances of violence when protesters targeted the Mormon church (thought to have contributed lots of money to helping the marriage bans getting passed).

Bishop SF Ma-Hee also brought up another controversy concerning the election results: the idea that the surge in black voters led to the anti-gay marriage amendments getting passed.

As a black woman herself, she said she was particularly offended by that. “We have allies in the African-American community,” she spoke. “People who are racist and prejudice are also, always, homophobic.”

At that, she introduced Andrew Lewis, an African-American president of the Democratic Black Caucus of Broward County.

“Barack showed us what is possible. He showed us how to do it. Our voices should not be silenced. It’s not just about people who speak up with hate but also those who stay silent in the face of such hate. Silence is NOT harmless,” he said, calling to mind the words of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.

Also standing along the steps of city hall were protesters holding up signs of pictures of gay men and women killed in hate crimes, representing the organization Gay American Heroes.

Back in February, Simmie Williams Jr. was killed in a gay hate crime in Fort Lauderdale, and his mother showed up to speak, “We want you all to have equal rights like anybody else.”

The recent shooting death of a student at Dillard High School with gay subtext also affected the proceedings.
Kyle and Freddie, two 17 year old students at MacArthur High School were at the rally.

They are both members of the gay straight alliance at their school. “There’s not anything gay enough as a teenager, nowhere to really be gay,” Freddie said. “It’s nice to see this many people, as friends, loving everybody, except amendment 2.”

An event that started mainly through organizational efforts by Join the Impact using the website Facebook, the national protests were thought to be a huge success with over a million participants and more upcoming actions already planned.

These same sentiments were echoed at a similar rally in Miami Beach where Mayor Matti Bower addressed a large crowd and urged people to “never give up the fight.”

On December 10, Join the Impact is supporting “A Day Without a Gay” in which the GLBT community is encouraged to call out “gay” from work, and focus that time on helping the community, and not spending any money, contributing to the economy. After that, another protest is scheduled for January.

For a city that once seemed uninterested, Fort Lauderdale is strongly building up its gay supporters. Bishop SF Ma-Hee compared the GLBT cause to the recent rocket ship Endeavor’s trip to the space station.

“At 8:55 Friday night, we saw flames flying in the sky, from the rocket Endeavor. We endeavor too. We endeavor to put an end to bigotry.” And the 1,000 people holding up signs, banners, and flags cried out, “yes we can.”

Thank you for visiting our blog! Come visit us!
Bill and John

The Cabanas Guesthouse