For those who’ve kept up with 15 Minutes in the past, you know that I have a special place in my heart for Steamworks in Chicago. It’s fun, it’s clean and it’s four-floors of flesh that frankly can’t be beaten. This isn’t a bath from the ‘70s. They’re running a better designed show now, that caters to a client more like a boutique hotel than a sleazy scumfest.

So, that being said, I was in Dallas recently and decided to try out ‘The Club’ chain, which is pretty dominant within Texas (locations in Austin and Houston as well). While I didn’t know quite what to expect, it turned out to be a pretty decent experience. The club was small, but clean. Obviously it went through a recent renovation. Everything looked shiny and new, while the wet facilities sparkled. They had a large gym, cavernous dry sauna, dark steam room, open pool and whirlpool, outdoor areas and various rooms. Since Texas is pretty conservative overall, they aren’t allowed to play porn in the general areas and limit the porn in video rooms to just one or two channels. Argh.

I should have known better and just called up Jason Carter. He’s not only a goodtime, but quite the hottie ambassador of Dallas…

Back to reality: The club was actually too well lit. Steamworks uses a (but dim) warm downlight, which highlights a nice body, while keeping things somewhat anonymous and adventurous. The Club in Dallas was brightly lit and not at all condusive to the activities that were going on. I definitely got the feeling that public sex is a no-no there and that it’s very much a ‘take it back to your room’ kind of place. Vouyers and exhibitionists beware!

I also headed to Chicago, which gave me a chance to visit Steamworks and give room #227 a spin (The Sling Room). While it wasn’t crowded much on a Monday night, the works had a nice cross-section of good looking guys. A couple of younger, more muscleboy types took to me immediately by feeling up my package. Very nice. I did notice many of the guys in the club grumbling about Chicago’s recently passed Anti-Smoking laws, which prohibit smoking just about everywhere but bars and clubs. Consequentially, the rooftop deck at Steamworks is now open year-round for those who want to enjoy a puff while at play. As always, Works had a kick-ass selection of porn playing (over 30 channels) and redesigned some of the upstairs public play areas with new FX lighting, props and doctors tables. Anyone looking for a checkup?

While I had talked about posting some thoughts on 2005, it dawned on me that this blog is much more than sex-industry talk. With the tens of thousands of new readers that 15 Minutes has pulled in this year, it doesn’t make much sense to me to concentrate only on the escorting aspect of my life. While the escorting niche does have it’s followers, most of the names I’d mention in terms of Best/Worst would fly over 90% of readership’s heads. For that reason, I’m abbreviating the list this year and simply naming who’s hot and who’s not… It’s not lack of want to, but more a ‘keeping things flowing’ situation.

Who’s HOT:

Brandon Baker… He travels like a madman, he runs a great website, he’s an industry insider and he has a few fingers in RentBoy.com. Is there anything this machine-of-a-man can’t do? I’m tired just hearing about his non-stop life in email exchanges.

Bobby Thompson… His new website is simple, but it’s effective. Thompson is not only intelligent, but has plans much further into the future. His combo of boyish good-looks and smarts will carry him far, in escorting and in life.

Trey Thurston… This kid is one to watch. An up-and-comer who’s getting some nice reviews and a core of fans who sing his praises. All arrows point upward for this guy.

Scott Adler… He may be studying law, but hell if this guy doesn’t have an advertising major somewhere in there just yearning to get out. Adler knows how to keep an audience’s attention, all while maintaining a high degree of entertainment value and smarts. His bulletproof exterior has served him well this year, for which I commend him highly.

Steven Draker… The consummate escort and world traveler. It’s not often that in my travels that I hear such whole-heartedly good things on a constant basis about one particular escort. With Draker, I have time and time again. He’s a real pro and IMO, the most level-headed escort to come along in a long while.

The Cupcake Scam… I give a hat’s off to the guys fighting the good fight to take down this bullshit operation. Looks like 2006 might see the extinction of this mess.

The Rico Report… An interesting new blog. I look forward to it getting even more interesting when the author(s) take on new challenges away from M4M and that circle of friends.

MaleEscortReview.com… An old friend starts a new beginning.

Male4Malescorts.com… An old favorite still riding strong after an incredible loss

Who’s NOT:

While I’d probably like to name a few names, I won’t. It does nothing but stir senseless shit and make me just as bad as those assholes I preach against. Why fight mud with mud? Gets you nowhere fast and the pigs just enjoy the game…

Basically, the worst happenings of this year included a former escort coming back to ‘tell all’ against those who supposedly spited him, unjust accusations of unsafe sex against sex-workers (plural), escorts retiring for HIV health reasons, bitter-betties with too much internet access (and not enough ‘getting laid’ time), unimportant people feeling important under the guise of an anonymous screename, rip-off’s of rip-off blogs/sites that clog the net with the same repeated garbage, along with way too many hassles coming from the FAA and airport security.

*wink*

Exaservating the Irish stereotype on a day-to-day basis…

Here are some interesting images I snagged from a viewing of the Colin Farrell porn tape.

It
’s really not well done, highly edited and you never actually get to see Farrell’s package up close and personal with his head attched. Basically, it’s no ‘One Night in Paris.’ At least Hilton did her level best to spice things up with a classic ‘cell-phone chat-during-blowjob’ play. Sources of mine say that Colin is currently in MASS treatment for a crystal meth addiction and judging from his demeanor in the video, I’d say meth might be the culprit. As for Paris Hilton, well, she’s just high on life… And the occasional bowl of blow at Pure in Caesar’s Palace.

No, that’s not dust on this DVD cover…

Now, what is a bit more titillating is the Jen Aniston sunbathing pics. I won’t say much about the state of her chest, but now I can see why Brad might have looked for greener pasture:

‘Crack is whack’ says Whitney Houston. Exhibit A:

Last, but not lesbian, I’ve got some of my photos back from the last shoot I did. They came out sort of artsy, but I really like them. Different from my other images. I’m posting the whole set on my Yahoo Groups, so if you’re a member go check em’ out. If not, signing up is easy, free and can be done by clicking HERE.

Here is a small sample of the set:

… and this week’s EYE CANDY. Enjoy!

Yep, i saw Brokeback Mountain: While it’s too late in this blog to get into the film (i’ll save the speech for next week’s edition), i will say that it wasn’t what i had expected it to be. It seemed to decently sweep the Golden Globes, but here’s hoping the Oscar award committee vote with their heads firmly planted on shoulders. These are still awards based distinctly on talent, not soap-boxing or going against the current political climate. The media spin on this film is of dizzying proportions. Enough already.

On the other hand, Hostel was intense and thouroughly enjoyable if you’re a grindhouse horror movie buff. Sadly, there was much less man-on-man action than in Brokeback, but the scene where the Chinese chick gets her eye cut out more than makes up for it…

Look out for inside gossip and pics from this year’s HustlaBall on next week’s edition as well. Gooodtimes, goodtimes.

~BN

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” — Mark Twain