Sexy @ Sixty: Vendrick's Birthday Happy Hour at Bar: PM Benefiting PAWS

Sensational @ Sixty 

"I didn't want it to be about me" begins Paul Vendrick when talking about how he decided to make his sixtieth birthday extravaganza a fundraiser for PAWS, his favorite charity.

"This way I was able to shift the focus, from being a guest to a host."

PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support) provides resources to people living with HIV/AIDS so that they can keep pet companions as long as possible, and according to Vendrick the need is so great there's a long waiting list.

"Bar: PM wasn't a hard choice, and it was a logical one. As you know James, Chad, and their bartenders are very generous and agreed to donate all tips to PAWS, plus I was able to take over the whole bar for a few hours."


"You better work, bitch."                       

Sure, Vendrick is known for his affable personality, his disarming smile, and his charity work, but his name rarely comes up without someone mentioning that he's in better shape than men half his age.

"There are no shortcuts. It's a lifestyle."

And it's a lifestyle he's maintained since coming out at 18. That means hitting the gym six days a week, running, and watching his diet - a task made easier by not keeping unhealthy food in the house to begin with, and his near total ban on dining out.

"I'm very controlling about what goes in my body, so I just don't eat out" he says, before clarifying that he will go to a restaurant if, for instance,  it's the site of a birthday party or other special event.


Thoughts on Sixty 

"There's so much we didn't see coming. Things like Grindr, for instance, but I'm not going to talk about all that. Isn't that what old people do? Always talk about the way things were." Vendrick laughs.

But he did briefly touch on the AIDS crisis which wiped out a majority of his peers, including his brother and his partner, and then offered his thoughts on the way gay culture views older people.

"The gay culture isn't one that honors its predecessors very well, but, to our credit, we do work to make things better for those coming after us. It's always been that way." 

The Important Things

"As far as charity goes, the people I admire the most aren't celebrities. They're my friends. Mike Mullen, for instance. That guy works tirelessly. He just never stops."

"I didn't have a choice about being gay, just as I didn't have a choice about getting old" said Vendrick. And while that's true, he did have the choice in redefining what it means to get older - which he's clearly rocking.

Please raise a glass to Paul this Friday from six to eight at Bar: PM

There will be complimentary wells and domestics, food, and special shots. Raffle tickets are only a dollar and prizes include gift baskets and Pride VIP passes. 

UPDATE 4/29 

Tonight's the night! And stay for the dazzling 9:00 show starring Adria Andrews, Krystal Light & Mariah Candy!

Saturday's Super Gay Radio Interview

Host Garrett Miller

Los Angeles based Garrett Miller and New York based Paul InMass spend the first half of Saturday's SuperGay Radio podcast (listen) discussing RuPaul's Drag Race, and spend the second half (I come on 26 minutes in) discussing my stories including:

OBSESSED: Troubled Man's Quest to Ruin "Queen of Controversy" Janessa Highland

Malfeasance, Maneuvering and Meltdowns at the Monocle  - particularity the unsuccessful effort to debunk the story, and the orchestrated trolling of all my pieces.

I read several stories from Delusions of Grandeur. A Few Hundred Tales From the Emperor of St. Louis , and I discuss plans to tour.

Host Paul InMass

OBSESSED: Troubled Man's Quest to Ruin "Queen of Controversy" Janessa Highland

Kyle Pedersen was known to the owners, employees and entertainers of the Soulard Supper Club after leaving reviews like the one below. 

In the following days Shain Tooley, owner of the yet-to-be-opened club, reached out to Pedersen in an attempt to understand his grievance. Tooley even invited him to visit the club when it opens later this month, and offered him a drink on the house. 

"He said if we fire Janessa Highland immediately his campaign against us would cease. If we didn't it would escalate. "

One of the most intriguing and controversial entertainers in St. Louis - a city where upsetting the apple cart will quickly get you blacklisted - Highland's known for her pull-no-punches style and is accustomed to vocal detractors. 

But nothing could prepare her for Pedersen. 

Grey Fox Show Director Jade Sinclair, a personal friend of Highland, recalls how the two first became acquainted with Pedersen. 

"He got my phone number off of Facebook and began calling me, then he drove all the way to Jefferson City to watch us perform" recalls Sinclair. 

Outside of the venue Sinclair said Pedersen hit on Highland, but his advances were rebuffed. Soon after, Pedersen, who identifies as heterosexual, hatched a most unusual scheme to exact revenge.  

Jade Sinclair, Show Director at Grey Fox

In a bizarre plot twist, Pedersen decided to launch his own drag career as a way to take Highland down, and debuted as her estranged sister, Vanessa Highland. 

The threats began to go beyond simply upstaging the Missouri All American Goddess 2016, with talk of bringing weapons to the stage. 

Based on Pedersen's apparent criminal past, entertainers felt they had reason to be concerned. One by one bar owners from Bar: PM to Grey Fox began banning Pedersen. 

Despite her best efforts, Vanessa Highland never stepped on a St. Louis stage. 

Pedersen began spreading rumors that Grey Fox had closed, and that Jade Sinclair was harboring "a dark secret." 

"In the beginning I was deeply disturbed that anyone would put such nasty things on social media about me - things that are not true and are not a joking matter. However I learned that by letting it bother me he was getting what he wanted. I could not control him but I can control how I let him effect me. I know who I am -- and hope that those who know me also know who I am. The ignorant things he posts on Facebook speak more about who he is than anything else." said Sinclair. 

Are we dealing with a mere troll, or is Pedersen's obsession far more dangerous? He's not yet responded to my request for an interview, but if he does I will update this story. 

"I definitely think he's unstable" began Highland, who is staying on guard, taking security precautions, and has told every venue where she performs that she won't go on stage if Pedersen's in the building. 

Despite her practical steps concerning personal safety, the Queen of Controversy lived up to her reputation when offering her final thoughts on Pedersen's quest to bring her down. 

"Better bitches have tried." 

****UPDATES**** 5:30pm 

Performance Art 

This afternoon the above story was used as performance art at Bar: PM to great fanfare. Highland and Adria Andrews  read the piece as the screen shots flashed across the televisions. 

Kudos from a Former Nemesis 

Springfield's Widow Hutchens has long been a nemesis of Highland's, and actually cancelled on my 2013 Jet Set event (immortalized in Delusions of Grandeur) - a gig that came with a private two-room suite at the Chase Park Plaza - because of her intense disdain for Highland. 

Today she shared the story and offered the following: 

** UPDATE 4/27/16** 


*The* Dustin Mitchell, out of concern for Highland and Sinclair, contacted Pedersen early this morning in an effort to understand his war on them. Pederson responded. 

I had Pedersen's number on file and it matched the screen grab. 

Later, Pedersen messaged and then blocked me. 

Periodically I remind my readers that, despite my history with Dustin Mitchell, which includes being framed for a hostage crisis hoax, we're friendly with one another and I've long maintained he's one of the most interesting people I know. 

***UPDATE*** 4/28/16***

Dustin Mitchell draws up orders of protection for Highland & Sinclair.

Meanwhile, I had my own exchange with Pedersen. 

Pedersen is still operating a fan page in the name of Highland and Sinclair, despite a barrage of demands to Facebook that it be removed.

Outrageously, Facebook replies that nothing is violating their terms of service.

Paul Emery had the following response:

***UPDATE*** 5/1/16

STORY GOES NATIONAL 

Last Respects for the Armour Plant. Implosion Video

Photo by Chris Andoe. Edited by Pamela Devine

There's been buzz for the past month that the Armour Meat Packing Plant is being demolished, and last night I got word that the behemoth would be imploded this morning at nine. 

In Delusions of Grandeur I wrote about the last time I visited the site, what it meant to me, and a kindred spirit I encountered. 

Old Man of Armour

I've spent a great deal of time documenting the collection of ruins that made up much of the East St. Louis area. It’s fascinating to see what happens to large masonry structures after fifty years of abandonment. The first couple of times the decay seems static, but after a few seasons your eye begins to measure the steady progression.

The site urban explorers long found the most intriguing was the Armour Meat Packing Plant, which was the first of East St. Louis’s big three plants to shutter, closing in 1959. Visiting this behemoth was a religious experience for many, with its soaring smokestacks, towering ornate machinery—some circa 1902—incredible views, and endless areas to discover.

With a few flashlights you could descend into the labyrinth basement complete with oily black stone walls and deep watery pits. You could climb multiple levels, taking in the glazed brickwork and the old slaughter floor complete with a cattle chute, and check out the incredible views of the St. Louis skyline and the Mississippi.

Oneexplorer documented his journey to the top of the smokestack, where bricks came loose in his hands and he nearly fell to his death.

 The mystique around this place was accentuated because it was difficult to find, and you had to have a lot of street cred to even begin to look. You’d head north through East St. Louis, past the rough old prostitutes strolling Route 3, make a right at nowhere, make a left at nowhere, park along the nameless, overgrown and potholed road surrounded by the remnants of long vacated stockyards. Once on the property you’d trek the long convoluted pathways through thick vegetation, careful not to fall through open manholes, before finally reaching it.

Nature had taken back the site, inside and out. Trees were firmly rooted on the roof, vines climbed through windows, and a giant white owl waited in the rafters.

I’d visited the site regularly for a couple of years before metal scrappers discovered it and removed much of the flooring, and disassembled some of the ornate equipment. On an intellectual level I wondered why the thefts bothered me so much. After all the building had been steadily collapsing on itself for decades, and was well past the point of being converted into a new use. The condition was terminal, and after half a century of isolation, development was finally encroaching with the new I-70 slated to skirt the site. This hidden, mysterious treasure—long a beacon for explorers and thieves—would soon be laid bare as a dangerously accessible, intolerable eyesore on newly visible, valuable property. Its days were numbered but the dismantling bothered me nonetheless.

After being in California for seven months I was eager to see the ruins. With my friend Roberta in tow I visited the neighboring Hunter Plant, owned by my buddy Badass Charlie’s trucking company and slated for demolition, several sites in downtown East St. Louis, and I saved the best for last.

Sure enough the scrappers had stripped away even more of the personality, but in light of recent severe weather I was surprised that the structure hadn’t fared too poorly.

I was in the main machine room looking around when my eyes locked with an old Black man in an official-looking uniform.

“Who told you you could be in here?” he demanded.

I’d always had ready-made replies in the event this would happen, but in that moment I felt like one of the 12-year-old kids in Stand By Me. I simply replied, “Nobody. I was just taking photos.”

“Get your crew and get outta here.”

My crew? I realized he thought I was a metal scrapper. I called to Roberta, and he followed us closely as we walked the long overgrown road littered with stamped bricks, scraps of wood, and broken, colored glass towards the property line. I shared that I knew about the scrappers and also thought it was a shame. He then opened up.

“They’re who I was hopin’ to catch!” he began. “They’re tearing this place apart.”

I’d found a kindred spirit. This man loved this crumbling monstrosity even more than I did. After inquiring further I was astonished to learn he worked at Armour during its heyday.

“When they said the plant was closing and everyone was let go the boss pulled me in and said they need to keep one guy on as the caretaker, and offered the job to me,” he revealed.

In 1959 he watched his coworkers leave for the last time. He watched a solid facility slowly decay until entire sections of the roof crashed in, walls crumbled, supports failed, and people like myself climbed the building with abandon.

I had so many questions for him and asked if he’d speak with me for a piece I’d planned to write for the blog UrbanReviewSTL.

“I can’t really say nothin’, I’ve gotten in trouble in the past,” he said.

He did point to a few areas and told us how many people worked in each. He spoke of all the jobs that were there.

The overgrown lot littered with brush, bricks, and debris gave way to the blinding white pavement of the brand new access road. We were off the property. The old man with gray stubble, one blind eye and a sharp, pressed uniform had done his job.

A few years back I had a dream that after a storm I went to check on the plant. As I approached I heard a snap, like a lone firecracker, then watched as the entire structure collapsed in slow motion before me, a spectacular sight, so vivid with the smokestacks splitting and a fire escape landing just feet from my body. That would have been a demise worthy of such a structure. Nestled in quiet vegetation, and in the company of someone who loved it.

Just before we got in the car, the caretaker pointed to a nearby dirt mound and said,

“That’s where the new highway’s comin’.”

All of us understood what that meant.

I long gave tours of the urban ruins in East St. Louis, but there's not much left. Today I'll watch as the mother of them all comes down. Check back for updates.


**UPDATE** Video of demolition. My banter is wildly entertaining throughout but you can skip to the last six minutes to see the smokestacks fall.

Malfeasance, Meltdowns, and Maneuvering at The Monocle

A young, handsome California investor. In-house talent from Chicago. Movie stars flown in from the coasts. Flawless (and expensive) branding and marketing campaign. Generous compensation packages. A half-million dollar West End residence for performers.

The Monocle launched last year, and LGBT St. Louis had never seen such an opulent entrance. Investors and staff aimed to give the city an upscale nightlife option, with finely crafted cocktails and world-class entertainment, and then with the St. Louis venue as the flagship, they envisioned launching in select cities nationwide.

The community, not known for quickly embracing outsiders or change, stayed true to form. There was grumbling about the price of cocktails (Monocle’s rail cocktails are call at competing bars), and controversy soon erupted when a bartender held over from the prior establishment was dismissed for his resistance to the signature craft cocktails, instead suggesting patrons stick with quickly sloshed together standards like rum and coke. When he was let go he claimed the bar was ageist - a rumor that quickly gained traction. To top it off a notoriously dishonest drag queen up the block kept claiming there was a $30 cover, which was also bad for business.

But the Monocle was so well funded, the story went, that they could sustain major losses in the first year without worry.

Then the checks began to bounce, leading to embezzlement accusations and legal maneuvering.

The Idea Man

2015 started strong for Kyle Hustedt, proprietor of Chicago’s “The Cabaret Project” theatre company.  First he appeared in a Super Bowl commercial with Jennifer Hudson (0:17) and then received an unexpected business proposition from a former associate he hadn’t seen in ages.

Three years earlier he’d written a business plan for his dream establishment, and a friend showed it to a man I’ll call “Investor X.” Now Investor X was interested in making his dream come true.

Kyle had never even set foot in St. Louis before he flew in to check out the space and get a feel for the community. When he returned to Chicago he told his friend, mentor, and fellow performer Amy Armstrong that he needed to follow his dream, and much to his surprise she offered to join him.

They packed up their lives and relocated to the plush West End residence purchased for in-house and traveling entertainers.

All Hail Harrison & Jolene GOTCHA

Harrison Roberts was one of the most well-known and well-liked bar managers in town when he was approached with what seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime: more money, a calmer bar with better hours, and a small ownership stake. The father of newborn twins thought it was the right decision for his family.

Jolene felt she finally found her niche at the Monocle, except for one coworker who, according to Harrison, “hates her with the intensity of a thousand suns.” The coworker had a short fuse and regularly exploded about everyday issues like dropping a glass or getting locked out. Jolene was able to navigate around him, for the most part, and really enjoyed her job.

About seven partners own the Monocle and all have ironclad nondisclosure clauses, so nobody would go on record, although several met with me – including one clandestine meeting at the closed bar on a Sunday. Video showed we missed being discovered by one of the other partners by ten minutes – and we were discovered by Kyle.

Since she was just an employee, Jolene offered on-the-record insights. According to her, and contrary to the founding documents, Investor X never actually invested anything – and he spent money on personal expenses like mad. It all came to light when he went missing for a few days and Harrison had to figure out how to do payroll. Not only was there no money in the reserve account, the business was about $60k in the red.

“It was like a family member was dying and we called the family in. Even one manager that had left us previously. There were so many tears. Finally we were paid and promised it wouldn't happen again. The next check came almost on time. Then it all fell apart.” – Jolene recalled.

Harrison felt he was out of time, and the best thing to do was cut his losses and move on. He was followed soon after by Kyle, who returned to Chicago in financial ruin.

Gallows Humor

The plan as I understand it is to get Investor X out, and replace him with an investor-in-waiting. Meanwhile employees haven’t been paid in weeks, and gallows humor has set in. One regular customer only had one olive in his martini and said, “Wow, you really are cutting back!” and famed pianist Ron Bryant reportedly grabbed a couple of Monocle gift cards and exclaimed, “Better use ‘em quick folks!”

Holding On

“I would say as a conclusion this situation has caused Kyle to move back to Chicago to find work and Harrison to quit, leaving James [Dunse] to run the place. Working night and day diligently trying to find a solution. James left a career to come here. Not only that, but a part time job of eleven years at Just John. We all believed in this place so much. That's why we can't seem to let go,” said Jolene.

Kyle still has his ownership stake, and still believes in the venue – especially his beloved Emerald Room, which is the theatre portion of the club. “Not only is there nothing like it in St. Louis, many performers have said there’s nothing like it in the country. It’s the attention to detail, the upgraded lighting and sound system, that has entertainers saying they wish they had a space like it in New York or Los Angeles.”

Should the partners get their legal issues ironed out, maybe St. Louis would finally embrace The Monocle. After all, many didn’t like them because they “thought they were better than everyone” with their expensive drinks and shows that cost money to see. They were outsiders, but they’ve now been initiated, been run through the rumor mill, have had their dirty laundry aired, and have been taken down a peg. The St. Louis LGBT community can’t forgive pretension, but look around the Grove. God knows we can forgive anything else.

The entire saga has given The Monocle the one critical ingredient needed to be one of us: character. 

Childhood friend is dying. Going to Tulsa now.

This is normally something I'd post in an update but I can't.

My childhood friend Stephanie is dying and I've been asked to go to Tulsa to say goodbye.

I'm leaving now.

Local Celeb’s GoFundMe Irks Peers

Several media personalities have come to me with complaints about the GoFundMe page set up by an unemployed local celebrity and his wife.

The man was fired over the summer and began a campaign to raise $10k, but is on his way to raising double that amount. His peers claim the couple has been gambling, and feel the community is being taken advantage of – not to mention several former coworkers who donated and then then lost their own jobs this month. 

“I know of people who donated who couldn’t really afford to, and it was unnerving, but now they’ve gone well past their goal and are still soliciting” fumed an acquaintance.

GoFundMe requests are constantly raising eyebrows and sparking debate about what is and what isn't socially acceptable. I think if someone makes a public plea, then the public is entitled to their opinions about how worthy the plea is. Of course when you're in the media you can't risk the backlash of speaking out, therefore I expect the outrage will be kept to a low grumble.