World of Men

From Paris to London to LA to Puerto Vallarta to Miami to LA to New Delhi to Miami to LA. Yes, it has been a bit of a busy past few weeks. I attempted to film a World of Men: Mexico down in Mexico but the models seemed to only want do a “casting” but not actually do filming so I dumped the project and chilled on the beach and went to the gym. In addition to Mexico I have been going to LA lately to dance to make some extra money and get the word out about the new WORLDOFMEN.COM.

So New Delhi? Yes, I am a travel guru so I know some tricks. The reason I am always in First Class on American Airlines is because I have Executive Platinum Status which gives me free upgrades. The Miami to LA to Chicago to Delhi flight brings me in 25,000 for about $1,000 (that is 1/4 of the 100,000 miles I need to earn get continue my status). On the way to Delhi my friend and I stopped off in LA so I could dance at Fubar on Thursday. The next day we flew 18 hours (luckily in Business Class) to Delhi. We arrived at 5:45pm Saturday then hired a driver and went  to the Taj Mahal Sunday during the day and returned to the airport in the evening for the long trip home.

Now I am in LA again dancing and patiently awaiting the arrival of my papi. We will both come out to LA May 12-17 to dance together, so keep an eye out for us!

One day in India

Tony was obviously excited to be in Lebanon and I was just in a hurry to be one of the first in line at immigration since it can get long and then your luggage spins around for so long. Tony and I went into 2 different immigration lines but I went through first and very fast. I watched as Tony approached his agent and almost immediately he was sent away, and he walked away very upset. I have forgotten the exact issue but I think it had to do with Tony filling everything out in English but then speaking Arabic to the agent which is a definite “no-no.” After lining back up again and waiting a half hour Tony came through and we proceeded to go through customs, but before we went through I said “do not speak Arabic and show your US passport, no Arabic!” And yes, the customs agents tried to speak to Tony and I in Arabic, but Tony did as I recommended so all went smoothly. As we left to the outside Tony’s friend was there as were some representatives from Lebanon’s IGLTA. I went to go arrange the rental car while Tony talked with his friend. We drove into town to meet with Tony’s friend, have a bite to eat and then check into the hotel.

The next morning started of calmly enough. Something quick to eat and a bit of running around Beirut, but since the President of Iran had just flown in, driving around Beirut was a bit of a hassle and since I was the driver it irritated me quite a bit. Tony was also a bit irritated, but after a while we both smiled about the situation since there was nothing much we could do. Later in the evening the IGLTA group gathered at a mall where we all had a nice dinner and things remained very nice, calm and quite normal between Tony and I. Tony’s friend came to have dinner also, but no issues were stirred with that situation, however, later, Tony wanted to go spend time with his friend and also spend the night with him. I was cool with all of that but reminded Tony to be back at the hotel by the time the tour was to leave the next morning.

The following morning I received a text message that Tony would not be at the hotel in time but would meet us at the museum. I did not see a problem with that so we all boarded the bus and immediately some of the group wanted to know my perspective on Lebanon considering my background and the fact that I was an outsider looking in. I was interrupted several times by the native Lebanese group leader attempting to correct me or add to my facts. I actually had no problem with this interaction because I had known the group leader for some time and we both threw out our own perspectives respectfully. When we arrived at the museum, part of the group wanted to be around me and continue political discussions. When Tony arrived I was talking to a small group and he immediately wanted my attention. I said “hey, what’s up” then continued talking to the group. When I finished I turned to him and he seemed to be a little unhappy. Unlike San Francisco, in Lebanon, men do not go around hugging or touching affectionately, let alone kiss, and in the past I had been affectionate with him in public, so it was difficult to restrain myself, but I completely understood the norms of Lebanese society. Nonetheless, I could tell Tony was slightly offended that I did not touch him publicly. He immediately started talking to me quite professionally almost mocking my behavior. While in the museum I hung out with Tony quite a bit, but since I had been there before I decided to look at areas that I did not look at so closely before.

On the IGLTA tour bus

Tony taking photos at the Lebanese National Musem

The group boarded back on the bus and headed to lunch. Once again a political discussion started that both Tony and the group leader interrupted and interjected. Fortunately we arrived at lunch and the politics stopped. When we finally arrived back at the hotel it was time for the actual symposium so I set up my equipment to tape and watched as everyone spoke. One of the speakers was Tony’s friend and after the symposium Tony came up to me and said he would spend the night at his friend’s place again. Once again, I had no problem, I just told him to be at the hotel in time for the tour in the morning.

No Winter Party for me! I have lived in Miami for 14 years not and have never been to a Winter Party or White Party. Sorry, but guys on drugs, and even worse, hot guys on drugs just really depresses me. And if you didn’t know, I deal with ups and downs of depression so I do not need to exacerbate that issue! So while the out of town, and local, boys were out and about at Winter Party events I was at home working and having fun with my cousin, her friend from Australia and my downstairs neighbor Adam.

After most of the out-of-towners departed and things calmed down a bit it was time to head out for Latin Night at Score with cousin Ellen, Ellen’s date, friend Bailey (the exotic dancer), and Adam the energy bunny! Like I said before, I have given up on drinking every night, so when I do go out and have a few drinks my inner-animal comes out and by inhibitions go bye-bye.

So the night ended with us stopping by the Whopper Bar and then me crashing into my fluffy bed. After being use to getting to bed around 11pm, these 4am nights are tearing me up a bit…

After my quick trip to Cairo to celebrate with Egyptians I flew home in time to pick up Draven Torres from the airport and go out in Miami Beach. The next morning I was on a morning flight to Medellin and Draven on an afternoon one. However, when I called on Skype from Medellin to Draven big drama occurred. My cousin’s friend was suppose to go with Draven on the same flight but she decided to cancel, thus Draven was left to fend for himself. My cousin also did not come home right from work to take Draven to the airport so I called my neighbor and asked him, but by that time it was too late and Draven missed the luggage cut off time by 10 minutes. Oh well.

Draven had an extra day in Miami and I did my best to plan some shoots and get some locations. Draven arrived the following evening just in time to go out for a bit.

The 3 amigos: Collin, Felipe Carson and Draven Torres

Uh oh, what did I do?

Draven hunting down a Colombian banana

So cool! (in a trashy lesbian bar)

comparing cocks

Sucking in sugar cane fields

What I make my models go through!

Fun times!

Dancing monkey

boracho?

I’m not sure what more to say than from the pictures you can tell that the making of Cum Fly with Draven Torres was fun and exciting. We first filmed in a lesbian bar while the lesbian owners watched, then we filmed at Felipe Carson’s apartment and finally up at a beautiful retreat in the mountains (where a sugar plantation walked into us with our pants down)!

My last minute trip to Cairo to celebrate with the Egyptians went by so quick! On my last day I went out to the Pyramids (no trip to Cairo would be complete without a trip to the Pyramids) to see them without all the tourists, to see what kind of tourists were out there and to report on the experience.

View from my suite at the Hilton World Trade Center Cairo

Grabbing a Pyramid

Add your own interpretation!

Self pic

Stomping a Pyramid

With the Sphinx

I flew to London, but my BMI flight arrived too late to connect to my morning nonstop to Miami on American so I spent the night and had a wonderful night with Jay Roberts (if you don’t know this sexy porn star then look him up!).

The next morning I flew back to Miami to arrange my things and pick Draven Torres up from the airport the next day. A wild night out with my neighbor Adam and Draven left me with little sleep before boarding a flight to Medellin, Colombia.

So here I am now in Medellin, more to come soon (and yes, the continuation of the Tony Aziz story is coming soon!)

On February 10 I was so inspired by what was happening in Egypt that I started looking for cheap airfares to go there and stand in the middle of crowds demanding freedom. My favorite airline, American, does not provide through fares to Cairo, so I checked United, Delta, Air France, etc….well, you get the idea. Those other airlines wanted $1,300 round trip and that was just out of my price range, so I decided to check one last site: kayak.com. Kayak sent me to cheaptickets.com that had an $860 round trip including all taxes using American to London and BMI to Cairo. I immediately called American to make sure I would get my miles and be able to upgrade and they said yes.

So I bought the ticket, e-mailed my CNN producers and prepared to witness history in the making. The next morning I started my i-reports in Miami and by the afternoon I was contacted by CNN letting me know that an Executive Producer would be calling me and setting up a Skype interview once I arrived in Cairo.

The flight from Miami to London seemed unusually quick (I did sleep the whole way…) and then I headed to the American Arrivals lounge to take a shower, print my BMI boarding pass and head off to board. The flight was about half full so I had a whole coach row to myself (my poor man’s business class sleeper seat). Even that flight went quick and before I knew it the plane was flying down over downtown Cairo. Upon arrival the airport was empty (news reports were saying it was a mad house) so I quickly grabbed a cab and headed into Cairo.

The drive into Cairo was horrendous! The traffic was impossible, but the CNN Executive Producer called me and told me to be on Skype at 7pm Cairo time. She really didn’t explain what the interview was going to be about. The whole conversation was quite mysterious with her continually asking me “didn’t the other producer explain what the interview is going to be about” and “she didn’t tell you?” Well, no, she didn’t. I was getting the feeling that the interview was going to be about a porn star going to Cairo. The conversation just felt that way.

I arrived at the Hilton World Trade Center (that I cashed in some Hilton points for a free stay) 40 minutes before the interview so I quickly Skyped the Executive Producer again and that is when she told me that she had to cancel the interview, but I was told to have my cell phone on me as I went to Tahrir Square. I cleaned up and headed down to Tahrir Square, but barely made it there since there was a huge celebration in front of the office of the state run news agency (equivalent to our Fox).

The next day I woke up early and went down to Tahrir Square to catch the last celebrations, clean up, and the re-opening of Tahrir Square to cars. The whole experience was amazing! People just walking up to me and talking politics. I loved it!

On the last day (yesterday) I decided to head to the Pyramids. I wanted to do a small report on bringing tourism back to Egypt, and hey, you can’t go to Cairo without seeing the Pyramids!

On a side note, I will upload the photos when I get back to Miami since they are too big and I don’t have my regular computer with a program to shrink them on this trip.

More to come soon!

Many people really don’t know what is going on in Egypt and the media really isn’t helping explain the situation. Well, just to let you know, ever since Anwar Sadat was assassinated (by Muslim extremists that were unhappy with him signing a peace agreement with Israel) Mubarak was installed as the President. Since Jimmy Carter successfully bartered a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel the US taxpayers have been sending $1.5 billion per year to Egypt to ensure the peace is kept.

Mubarak did a very good job at keeping peace with Israel ($1.5 billion per year is definitely a great incentive), but it was at the expense of the freedom Egyptian people. Mubarak aggressively went after Muslim extremists, but he also trampled on the civil rights of nearly every citizen. Mubarak also played a good game of nepotism and favoritism pushing him further away from the regular citizen on the street.

For years Egyptians have been raising their voices, but Mubarak quickly jailed or threatened the loudest of them. In 2005 Egypt had a general election and Mubarak won (according to Mubarak). The government conveniently did not allow some people to run (ones they believed may win) so Mubarak would be the victor. Where was the US when all this happened? Well, Egypt has been providing the US military a safe haven to bring “suspects” from both Iraq and Afghanistan and use torture which would definitely not be allowed in US prisons….how convenient……

After the successful ousting of Tunisia’s President (dictator) just a  week or so ago, the Egyptians felt their time had come to finally oust their President (dictator….I mean, come on, 30 years as a president?  That sounds like a dictator to me)

The first time I went to Egypt I was 13. I went on a one month camping trip with a relative from Belgium.

13 on a camel in front of the Pyramids in Giza

I went back t Egypt many times after the initial trip, but it was never the same. When I went back when I was 17 there were already places in Egypt that foreigners were not allowed as the government tried to preserve its image and did not want tourists to see anything the government was doing (such as aggressively going after Muslim extremists).

I went back to Egypt when I was 20 with my first boyfriend and mother. Ancient cities such as Asyut were off limits to tourists and when we took a taxi from Luxor to Aswan, the driver never told us that the route was closed to tourits, but a lot of arguing and a small bribe and we were allowed through.

17 at the Sphinx

At a Camel market

In Karnak

At the entrance to the tomb of Tut Ankh Amon

In Tut Ankh Amon's tomb

Abu Simbel

I have not been back to Egypt in a few years, but I want to jump on a plane and march with the anti-Mubarak protesters in Tahrir Square…..that is what one of my biceps says: Al-Tahrir.

Al-Tahrir

Prague from the air

We took a taxi to the hotel and we both wanted to lay down and rest a bit. I set the alarm for a quick 3 hours of sleep so we can then go see Prague. I have been to Prague twice before, but Tony ad never been so I really wanted him to see the city. We woke up and then headed out on the streets to catch a glimpse of Prague on a beautiful sunny day. We walked to the main plaza grabbed a coffee and kept walking around and taking pictures. We walked down the Danube and saw the Museum of Torture so Tony and I looked at each other and decided we needed to go see this!

Museum of Torture

The chair of death

Along the Danube

Happy. Before it all went super bad

Youch! Not a nice way to die

After the tour of the Museum of Torture we went to grab Thai food and then back to the hotel for a quick rest before the flight in the evening for Beirut. After a quick nap we were on the way back to Prague airport. Everything was fine, but then again at the ticket counter we hit another issue. One agent did not want to Tony to carry on his carry-on. Tony went over to the bag-sizer while I talked to the agent about the situation and check us in. The agent that was helping me said that it was ok for Tony to take on his bag, but Tony was paying no attention to us, but rather ranting and raving at some other agents in English. The agents that he was raising his voice at did not understand what he was saying and I was becoming increasingly embarrassed that he was assuming that everyone speaks English and not paying attention to the agent I was speaking to. Finally, I had to go over to Tony and tell him sternly that the agent I was dealing with already said it was ok to take his carry-on onto the plane. Once again, I became bewildered by Tony’s actions. He was paying no attention to me standing right in front of him, but rather yelling at the other agents that had nothing to do with checking us in. Finally the agent that checked us in had to walk over to the other agents, explain to them in Czech that she approved the carry-on, and tell Tony to come back over to her.

At this point Tony had struck a major nerve with me. He was yelling at people in English, not speaking to the correct agent, and then ignoring me right in front of him. After we were checked in I asked him what all that was all about? He once again threw it all back on me saying I was the one acting crazy so I told Tony I needed my time and I would see him on the plane and walked off to McDonald’s. After I was able to calm down and collect my thoughts I went through customs and security and then to the boarding area. I boarded the plane and a few minutes later Tony boarded and sat next to me. He had a sad look on his face and typed a message in his phone and showed. The message was something to the effect of an apology and excuse. I accepted. I told him to “just calm down and everything will be fine.”

The flight to Beirut was mainly non-eventful. Tony and I rubbed our legs together, exchanged smiles, ate our meal together and then Tony dozed off. A short 3 1/2 hours later the plane descended over southern Lebanon and landed at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The next update will be very interesting! You will see how everything fell apart and Tony and I went our separate ways.

That evening I do not believe Tony slept much at all. I woke up twice to his tossing and turning and then woke up about 15 minutes before my alarm went off because of him rustling around the room. After I took a quick shower and checked the room once last time I noticed that Tony’s face showed the signs that he definitely did not get much sleep or didn’t sleep at all. When we arrived at the airport his demeanor also changed. I could tell something was going on. He was fidgety and couldn’t keep still.

We were queued up at the Czech Airlines check-in counter when a Czech Airlines representative was making her way through the line. She finally came to me and asked to see my passport which I kindly handed over to her. After about 3 minutes of flipping through all of the pages of my passport I could tell she was getting frustrated. I asked what exactly she was looking for and she replied by asking how long I was in The EU for. I told her I arrived about a week earlier and then she said that many Americans come and stay over their 2 months and she thought that case may be true for me because she could not find my entry stamp. I looked with her for a bit and then gave up. My passport has quite a few stamps in it, especially ones from different EU airports and a few from Spain. She warned me that I would not be able to board the plane if I could not prove when I entered. Alas! An idea popped in my head and I dug through my bag for my boarding pass from New York to Barcelona. When I presented her with the boarding pass she backed down. However, the whole time I was working with her to resolve my issue I could tell Tony was fidgeting a lot more and looked like he was agitated about the situation. The next stop was Tony. He already had his passport open to the arrival stamp from a few days earlier, but the agent still looked through Tony’s passport entirely. When she returned the passport to him and started to walk away I distinctively heard him call her “rude.” I turned around and said “she’s only doing her job.” But then he did something strange. Tony said “she called you rude.”

At this point something clicked in my brain. I remember Tony uttering the word rude, but definitely not the agent. I do remember her looking back when he said that but I did not see anything come from her mouth. I brushed off the incident but filed it in my under the “odd section,” compartment in my brain. I could tell Tony was still quite agitated so when we checked in he walked over to the agent that checked our passports and had a discussion with her. I could not hear what was going on because they were nearly out of earshot but I could see Tony saying the word “rude” a few times. He came back over to me and said “see, she did call you rude.” I stood my ground for a minute telling him I didn’t hear her call me rude but I definitely recall him calling her rude. I finally gave up but once again thought the whole situation was a bit odd and just wrote it off to Tony not getting much or any sleep the night before.

The flight to Prague was quick and not eventful. We arrived and all was good. We took a taxi to the hotel and then decided to rest a bit before wandering out on the streets. I also decided that both of us were too tired to film anything so I decided not to push the filming issue.

I know I haven’t updated my blog in a while, especially when I promised to continue the story of taking Tony Aziz to Europe and the Middle East.

First, in September I decided to remove my business partner, Rich Richards, from my business. For over a year I have been suspecting that he was not doing as much work as he said he was. In January of 2010, I went to Australia for 2 months to film “Australia,” and many times that I would Skype Rich to get an update he would get very annoyed by any questions. I also told him that he really needed to get a job so that no business funds would be used for basic living expenses as when I returned I would also get a part time job. I would always wait until 10am EST to call him to talk, but many times he would not answer or, like I said, get annoyed that I called. When I returned from my trip to Australia I was home for 2 days and then took off to Belgium to visit family and film another movie that I ended up calling “Cum Fly with Collin.” Since the US Dollar was dropping I dumped my original project and stepped back in front of the camera to save money. I flew Rich over to Europe to film the movie and then left him in London with friends since he complained so much about not visiting his friends in London for a while.

Upon my return home to Miami I discovered that Rich had tapes all over the place and I could not figure out what he was really doing. When Rich finally returned a week later, at the end of March, I was finally able to see the full picture. Rich was going to the gym twice a day (consuming about 3 hours of his time) and going to the beach at least 3 times per week for at least 2 hours per trip. But the thing that really opened my eyes is that he was shutting his door for hours at a time and talking in Spanish on Skype to someone. One day I finally put my foot down, since scenes were not being updated on time on the website, so I barged in on him. I discovered that Rich was clinging on to a relationship with a 19 year old in Medellin, Colombia, that he met and had sex with only once.

As the year progressed the Skype calls were more frequent and I had to cut off his Skype account. Rich was increasingly getting upset when I asked him about the status of work. He acted like I had no right to ask him. By September I could not continue to keep working a part-time job, producing, directing and doing all of the accounting and watching Rich increasingly do less and less but demanding money.

Upon my return from the disastrous trip with Tony Aziz to Europe and the Middle East I flew to Los Angeles to pick up my cousin from Australia, go to visit family in Utah and Oregon and then head back to Miami Beach where Rich was to be completely moved out. I walked into the apartment and all of Rich’s stuff was gone. It was finally over! So, on October 31st I started a new era of my life.

I had to learn how to digitize, edit, use Photoshop and then render video for both DVD production and the website. Not only that I’ve been working hard on cleaning up the mess Rich left behind. It appears his fairytale “love of my life” relationship with the 19 year old in Colombia really encompassed Rich’s life ever since we went there to film “Colombia” which was nearly 1 1/2 years ago.

I promise not to let my blog go again for so long. The next time I update (which will be in the next few days) will be Part II to the Tony Aziz trip to Europe and the Middle East.

-Collin