By Dana Miller

Mark's Restaurant on La Cienega was beautifully thrown back in time last Thursday. This is all due to the 40th birthday of the philanthropic and fun Alan Friel. The best crowd the joint has seen in five years assembled to toast Alan and support and honor Outfest's Legacy Project and the Andrew J. Kuehn, Jr. Foundation. Andy was a superb filmmaker and a true gentleman steeped in classy grandiosity. His widower, the promoter Will Gorges, spoke eloquently of Andy and his wishes. He then went on to announce the foundation was matching the event proceeds to assist Outfest in the restoration and preservation of GLBT films at UCLA. The place was packed with entrancing energy led by Alan's husband TJ Prokop with Garth Ancier, Don Gray, Jeff Haber, Paul Nelson, David Neuman, John Brady (who is about to make a big announcement), Ron Palmieri, Alan Poul, Al Rantel, Kevin James, Curt Sharp, Joel Raznick, Jeff Smith, Tripp Wood, and tons more partyers. The evening's entertainment was provided by the cabaret show, Upright. I have slightly bashed Chris Isaacson and Shane Scheel's production in the past, but now stand corrected. I've thoroughly enjoyed it twice since the holidays and the boys have gotten their act together. The evening was a wonderful way to ring in a milestone birthday. Very successful mix up.

The land on Sunset where the House of Blues sits has been sold to a member of our community. Ronnie Haft is deep in what I can only assume are dreadful negotiations with the City of West Hollywood to build up and create condos. It's a legendary site and a stones throw from where Errol Flynn lived for a time with John Barrymore and inches from where a fun and funky restaurant, Butterfield's, once stood. Take this to the bank: Look for the House of Blues to eventually take a powder and leave WeHo and the Sunset Strip....

No surprise that the Q Network is in trouble, laying off 100 workers and weeks behind in back pay. We have Logo, here, and Q. Aren't we overserved with gay TV? How many times can we watch The Birdcage or Longtime Companion? While I'm glad Steve Kmetko has work, one network will do. May the strongest survive.

Is Laguna Beach fading from the rainbow? I have written many times of how I feel the once gay mecca was simply becoming too expensive. Like most California beach communities, land value has exploded over the past decade. Seven years ago an ex and I, along with some friends, sold a cute, small home in Laguna for a little over a quarter million bucks. It recently turned again for well over a million. Hotel rooms in Laguna are among the most expensive in California. In our 20s we used to hit Laguna every weekend. I suspect most in their 20s today are priced out of that privilege. I have friends who still have places in Laguna who share my gut feeling that it just ain't what it used to be. Maybe Palm Springs is the new Laguna. But the other day at a birthday party I got to talking with Fred Karger. Fred lives here in the hills, has a place in Laguna, and has been going there for 30 years. Fred is convinced the last straw in the de-homoing of the beach resort will be the closing of the Boom Boom Room. Laguna's oldest gay bar has been serving up booze to the brethren for over 70 years. Over the years I've had some wickedly wonderful nights at the Boom. I've met many a trick and one of my best friends there. He's a cop who was getting slammed with a priest the night we met. No punch line to that, but it still makes me giggle. Not too long ago there was a queue to the beach to get into the Boom every night. Now there is a dark cloud of rumor and speculation about the place. Fred and others I have spoken with want to fight to save the bar. Now I'm no investigative reporter but the calls I've made have convinced me the prospect is sadly bleak. The guy who bought the place is Steve Udvar-Hazy. He is a billionaire many times over and something like the 250th richest guy on earth. He also bought the liquor store across from the Boom, GayMart, and that cute little yellow house on the corner next to the steps to the beach. He paid about 12 million bucks for the Boom Boom Room. Common sense dictates that his plans exceed selling cosmos, martinis and hotel rooms where you leave the door ajar after 2 a.m. I spoke with Udvar-Hazy and he was very, very nice, but non-committal. He said he had yet to make a decision and was open to all ideas. Good answer. So then I contacted the mayor of Laguna, Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider, and asked her opinion. This is what she wrote me: "Dana: I think this is private property and the owner can do with it what he wishes, within city codes. However, I hope the proprietor and the clientele of the Boom Boom Room (should the owner change the use)... find another location in Laguna as I know they are a tight community with roots in Laguna Beach." I honestly don't disagree with her, but it's pretty clear there is presently no ongoing civic led fight to save the Boom. Councilperson Jane Egly basically stated the same position to me: "Many of us wish things would not change, but they do." It just feels to me that like the House of Blues on Sunset, the Boom Boom Room's future, at least at 1401 South Coast Highway, is a bust. Unless of course Fred Karger and his team's energy and passion to fight it wins out. Our community over the years has time and time again proven its power. Is there passion for this? Do you care enough to fight? I really want to know. My e-mail address is below. Mary Engelbreit once wrote; "If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." This one maybe isn't in the hands of the gay gods, but is instead sitting in the palm of a straight billionaire.

You have to love charities. No matter how hard they try. I have been involved with AIDS Project Los Angeles for 16 years. I came to them truly by accident, divine intervention, or mad luck after my lover Matthew Murray died an extraordinarily horrible death in June 1989. One morning in August of '89 they returned a call he had put into them regarding a ride to his doctor. I had no idea at the time, but he felt sad that I was coming home a few times a week during the workday to drive him to his medical appointments. Eight weeks after he had passed they were just getting around to returning his call! I could get mad or get involved. I guess now in retrospect I did both. I went on to volunteer and produce a ton of events for this great organization, joined the board of directors and served as chair of the board from '94 to '97. Over the years I have donated literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to APLA and made certain they were well spent. I continue to serve on their Ambassador Council and my Toy Box Party still benefits their clients. So I just had to giggle over the weekend when my quarterly newsletter humbly arrived from APLA addressed to "Ms." Dana Miller. Fame is indeed fleeting. I swear Matthew is laughing at me wherever the hell he is. Gender recognition aside, I still love 'em for all they have done and do.

Contact me at: Malibudana@aol.com

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