It’s sort of devastating to see a city that you love in pieces.  It’s almost unreal.  Places you were standing not 12 hours earlier are now covered by pieces of the buildings that stood above them.  These are from right below The Glen Hotel, where we were just the night before (you can see The Glen Hotel just above and to the left of the twisted Philips Arena sign).

It was all quite strange… being thrust completely out of your element and then left to question where you are.  It was especially weird because I had just spent 3 days showing off the city that I loved.  I got to drive around, brag, point out cool shit, and totally reconnect myself.  Showing other people what you see everyday allows you to see it through their eyes and it becomes fresh again.  That’s what had happened with Atlanta and now it was so violently torn apart… and in an instant.

(This entry previously published on March 14, 2008 but I moved it up to be a part of the new kyle.tv blog, which began on July 1, 2008)

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When you have no set income, no health insurance, and rely on the kindness of others for money you’re called a “freelancer.”  Welcome to my new world.  Part of my strategy in making sure it’ll work for me is not to say “no” to any work that comes my way.  When that work turns out to be a 3 day gig with Playboy TV, you definitely don’t say no!  So welcome to “Adventures in Freelance, Part 1.” 

My friend Shannon – who runs a kick ass burlesque troupe called The Dames a’Flame – called to tell me that Playboy TV was coming to town and they needed an assistant.  It would be a small crew consisting of two main characters, a shooter, and a director.  It didn’t pay that much but whatever.  They needed someone to show them around the city and Shannon thought I’d be perfect.  I called the director and happily accepted.

They were going to be in town for 3 days, Thurs-Sat.  The series was “69 Sexy Things 2 Do Before You Die” and Atlanta – excuse me, “Hotlanta” – was the setting for this one.  Apparently the series is about couples who travel to various cities, have hot sex vacations, and Playboy is there to document what the city has to offer.  And now, by proxy, so am I. 

So what exactly does Hotlanta have to offer? 

Well, one of the highlights was definitely The Mile High Club.  Unbeknownst to me and probably most everyone, Georgia is home to the “official” Mile High Club.  (I guess that makes me a mere “unofficial” member, ahem.)  But just a short drive away, to West Carrollton, is an airport with a Piper Cherokee Six custom made for screwin’ in the sky.  Playboy TV was all over it.

We got out there our two lead actors – Christine and Mark – got out and started checking out the plane.  It was a two-seater with a mattress in the back surrounded by about 4 pillows.  Check this out:

There was only room for 4 people.  That meant the director and I would have to stay back while the pilot and the shooter (not to be confused with the lead male) were in front.  The couple would be in the back.

While they filmed the scene leading up to the flight, I got to talk with Bob a bit (the middle-aged, married, Southern gentleman-pilot who ran the club).  I told him I was surprised that, in rural Georgia, this sort of thing would, um, fly. 

He told me that he did get a call once from a prominent business owner in that area who told him that “they didn’t need this sort of thing in their community.”  Bob asked the man – who owned a few Holiday Inn type hotels in the area – what the difference was between couples doing it in rooms he rents them or them doing it up in his rented airplane?  Great point.  He never heard back.

Then I asked him if he ever had guys calling him… like, gay ones.  He said yes but that he hadn’t taken any up.  I asked if he would.  With a smile on his face he said, “sure… money is money.”  (kyle.tv challenge anyone?) 

Anyways, as the couple came and went apparently the friendly skies weren’t so friendly.  It took them about an hour, all told, and when they got back they looked a wreck.  The director had wanted them to fly over Atlanta so shots of the skyline could be out the window as they were “doing it” (they always fake “did it”).  I guess that meant for harsher turbulence or something because they said the flight was uncomfortably BUMPY.  Instead of getting sick they worked the thrusts and bumps into the scene but they all came back pretty winded.  They faked their “Mile High Club” certificate and we all got the hell outta there.

Not too bad for a first day on the job.

(This entry previously published on March 13, 2008 but I moved it up to be a part of the new kyle.tv blog, which began on July 1, 2008)