BijouBlog

By Will Seagers

Hi Folks - Will here. These last few blogs have been of a more personal nature. This one will let you know what makes me tick!

I always admired the way my father carried himself and how he dressed. I learned that meant including a watch to finish off the look. He was not much for jewelry or fancy watches... a simple Timex with a striped fabric band usually did the trick.

I don't remember wanting or having a watch for myself until I was into my late teens or early twenties. They were usually very nice watches that my father won in sales contests or the like. If they were too fancy he considered them "fag watches" and passed them along to me. LOL. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of these "hand-me-downs" to show. But, I do remember they were both Bulova Accutron watches - great timepieces of the day. One was a round face and the other was a tank (Cartier styled) watch. I loved them and wore them with pride until the "watch buying bug" really bit me!

That happened back in the early 70s when I was a flight attendant stationed in San Juan, P.R. Although I noticed all the great Rolex watches worn by members of the flight crews, I had my heart set on on a more artistic representation in timekeeping - a black ceramic Rado watch. Beautiful lines that even rivaled the Movado Museum watch.

So, I took advantage of my flying benefits one day and took a short hop from San Juan to St. Thomas - a mere 20 minutes away. This was the place to come and shop for watches and jewelry! I remember walking into a duty free shop and right up to the Rado display. Out of the corner of my eye I could also see the Rolex display. I felt like someone yanked me by the scruff of the neck over to the Rolex counter. My jaw dropped as I eyed a very simple and inconspicuous "Air King" model. After only a few minutes of gazing at it and (of course) trying it on, I was out the door and headed back to San Juan. That watch stayed with me stayed with me for decades.

"Rollies" were know for their quality and for holding their value. And, when some rougher times arrived in my life I sold mine to keep me afloat financially. I immediately felt a hole in my life (and in my heart). I was determined to get one back on my wrist ASAP! That happened shortly after I met my current spouse back in the mid 90s. A wonderful and lucky event happened in my life. I wound up with a painting that no one else in my family wanted from my recently deceased (Finnish) Aunt. I knew it had value. But, I was blown away when we took it to an auction gallery in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A very distinguished man rushed over to us and asked about the painting. I recognized him from The Antiques Roadshow. Yep. He was of that caliber! Long story short, he took it to Amsterdam for the summer and showed it to many potential clients. In the fall he invited us to the auction where it was about to be shown. My spouse and I were shocked when the auctioneer announced, "The opening bid for this rare Dutch Masters oil on wood painting will start at $12,000!” It ended up at just under $25,000. My partner and I were delirious. It was quite an unexpected chunk of change! After the dust had settled, I went to the Tudor watch store on the west side and replaced my Air King!

That watch remained with me for over a decade. It was one day in my store that a client who was a gemologist from a local Rolex dealer commented on my watch. It was sort of a back handed compliment. She said to me that my wrist was really too big for the 34mm watch face and that I should come and look at a Submariner - which measured 40mm. So, I did. And, that started an almost decade long cavalcade of buying and trading up Rolex, Panerai, and Breitling models. It was a glorious period of time - I enjoyed every minute of it.

When I decided to stop working I literally pulled the plug in one fell swoop. I was very uncomfortable in my final retail selling position and needed to be free from all of the pettiness of the retail scene. I didn't have anything lined up in the wings. So, I made a pact with myself to sell to sell my final Rolex, a GMT Coke model, back to the jeweler from whom I bought it. It pained me to do so. I thought I would never see one again. And, that has been the case, so far. It was a nice lump sum to put in my bank account as I figured out how to start my retirement years. All of my crazy buying patterns came to an abrupt halt. And, I have survived!

During my retail working years I also enjoyed adding various clocks to our home. I love regulator clocks, cuckoo clocks, mantle clocks and of course my French styled Bonnet Grandfathers' clock. It's really very amusing when the hour arrives in our home - it sounds like a clock store!

So, there you have it. You know a little bit more of what makes me tick! In a day when most people tell time by their cell phones, I delight in looking down at my analog watch face or looking across the room at these pieces of history, waiting for them to chime. And, in very quiet moments, I love to listen to the subtle murmuring of the machinery of time... tick tock, tick tock.

PS, folks - I am a Capricorn, the sign ruled by Saturn and, in Greek mythology, Kronos, the keeper of time.

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.
 

 

By Josh Eliot

I didn’t give interviews often, back in the day. Not because I was opposed to them but because Mike, our general manager, started alienating the company from the competition. There was a time when he stopped running advertising campaigns, taking part in industry functions and even shunned the critics and award shows. It was like pulling teeth at one point to get him to submit screeners to the committees for award consideration. Luckily for us, Chi Chi was all up in the industry business and she would get whatever they needed from the warehouse and into their hands. We were all at a loss as to why he suddenly became Kim Jong-il and treated the company like South Korea, closing it off from the rest of the Industry. Only he knows why, and thank goodness he eventually pulled the hair that was stuck up his ass and started embracing the industry again. I was working at David Weiss’s House One duplicating facility, making titles for an upcoming movie. They had much superior editing equipment and if Tab Lloyd wasn’t using the equipment they’d let me go over and use it to create cool titles and effects. It was on that day that Ethan Clarke showed up to question me for All Man Magazine. If I had known he was going to take a picture of me that day, I wouldn’t have worn just a white t-shirt to work. Not the best look for a photo. But the cigarette, that was a staple - a bad habit that stuck with me from working on all those shoots with John Travis. Luckily, I quit that habit a few years later.

ETHAN CLARKE: How long have you been working for Catalina Video?

JOSH ELIOT: I started working at Catalina in October 1987, so it’s been sixteen years. Due to some legal technicalities, at the time, they could not shoot gay adult videos in Los Angeles, so Catalina set up a studio in San Francisco, where I was living. I applied for a job as a still photographer because I was going to school studying film and video production. (laughs) Actually, I took some photos that a friend had taken to go along on the interview with Scott Masters and John Travis and presented them as my own, thus bullshitting my way into the job. I did later tell them all about it an we had a good laugh. I was interested in doing video camerawork and directing, but they were only looking to hire someone for still photography. So, I took the job that was offered, agreeing that eventually it would parlay into doing camerawork. The stills I took the first couple of times weren’t that great! But you know, timing is everything. The head of their production (Dan Allman / Cameron Leight) was getting ready to retire. They liked me and made me the second cameraman and hired a new still photographer. When Dan Allman retired about six months later, I was bumped up to head of production. I was totally trained by the best. John Travis or Scott Masters would tell me everything they needed for a shoot. We’d build the sets and one of them would fly up to San Francisco and we’d make a video. Eventually John Travis trained me to direct.

ETHAN: Well you learned from the best.

JOSH: Yes, I did! He’s great, a real sweetheart.

ETHAN: How long did you stay in San Francisco?

JOSH: Since Catalina’s main headquarters was in Los Angeles, when it was legal to shoot there again, I moved down to L.A. It was a major change to find a place to live and find a new crew. Photographer Jeff Burton was the first person I hired, and he stayed with us for about thirteen years. Scott Masters and John Travis moved on to found Studio 2000.

ETHAN: How long did it take you to get used to living in Los Angeles?

JOSH: You know, I came kicking and screaming, but it really didn’t take that long. It was really an easy transition, you can’t beat the weather, and I did live in the heart of west Hollywood. But it did take me a while to get used to the slower pace.

ETHAN: What was the first production you worked on for Catalina?

JOSH: I did stills for BULGE: Mass Appeal with Kevin Glover and Kurt Bauer. The first feature I directed is Runaways starring Jake Corbin and Danny wade. Scott Masters watched everything I did from a monitor in his office and gave me advice. He taught me a lot.

ETHAN: And what is your most recent video?

JOSH: His Terrible Twin, with Andy Hunter in a dual starring role. There are two versions - the two hour VHS and the DVD special director’s cut with a behind the scenes documentary and other bonuses. Last year my big movie was Boy Band; we included a music video in that one.

ETHAN: Who taught all those models their fancy footwork in their dance routines in Boy Band?

JOSH: (Laughs) Well, we taught them about three steps at a time and then would cut the camera, re-position the angle and start filming again, reminding them, “You ended up with your legs crossed. When the camera roll, uncross your legs, spin around and point to the stars.” Cut together, it looks great, as if they did the entire music video from beginning to end without stopping.

ETHAN: You also did the Rascal series.

JOSH: Yeah, we just finished the sixth and final episode, The Rascal’s Graduation Gang Bang, directed by Peter Romero. I directed the first four of the six and had enough! Catalina used to produce two videos a month, but with the emergence of DVDs we shoot one movie a month and re-release a remastered DVD version of an older movie with lots of bonus scenes and photo galleries. They look really good and they’re not just direct linear transfers. Viewers are getting their money’s worth.

ETHAN: Who are Catalina’s current exclusive models?

JOSH: Steve Rambo, Ray Harley and Maxime Cannon who can be seen in our newest release, Super Sized! And he is, with a 12” dick. He’s the epitome of what you want in a performer. The dick goes up, stays up and fucks like nobodies business. He lives in Canada, but I told him if he moved here he would be in every single movie we shoot! Ray Harley’s new movie with Anthony Holloway is Junior’s Nude Cleaning Service from our new Generation Gap Series. Besides those guys and Rambo, we had Chris Champion, Hank Sterling, Ty Fox (for a five picture deal) and Matt Powers. I just talked to Matt the other day. He’s on the East Coast now, teaching martial arts.

ETHAN: What do you think about the new influx of talent coming into the gay adult industry compared to guys fifteen years ago?

JOSH: We used to shoot a lot of straight guys in the beginning. It was often like pulling teeth to get what we needed. There weren’t that many guys doing video work then and many of the models were “gay for pay.” I’m very happy with the selection now. The sex is more aggressive and the models all know what to do! It wasn’t like working with the straight guys who had to be told how to proceed move by move. I love the new breed of models like Jesse Cooper, Tommy Saxx, Jack van Dean, Brad McGuire, Blake Harper and Jason Branch. Blake was going to play the lead in His Terrible Twin but got a mainstream gig.

ETHAN: How much fun was it shooting Pillage and Plunder on a ship? As well as Cockpit 1 & 2 involving airplanes?

JOSH: The ship we shot Pillage and Plunder on was older than the S.S. Poseidon. It was a good video, but you can be sure as shit that I will never set foot on that boat again! The Cockpit videos directed by Brad Austin were great fun. The highlight of the first one was the plane crash, the debris and all that jazz. Cockpit 2 was shot mostly in Yosemite, California. We had a wonderful and secure shooting location on a huge ranch.

ETHAN: What was your all-time favorite movie you directed?

JOSH: Definitely it would be a tie between Revenge of the Bi Dolls and Score.

ETHAN: I’m sure your fans will be anticipating all of Catalina Video’s releases and particularly a reunion of Chi Chi LaRue and Sharon Kane in an upcoming project. Some other of Josh’s movies are: CatalinaVille, Cat Men Do!, Easy Riders, Getting Off in Palm Springs, Jawbreaker and Thrill Me!

It’s funny. Now, re-reading this interview after all these years, I see quite a few subjects mentioned that I recently wrote blogs about. It’s good to see that the details and specifics match and my memories are holding up to the test of time.

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002. 

By Will Seagers

Hello, Friends! Matt here. After writing a blog a while back mentioning Jim Bentley and my common love of Moluccan Cockatoos, I am back to do more detailed story telling of my lifelong love of birds.

Once again, my childhood buddy, Michael, who I have mentioned in several of my blogs, shared yet another hobby with me - having cage birds. It was his grandmother, " Nana," who started us both on this journey. In her backyard and in her house she had quite a "community" of birds. In her back yard was a freestanding modestly sized aviary filled with many finch varieties as well as some soft-billed birds. Inside her home were Cockatiels and some very operatic Canaries! I was mesmerized by this collection. On almost a monthly basis, Michael and I would accompany Nana to "The Bird Farm" for supplies and sometimes new family members! That's when the bird bug bit me!

I decided to build an indoor aviary in our basement... much to my father's surprise. I built it under our living room's bay window. So, when I added the flat wall of wire mesh to enclose it, a trapezoid was the resulting shape. Sorry, I have no existing photos of this aviary. It turned out surprisingly well. I was quite successful at breeding finches that I traded to the local pet shops for bird seed and other avian supplies. Every time there was a family gathering, the basement and the aviary were part of the celebrations.

When I went away to college I had the depressing task of disbanding my aviary and "farming out" my rather large bird collection. While in school and staying with my Aunt (the Finnish one), a very good friend of mine gifted me with a Toucan. I was blown away by this spectacular gift. He was the original Biki Noka - Finnish for big nose! Not every experience in the bird world was a pleasant one. At this time (1969), aviculturists had not perfected a diet for many exotic soft bills like Toucans. You had to improvise a lot. The suggested diet of the time was soaked Monkey Chow with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. Alas, the tough part about Monkey Chow was that it was very hard on birds' livers. Ultimately,I lost this beauty and I was crushed. It was several years before I had birds again.

"San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gates" - bird cage gates, that is! When I settled in with my first partner Tommy, I felt secure enough to start back up with a new bird family. This time, I was not only interested in finches but in Parrots and Cockatoos! Finches and rare Parakeets came first. I had great luck again in breeding them. My "aviary" in the living room bay window seemed to be the perfect spot for all sorts of finches to live happily and reproduce. I regularly went to pet shops in town where my little folk were eagerly scooped up for sale. My first attempts with parrots were a wild captured cockatoo and an African Gray - both with no success. The wild captures were too afraid of humans to bond.

It was around 1986 or so when I went to a bird show in town (S.F.) and met a local breeder of fine Cockatoos by the name of Gloria. She had a spectacular female Moluccan Cockatoo with her at the show that wasn't quite weened or ready for sale. I left her my name and number for when this youngster became available. In two months the bird was ready. I traveled down the peninsula below San Francisco to a lavish compound/park where Gloria bred her birds. I made the purchase that day and took my "Gloria" home. I had never known a bird to be so affectionate and cuddly. Tommy and I loved to hold and caress her.

In 1989, I lost Tommy to AIDS. Without him at home to lavish her with attention, I had to re-home Gloria. Cockatoos require enormous amounts of attention and will self-mutilate without. I came home to find her cage bloodied from her attack on her own air sacks. I was in tears. I tried to make it work. But, Gloria needed the constant attention I could no longer give while I was away at work. A painful lesson and memory. A similar tale was to be told bout "Bingo," my one and only Macaw. He was adorable and cuddly but would go berserk and shriek when I left for work. It was not fair to my neighbors. A great friend with a bird collection came to our rescue and gave Bingo a great home.

It was 1991. I was recuperating from my devastations in S.F. at my Aunt's house in N.J. I was shell shocked... I needed a bird! Oddly enough, a wonderful opportunity opened up with a friend of my Aunt. This friend was desperate to find a home for their Yellow Headed Amazon parrot. I moved like lightning to get that bird! It was a life saver for me and the bird! This bird was already a great talker and loved me from the jump. I had this bird for several years until I had to move. My sister rose to the occasion and was delighted to be his new Mama!

Next step - my new life with my current spouse in NYC. I was bird-less for almost two years. It felt like a hole in my heart. So, I started up with finches, then Love Birds. Then my partner discovered a great bird store downtown - Urban Bird. While touring the store, we came upon Dede. It was love at first sight. Dede is a Red Lory... a talker and one of the cutest birds on the planet. Besides being a striking color, Dede had quite a rambunctious personality. Without hesitating, we made the move. A couple of weeks later, my partner was back at Urban Bird and happened upon a beautiful Citron Cockatoo. So, we went down to see "Louise" and she came back home with us.

The Southwest. It is not an easy thing to move across the country with birds... in a car anyway. So, My partner flew with them from NYC to the desert. They had to go to a vet first to have their health certified. That's when we found out that Dede was a boy and Louise was indeed a girl. They adjusted to our new location quickly. The second "Biki Noka," an African Gray, joined the family in 2001. He is my "papa's boy!” Smart as a whip and a loving bird, as well.

Our complete family is currently 19 birds consisting of Dede, Biki, and Louise; in addition there's a pair of Love Birds, a Jenday Conure (Biloxy), five finches, three parakeets and three Cockatiels. They are a handful and a lot of maintenance... but, I love every minute of it. I particularly love Sunday breakfasts when my partner is home and cooking up a storm. At the table he and I act like trees for all of the "kids" to perch upon. I am so happy that our lives have settled down and we have been able to keep these birds for decades! They're our kids! Yes, after all of these years I am truly glad that "the bird bug bit me!" They are incredible creatures!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.
 

 

By Josh Eliot

 

Hands down, the very best part of my career with Catalina Video was the projects I shot with adult film icon Sharon Kane. Muse is a word that comes to mind when I think back about all the projects we worked on together. We first met when Chi Chi introduced her to me. The movie was Valley of the Bi-Dolls and I was casting the role of Ceily Fontana based on the Neely O’Hara role, as you probably already know if you’ve read my previous blog, “Whatever Happened to Neely O’Hara.” I’m pretty sure anyone reading this knows and loves the performance Patty Duke gave in Valley of the Dolls, and as things turned out, Sharon was able to get right up there with her, in my book, and take things up a notch with the original music she wrote and performed in the movie. We took things to a whole other level in Revenge of the Bi Dolls, where I got to imagine how things would have progressed had Jacqueline Susanne written a sequel. Neely gets her revenge on all those who rubbed her the wrong way. Sharon has the ability to say a particular line fifteen different ways. I would create entire movies around her. In the boy/boy movies where she would do a non-sexual role, I made her a central focal point. Case in point, the music agent Nance Freely in Boy Band and the school superintendent Ms. Narkwurst in the Rascal series. In the bisexual movies, she was not only a central character but also a screen vixen, even playing three different characters in Night of the Living Bi-Dolls: Zombie Ceily, Tanya and Margo Peyton. In between my projects, Sharon also worked with other Catalina directors like Brad Austin and Chi Chi LaRue on roles with very diverse personalities.

In The Big Switch 3: Bachelor Party, Chi Chi LaRue’s bisexual movie, Sharon played a stripper jumping out of a giant fake cake we rented, playing upon her days as a dancer at Alex DeRenzy’s Screening Room Theatre in San Francisco where, she recently told me, Desiree Cousteau also worked and was quite a wild child. In Brad Austin’s Cockpit 2, Sharon played Mama, a hillbilly with two sons who held a couple of survivors from a plane crash hostage on their psycho farm. She stole the show in a scene where she was talking to her sons on a two-way radio. In order to get a better signal, she improvised by raising one of her pigtails (wrapped around a metal hanger to keep them firm) into the air and adjusting it like an old TV antenna! The crew roared with laughter! It was moments like this where we fell more and more in love with this fabulous actress. She would literally become her characters and try to think and react how they would, always bringing a surprise and delight to every situation.

In the Rascal series (click link for trailer), she played Ms. Narkwurst, an Ilsa She-Wolf knock off who ran Rossmore Academy where little Ricky Haskell attended. She took him under her wing to her own detriment, as he was too much of a “little monster” for anyone to handle. She nailed the role with her accent, and when her character went blind because she had an itch during her Lasek surgery, she improvised on set again with a show-stopping scene of her falling out of bed then tripping and smashing into anything and everything in her way. In Cracked (trailer link), She played Joan, a bitter mother-in-law who is “dead-set” on getting her deceased son’s fortune away from his surviving wife. Based on the Patty Duke movie You’ll Like My Mother and the Joan Crawford movie Strait-Jacket, this movie is not straight nor will you like this ax-wielding mutha.

 

In Boy Band (trailer link), Sharon as Nance Freely, music director, stole the show away from the boys with her over the top, fouled-mouthed, spoiled rich-bitch character, who would instill fear in anyone and everyone she dealt with. As Miranda in His Terrible Twin (trailer link), she took a different approach as a very grounded, down-to-earth theater performer and singer, drawing upon more of her real life persona. It didn’t pay off for her, unfortunately, because that dirty rotten twin, who was so sweet with her during their duet of “When Trouble Calls,” stuck it to her in the end - not in a nice way. Now, Ms. Challenger, on the other hand, from SwitchCraft (trailer link), was all about handing out the punishment and abuse. Sharon didn’t hesitate to chop off her beautiful golden locks to get into the character of the butch gym teacher from hell, obsessed with firm and tight muscular bodies. When frump Edwina Simplestein, played by Chi Chi LaRue, crossed her path, it sent Ms. Challenger into a frenzy! Challenger smacked around and wrestled to the ground poor Edwina, humiliating her in front of the other students. The tables turned when Edwina got her revenge on the gym teacher in the end, turning her firm body to flab, and breaking bones in her body through (s)witchcraft.

The movie The Hills Have Bi’s (trailer link) was the most different type of role I wrote for Sharon - that of Clarice. She played a rich Beverly Hills matriarch whose husband’s behavior with other women, including their son’s fiancé, causes her to lose her self-esteem. The son’s fiancé, looking like a young Heather Locklear, has a secret in that her mother and relatives are hillbillies, played by Chi Chi LaRue and Moist Towelette. Their visit to the mansion contributes positively to Clarice’s growth as a sexually charged, newly independent and proud woman. Sharon performed two songs, one as a duet with Clint Yeager (“Desires of the Heart”) as well as the theme song (“The Hills Have Bi’s”). That’s caviar on her face in the photo, in case you were wondering.

This is but a quick bullet point blog about my favorite gal in the adult film business. It’s just the tip of the iceberg as she has worked with incredible directors and co-stars for many decades. There is an amazing podcast with her, which was recorded recently and released through The Rialto Report. I was truly blown away with all the information and experiences this wonderful woman has lived through and experienced. If you click on only one link in this blog, this is one to pick. It’s amazing!

Bio of Josh Eliot:

At the age of 25 in 1987, Josh Eliot was hired by Catalina Video by John Travis (Brentwood Video) and Scott Masters (Nova Video). Travis trained Eliot on his style of videography and mentored him on the art of directing. Josh directed his first movie, Runaways, in 1987. By 2009 when Josh parted ways with Catalina Video, he'd produced and directed hundreds of features and won numerous awards for Best Screenplay, Videography, Editing, and Directing. He was entered into the GayVN Hall of fame in 2002. 

By Will Seagers

Hi folks, Will here. Although I consider myself neither a consummate world traveler nor an accomplished linguist, it has brought me great pleasure throughout my life to study, visit and listen to the people of many lands.

Admittedly, I was born with a curiosity bug. Even as a wee child, I wondered how things worked and what things meant on a larger scale. My first exposure to a foreign language was through my great aunt and her Finnish family. She was my mom's aunt through marriage. Although like myself she was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the rest of her family and lots of her friends were born in Finland, primarily Helsinki.

I remember hearing my great aunt's parents (who lived above her in their city duplex home) chattering away in Suomi (what the Finns call the Finnish language), not understanding a word of it. I loved visiting for not only the exposure to this marvelous tongue but to savor a treat and a staple in most Finnish homes - "Finnish Bread," correctly known as Pulla. A loaf would be left out on the kitchen table where coffee, tea and just nibbling would be the treat of the weekends. I loved it. Almost like a coffee cake but not nearly as sweet, it helped me develop a taste for more subtle flavors that would remain with me throughout my life.

My great aunt would occasionally join their conversations. I would watch and listen very intently. Afterwards when we went downstairs to her flat, I would ask her what certain English words were in Suomi. That started it all. I learned some very basic vocabulary and some wonderful little phrases that I would recite to myself and my siblings. It is interesting to note that until the mid 1800s, Finnish children were taught Swedish in school. Their own Finno-Ugric based language had not yet become recognized!

Next in my timeline was second grade. I had just escaped the rigors of parochial schools for kindergarten and first grades. I was so afraid of the nuns that I literally had stomach cramps as I left for school in the mornings! In second grade, things changed. I had a wonderful repatriated French lady as my teacher. "Miss Garneau" was lovely and had a charming French accent. She occasionally peppered her teaching with French vocabulary. Although it wasn't until high school where I actually took French classes for three years, the seed had been planted for me to study this language.

Spanish. While in a rather progressive middle school and in sixth grade, we the students were offered the opportunity to take primary level languages. My childhood buddy Michael and I chose Spanish. I have mentioned Michael in a number of prior blogs. We had fun bantering our basic phrases back and forth. I found myself progressing rather rapidly in terms of grasping both vocabulary and grammar. I tucked this away to use with my future study of French. And, many years later in 2008, I won a prize at work in a sales contest for a trip to Barcelona. Funny thing... that part of Spain preferred Catalan or even French over Spanish. At the time of my visit, political upheavals were happening in downtown Barcelona! The town and surrounding areas were quite beautiful. The food was amazing, too. Being on the Mediterranean, seafood of all kinds was abundant. I had never seen olives the size of baseballs before!

Oh! Let's not leave out Puerto Rico, where I was based as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines. The Spanish was quite different and very colloquial. It was amazing just how much I could understand from my background in French. And oh là là, those Puerto Rican men!

French. As I just mentioned, Miss Garneau was the catalyst to start me on a lifelong Francophile journey! I was lucky to have a very talented and very strict French teacher for my three year stint in high school. Although he did not have the best of accents, he was thorough and complete with instructing vocabulaire and grammaire! I took to this language like a duck to water. I fantasized about seeing Paris and then traveling out to Normandy to see Mont-Saint-Michel - the legendary castle fortress on its own island! Well, with some of the funds that I had been making in movies and print work, I finally made it to Amsterdam and Paris with my first partner Tommy in 1988. Oh! And, let's not leave out that I used this French to make announcements as a flight attendant. "Eastern vous souhaite la bienvenue!"

Amsterdam was easy... everybody spoke English (as well as all of the other principal European languages.) Tommy and I visited the legendary bath houses while there. We both got in "trouble." But, the fellow I tricked with was very charming and decided to come with us to Paris... our next stop. While in Amsterdam, my trick and now our tour guide showed us much of what this city had to offer as well as teaching me a few Dutch words and phrases.

Back to French - or should I say France! After having taken a wonderful train from Amsterdam to Paris, we arrived at Gare du Norde (the northern Parisian train station) and boarded a taxi to get to our little hotel - Hotel Claude Bernard - by the University Sorbonne. So, here it is "showtime!" I had to speak French with a French person. I was quite daunted, to say the least. After pouring out my carefully picked phrases to our charming lady taxi driver, she said I did a great job! Whew! that was a relief. I didn't take many photos of France, as I had a camcorder with me - that got quite a workout! The three of us had a wonderful time seeing the sites of Paris with me, "Mr. DeMille," filming away!

I decided to rent a small Peugeot and take a run out to Normandy to see Mont-Saint-Michel. I remember holding my breath as we negotiated our way out of Paris and onto the open road west. I also remember nearly wrecking the car as I yanked it over to the side of the road when I first laid eyes on Mont-Saint-Michel! It was more magical and mystical than I ever could have imagined. A castle rising out of the North Atlantic! It was one of the highlights of the whole European trip.

And finally, German! While I took French in high school my friend Michael took German, as did one of my younger siblings. Michael delighted in showing me that you had to wait to the end of the sentence to argue with anybody because that's where the verb was! For me, it wasn't until junior college that I took German as an elective course. I LOVED IT! Once again, I took to it like a duck to water. I loved the vivid differences in grammar and pronunciation from French. What I learned in one very short semester has stayed with me to present - including pronunciation. I was and still am able to construct minor conversations with a few of my German speaking friends... all of this from a six week course. Ich habe nicht vergessen!

So, I have "tasted" a fair amount of the world by travel and language. It is wonderful to feel a part of this beautiful globe of ours!

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.