{"id":12121,"date":"2014-02-12T14:17:44","date_gmt":"2014-02-12T19:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/simchafisher\/?p=12121"},"modified":"2014-02-12T17:36:56","modified_gmt":"2014-02-12T22:36:56","slug":"whats-the-scoop-in-sochi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/simchafisher\/2014\/02\/12\/whats-the-scoop-in-sochi\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a story in Sochi’s gay bar? Up to a point, Lord Copper . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sochi\u2019s only gay bar is overrun by reporters<\/a>, who won\u2019t let Russians just sit down and have a damn drink while gay.<\/p>\n

Deadspin<\/a> quotes eight different major news outlets who\u2019ve dispatched reporters to Mayak, where the town\u2019s LGBT community goes to drink and dance. From a reporter at The New Republic<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, I decided to check it out, along with friends who work for\u00a0The Guardian, TIME,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Independent.\u00a0<\/em>A flock of AP reporters was already there, enjoying mojitos. In the hallway, a TV reporter was interviewing two girls in leopardware on camera. Nearby, a Danish TV reporter named Matilda told me she was interested in doing a story \u201cthat isn\u2019t victimized.\u201d It was an important story because \u201cgay rights are a big issue in Europe.\u201d The bar owner, she said, was busy giving interviews in a private room. \u201cWe called last week to schedule an interview and we got 15 minutes between the Finns and the Swiss.\u201d Her local fixer tapped me on the shoulder. \u201cThere are three more journalists sitting next to her,\u201d he said. But, he explained, they were Russian correspondents. \u201cThey\u2019re confused,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t know what to do, professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve given over 200 interviews in the last month,\u201d says Mayak owner Andrey Tanichev. Every country has sent its correspondents, he says, \u201cexcept the Spanish, God bless them.\u201d The Americans have sent the most reporters, but the BBC has set a record: they came by four times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Where have I head this before? \u00a0Oh, yes . . . in Ishmaelia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0The bunch now overflowed the hotel. \u00a0There were close on fifty of them. \u00a0All over the lounge and dining-room they sat and stood and leaned; some whispered to one another in what they took to be secrecy; others exchanged chaff and gin \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you all here for?\u201d asked Corker petulantly of a newcomer. \u201cWhat\u2019s come over them at home? What\u2019s supposed to be going on, anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ideological. And we\u2019re only half of it. There\u2019s twenty more at the coast who couldn\u2019t get on the train. \u00a0Weren\u2019t they sick at seeing us go? \u00a0It\u2019s lousy on the coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s lousy here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I see what you mean . . . \u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From Evelyn Waugh\u2019s monstrously hilarious, not-entirely-brutal satirical novel\u00a0Scoop<\/a>, wherein the wrong John Boot accidentally gets sent to the front lines of what may or may not be an important war, depending on where the all the reporters end up.<\/p>\n

Unproceed Sochiward, folks. And take your cleft sticks with you.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sochi\u2019s only gay bar is overrun by reporters, who won\u2019t let Russians just sit down and have a damn drink while gay. Deadspin quotes eight different major news outlets who\u2019ve dispatched reporters to Mayak, where the town\u2019s LGBT community goes to drink and dance. From a reporter at The New Republic: On Saturday night, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,443,441,8,442,444,438],"class_list":["post-12121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-books","tag-evelyn-waugh","tag-homosexuals","tag-morons","tag-russia","tag-scoop","tag-sochi"],"yoast_head":"\nIs there a story in Sochi's gay bar? 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