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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2001)
38 J u s t o u t • january 19.2001 T M O R E M EN IN YOUR U F E EVERYDAY AT M EN M A G A Z IN E.C O M Continued from Page 1 herhart has lived an unusual life for a gay | r pom starlet. H e’s 33 years old, single and mm the father o f three children he seldom sees because they live with his ex-wife in Los A nge les. His regret about that is obvious. Raised in a religious family from Salem, Eber hart chose the Marines as his means o f escape. “I thought, ‘W ell, I’ll come back a man.’ ” He served four years and was stationed in Saudi Arabia for eight months during Desert Shield and Desert Storm , serving as a truck dri ver at an airfield refueling Harriers and Cobra jets. He says he wasn’t involved in any front line action hut acknowledges the “fear of think ing every day, ‘Som ething had could happen.’ ” A fan of his W eb site has come to Portland to see him a few times, and he made the mistake o f meeting him. This same stalker figured out where Eberhart lived by clever use o f some shots Eberhart took from his apartment win dow. Right clicking, printing, a little research here in Portland, and the guy had it narrowed down to one o f two apartments. Eberhart winces: “They play the fantasy, whatever it is, over and over in their head, and as soon as they don’t get that thing they think they’re supposed to receive, then they get pissed. T h e last thing anyone wants is rejection.” Asked if he has any qualms about being so exposed on the Internet, he simply replies, “Oh yeah.” Becoming more reflective he adds, “I guess the part that really eats at me is 1 come from a strong religious family, and so at the same time I’m doing this, there’s that little voice in the hack of my head telling me that I’m gonna go to hell.” Despite his background, Eberhart says his mother does have some idea about his career path. "M om knows this is what I’m doing, this is what I’ve done.” W hile discussing how he feels, overall, about being naked to the world, Eberhart reveals some of his own inner conflicts. "T his is what I had to do to get to where I am now. It’s not something that I really like about my self... that I am an exhibitionist. I totally relate to strippers, d an cers...it’s something we all have in common. You don’t choose how you are, you just have to accept it. This is how I am, this is what makfs me tick.” Then he laughs and mentions another ^ downside: “The worst part of having a Web cam is you’ve got to keep the 1 herhart ’s interests now focus on the Internet He says he realized about two years ago that he - had gone as far as he could with a looks-based career and with hartending. W hich led to his involvement with Adult Web Creations, a com pany specializing in producing Web cam sites. His good looks haven’t kept him from setting up his own site, Ericexposed.com, which includes a Web cam showing him at home and at work. For $19.95 a month, subscribers can watch Eber hart in the office, at sleep.. .and at play. Videos of him also are sold on the Web site. Although Eberhart originally didn’t perform for the cam, he says that after six months o f having it on all the time, he simply got bored. “Hell, I figured I was gonna do it anyway.” Eberhart sounds surprised by his own per formance. “T h e exhibitionist in me comes out, then later, I’m like, ‘O h my God, I can’t believe I did that.’ ” He does draw the line at having sex with others in front o f the whole wide world. T he benefits of having your own W eb cam site are mixed, according to Eberhart. He gets hun dreds of e-mails from all over the world. Fans send him presents. O ne took him skydiving. You can hear the pride in his voice as he describes these posi tive aspects of W eb fame. And he notes that he’s received surprisingly little negative or anti-gay reac tion to his W eb presence j via e-mails. O n the downside, however, Eberhart quietly j tells me he’s going Eric Eberhart first gained local exposure at Silverado through a “stalker thing. BINCO! Sunday January 28th at 3 pm $100 CASH EASTSIDE PORTLAND D O N T JUST WATCH — W IN ! PD X 25 I 2 “ N E ” Broadway Full lottery/ATM (503) 287-4210 B l o n d a m b it io n T o o l t im e Anthony M ills W inner T AK ES ALL L ee R yder O rgy o f o n e Nino B aca "The exhibitionist in me comes out, then later, I'm like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe I did that.' " Eric Eberhart SUPERBOWL Excellent Prizes, Exciting Surprises 2000 DECEMBER — Surprise! H e’s a cover boy! ^ apartment clean... you have to keep the mess off the cam.” Eberhart repeatedly turns the discussion hack to his new W eb creation business, obviously full o f enthusiasm. It’s clear he thinks any chance o f success for him lies in the business end o f the Web. He knows his days o f relying on his looks are limited, and he seems to enjoy that challenge. “If I wasn’t doing this, I wouldn’t know what else— I mean, this has really been good for me, Boxxes/Brig— 1035 SW Stark St.................................... 1 CC Slaughter»— 219 NW Davis St................................. 5 Chopsticks Express— 2651 E. Burnside St................. 13 Club Portland— 303 SW 12th Ave............................... 11 Darcelle XV— 208 NW Third Ave................................... 5 Dirty Duck Tavern— 439 NW Third Ave......................... 6 Eagle PDX— 1300 W Burnside St...................................7 The Edge— 333 SW Park Ave....................................... 10 Egyptian Club— 3701 SE Division St............................. 8 Embers Avenue— 110 NW Broadway ......................... 9 Estrellas— 2845 SE Stark St........................................... 4 Fox and Hounds— 217 NW Second Ave......................14 Frontline— 1125 SW Washington St............................. 3 Hobo's— 120 NW Third Ave.............................................S JOQ's— 2512 NE Broadway ........................................ 12 Kokopeli’s Choice— 2845 SE Stark St...........................4 Neighbors— 1417 Villard St.................................Eugene North Bank Tavern— 106 W Sixth St............ Vancouver Panorama— 341 SW 10th Ave........................................1 Scandals Lounge— 1038 SW Stark St.......................... 1 Shanghai Steakery— 16 NW Broadway ..................... 9 Silverado— 1217 SW Stark St...................................... 11 Starky’s— 2913 SE Stark St.............................................4 300 Club— 300 Liberty St. S E .............................. Salem 3 Friends Coffeehouse— 201 SE 12th Ave................... 2 Three Sisters Tavern— 1125 SW Stark St..................11 Touchstone Coffee House— 7631 NE Glisan St......... 15 because I see how a business starts.” As he says near the end o f our interview, “I don’t want to be a pom star, and at 33 this is as far as I can go— I better start using my head.” T h en he adds, “I can honestly say I’ve gotten all o f this out o f my system.” As he walks away I’m delighted that Eric Eberhart turned out to be much more than a hunky guy on a glossy page; he turned out to he a regular guy you’d like to know. ■ n R ic h B r a y is a Portland free-lan ce w riter who thinks it’s best fo r the Internet that he not put a W eb cam in his life. Guide courtesy of Ijustrrrni
