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Wow. Just Wow. It was a great surprise to end up at Meio Mundo last night. After the not-great Tuesday at 117 this week, I wasn't planning to leave the house yesterday. But I have some fears with what my happen on Monday and the general strike. I have some bills that need to be paid on the first of the month and didn't want to run the risk of problems drawing money/saques out of an ATM. So I figured what the hell. Got my business done with no problems. The banks are all still boarded up with pink - so gay - plywood. But they are all still open. It just looks like you are entering a construction site in order to conduct business. Everything else seemed normal. No protests that I could see. Got to Meio Mundo and I was so happy that I hadn't missed their Festa Junina after all. It was last night and the place was festively decorated. Large cloth with the word ARRAIAL or thatched tent, country music, naked boys square dancing with their cocks and balls flopping around. So many of my favorites were there, it was like choosing from five finalists for Miss America/USA or whatever. If I was TomCal, it definitely would have been me as the main course among five hungry men invited to the Feast of the June Gringo. They had a kissing booth set up. Also, a huge selection of sweets, chocolates and cakes in a buffet. An enormous scrim behind the stage of a Romero Britto artwork with the colorblocks. But these colorblocks were in country-style prints. Loved it. And the new bartender is spectacular. Quite, quite pretty with a great smile and interesting to find out on a return visit if he is hiring out outside of sauna hours. The toalhiero/towel guy - too old to be a boy, was doing a great job and surprisingly keeping up with all of the customers. And there were so many tht they resorted to using the old locker area which is in that wide corridor. I still haven't made it up to the fourth floor disco area and discover exactly how it functions. Both Jorge and Acyr were there last night. Out on the floor, shaking hands, talking with the clients, making nice and doignthe kind of stuff that decent business owners should be doing when conducting business. All great! And I had an incredible programma with Emerson/Marcello from many years ago. I saw in in 2005-2006, before I had my Paulista live-in lover, I forgot how good he was. Just incredible. Ativo liberal. When I first saw him downstairs he was a little flaccid and I thought my memory was playing tricks. I remembered him as having an enormously large and than penis. But upstairs in the bar another favorite of mine was sitting on my other side kind of in competition with him, to see who I would choose. And Marcello wasn't close in the size department. But upstairs it just kept on growing and growing and growing. Longer and thicker. He is not so bulked up as when he did some porn films. He told me with age, he is doing a lot more bike riding every morning. He has to keep the circulation up to keep the blood flowing. That monster needs a lot of blood to grow to full mast. Needless to say it was definitely a top three session for the year. Emerson/Marcello - true name - used to have a review at the other site, but it is no longer there. Next time I see him, I'll be sure to take a photo or three. Here is something from Wikipedia about this very unusual celebration. Festa Junina (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfɛstɐ ʒuˈnĩnɐ], June Festival), also known as festa de São João for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist, are the annual Brazilian celebrations historically related to European Midsummer that take place in the beginning of the Brazilian winter. These festivities, which were introduced by the Portuguese during the colonial period (1500-1822), are celebrated during the month of June nationwide both in Brazil and Portugal, but are particularly associated with Northeastern Brazil. The feast is mainly celebrated on the eves of the Catholic solemnities of Saint Anthony, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Peter. As Northeastern Brazil is largely arid or semi-arid these popular festivals not only coincide with the end of the rainy seasons of most states in the northeast but they also provide the people with an opportunity to give thanks to Saint John for the rain. They also celebrate rural life and feature typical clothing, food, dance (particularly quadrilha, which is similar to square dancing). Like Midsummer and Saint John's Day in Portugal and Scandinavian countries, São João celebrates marital union. The "quadrilha" features couple formations around a mock wedding whose bride and groom are the central attraction of the dancing. An arraial in Rio Branco, Acre The celebrations usually take place in an arraial, a huge tent made of raw material (with a thatched roof) that was reserved for special parties in old rural areas. Men dress up as farm boys with large straw hats and women wear pigtails, freckles, painted gap teeth and red-checkered dresses, all in a loving tribute to the origins of Brazilian country music, and of themselves, some of whom are recent immigrants from the countryside to cities such as Olinda, Recife, Maceió and Salvador, and some of whom return to the rural areas during that season to visit family. However, nowadays, São João festivities are extremely popular in all urban areas and among all social classes. In the Northeast, they are as popular as Carnival. Like during Carnival, these festivities involve costume-wearing (in this case, peasant costumes), dancing, drinking, and visual spectacles (fireworks display and folk dancing). Like the original European Midsummer celebrations, during the two-week June festivities in Brazil, bonfires are lit. They can be seen everywhere in northeastern cities. Two northeastern towns in particular have competed with each other for the title of "Biggest São João Festival in the World", namely Caruaru (in the state of Pernambuco), and Campina Grande,in Paraíba state. In fact, Caruaru features in the Guinness Book of World Records for holding the biggest outdoor country festival.

Last fall the bf and I married while visiting New York. But our marriage was not recognized in our home state of California, giving it sort of a nebulous feeling. But now we are married in California too as the Ninth Circuit lifted the stay on Judge Walker's decision accepting same-sex marriage in California. So that means we are recognized as a married couple with no need to re-do the ceremony. Gifts may be sent care of this site...we are registered at Pleasure Chest!

Tomorrow, there will be a group marching in the SF Pride parade in support of Bradley Manning. Daniel Ellsberg, 82, will be among them. There was a kerfuffle in April when the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee board named Manning Grand Marshal, and then rescinded the nomination a few days later. I hope he is aware of the strong support he has.

Sadly neither blinis nor borscht mentioned. I'd be SOOL.

Trapped in Transit: Orwellian Moscow airport hotel . . . . IAN PHILLIPS June 28, 2013 SHEREMETYEVO AIRPORT (AP) — "An interesting route, Mr. Phillips," says the airport transit desk employee. "This activity makes for suspicion." It was the start of an Orwellian adventure in which I deliberately got myself sequestered in the hopes of finding Edward Snowden at Moscow's main airport. The experience leaves me feeling that if the NSA leaker is indeed in the transit zone of the airport, as President Vladimir Putin claims, he may already have a taste of what it's like to be in prison. Snowden is possibly holed up in the wing of an airport hotel reserved for travelers in transit who don't have visas to enter Russia. The Novotel's main building, located outside the airport, has a plush lobby with a fountain, a trendy bar and luxury shops. One wing, however, lies within the airport's transit zone — a kind of international limbo that is not officially Russian territory. And that's where Snowden, whose U.S. passport has been revoked, may be hiding. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: Eastern Europe News Director Ian Phillips flew from his home base of Prague in the Czech Republic to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport with the goal of getting to the bottom of the mystery of fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden. What followed was a surreal 21 hours. This photo taken Thursday, June 27, 2013 shows a view of the lobby of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's … ___ The woman at the transit desk raises an eyebrow and stares at my flight itinerary, which includes a 21-hour layover in Moscow before a connection to Ukraine. "Why would ANYONE stay here in transit for so long? There are so many earlier connections you could have taken. This is strange behavior." After a nearly two-hour wait inside the terminal, a bus picks me up — only me — from the transit area. We drive slowly across the tarmac, through a barrier, past electronic gates covered in barbed wire and security cameras. The main part of the Novotel is out of bounds. My allotted wing feels like a lockup: You are obliged to stay in your room, except for brief walks along the corridor. Three cameras track your movements along the hallway and beam the images back to a multiscreen monitor. It's comforting to see a sign instructing me that, in case of an emergency, the locks on heavily fortified doors leading to the elevators will open. When I try to leave my room, the guard outside springs to his feet. I ask him why room service isn't responding and if there's any other way to get food. He growls: "Extension 70!" I rile him by asking about the Wi-Fi, which isn't working: "Extension 75!" he snarls. "Don't worry, Mr. Phillips," the transit desk employee had said. "We have all your details and information. We will come and get you from your room at 6 p.m. on Friday, one hour before your connecting flight." Now it's midnight, and I'm getting edgy. I feel trapped inside my airless room, whose double windows are tightly sealed. And the room is extortionate: It costs $300 a night, with a surcharge of 50 percent slapped on because I will be staying past noon. This photo taken on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 shows a view of the Novotel Hotel in Moscow's Sheremety … ("Can't I just wait in the lobby after midday?" I asked the receptionist at check-in. "Of course not," she retorted. "You have no visa. You will stay until you are picked up.") I look out the window. If Snowden is here and has the same view, he can see the approach to the departures terminal at the airport. A large billboard shows a red 4x4 vehicle driving along an ocean road. A parking lot below is filled with vehicles. A man in green overalls is watering a patch of parched grass. Vehicles whizz in and out of the airport. A maid has just brought a tea bag. She puts a tick against the room number on the three-page document on her trolley. On it, there are no guest names, only numbers — and departure dates. A quick look suggests there are perhaps a few dozen people staying here. A couple of rooms on my floor have tell-tale signs of occupancy — food trays lying outside from the night before. But no sign of Snowden. The guard allows me to stretch my legs in the corridor. The signs on the wall rub things in. Under a pretty picture of the Moscow skyline and Red Square, a message reads: "Should you wish to see the full range of facilities offered by our hotel during your next stay, we strongly recommend you to get a visa before flying to Moscow." A fleeting glimpse of a possible change of scene: a set of guidelines posted on the wall say I can go out for a smoke! Rule No. 6: "It is possible to go and smoke one time per hour for 5 minutes in the beginning of each hour escorted by security service." I don't smoke, but this would be a way to escape this floor. But when I ask him to take me down, the security guard scoffs. "No!" he says flatly. I call the front desk. "You need a visa to go outside and smoke, Mr. Phillips" the receptionist says. If he's here, Snowden has access to a few international TV stations. He also has a fair amount of options with room service — the only source of food in this wing. But after almost a week, he might be getting bored. And he'd need a credit card or a lot of Russian cash. A selection: Buffalo mozzarella and pesto dressing starter? 720 rubles (about $20). Ribeye steak: 1,500 rubles (about $50). Bottle of Brunello di Montalcino red wine: 5,280 rubles ($165). A miniature bottle of Hennessy XO cognac: 2,420 rubles ($80). I've called all the 37 rooms on my floor in hopes of reaching Snowden. No reply except for when I get my security guard. The floor above? A similarly futile attempt. I only reach a handful of tired and irritated Russians who growl "Da? Da? Da?" — "Yes? Yes? Yes?" http://news.yahoo.com/trapped-transit-orwellian-moscow-airport-hotel-152338275.html

Yes, thanks for sharing this. ...found it interesting reading, and I, too, remember Emerson! Am interested to see what he looks like after nine years. -

You can say that again!

Great to hear about the festival and your renewal with old acquaintances. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm and experience.

For hitoall...

That is so wonderful. Congrats! I was very happy with the decision to end Prop 8 and while I didn't realize that the marriage from one state to another would transfer, I am so happy that it does. It just keeps getting better and when Supreme Court decisions like this affects good people like you and your husband, I am overjoyed. Congrats.

China asks if 'happy ending' services are illegal GILLIAN WONG 6 hours ago BEIJING (AP) — China's law enforcers are having an unusually public debate about a delicate topic: Do paid sexual services known as "happy endings" at massage parlors count as crimes if they don't involve actual sexual intercourse? While prostitution is illegal in China, its boundaries are being discussed with rare candor by courts, police and state media — even the usually stodgy flagship newspaper of the Communist Party. "Various places have different standards for whether masturbation services are a crime; judicial interpretation urgently needed," read a headline of the People's Daily newspaper, which usually spends its time lecturing party members about discipline or obscure ideological issues. The debate centers on sexual services provided by employees of usually low-end massage parlors or hair salons, advertised to customers with colorful phrases such as "hitting the airplane" and "breast massage." While common in Beijing and many other Chinese cities, the services became part of a conspicuous national conversation only this week, following newspaper reports about a crackdown that fizzled in southern Guangdong province. Police in the city of Foshan arrested hair salon staff for providing sexual services, only to have prostitution charges against them overturned by a local court. A precedent apparently was set last year when the Foshan Intermediate People's Court threw out a verdict against a group of salon staff, including three managers who had been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for "organizing prostitution." Now courts, police, prosecutors, lawyers and academics are being quoted discussing oral sex and other types of sexual services facilitated by body parts excluding genitals, typically taboo topics that have captured the public's attention. The question is whether such services can be considered prostitution if there is no intercourse. Technically, no — at least according to the highest court in Guangdong province, which says such services fall outside the legal definition of prostitution. On its official microblog, the court pressed the legislature to clear up the matter, saying that although no law bars such services, they "significantly damage social order and have a certain degree of social harm." The high court in eastern Zhejiang reportedly concurs that if there is no intercourse, there's no prostitution, but police in the capital Beijing, southern Guiyang and elsewhere disagree. The discrepancy in views is unusual in a society where police, prosecutors and courts are often seen as working in lock-step with one another. The debate also highlights how much more open urban Chinese have become in their attitudes toward sex, as prosperity rises and government controls on personal freedoms ease. Attitudes remain more traditional in the countryside. Sociologist and sex expert Li Yinhe said the debate showed the country has come a long way since two decades ago, when displays of public affection and even dancing with members of the opposite sex could be punished. "The whole social atmosphere has changed. Even in the 1980s the crackdowns were very strong, very severe," Li said. "... In the past, organizing prostitution used to be punishable by death." She took in the unexpected court verdict with mock horror, saying, "This is simply too subversive." ___ Associated Press researcher Flora Ji contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/china-asks-happy-ending-services-illegal-111935726.html

Happy! You can see that I am in a good mood today!

Why did you NOT write anything regarding Musclover's hotel comments? Did they relate to your initial thread? Since this apparently and UNNECESSARILY UPSET YOU, request from the webmaster that my comment be deleted; I will be amenable to this! Write the person who controls this and request it; it would be quite all right with me. Another writer mentioned hotel rates, so I decided to chime in! Hope this clarifies my intention: from now on I'll be much more cognizant to your sensitivies!