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Many years back, I think around 2000, I met this guy named Hooboy at my NYC apartment. He ran the Male4malescorts website. He came to my place for a party. I had around 20 plus sexy models from NYC around and he was fascinated at the guys. We became instant friends. I had started building code to make a competing site (the maleescortreview.com) but meeting Hooboy and becoming friends, caused me to stop building the site and become friends. We traveled to Brazil together with my boyfriend at the time and then to Asia. We had a blast. I participated in his message board and was an avid poster. On one trip to Bangkok, Hooboy introduced me to Stef. I fell for him instantly and a few years later, we started gaythailand.com together. Hooboy died in Bangkok. I was with him the night before he died. I was in route to USA when he passed. As soon as I landed, I heard the news from his BF. I jumped back on a plane and headed to Amsterdam to meet the BF and help him with the apartment. Stef met us there as well. The webmaster at Hooboy's website and others wanted to take the site from Hoo's family without compensation. They didn't even want it to go to the BF who he was with for a long time. I offered a 6 figure sum for the purchase of the site to the family. They did not know the value of the site or anything else when this happened. It was a bit of a mess. The family allowed the webmaster to continue to run the site with them receiving all revenue for a while. After this, I started up the Male Escort Review site. I have attached a few screen shots here. This was what was on the site I believe around the early 2000's. GayThailand was sold and I continued to run MaleEscortReview. After several years, I changed the name to Boytoy.com It was a name that I thought would be a better fit and easy to remember while the new owner, Firecat ran the GayThailand site. Firecat and I were friends about as long as Hooboy. We met in Montreal when I was on a trip there. I traveled to Brazil, Thailand and other places with him. He was a good man who was good to me. He ran the site with his BF for years but when they broke up, he needed more help with it and eventually lost interest. He was going to close the site and the forum but I asked for a forward to GayGuides.com Firecat, Hooboy, and I were in Thailand together on multiple occasions. Hooboy and I chatted a lot about the sites and technology. Firecat and I chatted a lot about bars and clubs. Firecat also know Stef from before I even knew him. Yes, it is a small world. MaleEscortReview became Boytoy and that is now GayGuides. GayThailand was once ran by me and then others and now it is GayGuides. Two board merged together who had a long history and similar interests. That is the long, dry tale of two boards.

Thank you for your dedication and providing a wonderful forum!

For me, it is often the other way around. It is me who says that to I guy I have offed before in the hope that they remember me. Most will at least pretend to remember me; well they would wouldn't they haha, there would probably at least be a drink in it for them, maybe more. But it is often quickly apparent whether they really do remember me or not, no matter how much my ego would like to hope they would. One or two do remember my name, one or two remember me but can't remember my name. One of my regulars over the last five or six years still just calls me 'Darling', mostly I think because he had difficulty pronouncing my name - and believe me we have had 'coaching' sessions - but to no avail. A great night out and a great shag with a beautiful boy, and the chances are we will remember them for the rest of our lives, but for the lad himself, we are usually just another passing customer who he won't necessarily expect to see again.

Thank you for the great background story. It's interesting to hear how the 3 key players have worked individually and collaboratively to develop these sites over the years. They are invaluable to so many people, and I wish you well with the integrated site. Seems to have gone smoothly!

Stef and I got together a couple of times when he was visiting San Francisco or between planes. Sexy and sweet is an excellent description. Love to see him again...ah, time passes. Glad he doesn't seem to age!

Now that I asked my Stef question, thanks for the background history to the site...I remember Hooboy's site and the Male Escort Review site and the encounters that developed from contacts made through them. It's a smaller world every day

The anti-Trump movement from the right is coming. Everyone should pay attention to THE LINCOLN PROJECT. OUR MISSION Defeat President Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box. OUR INSPIRATION President Abraham Lincoln led the United States through its bloodiest, most divisive and most decisive period of our history. He fought not because he wanted to, but because he knew the dual goals of preserving the Union and the end of slavery would be achieved only through armed conflict. Lincoln always kept the enormous human cost of the struggle in the front of his mind. At Gettysburg, he implored us not to forget those that had given “their last full measure of devotion” to preserving the American experiment. As it became clear that the Union would be victorious, Lincoln’s thoughts turned to how the nation would “bind up its wounds” and move forward together. Today, we find ourselves divided again – sectionalism in the country and factionalism in government has led to ever uglier examples of how our political system is failing. President Donald Trump and those who sign onto Trumpism are a clear and present danger to the Constitution and our Republic. Only defeating so polarizing a character as Trump will allow the country to heal its political and psychological wounds and allow for a new, better path forward for all Americans. Their first ad, "Grifters: Episode One" is a must-see: PS I know this belongs in the Politics Forum, but I felt it was important for the masses to see. If Oz wishes to move it, I understand and accept his decision. PSS Even more interesting and fascinating, one of the Project's lead advisors is George Conway, yes, Kellyanne's husband. That must be one very interesting marriage.

Him?

they did not remember your name but likely they remembered your tip

The B Word: Sao Luis Edition – Something is Better than Nothing Everyone knows that there is more to Brazil than just Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. I do not have anything against these two amazing cities - and if I don’t visit any other Brazilian cities in my life other than these two, I’d be more than content. But all the “bests” I’ve had ever in my short 3-year Brazil touring experience has been out of RJ and SP: best sauna night (TBV in Recife), best road trip (Gramado in Rio Grande do Sul), best AirBNB experience (a party house in Florianopolis), best churrasco (a restaurant in Joinville, Santa Catarina), best Acai dish (an ambulante near the Amazonas Theatre in Manaus) etc etc. That’s not to say that all Brazilian cities are a must to go to. I’ve always wanted to EVENTUALLY visit all the states in Brazil. So far I’ve been to 15 out of 26, which seems remarkable since I’ve only started going in 2018. So when Paulo asked me if I wanted to go with him to Sao Luis, Maranhao, because he had some family matters to attend to, I jumped on the chance to go, since I have never been to Maranhao state. And when he said there was one boy sauna he knew of that was in Sao Luis, and we could check it out, it made the trip more enticing to me. But other than knowing that Maranhao state has the famous Lencois Maranhenses National Park, I didn’t know much about Sao Luis, and upon reading about it online, learned that it is a city of a million people that is staddled between the Northeastern cities of Brazil in the east, and the Amazonian parts of Brazil in the west. Sounds like the middle of nowhere to me, but it did have a beach, and a sauna, and with Paulo by my side, I won’t have any qualms exploring the city. We got to Sao Luis around midnight, after a frantic dash to the airport to make our flight (never have sex before a flight – time flies when you’re having fun). Without dinner or anything, we decided on getting Uber Eats/iFood at the AirBNB. One of the few blessings in this pandemic is that food delivery in Brazil has thrived by leaps and bounds, more than pre-pandemic times, and we would never be hungry. But not in Sao Luis, it seems. We try to put in an order at around 1 AM, and Uber did not have any drivers available. I guess the town shuts down pretty early, in this weekday night. A far cry from SP or RJ, where you can seemingly get anything at any time. So a bit about Sao Luis – in the map, its in the middle of the Northeastern region, where Salvador and Recife are, and is defined by beaches, warm waters, and 24 hour sunlight, and the Northern region, where Manaus and the Amazon is, and is defined by tropical rainforests, mosquitoes, and hot hot temps. And indeed, it seems to inherit some parts of both regions, and it doesn’t do any of it well. It has beaches, but uninspired ones. It has hot weather, but it seems to be Amazon hot (with mosquitoes!) rather than Northeast hot (with a relaxing wind that takes away the sting of the sun). And the infrastructure seems to be crumbling, like what I found in Manaus, than what you see in Recife, for example. I wouldn’t classify this city as a must-go. But we were here because the BF needed to take care of some family business. We spent most of the waking daylight hours (which is usually after 1 PM for us – it takes us forever to get out of bed) in government agencies and banks, including this branch of Bradesco with a particular inviting ad with world-reknowned hottie surfer Gabriel Medina. It does make me want to open an account here. Some other oddities: We had sushi at a restaurant called Taipan in a shopping mall, and there was an oddly high ratio of gay men among the clientele in the restaurant. Paulo felt uneasy, because he was (again) easily head and shoulders the hottest guy there, and everyone was checking him out like in the sauna. For Paulo, it was one thing to get checked out in the sauna, but in public, he does want to be left alone. But we got confirmation that, on this Friday night, this restaurant was a bit of an informal hot spot for the gays. Whatever. It was weird. And it was the first time I’ve ever found these training wheels for chop sticks: The food and beaches were kind of meh for us, but we tried out best to enjoy what was in front of us. The saving grace however, were the bars by the beach at night. Live music, including some of the best Reggae live music we’ve ever heard. This was not an accident. Sao Luis is known as the “Brazilian Jamaica” after all, for some reason. We didn’t know this at the time of the trip, but was surprised that this was actually a thing here in Sao Luis. We had a blast anyway. There was one sauna in Sao Luis, Sauna Go 63. It follows the proud tradition of naming your sauna after the street number your establishment is in. In Rio, you have Clube 117 (Rua Candido Mendes) and Ponte 202 (Rua Siquiera Campos). Also, SP has Fragata 555 (Rua Traipu) and Salvador has Clube 11 (Rua Jose Duarte). It was across the bridge from the Beach of Sao Marcos where we were. It in the “Centro Historico” part of town, and it felt as such, as it was a bumpy ride getting there, with all the potholes and crumbling infrastucture around us. This was a Friday night, and upon entering the premises, we were immediately questioned by a guy sitting behind a table right at the entrance way. Turns out, he was a health advocate, and he was there to promote safe sex practices, which was I guess pretty appropriate, given the venue. After a brief chat, and some nosiness about the BF’s and my relationship, we were free to check in the sauna. He was also giving out free condoms, as well as free at-home HIV tests: Upon check-in, we noticed some boys, one half-naked, another naked and cupping his dick, approach the counter to get some condoms. This certainly was a welcome preview of what is to come. As we head on over to the locker room, Paulo was recognized by a tall and big fellow. He was a boy who who recognized Paulo from one of the saunas in Fortaleza. He had dark skin, nice face, but not as in shape as I would like. I’m sure he was cute to someone. We both change in towels. Paulo asked his friend about the lay of the land here. Paulo then requests that he go into the premises alone at first, to suss out the territory himself. “Are you going to find a client?” I asked. He said he wasn’t sure yet, judging from his conversation with his friend (cheap clients), but willing to see the lay of the land first before deciding on whether to work or not. Knowing what to do, and acting accordingly, is important to Paulo when going to a sauna with me. Paulo says that clients are always jealous of other clients, and if he decided to work tonight, we would have to tamp down on the PDA, and maybe even not talk to each other for a bit, until he was sure he was able to get clients. If he decides not to work, he is free to touch, kiss, and be boyfriends with me. He is big on the PDA, and seems like he wants to do it with me, especially in a sauna since it was a more-or-less private space where he is free to be “gay” and not hetero like out in the world, so he has to make these choices. As Paulo makes his way into the premises to assess the client situation, I make my own way into the sauna slowly, and made sure I was able to assess the boy situation. Yes, I was still forbidden in getting any of these boys, but I was free to look, and sometimes I can get away with inviting a boy with me for a drink. It is still worth it for me to be “single” while I am with Paulo, since the benefits (amazing sex, great conversation, hot hot hot boy, seeing Brazil through his eyes), outweighs the pitfalls (no sex with other guys, penis too large and thick). And it’s not like I am a saint when I am not with him, and I am able to roam the saunas, trawl the sites, and hit Grindr, like before. After one or two rotations around the sauna, I am sad to say that I found a total of ONE guy that I would even think of hiring. That ONE guy was obviously super busy and was getting hired by one client after another, since he was the hottest one there. He was handsome, dark skin, and muscular with abs, so he would be a fit in any other sauna in Brazil land. And any boy of equal or better quality surely should take advantage of this in this sauna. There was not a shortage of clients here for sure. The rest of the boys were boy next door types. Good for hanging out and a laugh or two, but noone I cannot live without. After a while, I see Paulo, emerging from the lockers, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He meets me halfway and plants me a big kiss. “I just got one, and I don’t want anyone anymore,” he says. He takes my hand and gets me to the bar, where he orders us two caiprinhas: “What happened?” I asked him. “They kind of suck here in Sao Luis,” he says in a whisper, and then laughs. I asked why. “Clients were offering me 50 reais, and then 70 reais. It was horrible. You know I don’t do it for less than 100.” But you did one client? “Yeah, remember that guy handing out HIV tests? I guess he liked me enough to offer me 120 reais. But he ended up paying me 150. It was fast too. I only had my penis head in him and he came. Easiest 150 I’ve made. And now I am paying for these drinks,” pointing to the two caiprinhas. I guess he was feeling generous with his earnings, and also since tonight was 2 for 1 caipis: Paulo has a theory that the boys here are happy with 50 reais programas, as long as they can get 4 or 5 clients, that works out to 250 reais a night. They run a volume business. Paulo suspects that the hot guy I saw worked the same way. He said he'd be surprised if that guy couldn't be had for 70. Volume is the key, since there were a lot of clients. The clients simply don't pay like they do in SP or RJ. The sauna itself was actually pretty nice. The drinks were suuuuper cheap, and we got some snacks too that were 15 reais: The premises were nice too, and there was a pool that was outdoors, but still in the courtyard of the sauna, so with the hot weather, it was a nice addition, and Paulo took advantage of it by diving in naked, which caused a commotion with some guests: Overall, this was a chill sauna to spend a Friday night in. The space was pretty spacious: And there was a separate dance room that one could dance with one’s partner to the day’s popular hits. As the sauna was closing, the owner approached us and asked for Paulo’s number. He said he knew some “politicos” that would be interested in getting Paulo’s services, and they pay way more than the average sauna goer. Paulo gladly gave him the number. We got stinking drunk too. And our bill was less than 100 reais. Worth it. In closing, I guess I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back to Sao Luis, except if I was on my way to Lencois Maranhenses. But Paulo certainly has a way of livening any location we are in, so it was better than nothing. Up next, Belo Horizonte, during COVID.

I think Biden should restore the norm of a President not weighing in on court cases (especially via tweet after a misinformed Fox News segment) but do think that professionals should investigate and proceed as they see fit, especially at the state level with Trump's taxes.

CAT CONDO.....

Steve Bannon was the first to claim that if The Lincoln Project flipped 4% of Republicans, Trump would lose. So TLP used Bannon's numbers as their goal. It turns out, according to their numbers guru, Mike Madrid, TLP had tremendous success in numerous states, exceeding their 4% goal. They do believe they had a strong hand in the Biden win, and they seem quite pleased about that. They are not happy with the results in Florida and North Carolina, but they acknowledged what a long shot those two states were. They could have thrown more money at both states, but it was determined the money would have gone flushed down the toilet. Florida, in particular, required door-to-door canvasing, and you just couldn't do that during Covid. They openly express doubt about "reform." Most of the TLP leadership have officially left the Republican Party. Tara Setmayer announced her official departure the day after the election, after she saw how strong the numbers were for Trumpism. There are calls for Don Jr. and insane girlfriend Kimberly Gargoyle to run the RNC. Clearly, TLP wants no part of that, if that's how reform will get defined. TLP claims they are not going away. Their goal is to destroy Trumpism. They are in Georgia right now, working on the two Senate run-offs. They intend to pursue Trump's enablers for years to come. IMO, they are the political force to watch. Their political ads are superior to most. The Georgia race is going to be very tense and interesting.

Would sure be nice if they reformed their own party so that Trump 2024 would never be a possibility...

I thought the Lincoln Project brought a lot to this fight. They were the most visible group out there and will be curious to see what they are going to do going forward.

Not sure why we can't have debates without calling others names or telling them to shove it up their ass. In any case, for this member, it has been 2 times this week. One month time out.

Gotcha!!! I new if I wrote back to you in third person figure of speech you would express your racism. Your blog had all the venom of a Trump speech as though you are all knowing. Because I have studied all of your blogs I decided to use a metaphorical reply as in Canterbury Tales to examine your truths. Unlike you, I speak to everyone, every race, every gender without being a racist. Your style on this blog is definitive and does little to bring us together. You missed the essence of my simple soliloquy to ask you to be fair and have clarity. Are you writing to black men only on this blog? Come out of your narrow mindedness and yes, I know you are not Trump but don’t trump us with your narrow minded non scientific approach to your dark closet. We like you, love this country and the constitution and its people. My short comings is being an old graduate professor with many noble followers and employees and we love good free speech. This conversation isn’t about me or you but is shared for discussion among everyone without prejudice.

Best cooler I've found, if that's what you're looking for, is raita. If you like, you can skip the mint, as it's the yogurt and cucumbers that get the job done.