Leaderboard

I was conflicted on whether to continue with this thread in the midst of the worsening COVID outlook in Brazil. Not even able to pursue a competent response to the pandemic has been deadly to the country, and as I left Brazil a few days ago, I saw that even Rio de Janeiro, which was fairly resistant to any kind of lockdown since things reopened in mid-2020, having to shut down till April 4th. A report, if you are interested: And I felt particularly guilty because as I see the USA kicking ass in terms of vaccination against the virus, I get message after message from friends and boys back in Brazil, ranging from slight irritation because of the lockdowns and the lack of parties, to desperation because the saunas are closed and therefore their main source of income is cut off. I am scheduled to go back in the latter half of April, and I have no idea if the COVID situation would be any better by then. I do hope so. But I guess that is the point, is all I can do is hope right now. And by continuing on with this thread, I feel that I am continuing that hope for myself, and maybe for others that are waiting patiently to go back as well, and who are not as willing to take the risks I have taken since August of last year. If my risk-taking seems too much for you, maybe read this thread after everything is back to normal, as we all hope it would, eventually. Pre Christmas days – The Ghost of Rio Past I have now spent the last 3 Christmases and the New Years in South America, and this year 2020, even with the pandemic still very much a thing, was no different. And can you blame me? Exchanging the cold weather and the bulkier clothes, for a much hotter, more festive, and much more naked atmosphere is a no brainer. And Christmas means family to a most Brazilians, and I was not going to pass up an invitation by an ex-boyfriend to spend Christmas dinner with his sister and her family. In my previous trip earlier in December, I was contacted by an ex who happened to be in SP too. This ex has the special distinction of being my very first boyfriend who lived in Brazil. We dated for six months, and in that time, being my formative months in my Brazil trips, I’ve probably learned the most about Brazil, and Brazilians, from him. There are many advantages of dating a Brazilian - the giant cock, the insatiable appetite for sex, the patented zest for life, but with that come some faults – the famous temper, the fire within that burns you at both ends, the obsessiveness. The relationship ended because the endless fights just became untenable for both of us. But he was a good guy, and has a good heart, and when he reached out almost two years after we ended, I was eager to reconnect. I’ve talked about him, Diego, here and here. He was a Garoto de Programa when I met him. He was one of those Brazilians who had an interesting racial mix that was fairly common in Brazil, and who unfairly got most of the best parts of each race – fair skin that tanned easily, light green eyes that called attention, a desire for physical activity that resulted in a perpetually fit body, and a cock that would only have descended from his… ahem… darker-skinned ancestors. The one fault, which is not really a fault, but one he hates, is his curly hair. He gets his hair straightened with blonde highlights, almost weekly when he was working as a boy. But now, having quit the GP life for a year, he has let go of this conceit, tho he maintains his hair close cropped, which suits him. He said he had to quit the GP life. The money was good, but also deadly. He earned a lot so he spent a lot – most of the time on girls and drugs and booze. The fast life caught to him eventually, health-wise, so he had to quit the whole GP life altogether. He lives now with his family, helping out with the family business. Little money, but comes with little problems, and less stress. He insisted on picking me up at the airport as I arrived in Rio, which he has never done before. As I exited the arrivals area, there he was, smiling from ear to ear. He met me halfway, and kissed me squarely in the lips, in front of everyone. When I first dated him, he was pretty clear that no one was to know publicly that we were together. He said at the beginning of our relationship that one of the advantages of dating me was I could pass as his friend in public because we didn’t look too far in age. That both flattered me (I look young!) and horrified me (he is ashamed to be seen as gay!), but I was willing to overlook that. But here he was, practically humping my leg, as we make our way to the Uber level in Galeao airport. This was indeed a change. But I made him aware that I had a boyfriend already (see thread), and also I fully intended to go to the saunas while I was in Rio, but told him that he could keep me company and could stay with me as long as I was in Rio. He said he didn’t mind going to the saunas with me, and actually would relish seeing friends from his past life there. Upon arrival at the AirBNB at Copacabana, since he was Brazilian, it was physically impossible for him to keep his shirt on. The sight of him shirtless of course was too much to bear for me. So with the shirt came the pants as well. He takes off my own clothing too, and it took all my strength to go to the bathroom to take a shower first (I was after all coming from a long flight from the USA, so I had to clean up). He joined me there to start the fun. What came next well… let’s just say we made up for lost time. A shower, then lunch at one of the nearby restaurants, we of course went to the beach afterwards. Not even 2 hours in Rio and I already had sex, eaten feijoada, and had my caipirinha in Copacabana beach. Welcome to Brazil: Diego and I got to catch up further at the beach. And after the beach, it was almost 6 PM. So my usual afternoon nap after a flight did not happen. So I just downed a couple cans of Red Bull to get through the evening. Diego and I discussed what sauna we should go. Diego recommended going to Lion’s tonight, since he said Friday nights were Lion’s best night. I told him I was not particularly fond of that sauna, but since I had a week of freedom in Rio, I guess I can try to go there. There was a nice crowd inside when we got there. Thank goodness. Lots of customers with lots of drinks, and some boys milling about as well. Looks like the holiday crowd has descended upon Rio. This was definitely a change from motnhs ago, when the Rio saunas were dead. The boys that Lions attracts usually are too boy-next-door for me, but I could see tonight that there were some promising boys that I could see going out with. Diego was still holding his own too, as it was obvious the regular clients and some boys knew him. He was saying hi to some clients and boys in the premises, as well as the staff at Lions. As the night, and the booze, got on, he had some pretty juicy gossip about the staff, boys, and even some clients present, to share with me, which made the evening more enjoyable. And he assured me that I could just call on any boy I wanted and he would just remain where he was, waiting for me to finish. The show started, and it was pretty elaborate. There was a total of 4 strippers tonight, and 6 drag queens, which to me felt like a big production. In between the 3rd and 4th drag queens, I noticed a nice young-looking moreno walk past us. He was trying to get my attention, of course, and I took the bait and called him over to sit with us. His body was to die for. Nice tone arms, 8 ack abs, nice chest, and the cutest smile. Big plump ass. Smooth all over. He was 23 (the magic age), and was very generous with his body to just show me what he was about. He guided my hand under the towel to get a feel of his cock. “Sou versatile” he says the magic words. I was sold. I tell Diego I will be right back. At Lion’s, while the downstairs stage and bar area are renovated, the upstairs suites were not, and were kind of run down. It will do the job, however. The boy gets me the suite keys and some condoms and lube. We entered the suite, and the boy excuses himself and asks if he could shower and get clean. I could not argue with that. I lay down on the bed to wait. A few minutes later, he was ready, emerging from the bathroom naked, smelling amazing, and hard. He takes my clothes off and immediately sits on my groin to start of. He leans down to kiss me, deeply. This boy knows what he is doing. When it comes to these programas, I can be game for anything. Sometimes I am game for worshiping a muscle god, sometimes I like getting serviced and let the boy earn his programa money. But the sweet spot for me is a boy who was equal parts into getting you into him, as he is getting into you. He sucked me, I sucked him. He rimmed me and I rimmed him. When it came to the main course, I opted to top him, but he called the shots, riding me and calling the shots and making the thrusts. I was so turned on that I came while he was thursting on me up and down, a rarity for me. “Leite?” he asks. Of course, I answer. He gets off my dick, feeds his still hard cock on my mouth, pulls out, and then jacks off. 30 seconds later he shoves his dick back into my mouth and comes inside. Wowza. He kisses me afterwards, our kiss was a mix of saliva and some of his cum that I did not swallow. He takes the condom from my cock and disposes of it, and cuddles with me in the bed. We exchange some pleasantries and get to know each other, and we exchange numbers as well. 200 reais. After a shower to de-whore myself, I was back in Diego’s arms. He playfully puts his hand on my crotch and asks me if the boy was good. I kiss him and told him he was good. We enjoy the rest of the evening watching the show and having more beers. We get home and after laying down with Diego in bed, I immediately fall asleep. I was exhausted. I wake up in the middle of the night, with a naked Diego snoring next to me. This was going to be a good trip. Next, 117, 202, and more Lions.

I've decided to break my copyright rule. I know, that took about two minutes. If anyone objects, I totally understand if this post disappears. I don't know what the future holds. I recently read a moving post from the escort, peterhung85, and I wanted to share his words here. If the other site disappears, I thought his excellent writing should live on as long as possible. RIP Guy Fawkes/daddy I have just seen this topic. I still don't want to believe it... It was 2009, San Francisco, and my first ever review was published on Daddysreviews by a long-standing member here. I had no idea what this site was so I went to check it out and shortly after my cell phone rang. A gentleman introduced himself as "Daddy" and told me that my review got published on his website. He asked me a few non-intrusive questions that were geared towards finding out whether the money I make through this means is being invested for my future. Again, and I must emphasize this, he did that in the most non-intrusive way as one possibly could have. I felt that he just genuinely wanted to ensure that I am on the right path to creating financial independence for myself in the long run. We covered a few other aspects of the industry and he offered me a helping hand in case I ever needed a piece of advice. Soon after my first published review came the second, third --- 20th, and 30th, and my business has exploded and I was full of quality inquiries. Surely, providing a great service doesn't hurt but without the ability for people to research their next "date" on a platform like his, how would anyone know about my abilities? But business (while obviously in our lives is key) was truly NOT what Daddy was all about. He was in it to help people. Genuinely. I had the pleasure to meet him on numerous occasions at a variety of restaurants and many times at his apartment in Las Vegas. We even met during the pandemic (the chair was waiting for me at the entrance to sit on) while he distanced himself from me by being in front of his computer on the other side of the apartment and we were both wearing masks. The "HOW" never really mattered, but every meeting with him was always highly insightful and entertaining.... and very genuine. Many of you probably didn't get the chance to truly know who was behind this nickname/website and I am very grateful that I had the pleasure of conducting more than just superficial chit-chats with him. For those of you who don't know, he was a computer whiz and had incredible talents at forensics and used to be retained as a forensic expert in multi-billion dollar lawsuit cases back in the day. This speaks volumes of the in-depth knowledge he had about certain fields in computers. Talking about talent, he used to be an escort himself (waaaaaaaaaaay) back in the day. He wasn't always overweight and was rather hot. He told me so many funny stories about providing services in LA/Beverly Hills to some of the Hollywood elites. They were extremely entertaining stories. He never cared about the money. He went as far as to flat-out decline highly lucrative promotional/marketing/advertising offers if he disagreed with how the company conducted its business in the gay world, whether we are talking about advertising practices, treatment of others, or the mission the company stood for. He was a principles guy, yet - needless to say - non-judgmental. Every time we talked - without an exception - he had his "routine" questions: - Are you happy? - Do you put a certain percentage of your money aside and invest it? - Do you take time out to have fun and enjoy life too? This should tell you about the type of person Bill was. (With names redacted), he showed me all kinds of escort inquiries where the guys offered him free sessions in exchange for promotion/bad review removal/self-review postings. He NEVER abused his position and always maintained his integrity. He was a big fan of Latin guys with muscles and cute butts. Who can blame him, right?! Yet... never ran out of compliments for me when we met. We talked about a few side projects of his too. Some of you may not know, but a few years back he was running a website that was teaching the transgender community about proper accessorizing / makeup / wigs and how to start out. He was also running it on his own dime and received no compensation for it. On my last in-person visit during COVID, we actually started discussing either a joint business venture or a certain promotional opportunity about a website that would have served as an extension of DaddysReviews. We have never finalized the details and sadly, that will not happen anymore. It would have been great to work with him I am sure. I just want you gentlemen to understand how this person sacrificed most of his life to help our community. He never asked for anything in return and I know exactly how much of his life he sacrificed for others. He changed my life, and probably many of your lives I am certain or the very bottom line, his work made your life a little easier in this crazy world. I hope that he is in a good place now, his contributions, his helping hand, his guidance, and the amount of care and love he put out for all of us will be remembered (at least by me) for a LIFETIME. When @Cooper reached out to me, I was shocked to hear that I was probably the only person who knew his address. He was so loving, welcoming and open that I thought he kept company often times at his home. I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Cooper for taking immediate actions and for keeping everyone posted. I am so truly sorry it ended this way. :-( THANK YOU BILL/DADDY/GUY FAWKES WITH ALL MY HEART! ❤ If anyone doubted why many escorts and clients remained loyal to Daddy, peterhung85's words should put those doubts to rest.

Pre Christmas days – The Ghost of Rio Past Part 2 It always happens this way, doesn’t it? As time passes, and you get reminded about a past relationship, at some point, you only remember the good parts. You somehow forget why you broke up in the first place. And then you try to rekindle the romance, expecting only the good parts reemerge, but if neither of you have changed, and all the niggling details that led to the downfall of your relationship slowly creep back up to the surface, the outcome will be the same. But the thing is, both of us have changed. He is not the same Garoto de Programa that I fell in love with all those years ago. On some things, he has changed for the better – gone is the drug use, the binge drinking, the anger issues. But with that, the excitement mostly has gone away as well – the crazy sex, the reckless abandon. This Diego iteration was almost boring, which is not his fault. I guess after a lifetime of instability and selling one's body, one should aspire to be as boring and predictable as the rest of us. I do respect and admire his change in his outlook in life. But I have also changed as well. I am not a babe in the Brazil woods anymore. I’ve appreciated Diego’s guiding hand in my first year into discovering Brazil, helping me with Portuguese, introducing me to the culture and the people and other idiosyncrasies that is seen through his eyes. But these few days with him have made me realized that I have moved on from what Diego had to offer. It was nice though to be spending the non-sauna hours with him. And he has given me his take on how the coronavirus has changed his life here in Rio. He has seen a lot of people lose their jobs and gone to desperate places. He tells me that he is lucky that he and his family are in the restaurant biz, and people still need food in the pandemic, so that at least guaranteed him not going hungry. He said that if he stuck with being a GP, and with the saunas closing for a good part of 2020, he might not have made it. As we go have lunch one of the days I was with him, the TV that was showing the news in the restaurant reminds me that COVID is still very much a thing here: But Copacabana, and the rest of Rio, seemed to be determined to go into the summer season in a celebratory mood, seemingly unbothered by all this sickness and death. Rio actually is helping me forget all this a depressing stuff as well. I do not think I am going to get sick here. And why would I? The beaches are hopping and full, the water is warm, and the saunas are filled with clients and boys eager for a good time. Definitely delusional thinking on my part, but too late to worry about it now that I am in the soup. It was Saturday today, and I tell Diego that I wanted to check out 117 later. He agreed to it but told me that Lions had a birthday party today for their DJ, Dudu, his friend, and he wanted to go after 117 to greet Dudu his parabens. So we get to 117 at 6 PM so I can get scratch my muscle boy itch for the day. We get to 117, and as usual Diego gets recognized by everyone. After some catching up, we finally get to go downstairs to leave our valuables in the locker. Immediately upon entering, I got reminded on why 117 was my favorite sauna in Rio. There it was, the wall-to-wall muscle-bound boys that left me gobsmacked in my first trip to Brazil, chronicled here. The slow days of Rio during the pandemic are over. It was back. Hopefully for good. Diego opted not to change into a towel, citing that he has stopped his cycle of “anabolizantes” a long time ago, so his muscles are not up to snuff anymore for this place. I gave him a kiss, telling him that to me, he could give these boys a run for their money. Which was true. He was trimmer, less muscles popping, but the Brazilian genetics was still in place for him, so the abs, the chest, the tone, all were still there. As we made our way through the corridor and into the main stage area, it was amazing the amount of boys available. As we sit down for drinks, I told Diego that there was almost too many boys. Too many is almost as bad as too few. Noone stands out, and everyone seems to blend in into the crowd. It was hard to pick one that would stand out. I was ready to randomly throw darts and just pick one, any one, until I lock eyes on one guy. I recognized the guy from somewhere, but I could not put my finger on it. He was tall, strapping, handsome. He had a lean face with carefully coiffed hair. He was a mix of a lot of things, as most of them are, but he was light-skinned, and with just the right amount of tattoos that accentuates his muscles. And then it occurred to me: he was one of the four strippers that had a dance at Lions yesterday. I remembered that he was the best out of the four I saw, and the body was perfection – not an ounce of fat, an 8-pack, and ample ass and cock to complete the package. From his Instagram: I wave him over and after acknowledging Diego, he sits right next to me. I commented on his stripper performance yesterday, to break the ice. He laughs and thanks me. That smile. I tell him that I usually don’t see strippers do the rounds at the sauna. He tells me that it is a rarity for him as well, but said that Christmas was coming, and he needs to get enough money fast to give his family a good Christmas feast. He says he has some fixed clients as well but just needed the money to come in the next few days. He was warm, and forthcoming, and made me a Diego feel like we were talking to a friend. I was sold. I tell him to get a suite for us. For a stripper with crazy muscles, he was very down to earth. He was also very generous with his body. And he was passionate. I’ve always have some reservations with getting strippers to do programas. Maybe they are all for show and not much else. Not this guy. Maybe going into these things with lower expectations helped, but he was doing his part to dispel this notion I had with strippers. Maybe I’ll give more a try. Sufficed to say that I explored all the nooks and crannies of his perfect body, and he showed more attention to mine that I thought it deserved. We both came. I was in heaven. 350 reais for such an experience. I will be going back for more. After the programa, Diego was worried. I indeed took my time with the stripper. We get our things and walk the 10 minutes from 117 to Lions, to join the birthday party already in progress: There was free food and some free beers in the premises: And we enjoyed an hour of drag queen performance after drag queen performance, giving Dudu his tribute. We left at 11 PM, and from what I understood, the show went on for another hour, for a total of 3 hours. That seems a lot but it was a night of celebration. The next day, Sunday, we decided to check out Ponte 202. We got to the sauna and find that it was closed: I was kind of surprised, but I guess they close on Sundays now. We race to Gloria to go to 117. Less boys today, but still had enough boys to strike my fancy. And fancy turned into this lean built guy who had the confidence and swagger that attracted me to him (and probably qualities that I missed from Diego, who is now a little boring and stable). Upon talking to him, I find out that he was a porn star at Hotboys. He grabbed my phone to google his name and he showed me his oeuvre of fine quality naked video work. From the amount of videos I guess he was a popular top, and by the look of his exertions on video, he seems to know what he is doing, and how to use is 9.5 inch (24 cm) dick: At the suite, he was all what his videos promised, and coupled with a playful and happy disposition, made it an enjoyable programa. And he knew how to prime me before getting to take his giant cock, as he rimmed like he was liking it, and got me warm enough for the deed. I came while he was in me, another first in a sauna suite. 200 reais. Money well spent. Epilogue So before this 117 visit, since it was Sunday, it was family day for most Brazilians, and Diego was no exception. We were invited to have a late lunch with Diego’s family. Which meant a 1.5 hour Uber ride further inland into the interior of Rio. Diego’s family’s house was modest, as most favela dwellings are. I got to meet a lot of relatives and friends, and the beer was flowing. Diego was very open with the PDA and kisses which threw me a little bit. But he was determined to show me that he was not ashamed anymore. It was my turn to be ashamed I guess. Not with the overt gayness that was displayed, but because I was pretending to reciprocate his affections. I did not want a love relationship with him anymore, even if he was eager to get into one with me again. I have just moved on. Otherwise, though, the food was amazing, and I appreciated every bit of hospitality that was given to me: Diego had a lovely family, and my mastery (or lack thereof) of Portuguese was indeed tested in this 3 hour lunch. But afterwards, after we were in the Uber on the way back to Copacabana, and Diego lays down his head on my lap, and as it raced to a closed Ponte 202, I realized that I had to nip this in the bud, before Diego overstayed his welcome, and Diego would further assume that we were together again. After 117, and at the apartment, Diego and I have the heart to heart that we never had when we were together. After a few tears, and a lot of laughter, we get into an understanding. It is better that we say goodbye now, before feelings got in the way. They already have, as it turned out. He stays the night. He leaves first thing in the morning. Next… I’m free!!! Not really, but still, a slut can dream.

Thank you very much Numazu for your beautiful adventures and your inspiring stories. You are the best telling storing of this site. You deserve the Nobel prize for gay novel

This is not a news story as it first appeared last November. But it was highlighted today in a CNN website article. It was just a private kiss in an elevator in October 2019. The two men worked for state owned China Southern Airlines, China's largest, based in Guangzhou. One was a handsome 29 year old flight attendant who had worked for the airline for five years, Chai Cheng. The other was an unnamed pilot. Somehow that kiss found its way onto social media and went viral. Soon Chai was referred to as the China Southern cabin boy. Although homosexuality is not illegal in China, the current President Xi has been tightening up on homosexuality in recent years. By all accounts Chai had been a model employee receiving several quick promotions. As he points out, quite a number of flight attendants are gay but they do everything possible to hide this from co-workers. Now that he has been outed, they go to even greater lengths to appear straight. Initially his bosses told him just to keep quiet about the incident and put him on unpaid leave. Then in April last year he was informed his contract would not be renewed "for obvious reasons". In August Chai decided to sue China Southern for the six months salary he was denied. Although the case is not about discrimination, should Chai win it it is likely that a discrimination case will follow. Although Chai was fired, the pilot was not. This was because airlines invest a great deal of money training pilots. No doubt China Southern did not want to waste that investment. The case was heard in Court last November and the verdict is awaited. How the Court interprets the law is keenly awaited for a 2008 national law prohibits discrimination based on gender. It appears this has not yet been tested in any court. Since the incident, Chai has become an unlikely hero and activist for the LGBT community. Chai in an undated photo provided by him to CNN Chai and his lawyer in a photo released by the LGBT Rights Advocacy China https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/26/china/china-southern-flight-attendant-trial-lgbtq-intl-dst-hnk/index.html

As usual in Thailand, the devil is in the details. The opening up policy has still not passed through the Thai cabinet. There have been many earlier schemes assumed to gain approval which never happened. Also in this case, there is the major assumption that at least 70% of the local population will have been vaccinated with two doses before July 1st to result in herd immunity. That's almost 500,000 people. But where are the vaccines? Very few have so far arrived in Thailand, I understand. Another problem will be fake vaccination certificates. The IATA Travel Pass is still in its infancy. So let's just hope for the time being.

Realizing that for some there is no love lost between Daddy's forums and Oz's forums, I submit that we can recognize Daddy for creating a very popular forum which has a multitude of participants and offered many of us a place to post our thoughts and interact with like-minded posters. Many of us left that site and came here. I did too. But I have learned to like both sites. The future of Daddy's site remains unclear. It may be an opportunity for this site to gain members. I suggest we be supportive of those wishing to join here, and not begrudge those who don't. At any rate, I met Daddy several times, some good, some not so good. But I sure hate to see how he suffered in his last month. RIP, Daddy.

Apple came out with the new IMac. It is nice and has the same 8TB hard drive the laptop has. My question is should I wait for Apple to start using its own processors or will this one last me 5 years? (current one 5 years and counting).

I got my first computer, an Apple ][+, in 1980 and have upgraded - on average - every three years. So that's about a dozen upgrades, and only the first one - from the ][+ to the first Mac in 1984 - was done out of a desire for something new and better. All the other upgrades were because my hand was "forced". And most of those were because something crapped out and I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars or wait a week to get my old computer back. After all those upgrades since the first Mac, there wasn't a single time when the newer model was irresistible, nor was there a single time when I regretted getting a new model. So, for me anyway, there really isn't such a thing as a "bad" decision. I'm currently getting close to a "forced" decision, as the battery on my 2017 MacBook Pro is showing signs of fatigue. I'm not looking forward to this transition, as I'll need to upgrade to the new Catalina operating system and leave behind a few favorite 32-bit applications. Looking back at all those dozen computers, I'm struck by the fact that nearly every one of them cost right around two thousand dollars. With my first Apple computer, I got an 8-bit processor running at 1MHz, 48kb of memory, and a 5 1/4" floppy drive which could hold 160kb of data. My current MacBook Pro has a 64-bit processor running at 3.1GHz, 8gb of memory, and an SSD drive that can hold 500gb of data. And both computers were around two grand. Sorry for the trip down memory lane, OZ. I guess where I'm ending up is that, if your experience is anything like mine, you won't have a terrible outcome with any decision you make. And, if you do, you can probably bail yourself out for the price of a dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

On April 16, Amazon will air a new historical drama, Leonardo, about the life of the great painter. It is now well known and documented that Leonardo was gay. Giorgio Vasari's famous 1550 volume "Lives of the Artists" makes clear that Leonardo was besotted with his male assistant Salai. Salai even appears as a beautiful angel in one of his best known paintings. It is also known he surrounded himself with good-looking assistants and pupils. Documents discovered around 1900 show that Leonardo was accused of sodomy before Florentine magistrates in 1476. Yet Amazon's portrait of Leonardo "drags Caterina da Cremona out of the shadows". The show's writer claims this was the most important relationship in his life. "But Caterina is a figment, a fantasy, a complete piece of tosh, invented by a 19th-century Romantic" who believed that Leonardo could not have painted female nudes without having slept with a woman!! Yet he was 57 when he met Caterina and she was a prostitute. Tosh indeed! https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/26/leonardo-aidan-turner-amazon-prime-video-series-gay

And what about the $100,000 covid medical insurance and is there a compulsory 500,000 Baht bank balance requirement?

Here's the thread I started last time I was in TPE on Mudan Spa On another trip prior to that I had visited a place in a little alley near city hall that I don't recall the name of.

@Tomcal is most of Sao Paulo shut down? I was reading in the NY Times today about the President of Brazil and how he really botched up Covid19. It was a fascinating read.

Ive long consider him under the too beautiful category lol. But having him performing still adds value to the whole moonlight experience lol Im a fan of nut before, but khun slowly grows on me too.

briefly saw that too, maybe on IG, not sure. But I have to admit, the new Babe has lost his lustre for me after the changes to his face, especially the nose. Now looks like a generic "too beautiful" face from random advertisements. The "babeness" is gone

Congratulations on the birthday! It's always a good achievement to notch another one! How will you celebrate?

Much of the frenzy can be resisted. I give TotallyOz credit for not upgrading frequently for the sake of updating. He started this thread saying he got 5+ years out of his current machine. I get 5+ years out of computers too. And I don't find that the industry requires me to spend a lot with each round. I use commodity PC hardware (to run Linux, not Windows) and I don't need to replace everything when I get a new computer. I can usually re-use the cabinet, power supply, disk drives, keyboard, mouse, and monitor. PC hardware standards are actually fairly stable considering how much the industry changes. I can't speak for the Apple situation, as I don't use their products. Many things have gotten cheaper and simpler with time. It used to be I'd need a new video card with each new CPU+motherboard but nowadays Intel CPUs have graphics built in that is more than adequate for my purposes; I don't buy video cards anymore.

What did da Nile say to da Canal? “Just relax and breathe. You can take it.”

That is very sad news. RIP

Reviews of the M1 laptop and mini have been pretty stellar, main problem so far being lack of I/O. Pretty substantial performance gains, of course first in Apple's own software but I haven't heard widespread complaints of incompatibility with software not yet updated. And I think MS just updated Office. Pretty much the nail in the coffin of ever "owning" software again, but if you have an active subscription you'll have a substantial update soon. But, on the other hand, I haven't heard any announcement of a new iMac yet. Still, at this point, I'd definitely wait.

I'd say it depends on the apps you depend on (Apple's apps will probably start with a leg-up on using the new hardware better), but that buying the final generation of proven hardware is probably a safer bet than the first generation of new and drastically different hardware. But if you're a life-long Apple guy you've faced this multiple times before... 680X0 to PowerPC, PowerPC to Intel, and now... I wonder about the prospect of mainstream applications being as fast or even bothering to support a vastly different architecture, but then they claim it emulates/etc...