Buddy2

I'll be home in a week. Meet me at JFK, bring the borrowed BMW.. This place is full of Germans, who look at me blankly when I mention Starwoods. I can not believe they are paying full price for this dump. They are all headed home and back to work. I have not met any italians yet, except for the staff, of course. I expected the bellboys to be much more friendly. Damn I wish the dollar was worth what it was in the old days. I have to make several trips to the one local ATM machine most days and I still get no respect from the bellboys. One hundred euros barely buys a quick blowjob! I plan to play up my Italian vacation big time when I return to the Internet in New York. Those clueless jerks will never know that I had a lousy time. I truly expected a stronger reaction to my departing slap at MER, but I check Daddy's forum every day on my laptop and nothing. A man in my position expects to be the subject of envy and gossip. I wonder if those losers at MER are talking about me. That's better than nothing (Note to self: check MER in the morning before the free brunch). Cheers,

I just wasted some time reading Harlow's "reviews." I share Marc's concerns. In fact, it's not even a close call because some reviews actively promote the agency and other escorts who supposedly work at the agancy. The reviews that are most helpful to me are the following: 1. A positive review that mentions how the escort could improve his services even more. Too often, a highly regarded escort will have 30-40 glowing reviews which end up not being all that helpful (example of what is helpful: review of Tristan Waters, a truly great escort, by a client who felt rushed). 2. First review of an escort whose picture has been all over the Internet, but is new to escorting (example: good recent review of Matthew from Premier in Philadelphia -- Premier has been using Matthew as its coverboy on Rentboy; he is the face of Premier in Rentboy's current 'best of' voting in about 10 categories which includes best agency). 3. Benjamin Nicholas' reviews, none of which are negative, but do provide a great deal of information about the escort. I am referring to how often BN pays for meals and sometimes everything as well as some of the more 'unusual' reviews. I do not know if Benjamin holds a record for paying from his own pocket on 'dates,' but it's useful information. Tristan's, Matthew's and Benjamin's reviews are on Daddy's site.

Via e-mail Tristan Waters asked me to vote for him as Sexiest Male escort. I did not know about the contest until receiving his e-mail earlier thus week.When I got to the two categories which Benjamin is in (neither of which involve Tristan), I did have to stop and think. My conclusion was that BN is a part of our community. He makes an effort to post on a fairly regular basis on Daddy's site. He puts considerable effort into his blog. That is worth something.

Exactly, BG. I do not particularly like Benjamin Nicholas, yet I voted for him (once, not twenty times) in the two categories in which he was nominated. I would have voted for Rico if his blog had been nominated, even though I like him even less than BN. There's a good feeling on this site, a trying to trying to uit oneself in the other person's shoes. Let's try to keep that. It's sad that Marc has to even defend himself.

I have received three e-mails in the last 48 hours asking me to vote for one of the finalists in Sexiest Escort category. Since I believe he is a legitimate finalist in that catgory, I did gladly vote for him. Ben is a finalist in the correct categories: Best Escort, Best Website. He does shine in those areas. He doesn't belong as a finalist in the Sexiest Escort category. Hope my guy wins, although the "get out the vote" tactics make all this meaningless.

"Those who knew HooBoy KNOW WELL that his intent was to share the site with, and ultimately pass the site on to Foxy. That did not happen." Since you chose to discuss all this so openly, my question is why didn't HooBoy execute a will making his wishes known before he died. Didn't he have a warning in the form of a stroke about six months before his death? There was certainly a discussion on HooBoy's site (with HooBoy himself about his lack of medical insurance.) It seems like Daddy often comes out looking like the bad guy which may not have happened if HooBoy had a will and left everything to Foxy. I do understand that HooBoy may have been a take life one day at a time-kind of guy, if he did not have medical insurance.

Thanks for the article on the study, Lucky. I could afford to lose 10-15 pounds and the study really hit home with me. As to Rico, the Lucky dead pool is boring and has been for a long time. You would never catch Benjamin Nicholas repeating the same item over and over again in his blog. That may be why BN can claim so many more hits than Rico.

I did not mean that I wanted to be RockHard, just that I wanted his Starwood points. I would take advantage of the ferry services from Sardinia to Rome, Naples and Sicily. Sounds like a nice vacation to me, especially in early September when the tourists thin out a little. Of course, I agree that it was cowardly to post such a long nasty message and then mention a resort in Sardinia where he would be staying for a month and therefore unavailable to respond to e-mails. An 'important' person like Rock would surely bring his laptop. If the laptop fails, Sardinia must have Internet cafes. For all we really know Rock is still in New York City and just wanted to impress us with his phoney "vacation." Frankly, I found the tone of your response a little strong. RockHard is often a jerk, but from your response you would think he had murdered someone.

"Poor" RockHard We all should be so poor. Even if the luxury hotel is overrun with Starwood members, Rock is spending a month in Sardinia in the Mediterranean. I'd trade places with him in a second and wouldn't care what people said about me on a message board. I guess the laughs are on us.

Great photo of the motel. I laughed out loud. Rock sounds more like Auntie Mame or that old bat Angela Lansbury than himself. Maybe his true personality comes out (so to speak) on vacation at a fabulous resort in Italy surrounded by German families and screaming children.

I haven't stayed at any of the hotels. The list does seem geared toward resorts. I would have chosen the Adlon in Berlin, on the former east German side of the Brandenburg Gate. It's a beautiful hotel (inspiration for the film "Grand Hotel) that was completely rebuild after unification. The area is especially interesting at night, with both the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate in lights. Also A+ service. The Adlon is most famous lately as the hotel where Michael Jackson held his baby outside the window for fans to see -- to much critical comment.

I had a three weeks relationship with another soldier in Vietnam, just as we were about to leave the country. He went home to his girlfriend in Iowa. I returned to Massachuseetts. We have never commication since the day he left in June, 1969. We have a lot of freedom to stay overnight in hotels in Saigon because our tours were almost over, but not much money to really enjoy that freedom on more than two or three occasions. I still think about him every few weeks with great pleasure. Congratulations for living your life to the fullest! Jesse has it exacxtly right.

I realized when composing the message that places like Rounds existed in only the largest cities in the US in the 80s and early 90s. For those who lived outside those cities, HooBoy completely changed many lives. I'm 62 and have been hiring escorts/hustlers for more than a decade and a half. Escort review/forums are great. They have made my life easier and more enjoyable. But, HooBoy did not change my life, not even close. That does not mean that HooBoy's memory should not be honored and respected. To Totally Oz & Marc, I am sure that I would have liked HooBoy as a peron; he sounds like a wonderful companion and friend. But, I do understand how that has much to do with my original message.

My comments may not be popular, but here goes. HooBoy made a great contribution to guys who are seeking escorts by establishing a computer site that allowed reviews of encounters with escorts. His message center was a step forward allowing people to chat, or often argue, about common interests. There were plenty of escorts and escort agencies before HooBoy, many providing excellent services. Matt Adams wrote a book on the subject called "hustlers, escorts, porn stars" back in the mid- to late 1990s. Most major cities had hustler bars. I am most familiar with Rounds in New York City, which was different from strip clubs in Montreal. I never quite believed the urban legend that Tom Cruise hustled at Rounds. But, the joy of Rounds was the thrill of the unknown. On any given night (or the next night), you might meet and hire someone more attractive and interesting than Tom Cruise. Rounds was closed by a Republican mayor long before HooBoy. The bar/restaurant was probably doomed anyway as New Yorkers became more computer oriented. . I miss HooBoy the person, but I miss bars like Rounds more.

There are a few gay bars on the main street, Nevsky Prospekt. I spent a week in St. Petersburg last June, when there was almost 24 hours of daylight. It's a beautiful city with many great things to do (beautiful people also). There a definite gay buzz after midnight, walking the street in half twilight, half daylight. If many Russians speak English, I did not meet them. I went alone and wish I had not. I never felt unsafe, just unsure of where to go and where to stay away from. Make some connects with Russian gays on the Internet before you go. I never had sex in the my week there, but still loved the city & would go back in a minute. (I have done a lot of traveling & Russia was still difficult for me.) In five or ten years, St. Petersburg will be the gay place to visit; it has big time potential because of all the tourist attractions and the feel of a western European city.

>I have never made a journey to Russia before and I am very >excited about it. Any suggestions would be greatly >appreciated. Russian men are the hottest in the world, next to Italians IMO. I have never been to Moscow, but from a trip to St. Peterburg last June I suggest you start booking a hotel and get your visa if you are going alone (not part of a group or on business). Late spring is the big tourist season in Moscow and St. Petersburg because of all the daylight ("White Nights").

>If anybody cares to actually take the time to read the quoted >text in context they shall find that Benjamin had his tongue >planted firmly in cheek when writing it. > >That aside Michael Jackson has NEVER been convicted of child >molestation and anybody who continues to contribute to the >rumor that he has molested children is doing nothing more than >assaulting MJ. Not one of us knows the facts unless we have >been directly involved. > >Gay gossiping is really in poor taste and gives gays a bad >image. Gay Gossip? I was in Russia in June when the Jackson verdict was announced. Even in St. Peterburg, everyone was discussing the case. Given MJ's fame, interest in the trial and his behavior are far from limited to the gay community. I agree with everything BewareOfNick said in his response to you about Benjamin Nicholas.

I agree with your point on child molestation. Jackson was found innocent by a jury, but Benjamin is way out of line to say FUCK THOSE KIDS. As to the greatest entertainer, Michael Jackson is an okay pick but so would Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland. The bottom line is Benjamin Nicholas has a blog that he has to write every 10 days. It serves his purposes to write things that people find controversial.