Lucky

Now this post might seem to be about Rio de Janeiro, or Brazil, and thus in the wrong forum. But no, it's about humor, and thus in the proper forum. Just checking! The NY Times today has an interesting article about a comedy troupe, Porta de Fundos, in Rio which has politicians and church leaders fuming. One skit is about cutting embezzlement temporarily in the face of protests. But one funny one took on the numerous sightings of the Virgin Mother of Christ. This one is seen in a gynecologist's office, where the doctor saw the image of Jesus between her legs, leading to the poor woman caught in stirrups for hours while doctors, nurses, and devotees hold candlelight vigils to observe the phenomenon. It's on You Tube as well, where it has become a sensation with millions of viewings. Learn about more of the funny skits in the Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/world/americas/on-youtube-comedy-troupe-tickles-brazil-and-ruffles-feathers.html?ref=world. And, if your Portuguese is good, try this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/portadosfundos

The Washington Post only allows me to read so many articles a month, so I read that all you have to do to get around that is remove their cookie. That brought me to look at my cookies, and again I am just amazed at how sites that I visited for as little as a few seconds put tracking cookies on my computer. So I removed a bunch of them, especially if they had the word "ad" in them. But I usually go too far and remove cookies I want or need. So I wondered if someone here who knows these things could tell us just why cookies are attached to computers that have just dropped in. Do they really then follow us around the internet, watching what we do? isn't that usually non-productive for them?

No privacy left anywhere, is there?

We really enjoyed this place. It's like going back in time, to an old Rio. Well worth a visit.

MsGuy, what are you currently reading? As much as I like these two novels, I have read both twice and don't think a third will be a good use of my time. Same with The Front Runner- I loved the novel, read it 2 or 3 times, but don't see any benefit in reading it again. BTW, I am not inferring that Patrica Nell Warren wrote as well as Mary Renault, but her novel sure was good for its time. And why is it that women write such good gay male novels?

Fidelity is much more important than monogamy.

Fire From Heaven is an immaculate love story. Your heart will be touched, believe me.

Kindness and generosity can never be found too often, so if Daddy found it, I quote Pope Francis and ask: "Who am I to judge?" He does run a popular escort review site, and if that brings some escorts his way for whatever reason, then why not? Ace has been a very popular attendee at several Palm Springs Weekends, and no doubt he went with Daddy out of the friendship that came from that. Recently two local escorts (Dane Scott and Steven Kesslar) went to lunch with me. We even went Dutch. It was kind of them to join me with no expectations. I'd hate to have someone come here and say I had hit a new low for doing so. And, as for Fred fixing Daddy's car, Fred, PM me!....I can use the dime(s)!

Perhaps there are guys here who like to read but never came across the two novels mentioned above. These are two of the best gay novels you could ever read. The Persian Boy: Published in February, 1998, author Mary Renault. Amazon sums up thus: The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander’s (the Great) life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army conquered his homeland. Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes-mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander’s mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone. Fire from Heaven: Amazon sums up thus: Alexander’s beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son’s loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle’s tutoring provoked his mind and Homer’s Iliad fueled his aspirations. Killing his first man in battle at the age of twelve, he became regent at sixteen and commander of Macedon’s cavalry at eighteen, so that by the time his father was murdered, Alexander’s skills had grown to match his fiery ambition. These two novels are love stories as well as excellent historical fiction about Alexander the great as he conquers the world, well, a part of it. They are so well-written as to make you feel present at the events described, including the intimacies of the lovers. Even though they were written and popular 20 or so years ago, they are timeless gay stories that you won't regret reading, assuming that you like to read. Renault has written several other novels, but these two are the place to start, or so I see it.

Love the reports! Thanks for sharing...and what price differences did you note in Rio sauna...or did you say and I missed it?

Diebold's voting machines are a huge scandal. Maybe Diebold should have to prove each machine is tamper proof before they can be used.

Now that Syrian hackers have taken down the NY Times website, for the second time, maybe boytoy.com had best say only nice things about the country! The Times is still down.

What makes a cream pie porn?

LOL! Oz proves that his sense of humor outdoes all of us!

I had heard that these guides couldn't be edited without great difficulty, so I am really pleased that the computer whizzes at boytoy.com have found a way to do so. The guides are so well done that they deserve only the best choice of words! I really enjoyed reading the ones I have been able to read to date.

And speaking of politics, if the NY Times website can so easily be taken over by Syrian hackers, doesn't that make a joke of all so-called security programs the average Joe uses? The Times site went down yesterday and is still down.

That's absolutely right. I don't blame anyone for wanting their post to be read, but the Politics section is buried at the bottom of the site and that doesn't help either. I am one of the readers of political posts and I want to see them thrive. So maybe giving it more prominence will help get the posts read more.

I know one guy nicknamed Lucky who can't golf for shit! Luckily, he doesn't live in Palm Springs!

Speaking just for myself, I would have posted this in the forum for politics. There is no point having separate forums for subtopics if we don't honor them by posting there when appropriate.

Speaking just for myself, I would have posted this in the forum for arts and literature. There is no point having separate forums for subtopics if we don't honor them by posting there when appropriate.

Well, I damn well hope not! It's not FRISCO! It's San Francisco. The battle to stop the use of Frisco has been going on since Herb Caen admonished in his column decades ago that you never call the city Frisco! But now it seems like the battle could be lost as Frisco is used a little more often by the ignorant. See following article: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nativeson/article/Farewell-to-Frisco-say-hello-to-San-Fran-4759011.php

I love Lumpini Park. I have visited it numerous times, always managing to see the muscle boys working out. Later, I would encounter many of them at the Tawan Bar. I see the name Lumpini often spelled Lumphini and have no idea what the etymology of the word is.

It's definitely worth a visit...or a dozen! I love going there. The King does not live there, btw. Most recently, he lived in a hospital on the Chao Praya River. But three weeks ago, he left the hospital for the first time in four years to go to the resort city of Hua Hin, where he has a seaside residence. And did you know that the 85 year old King was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts?

Let it be noted that I did qualify my remark on Holiday Inns by stating that I was stuck with the 60's image it had. I joined the conversation more to tease Oz than to comment on the current quality of Holiday Inns as I clearly am not up to date on that. Perhaps if I went to Brazil and stayed at the Krakow Holiday Inn I might like them better! BTW, I did look at pix of the Holiday Inn at Krakow, Poland, and it does look really nice.

With the mayor of San Diego resigning on Friday after 17 complaints of sexual harrassment were lodged against him, some think former councilman Carl DeMaio, currently running as a Republican for Congress, might make a good successor. Yet DeMaio is facing his own scandalous allegations. Former Council President Ben Hueso, now a Democratic state senator, says he caught DeMaio masturbating in the restroom outside the council room...during meetings of the council! VoiceofOC.org states that "Describing the scene that spring when he walked in on DeMaio, who was in front of a urinal with his pants down, Hueso said: “DeMaio was masturbating. He jumped, caught by surprise. He jumped to the sink … saying 'I’m sorry, I’m sorry' about six times. Then washed his hands, darted out.” The whole story is at voiceofOC.org, an Orange County website. Apparently another councilman says he saw DeMaio masturbating as well, and the article claims that his alleged habit was widely known. DeMaio's spokesman denies the accusations. DeMaio has been receptive of good press from the San Diego newspaper, owned by Doug Manchester, a hotelier who donated to the Prop 8 forces before he bought the newspaper. DeMaio has also been endorsed for Congress by the district attorney, a Republican and a lesbian. De Maio is also openly gay. Is the story credible? Who knows? It seems doubtful, but we have a Democratic state senator saying he witnessed the behavior personally. That's a lot to take on if he just trying to dirty up DeMaio. But it might work, true or not. Republicans in rest rooms are unpredictable.