Lucky

Not much math as the numbers are all available at the bottom of the page. I do wonder how zipperzone is doing. He did post after his illness, and he was still recuperating. I must say I have to agree with lurkerspeaks that quantity is no match for quality...and there lies the question of where Lookin fits into all of this!

The poll is limited, isn't it? What about Poker Players as a category? One other question- why do polls have to be pinned? At what point is that no longer meaningful?

The 9/11 Memorial officially is printed with the 11 in blue ink. Kind of festive, eh? It's 9/11. (Did that color show up? I rarely get these things such as color and italics, or bold, right.) But the colored 11, I think, refers to the blue lights which were put on the site to lite up the sky in memory of the twin towers. Or should that now be The Twin Towers? About the time of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, I read a book called 102 Minutes, which gave just about a floor by floor description of what the occupants of the buildings faced on that fateful morning. It was quite moving. Little did I know that soon after I would be in a hotel room overlooking the World Trade Center site. I could see that the building now known as One World Trade Center has finally started to look like a skyscraper. It's going to be very nice looking. There are two other buildings going up, neither to be as tall. A transit center with a fancy entrance is also underway at the PATH and MTA station entrances. But I kept in my mind what I had read. Horrible, horrible moments, right across from where I stood. Also from my room I could see the new 9/11 Memorial. It consists so far of two tidal basins on the footprints of the original towers, with water flowing from the top into the basins. There is a wooded park, with granite blocks spaced throughout. A visitor center is under construction. As we walked in the neighborhood, we passed a temporary 9/11 museum. It's really a gift shop in the guise of a museum, as it offers little in the artifact department- a steel girder,some art framed from a girder, posters, scraps of paper. But we got tickets to see the actual 9/11 park, so we went. Big mistake. For one thing, we did not see anything that we had not seen from our room. But worse, the lines were long, the security heavy and imposing. We had to show our tickets about nine times. We went through airport type security. My guess is that some 200 police officers worked there in some capacity. That's plus all of the security personnel, the ticket takers, and, oh yes, the temporary visitor center, which is more of a gift shop. So we have a temporary visitor center and a temporary museum. In expectation of even larger crowds, the entrance queue is exceptionally long. We walked and walked. So we then saw what we could see from our room. It is nice, and when finished will be even nicer. It is going to be a park where one can reflect on the tragedy of the date. But just in case you missed the opportunity to get your 9/11 magnet, coffee mug, t-shirt or calendar or any other item associated with gift shops, there is, in addition to the temporary museum and the temporary visitor center, a Tribute Center, which, coincidentally, no doubt, looks suspiciously like a gift shop.

With the flurry of milestones reached last week, it is interesting to note that many of our top posters are not often here! At the very top, as might be expected, are the admins, Tampa Yankee with 4438 posts, and Totally Oz with 3811. Yours truly is at 3006. But next is BiBottom Boy, who is currently not posting. He has 2472. Another missing poster is next, AdamSmith with 1829. On sick leave is zipperzone with 1419. Then we have an active poster, MsGuy with 1414. We drop a few hundred to get to the next on the list, Marc Anthony with 1144. Right behind him is FourAces, who just returned after a long absence, yet ranks ninth at 1138. EXPAT makes the top ten at an even 1000. Right behind him, though, is the long absent Stu Cotts at 931. So, just an interesting thing to note, our top posters made the list despite taking lots of time off. Should be easy enough for someone to beat that, eh? The top active posters are TY, Oz, Lucky, MsGuy, FourAces and EXPAT. Honorable mention to lurkerspeaks, who no doubt will soon be in the top ten. Did I miss anyone?

With the government of Greece calling for a referendum on the European plan to help Greece with its debts, the government itself is now at risk of failing, with only a two vote majority in parliament. But world markets are even more nervous. This plan was supposed to be agreed to already. If Greece reneges, then confidence collapses. The Washington Post, in a photo gallery from Deutsch Bank, offers a worst-case scenario of what will happen if Greece abrogates the agreement it made last week: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/european-debt-crisis-worst-case-scenarios/2011/10/20/gIQA2hTa0L_gallery.html#photo=1

Protesters world-wide can, at least to this point, be proud of those who are occupying the Zuccotti Park near Wall Street. A Lucky investigation revealed the park to be quite tidy, organized, and even providing a medical tent for those who meed assistance. There was no harassment of police officers or obstruction of traffic. On the other hand, it was pretty cold. The park does look like a tent city. Given New York hotel prices, this thing could catch on with folks just needing a place to stay.

Gee, i wonder what I missed while I was gone. What were the "hot" topics that enthralled the board... Actually, the waitress at Southern hospitality, a restaurant in New York where Justin Timberlake has an ownership interest, had half her tits popping out of her outfit. Even I found myself looking. They were nice and tan, and I could see where a straight guy might get quite distracted by them.

hitoallusa, I was so pleased to return home and find your very nice gift. It is of such fine material that I am sure it must have cost a fortune. Now I have no idea why you sent this, maybe I should check the boards to see if you gave a reason there...but thanks so much.

It's nice of you to post in this thread, I do appreciate it. Now I will reward you with a week without Lucky! But I will think of you as I struggle to make it from theater to theater in New York...

The suspense is killing me. Let's just get it over! Now we can move on...lookin to the future.

So then are we both saying:

They are too young. How about an Asian boy on ice?

These guys tried to start a fight with me, but I was having none of it! And this guy said he never wanted to see another post by me: I may spend the rest of the day watching this movie about OZ: OOPS! Someone's at the door:

Lookin, I am glad that you fixed those glitches. TY can delete my follow-up post then. Don't worry, it won't subtract one post from my count. Charlie, yes, indeed, they have, probably more than one. That is not the reason I posted this. If you read it carefully, you will see why. Evan started the Freedom to Marry Project with a grant from the Levi's company many years ago. After the Brooklyn job, he worked for Lamdba Legal for many years.

When is it going to happen? Do not put your money on Monday or Tuesday as I will be in the air on those days. Sadly, on Monday I will attend a funeral for one of my dearest friends. This one really hurts as we have been through a lot together. My friend was very tough. 15 years ago they gave her 5 years to live max. On Tuesday the bf and I will be flying to New York for a week of theater. I have tickets for 7 shows. Again sadly, the Beijing Dance boys will be gone by then. When I travel I do not post so much, as it seems that there is life outside of MER when on the road. And fear not, I am not preparing any words of wisdom for my 3000th post. So if you can't wait to see it happen, I suggest you start something today that either excites me greatly or angers me immensely. Then I could just get it over with! But lookin, thanks for noticing that I am near this important milestone.

Lookin, I had hoped that folks would read the article, but if not, then how nice to add the details from the article. I wonder if your post had them right and then when it went up the glitches appeared. I'll see what happens here: At their Oct. 15 wedding, the two men wore matching black suits and Hawaiian leis as they exchanged vows under a bamboo wedding canopy that stood beneath one of the Queensboro Bridge’s great stone arches that are a unique feature of Guastavino’s décor. The couple also wore ties emblazoned with a Chinese symbol meaning “double happiness.” (Mr. Wolfson had them customized in Chinatown at a shop on Elizabeth Street called — what else? — Elizabeth Tailor.) Their officiant, Justice Rosalyn H. Richter, who sits on the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, proclaimed before a crowd of around 50 close friends and family members that here, at last, was “the ceremony you wanted, in the city you call home.” After reciting their vows, Mr. Wolfson and Dr. He put their wedding rings on their left hands. At the celebratory dinner that followed, Rendong He of Victoria, British Columbia, Dr. He’s 72-year-old father, said that his son’s marriage “is not traditional in China, but the world is changing.” “I love my son, and Evan is good, his family is good, and my son is good. I support my son.” Mr. Wolfson’s father, Jerry Wolfson, 81, sweetly chimed in, claiming that somehow he just knew that the precocious boy who became a lawyer could even, he said, “go to China and back” for a principle he believed in. “Little did I know he would bring us such a treasure.”

The one gay man who did the most to lead the fight for gay marriage, the guy who saw it as possible when few others did, is now married himself. Evan Wolfson and his husband Dr. Cheng He receive the primary story in today's NY Times section on Vows. Their wedding on October 15th is described in detail along with some color photographs on page 15 of the Style Section, or can be seen here: A Glorious Day I have had the pleasure of meeting the couple in New York before marriage was possible, and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Wolfson long ago when I was writing and wanted to an interview with him as he was the first openly gay assistant district attorney in the Brooklyn D.A.'s office. We have maintained contact off and on since. I'll admit to thinking he might have set his sights too high with his plan to get each state to allow gay marriage, but obviously he had the better eye for the future than I did. So Mazel Tov and jūk néih hóuwahn to the happy couple. For every gay guy who gets married, Evan Wolfson is the guy who saw your wedding happening before you did!

I didn't know of EXPAT's accident either. My sympathies to him and to lurkerspeaks, who was also in an accident earlier this summer. I wonder how much weight he has lost? (You needn't say, lurker!) So I have 14 weeks to lose 14 pounds? I wonder if Oliver will be treating me to an escort of my choice should I meet his challenge...

The world premier of of Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.” brought Tintin home to Belgium on Saturday, the Washington Post reports. “To highjack Tintin and bring it to America first, and then release it overseas second, would be something that would not have even occurred to us,” Spielberg said. “From the outset, the plan was to give Tintin back to the countries where Tintin was the most beloved.” More on the Tintin movie When I first went to Thailand in the late 80's, Tintin shirts were selling for $4 at the markets. I had never heard of him, but the shirts were cute, so I bought quite a few, and they also proved to be quite durable. That was my introduction to Tintin.

The NY Daily News today reports that morale among New York's finest is "in the crapper" following the string of scandals to hit the department. I empathize with all officers who want to hold their heads high and be proud of who they are and who they work for. The Crapper

So often when someone levels a criticism at Israel or a Jewish person, the response is automatic. Anti-Semitism. The inference seems to be that Jews are immune to criticism given what their ancestors suffered during the Holocaust. It has been argued that with some Jews there is a "victim mentality" that precludes any criticism. Now the protesters at Zucotti Park in Manhattan are hearing some of the same. The criticism ignores that many of the protesters themselves are Jewish. They have even celebrated Jewish holidays in the park. But much of their criticism is leveled at Wall Street, bankers included. Goldman Sachs is the biggest name. You can't get around it- many in Wall Street and the banking industry are Jewish. But I am not one to excuse what they and their colleagues have done to America, or the widespread abuse of power they have exhibited, or the fact that they seem to have bought Congress lock, stock, and barrel. I don't think that the Jewish bankers did what they did because they are Jewish, and I resent the claims being made that those who do criticize them are anti-Semitic. Now it is true that among the park protesters are some real crackpots. One or more of them has carried signs that are anti-Semitic in their remark. But those in the banking industry, and their fellow-travelers, would like then to label the entire protest as anti-Semitic. If that is so, then the bailout of the banking industry was a great pro-Semitic action on the part of the American people. The same criticism comes when one says something, anything really, in support of Palestine. But as the current Israeli government becomes more intransigent in its attitude toward peace, my guess is that more Americans will see past the cries of prejudice to address the real issues. My comments stem from an article on this in today's NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/nyregion/occupy-wall-street-criticized-for-flashes-of-anti-semitism.html?hpw

As I read these tributes to Steve Jobs,I do wonder. Sure, he was a tech genius and deserves credit for all of his accomplishments. But he was no saint, and that's what I don't understand as I read these tributes. NO one seems to want to figure in to the occasion his bad temper, his meanness, his severe competitiveness, his bad working conditions, which maimed young children, and paid people so little for their work. His biography is now coming out, and yes, it does pay tribute too, of course it does, but it uses the word "obnoxious" quite liberally. If Jobs had been a poster here, he would have been criticized for not being tolerant of others views, for mean-spirited statements, and for his huge ego. So while I can see the desire to pay tribute, the blinders do not seem needed. He was a capitalist businessman, not a saint.

I refused to stop for him, but had to when we reached the light, and it was red. He jumped out of the car and yelled "police" and I said, "show me some ID." He flashed a gold badge, so I pulled over after the light. This guy was simply pissed because I had not liked the fact that he was not turning right on red, so I moved to the next lane and made my turn. There are two lanes, after all. But I think his ego felt that his judgment had been questioned. In my mind, I just assumed he was another tourist caught in a turn lane who did not want to turn. I will be very surprised if I lose the case. But then, I have no idea what the local courts are like. The idea of a kangaroo court is never more true than in traffic court.

I have already mentioned how I like the first guy pictured, but the second guy has the nicest skin...thanks for posting, Tomcal.

Margin Call, with the newly out Zachary Quinto guy, is getting good buzz. Of course it won't come to Palm Springs for a month or two...