Lucky

Leave it to taylor to try to revive escortspeak here in the MER forums. Shame on the management for letting him do it. You guys purport to want to leave the past behind, to let other message centers handle their own problems, to avoid personal attacks and only attack the issue. And here you violate all of that just to get a dig in at someone who is not very popular. I agree with Vox Pennae that this site must be of its own and not rely on gossiping andd disparaging other sites for its content. Until it can move forward without that, it cannot grow. Just look over the weekend posts, so few as they were, and wonder where the contributors to this board are. The threads that thrive are the threads about Hooville, its contributors, its problems, and its competiveness. When someone starts a new thread here on a different subject, it usually dies. That can't happen if this site is to succeed. So, gentleman, less talk, more action. Bye Taylor!

When in Sao Paolo recently, our guide Danilo amazed us with his vast memory of songs from the 70's and 80's. He knew all of the lyrics. Such is youth,but as they say, those were the days: Jagger keeps on rocking as the lyrics roll up his auto-prompter By Adam Sherwin, Media Correspondent (Times Online) IT’S hard not to feel sympathy for the old devil. Sir Mick Jagger has succumbed to an on-stage Autocue in the battle against rock’n’roll amnesia. A screen secreted among the 63-year-old rocker’s onstage monitors scrolls through the lyrics to the Rolling Stones’ classic songs in time with Jagger’s delivery. The prompt, used during the band’s £250 million-grossing tour, even tells him the name of the city where he is performing, and cues his between-song ad-libs. Representatives of the band said that the screen was simply a prompt, allowing him to keep up the high-energy performances for which he is famed. “He’s running all over the stage but if he gets a memory blank he can get back to the screen quickly,” a Stones source said. “He rarely needs it but it’s a back-up.” A technician keeps pace with Jagger’s delivery, but after 40 years on the road, the screen may require close reading. He sang the same verse of Ruby Tuesday twice at last week’s concert in Glasgow during a show broadcast across the world by BBC Radio 2. The Autocue allows Sir Mick to greet overseas crowds in their own language at prearranged breaks. The script suggested “Good evening London” at last month’s Twickenham shows. The revelation cast new light on the lengths required to keep ageing rockers on the road. Oxygen masks are on permanent standby for Ozzy Osbourne, while the Beach Boys require backstage deep muscle massage from a licensed practitioner. Autocues are a guilty secret. “Everyone uses them, from Macca to Elton,” said Brian Larter, managing director of Autoscript UK, which provides prompts for BBC newsreaders and rock stars. But discretion is vital. “Singers like to hide them in a front-of-stage monitor,” Mr Larter said. “You don’t want cameras to pick them up or let the audience see them or the gig can turn into karaoke.” Like Jagger, most frontmen use the cue to cover for a brief mental blank or to prompt them to announce the next song on the set list. Reliance on a prompt, however, would seem to rise in proportion to career intake of drink and drugs. Brian Wilson, the Beach Boy who suffered mental illness through his experimentation with LSD, can perform only by sitting at a piano and reading the lyrics from a screen. Axl Rose, of Guns N’Roses, has three cues placed strategically along the stage, alongside the band’s flame-throwers and explosives. Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays also requires onstage assistance. Frank Sinatra pioneered the onstage teleprompter, continuing to perform until he was 80, despite a fading memory. Divas such as Barbra Streisand use a cue for their script and lyrics. Some stars can turn failing memories into an artistic statement. David Bowie has an onstage lectern containing the lyrics to his most recent songs. Michael Stipe, of R.E.M, adopted the lectern, screwing up the paper lyrics and throwing them into the crowd at the end of each song. But a spokesman for The Who, the latest 60-plus rock legends returning to the stage, said that Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend needed no onstage prompting to help them to perform their back catalogue. THE SHOW MUST GO ON . . . BUT FIRST A MASSAGE Ozzy Osbourne An eye, ear, nose and throat doctor must be on site when Ozzy arrives at the venue. The doctor must be able to administer a B12 shot and Decadron (anti-inflammatory) shot. The venue must provide two oxygen tanks, two masks and two regulators The Beach Boys A licensed masseur/masseuse, qualified in either Swedish or Oriental deep muscle massage, must be available on day of engagement or any day off the artists have in the city. No form of advertising shall contain the word “oldies” in conjunction with the artists’ logo. Meat Loaf A mask and one small tank of oxygen, which needs to be charged and ready Aerosmith The venue must provide names and phone numbers of a throat specialist, a physician fully qualified in internal medicine, an osteo-podiatrist and a licensed chiropractor David Bowie The venue must ensure a dressing room temperature of between 14C and 18C Paul McCartney One large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies with lots of foliage for a dressing room containing off-white furniture Metallica Four oxygen tanks. These shall be portable and equipped with masks and regulators if not inclusive of tank. Very important that bacon be available at every meal and during the day

Watching the Yankees play Detroit tonight, I thought that heaven would be a three-way with Alex and Ivan Rodriguez. Towleroad provided this one from a blog called deadspin: http://www.deadspin.com/assets/resources/2...zzieandarod.jpg

KyTop has recently been to Thailand and Brazil. With tomorrow's trip to Montreal (YULville!!!) he has a trifecta! I am so jealous!

Hey, OZ, I thought you were on your way to Mexico after seeing this headline at Yahoo news: "Dangerous John coming closer to Mexico" MERville, daddyville, Hooville...they're all imaginary places where guys go to share their fantasies...but YULville is the capitol of them all!

So everybody in MERville went on a picnic today and didn't tell Johnnybrk and me, eh? Why else have there been no other posts today?

Since tennis is in the news: http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/...30nadal.337.jpg

In the event of a little red x, you an go to the blog where it appeared: www.mostproper.blogspot.com. In the meantime, there is this pic of Andy Roddick on towleroad.typepad.com http://www.towleroad.com/photos/uncategorized/roddick_2.jpg

Andy borrowed these pics from the blog Most Proper. Here's Mario Lopez in the shower: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8133/979/320/mario.0.jpg

Those cockshots can't be coming from daddyville since I am also registered there and don't get them. What I get a lot of spam from is Vegas poker...wonder why!

And, if there's a blogger you don't like, defamer.com shows you what to do: http://www.defamer.com/assets/resources/20...ring-saints.jpg

But if Justin is more your type, you should read gawker.com: http://www.gawker.com/assets/resources/200...jtimberlake.jpg

Andy Towle who does the blog www.towleroad.typepad.com consistently finds the best pix of hot guys. Yesterday he had nude scenes of Maro Lopez in the shower, muscles and bare butt for all to see. A couple of days ago, he previewed a cover story from DNA magazine on the 20 Sexiest men. Here's one of them: http://www.towleroad.com/photos/uncategorized/tr_tj02.jpg

Your website is indeed very clear on your commitment to safe sex. You are to be commended for that. The blogger you refer to makes stuff up to amuse himself. I suggest that you ignore him.

"Lucky is right" Ah, savoring the sound of that yet again! ( Hey, just kidding! )

I knew it!

Beloved Barry, I take your criticism to heart. I am sure that watching some of the back and forth gets tiresome. As one who does not stand idly by when I am being disparaged, I have let myself get caught up in some of Four Aces chicanery. Yet I have also offered good wishes to him as he approaches his weekend poker tournament. Unfortunately, the rehashing of the past, gossiping about M4M, debating Rico and escortspeak have proven to be popular topics here. Several of us, including TakeTwo and Tampa Yankee have started threads on other subjects only to see them wither and die. Those who want to get past the past should start some topics of their own and contribute to those others start. That includes you! Just today a poster dredged up the old Hooboy/Foxy issues and in the process baited the moderator of another site, who, of course, immediately took the bait. Yet I have no doubt that this poster also wants to see a message center that doesn't dwell on the past or disparage others. Just because we get caught up in that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to see it end. So once again, good luck Four Aces. Win big this weekend. And Barry, I can't wait to read your next thread!

Here's an interesting blurb about an actor and denial: Superman's Brandon Routh to fly into the valley Brian J. Medricka Desert Post Weekly August 24, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Superman" star Brandon Routh will be in Palm Springs this weekend to attend a screening at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films. Routh, along with his girlfriend, will attend the 6 p.m. screening of "Denial." It's part of the Boy Meets Girl program. "Denial" is a 16-minute film with this premise: When a seemingly picture-perfect relationship begins to unravel, a man must make a choice between the love of his life and reality.

Well, stop the presses! Rico's grip on the truth is a little slippery? I found that out the other day when I was driving along the freeway and I saw this sign: http://www.zoomzap.com/scripts/zcards/thum.../CDC/CDC017.jpg

Some gossip columnist (perezhilton.com) has been labeling Matt Dallas, star of Kyle XY on the ABC Family channel as gay. He even refers to Matt as Kyle KY! So Matt went on the Howard Stern show yesterday to deny he was gay and claimed that he fucked 20 girls in high school. Perez is not backing off.... http://www.perezhilton.com/Matt_dallas.JPG.jpg

Disturbing news for those of who have put on a few pounds over the years: just a few can cause an early demise. At least that's what new studies show: Just a Few Extra Pounds Could Mean Fewer Years, Study Finds By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, August 23, 2006; Page A01 Bad news for all those baby boomers starting to pile on the pounds as they go through middle age: You don't have to be obese -- just a little overweight -- to increase your risk of dying prematurely, according to a large government study. The 10-year study of more than 500,000 U.S. adults found that those who were just moderately overweight in their fifties were 20 percent to 40 percent more likely to die in the next decade. Another study involving more than 1 million Korean adults, also being published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, produced similar results. The studies, both released yesterday, were aimed at helping resolve a long debate over whether the millions of Americans who are not obese but are nevertheless considered overweight are at significant risk. "These findings are very important," said Michael F. Leitzmann of the National Cancer Institute, which led the U.S. study. "A substantial proportion of the population in the U.S. is overweight. So if overweight is related to premature death, that's very important to public health." The findings are particularly relevant to the large number of baby boomers who are going through that critical period of middle age when people typically gain weight. "What we need to do is try to encourage people to maintain a healthy weight and avoid weight gain," Leitzmann said. The findings were welcomed by public health and obesity experts as powerful new evidence that people should do whatever they can to maintain a healthy weight. "The take-home message is that if you are not obese but just overweight, it's still a good idea to lose weight," said Thomas A. Wadden, president of the Obesity Society. "It's kind of a bummer, but maybe this will help motivate people that it's time to do something about their weight." Skeptics, however, remain unconvinced, saying the analysis is flawed and will alarm people unnecessarily. "I think they are just adding to the obesity hysteria," said Glenn A. Gaesser of the University of Virginia. "They are presenting the data in a way that paints overweight and obesity in the worst possible light. It's not as bad as they make it seem." The number of Americans who are overweight has been increasing steadily in the United States. About two-thirds of Americans are now overweight, including about a third who are obese. Anyone with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, whereas a BMI of 30 or above is considered obese. (A 5-foot-10-inch adult who weighs between 174 and 208 pounds is considered overweight; above that is considered obese.) Studies clearly show that obesity increases the risk for a host of ailments -- including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis -- and that obese people are more likely to die prematurely. Although people who are overweight but not obese have been found to have an increased risk of diabetes and are more likely to have high blood pressure and cholesterol levels that put them at increased risk of heart attacks, it has been unclear whether they are more likely to die prematurely. Previous studies have produced conflicting results, including a major study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that indicated that being slightly overweight might actually be protective. In the hope of helping settle the question, the National Cancer Institute launched the new study, involving 527,265 men and women ages 50 to 71. The researchers asked the subjects detailed questions about their health and lifestyles, including their diet and physical activity, as well as their height and weight, including how much they weighed when they were 50. After a decade, the researchers found that those who were moderately overweight when they were 50 were at significantly elevated risk of dying prematurely, and those who were obese were two to three times as likely. Just being overweight was not nearly as dangerous, but it still boosted the risk by 20 to 40 percent, the study found. The researchers and others said the findings are particularly noteworthy because of the study's size and the fact that the analysis controlled for the effects of smoking and illness. That may explain some of the earlier findings -- smokers and sick people tend to weigh less. "Those factors can confuse the true relationship between weight and health," said Tim Byers of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, who wrote an article accompanying the study. But other researchers were not convinced, saying the findings are questionable for a number of reasons, including the fact that the weight data relied on the participants' recollections, which are notoriously unreliable, instead of direct measurements. Also, the sample was not necessarily representative of the general population, they said. "I feel like the researchers were trying to manipulate their data to match their conclusion," said Linda Bacon of the University of California at Davis. "I think it's very threatening to people to be open to the idea that overweight may not be as bad as we think." While acknowledging those potential problems, the researchers and others said they believe that the new findings are more reliable than those of earlier studies and are particularly important because they looked at a relatively recent sample of baby boomers. Some researchers had speculated that advances in health care might offset the negative effects of being overweight. "It's a very important paper," said JoAnn Manson of the Harvard School of Public Health. "The study included many members of the baby-boomer generation. So the results, unfortunately, portend a large burden of chronic disease and excess mortality in upcoming decades in that generation." Other researchers said they hope to move the debate beyond arguing over what level of being overweight is dangerous to focusing on finding better ways to prevent people from gaining weight in the first place. "Proving yet again that being overweight is unhealthy is less helpful than trying to figure out what to do about it," said Kelly D. Brownell of Yale University.

Hmmm...we agree again. And how was your weekend with Andre??? The last pic there is from a program being presented this weekend in Santa Monica featuring men from Spain, Lebanon, Egypt and North Africa performing in "Mediterranea Exotica" an all-male exotic dance piece.

Wassamatter??? Between Tampa Yankee and myself we have posted several shots of hot guys, but you'd think the audience was blind given the responses!!! Here's one more just in case any of you has a libido: http://www.highwaysperformance.org/images/...t/2627Aug06.jpg

The LA Times travel section today has a page on Buenos Aires. It's not much use to gay traveller's but is of some interest. One thing the bf and I did in Buenos Aires was go to Chinatown (Barrio Chino). It was pretty interesting...especially watching the Chinese merchants speaking in Spanish. It was quite popular with the locals too. We also went to the theater. We saw Victor/Victoria and The Producers. No, we don't speak Spanish, but we knew the stories and enjoyed the singing and dancing. The Producers has a very long first act, and, given the strange behavior of the people we were seated near, we didn't stay for the second act. But both nights were fun.

Buns #3...ouch! Too hot for coffee.