The Beer Bar

It has truly been an interesting two years in Saudi Arabia. Back in 2014, I decided that I wanted to visit Mecca and learn more about the Islamic faith. Not to convert, but to try to understand some of the things in the world a bit better. The only way to travel to the most secluded country in the world and the center of the Islamic religion is with a business visa or employment visa. When a good company approached me and offers to hired me for 2 years I thought this would be a truly amazing experience. It was a two year contract as typical in Saudi Arabia. They put a lot of money into hiring and getting people to the country. I had to have medical tests and degree a…

A brilliant day at Manchester Pride 2015 in my hometown. Sir Ian McKellan led the Parade this year.

Probably FF flyers already know this but there is a free app called mobile passport on which one can fill out their passport information and join another, presumably quicker line at (currently) 13 US airports. Best regards, RA1

I loved this show last season. It was a bit of a mind fuck but, I really enjoyed it and the main character is sexy! Plus, I love Christian Slater!

Protesters wanting to protest the killings of young black men by police generally did it peacefully. But I cannot condemn those snipers any stronger. They are simply wrong and what they did was counterproductive to the protest movement. It was also reprehensible, immoral, illegal and painful to the families of the cops and to those who care about the police. Who do we call when someone hate-bashes us. rapes us, steals from us, hurts us, or a friend? We call the police. We want them to show up, to be professional, and to care. So it seems a simple idea that we have to do the same for them. My sympathies to the friends and families of the deceased Dallas officer…

Ok, here is the deal. I am hoping to take vacation sometime between mid Oct and mid Nov. I am hoping to use miles I have accumulated to "pay" for the ticket. I want to do Thailand, but refuse to travel that far (From Phx) in economy. I could do one way on UA and the other way on AA, both in business, but AA is not cooperating on flights. (BTW, i am currently at about 70K on both airline miles). I can manage a 15 or so hour flight in Economy, as long as I keep telling myself what awaits me upon arrival. As most of you know, I have been to Rio many times. It is still a fun place to visit and it is on my list of possibilities. But I am also trying to come up with some…

I love George Takei but his criticism of this was not needed. http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/star-trek-beyond-cast-defends-gay-sulu-against-george-takei-criticism-20160708

Free Gold until August 31. Then, stay 4 times before Aug 31 and get Gold for another year. I tried it and it worked. I'm now Gold. As I have not stayed in Hilton for years, I wanted to try a few. http://slickdeals.net/f/8723471-hilton-hhonors-free-gold-status-upgrade-book-4-times-by-august-31-earn-free-year?utm_content=59660

I read a great article today in the NYTimes about the violence that is ripping apart that country with regards to gays and lesbians. It did remind me of my own childhood in Alabama where a good friend was burned alive in his car for being gay and 2 lesbians that lived near us were burned in a trailer. Many parts of the world are 30-40 years behind USA on some issues and this one of them. America still does not have this fully right, but strides have been made and the minds of people have been changed. Unfortunately for Brazil, they have a rising evangelical population and you know what that means? Hate will be on the rise as well. http://www.nytimes.com/201…

I know he "resigned" his membership, but just in case he happens to check in again (rumor has it that he does on occasion), today (June 28) is Tomcal's birthday. I would like to be the first to wish him a very boy-sterious birthday with many man-dles to blow (out).

I consider myself so lucky. Barbra Streisand announced a handful of concert dates for August. I was able to get a ticket to see her in Vegas on Aug 6. I have been such a huge fan of hers since I first saw her in Hello Dolly in 1969 (I was a mere 8 years old then) and shortly thereafter seeing her in Funny Girl. Growing up, I had posters of her (Stoney End, etc) on my bedroom walls. I honestly didn't think I would ever have the opportunity to see her perform live..what with her stage fright and her increasing age.. It is most definitely a once in a life time experience I am soooooooo looking forward to.

SON SWAP DAY......

Saw this film on opening night. Thai bf knew nothing about the Egyptian mythology and said the movie was just ok. It's all about special effects and frankly they start to get old pretty fast with gods transforming into flying creatures endlessly. Hard to recommend it but it was just ok for me too. The 3-D probably made it better than the 2-D version.

The VIEW COUNTER is Back !!!!!! ( and people HAVE BEEN Viewing)

This past weekend was held the... Friends attended and got this shot of the attending cast... DARK SHADOWS (1966-1971) original cast members TODAY! front row: Lara Parker (Angelique Collins), Marie Wallace (Jenny Collins), John Karlen (Willie Loomis), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans), Sharon Smyth Lentz (Sarah Collins), Donna Wandrey (Roxanne Drew) || top row: Jeff Clark (Roger Davis), Jeb Hawkes (Chris Pennock), Quentin Collins (David Selby), Gerard Stiles (James Storm), Reverend Trask (Jerry Lacy), plus: Daniel Morgan (abc stage manager of ten "DS" episodes).

Im not sure what's going on with The Nation. Im absolutely sure it was my favourite read of the two Thai English language news-papers, in fact I always insisted it was. Last week on my very first morning in Bangkok I was horrified to discover in my little newspaper box of my hotel room a rather thin miserable Bangkok Post! A blunder of the first order. This from a hotel that never ever needs reminding. I could drop out the sky and they would know exactly how to prepare for my landing. Yes there was no fluffy duvet, just a single crisp starched sheet laid out on the bed neatly, ends untucked. Yes the flowers were purple and orange orchids. Lychees but no apples or Ch…

My heart goes out to those that lost loved ones in Orlando. As of right now, 50 dead. This is radical Islam. Plain and simple. Will Obama ever say this? Will the USA ever wake up and realize the country is being attached?

I am puzzled ! I dont think the lack of participation since the upgrade has anything to do with it being a Summer lull. Something else is going on here but I cant figure out what it is. Maybe its difficulty logging in, lack of subject matter, site fatigue ? But its something..... Does anyone have any ideas other than Ms guys Summertime theory ? ALL of the threads are hardly getting any views, although it does show that people have been here. Puzzling........

Here it is the 5th day of June, 2016 and already we seemed to have reached the doldrums of Summertime. As others have lamented and commented upon many times in the past, there seems to be a surcease of new material present, to include me. Well, I am not dead (yet) and hope to contribute more sooner rather than later. Perhaps others will do likewise. Local note. It is amazing to me that this late in the season that MEM has not yet reached 90 degrees even once. It MUST be global warming. However, the folks in the SW will not agree. They are having unusually hot temperatures for this time of year and of long duration. There seem to be several MIA's lately…

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/08/sport/jozi-cats-gay-rugby-south-africa/index.html Homosexuality is outlawed in many African countries, but that is not the case in South Africa. However, an Amnesty International report pointed to at least seven murders in what appeared to be homophobic attacks between June and November 2012. Five of the victims were lesbians. “We said let’s do something that takes gay stereotypes and turns them on their heads, and ask the question, like ‘Are you or aren’t you?’ We don’t actually mind if you are or you’re not, we just need players,” Verrijdt adds. “We had to use words — traditional gay slurs — which didn’t need transl…

http://cocktailsandcocktalk.com/2016/06/man-candy-argentinian-footballer-mauro-cejas-flaunts-his-goal-post-nsfw/

Is anyone else finding it difficult to cope with current unbearable hot weather? I've been here in Pattaya for two weeks now with two more weeks to go but I am seriously considering cutting my holiday short and looking for an earlier flight.

So difficult these days ... to search for something on the net only to be hijacked into Annoyance Land with the adds popping up all over the place, invariably complete garbage (I was doing a flight search the last week, found what I wanted to know, got outta dodge, only to be stalked by the online booking site for days with other ideas for flights to Nepal, or Uzbekistan). But this little gem ~ completely unasked for ~ intrigued me to keep on clicking deep into a world of gentle love and charming simplicity. A young Chinese man (Tian Jun) and his new born son (Tian Lin) have had their photo taken together in basically the same simple pose, more the better for black a…