The Beer Bar

Jason Stakehouse and Eric Northman in a fantasy sequence. HOTTT

A little birdie told me that today is Tomcal's birthday...so let me be the first here to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him. Tomcal has been the leading contributor for all things having to do with Brazil. It was his posts (and meeting him in person) that persuaded me to make my first trip to Rio. I had the pleasure of crossing paths with him in Rio on my last trip there, two years ago. I truly felt like I was in the company of some dignitary or celebrity. His kind, sincere ways extend not only to the sauna boys, but to people in general. He is a true class act. So, before I sound anymore like a crushing schoolgirl, I hope you have a great day today.

And not just space fillers either but informative, funny, clever, thoughtful and some, dare I say, titillating ones too. You've made this Board a better place, AdamSmith, and we are all in your debt! (No doubt Wallace Stevens would have a few thoughts on this singular event and perhaps, with a little encouragement, we'll get to hear a few.)

Ever since someone posted a thread about Collabro on Britain's Got Talent, which I thoroughly loved, I started looking for other discoveries that I would like. I don't really watch any of the singing/talent shows so there are probably many great ones still to be discovered, but I stumbled across this one that I just had to share as I think it is pretty great. It is from The Voice in Australia from 2013. It is fairly long so you can skip ahead some to get to the actual audition, around the 2:50 mark. Sorry hito, but I have dibs on him for my son That smile just gets to me

The 2014 Critics’ Choice Television Awards take place in Los Angeles on Thursday. The Broadcast Television Journalists Associationchoose the recipients from nominees in both cable and broadcast TV. And the winners are… SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA Bellamy Young, “Scandal” SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad” GUEST PERFORMER, COMEDY Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is The New Black” GUEST PERFORMER, DRAMA Allison Janney, “Masters of Sex” SUPPORTING ACTOR, MOVIE OR MINISERIES Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MOVIE OR MINISERIES Allison Tolman, “Fargo” SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY Andre Braugher, “Brook…

Bit tedious but worth it for the interest, as well as nostalgia for Clarke and Sagan, if you like this kind of thing. Hawking is hilariously droll at points throughout.

Can anyone here with access to English TV give us a queer's eye view review of 'Vicious'? The series is scheduled to kick off this Sunday on PBS. Ian McKellum and Derek Jocobi play two old queens who've been together for 30 odd years. With those two in the central roles, it's hard for me to believe Vicious won't be worth a look but then you never know with the English and their odd sense of humor. Anyway, after I ran across the above linked article in the NYTimes, I thought it was worth a head's up post here in the forum. Assuming I don't get so addled in the next couple of days I forget to watch, I'll post my take on the show here afterwards.

Interesting linguistic/phonetic musings. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/25/english-do-syllables-exist-linguists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jMhJW7-HUs Tyrant tells the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the inner workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation. Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner), the youngest son of a war-torn country's controversial dictator, returns to his homeland after a self-imposed 20-year exile in America for his nephew's wedding. Upon his return, Barry is immediately thrown back into the familial and national politics of his youth. He braces himself to confront the stark realities of his father and older brother Jamal's (Ashraf Barhom) harsh rule, and finds himself at odds with Jamal's wife, Leila (Moran Atias), who strongly believes …

the New Season of So You Think You can Dance has begun, and the Top 20 to compete live were announced today. Always a crowd pleaser, the boys group has no shortage of hot Eye Candy, and although the cast pics have not been posted yet, you wont be disappointed...... First live show with Top 20 next week..... Tune in ya'll

McDonald's Is America's Least Favorite Major Fast Food Chain The Huffington Post | By Kevin Short There may be no restaurant in the world as American as McDonald's, but that doesn't mean Americans like it all that much. In fact, McDonald's is the country's least favorite major fast food chain, according to a new report from the American Customer Service Index, an organization that measures customer satisfaction across industries. The report is based on a survey of 4,500 people about how satisfied they are with their experiences at various chain restaurants. The average customer satisfaction score at a fast food restaurant was an 80 out of 100, but McDonald's …

I love being able to check email and use the Internet when I get to lounges on stop overs during international flights. I have been saying for years that I just didn't understand why the over the big ocean planes didn't have Internet. I have used the Delta Internet In Flight services when I am in the USA and love it. Now, when traveling overseas, you can also use the Internet on long distance flights. On a recent trip, I opened my laptop and saw a connection for Gogo In Flight. I was a bit surprised and asked the flight attendant if this was an option. She said, "Yes, we are moving this service to all our our long distance flights." I was impressed. The price for …

Fascinating. Inside the Soviet Union's secret pornography collectionOff limits to the public but enjoyed by Soviet-era leaders, the Lenin Library collection grew out of erotica confiscated from aristocrats after the revolution. The Moscow Times reports Joy Neumeyer for The Moscow Times theguardian.com, Wednesday 25 June 2014 03.38 EDT A nude drawing from the collection, much of which is too explicit to publish. Photograph: Joy Neumeyer/Moscow Times In the heart of the Russian State Library, Marina Chestnykh takes the creaking elevator up to the ninth floor. She walks past stack after stack of books kept behind metal cages, the shelves barely visible in the dim…

Fascinating. I love the description of his retinue arriving at Valley Forge! http://www.homohistory.com/search?updated-max=2014-05-30T09:45:00-07:00&max-results=7

Or he has way too much time on his hands. Very talented and a cutie too #GameOfThrones #GoT

I care about professional sports slightly less than I care about -- hard even to think of any comparison. But is anyone else here glancing at the headlines or TV coverage of the LPGA golf tournament taking place right now in Pinehurst, NC? The 11-year-old golf prodigy Lucy Li has charmed my heart away. Yesterday she shot an 8-over-par 78 on the fiendishly difficult Pinehurst No. 2 course, designed by legendary golf course architect Donald Ross. His putting greens are what the biz calls "turtle-back greens" -- they are hump-shaped, with only a few select spots where you can put the ball so that it will not roll right off the green. Li remarked to her caddy when he first…

Delightful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WsL7AHCM7PU

http://holding-pattern.tumblr.com/ Tumblr of airport runways photographed from the air. Filched from this cnn.com article: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/19/travel/the-hidden-beauty-of/index.html

Former Australian rugby star and hunk Beau Ryan promised his fellow co-hosts on 'The Footy Show' earlier this year that he would return to host an entire show “completely nude” if New South Wales won the State of Origin Series. On May 28, New South Wales did in fact win the 2014 State of Origin Series. Beau returned to the show and fulfilled his promise to 'The Footy Show' fans by hosting the entire program completely nude. http://vimeo.com/98753932

This guy has the Stockton Police Department Facebook page soaring. He is sexy! http://fox40.com/2014/06/18/4-arrested-in-operation-ceasefire-sweep/