Lucky

A big political scandal in Malaysia was when the Prime Minister had an opponent jailed and disgraced on suspicion of sodomy.

Carol Burnett's happy birthday thread got 11 views and Channing so far has had 15. Just one reply, from hito. So may I suggest in the politest way possible that these happy birthday threads be relegated to the dustbin? Obviously the celebrity is not going to read them, and apparently neither are many here. (This goes under the New Direction suggestions for the website.)

Well, I am not saying that it bores me shitless, but, I did say: 22 March 2012 - 04:13 PM There is room for 28 threads on the main page of the Hooboy Pub, which is the face of MER to the world. If someone were looking at this site for the first time, this is the picture that they would get. Of the 28 threads, 20 of them involve Hollywood or sports celebrities. One could be forgiven for mistaking the site for a Perez Hilton imitation. If I were coming to the site for the first time, I would move on within seconds. I simply don't care for Hollywood trivia. I am looking for a site of interest to adult gay men. Yes, I know some of them are into this aspect of celebrity, but I am not. Since the site has changed its focus so much, my interest has waned. If I did want Hollywood stuff, you cannot seriously argue that other sites don't do it better. But I don't question the right of management or the site members to take the site in a different direction. I feel that someone has to note that this is not the MER it was when I came here. It has limited interest to me these days. If that changes, I will be happy to post more often. And no, it is not up to me to change it. The members have made their preferences known, and I don't like uphill climbing!

I found this at utopia-asia.com, or follow this link since they seem to have found a way to keep from being quoted http://www.utopia-asia.com/malakl.htm: Gay life in the capitol is widespread and surprisingly sophisticated, but still largely underground due to lingering antique British colonial law and Islamic disapproval. Many gay businesses have morphed into creative hybrids to remain "within the pale": yogatoriums, aerobisaunas, massageaurants or spaversities with darkgyms and karaocuzzis. Mainstream businesses now openly cultivate gay and lesbian customers who loyally dispense pink ringgit at the growing number of mixed venues that welcome them. Gay or lesbian nights at straight clubs are common. And, of course, the Internet is the medium of choice for the discreet and closeted.

Nick Gruber, long associated with Calvin Klein, is in jail! He had a fight with another man and when the cops came, he acted suspiciously, so they searched him at the station and found the white powder known as cocaine. TMZ has the story: http://www.tmz.com/2...n/#.T5cwgqtYvDt [ (See, Lucky can get those Hollywood scoops when he wants to!)

It's interesting to me that we always seem to describe a stroke or a heart attack as a "massive" one. It's not just EXPAT, it is many people. I was next to some folks at the theater, and the gossip overheard was how a friend had suffered a "massive" stroke. I wonder why it has to be "massive?" Can an ordinary stroke or heart attack do just as much harm? For the record, the article that is quoted says: " Dick Clark is dead after suffering a heart attack" Nothing said about massive...

When I was in Rio, I checked the prices at the Atlantico. They ran $215 a night for what was called a luxury room. As I understand it, the hotel has been remodeled. Given how I hated the hotel I did choose, the Atlantico sounded good at the time.

I thought Once would get lost in the hurry of spring shows opening on Broadway, but its box office is good. I haven't seen it, but the reviews by readers at nytimes.com are pretty good.

Kerry Degman, a model whom we have lusted about before, shaves in this video. But his narcissism is a bit insufferable if you are going to watch the whole thing:

I thought you might appreciate what the NYTimes reviewer said about Zac in the Lucky One: The film’s young man of good heart and modest background — we might call him the Gosling — is a Marine Corps sergeant named Logan Thibault. Logan has served three tours of duty in Iraq. This may at first seem hard to reconcile with the fact that he is played by Zac Efron, a fellow barely able to muster sufficient gravitas for “High School Musical 2.” But this erstwhile teenage heartthrob is reasonably credible, all things considered. His biceps are thick, his face is covered in rough stubble, and his baby blues are fixed in the thousand-yard stare of a man who has seen some terrible things.

If I may be so bold as to comment on a Hollywood topic: This afternoon I saw the preview for the The Lucky One, a story written by the sappy author Nicholas Sparks. Zac stars in it, and he looks better than I have ever seen him. He is truly heart throb material however much he denies it. Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...oops, this is your regularly scheduled programming!

You could have seen La cage Aux Folles tonight: La Cage aux Folles Today, Tuesday, Apr 10 8:00p at Fair Park: Fair Park Music Hall, Dallas, TX But, coming up are: American Idiot 5/12/2012 Saturday 2:00p Winspear Opera House, Dallas TX Jersey Boys 6/16/2012 Saturday 2:00p Winspear Opera House, Dallas TX And, Dance Brazil will be there this week. I saw it last week and it was great, and very sexy. Dance Brazil Powerful, physical and exciting, DanceBrazil has dazzled audiences around the world ... 4/13/2012 Friday 8:00p Wyly Theatre, Dallas TX

Jersey Boys is mostly a concert, and is aailable on CD. Would that satisfy your need for theater, or do you want to see the live performance? I thought they had a show in Las Vegas, albeit shortened from the Broadway one.

Mr. Suckrates says that Ricky got poor reviews. Then why not post them? Back up what you have to say. Perhaps he has no proof, just wants to make a stir? Evita did get mixed reviews, and so did Ricky. HuffPost said: Ricky Martin is easily the best thing about this revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's bio of Eva Peron, which opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre. He sings beautifully, dances gracefully, athletically climbs ladders, plays his role with a knowing sneer and elicits drools in his suspenders and tight white shirt. He even makes a mustache work. The Hollywood Reporter said: His dramatic presence could be more aggressive, but Martin’s Latin-pop vocals are a smooth fit for the role, and his relaxed charm and dreamboat looks will yield few complaints. Fans eager for him to bust some serious dance moves have to wait until midway through Act II, but he eventually turns on the trademark sizzle. Talkin Broadway says: Martin (who previously appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables) is spectacular, wielding a bewitching stage presence and a robustly theatrical voice that shreds through even Webber's trickiest passages and displays both the tenderness and impatience that characterize Eva's devoted adherents and harshest critics. The Village Voice says: Ricky Martin is the everyman narrator, Che, and he doesn't approach the role as angrily as the original, Mandy Patinkin, going for a more bemused, lightly mocking quality. Though he comes from the Jude Law school of arm gestures (usually with his left arm), Martin sings like a lark and has an appealing stage presence. He definitely has a future off the charts! Entertainment Weekly says: Che, played with irresistible swagger by Ricky Martin, is no longer the beret-wearing, fatigues-clad Che Guevara type of past productions. Martin could dial down the enthusiasm; he loves to reach out, literally, to the audience. But he sings like a dream, and he's clearly more comfortable here than he was storming the barricades in Les Misérables 16 years ago. Judging by the curtain-call squeals, his fans are packing the house — and going home happy. On that level, Evita succeeds brilliantly. So, Mr. Suckrates, hardly a THUD, huh? No doubt some reviews are not so positive. The show is getting some pans, but most of them go to Elena Rogers, who really does seem to have landed with a SPLAT!

Four Aces, do you write this because of an interest in seeing it? There are few theater threads here, unless Madonna stars in one. I skipped Newsies on my current theater tour. I saw The End of the a Rainbow last night and was amazed at the stellar performance by Tracie Bennett. This afternoon is Lady From Dubuque and this evening is Tribes, directed by David Cromer. Great weather here in New York, and tons of cute guys in the streets for spring break.

I forgot to mention: About six months after they "win," the trailer trash couple will die in a freak accident. People will rub their hands and bemoan the unlucky fate of lottery winners, but the consortium will know how the accident was staged to look real. Hitoallusa, I said I would post less, as the Hollywood stuff does not interest me. But $640 million does. I let the bf buy one ticket since he wanted in on the fun. It is worth a dollar for him to be hopeful all evening. Plus, there was a really cute boy in line with us to buy the ticket. So at least I got my $1's worth!

Do you guys not realize that when millions of dollars are involved, there is no such thing as honesty and integrity? A consortium has already been picked from among America's most powerful to "win" the lottery. Sure, numbers will be drawn. A trailer trash couple from Montana or somewhere will be selected to claim the prize, but it will, in fact, be paid to the consortium whose turn it is to win. The trailer folks will be given $5000 or so in cash to shut up about the fact that they just fronted for the winner. That's how it is. The powerful don't just give away $640 million.

Happy Birthday, Totally Oz!

As I say, I don't dispute the right of management or membership to change the nature of the site. The new layout looks great. I am simply saying that I am not finding topics of interest to me like I used to. Tomcal has done a great job reporting on Latin America and I have enjoyed that forum. But my Latin America travels are done. I appreciate the opportunity I had to post here and wish everyone well.

There is room for 28 threads on the main page of the Hooboy Pub, which is the face of MER to the world. If someone were looking at this site for the first time, this is the picture that they would get. Of the 28 threads, 20 of them involve Hollywood or sports celebrities. One could be forgiven for mistaking the site for a Perez Hilton imitation. If I were coming to the site for the first time, I would move on within seconds. I simply don't care for Hollywood trivia. I am looking for a site of interest to adult gay men. Yes, I know some of them are into this aspect of celebrity, but I am not. Since the site has changed its focus so much, my interest has waned. If I did want Hollywood stuff, you cannot seriously argue that other sites don't do it better. But I don't question the right of management or the site members to take the site in a different direction. I feel that someone has to note that this is not the MER it was when I came here. It has limited interest to me these days. If that changes, I will be happy to post more often. And no, it is not up to me to change it. The members have made their preferences known, and I don't like uphill climbing!

Tonight's cab driver was already in BarMixx, so sure, we took his offer of a ride. And a wild ride it was let's just say that he was in a exceptionally good mood, speaking loudly and boisterously as he drove us around town. And then drove us some more, then some more. It became apparent that he had no idea where our hotel is. Finally, on his third request for help from other cab drivers, we made it to the hotel. The fare has been about 12 R each night, but his meter read 23. I gave him a 20. It took a second to register, but he finally got that was what he was going to get, and he was good-natured about it. Tomcal missed the wild ride as he was otherwise occupied. BarMixx was more popular with Tomcal and the bf tonight, as the selection of young men was pretty agreeable. We had left Mezzaninu early when a live singer came upon the stage and we couldn''t hear each other talk. Tomcal took us over to the old Plataforma sauna and relived his memories forus, as memories were all there were to be had. Only 3 guys were working as Mezzaninu has pretty much taken all of the business. Tomcal insisted that we could walk from Plataforma to BarMixx, this walk being along very dark and empty streets. Thank goodness for his IPhone GPS. My encounter tonight was with this very sweet guy who had been showing us his willingness to get together every night, but he did not have all of the attributes that many of the other sauna boys have, so did not win. Yet he has beautiful eyes and a lovely smile to go along with his sweet disposition, so tonight I made sure he had some income. Out of gratitude he gave me his necklace. I kept trying to give it back, but he insisted. So he had at least one good customer tonight. BarMixx has not been my favorite, although I admire the friendliness of the guys. The fact that there even is a hustler bar is something, not to mention one so friendly and with so many cute guys. If I lived here, I would appreciate it more, as then I could take a guy home rather than use their rather stark rooms.

From Brazil, may I add my birthday greetings to Charlie? May you have many more, and may they also be celebrated here on MER.

On our first night in PA, the taxi driver who drove us from the sauna to the hustler bar kindly gave us a tour of street prostitution in PA. Driving down what appeared to be deserted streets in industrial areas, we saw a large selection of transvestite prostitutes in one block, then an area of females, and then we skirted by the male prostitutes. The driver seemed to know where all of the action could be found. It's interesting that Porto Aleqgre is so willing and able to care for the sexual needs of its male residents, what with street prostitution, sex saunas and hustler bars. Porto Alegre is not the main city of Brazil, nor a huge tourist destination. It just has good, caring city fathers!

I'll see if the bf will give me permission to take the IPad out tonight. He is worried about theft, so it stays in the hotel safe. I have the Google translator on it, and it could come in handy. At BarMixx twice now, I am adjusting. Hustler bars are so rare these days, we should all support them. But this place is unusual in that it has so many areas where one could sit and meet young, hungry men. You never get a sense.of what is happening in the place as a whole. On our first night, the bf was approached by a boy he assumed to be a waiter, but it turned out that he was hustling a drink, not taking a drink order. So, the bf ordered, only to find the guy sitting next to him, with a beverage, and none for the bf. Boys approach frequently asking for a drink. It turns out that you pay 5R to get in, plus 20R for consumption. So, if you order no drinks, it is still 20R. So buying a guy a drink would just come out of your minimum. One Coke is enough for me, so I might as well buy some more. We just can't get over how friendly everyone is. The boys see without guile. It's true in the shops as well. Porto Alegre is a miniature Sao Paolo, but seems to much more of a user- friendly city than SP. As for me, I went with the same boy at the sauna that I did the night before. His eagerness to please had dwindled a bit as he must now see me as a regular, but that means he won't be hired tonight. I wonder who will be?

Thanks for the report, firecat. I, too, would like to see Colombia before tourism spoils it. But my travel funds are dwindling. Surely in the interest of good stories a fund could be established to keep me trucking?