Lucky

I would not recommend waiting to book a New York hotel room until the day I arrived.

"I rarely read non-fictions these days but a movie based on the novel is in theaters so I decided to check the book out." The Help is fiction. My friends raved about the movie so much that we are seeing it this afternoon.

Think of all of those gay guys living in the deeper parts of China who have no chance to be who they are. North Korea too! But in each place there is no doubt someone who is trying, and then there are those who can't hide it very well. It must be a tough life. "The official China Daily newspaper said in 2005 that the number of homosexuals in China came to around 30 million, although it conceded few were willing to acknowledge their sexuality." (Picture and quote from AndrewGouldingarticles.blogspot.com)

The Edison Hotel for $297 a night? I once had a suite there for $125, but my mom had to barricade the door at night as the floor was full of strange characters. We moved to the Marriott Marquis for $159 a night. The Hilton Towers, where I have stayed for as little as $88 a night is now $391. The Hilton Garden Inn is $389, and that's supposed to be a Hilton Jr. Most 3 star hotels list around $300 a night. 2 Stars run about$225. I love New York, but like Rio, my visits there may become fewer.

That remark was not tongue in cheek. Every Sunday pastors implore us to become our better selves. It's perfectly fine with me if someone here wants to do that too. I can always use the reminders.

I had that problem with Air Asia. Nothing would work. Finally, at the last minute and as a last resort, I entered my AMEX number and everything went through the way it should have.

I thought it was funny that the guy did not want what he could have for free. Isn't that the case with a lot of us?

I am unfamiliar with bertj, but I wish him a happy birthday as well. I see that his 11th post is to thank hotoallusa. What does he have in store for the next 11?

A cute post, EXPAT.

Less than $10 to get naked guys right in your house? Where do you live, hitoall...the USA or Thailand?

BiBottom boy is not yet back, but I'd rather this thread led the menu than the one about Daddy's deleted comment! BTW, speaking of missing posters, I wrote to the blog that Four Aces said was his. I asked him to return to MER, but he did not respond. Do you suppose it was never really his web site?

Ditto!!!

Remember my question is whether it's worth seeing to drool over Conan, not whether it's a good movie. I just saw The Devil's Double, and it was worth seeing for Dominic Cooper's acting...and his butt...but I didn't care at all for Uday Hussein.

It's about straight women, but we can imagine it being about men, can't we? SEVEN DAYS IN RIO By Francis Levy Two Dollar Radio, paper, $16. Levy’s first novel, “Erotomania: A Romance” (2008), drew critical comparisons to Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller and D. H. Lawrence, with one critic praising his attention to “the mechanics and energy and animal filth of rumpy-­pumpy, bringing to his sex scenes all the humor they need.” These traits are on full display in his second novel, a ribald chronicle of the 60-­something Manhattan accountant Kenny Cantor, who’s come to Rio de Janeiro as a sex tourist. Cantor is obsessed with rumpy-­pumpy, yes; but he has exacting standards. When a buxom, beautiful concierge throws herself at him, Cantor is disgusted. “The thought that she wasn’t a prostitute and that I didn’t have to pay for sex was so repugnant to me that I lost all interest in her.” Cantor appears to be a lifelong bachelor without friends or attachments. He traces his preoccupation with prostitutes (or “Tiffanys,” as he calls them) to the wanton ways of his mother, “whose vagina was visible to me through the diaphanous nightgowns she insisted on wearing around the house.” This fever dream of a novel traces Cantor’s “desire to find the perfect whore to settle down with,” a rather insatiable goal.

In a startling example of how China discards its athletes, a former gymnast Champion has been found panhandling and performing street stunts to keep himself alive. More to the story: http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-4000-ex-world-champ-zhang-shangwu-found-performing-gymnastic-stunts-for-money.html (If you are interested in sending me to China to help this young athlete, send checks to me!) In an unrelated matter: Hard times have caused handsome Christopher Alonzo, 26, to rob banks. We can't help him out now, but hadn't he heard of escorting?

I typically don't like movies like this, so my question is for those who have seen it: is it worth going to see just to drool over the body of the lead actor, Jason Momoa? About Jason Momoa

From the LA Times: Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughey and Channing Tatum. The Jeopardy answer: What is the Ministry's idea of Christmas morning? That list of easy-on-the-eyes actors is the nearly confirmed cast of "Magic Mike," a romp through the lives of male strippers based on Tatum's real-life experiences as a young exotic dancer. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/08/magic-mike-stripper-movie-joe-manganiello-matt-bomer.html

"Our nation, and Europe it seems, have forgotten the lessons of the Great Depression or just do not believe them. It certainly is the case that those who do not remember history are destined to repeat it. Unfortunately, if they prevail they take everyone else with them." It doesn't look good, does it?

It seems like only yesterday we were bitching about Firefox 4.0. I upgraded to that and they took away my Google search bar, claiming it was incompatible with the new version. I don't remember 5.0, but now they want me to upgrade to 6.0. This time it is my AVG program they want to get rid of. So, I hit the "submit feedback" button to tell them what I thought. I dutifully listed my complaint and hit the submit button, but that did nothing. Apparently you can't really submit feedback.

It seems to me that it is irrelevant whether he read the book. He was asking her questions about things that were discussed in her book, but she wanted to control the interview and answer only what she wanted. He should hack her phone!

Not going to happen, I say with compassion. I lived in New York on 9-11, so I saw the unity and compassion that developed in the aftermath of the WTC destruction. I was there during the great power blackout. People let their compassion out then, too. And then, with time, the passion draws back into the shell. So, it's there, inside most of us. But when life gets busy again, we all withdraw into our more daily selves, and that means we need to cope with the stresses of everyday life. If we could create a constant state of post 9-11, then we could have compassion everyday. But, I commend lookin for being the advocate of revealing our more compassionate selves. He could become pastor to MER if he wants to.

Watching the Yankee game tonight, we have to see the feed from the visiting Kansas City Royals. They just interviewed their new, $7.5 million dollar draft pick, young Bubba Starling. Bubba had to choose between playing college football or signing for this small sum with the Royals, and he chose baseball! Bubba's online pix aren't so hot, unless he smiles:

Should this not be posted in the European section? Cooks in London does not seem to be of general interest!

I saw this article today: "Blogging is not for the thin-skinned." Posting, being similar, is probably not for the thin-skinned either. When you put up a post, you lose all control over how people respond to it. They may not respond at all, which tells you how interesting your post was perceived to be. Or, they may take it a different route than you intended. At least you started something. Rarely does a post win you accolades from all. So you take the response you get or you don't bother posting. If you don't like the responses you get, you can shrug it off, or try to make your next post a little better. Or at least conducive to more favorable responses. But asking intimate questions reminds one that we are essentially strangers here. I am not going to ask you how many times a day you fart, but that doesn't mean you can't ask. Just don't get all bothered when some don't like the question! We don't owe anyone an answer to a question posed here, and you don't answer to me as to what you can post. That's the way it is. If you want to get upset and take your ball and go home, I can't stop you. But consider the lack of answers to your question and maybe rethink what you want to know. As for me being pissed at you,well, it's 112 degrees here and I sweat out all the piss I had, so there is none left to get pissed at anyone! Or is that TMI?

No, it didn't work. It just made it look like you had nothing to do that day. Have you ever considered that these intimate moments are private and that people don't want to go on record about them just because you ask? Do you really think it is okay to just ask any question that pops into your head or do you actually think first?