TotallyOz

You are older than me and still live like 30 years younger. Not fair!

Young folks. I had a Commodore Vic 20.

Gaybutton owned a site about gay Thailand way before this one or gaythailand.com. He ran it as I visited it before my first trip to Thailand nearly 25 years back and got great info there. He was going to close and became a moderator at gaythailand and then went back to open his own site. I think his first site was gaybuttonthai? I may be way wrong on that.

I may have missed something but: Start: MaleEscortReview.com and GayThailand separate sites Merger Boytoy.com GayThailand.com sold a few times and after Firecat's death, now under a new owner who uses it with his other names GayGuides.com (original content from MER, GT, and BT) I might have missed a few changes over the years as it has been over 20

Close, but no cigar. The site was ran by Firecat until his death. He died a few years back. He owned the domain and his partner was going to run it but it did not happen and in the end Firecat did all the running of the site. After his death, I was the one that found out he died and contacted his estate to let them know. They had an offer from someone else who collects names and contacted me and I offered the same amount and they sold the name and I purchased it back again (for the 4th time) as I did not want the content to disappear. Hopefully, it will continue for ages!

No. I didn't change that much. I talked a few years back about meeting the love of my life. Still with me to this day.

LOL. Been quite a few years since I could stay up like you in the clubs in Rio or Sao Paulo. Each year gets shorter. I was in bed by 9PM. LOL

My favorite scene in this was when the Russian swallowed his load and loved it. And, the last scenes.

OK, not a sex XXX but damn good. Good show and good acting. Well, good acting for this kind of movie. It was based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers novel series which I read a few several years back. I really enjoyed it.

Happy New Years to all!

Yes, but moved on from this to my knowledge. He was and is amazing. The sweetest guy you can know and truly fun. One of my last trips to Brazil I was in the Renaissance and sitting in lobby and he walks in with a group and was their translator. Such a kind man!

Not too long at all. Loved the information.

Used them several times and enjoyed the guys there.

I can help a bit on that one. Yes, the westerner left all to charity. I know why. Old people see things on TV and believe they can help and don't think about responsibilities or they no longer wish to keep things the same or a momentary lapse. The Thai guy was surprised as he had been told different for many years. When you are told and you believe, you don't continue to inquire. Plus, in every relationship, there is one who has more and in this case, there was one who had nothing. Not an equal dynamic. True, this is a life lesson for the Thai guy. But, one that he will unfortunately deal with for the rest of his life.

I have used them about 10 times over the past few years and it has been good. The guys are often hit or miss but talking to them via LINE I kind of expect that. I will use them again in the future.

I figured. 20 is a long time. But, when reliant on others, it is a short span. Too many I know have not planned for their future and live one paycheck to the other. It is now more common that most think.

What two years? It was 20 years. And, when you have kids and a family, money is eaten away fast. Esp. if someone else is controlling that money. I am not defending not saving cash. I am just saying, often not easy.

Once, there was a man with a generous heart and a quiet strength. He met a young man many years his junior—someone struggling, someone in need of kindness. What began as a helping hand became a partnership, a love that endured for twenty years. Through all of life’s trials, they stood side by side. The older man provided stability, a home, and love; not only to his partner, but eventually to the partner’s three children, whom he welcomed as part of his family. They built a life together, not in the eyes of the law, perhaps, but in every way that matters. They shared meals, holidays, bills, dreams, and worries. The older man worked hard and paid for everything, trusting that love was enough. But love, sadly, is not a legal document. When he died, everything changed in an instant. There was a will that left everything to charity. There was no life insurance policy with the partner named as beneficiary. The bank accounts were locked. The partner and the children, once wrapped in the warmth of a secure life, found themselves suddenly adrift, cold, and cast aside. No inheritance. No protection. No safety net. Just grief, bills, and uncertainty. And so the partner, after twenty years of care, now sleeps on the street. His children go without him as he did not have the skills to survive. The man who once promised to look after them is gone. This is not how love should end. Let this be a cautionary tale: if you love someone, prepare. If you build a life with someone, protect them. Have a will that helps and protects them. Share ownership. Name your partner as beneficiary. Talk about the future, not just in dreams, but in documents. Because death comes for us all, and love alone won’t keep your partner warm once you’re gone. Only foresight, planning, and legal protections can do that. Love well. And love wisely.

I will say I watched for the tears. She was the best crier on TV. My entire family watched and kept saying, just wait for the tears. LOL. Little did I know back then....

So sad. I loved Jim and Tammy. Very dramatic and as a kid, I related. PTL: “Praise The Lord!” or more accurately, “Pass The Loot!” They built a Christian Disneyland because nothing says “Jesus died for your sins” like an amusement park. OMG

I grew up listening to him and those like him. Hatred was in their hearts. Oral Roberts went into his Prayer Tower and said God said he would die unless he raised 8 million. He did. My aunt was one that sent him money. But, her mother also went into a cave for 5 weeks as the "end of the world" was coming. It didn't. And, they were saved. Praise be!

Absolutely amazing reports. Thank you for sharing. Da Nang is one of my favorite places to visit and I was able to spend a week there recently. My favorite pizza place is 4P's. Their Par Ham is awesome with homemade cheese on top that melts over the pizza. I normally get a half/half with 5 cheese the other half.

By the time I was 22, I’d already read most of the books that would stay with me for life. I didn’t read for escape. I read to make sense of things, to find beauty, structure, complexity. The stories that stuck weren’t simple, and they didn’t offer easy answers. They asked the right questions, and they never talked down to me. Ulysses, by James Joyce, hit me like no other. It was strange, dense, full of detours but also funny, earthy, and oddly intimate. Joyce turned a single day into something vast. I didn’t understand everything, and I wasn’t supposed to. That was part of the point. Life isn’t meant to be neatly packaged, and this book made peace with that. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, I read late at night in bed (on a waterbed if you remember those). It was a quieter kind of adventure; one that didn’t shout. Bilbo wasn’t brave or strong, just curious and quietly stubborn. He was the reluctant traveler and I was the excited traveler and through him, I yearned for adventure. There’s a quiet comfort in that kind of hero — someone who doesn’t look for adventure but rises to it when called. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, was extra credit. I read it and wrote a report. But it didn’t feel like schoolwork; it felt like discovery. Hamlet’s voice was unlike anything I’d read. He thinks too much, speaks in riddles, wrestles with grief, with guilt, with meaning. I didn’t have his burdens, but I knew the feeling of turning things over in your mind until they burned. I wrestled with the guilt of being gay and this story helped. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell, was required reading in Grade 11. I expected melodrama. What I got was something raw and absorbing. Scarlett O’Hara is willful, maddening, unforgettable. The book showed how survival can be its own kind of courage, even when it’s messy. She was the ultimate drama queen and having watched the movie 20 times, reading it was truly wonderful, and I understood why my mom loved the movie so much. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, pulled me in with elegance. Wilde’s writing is so smooth. The story stayed with me because of what it didn’t say out loud; the rot beneath the surface, the cost of charm, the masks people wear. It was a short book, but it left a long impact. Much later, I read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières. I was older. It was a gift from my best friend. What struck me most was its tenderness. It sees people clearly, flaws and all, and forgives them anyway. I needed that forgiveness myself as my religious guilt created issues for me for 20 years. These books helped shape how I see things, how I think, how I listen, how I notice what matters. They stayed with me because they respected the reader. Even the version of me that was still figuring things out. And, 40 years after reading most, I know I have not figured things out completely but the journey has been an adventure. Like Bilbo, I was a reluctant traveler, not in real travels but in reading. Tolkien removed that reluctance from me and Wilde swung the doors wide open for me to see the possibilities.

So sad! He was excellent!

I prefer Rio! @gd85