The_Round_One

Andy translated the large print correctly. I can't make out what the small print is though.

This was truly beautiful, Bee.

Quite moving, Bumblebee. I've never liked any of the poetry I've tried writing myself, but you've got some very good beginnings here. Keep it up!

Canuk, you're in good company. Stephen Fry has said that Georgette Heyer's books are his guilty pleasure too! Any time Fry agrees with you is a good time!

Ok...you get the last word.

The recent fervor over "Fifty Shades of Gray" reminds me that there really is a place in one's reading life for the occasional trashy read. I don't mean smut (available at many other sites!) but books one certainly doesn't need a degree to decode! So...what are your guilty, trashy (or semi-trashy) pleasures? I'll start out with mine. It's the 19th century equivalent of the trashy romance: "Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind a Throne" by George Barr McCutcheon. Far-fetched romance taking an American to a fictional central European country. Love, political skullduggery, and general fun happen in its pages. It's also on Project Gutenberg. Love to hear about some of the more unusual guilty pleasures (we can forgo 50 Shades and Twilight)

I don't mind seeing summer end...I'm too well insulated to appreciate the temperatures! With that in mind, I give you "Too Darn Hot" sung and danced by the legendary Ann Miller in "Kiss Me Kate."

If your avatar is accurate, you don't get to use "fat," Vic. Well, maybe by gay club-rat standards, but not in reality. As I recall, someone was rather indulgently bemoaning a 36-inch waist. What I wouldn't give for that! So, yeah...anyway...

Since you mentioned looking for "intriguing," there IS a television series I'd suggest: Sherlock. There are three episodes of this BBC produced reboot of Sherlock Holmes. Normally, I tend to dislike remakes and reboots and I really love the period-authentic Granada TV versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories starring Jeremy Brett (also available on Netflix!), but these three 90-minute episodes are absolutely excellent! Definitely worth the time!!

I still remember watching Dallas and Dynasty. The most fun with them that I had was in 1983 when I did a summer student exchange program to Germany and got to watch "Dallas" and "Der Denver Clan" dubbed into German. It almost made up for them putting corn niblets on the pizza!!

Very well...I'll just shut up and absorb whatever you youngsters dish out, WatchPatRun. If you'd read closer though, I said it all reminded me of the larger community's pitfalls.

I was SO pleased that Andy Murray won the U.S. Open. Just before the Olympics, I watched the episode of "Mock the Week" that he attended and was gratified that the comedians didn't rip the piss out of him! (I believe that's how you Brits would say it!) Thank God Frankie Boyle wasn't on there, eh? Oh, and Kudos to Private Tim for posting the Monty Python clip...blancmange!!

I know, Houdini, I should settle down. In the words of John Adams (from the musical "1776"), I reek of discontent. That being said, I know from bad times because of being gay (blackmailing episodes, oral assault, other kinds of subjugation); I don't know if they were worse than the sneers I've always gotten from the "gays" the few times I've been to gay bars. (No, I've not been there to try to pick up anyone; I know better than that). Perhaps if I find the older crowd on here, I'll enjoy it more.

Well...having been told to shut the hell up by young AND old, I guess I'd better do just that. I will say, however, that despite Tranquility thinking me naive, he missed the larger intent of the note: that the incident reminded me of the culture at large. As for not thinking it's a hookup site, I can only say DUH! I guess I won't fit into the cliques here either, with their popularity ratings and such.

A recent spell in this site's chat room reminded me of how hateful some gays can be other ones. To be sure, the insults are different from those amongst the straights, but they are certainly present. I've put together a list of what I think the top markers are for dislike amongst the gays I've seen, known, and chatted with. 1. Fat - Seemingly the biggest insult to be doled out by "mainstream" gays is saying that the other person is fat, as if that is the most evil, terrible thing one could be. For a group that asks others to respect diversity, such a slam seems hypocritical. Seems to be roughly the equivalent of "That's so gay" among young straight people. 2. Age - The second most evil thing, apparently, is to get older. This is more universal, as we're schooled so much to worship youth, that even many older gays don't want anything to do with gays their own age. Just remember, at some point you'll want to have something to talk about AFTER you do the nasty. 3. Looks - If you're not a gaunt, chiseled model-type, you're ugly and not worth any time or courtesy. 4. Manner - This one gets to the whole "gay-acting" / "straight-acting" issue. At its root is the assumption that there is ONLY ONE WAY to be gay (aside from the carnal issues, of course): adopt the "accent," get into drag, adore dance "music," obsess about clothes and cologne. Those who wish to "mark" themselves as not doing these things by saying they're "straight-acting" frequently get attacked by those who either want to call them self-hating or by those who really think there is just one way to be gay. I'm sure I'll get yelled at (or the cyber equivalent of yelling) for even mentioning this, but my recent encounter in the chat room here was that unsettling. If I'd wanted to be dismissed for any of the reasons above (or read of others being dismissed in those ways), I'd have gone to the cruising sites or to a local meat market and been sneered at. Hope you're all having a better day!

I'll confess that Kevin didn't surprise me, but the challenge was to see "how" you would make the seemingly inevitable happen. It was also interesting to read about the setting of the school where virtually no one was bothered by gays. Clearly the climate of high schools has changed in the 27 years since I graduated!!

I suppose one measure of my favorite TV shows is owning them on DVD. In that category are the following: M*A*S*H The West Wing Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Voyager Firefly and two from the UK The Good Life (a wonderful mid 1970s comedy about self-sufficiency in the London suburbs) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the 1981 version) I also loved "classic" Doctor Who (especially Fourth and Fifth Doctors) - not keen on the reboot The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (starring Jeremy Brett, the quintessential Holmes) anything with Stephen Fry (QI, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, Kingdom) Mock the Week (one of the Brits' fun panel shows) Sherlock (the modern reboot of Sherlock Holmes...I normally don't like reboots, but this one works!) Fame was fun (Glee before there was glee for those who need a temporal equivalent) To the Manor Born (Brit-com starring Penelope Keith) Yes, Minister (Brit-com starring Paul Eddington) Criminal Minds is good, as is Bones For movies: The Natural Field of Dreams (Costner is so-so, but all of the rest are great, especially James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster) Hoosiers The Hunt for Red October Star Wars (original three only) Star Trek (in order of how I like them: 2,6,4,3,5,1. I don't know how they got money for 2 after the borefest of 1) Schindler's List (utter emotional devastation) The Lion in Winter (Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole) Becket (Richard Burton in the role that should have gotten him an Oscar) Tora, Tora, Tora and Midway (I love these two "cast of thousands of familiar faces" WWII epics) I would love to be able to say I love the Lord of the Rings movie, but I can't. I've read the book nearly 100 times and wrote my English Master's thesis on it. I can't enjoy what Peter Jackson did to it. But I won't get into that...it should be another thread!

Here's an actual oldie, a non-disco tune, and a genre not yet heard of on this board. The great Patsy Cline's "Crazy." While the fashion hasn't lasted (trust me, Lady Gaga's won't either!), her voice has stood the test of time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-wJNpWgss8

Lovesick by The Loveable Rogues (saw them on Britain's Got Talent)

Kidman is such an ice queen, I think her pee would come out of her cold! Blech!

I'm having trouble believing that no one has mentioned Blake Edwards' classic comedy "Victor/Victoria" starring two legendary performers: Dame Julie Andrews ("The Sound of Music" and the original stage actress for "Camelot") and Robert Preston (Professor Harold Hill in "The Music Man"). It's the only "drag" movie I can endure and it's terribly funny! This 1982 gem about a woman pretending to be man pretending to be a woman is a remake of Reinhold Schünze's 1933 German film "Viktor und Viktoria." If nothing else, you'll get a chance to hear Julie Andrews singing before the terrible surgery that muted her angelic voice. I'd also mention the 2004 movie "Saved!" It's primarily a religious satire, but there's a substantial gay sub-plot.

RE: the black ankle socks. It's clear that you're the age you are; when I was your age (I hate using that phrase!!!) we'd have wanted to die rather than wear black socks, especially with shorts!

Magner's (a.k.a. Bulmer's) Cider...mainly because I discovered it on a trip a friend and I took to Ireland in 2010. We had it EVERYWHERE. Also, my dad's homemade Irish creme (brandy, creme de cacao, evaporated milk, eggs)

I was considering trying to write and post things here, but the more I read the FAQs the more off-putting I find the site.