old bob

Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony I just brought this part (about a few minutes) I am an ardent admirer of the whole 9th symphony, but it is too long (about one and an half hour) to bring it here . BTW, I just checked the media above, you can enjoy here the whole symphony through look over the different parts (1 to 10) at the end of each part!

No...No for God's sake ! It's always the same problem with us Jews . It's difficult to explain jewish humour, mostly black humor, in which we make fun about ourselves. A famous jewish humorist said in one of his jokes : " Only Jews should be allowed to tell or write jewish jokes, because they are the only ones able to understand them, with their double meanings" My post could be a good example !!! Sorry for you WL :wacko:. I could explain more in a message to you.

If I understand well your last post about your discussions, I can understand your feeling. It's a cultural problem more than a religious one. I experimented it myself in my own family especially with Jews who practice their religion (what I dont !) , even if they are "liberal" and not strict like the orthodox ones. Jews are proud. They are a chosen people and they needed this pride to resist against the persecutions in the past. When you discuss with them, this pride is always in the back, mostly inconscious, For a "goy" who isn't aware of it, their attitude could appear as contemptuous or haughty. I'm sure you feel it, also mostly inconscious, IMO, it's why you needed to ask. If my guess is right, forget your feeling, dont try to talk with him about it, because he couldnt understand it ! Jewish unconscious is more than 2'000 years old and even an agnostic Jew (as I am) has to stand for. My catholic wife often laugh about my own reactions I remember a joke about it : It's winter and cold outside. We are in a restaurant. Two jewish clients leave and forget to close the door. An angry client inside call :" dont let the cold come in, close the door". One of the Jews say to the other : " again another bloody anti-semite" .

I'm a very very liberal jew, married with a catholic woman, I followed some rules of my religion in the past, having a lot of friends, catholics, protestants, agnostics, atheistics ASO. Today I'm too lazy to follow these rules. I don't understand why you have this feeling about a religious gay guy. Is he more religious or more gay ? Religious Jews have the same problem like other religious people following the Bible's rules. Some of them are bloody homophobes, some accept gayness as other liberal people. What I can give as an advice is just to get more informations from him about what he feels and how he lives his religion. Did you talk with hime about your feelings ? You should ! That's me !

Wow . Youreally look like the prosecutor you are. If I were a layer against you, I would be afraid . And the cap suits you very well.

WOW......

Why not the French National Anthem ? (this version was banned a few years ago in France) Allons enfants de la Patrie, Arise, children of the Fatherland, Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! The day of glory has arrived! Contre nous de la tyrannie, Against us, tyranny's L'étendard sanglant est levé, Bloody banner is raised, Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Do you hear, in the countryside, Mugir ces féroces soldats ? The howling of those ferocious soldiers? Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras They're coming right into your arms Égorger vos fils et vos compagnes ! To slit the throats of your sons and consorts! Aux armes, citoyens, To arms, citizens, Formez vos bataillons, Form your battalions Marchons, marchons ! Let's march, let's march! Qu'un sang impur Let impure blood Abreuve nos sillons ! Water our furrows!

Welcome back, Lacey . I Imagine the Drama you lived through must have been "Terrible", "Dreadful", "Tremendous" . I hope you have recuperated and we are all happy to see you again . Nevertheless,.......perhaps you could tell us what happened in a next blog ?

My hobby: writing a story about my family, of both sides, the German one, going back till the 18th century and the Russian one, going back till middle of the 17th century. (I checked documents on a genealogy upon eight generations). The first step was to research all the documents to be found in public archives or in records from private collections. Although many documents disappeared during WWII, you can’t imagine what you are able to find thanks Internet. My youngest son is a champion for that and helps me a lot. Then, I have a collection of old photos and letters, from the 19th and the 20th century (the eldest about 1835 for the letters and 1860 for the pics). I never counted all documents; there are more than 500 pieces! The second step (it’s the one I’m on now) is to collect the documents, make copies (because the originals are often in bad condition) and classify by dates and matters. They are written in German, French and in two Russian languages (Old Russian till the middle of 19th century). My son is responsible of the translation of the Russian ones. It’s one of his hobbies. My story will be written in French, so I have to translate myself the German ones. The third step will be to write the story itself, as a book for my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. The table of contents and some chapters are already done, as a lot of notes for the further chapters. My only regret: I don’t give myself enough time for this work. Sometimes, I’m too lazy; sometimes I have too much to do in my professional work. My hopes: I will live enough to finish my book, even if I’m not sure if all who come after me will find enough interest to read it .

Hi ! I checked your profile. You seem very lonely here . It's why I want to wish you still an HAPPY BIRTHDAY For me, being 58 you are stil a young man. Enjoy your life as I do. Cheers !

"Spartacus" ist the name of a gay magazine with a list of gay places all around Europe. I dont know if it still exist, but Bleu is right, it sound really gay . Just go on and look on Internet, you may find "Spartacus" and use it as Paya said .

I'm really sorry for you . In my eventful life, bad times were always followed by happy ones. It's my wish to you. I'm sure you will also get through and find the courage to resolve your problems. Good luck and keep your confidence.

At least, you are not !

Label, way to be better recognized by those around, really ? The label is a way to hide its true nature, how to hide who you really are, to appear to everyone, wearing a mask and showing only your good sides (or your bad sides if you prefer it !) Labeling is describing someone or something in a word or short phrase, a label. The use of the term labeling is often intended to highlight the fact that the label is a description applied from the outside, rather than something intrinsic to the labeled thing. This can be done for several reasons: To provoke a discussion about what the best description is, To reject a particular label, To reject the whole idea that the labeled object or person can be described in a short phrase. From your reactions on my posts, comments and blogs (BTW most of them are deleted), from the nice phrases some members wrote about me during the 4 years I participated in GA, I can describe my label as “a quiet, peaceful, serene, cushy old bi man, more dreaming of the past than being active in the present”. I hope you agree with my description, because it’s what I want to show. In fact, what you don’t see, is an old geezer, cynical, proud of his not always clean past. As I found in Wikipedia about the “label” thing (see above), “a labeled person can’t be described in a short phrase”. So I don’t . The best way to explain : I’m a “Janus”, like the two-faced Roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, endings and time, having two heads, facing opposite directions; one head looks back at the last year while the other looks forward to the new, simultaneously into the future and the past. I’m a Janus with two faces : the face I show and the face which is my real face. That's my real label .

Here my list : 1927 Show Boat 1935 Porgy and Bess 1959 The Sound of Music 1964 Hello, Dolly. 1965 Man of La Mancha 1968 Zorba 1970 Love Story 1971 Grease 1973 The Rocky Horror Show 1975 A Chorus Line 1982 Cats 1986 The Phantom of the Opera 1987 Les Misérables 2000 The Full Monty You can go yourself on Youtube and listen to the best songs of them

"Musicals" are a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Some are brought on the stage of famous theatres, some are the subject of movies. Since I was 18 (1959), I enjoyed both forms. From all the musicals of this period, I checked the ones I saw, either in theatres or as movies, in Paris, London and at home, and made a list of the best ones IMO. Here the List : ........................... ??????????? (see edit) ..... ..................... I suppose that for most of you, particularly the younger ones, these titles don’t mean anything. But with the elder ones, we could perhaps share the pleasure I found remembering the nice hours I spent listening to all these songs. edit : I made a list of title with Youtube inserts [media]http://[...../media], but the system refused them all except 2. Why ? I dont know . Maybe I will try to bring them on another way

I'm sure it is .

WOW ! If I remember well, the last time I followed this story in GhostRyder's site was 2007. I'm happy to find it on GA . All the saga of the "Kombat kids" is awesome. Thanks to GA to bring it back.

Congrats! I never doubted that ! Good luck in your new job

There are other solutions ! Want to know more about it ? Go to : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_suicide http://en.wikipedia...._in_Switzerland http://en.wikipedia....anasia_group%29 http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/2676837.stm http://en.wikipedia....e_United_States

:worship:Congrats Andy :worship:. You are a nice guy, and you deserve it. Good luck for the future, I mean for the next 40 years

I remember the times of my youth, just after WWII. I was 17 years old, after 4 years of being locked in my small country, with 4 countries in war around me, with no possibilities of travel abroad. And suddenly, after 8th of May 1945, all doors opened. No more borders with barbed wires and armed soldiers ! I spent my first holidays traveling a month long through Germany, hitchhiking through the Rheinland , visiting the destroyed towns, talking with the surviving Germans and the members of the occupying troops. The impression was awful, but I learnt a lot about the meaning of a defeat and the struggle for life of the survivors in a “lost” country. After that first step, I needed to change my mind and went south, hitchhiking between Germany and France and came to Paris. What a change ! From defeat to victory, from sadness to joy. The life after war was not easy, there were still restrictions, food wasn’t easy to find, but everybody felt relieved. Freedom was back . I stayed a few weeks at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a district of Paris which has become a mecca of cultural and intellectual life. Philosophers, writers, actors and musicians mingled in the nightclubs and breweries, where the existentialist philosophy and way of life coexisted with American jazz. You can imagine how many friends I made, by day and by night. I will always remember spring and summer 1946 ! Traveling through hitchhiking, sleeping in free places or in barns, sometimes in youth hostels, living as cheaply as possible, my savings (from my night’s working hours at the Post Office, carrying parcels from 9 pm till 4 am) allowed me to live happily all these days regardless of the small travel costs. All these memories to compare with the situation of today. So my questions : Either in USA or in Europe, could today a young man (or woman !), between18 and 22 years old, spend 2 months traveling through different countries, with just the money he could have earned from week-end’s or night’s jobs ? Are you, young men (or women) of today reading this, interested to sacrifice 2 months of your life, ready to abandon your neighborhood, your friends, to spend weeks far from home on foreign paths, not knowing what could happen to you tomorrow ? And you, elder people, are you envious of all the experiences such travels could have brought ? Or maybe, have you also made similar experiences ?

From my own experiences (and not from some theoretical wishful-thinking ), I fully agree with what the queen of this Kingdom says. With ALL the persons (guys or gals) I met during the last 81 years (!), my positive impression (when I had one, I dont talk about the negative ones) at the first sight was either lust (sometimes a strong sexual desire) or sympathy ( the first step to friendship), never "Love At First Sight". Neither I met anybody (guy or gal) who could tell me a story from him or herself or from somebody else who fell really in love at first sight . Maybe it's possible, but I'm still waiting to live it (not for me, I'm too old and satisfied with what I got, but for a young people around me, who whould bring me to change my mind . That's facts. All the rest is literature .

WOW, your words describe you so well , It's exactly how I see you through your stories, blogs and comments. BTW, it seems to me that I discovered a new psychanalist test .

My neighbor is a nice little fellow, always smiling, living alone for 25 years and who turns 100 this year. I met him this afternoon in front of our house, he returned from his daily walk, and we chatted. He seemed in good shape and I ventured to ask him what was his recipe to be so well at his age. He smiled in response and told me some episodes of his life. He started working at age 14 as a dishwasher in a restaurant, made a commercial apprenticeship and worked without incident until 65. He married, had no children and his wife became seriously ill with an incurable disease. He treated her for almost 30 years and found himself alone at age 75. He has since lived a quiet life, appraising good food and drink in moderation, enjoying it most often with longtime friends. Most of his friends are now dead and his only pleasure now is to sit at a good table, alone since all his friends are gone, and enjoy a fine meal with a few glasses of a good wine. He smoked "normally" until the age of 95 years, then brought his daily dose down to 5 cigarettes per day and has completely stopped two years ago, without difficulty and without remorse. Ten years ago, several of his friends have sung the praises of their retirement homes and urged him to come join them. He hesitated a long time, had finally been persuaded, but in the meantime his friends died and he no longer had any reason to go there. Therefore he stayed alone at home till now. Briefly, a peaceful man, used to stand on its own, fond of good food, making no concern either for himself or for others, having no confidence in doctors and enjoying the little pleasures that Life still can offer him. But what is the secret of his longevity? It has nothing to do with heredity. Both his parents died before their 60th year. His health neither, he had all the usual diseases, prostate cancer, coronary weakness, problems with diabetes and tension. Only one explanation remains: his attitude toward life : Take things as they come, Do not allow anyone to dictate his conduct, Accepting fate Allow time to time Appreciate good food and drinks And most importantly, learn to enjoy life. This man is a model for me, and I just wanted to let you make his acquaintance. Perhaps he could be also a model for you ?