Summerabbacat

I found Uncle Roger's sense of humour very appealing, even though it was very un-pc, particularly the comments about the boys going to have their hair and nails done, and then asking them if they were ready for the Barbie convention. I had to research what a Dave & Buster's is though. They appear to be very colourful establishments.

@drsawzall for President. You could issue an immediate order that all the right wing nut jobs in da house and influencing da house be given the John Proctor treatment.

“Believe it or not, I did think of that. Hire a place and get caterers. But this came up. We have the penthouse suite in the attic, great views, just us.” “Locked away in the attic? Like some mad person in a Victorian melodrama?” Thank you, thank you, thank you @Robert Hugill. Have you somehow hacked into my brain? I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to showcase one of my favourite Kate Bush songs (apologies if you do not appreciate her work, no I lie). As soon as I read this conversation, particularly the statement in bold, I knew the time had arrived. Replete with Kate shrieking like a banshee and male backing vocalists eeyore-ing like a donkey, all set to an incessant tribal rhythm. Truly spectacular from her album, oft considered "she has gone barking mad" album. Sheer genius. And Russ Kahn, doing his best Kevin Williams (and many other male porn stars in gay porn since) impersonation. A double penetration which required a great deal of concentration and a remark it was a one-off, well at least until next time. Russ also displayed a good sense of humour when Brian raised the query of photographs taken of party goers in compromising positions which could be used at a later date as leverage. At first it appeared Russ was offended, but then he took it in his stride and tret (I used it again @Robert Hugill) it as it was intended. His disdainful comment about right-wing American politicians fucking young men and then publicly denouncing the gay community with contempt was superb and very timely. Excellent chapter, with much humour and again some of your delightful and witty architectural examinations. And the title of this story @Robert Hugill, again I read it incorrectly as I did when the first chapter was published. It was a comment made by @pvtguy which alerted me on the first occasion that the story is not titled Brian and Gordon: living in trees. I thought that title was clever on your part, a reference to living with Toby and his fascination for nature.

Indeed.

Victor, what a class act. His revelations about his "friend", whom he has always tried to "protect", proved once and for all he is nothing but a runt with a capital C. As for his trashy handjob handbag, the lovely June Landry, a menstrual cramp with a capital T. I sense a love triangle waiting in the wings. A trip to Rhode Island may or may not resolve the status of Jonah and James' relationship. Whatever the outcome, there is definitely an attraction to Jonah on Will's part, and I suspect a mutual attraction, after all Jonah did "shower" Will with the essence of his very being at Carter Lopez's party. The description of Will's home was very appealing. It does not appear to be as ostentatious as the home of Carter Lopez and its location sounds fabulous, regardless of which part of the Hampton's it is at. All that is needed to resolve the Victor/June aberration @irivera is a visit from Samantha Jones. She would cut both down to size very quickly, reduce both to simpering, whimpering, pathetic little has-been nothings. In Victor and June you have created two characters we readers love to hate. I could cyber-vomit on both of them and not lose a wink of sleep.

Nah ... what Calvin is looking for at present is Alan, Jordan, Johnny, Luis, Jamal, Enrique, Brad, Jason, hell why not throw in Elvis for a bit of variety @drsawzall. The weather, his age, his fitness level, the weather, his age, the men at work, the weather, his age, what the men at work are wearing (or not wearing), are all conspiring to make Calvin a walking hard-on. A slight breeze just blew, Calvin got a hard-on; a trickle of sweat just went down between his pecs, Calvin got a hard-on; Jordan just walked past smelling of sweet sweat, Calvin got a hard-on which ruptured the zipper on his jeans. You must remember these times @drsawzall, only quite recent for you I should imagine. An excellent chapter @KKirk. I could almost smell the man-scent from here in Australia, even with heavy sinuses.

Solomon will be in for one helluva shock when Matthew arrives home driving a Porsche sports car. I hope he is suitably attired, in the briefest, most vibrantly coloured speedo. Solomon will no doubt find fault with Matthew driving such a vehicle, the "work of the devil" or some such nonsense, whilst secretly harbouring feelings of jealousy and inadequacy I suspect. Perhaps Solomon needs to jerk-off to release some of his tension; his mind and body are constipated by religious dogma and sexual deprivation.

Think of Skyhooks Living In The 70's album for inspiration and encouragement @Mark Ponyboy Peters. It sold only moderately to begin with, but when Horror Movie topped the charts it rocketed to #1 and stayed there for 16 weeks straight and became the biggest selling album ever by an Australian act at the time. It has recently been re-released on CD and vinyl to commemorate 50 years since its release. I can still recall Skyhooks on the first episode of Countdown. They were not like any other Australian act and quickly rivalled Sherbet for the attention of teenage girls (and I would guess a few teenage boys too). I liked both, but always preferred Skyhooks.

Think The Golden Girls as directed by William Higgins, although with a cast consisting predominantly of 'Daddies' rather than young blonde surfer boys or twinks. Age has not wearied them though, they are as lascivious, luscious and lusty as men less than half their age. A delightful, frothy, mostly light-hearted romp, suitably set in Ft Lauderdale. A little drama along the way, but mostly it is a story of a group of men forming a family in their latter half of their lives. Kudos to the author @chris191070 for making a sex-positive story about older gay men, most of whom are attracted to men of roughly the same age.

It is the same confusion I get when I read the American date formatting. I have a brief blonde moment nearly every time I am confronted with it and have to stop and think.

"Wilma" de Silva certainly knows the way to "Fred" Porter's heart, and it is not through his stomach. A talented tongue with a passion for exploration got the Porter passion pumping. An evening of fun, bowling with "Barney" and "Betty" Rubble, saw Rafael and Grayson emerge as the winners, with a free dinner courtesy of Hoppy. Uncle Bryan and Chase have almost certainly hooked up. Will this result in more frequent visits from Uncle Bryan and more freebies from Chase (condoms and lube) for Grayson and Rafael? The big question for me is, what is your crystal ball predicting for the forthcoming chapters @weinerdog? Is the "brown stuff" about to hit the fan? What plans, if any, does Stinky Shane have to exact revenge, to "settle the score"? Another "honour" bestowed upon you this week @Mark Ponyboy Peters, with this story #3 in the 'Most Read General Fiction' for the month ending 07/02/25.

Happy tears, happy tears. What a wonderful conclusion to this delightful, frothy little romp @chris191070. Tim's ageism vanished the moment he set his eyes on "George" and "George" certainly proved his equal.

I should have referred to the "lollies" in alphabetical order @drsawzall. Arses, balls and cocks. A, B, C's. Was this the "real" intent of the song on Sesame Street about learning your A, B, C's. Perhaps not, but an Adults Only version of the song could well have had this in mind. Can you sing @drsawzall?

Let's hope for Tim's sake Carrie does not have telekinesis and a religiously fanatical mother named Margaret. As I previously speculated, she may even have her own lover which is why she is out of town. Tim's ageist attitude appeared to change once he was presented with a smorgasbord of cocks, balls and arses. He was like a child in a candy store, eager to taste all the "lollies" to see if he had a favourite amongst them.

No, no, no. This will just not do @Gary L. Vernon Duke, an American born in Russia, wrote the jazz standard, Autumn In New York not Fall In New York, and Joseph Kosma, a Hungarian wrote Autumn Leaves not Fall Leaves with English lyrics by Johnny Mercer, an American. And I noticed you used the incorrect loath above, it should be loathe. I cannot be superior though as I thought they were alternate spellings and loathe as in hatred and loath as in reluctant were spelt loathe. Your error in spelling has revealed something I did not know.

Vince continues to surprise me too @centexhairysub, wonderfully so. As I have commented, somewhat facetiously, Margaret Hilda would be truly appalled by his behaviour. Heaven forbid, he may even be egalitarian. His fellow partners might draw the line at that. @Gary L, @pvtguy and @kajean, I suspect you may all be a little older than me, or perhaps it is because I have always lived in Australia, but I do not recall grammar and punctuation being discussed in much detail when I went to primary and high school in the 1970's. Spelling, reading and the basic concepts of what is a verb, noun and adjective, and when to use a comma and a semi colon (the latter of which I have almost completely forgotten), were the extent of my education. I don't ever recall being taught when to use me and when to use I, and as for participles, past participles and some of the rules you lads have mentioned in your comments, well it is all just Greek to me. I like to believe I am usually proficient in the only language I speak, read and write, but sometimes I am left wanting. I am very proficient with profanity, this proficiency increasing with age and practice, the latter of which has increased exponentially with the advent of technology, particularly mobile technology. I am like a broken record, but I have to say it again, @Robert Hugill's works are so delightfully English. His wit and whimsy frequently find me drawing comparison to his fellow Brit, the incomparable Kate Bush, whom I have raved about on a number of occasions. There is at times even a little Bowie in him, especially this past week with not one, but two, stories in the top 10 'Most Read General Fiction' for the month ending 07/2/25. Well done again @Robert Hugill. Who knows, you may end up getting a CBE like Kate.

Very different tastes. I am not big on most rap and hip-hop either, and I don't like classical music at all.

I have never seen ghoti before @Robert Hugill. Another appealing oddity. I also love words that have the same spelling, but have two different pronunciations to mean two very different things. I only really noticed this recently with a very common word, it may have even been in the Hugillverse. It had never struck me quite so before, and now I cannot remember what the word was. We could probably fill an exercise book with all the oddities of the English language. The silent 'l' in could, would, should; the words yacht, leopard, mold and mould, and the list goes on.

I did not even notice the mention of his family name as Caine (I read it too fast). I really only know the Joan Baez version because I have it on a CD compilation of hits from the 1970's in Australia. I was only 7 when it was a hit so was not really aware of pop music then. It was not until I was 10 I really started paying attention to pop music. American singer Suzi Quatro, who was massively popular in Australia, was one of the first to capture my attention. I have heard Cheeseburger In Paradise, once again courtesy of Casey Kasem's American Top 40. It is not really the type of music which appeals to me. It is pleasant to listen to, but don't find it appealing enough to purchase. Our musical tastes are very different as I really don't like heavy rock music, but love disco and old-school soul music, and ABBA of course. I know I will horrify you when I say I cannot stand Journey. I have read Virgil's story on Nifty and enjoyed it.

I had never heard or seen the word Scandiwegian before either @pvtguy. I assumed it was a portmanteau of Scandinavia and Norwegian, and it seems I am correct, although when I first looked it up a couple of hours ago all I found was beautiful decorative glass items. I did not even notice the principle misspell, which as you state is common. @Robert Hugill rarely makes such faux pas so I am sure it was deliberate on his part to see who was paying attention. I have found there and their, and where and were, are often shown as spelling errors when I use them and the spellcheck is ALWAYS incorrect. It only seems to happen when I am in GA though so I do not understand why. As a non-American I find the misspelling of colour and centre most annoying, particularly when I see these words misspelt in the Americanised form in Australian print media. I love the oddities of the English language, they are its greatest charms. Silent letters in words like knife, knee, ptarmigan, haemoglobin, paediatric, honesty, honorific, are amongst its most appealing.

Virgil, what a great name. It made me think of Joan Baez's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (I am not familiar with the original version by The Band, only with Joan's version, which I really like). Homophobiaville, LOL. This made me think of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. He was not at all popular in Australia; I only know the song from having heard it on Casey Kasem's American Top 40 which was played on my local radio station in rural Australia in the 1970's and 1980's. There seems to be more "seamen" in this story than in the Village People's In The Navy @Lee Wilson. As you can see from my comments, this chapter referenced many songs for me. Aunt Linda and Uncle Roger appear to have a good relationship with their gay son and his boyfriend. Clearly they have minds of their own and they are prepared to use them.

Dammit, I used "whom" incorrectly on this occasion @Gary L. You may have to administer a thrashing. Bottom of the class on this occasion.

I forgot to mention, disputatious. Never have I seen this word before that I can recall @Robert Hugill. A wonderful word, a timely word, with so many heads of various governments encouraging division in their nations, bullying and punishing those whom oppose them.

A little revelation here, a little revelation there. I do so love the "onion peel" effect you employ to such great effect @Robert Hugill. Never one to rush with revealing all the secrets of your protagonists at once. It makes them infinitely more appealing too, one has to "stick" with the story to learn of their idiosyncrasies. Margaret Hilda would definitely not approve of Vince. Not only does he do pro-bono work for the homeless at the Horniman Centre (just love the name of the Centre), but he volunteers there as well. How does he expect he is going to become wealthy, arrogant and totally self-absorbed if he continues with this altruism. Freddie was a pleasant surprise, but I would be careful if I was Graham. The Hugillverse delights again @Gary L.

I think Wollongong's favourite "Auntie" needs to pay a visit to Stinky Shane and frighten the bejesus out of him @Mark Ponyboy Peters.