W_L

Asian bucket list item, for me would be walking the entire length of the great wall. Anyone want to join me.

Wow, Happy Belated Birthday Myr, Hope it was magical and you had great fun

If I were to post this in the open forums it will probably be moved to the soapbox and I have made it my promise not to get involved in a soapbox debate until my novella is done, which is coming along nicely. Also for those waiting on the last two parts of my play from the prior anthology, they are almost done and I am also wondering if my fictional play is actually being mirrored by non-fictional realities in Virginia. I'm not Arthur Miller, but sometimes, I wonder if the crucible that we currently face is really any different. If that holds some of your interest, stay tuned for it. Heck, maybe I will finally finish a story (or a story in play form ) Anyway onto the New York Times article that I read about reparative therapy and the heartfelt apology of a psychotherapist, who was also an early champion of gay rights and later advocate of ex-gay movement. http://www.nytimes.c...gewanted=1&_r=1 This was a great article and I hope that when Mr. Sptizer does pass on to whatever awaits us after this life, he is not burdened by his guilt over what he has allowed to transpire by people misinterpreting and misrepresenting his work. My words might not hold much weight as I am not one of his research paper's victims or one of the thousands being sent to reparative therapy facilities across the country based on the false conclusions. However, I do think he deserves absolution, maybe it's not too late. I've been an opponent of Reparative therapy for years, I simply don't believe it holds scientific rationale and it is basically licensed psychological torture. Nazi death camps had experimented with similar techniques on POWs and gays in the past as well, Was it right 70 years ago? No, nor is this type of meddling with a person's life right today using similar techniques, no matter how much you supposedly are "watering" it down. Yet, we have followed through on a pattern of subjective destruction that may bold tragedy for our future. Homosexuality is not a disease, it is not a mental condition, it is simply a state of being. It is who you are, not who are supposed to be or wish to be. In this day and age, we have a lot of kids pretending to be gay, because it's cool. It's not their true nature. Being gay is something that you have to feel and hold in yourself, just like lesbians and I am betting bisexuals have the similar indescribable feelings. Physical attraction is one thing, but emotional and dare I say spiritual connection are also aligned in homosexuality.

Yang, we're kinda in the same boat. there is one particular guy, who has been stuck in my mind for ages as well, but I know it is better that I think of him as a friend. I really like him, but I also know even if he was gay we would not workout. As friends, he and I compliment each others' faults and capabilities. As for guys that just say "no, I'm not interested", I've been there. I've gone out with guys, who are all nice and great, then he completely throws a curve ball and leaves you high and dry. I don't know why, but some people just prefer to do that than to let it drag on. As the Chinese idiom on love says, "It's better to have short abrupt pain, than lifelong agony". As for looks, you are not ugly if girls take notice of you. It means you are cute, just that no gay guys have caught onto it yet. Hope that helps your pain a little bit. The world has enough depressing things in it, if one depressing sad guy can get you out of your rut, then at least it's a start.

Aww, Tim, I hope you're healing okay. I hope that the pain regiment they have you on is effective and holds few side effects. Does your area have health workers or something similar that check up on you periodically? Wish you success in your business ventures and hope all goes well.

You're an A student in my book.

Me too! A.I and sixth sense made me a fan. As for why, well it's little things like how he didn't have any long term girlfriends during his prime teenage years, his voice acting of Sora in Kingdom hearts (Yes, I think there was subtext between him and Riku, I also thought David Gallagher might be gay or bi, too, maybe they were dating at one point), and to top it all off he's so empathetic in all his roles.

Ah, Ra and his cladly dressed harem of males + 1 young Egyptologist Personally, Travolta is likely, but I rather not. He's one of the Hollywood actors I would least like to know is gay after the crap that was "Battlefied Earth". Yes, I remember that movie and remember leaving the theatre midway with half the audience. Even Quentin Tarantino couldn't save him after that flop. As for actors that I think are gay, Haley Joel Osment is nearing the top of my list lately. For me, I wish these guys are gay: Tobey Maguire, I wish, but he's a happily married and stable straight guy from most vantage points. A pity. Robert Pattinson, gay guys and teen girls wish, think Kristen Stewart is a cover either for a gay lover or another girl. He seems nice enough without heavy news articles on outside stuff, but who knows, he could be a real creep in life.

That explains the mysterious break ins at the Chinese frat i miss doing laundry with a swipe card, which was also my key and meal pass. Actually, my school's food service company also serves the same thing to prisons, but i had to pay 10k for it freshman year.

I was born this way

This might sound strange, but I was on the bus today and I was looking around aimlessly until I spotted a girl, who I thought was a guy. No I am not attracted to trannies and she was definitely not one just really boyish-manly looking, but from just the side of the face, I was really captivated. Maybe, the strong exposed forearm, the muscular legs, and the face was just too cute in a manly type of way. Her hair was cut in a short bowl cut and it was my favorite shade of maroon. Like any gay guy with a bit of imagination and horniness, plus the rumble of the bus, I got excited. Then, she spoke and turned around to get off, grab her umbrella, and I just became disturbed. From fantasy to nightmare, it only took less than a minute. It's embarrassing, but I do wonder if anyone else has ever made that mistake. I don't think it makes me any less gay, but it does make me question my taste in guys

You're such an old softie Yang Congrats to all the graduates and hope the job market is favorable in your field. I wish I could find a better job with less stress, too, but it is better to work with gripes about your work, than the alternative I guess. Living with parents though is definitely not my favorite thing in the world, which I know a lot of grads are doing, since rent is still so high and few even with good jobs can get a mortgage.

Don't fret Bill, i think most of us didn't expect to win. i am lucky at the moment to be stuck in 3rd place tie even if all i did was guess based on defense and shot averages.

The Episode is titled "Choices", but there are almost no choices in the episode as the final outcome and nature of the characters were already in existence. The writer is probably making a creative shot across the bow about homosexuality, which I appreciate. Since the moment I saw the scraggly beard, murderous eyes, and heard his snarky remarks, I could sense he was gay. I speak of Micheletto, Cesare Borgia's assassin in the the TV series, the Borgias. It was a great revelation and he was so gung ho about his lover getting married to a girl, even if neither of them wants it that way. Back in 15th and 16th century, there's no such thing as gay marriage, no such thing as gay relationships unless you want to get yourself killed. These guys snuck around the graveyards of Forli to just have their chance of expressing love, where only the dead would not judge. That is a powerful revelation to the series and the character's nature that only death can protect him It also shows off a very interesting thing about the character in that moment, he fights and kills people sometimes without any personal purpose, but now I think I can see his personal purpose if it is a bit macabre and twisted. Gay characters are many things, but dynamic and morally challenged with an innate gift. Hope other people will enjoy it as much as I did. PS: Knowing the history of the time and characters, I can't wait until the most famous gay artists, engineer, and scientist arrives on the scene. Micheletto might not be single for long.

Nah most members will just listen to stock brokers and put everything on red... Umm Apple I hope i was witty with my tap water example, ever tried desani water from coke cola company. It is sad that modern finance is so unrealistic and holds so little value except to commission fees on sales.

I just read this and it made me think about finance and investment in general http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/10/news/companies/jp-morgan-losses/index.htm?iid=Lead I don't like the idea of credit swaps, nor derivatives as I can't see any practical or "real" value in them, except as a complex vehicles that simply inflate the prices of what they hold. Maybe, it's strange coming from an accountant, or not if you know the blood feud between the disciplines, but why can't finance be simple securities backed by realizable values? A simple example from just the stock market just for layman reference, if my company is worth $1 billion, I have revenues of $200 million dollars, earnings of $100 million dollars, and 100 million shares of outstanding stock. Under practical projection, I could value my company at a multiple of say 2-3 times earning value. My company minimum basis is $10 per share or equivalent to current value of my company, with a potential high of $12-13 per share based on profitability. Doesn't that sound reasonable? You still make 20-30% profit and buyers know your are worth that value. Today's stock values averages 22 times earnings on the US S&P, these values are not substantiated outside speculation. Yet, it is how the world lives in its own illusion that we are actually making money out of nothing. This isn't about debt, nor about banking in general, but the principle at which finance is operating, money for money sake without any real values involved. It's like I got a dozen water bottles, filled it with tap water through a purifier filter, then sold it to everyone for $5 a bottle, because it is "pure" water. Seriously, just because the tap water has gone through a simple filter, now it is worth 10 times what it was.

Awesome video! Looks like trees might be climbable now, too. Plus, the fast moves of snatching muskets to bayonet your enemies is fantastic.

Japan and Thailand still have constitutional monarchs with power, so the Far east is not completely done with monarchy.

Don't you wish the Habsburgs were still around: Bella gerant alii, tu, felix Austria, nube Philip is funny and prone to international incidents, but I don't know I feel like the royal family is at fault, everything just seems overblown due to media and tabloids about the family from Prince Harry's Island getaway to the continuing "mystery" of Princess Diana's death.

I don't really find the royals interesting, unless it's "the tudors " i mean they are mostly tame and normal.

Wondering how Tim found out about Kyle XY's belly button, mind sinking into the gutter My favorite Movies: Lord of the Rings probably is up there, the Chris Nolan Batman movies, The wedding planner (Yes, I am a sentimentalist too), Titanic (saw it again and still love it), Shawshank Redemption (the first time a movie surpassed a book), and of course the Departed. Favorite TV shows: Hmm... Sci-fi/horror/ fantasy: Star Trek (Next Generation to DS9, not voyager or Enterprise, and only a few episodes of TOS), Babylon 5, Stargate SG1/Atlantis (Sorry, I just never liked Universe), Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Night Visions, Beyond Belief fact or fiction (you might see a pattern, I love short story based horror/scifi series, too), Warehouse 13, Eureka, Heroes (1st season), Battlestar Galactica (New Series, the old one is frakkin too moral), Charmed (Yup, as conservative as I am; I just loved Charmed. Seriously, the show was fun, sad, and kept you guessing. Vanquishing demons, while keeping a fashionable is hard work), Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (They belong together, no matter what network they are on), and Awake (it's both sci-fi and fantasy) Drama/Action: 24, House (until season 4, when he fired the entire team. It's only gotten worse after he went to jail), One Tree Hill (I am an OTH boy, I converted when the second season of the OC was crap), Psych, Just shoot me, Queer as folk US, Rome, Tudors, The Borgias, and Spartacus (I am a huge fan of historical dramas, Spartacus being my personal favorite right now with The Borgia trailing slightly.).

Hey! Hey! It's the monkees!..... Damn you zombie, you had to remind me of that tv land re-run from the dark ages and their catchy song, now I am thinking of monkees The monkees probably were the first commercially made boy band, created by NBC to grab the Beatles fans in the US for the "next big thing". Here's something I think helps differentiate boy bands from other rock/pop singers and groups, there is no such thing at the moment as a underground boy band as far as I know. Boy bands need a lot of maintenance with dance moves even without singing or musical instrument talents. They can't be formed in the back of a garage one day, then start doing little shows at a local bar or club the next month or so.

Pubic hair Probably due to the nature of how pubic hair is associated with sexual organs and extreme life energy that they possess. Remember eastern vampires aren't afraid of crosses or religious icons, they are afraid of natural energies and strengthened by energy of darkness and death. There's a famous semi historical fiction story in Chinese history called the corpse drive. The story said a daoist necromancer used his magic to reanimate the dead to bring them home for burial after a war. A few of them however broke off from the trail that the necromancer had been following and went to nearby villages. There would be many dead bodies found in these villages with pale faces like life was completely drained. Later, the bodies would all disappear and a fresh series of bodies would be found. Some say that late at night you can still hear the footsteps of these undead spectres and if you are unlucky enough to encounter some, beware your own doom. The actual event is kind of macabre too. In ancient China, supposedly there were vertical wheelbarrows that carry the dead at night on the back roads. Sometimes these bodies were from the western lands after long battles defending the many forts along the silk road. As you can imagine, diseases like malaria, smallpox, and even the bubonic plague were moving from east to west during this time and transporting dead bodies was partially a carrier for these diseases. These villages that the dead bodies passed by probably were hit by the plague, which explains the dead bodies discovered later and even the paleness due to the discoloration of the plague.

I love Gym class heroes, my chemical romance, and have the newest nickleback album too. As for boy bands, I don't know under 30 with boyish look would be a prerequisite. I mean, while I love Blink-182, no one is ever going to mistake them for a boy band even back in the 90's. There's a real difference between rockers, punks, and boy bands. Music might be just as pop based in lyrics, but their range usually is focused unless you are a fan of "Brand New", if you've heard all their albums like I have, you know what I mean

Haha, Yang's afraid of girl bands. I'll give you something nice "for you and your denial" : That's my kind of music, a little pop, but mostly rock, plus there's a violin so I feel like I am a little cultured