W_L

Theatre, illegal download, and blue ray DVD. I am an ex-trekkie, but it's still addictive. Wonder how JJ Abrams will keep the Romulans from being seen, because it can end up pretty badly for older die-hard fans. I'm fine with re-imagining old concepts, Battlestar Galactica went from 1970's campy family friendly entertainment to 21st century controversial, politically stimulating, and transcendent drama. If they have to create a new series, keep it in the 24th century or do it in the 23rd century. Enterprise was just bad. They need new 24th century ideas, simple; Get Ron Moore, Jeri Taylor, and Ira Behr back and do the occupation arc of Cardassia (look up dominion war and you will know what I mean). By the way, Ron Moore did a good job with insurgency and terrorism on Battlestar Galactica, so I think it would make great drama for Trek to have it. New 23rd century stuff; talk about the 2nd five year mission, which Gene Roddenberry had written scripts for an entire season entitled "2nd Phase". You just need to tweak the pilot and viola, you are recreating classic Star Trek without ever stepping over continuity. Okay, I need to stop; I am a big fan of the franchise and very knowledgeable about the universe and histories.

Who can say no to Star Trek? Seriously, Star Trek and Terminator Salvation just cause I want a conclusion to my Terminator fascination even without Arnold.

Seriously, I've been writing about gay history from the beginning of recorded history for a while and I keep forgetting to open a discussion on the topic. Let me start with Ancient history up to Hellenistic era aka Alexander's empire The earliest fictional/semi-historical account of same sex relationships came from the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh. Enkindu, the big wild hairy man, was the beloved of Gilgamesh, the unpredictable and emotionally immature king. Sounds almost like reality between certain gay couples with calming influence of one partner meeting the unpredictable nature of the other. I took certain liberties, when writing Love and Again, but I would contend that Sumerian culture was pretty open during that time in their history to have gay epics be mainstream, possibly due to the influence of their rulers. Moving forward in time, Zoroastrian traditions as the first monotheistic hated and despised homosexuality in every land it crossed into. My 2nd story was based on biblical accounts, but there is also historical basis to speculate that the repression after early homosexual acceptance came from the first wave of monotheism. Zoroastrian traditions would later go into Judaism, Christianity, and Islam sadly including the anti-gay sentiment. Then, you move westward and you got history of Greece and Crete, where legends were very open to gay relationships to certain degrees. In the Iliad, there is an oral tradition that Achilles and Patrochlos were lovers, which is interesting side note durian classical era of Greece. Additionally, the Dorians, although Quasi-fictional/historical, are usually depicted as very pro-gay relationships among adult men and in certain places among boys and men. Anyone, claiming descent from Dorian nobility or Herculean nobility as my 4th and later stories go on to describe, would be under the same traditional concept that they should have homosexual relations along with heterosexual ones. Now for the Lesbian community, you guys appear in history around this time period with incipiant female love stories and poetry. It's interesting to note that Lesbianism was not much countered or acknoledged in the early periods as male homosexuals. I have to explain my dislike for Athens. Athens has always been the place, where gay writers and advocates point to what a good democracy should acknowledge for gay rights. I can understand why they point to Athens, but I must counter there example since it must be done. Let me state for historical record, Athens would have been the death knell for gay rights, if it was not for Thebes preserving gay traditions. Socrates' execution among other notable thinkers and supporters of gay traditions was in fact an Athenian purge. Democracy does not guarentee equality or rights; the ideals of gay love became less inclined as Athenian public used homosexuals as scapegoats after their lost in recent wars with Sparta and her allies. I posit the Athenian tradition as a warning for future generations of gay men; don't believe that winning certain freedoms in a democratic society means you gain it indefinately as the winds of fortune change, so does the winds of public opinion. Thebes would have been my choice for the open city of gay rights. Not just for the tradition of the Sacred Band, but they also have many legendary stories such as the first gay couple eloping to Thebes. As for Alexander's ideas, it is a high point of contrast and understanding gay love versus pedophilia that was part of Greek tradition. He believed in equal love as taught by Aristotle, who was student of Plato whom was student of Socrates. Certain things that he hated was pedophilia for pleasure sakes. It is implied in historical record and our culture, American, Greek, or otherwise, will not accept that Hephestion was sleeping with Alexander more than once. Hell, Alexander only had one son, who was born after his death, so the likelihood of paternity is doubtful. Alexander married woman like many other gay men after him to show he could continue traditions, while only loving one man. There are even stories from Plutarch and other ancient historians that Hephestion usually spend his nights with Alexander in the same tent, so come on how much more proof do our society need to say Alexander was the first monagomous homosexual. Other parts of gay history and documentation of same sex relationships can be seen in the Far Eastern Chronicles of Confucius Dialectic. This line of stories and history is covered in my off site story, Worlds of Difference, eastern history is another round of stuff. In the far east, it was not age structure that propelled early homosexual unions as in early Greece. There were even vows of brotherhood that we could almost assume at points were gay marriage declarations. Now that clears up the 15th century BCE- 3rd century BCE of gay history. Some people say there is no such thing as gay history, hehe!

Here's the easy way out for me at least: I am more inclined to jogging rather than the gym scene. (It might change, because I see some very hot guys there, but love and exercise should never mix. You might end up breaking up and in a fit of madness go on binge eating and in a week find out you gained 20 pounds. ) There are two types of diets, I've seen work: 1. Eating more small meals throughout the day to increase your metabolism. 2. Eating one to two small meals per day and utilizing vitamin liquids or other good fluids to substitute for meals. (My diet) The small meal thing is dependent on the person's willpower. The liquid diet is more alligned with a person's capacity and for me it works much better. Jogging about 90-120 minutes a day is awesome. I love jogs due to the ease and enjoyment that you can have in just a simple run. By the way, the usual jogging routes are filled with hot skinny looking guys with cute asses, another good reason jogging is fun.

I noticed James posting the top 10 evil children book and people responding, but why hasn't anyone pointed to good children books. I just remembered one with a moderately good movie to boot: Charlotte's Web It's my favorite, I admit, because I felt really bad for Wilbur *(Strangely enough, I am not a big pork eater, I prefer steak). I like the idea of the entire story and there was a romantic cross species relationship under-toned throughout the story between Wilbur and Charlotte. It went into the most beautiful ending, where Wilbur helps care for Charlotte's eggs after she dies and it becomes almost like a subtle allegory to gay relationships and adoption issues. Thinking of it in that term brings tear to my each time. I might be over thinking a children story, but the theme of acceptance between a spider and lonely pig is beautiful. There is a real relationship between the two seeking companionship not among the norms of their species, but something different. The last part with Charlotte dying and giving custody of her children to Wilbur is such a powerful and moving realization at how much trust and love these two have for each other. You can apply it as a heterosexual piece as well, but I tend to feel the differences in species may expand that idea. It can be a class-conflict, a ethnic, and dare I say homosexual romance parallel. Kids will enjoy it and will root for Wilbur desire to survive and Teens/Adults will love the existential themes as they grow up and re-read it or see the movie. I don't know about my subtle analysis on the themes in connection with gay issues, but I do recommend it as a children story about acceptance, love, perseverance, and hope.

To be fair, I just changed the error. Nitpick grammar professor, I can guess the college freshman must love your class. However, I am honest; I am an ethical man, not truly a moral man, which is one thing that American law takes into account more than ethics. Won't you agree Mark or can you not differentiate ethics and morals? Also to Tiger, I was a former Branch Vice chair of the Republican Party, so I wouldn't discount my membership that easily.

After arguing with Both Tiger and Graeme on the pedophile thread, then Mark Arbor, dkstories, and Xeran on the Torture thread, I realize something about myself: I am an ethical man, who doesn't believe in absolute laws or the attitudes of society. What's ethics? Main Entry:eth

Happy Birthday Vance!!! Thought it was Microsoft's Vista's birthday for a second, hehe!

An interesting topic, I agree homophobia is more than just direct action; it can be overt or subversive anti-homosexual actions. However, let me posit another issue that I am thinking about: Can we lump openly gay people as homophobic for certain actions they do? Some gay guys have certain fears of the Feminine model of homosexual men that they are extremely antagonistic against that sub-group within our own community.

Sometimes life is like a slow disaster that we merely witnesses to; hearing what's been happening to you Kev' reminds me of that famous footage of the Hindenburg as it was engulfed in flames to everyone horror and the paralysis of everyone watching it unfold. Perhaps, there is nothing you can do to fix the issues at hand, but I love it that you are willing to help out afterward. The best we can do in life, when facing oncoming disaster before our eyes without the ability to alter it, is merely observe and learn from it. I hope you grow from everything and everyone including yourself will end up better off than where they started. :hug:

Hey! I agree too, but what I thought was true post columbine more than anything else was an overreaction that kids in my school really did not care about. I was one of the only guys that listened to the second seminar, but after the drudgery of the 2nd; I succumbed to the same malaise that everyone else began to have over school shootings and the continuous bombardment of message laden seminars preaching tolerance and acceptance. By the way, I did train a level 70 Magikarp during those boring day! (Pokemon reference for the teenagers of the early 2000's)

Sticks and stones can break my bones But words hurt most of all, because they get beneath your thick skin. Words surprise you and hurt you deeper than punches or even a dagger through the heart (coincidentally, I heard it is less painful than it looks, just a warm tingly feeling). Some people may things that hurt you and it will continue throughout all our lives. Shady, I don't know you as a person, but all in all, you are perfectly normal and flawed like all of us. I don't heap praises ad nauseam, you are what you are and I think sometimes people concentrate too much on the ideal of what they rather than face the reality of what they have.

Well said, it was defining moment in our generation. Before 9/11, it was the most traumatic and important event in my young life. I was in middle school at the time and still remember for days afterward the fear that people kept. Fire alarms with bomb threats became a way of life; perhaps, the best name for our generation is the Generation of Terror. I'm happy to know that people have grown through such tragedy and lived on after the trauma. I agree with the sentiment that teaching others to accept differences would be good to prevent future incidents. I just wish those words did not fall on deaf ears. My high school after Columbine did have a full hour program each term about guidance counselors and not discriminating others with issues, but you know something; most people after the first two "seminars" brought their gameboys or just fell asleep after hearing the same message. It's reality that I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news for. I wish people cared more even after the drama was over.

I was addressing a point made on my prior blog entry from Old bob and somehow I broke into a poetic verse. The nature of conflict: To ignore conflict is a human reaction to seeing too much in their lifetime. To accept conflict as a burden needed for the future of mankind is to have hope Well that is divine Peace will not occur in your time Peace will not occur in my time It comes to whether we are ready to fight for this concept, we call peace Knowing it may fail Knowing it may succeed That we become human in our fullest range of emotions and life That we become closer to nature and closer to breaking the cycle nature has rendered us in

Happy Birthday Kurt, enjoy oncoming Seniority!

This might be my shortest entry, but I just feel like saying it. The world is sad. You hear far too many tragedies created by human beings. There are far too many injustices in this world and far too many false beliefs that must be fought. Yet, how can we struggle against such a sad world. I am going to place here, President Kennedy's Inaugural address on why we must continue to fight:

Let me make some straight jokes :lol: :lol:

I love gay Humor: Now for a little language training in Gay speach: Haha! I never knew about gay language. Now, seriously, there is gay cultural history, which has changed over time. There are subtle changes over time, which is interesting historic convention.

Every time I blog it seems to be a plug for my stories; Damn! I don't like to blog like this, but this one is scaring me. Well, let's see, talking about my new story, which is haunting me. I can actually see it happening and unraveling in my mind so clearly that it gives me the creeps. It's like sympathy, horror, and an inner sense of satisfaction, when I re-read what I wrote and posted. There's something in that story that makes me feel like I really constructed my own world; a tragedy complete with nuances. Then, there is the part of me that says; it's all just fiction; it will never happen. Yet, I keep thinking back to it. There is an old line: I am bothered by it, because I really feel support for my character and think what he is doing is right. He is taking the worst in our society and punishing them in a way that our justice system due to bureaucracy and laws could not. How can I really argue against such a high truth? That's the problem and the darkness that I am feeling in my story, it is not whether he is doing good through such actions, but whether the good he seeks to do is actually something much more sinister in our complicated world. If I just had him go around killing evil religious figures and neo-nazis, then everyone would say I am cliched and the story would fail to me at least on so many levels. Yet, what I wrote and unravelled is complex web of men striving to do good in this world through the corrutpion that inhabits it. Adding the political intrigue, which was subtly hinted into this story, marginalized my character genuine heroic mission to fight against these people who hid in the shadows of justice. Then, I draw another parallel as whether gay rights can become a hired gun in a metaphoric sense of a political faction, who had ulterior motives to take out their competition, silently? This story haunts me on so many levels, because I wanted to make it dark; I wanted to make my characters flawed in every way possible, but amazingly talented in their own pursuits. I wanted the plot to be devestating and people to feel empathy towards the characters for their loss, but the subtext and the politics behind the events are so cold and frighteningly calculated by my subconscious. Each of my stories are researched before I write them in one way or another, but I feel something special and dark in this one that is drawing my attention back towards it. Perhaps I need to take a vacation from writing, because I feel like I have seen the devil's argument and I actually thought he wasn't completely wrong.

Mark, The personal decision to leave anything is never easy or simple. When you become part of a community; you give a part of yourself into it. If you leave, you leave a portion of yourself behind, which lays dormant for your eventual return. Nostalgia, remembering the good times, or as the teenagers call it with the idea of "Retro", you yearn for the past seeking that piece of you left behind. An online community creates roots for people and it will continuously draw and cause others to leave at least temporarily. I have yet to meet some one that does not yearn to return after a period of time. I consider that to be the most influential part of human nature in the online environment; there's never a definitive departure, unless the person dies, or definitive return, unless the person personally say I'm back.

Hey, I want to protect my pink elephants! (Oh wait, not a political statement) If he likes experimenting with the boys, then fine let him, what is wrong with a gay elephant?

Most Republican would be angry with the video you linked Tim. Comparing Republicans to Nazi's is not going to win anyone friends. I wouldn't think too much of it from your friend. It's a defense mechanism, which the republican voters want to insulate themselves. I am not one of those that can't take a pot shot. I disagreed with the Patriot Act and I know other Republicans argued against it, too. It was an idiotic act that was half-ass. Most urban middle class Republicans are smart and contrary to most beliefs, not anti-gay or anti-abortion; although, I am against unlimited abortion on principle. However, the south is not a place where these conventions work.

It happens; I will be awaiting more of your stories as they come. Long stories take longer to write and you build a connection writing them. My best advice is just go with your heart, not plans.

Bogart impression- "Michelle, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" Honestly, a caring, honest, and good friend is hard to find. The sleeping together part has not affected the way you two act around each other, another good sign. I wish I had your boy in my life.

I prefer mature chickens, not too small or young, and not too old as cocks get pushy, before I fry'em up. I've been burned as well by guys, when I started out, but now I am fine with it. It happens and you don't forget about it; you just block them on AIM.