Former Member

To get an idea of what post-WWI northern Europe was like for Gay men, you might want to watch Tom of Finland. Yes, I know it’s not a Scandinavian country like Norway, but it is Nordic and had a long history of being occupied by Russia and Sweden. (The Russian invasion forced Finland to look for allies and Germany was the only one available since Sweden was claiming to be neutral. Poor Finland was attacked by Russia, yet lost half its territory to Russia because it was on the losing side. Finland was also coerced into signing a treaty that allows Russia to takeover its rail system should Russia decide it was necessary for military maneuvers.) There is quite a bit of exploration of how difficult it was to be Gay during the post-war period. If you aren’t familiar with Tom of Finland’s artwork, you should be warned that it is very sexual with clear BDSM themes. This is a movie intended for a mature audience. ;–)

My father was drafted into the US Army during WWII and was assigned to MIS as a translator. Those soldiers were forbidden from discussing any of the ‘secrets’ they were privy to. But even if he hadn’t been legally bound, my father would not have wanted to talk about his service even though the war ended while he was on a ship on the way to Japan. He did talk about visiting relatives and there is at least one picture documenting him on a beach in Japan. ;–)

Candor and his men weren’t forbidden from going to A’Dore… ;–)

@R. Eric, Seth made one huge mistake in this chapter though, you should never grab a hearing impaired persons hands to prevent them from signing! It’s just like covering someone’s mouth with your hand to gag them! It’s incredibly rude!

All my friends were near the bottom of the feeding chain. But it was really interesting to have two cheerleaders semi-friends in one class. And all because I agreed to switch seats so they could sit next to each other! ;–) Of course, I was buried deep in the closet in high school, so I wasn’t even friends with the only Out Gay guy in school!

And now California is sending three Urban Rescue Teams to Hawaii before Hurricane Lane hits. (Hurricane Lane sounds like a location on the Gulf Coast – like Tornado Alley!) Having the teams in place when the hurricane happens means they’ll be able to start working as soon as they’re needed. Hawaii is vowing not to be another Puerto Rico, still recovering a year later. Hawaii has the advantage of being the location of major US military bases, so the military has not only an incentive to get things back to normal, but also has the personnel and equipment to get things done rapidly. As a state, Hawaii also has two Senators and two Congresspeople where Puerto Rico, as a US Territory, only has a single non-voting Resident Commissioner in Congress.

It’s not just sexual orientation that causes some to think of child molesters. People of Color have often been irrationally accused of this. The same false accusation is often made of immigrants (legal and otherwise). Some people are just afraid of change – and others exploit that fear! But some people are just obsessed with sexual deviancy and what others are doing that they wish they could participate in.

"It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." — Robert Goddard, Father of Space Flight

I’m hoping you carry Ryder into The Golden City beyond just having Messiah on the marquee seen from the bus! ;–)

Amy is frightened that her mother would still be too mad at her to help. I’m sure even she realizes how irrational that is. But it’s easier to ask her brother to once again come through for her. ;–) Did she go look up her ex-boyfriend to aggravate her mother?

Chet Baker! I love everything by him

Hi @MacGreg! Hope your day is going well. I'm listening to this right now, and thinking it's something you'd enjoy as well Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez

The Spotlight took place in present day with the final chapter with the Sex Tape being posted in January 2018. The breakup was very early in Ryder’s career. I’m not sure when the stadium tours began… ;–)

The Fillmore was Bill Graham’s principle venue between 1966-68. Fillmore West, a few blocks away, became famous due to Bill Graham from 1968-71. The Fillmore Auditorium reopened under Graham’s management in the mid-‘80s, but was damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake and closed. It reopened again in 1994 and is currently leased and operated by Live Nation. Its capacity is only 1315, so very small by Bay Area standards. ;–)

The Fillmore seems like a small venue if they’re still rising. That Ryder’s drug problem is already known in the public suggests they are beginning to fade. But I don’t think they ever reached the stage where they were playing at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk the way Berlin did this summer! ;–)

Those (apparently) Google-enforced asterisks make reading difficult. This is one area where physical books are superior to electronic stories. At least in more enlightened countries, books tend to be less censored than what we are now getting online. There should be an option to click that allows uncensored text for those of us who are old enough to deal with profanity and other adult concepts like the birds and the bees. My mistake. I accidentally turned on a word-blocking feature in a tracking blocking browser plug-in. There wasn’t any explanation of the option and I forgot I’d turned it on. But Google is forcing certain standards on websites that choose to use their ad services for the income. Sorry @chris191070, @Dodger, and @Butcher56!

I’m sure I wouldn’t have answered differently, but Robbie made yet another mistake by lying to Nathan. It’s becoming clearer that Nathan isn’t the right guy for Robbie. I don’t think Alex is the right one either. Since Fran and Rory are both out, that leaves Tom. Lovely Tom who keeps giving mixed signals. Wonderful Tom who is probably Gayer than he wants to admit. Loyal Tom makes the best match with Robbie. It’s just going to take time to work out – he should apply to Canadian colleges (when he passes all his GSCEFGHIJKLMNOs or whatever they are)! ;–)

Just like the bucket, there are several bits that I’d forgotten since I read this chapter… ;–)

Yay! Messiah! The promoters must already have figured out that Ryder is in a downward spiral since they’re not playing in a larger, more prestigious venue. (The big venues include SAP Center, Shoreline Amphitheater, and Levi Stadium in Silicon Valley; Oracle Arena, Concord Pavilion, and the Coliseum in the East Bay; Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and AT&T Park in San Francisco.) ;–) San Francisco’s Chinatown is the most famous one in the Bay Area, but Oakland has a large and thriving Chinatown too. But Oakland’s isn’t as tourist-oriented as SF’s. Just like Oakland in general, Oakland’s Chinatown is more working-class and less glamorous. SF intentionally designed its Chinatown to look the way Westerners think China looks like, kind of a Disney version of reality. 21% of SF’s population is Chinese or Chinese-American while Oakland’s Chinese and Chinese-American make up is only 8.7% of the population. Artie & Adam should take pictures of Dizzy’s injuries right away! They’ll need proof when/if Dizzy decides to pursue legal action against his mother’s boyfriend. People who batter their wives/girlfriends/spouses/partners/etc and their families should face charges!

I’m reading the Comments as I get Notifications that @WildcatLes Liked one of my Comments. I haven’t reread the chapter itself. But, having read chapter 21, I’d long forgotten about the bucket that we’re talking about here. I’m sure there are other things that have been mentioned that I’ve also forgotten about… ;–)

Oh, and I love Maisie Williams’ reaction in the second frame! ;–)

Some people’s bodies are much more efficient at processing nutrients than others. They can eat exactly the same amount of food and others will lose weight while they gain. My best friend is like that. :–\

Yiddish is a Germanic language that was spoken by Ashkenazi Jews in Central Europe. It’s basically German with elements of Hebrew and Aramaic and traces of Slavic and Romance languages added. It was written using the Hebrew alphabet. It is not the same as Hebrew, the language spoken in Israel (both the modern day and historical iterations).

Maybe Steve is into having straight women Peg him in the context of a BDSM scene? It seems like there are lots of straight men (usually overweight or obese) who are into humiliation. That often takes the form of chastity cages and/of ‘forced’ feminization (ie being ‘made to wear’ women’s apparel) and posting pictures of their very average endowments (or at least would be if they lost that large fat pad covering their groin area) that they are convinced is grossly undersized. In some cases, Mistresses require their straight ‘slaves’ to bottom for Gay Masters. BDSM is often associated with the LGBTQ community (as with Folsom Street Fair, apparently due to the shared non-conventionality), but does include many heterosexual participants.

When I heard that they were holding a memorial service, I was confused. It seemed like Rush had been investigating for months, yet memorial services are usually held within days or weeks of a death – some cultures have scheduled memorials a set number of months later, but Jake didn’t seem to belong to one of those cultures. It was cleared up when Twyla mentioned how weird it was that it was happening six months after the death! ;–) What I get from the conflicting expert testimony is that the defense lawyer just needs to point out that both experts were unable to figure out what caused the failure and that should be enough to collapse the case against the space heater company and the fail-safe manufacturer. And it means the police have a much bigger investigation on their hands!