Former Member

I had forgotten Theodore Zachary Haner’s full name was mentioned maybe just this once! ;-)

And another two or three reasons why I don’t drink! ;-)

Not Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 25? Or Cars 16? Or maybe Tron 2030… ;-)

I wish they’d follow the original book more closely. The humans the apes were hunting were naked. The native humans tore the clothing off the astronauts. And yet the only naked human in the movies, other than the fairly distant shots around the pond, was the odious and homophobic Charlton Heston and we only saw him from the side and back. It’s odd how the 1968 movie was racier than the more recent movies. But that will never happen since a US company controls the rights to the story and we are too prudish to produce a non-pornographic movie where many in the cast are fully naked throughout the movie. But it would be interesting to have HBO or Showtime create a TV series with equal opportunity* full nudity! Can you imagine a Game of Thrones, Rome, or Spartacus inspired remake? ;-) * I’d be okay with only male full nudity though! ;-)

Those gossip reporters certainly don’t have good memories. Teddy Haner’s name was first mentioned in the press when Messiah first started and he went on stage. Dr Theodore Haner presided over a press conference at his hospital and someone then asked if he was the same Teddy Haner from Ryder’s past. Wasn’t that just a few months ago? ;-) Don’t they have Wikipedia or something similar in the future? It only takes a few clicks today to find connections like that! I see TV reporters are still being hired for their appearance rather then their intellect! ;-)

I’m sure Hollywood hasn’t gotten any more creative than they are now. They know that recycling a franchise after 20-30 years means they have a fresh new fan base to draw on. Speed Racer was an animated series in the ‘60s and a live-action movie in 2008. Planet of the Apes was first published in 1963, made into a movie in 1968, and remade in 2001, and rebooted in 2011. ;-) Star Trek, James Bond, and Doctor Who are on much faster cycles, but they keep remaking themselves periodically too. And then there’s Disney who decided to do a whole series of animated-to-live-action reboots. I shudder to think of the future Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Mickey Mouse live-action movies! ;-)

A Log Cabin member, no doubt! ;-)

I read that it’s better for your health if you say something rather than stay silent and regret seeming to be complicit in the hatefulness. But only if you will be physically safe! It’s not worth a trip to the hospital. ;-) When I was homeless, it hurt me to hear that word tossed around by many of the other residents at the shelters. But it was almost exclusively used by African-Americans. Sometimes as a kind of term of endearment, but often as an insult. I hated to hear them use that word! In my neighborhood, it’s not uncommon to hear someone screaming across the street, ‘Hey B****!’ and have a young woman turn to the friends who called her with a happy smile as if the term didn’t mean what it does. I understand the concept of turning an insulting word around, but some words are just too painful to hear. Yes, those are the ones that need it the most, but it still bothers me to hear them.

And now I have to wait with everyone else for the next chapter. But I think @Headstall is going to put off the the confrontation with Richard for at least one more week! I think the reception will last through more than just a single chapter… ;-)

I’ve been thinking that Preston turned to another male mentor, possibly a coach, when he found out that the man he thought was his father was not his biological predecessor. That mentor attempted to sexually abuse Preston. This certainly would have caused the very heterosexual Preston to become homophobic and anti-Gay.

Just like @Dodger, I noticed this line right off! But I interpreted it as suggesting that Richard might not be as bad a person as Drake has always believed. You can’t choose who you fall in love with. You can’t even choose the gender of the person you fall in love with. For most of us, it’s unlikely that we’d fall for someone who isn’t the gender we are normally attracted to, but it is possible… ;-)

I think @sandrewn posted a cartoon on one of his Status Updates which posited that young men will eventually be pulling a little red wagon carrying their pants as a natural progression of the Sagging fad. Don't they realize they look like they’re wearing saggy diapers? This is a ‘fashion’ trend that has long outlived its natural life. It all traces back to jail inmates advertising their wares. An odd origin considering the overwhelming homophobia displayed by those who walk around holding their pants up lest they trip on all that excess fabric – enough to clothe whole families. ;-)

Oli’s advantage is that he has a very supportive family. He also has a brother and brother-in-law who are committed to making sure he understands the facts about sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, and how to deal with all of it. Doctor Theodore will educate Oli on the medical facts, while Ryder will share his emotional experiences. His mom will make sure he’s uncomfortable (a necessary fact of life) and Harry will say things like, “Hmm, and here I was thinking he’d be single most of his life. Good job bud.” Together, they should be able to keep him grounded. ;-)

Oliver is gaining confidence with his close interactions with Ryder. He has grown the most in the 34 chapters we’ve known him. He may still look like a mini-Teddy, but his personality proves just how different the two brothers are. ;-)

Alphabet (Google) will be thrilled to learn that YouTube still exists in 30 years! Warner Brothers, Universal, and Sony will also be happy that someone hasn’t bought the brands and merged them all together! We seem to have survived our current national nightmare (of school shootings and excessive force by police officers). ;-) While it’s difficult for me to envision an end to Rock since it has proven to be so flexible and adaptable, it seems inevitable that eventually it will fade in popularity just as other forms of music have done in the past. It won’t disappear completely, there are much more obscure genres that are still heard. A century or two from now, there will be classical music concerts featuring the Beatles, Elton John, and Queen. People will be doing the motions for YMCA long after the organization itself has disappeared! ;-) Besides, as Doctor Who has shown, Tainted Love and Britney Spears will be played while our Sun dies! ;-)

I noticed that Jimmy had more he wanted to share with Drake. It seems like there’s an explanation that Drake isn’t willing to hear yet. Things might not have been as Drake thinks they were. ;-)

Some of the biphobia in the Gay community can be traced back to a flawed, but widely publicized study that suggested that bisexuality did not exist. It said that claims of bisexuality were just baby-steps towards Coming Out as Gay (or Lesbian). Newer studies have disproved the earlier, flawed study. The LGBTQ community is not a utopia, there is all sorts of bigotry practiced (racism, sexism, agism, biphobia, Transphobia, xenophobia, etc). We have a lot of issues to work on as a community! ;-) As a Gay man who has watched many documentaries and narratives about bisexuality, I feel like I can understand at least a little of what it must be like to be bi. I have several friends who have told me they are bisexual. I have other friends whose sexual behavior suggests that they are somewhere in the middle of the Kinsey Scale even though they don’t identify as bi. And the one guy I met when I was homeless who I would date is bisexual (but, unfortunately, he’s not interested in me). ;-) Bisexuality only means that gender is not the dividing line between those you’d be interested in and those you ignore. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’d date any and everybody! Almost everybody has limits or preferences based on things like age, personality, height, weight, hair color, looks, kinks or fetishes, political or religious beliefs, or hobbies. Preferences are not a bad thing unless you use them to discriminate against others or only see them as stereotypes! ;-) I may be attracted to blond and redheaded men, but that doesn’t mean I’m looking for a ditzy, empty-headed fool or a hot-tempered fighter! And it doesn’t mean I haven’t dated men who haven’t had red or blond hair. It just means those are the men I notice first! ;-)

A Vladimir Putin, Bashir al-Assad, Kim Jong-un, or Pat Robertson who lives forever. The horror of it all! Fortunately this is fiction. ;-)

Which means the next one won’t be as cheerful… ;-)

Someone’s already selling key fobs with your initials: Actually it’s for an old Citroën model, the BX which was never sold here. Citroën once sold very quirky cars in the US, but they pulled out as the US safety standards got tighter in the ‘80s. Citroën is now owned by another French car company that also left the US market around the same time. Citroëns are cheaper and no longer quirky. ;-)

Good because I only started to read the chapter. I realized I’d only recently reread the chapter. But how am I supposed to know that you haven’t substantially rewritten the whole thing? ;-)

Is it just me or does it seem like the guys in the current VW SUV ad are cruising each other? The very odd huge smiles and the weird denials that they know each other. All in front of their female companions and two kids each. Of course said female companions seem to know the adults in the other SUV too since they have the same odd huge smiles! Are they covering up an affair too?

What an odd kink you have. Not that I’m judging or anything! But isn’t that difficult to arrange? Is there a special code you use when you advertise? Is it common in Danmark? How many times are you going to prompt me to reread this chapter? Shouldn’t you be prompting me to read others? Or is there a secret message in this particular chapter that I just haven’t found yet? ;-)

Well Jerry Brown is being termed out of office. To replace him, the candidate with the most name recognition, the largest war chest, a major liability (or two), and polling the strongest is our Lt Governor, former San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom! Much sexier than Jerry Brown ever was. ;-) And you weren’t one of the people who implied that a penis was required to be a man. ;-)

Paddy appreciates everything people do for him! It makes everyone want to do even more things for him because he’s so appreciative. And he’s a sensitive young man whose emotions sometimes overwhelm him. ;-)