My very own Pensieve.

Friendship that goes south.

2012-01-31T23:26:00.004-06:00

I have learnt in the past several years as I got older that friendship evolves. Some friendship grow stronger and some goes south a little or completely. I have seen it happen in people I know and I am not surprise that some of my friendship evolved too. I have 3 situations of friendship that has gone from good friendship to something less.

I have cut off a friend once because he was just a bad friend. He would never answer his call nor return your calls. I did not expect that we talked every night or even every month but once in a while I would make an effort to keep in touch and call him. But of course my calls remained unanswered and unreturned. And once I texted him about my birthday party and he texted back that he is coming. On the day before my party, I called him again and left a message to remind him of my party. He never showed up and when I called him later to check up why, I got no where. So I decided to just cut him off. I deleted his number from my phone and did not accept his Facebook friend's request. What is the point? I do not need friends who does not put in any effort in the so called friendship.

In another situation with a friend, I decided to take a break from this friend. He just got too bossy at times and he just started to get on my nerves. Of course it did not help that there was an incident that broke the camel's back for me. So now I just avoid him. I am friendly when I hang out in a group with him but I just won't make an effort to see him. I would make an excuse as much as possible to not see him and it works just fine with me. We use to be better friends but now I just think of him as an acquaintance that I am friendly with in social situations.

And I used to have a very good friend that I used to spend lots of time with. But he got a BF and he got sick too so we saw less of each other. I understand how his BF and illness would get president over our friendship but when I noticed that he seems to prefer the company of his new friends over me, then I got the picture that we are not as good of a friend as we were. I still consider him a friend but not the best friend that he was. I have lesser expectations from him and that seems to work better with our relationship.

My own experiences with my friends made me think more about friendship. As we get older, do we put up less and less about friends that disappoint or annoy us. Is it a product of more wisdom that makes us tolerate less of the so called dramas that comes with friendship? I wonder cause certainly I see it happen to me.

My largemouth bass

2012-01-29T01:09:00.000-06:00

My fish having his two gold fish for dinner.

The Devil Inside Review

2012-01-26T13:12:00.005-06:00

This movie totally sucked big time. To think that I really wanted to see this. I was so disappointed.

The movie was suppose to be an amateur video story of this girl seeking an answer to her mother's "mental Illness". The journey brought her to Rome where her mother was transferred to. This transfer alone did not sound realistic but nonetheless it was so in the story. With the aid of two priests, who were acting without the consent of the Vatican, they were able to exorcist the demons out of her mother. The demons transferred to them which resulted to more trouble.

The story to begin with was just unrealistic and lame. Many of the scenarios were not plausible. And then the attempt to make it like an amateur video totally failed. No where near the realism of "Blaire Witch Project" or "Paranormal 1". I could tell it was a fake amateur video story. That of course took away the fear component of the movie. It would have been more scary if they just filmed it normally for a movie.

Save your money and skip this movie. 1 star out of 5.

Why the headless picture?

2012-01-25T03:13:00.002-06:00

I came up with 4 reasons why somebody in those gay social networking sites would so often post headless pics or pics of something beside their face. And often the headless pic would be a shirtless pic of their torso.

1. The most common reason would probably be these guys are closeted or cheating on their spouse so they want to be discreet about posting their face picture in a gay social networking website. Specially so if the website is notorious as a hook up site. So they become a peeping Tom where they could see who is around but others can not see them.

2. Another possible reason is that they are not proud of their facial features. They could also belong to an ethnic group that would get dismissed from the get go when people see their ethnic faces. So instead, they post what they think is their best feature. Often that will be their body or sometimes their penis. They might think that this way, they can get people to be interested with them and not dismiss them as a potential mate or sex partner at first impression. Futile I say cause if they will be rejected base on their face, they will still be rejected whether they show it from the start or send it later.

3. Third possible reason is that they are just the kind of people who wants to have an upper hand at things. They do not want to play fair. So they want to be able to see first who they might be interested with, then send their face pictures to those people only. So they want to be able to weed "undesirables" first and not get themselves weeded out. They can see you but you can's see them. Again, a peeping Tom.

4. And last possible reason is that the profile is fake. So they post some headless picture they cropped of some random guy. They have no intention of meeting anybody so the random picture will suffice.

It could also be a combination of any of these reasons. Either way, I want nothing to do with them. I wish there would be a gay social networking site that people have to post a face pic. It is the way in public. People do not walk around with mask or a paper bag over their head. It is so frustration of have to deal with headless pictures online.

When can I do this?

2012-01-23T23:23:00.003-06:00

My Largemouth bass is not yet big enough to be able to eat a small mouse. For now, he eats a big feeder goldfish. He could have 3 of those fish if I let him but I just give him one each time. I do not want him to get so big so fast that he outgrows the 29 gallon tank fast.

Preference vs Prejudice

2012-01-19T12:15:00.005-06:00

In these day and age of social networking, many of us have to put up a profile for other people to see. This may be in gay.com, manhunt, match.com or even facebook. We put information about ourselves and who we want to meet and network with. In a good amount of profiles, I have seen people put in their own words their preference on what kind of people they want to meet. And some of the wordings of the preference of some people are so prejudice sounding. So when is a preference simply just a preference and when does it become prejudice and bigotry?

Examples of preference are:

> Looking to meet people in their 20's to early 30's. Looking for guys +/- 5 years from my age. Please be close to my age.
> Prefer to meet white and latin guys. I am really into black and latin guys.
> Please be HIV negative and STD free.
> Looking for guys who are tops. I am top so please be a bottom.
> Looking for masculine guys.
> Please be height and weight proportionate. Prefer guys who are in shape.

Examples of a prejudicial sounding preference.

> No oldies. No one over 40.
> Not into black guys. No asians need apply.
> Not into poz.
> No bottoms.
> Not into fem guys.
> No one over 200 pounds. Not into fatties.

As you can see, both examples pretty much convey the same message on who they want to meet. The difference is in the language. The prejudicial way of conveying preference shows the thinly veiled ageism, racism and bigotry of that person. I am sure it is obvious that the preference way of phrasing includes those they want to meet and the prejudice way of phrasing excludes a certain group of people that they loathe.

In the Heights review

2012-01-16T13:29:00.006-06:00

I saw In the Heights this weekend with my Puerto Rican friend and her BF. My PR friends were very eager to see this cause it is a musical about the latino community in NYC. I was curious and honestly did not know what to expect.

The show started very chaotic for me. Plus I did not care for the rapping of the main character Usnavi (Perry Young). I only half understood what he was rapping. The dancing crowd on the background was unimpressive. I did not care for the ghetto type of song and dance. The songs and singing voices were mediocre for me. I did know know who was who in the show. But as the show progress, it grew on me. The characters were established and their story line became clearer. I began to understand the the rapping of Usnavi. The conflict of each characters started to move me and I began to relate to them. There were some funny moments that made me chuckle. Even the seemed chaotic dancing of the company became more pleasing to me. As I started to appreciate the storyline and the characters, the singing remained undistinguished for me except for Daniela (Tauren Hagans). She had a strong powerful broadway voice. The others were not out of tune but I was just not flabbergasted by their voices. I am not surprise considering that the cast was racially correct looking. Meaning they were all passable as latino as called for by the roles. This may have limited the productions ability to cast other non latino looking actors out there that have far superior voices. Their pool was limited by adhering to a racially correct looking cast. The songs themselves were forgettable except for the "Carnaval del Barrio". It was festive and uplifting.

My latino friends were very impressed with the show. Naturally, I thought. They said it hit home for them. As for me, I was diverted but this show would not rank high in my list of best. I would give it 3 stars out of 5.

The intolerant Jew.

2012-01-15T00:10:00.004-06:00

There was a profile in Grindr that I saw. His profile name is "Hot Israeli". He is 35 yo, 5'11" and 186 pounds. He classify his race as Middle Eastern. The only other thing he wrote besides his stats is "Not Into Asians and bottoms"

So I messaged him and this was our conversation online:

Me: How would you feel if people writes "Not into Jews" or whatever you are. Your thinly veiled hatred for Asians and bottoms is showing. Looks like the Nazi failed to teach you tolerance.

Hot Israeli: Say what you want man. I'm not trying to be right but when it comes to sex, asians and bottoms are a turn off for me. That's it. We are talking on sexual preference, not religion.

Me: You stereotype Asians to be one way sexually the same way the Nazi stereotyped Jews. I get that you have preference. It is the way you phrase it that makes Asians look like the scum of earth. "Prefer white, middle eastern, latin, black tops" sounds better. Just saying.

Hot Israeli: Listen, I'm not into asian as if you notice that most of white, latin or black are not into them too. So if you have a problem with what I write, don't look.

Me: Whatever. I expected a race/religion who suffered the holocaust to be more tolerant. Remember next time you see or hear an anti-semitic remark that you are just like those bigots.

Hot Israeli: Whatever.

As you can see, even the oppressed can be bigots too. You would think they would know better but evidently, this Jew does not.

Sexy young guy dancing.

2012-01-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

Just a sexy eye candy video.

7-11 I stopped going to.

2012-01-11T00:37:00.006-06:00

As I was walking Janet this afternoon by the 7-11 near my home, I got reminded of why I have stopped patronizing that 7-11. It was last spring when I would walk Janet to the 7-11 and tie her outside while I hurriedly buy my lotto tickets. In one of those occasion, the cashier told me to wait while she checks out the people behind me first. I thought it was not fair cause it was my turn to get service but I did not say anything and went along with it. Then several days later when I returned to the 7-11 while walking Janet, I was told again by the same cashier to wait while she checks out the people who were buying things behind me before she sells me the lotto tickets. Well that time I was not taking it anymore. It was my turn and I wanted fair treatment. Besides, I was in a hurry to get back to Janet outside before she got dognapped. So I told her it was not OK and left without buying the lotto tickets. When I got home, I wrote an email to the 7-11 corporate office on their website and relayed my experience. I mentioned that if that particular 7-11 franchise would give preferential treatment to buyers of things over buyers of lotto, then they should just stop selling lotto altogether. The next day, I got a call from the manager of the said 7-11. He apologized and offered me a free lotto ticket that I could pick up to make up for my discontentment. But I did not go back to pick up my free lotto ticket. In fact I never returned to that 7-11 again. I was just not inclined to give them my business when there are other 7-11 I could patronize. Their lost I say.

Thoughts regarding gay online social networking

2012-01-08T01:13:00.014-06:00

Since I spend a good amount of time in gay social networking sites such as Gay.com, Manhunt.net and Grindr. I have several observations about some of the annoying practices of some people. Here they are:

> I think true mixed race people (half one race and half another) are good looking in general. When I see a profile that says mix race, I usually investigate and look at their picture. Often they do not look mix at all. So I find it rather pretentious for some people to have the need to classify their race as mix. Yes they technically have a mix of several races in their bloodline but my point is who isn't? Most of the American are a mixture of something. I am even technically a mix of Chinese and Mongolian/Siberian. But I do not go around posting in my profile that I am mix. I am Asian, period. So when I see a person who is by all intent and purposes looks like the general population of a particular ethnic group and they call themselves mix, I just roll my eyes. It is as if they are ashamed to identify themselves to that ethnic group that they resemble. It is as if they are more superior being mix. Whatever. I think only people who really look mix can call themselves mix without looking pretentious. Only the likes of Haley Berry or Keanu Reeves can get away calling themselves mix. Even Barrack Obama calls himself a black man when in fact his mother is white.

> Being mysterious to some degree is not a bad thing when dating a person. It can add excitement and freshness to the relationship. But being mysterious in your profile about the most basic information during the initial phases of getting to know each other is definitely a turn off. If I go on the bar with a mask, does that improve my odds in meeting people? NO! So why would people have profiles with headless/faceless picture? And on top of that, they will not divulge their age, race, height and weight. Is that suppose to be being mysterious or just being unrealistic and stupid? Who would want to chat with those profile? There are just some basic information that needs to be in the profile. Those would be the face picture, age and ht/wt.

> Grindr and Manhunt has this option to block a profile so that those blocked profiles can not see or message you. I use to get offended and annoyed that I was blocked by somebody. But now I realize it is for the best. If they want nothing to do with me, then they can block me anytime. In the long run, I would not want to associate with those kind of people anyways. And I myself would block profiles that do not bother to be fair and post a face picture. That way, I only get to see people with face picture when I am online. Making my online social networking more efficient and practical.

> Here are some pictures from different profiles I saw in Manhunt or Grindr.
I could barely tell what I am looking at. So on what planet are these pictures suppose to be effective in promoting oneself in those social networking websites? Seriously, they should get real and post a proper face picture. Or if they have to post a headless picture, at least post a better picture that people would find inviting. Not a picture that I have to stare for a minute to make out what it is.

New Year gave me a small consolation price.

2012-01-03T01:45:00.000-06:00

Over the past decade, I have grown to be disillusioned and somewhat angry about my January 1 birthday. I felt that my special day is always second best and an after thought to the big New Year celebration. So this past birthday, I decided to just surrender to this predicament and not even bother celebrating the so called birthday. I did not expect anything from friends and family cause in the past, expectations that they will be there for my special day only led to disappointment. So no expectations, no disappointment.

Just as I was content to treat January 1 as just the New Year, I got a text from a friend. And I quote:

You may disagree but I think it's fabulous that we think of you on the very first day of the year. Happy Birthday Jonard! Lani

What Lani said is true indeed. Those people who knew me long and well have learnt to associate New Year Day with my birthday. And hence, they seldom forget to greet me. I must say that any other birthday not associated with a major holiday would have been easily forgotten. I know I am guilty of forgetting the birthdays of some of my friends and family. So this past birthday, I got tons of birthday text greetings from friends and family. And despite not posting my birthday in Facebook, I still got tons of greetings from those who knew me well. I must concede though that some of those Facebook birthday greetings are a result of them seeing the birthday posts in my wall/newsfeed. Still it was nice to get them. Indeed it was nice to be remembered. Indeed New Year Day gave me this small consolation price for ruining my birthday.

La Cage Aux Folles review

2012-01-01T20:43:00.006-06:00

I have enjoyed Birdcage the movie and it was to be expected that I will enjoy La Cage Aux Folles, the musical.
On the plus side, Christopher Sieber played the role of Albin/Zaza. He was just vastly diverting. His performance was unforced and his comedic punches were a big hit. His voice was magnificent. When he sang "I am what I am", I was almost moved to tears. The raw emotion was just so palpable. Billy Harrigan Tighe who played Jean-Mitchel was just so dreamy. And he has a good strong voice too. So becoming. Also the Les Cagelles were super athletic and talented. They sang, danced and did acrobatic moves. To think they did that in full sequined dresses and heels, I was impressed!
On the minus side, George Hamilton played Georges. He was too old for this role. His voice and movement sounded and looked frail. His singing was not bad but it just lack the power of a true broadway performer. He would have been more appropriate for this role 20 years ago. Also I thought Jeigh Madjus who played the role of Jacob (the butler/maid) was over the top somehow. There was just too much of the queenie antics. Almost like over acting. Besides "I am what I am", many of the songs were nice and melodic but quite forgettable.
The evening had its good points and bad points. So I would give it a 3 stars out of 5.

Gay rights summary for 2011.

2011-12-29T10:34:00.003-06:00

A cool video that summarizes the progress and set back of the fight of the LGBT community for equality. DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) needs to go away. I may not have a guy to marry now but perhaps someday I will and I like to have the same rights and privileges that some hetero couples take for granted.

Shame on you "Shame"

2011-12-23T12:30:00.001-06:00

The other night I saw Shame at the Century theater with friends. The movie was endorsed by a different friend and on hearing of the full frontal scenes by Michael Fassbender, I was determined to see it.

Boy was I disappointed with the movie. It was so boring that I almost walked out. The story was pointless and mundane. The acting was good and convincing but no amount of good acting can lift a poorly written script and story. It was a story about this sex addict guy and his suicidal sister. The conflict of the story was lame and the resolution was even lamer. Not even the full frontal of Michael Fassbender was able to save that movie for me. 1 star out of 5.

Fiddler's review

2011-12-22T23:54:00.003-06:00

I have seen Fiddler on the Roof movie several times so I know by heart the story when I saw it in live theater at the Auditorium. This knowledge usually helps me enjoy the live theater version but it seemed to have dampened my enjoyment this time. Somehow the similarity of the movie version with the live theater version rendered the live theater somewhat lack luster. I was almost bored during some segment of the show. Besides the isolated near boredom, the show was entertaining. John Preece who played Tevye was delightful in his portrayal of the iconic role. All the other cast members did a good job in their respective roles. I like the set design and how it changed. There was not a lot of dancing in the show but the dance number of the Christian Russian with the Jew at the wedding of Tzeitel was pretty catchy. Act One was better than Act Two because it contained more of the songs we have grown to associate with the show.

It was a fun evening but does not rank high in my list. I will give it 3 stars out of 5.

Very nice Christmas Lights.

2011-12-20T23:15:00.004-06:00

During my bike home from the gym, I came across many Christmas light decorations that I normally do not encounter during my nightly walk with Janet. I was so struck by how nice these two were that I stopped and took a picture with my phone.

Pet Peeve - Reply all

2011-12-19T19:22:00.003-06:00

Every so often, I would get an invitation from a friend. And the email invitation would include my friend's other friends. And in some instances, an invitee will reply via email to accept or decline the invitation. And in those instances, they would reply all so that everybody in the email list will get their reply. Why can't they just reply specifically to the inviter and not flood my email with emails from people I do not even know. I seriously do not need to know that they can't come or otherwise cause I do not give a damn.

Poz and not into Asians.

2011-12-16T11:20:00.007-06:00

I encountered this guy's profile in Manhunt (batteriesnotreq) and Grindr. In both sites, he declared he is NOT into Asians. His Manhunt profile reads:

*READ THIS* I DONT REPLY TO WINKS! Get a personality and hit on me for Christ's sake!
I'm not a "daddy"....I'm more a "creepy uncle who drinks"!...
I'm looking for workout/running buddies. Kinky Hung Vers Bttm here, I'm not into Asians or guys older then 40.

His profile sounds like he is not only a racist but an ageist too. I am wondering how somebody who is middle age (41) and HIV positive gets to be so prejudice? I would think being older and Poz, he would get discriminated enough that he can be more tolerant to Asians and older guys. Perhaps he got at lot of attention from older Asians that he is just tired of it? Who knows why he has to phrase his preference in such a negative way. He could have said "prefer to meet younger white, latino and black guys". That would sound less prejudice than "not into Asians or guys older than 40". He makes it sound like Asians and >40 yo guys are so disgusting. Oh well, to each his own I say. If he wants to sound like a jerk, then it is his prerogative. My only consolation is that his situation is not going to get better. He will get older and get AIDS eventually. By then, not even older Asians will bother with him. Then perhaps he will learn to be more tolerant.

Neighborhood Christmas Lights.

2011-12-13T00:42:00.010-06:00

The grunting is funny only in exhibition matches.

2011-12-11T23:38:00.004-06:00

Normally I do not care for either one of these ladies (Wozniacki & Clijster) but in this video, they appear to poke fun of the ridiculous grunting of some tennis players (Sharapova & Azarenka) which made them gain points from me. This game, by the way, is an exhibition match.

Pet Peeve - It's left turn Green light still so don't cross yet!

2011-12-10T15:00:00.003-06:00

Have you ever tried to make a left turn but found your way blocked by crossing pedestrians who are not suppose to be crossing yet since you had the GREEN left arrow and they still have the RED "don't walk" light? I bet you have and was that super annoying? Specially when traffic is heavy and you really just want to get on your way.

This scenario happens a lot downtown along Michigan Avenue. Considering that there are always hoards of people there crossing the streets, this situation is the mainstay rather than the exception. Well two weekends ago while I was in Michigan Avenue on a Saturday evening trying to go to my theatre, I was in this situation. And did I give way to the pedestrians who do not know how to follow the traffic lights as I was trying to make my left turn? Bet your bottom dollar I did not! I honked my horns repeatedly at them to let them know that I had the right of way and they should wait for their GREEN "walk" light. To hell with yielding to pedestrian. Those idiots did stop and let me go through as dictated by the lights.

Tim Henman still as handsome.

2011-12-08T13:58:00.001-06:00

A photo Tim Henman during the ATP Champions Tour Final at the Royal Albert Hall on December 4, 2011 in London shows his good looks even to these days.

photo from yahoo tennis page.

Be proud of your sugar daddy or not?

2011-12-06T00:29:00.001-06:00

I have a friend Rob who got himself a lawyer BF Matt who happens to make good money. Rob is not at all hot in my book but he is tall enough and has dark ethnic look that evidently Matt really goes for. It has been years since I spoke to Rob so I really do not know if they are still together. What was special about Rob that makes him worthy of mention in my blog is the fact that he would often boast to us back then how Matt showers him with gifts. He would often tell us that Matt got him a designer jeans or watch or that Matt paid for the hotel rooms where we stayed once in Saugatack. He was not maliciously bragging about it but it was more like a candid way of telling us what Matt does for him. A sugar daddy basically as I put it.

I did have the impression that Rob took pride in telling us what Matt got him or paid for. But I was thinking that having a sugar daddy is not really something to take pride with. I think earning your own money through hard work, talent and intelligence is something to be proud of and not having a sugar daddy. I suppose if his skill was bagging a rich sugar daddy, then indirectly he can boast with pride what his sugar daddy got him. hahaha.

Abe and Vampires

2011-12-04T22:59:00.003-06:00

I am fascinated by vampire lore, stories, books, TV shows and movies. So it was a no brainer that I will read Seth Grahame-Smith's book "Abraham Lincoln / Vampire Hunter". After all I did read his other work "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and found it to be entertaining. Indeed Seth did not fail me with this book about Abe Lincoln.

The book really got me thinking where the facts ends and where the fiction starts. Having been the product of Philippine education, I did not have any opportunity to study American History in High School and College. Of course it did not help that I was a science major in college. The only history we were required to take was Asian history and Philippine History. So I know little about honest Abe beyond what he looked like and that he was the president during the civil war. The facts and characters in the book were historically correct but Seth weaved a twist to the known history to include vampires. How vampires helped shaped Abe into the man that he was and how vampires played a role in the civil war. These are the two main assertions in the book that fascinated me. Seth also added photographs during the time of Lincoln that made his story telling more plausible. It was all very interesting and made me go "Hhhmm". A page turner indeed. Good job Seth. Can't wait for the movie coming out in 2012!

I have to bring what at YOUR party?

2011-12-03T00:40:00.004-06:00

If I am going to throw a July 4th party, a summer BBQ, a Halloween party or a Christmas party, I will make sure that I can provide food and drinks for my guests. I do not expect anybody to bring anything and definitely I will not ask my guests to bring a dish or soda or whatever that I need for my party. If I did, then it is NOT my party but a potluck party by every participant of the party. And if it is a potluck, then my guest can invite anybody to our potluck. I would not have control on who gets invited to the party. If my guest ask me if they can bring something, I always say they do not have to. I tell them that they may bring something particular that they particularly want to consume that is not in my menu.

The only parties that requires somebody to bring something are those that celebrates a person/s. Examples are the birthday parties or the graduation parties or the anniversary parties or wedding reception parties. These parties dictates that a gift be brought for that person or persons being celebrated.

I was once invited to a birthday party. I bought a gift for the celebrant that I planned on bringing. That morning prior to the party, I got a call from the celebrant asking me to bring drinks. Huh? One time I got invited to a friend's summer BBQ and was asked to bring drinks. So it this suppose to be potluck then? There was this one time my friends and I decided to have a summer BBQ at a friend's house. My assignment was to bring the pork meat to be grilled. I told them that I will bring a friend to the BBQ. But my friend chastised me for not asking him if I could bring that guest. What gives? I thought it was OUR potluck BBQ and NOT a BBQ he is throwing for us.

I know it is common practice to bring something to any party but I just do not agree on this practice. People who want to throw a party should be prepared to provide for that party. It is bad taste to ask guests to bring food/drinks needed for the party. It is a put off when somebody invites me to their party and ask me to bring something in particular. If they do not have the funds to get that particular something for their party, then do not throw a party. Just my take on it.

Make the Yuletide GAY!

2011-12-01T14:05:00.000-06:00

A beautiful rendition of a classic Christmas song by Coldplay.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

Pet Peeve - following a slowpoke

2011-11-27T00:04:00.002-06:00

I can understand why some people have road rage. With the reckless, crazy and stupid people behind the wheels, it is enough for any sane person to develop road rage.

I do not have road rage but there are moments while I am driving that really gets me angry. One of those moment is following a slowpoke in the road. And it is not like traffic is slow, this driver is just driving slow even when the road ahead of him/her is devoid of any cars. While following this slow driver, I see the green light counting down to change to red. Just as it turns yellow, this driver speeds up to beat the red light while I am stuck stopped with a red light. The slowpoke is driving away on the other side of the intersection just because he was able to cross the intersection barely just before it turned red. I could have caught the yellow light too if he/she was driving at a regular speed. This really gets me boiling mad. I wish he/she gets in a fender bender!

2 gay porn star living in Chicago?

2011-11-23T16:52:00.001-06:00

I have had these impression that gay porn stars live in LA or eventually move to LA. So I did not expect to so far discover 2 gay porn stars who actually live here in Chicago. Who knows actually how many there are living in Chicago?

Matt Cole is a guy that I have seen out during gay festivals/parades and on several occasions at my gym. Mind you I do not go to a gay gym in boystown. I go to an Xsports fitness located at a relatively hetero section of town. I have notice him before cause he has huge muscles. He is not particularly that hot in my book. He is handsome enough and with a big muscles, I am not surprise he made it in gay porn. Initially I was not sure if he is that porn star that I have seen in some gay porn. But then today at the gym, I paid attention to the 3 tattoos on his upper back. When I got home, I looked for those 3 tattoos on the porn star that I suspected to be him. It is a match! Identity confirmed. That guy that I see at the gym is gay porn star Matt Cole.
Matt Cole's Adult Big Muscle Page.

Shane Frost is another gay porn star that lives here in Chicago. I discovered this accidentally from an interview/article in one of those gay magazine. Ever since then, I have seen him around in boystown or in gay bars. I guess before I did not pay attention to him but now that I know he is a porn star, I have been keen to notice him more in public.
Shane Frost's Official Adult website.

Greatest Show on Earth, for kids

2011-11-18T13:14:00.002-06:00

It is called the Greatest Show on Earth but I will definitely amend that to the Greatest Show on Earth for prepubescent kids. I am talking about the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus show Fully charged at the United Center here in Chicago. I brought my mom to see this show cause I know she will enjoy the visual stimulation with very little listening needed.
The show indeed was enjoyable enough but definitely not the greatest show for me or any normal adult for that matter. There were the usual performances you expect at a circus. Jugglers, tight rope walker, stick walker, tumblers, trained elephants/tigers/horses, burning human arrow and clowns. Yes... Lots and lots of clowns. They used the clowns as filler when they prepare for the next act. It became tedious for me to see all those clowns and I did not find them humorous at all. Perhaps if I was 10, I would have enjoyed the clowns. The Elephant act was very entertaining and the tight rope walking act was nerve racking. The tumblers were eye candies as far as I am concern. Think of those smooth, very cut Russian male gymnast doing their tumbling acts shirtless. I was diverted.
So all in all the show was so so for me. Knowing what I know now about it, I would have been fine missing it. Definitely it is a good show to bring kids to but not for adults.

A trip to the Field's Museum

2011-11-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

National Parks I have seen

2011-11-13T21:23:00.005-06:00

Wikipedia listed 58 National parks for the United States of America. I was looking at the list and I am happy to say that I have seen about a quarter of the National Parks. I am aiming to add to that list for I have been awed repeatedly by the splendor and beauty of these natural wonders. My list includes:

1. Arches National Park
2. Badlands National Park
3. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
4. Canyonland National Park
5. Dry Tortugas National Park
6. Everglades National Park
7. Grand Canyon National Park
8. Grand Teton National Park
9. Great Smokey Mountain National Park
10. Sequoia National Park
11. Yellow Stone National Park
12. Yosemite National Park

And let us add to that list the Colorado National Monument, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (St. Louis Arch), and the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

That Djoker is a joke.

2011-11-11T20:32:00.005-06:00

Here are the facts:

> Japan's Kei Nishikori stunned an injured Novak Djokovic 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 to hand Djokovic with a semi-final defeat at the Swiss Indoors event in Basel. Djokovic called a medical timeout to get treatment on his right shoulder during that match.

> Djokovic stood to earn $2 million from the ATP bonus pool if he’d played in all eight Masters tournaments, but he lost $400,000 when he didn’t appear in the Shanghai Masters because of injury. He would have lost all of it if he hadn’t played in the Paris Masters. Djokovic showed up in Paris and played two matches then withdrew on the third match against Tsonga.

> "It was really somehow funny for me to see how people are coming up with that story. I even heard that I would get on the court and play a game just to get this money. This is ridiculous. I want to play well here. I want to get as far as possible, and then London, which is the most important tournament in this part of the year for all of us. I really wanted to come because I played at Basel a couple of matches, but I need more matches before London,” Djokovic said.

> “Sadly I have to inform you that I have withdrawn from the tournament. I have pushed myself to the limit by playing, and after the match yesterday my shoulder got worse. For this reason, I have to put my health first and withdraw even though my urges as a professional player are making me want to play until the last drop of energy. I am very sorry for all of you who bought tickets and wanted to come to watch me play. My season has been long and tiring, I played all of my matches at my highest level, and now my body is aching for recovery. Hoping for your understanding and support." Djokovic wrote.

Here are my opinions on the whole affair:

> He deserve that bonus as Number 1 and I do not blame him for playing at the Paris Masters so he can collect $1.6 million by just showing up.

> He should have admitted that money did play a part in his decision to play at Paris (despite the injured shoulder) instead of saying that people speculating about it is ridiculous. Trying to be all principled about it by claiming instead that he needed more matches before ATP Finals in London is just unrealistic.

> His public persona is tainted further after he withdrew proving the nay sayers right on their speculation that he showed up for the money.

> This made him even more unlikeable to me. He already has shown himself to be an arrogant guy. Now he is also a liar. What a joke.

Colorado National Monument

2011-11-06T20:36:00.021-06:00

Mesa National Forest

2011-11-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

2011-11-01T18:17:00.005-05:00

Canyonland National Park in Utah

2011-10-28T20:43:00.001-05:00

Arches National Park in Utah

2011-10-26T16:31:00.000-05:00

People online who are ugly inside.

2011-10-20T00:04:00.001-05:00

I recently got a smart phone and with it, I joined Grindr. Grindr is just like any gay social networking website where I put a picture and some description about myself. I can see some other gay guys in my area and I can initiate a chat with someone who catches my eye. And like any other gay social networking site, the etiquette and practices are the same. It is common practice that if someone I do not fancy says hi to me, I may choose to ignore that person. I get ignored many times before and I get it. And if someone is pestering me, I can choose to block them. If someone does not have a face pic, I can choose to ignore or block them. After all if I show my face in Grindr, I expect nothing less than a face pic from another person who wishes to chat with me. It is also my practice that regardless of who gives me a wholesome compliment, I will thank them. Online or in real time, I just feel a compliment deserves no less than a polite "thank you". I do not have to engage in a chat with that person if I do not feel like it but I will at the very least give them a "thank you" if they compliment me. So I still get upset when a person I compliment in Grindr could not even muster to say "thanks". In one of my upsetting experience with a very rude 34 y.o. guy in Grindr, this person blocked me just because I said his picture looks good. WTF? It was not like I was pestering him, I said hi first then I followed it up with a wholesome compliment. The next thing I know, I was blocked! So fucking rude! My only consolation about this is that his good looks will not last. The day will come when he won't be as attractive as he is now and he will not get a compliment anymore. Inner beauty last but not outer beauty. And also if he is a fucking rude person, then his character is majorly flawed. So do I really want to chat with a rude person who is ugly inside? No, I do not. So in the end all is good. C'est la vie!

Dark days indeed

2011-10-16T14:45:00.003-05:00

Just saw the sequel to "30 days of night" called "30 days of night: Dark days" on SyFy channel. I did like the original "30 days of night" movie so I was excited to see that they have a sequel. The story lift off with Stella Oleson(survivor of the previous movie) travels around the world telling her story about what really happened in Barrows, Alaska and that vampires really exist. This attracts the attention of 3 vampire hunters who recruits her to join them to kill Lillith, the vampire queen, somewhere in LA. Killing Lillith will handicap the vampires' plan of invading another Alaskan town as it enters another 30 days of no daylight. The plot seems reasonable and it continues nicely where the first movie ended. The vampires were still scary looking and it has its scary moments. Where I had a major issue is on the screenplay of this sequel. Specially on the behaviors of its major characters. Amber ,one of the vampire hunters, was suppose to be this tough brave vampire hunter but when they were on the mission, she acted like this scared hysterical girl screaming and crying. And then she suddenly reverted to this tough bitch when accused to causing their mission to fail. And the other major character Paul couldn't even muster to kill their colleague Harold who was turned into a vampire during their mission. What gives? Such inconsistencies with their behavior. Then there was this sex scene between Stella and Paul which was just plain gratuitous. It was totally unnecessary. And lastly, when Stella manages to kill Lillith, the other vampires just let her walk pass them without harming her. Huh?
Needless to say I was disappointed by the sequel. 2 stars at the best in a scale of 5.

Ben Grant from Chase Freedom card

2011-10-13T00:49:00.001-05:00

I adore this guy.

Lack of education often means they don't know what they want.

2011-10-05T23:53:00.002-05:00

At my old job at St. Mary, I saw a lot of low income clients that often do not even speak English. And I can really tell those who simply can't speak English cause they are new to this country to those who have been here for years and yet did not learn English. I can tell those that left their country cause they were poorly educated and did not have good livelihood in their home country. And guess what, they also do not have good livelihood here cause they don't speak English and have no skills/education to prosper them. But let me not digress further to what I am trying to say.

What is it that differentiate those uneducated non English speaker to those who had education? It is their ability to make decisions for themselves regarding their healthcare needs. After seeing a particular client for 8 or 10 Physical Therapy sessions, we need to reevaluate them for their progress and for their needs to either continue more therapy or get discharged. In every instance, I always attempt to get what the patient/client wants. After all, if they say they do not want anymore therapy, I can't force them to keep on coming for more. I can give them my recommendation but I can not force them. So it is very important that I know what they want during those reevaluation sessions so I can write up the appropriate report. Either a discharge report due to patient request or a "more therapy" recommended report to their doctors if more is indeed needed. And as I discovered, the uneducated patients often can't make a decision if they want more therapy or not. They always say they will ask their doctor if they need more therapy. Sure I can understand that they differ the decision making to a learned professional but it is not rocket science to know what one wants. Even after asking them if therapy was helping to prompt them to know if it is worth while to return for more or not, these uneducated patients still can't muster an opinion on how their own healthcare should proceed. Don't tell me that they probably did not understand what I am asking them cause I speak Spanish to them. And if I have a shred of doubt that there is still a language barrier that prevents them from knowing what they want, I have our Spanish interpreter ask them the same question. Still they don't know what they want.

Pet Peeve - automated customer service

2011-10-02T18:58:00.000-05:00

How many times have you called a customer service number and only to get these automated answer that prompts you to press a number or worse say a number or word? I really really hate those cause 90% of the time, I just want a live person to give me the answer or help me with my needs. And more often than not, what I need is not even in the options to press. Or it takes forever to get to the option that I need. And those voice detecting programs that direct you to your need are just super annoying. How many times do I have to say "agent" before the machine actually tries to connect me to an agent?

Poetry by J: Pains from the indecisive lover

2011-09-30T22:41:00.000-05:00

The affairs of this world are full of woes.
To great intensity, they involve the heart.
Aches and pains thy faculties can't let go.
Akin to cancer, they grow like hideous warts.

So gentle fellow, I pray for thy infinite kindness.
cease the torture on my frail punished soul.
For my senses commence to betray me, it is blindness.
Until death himself abducts me for his avid ghoul.

I besiege thee, halt thy advances, halt thy retreat!
For thy action becomes a daunting pendulum.
Thou art a madman, entrench thy buttocks to a seat.
Speak thy final wisdom, and end my malignant gloom.

Whatever flourishes yonder, It becomes me to know.
For my ship is ready to depart these treacherous shores.
The hopeful sun is sleepy, I need that trailing glow.
To venture to a loving pasture, and weep for thee no more...

PS: I think I wrote this in my early college days. I do not know what the source of the inspiration for I have not experience love and betrayal at time.

Brookfield zoo

2011-09-28T22:53:00.004-05:00

Pics from a recent trip to the zoo using my new smart phone.

There was one good thing.

2011-09-25T22:56:00.009-05:00

I moderate comments in my blog cause I delete nasty comments. Pasadena dude commented on my FOB English blog entry. He called me a snob and sanctioned me for finding humor with bad English. And for the record, I did admit in my blog that I can be a snob sometimes. He claimed that it was ironic for me to be laughing at people with bad English when my blog is full of grammatical errors. Sure I will admit that my blog is not free of rare grammatical errors but I definitely speak and write better English than a lot of those born, raised and educated in this country. Considering that English is not my first language, I think I am doing pretty damn good. Let him find any grammatical errors in this entry. Anyways, this guy did not even appear to have a blog and his comment was also grammatically incorrect. Seems like he is one of those overly opinionated people who hides behind the anonymity of the computer. The kind who has nothing better to do but criticized others and fail to see their own fault. Perhaps his lover can barely speak English. Who knows? He sure has a chip on his shoulder about my blog entry when it was meant to show humor more than anything else. I will give very little care about him after this entry. At least he gave me another idea on what to blog about. And he also showed me that the commenting aspect of my blog is working just fine. For a while there I thought nobody can make a comment on my blog anymore. Thanks Pasadena dude.

Israel Trip - Capharnaum

2011-09-23T23:12:00.002-05:00

Capharnaum is the excavated remains of the town where Jesus lived. Among the significant excavated structures are the old synagogue and the house of Peter. Above the house of Peter is an octagonal Church standing on pillars to preserve the remaining excavated stones of the house. In the middle of the church is a glass window that shows the excavated house below. Our guide pointed to a room in the excavated house and said that Jesus use to sleep on that room. My eyebrow rose immediately in skepticism. How do they know that Jesus stayed in that particular room??? In fact the claim that the excavated stone remains was indeed Peter's house is rather dubious already. They might as well claim that the cat we saw in the area is the descendant of Peter's cat!

Blogging and me: Glad to have my own blog

2011-09-22T14:22:00.001-05:00

Long time ago, I contributed to my friends Blog. Two of my friends manage the blog and I was one of the contributing author. One of my blog entry then was about this Filipino actress who we called frenemy amongst ourselves. It has something to do with the fact that she was not gracious and friendly to one of us Filipino in one of those stage door situations. And my blog entry was an announcement that the fenemy was coming to perform at a certain location. One of the blog manager thought we should not mention fenemy in the blog so I took down the entry without further discussion. But it did not end there cause the blog manager hinted that the readership for that particular day when I had that fenemy entry declined because of it. I thought it was a rather ridiculous accusation cause if my blog was really objectionable to the readers, the declining effect would not be on that day but days or weeks later. People would have to read the blog to find it objectionable and if they read the blog, it will register on the readership stats. So the decline of readership for that day would not have been from my particular entry for that same day.

This incident was just one of the several incidents that made me decide to contribute less and less till the day came when I removed myself entirely from their blog. I wish them success in their blog but I am very glad I had my own blog. This way I suffer no censorship/editorial and I have complete artistic control on what goes in my blog.

Pet Peeve - it takes so long to turn on.

2011-09-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

It is nice to have all these HD TV and modern DVD player. The picture quality is great but one thing I really hate is it takes forever to get the machine playing after I turn it on. For example, my HDTV takes 18 seconds before I actually see a picture after I turned it on. It takes the TV 12 seconds to show picture after I switch it to the HDMI channel from a video channel.

As for my DVD player, it takes 17 seconds for the player to be ready after I switch the ON button. Once I load the DVD, it takes another 23 seconds after loading before the DVD actually plays.

I sure sometimes miss my old picture tube TV and VCR player. It turns on within 2-3 seconds after I press the ON button.

Ernie told Mary

2011-09-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

2 months ago, Ernie and I had a quarrel over the dropping of his camera. The way he blamed me completely for the incident without taking responsibility for his own fault to the incident did not sit well with me. It was his condescending manner of lecturing me that I am not refined and that I am a grabber, with a hint of superiority that he is better and more refined. Needless to say, I took a break from him. You need that sometimes.

One time I was with our mutual friend Mary and I had to borrow her camera cause I forgot mine. Mary jokingly said to be careful and not drop the camera cause I know the consequence. It became obvious to me that Ernie talked to Mary about our quarrel over the camera incident. So if he talked to Mary about it, God knows who else he talked to about it. If he can talk to our friends and acquaintances about me, then I feel much better blogging about it. At least in my blog I did not reveal his true identity so anybody who does not know about our quarrel won't even know it was him I am blogging about. So if he told others about it and they read my blog, then it is his fault for talking about it cause I did not drag anybody into our quarrel.

The Irreverent songs of Avenue Q

2011-09-12T02:12:00.002-05:00

I saw Avenue Q while I was in NYC. It was one of those show that everybody raves about that I have not seen. So since it was half price at TKTS, I got myself a ticket. Now I can see why people raved about it. It is funny and irreverent. The topic they talk and sing about are often not mentioned in polite society but here they explore it through humor. It was refreshing to hear them sing about things like pornography, homosexuality and racism. I love it. Here are some sample of songs they sing about. Enjoy!

Anything Goes was de-lightful.

2011-09-10T21:19:00.004-05:00

Saw the revival musical Anything Goes in NYC with Sutton Foster this past labor day. Prior to seeing this production on stage, I was already delighted by the Tony Awards performance of Sutton and the company of Anything Goes. So I was really excited to see this on stage live. I tell you it did not disappoint. Sutton was truly deserving the best actress award she got for portraying Reno Sweeney. She was funny, magnetic and just a total delight to watch. Her tap dancing prowess was also a crowd pleaser. Oh I need to mention that the guys who played sailors were also very pleasing to watch. Good dancing and a sailor uniform = a hit in my book. And I must not forget to mention that Colin Donnell who played Billy Crocker is so dreamy. He can sing and dance too to boot. Joel Grey who played Moonface Martin was hilarious. I liked him despite of the fact that I did not care of his Blue Bird song. Adam Godley who played Lord Evelyn Oakleigh was also a funny character. It was unfortunate that he did not come out to meet his fans at the stagedoor. I would have love to chat him up with my attempt at an English accent. I must say every cast member did a very good performance that only added to the show's success. The first half of the show was the more fun part with songs like You're the top and It's De-lovely that are very catchy tunes. And to cap the first act was the song Anything Goes with its song and dance extravaganza. The second act was also good with songs like Blow, Gabriel, Blow and The Gypsy in Me. The middle part was slow in my book with that Blue Bird song.

There is one small thing that I have a beef about this show. The setting of the story was suppose to be in the 30's or 40's and it was before the integration of blacks in society. So as my friend points out, how come there was a black sailor out in the deck serving with the white sailors? From my understanding the blacks served in the galley back then. And a black up dancer for Reno Sweeney? I know the smaller roles are not that obvious that they employ blind casting. I honestly did not mind seeing the black cast, it just takes away from the show's realism and authentic atmosphere.

Cast members in the pictures are Robert Creighton (ship's Purser), Colin Donnell (Billy Crocker) and Laura Osnes (Hope Harcourt), respectively. They were all very obliging to their fans.

This will have to be in my top 5 of fave musicals.

Tennis stars upclose

2011-09-08T01:52:00.009-05:00

Here are the pics of the players I saw during the US Open of 2011. Of course I only took pictures of the one I like. Not exactly up-close but close enough.

Simone Bolelli

Jurgen Melzer

Roger Federer

Andy Murray

John Isner

Pablo Andujar

Stanislas Wawrinka

Juan Martin Del Potro

What bored soldiers do (part 11)

2011-09-06T00:41:00.000-05:00

FOB english.

2011-09-04T04:32:00.002-05:00

I am such a snob sometimes against people who has bad english. I saw this post at Craigslist about an Asian guy looking to hook up. It is so obvious that this Asian guy does not have mastery of English. Most likely he is an FOB (fresh off the boat). It is that or he could be one of those Asian in chinatown who never mastered english cause everybody else around them spoke chinese. Who knows? Regardless of what his story is, the post is still funny to read.

"who looking for an Asian guys,let's some fun on Sat, don't b wait
138Lbs 5'9 looking for a nice muscular guy ,who has six packs and hot fun
Not into old guy,i don't like uncle and fat guys
send me with ur pics "

Israel Trip - Peter's Primacy

2011-09-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

St. Peter's Primacy is this place around the Sea of Galilee where Jesus told Peter to "Feed my Sheep" signifying that He gave Peter the authority over his church. A statue stood to signify this event. There is a small chapel by the shore which stood where an older church use to stand. In fact the stone foundations of the old church are still visible. Inside the chapel was a stone (mensa christi) believed to be the very stone where Jesus served his disciples fish. Our guide read to us some bible passages to explain the significance of this place.

Chris Chase is not stupid, you are.

2011-08-31T14:01:00.003-05:00

Yahoo.com tennis section employs this guy Chris Chase as a blogger/writer. His articles are not like news that are purely factual but rather a blog with his opinions and take of what has been happening around the professional tennis world. I read his blog and sometimes I do not agree with what he says. I may write a comment to contradict his claims but never to attach him as a person. Often I will see comments from other people calling Chris stupid and other undesirable things. I often see these guys saying Chris needs to be fired or Chris is so stupid for what he wrote or Chris does not know what he is talking about. Sure these detractors are entitled to their opinion but what is funny is the fact that they still keeps on reading Chris' blog in Yahoo tennis page. If they think Chris' blogs are worthless, why do they still read it and post nasty comments? Is it just because they can remain anonymous that they choose to be so nasty in their comments. But in reality, they are the stupid ones and not Chris. As long as Chris gets comments, positive or negative, it means that he has readership. And as long as Chris has readership, Yahoo will likely retain him.

Anything Goes ?

2011-08-29T22:39:00.001-05:00

As my departure for NYC approaches, I am reminded that I will be watching Anything Goes revival in broadway starring Sutton Foster. Here is a video of her performing at the 2011 Tony Awards.

And here is the 1987 version of Anything Goes with Patti LuPone.

It is so obvious that Sutton is the more talented actress. She can sing just as well as Patti but she can dance far much better than that has been diva Patti. And Sutton is prettier too!

Scott from gay.com

2011-08-27T09:50:00.000-05:00

Often when I chat, I actually am doing something else besides chatting. So that means the person I am chatting with may not received a prompt reply and if something comes up, I may have left the chat without properly ending the chat. Other times, I may be away from my computer and did not see the message of somebody trying to chat with me. I understand this happens and I do not fret if this was done to me.

I chatted with this guy Scott in gay.com. It was a very pleasant chat that we decided to register each other on our friends' list. But lately, I have been dreading chatting with Scott. He accused me once of not replying to his chat and actually "unfriend" me in gay.com. But later he "friend" me again after I told him that I do not recall receiving any of his message. I did apologize even though I do not believe the accusation was well founded. And other times, he gets very prissy if I am not so prompt with my reply. He accused me again of just "vanishing" from the chat. To be fair, this prolly happened twice. He also at one point "vanished" himself when we were chatting but I did not make a big deal out of it. And lately, I have been paying more attention when he chats me up so I may not upset him again. But despite of this, he still accused me of "vanishing" from the chat which I think was not true. This started to annoy me that I do not even really like chatting with him anymore cause he gets upset easily. I am almost hoping he will just "unfriend" me so I do not have to deal with him. On the bright side, I am glad that we are just internet friends cause I can not deal with such a demanding friend in person.

Blogging and me: Thanks blogger.com!!!

2011-08-24T00:05:00.002-05:00

Several months ago, Blogger had technical issues that they end up restoring the whole blogger site to an earlier version. This meant that some of the blogs I did right around the problem were deleted. This amounts to hours of work lost. Blogger tried to restore these lost work but I still had several blog entries missing. I used the proper channel and wrote to the administrator about my missing entries several times. Even to this day, those lost entries remained lost. Thanks blogger.com staff for being so very uber tres good at what you do!

My first Rodeo, gay rodeo.

2011-08-21T19:47:00.007-05:00

I have been curious about the Windy City gay rodeo that happens at Crete, IL for a couple of years now. This year I told myself to check it out. I asked 3 friends ahead of time to go with me. One said he did not feel well. Another told me last minute that he got to sleep off the hang over for drinking too much the night before at a party. And the third said he has to do chores. So what am I to do when my friends gives me excuses for not going? I went alone. It was about an hour of easy drive from Chicago thanks to my GPS. It started at noon and I got there around quarter to one. The entrance fee to get into the rodeo compound was $15 which I thought was a little steep for what it offered. There was a big pen where the Rodeo contest with the cows and horses happened. Some bleacher benches for the spectators on one side. Some booths for cowboy wear, leather wear and food vendors were positioned around the perimeter of the rodeo fair ground. There was a big tent with tables and chairs for dinning and another tent for dancing with country western music. During my stay at the fair grounds for about 2 hours, I got to see some gay cheerleaders and gay cowboys perform and dance. I also watched 3 events. One was trying to rope the calf on its feet (calf roping on foot), another was trying to tumble down the steer/bull from its horns (chute dogging) and the third was trying to lasso the running cow (mounted breakaway roping). Contestants were from all over north america from what I heard when they were introduced. The variety of men around there were mostly 30 to 50 something. Most were bearish in built and white. Some lesbians were also there. Everybody was regular looking and definitely not in the category of eye candy.

The performances were fun and gay. The contests were interesting. I took loads of videos and pictures. All in all I had a positive experience. Definitely more fun if I was with friends but what can I do if they won't oblige me with their company. I just have to remember not to be as obliging next time they need my company.

Israel Trip - Gethsemani

2011-08-19T23:41:00.000-05:00

This was the site of the Olive trees that is believed to be one of the tree where Jesus prayed just before he was captured. Seems plausible since Olive trees can and do live for more that thousands of years. Now it is just a matter of which tree did Jesus use to pray as narrated in the bible. And like any other places that is believed to have anything to do with Jesus or any other biblical characters, there was a church erected within its vicinity.

Bathroom Dance

2011-08-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

Here is a parody of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance song done by a Filipino comedian Michael V. It is brilliant but I am afraid you have to speak filipino to grasp the genius of his work.

Market Days hotties

2011-08-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

Some hot guys entertaining the throngs of gay guys and hete women at the Market days festival today. The third guy is the hottest I say. So adorable face. Thank God it is my blog so I am able to post pics like these. Hahaha.

I saw Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet

2011-08-14T20:23:00.005-05:00

Today I went back to the Market Days festival to check out the happenings and the boys more. I pass by the north stage and heard "true" being sang. I just remembered that Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet was scheduled to perform so I stayed and watch him. Tony looks older and plumper than that Tony I remember from my old Spandau Ballet poster in college. Of course it is natural that his appearance changed since that was more than 20 years ago. His voice though was still strong, bold and full. It was such a pleasure to hear him sing those songs that I am familiar with growing up. He even sang some U2 and Duran Duran song. His final song was "Gold". The band that played with him was also just as talented and entertaining. Awesome show and even better that it was free. I was literally 15 feet away from the stage and that was the icing to an already tasty cake.

Things I do for Darren

2011-08-13T20:17:00.005-05:00

Today, Tom and I went to the Market Days Festival in Halsted to check out Darren Criss performing. It started to drizzle so Tom bailed but I stayed and persevered. And my perseverance was paid off handsomely by a great show from Darren. He sang some familiar songs and some new songs from his album. He was playing the guitar while singing which really showcased his musical talents not just in singing but also in playing a musical instrument. He was very charming and charismatic which was very endearing indeed. He was even sometimes animated which just made the show more fun to watch. It was raining on and off in the beginning of his show but the rain stopped towards the end giving all his adoring fans a chance to dry up, myself included. I was glad I waited in the rain for over an hour just to see him. It was a good performance indeed and on top of that, I got to see hot guys at the street fest.

Poetry by J: Because of the rain...

2011-08-12T22:36:00.000-05:00

The clouds advance,
towards me by the pond.
I see as I glance,
the sight I'm so fond.

Slowly it trickles,
to my naked neck.
Feels like a tickle,
making me a wreck.

Homeward I run.
Mother thinks I'm asleep.
Think so I can?
To bed I must creep.

I'm sure I'll be scolded,
for frolicking by the fields.
My character myst be molded,
to be a gentleman I must yield.

This because of the rain.
How it makes me so dreamy.
An excuse I can't retain.
Converting this side of me.

PS: Another High School Poetry.

Ergo, they are not for you!

2011-08-10T13:54:00.000-05:00

People lie. Whether in real life or online. And which ever gay website I go that required a profile, people will either lie about their age. Or they might just show their body picture and hide their face pics. Or they might not reveal their ethnicity if not easily discernable (e.g. hidden pics, no face pics). I have heard many excuses for this practice. Many would say that if they put their real age, they hardly get any interest or response. But they add that if they put a younger age, they get more response and interest from people. Same reasoning many give for keeping their ethnicity mysterious. They say that ways people will not dismiss them initially base on their ethnicity. They want people to get to know them as a person and not as a stereotype of a certain ethnic background. And for those who hide their face pic, it is either they are closeted or that their best feature are not their face but their body or dick.

My take on this is simple. It is stupid! If that person you are interested in will dismiss you base on your numerical age rather than on what you look like, then do you really want to attract those kind of ageist? If that person will discriminate you base on your ethnic background, do you still think a racist is the right guy for you? If that person is so far only interested in your body or dick, do you still think they will be interested with you if your face is not their type to begin with? So why bother hiding things initially cause if these hidden facts matters, it will matter now or later. It is just a futile practice.

West Side Ballet

2011-08-09T11:46:00.000-05:00

I saw the West Side Story at the Cadillac Palace last Saturday with my friend Millie and her bf Luis. Millie and Luis are Puerto Rican so they were really psyched to see this on stage. I have seen the movie since I was little so I know I like the story and the songs and the dancing. I was hoping I would have the same pleasant experience with the stage production.

And I did have a good experience watching it. The dance numbers were fantastic and I can really see the ballet/dance prowess of the cast. The fight scenes that were done as a dance was a little chessy but it comes with the territory. The singing of the cast was good enough. The guy who played Tony (Kyle Harris) did have a superb voice. So strong and pleasing to hear. On the otherhand, I did not care for the suprano/operatic voice of the girl who played Maria (Ali Ewoldt). And she did not look Puerto Rican to me too. My friend Millie commented that she looked Filipino which I agree with the assessment. Alicia Charles played a very relatable Anita and really reminded me of Rita Moreno who played Anita in the movie. I was very entertained watching the songs I have long loved like 'Tonight', 'America', 'I feel Pretty', 'Somewhere' and 'Gee Officer Krupke'. And another thing that I did like about the stage production was the fact that they incorporated more spanish in the dialogue and songs as oppose to the movie which was almost all english. I think it made the stage production more realistic when you hear Puerto Ricans speaking spanish. I know spanish so I have no problem following what they said. I wondered how the non spanish speaker felt about it. To boot the good show was the fact that we had good seats on our price range. Woohoo.

Bahai Garden

2011-08-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

The Bahai Garden is this garden/park on the side of the mountain in Haifa facing the Mediterranean Sea. It was very cool and pretty up there. On a clear day you could even see Lebanon. Other than a nice look out, there was nothing spectacular about it.

Ugly side of computer/internet.

2011-08-04T17:46:00.000-05:00

All these things we now do online definitely makes global communication easier. Anybody who has a computer/internet can post comments to articles/blogs and it does not matter where they are. Anybody can make a profile and join a social networking site and chat with other members across the continent/world. One can say it is a good thing. It is a sign of progress thru the use of technology. On the other hand, this global communication thru the internet/computer has a definite ugly side. For starters, there is no accountability one assumes when he says something in person. It is because anybody can make an account and post nasty comments on an article/blog. They do not have to be ashamed of what they say cause nobody knows who they are. They can remain anonymous. And another thing, those who join chat sites can get away without posting their true face pictures. They can just have their torso, butt or dick as their picture. Or they can post another person's picture. Or they can post their picture from 20 years ago. These people can easily deceived another during a chat into thinking he is one thing when in person he is not. If these interactions were in person, everybody has to show their true likeness in order to engage another. Have you every chatted in person to another person who has his head covered by a paper bag? I don't think so.

It is just very sad how people out there can use computer/internet into something unbecoming. It ruins it for the rest of us.

Idiotic Craigslist post during bad weather.

2011-08-03T02:10:00.001-05:00

It was a very stormy night the other night. I braved it out but I should have stayed home. The wind was gusting really hard and there was thunder and lightning all over. The streets were halfway flooded. Definitely a night to stay at home. It reminded me of the big snow storm we had in Chicago this past January. Cars were buried in several feet of snow. Most street were impassable. Those several days most of us were stranded at home. And it is during these stay in kind of weather that I sometimes check out the Romance M4M section of Chicago Craigslist. I have noticed that it is during bad weather times when most people stay in that the M4M section would be flooded by guys looking to hook up. Obviously they are bored indoors and wants some entertainment. And most of these craigslist posting will be looking to stay in for the hook up. Meaning they want the other guy to come to their place. So if they can't step out because of the weather, why would they think somebody can come to their place??? Why even bother posting for a hook up during bad weather? It is rather unrealistic and superbly moronic to even have these post then. I often wonder how many of these post that are looking for "stay in hook up" during bad weather actually get to have a hook up. I venture to say NONE.

Good deed for the needy feels good.

2011-08-02T13:40:00.000-05:00

I am not the type who would normally give money to a street peddler or beggar. Specially if they look able bodied. Even if they are children, I won't give money cause I am always afraid those kids have a ring leader that actually collects the money and they just use the kids to beg for it. If anything else, I might give food to a beggar so that I know it will be eaten rather than used to buy drugs or alcohol.

Today at the Filipino Grocery, there was a elderly beggar asking for food. He looked sickly and hungry so I gave him the free meal I got for spending more than $75 of grocery. It was rice and beef afritada dish. I figured the food I gave him would at least fill his stomach and not used for alcohol. And also, I did not really have an excuse to be selfish. I got the meal for free so it did not even cost me anything. It was the perfect moment to be generous to the needy. I am not always altruistic but I must admit doing a good deed does feels good.

workout but not doing all the work?

2011-08-01T07:45:00.001-05:00

Why do we go to the gym? Some say they want to be healthy and have a good cardiopulmonary health. Many want to be more muscular. Most want to lose some fat/weight. And how do we achieved all these? Of course by doing exercise either in the form of cardio and weight lifting to burn more calorie and to work the muscle for hypertrophy. Therefore I do not understand why some people would not bother to do the extra work in their workout by returning the equipment or weights to their proper places? Would you not think that by returning the weight to the proper rack constitute more calories burned and more work for the muscle to hypertrophy? Instead they choose to be slovenly and just leave the equipment or weights behind when they finish using it. Obviously if they are lazy and untidy in the gym, they are also like that in their day to day living. They would take the elevator instead of the stairs. They would not clean/tidy up the house as often as it needs to. This will probably explain why they are flabby or fat to begin with. So my point is this. When at the gym, tidy up after yourself cause that extra work adds up to make you burn more calorie and develop more muscle.

3 types of reality shows

2011-07-30T13:16:00.001-05:00

There are 3 types of reality shows in TV. I would watch the first and second type but will definitely NOT watch the third.

The first type of reality shows are the most worth while to watch. These are the type of shows that really showcase talents amongst its participants. You got the likes of Extreme Makeover, Dancing with the stars, America got talent, American Idol, You think you can dance and The Voice. There are some drama with some participants which adds flare to the show.

The second type of reality shows are decent enough to watch. These are the shows that have a lil bit more drama but still showcase some talents with the participants. Examples are Project Runway, Top Chef, Million dollar decorators, Flippin out, Design to sell and Hidden Potentials. At least in these shows you can still see the talents of the participants. There is something you can appreciate visually.

And the third and worst kind of reality shows do not showcase anything at all but just drama. The kind of drama that involves skeleton in the closet of ordinary people that we gawked at. These participants have no talent what so ever and often are not pleasant to look at too. Shows that fall on this category are The bachelor/Bachelorette, The real housewives of where ever, Kardashians & its derivatives, Big Brother, Jersey Shores, The A-list: New York and Survivor.

Janet's vet bill from the bite.

2011-07-28T16:49:00.007-05:00

As I have blogged earlier, Janet was bit by a big black dog while walking two Sundays ago. I took her to the vet and it cost roughly $300 for the treatment. Many people I have spoken to about the incident and people in facebook have indicated that the owner of the black dog should pay for the vet bill. I did not feel right about it cause I felt just culpable for the incident. We both allowed the dogs to interact since both dogs were not showing signs of aggression. The big black dog, for some unpredictable reason, snapped at Janet and bit her in the butt. Also during one of the earlier meeting, the dog owner did indicate the black dog is not the friendliest of dogs. And back then, we did not have the dogs interact. Having said that, I was not sure if I should contact the dog owner or not. My upstair neighbor knows him so I could have asked for the dog owner's number or email but I just decided to wait when I see him again walking his dog.

So today while I was walking Janet, I run into the black dog owner. I told him about how the bite wound did not heal and I have to bring Janet to the Vet. I asked him, without pointing blame, if he could help out with the vet bill. He offered to pay half which was very fair as far as I am concern. So we parted with that understanding. The exchange was very amiable and I felt happy to recoup half of the vet bill. When I returned home from our walk, I saw him again by my building with $300 at hand. He decided to pay for the whole vet bill which I thought was very gracious of him. I told him that he did not have to do that cause part of the blame was on me. I told him I would have been happy with whatever amount he could offer to help or half as we both agreed on. Evidently, he was very guilty with the incident that he felt he should foot the whole bill. Indeed this was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise. I am very happy.

Tennis player Philip Bester

2011-07-26T14:35:00.001-05:00

Canadian Philip Bester is still an unknown in the Tennis world perhaps with the exception in Canada. He is ranked in the 200+. He may not be that good compared to the other international tennis players but he certainly looks good playing. And he is still young so he may become one of the well known players someday.

3 stories about friendship

2011-07-24T13:02:00.002-05:00

Here are some connecting thoughts about friendship that I would like to share.

My first story is about Ed who has been friends with me and Joe here since the mid 90s. Ed moved to Tx 5 years and would on occasion keep in touch via facebook with us. Last month, Joe got an email from Ed that he is coming back to Chicago for his Grandma's birthday celebration. Unfortunately Joe was also going to be in Wi for his sister's wedding that weekend so Joe alerted me that Ed is coming and told Ed to contact me instead. Joe told me to call Ed so I did but unfortunately the number I have of him did appear to be a wrong number. I did not get an email from Ed either so I figure he was busy with his family or he just did not deem my company worth his time. I do not know cause I never did see Ed that weekend when he was here. Here is my take about this. A friend will find time to see his/her friend. If Ed made the effort to contact Joe that he is coming but yet did not bother to contact me just shows me that perhaps I am not really that kind of friend to him. So I left it as it is and did not make a big deal out of it. I figured life is too short to vex myself about how my "friends" behave.

Amy and I have been good friends for the past 15 years but lately I noticed that Amy is more preoccupied with her other new friends and have neglected me. As I mentioned above, friends will make time for another friend so I figure if Amy is too busy for me, then I will just leave it be. I slowly did not bother to contact Amy and pretend that we are still very good friends when in fact I was not that to her anymore. Somehow Amy may have sensed that I have been absent from her life for quite some time now that she decided to reach out more and start making efforts to hang out with me. Her efforts have not been met with rejection. My take on this is simply. A friend may neglect another friend but a true friend will make efforts to make up for neglecting his/her friend.

Sometimes when a friend moves away, there is a gradual decrease of contact as a result of geographic distance between the friends. This is very natural but neither distance or time can not separate true friends. This brings me to my third story about me and Gen. Gen and I were good friends in college but have not lived in the same place since then. So we rarely see each other. In fact the last I saw Lillibeth in person was 10 years ago when she visited Chicago. Despite of rarely seeing her, we have managed to keep in touch via phone call or text. I am happy to say that I have been good at keeping in touch with old friends without any ulterior motives to it. I am glad I am not one of those that are "user" friendly. I am not only keeping in touch with old friends cause I have something to get out of the friendship but for the sake of keeping in touch with a friend.

I hope to always remember these stories and hopefully it will continue to guide me to be a better friend to another.

Pet Peeves - kard ASS ian.

2011-07-22T11:08:00.002-05:00

I got subscription to US Magazine because my airline miles were expiring and I need to use it or it goes to waste. Since the very first issue I received, those damn talentless Kardasians are always featured either in article, cover or photo. Every damn issue I see them. It feels like they are pushing it on my face. "Here you got to see them cause otherwise nobody will know them cause they have done absolutely NOTHING to warrant attention." I personally want to see celebrities that have actual talents as actor, singer, or artist. Not some trying hard to be popular talentless people. That goes the same for those Jersey Shore freaks.

Needless to say, I am not renewing my subscription to US magazine!

Trip to MN July 2011

2011-07-20T20:12:00.000-05:00

Taken around Lindstrom, MN during their Karl Oskar day celebration.

The Franconia Sculpture Park located at 29836 St. Croix Trail, Franconia, MN at the intersection of Highway 8 & 95. Fairly interesting park with artist living in the premise to produce art work.

Taken while hiking along St.Croix river. On the other side of the river is the State of Wisconsin

Farewell, Harry.

2011-07-19T12:53:00.000-05:00

I did not watch the very first show of the last Harry Potter movie but I did go on the opening weekend with my friend Richard. We were both Harry Potter lovers (not as much as others) so it was exciting times. And as usual for the 8th time, the Harry Potter movie did not disappoint. Even though I knew what happened since I read the books, it was still very magical for me to see the characters played by the actors that have grown dear to me. When I think of Harry Potter, I picture Daniel Radcliffe in mind. The same goes to each of the Harry Potter characters I have grown to love. So watching these characters go through the struggle and lost and joy as they finally defeat the dark lord Voldemort was very satisfyingly gratifying.

The movie was full of magical actions and it was littered with very sad moments too. I heard so many sniffles in the theatre, including myself, as the heart breaking scenes of death, destruction and love were played out. Specially when they brought back the major characters that died in the earlier movies like James Potter, Lily Potter, Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black. Seeing how every good wizards and witches joined to help Harry defeat Voldemort's army was just so poignant. Even the redemption of Severus Snape's character was just too much for me to contain my emotion. The cinematography and special effects were all superb which just added drama and realism in this magical story. Kudos to the director and screenwriter who made the movie flown so effortless. The last scene in movie where they showed Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Draco all grown up (aged by make up) 19 years later with their own children going to Hogwarts just reinforced finality to the Harry Potter story.

Thank you JK Rowling for bringing us this wonderful story of the boy who lived who came to die all for love and righteousness. Farewell Harry.

Too friendly for her own good

2011-07-17T23:35:00.005-05:00

Many people I have met while walking Janet have described her as "like a lamb", "cute" and/or "not a mean bone in her body". Janet is indeed cute, soft, white and very friendly. And I have always feared that she is sometimes too friendly for her own good. She would even approach a cayote if she sees one even if that cayote would mean to eat her. My fear was confirmed this morning as we were walking. We met one of the neighborhood guy walking two big dogs. One brown dog that was friendly and another black dog that was not too friendly. So Janet of course was pulling towards the dogs to meet them. As we have the dog interact, the neighborhood guy was cautious with having the black dog interact with Janet. It was all ok cause they were just sniffing each other and the big black dog was not barking or growling or showing signs of aggression. As we separate the dogs to get on our way, the big black dog just snapped and bit Janet on her left hip/thigh area. Janet of course let out a big yelp and the big black dog bite did not hold long. Janet received one bite that penetrated her skin but she seems ok. She was shaken but not limping or showing signs of pain or bleeding. When we got home, I softly washed the wound with water and this obviously stung a lot cause Janet yelped so much from the pain. Poor thing. Her suffering was eased with a big treat which she gingerly ate. If she was not in pain she would have eaten the big treat voraciously. I think she will be ok. I have had dogs before that fought and leave each other bloodied and they were able to heal. I just hope she learned something from this experience and not be too eager to meet every dog we see. I definitely have learned to be selective on who she can met or not next time.

What bored soldiers do (part 10)

2011-07-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

Transformers destroyed my kind of town Chicago.

2011-07-15T11:24:00.009-05:00

After seeing the firetruck Sentinel Prime in the Lindstrom parade, I was definitely psyched up to watch the third installment of the Transformers: Dark side of the Moon. The fact that the movie was shot mostly in Chicago just doubled my anticipation. So Sam and I head out to Wisconsin across the St. Croix river to go to the nearest movie theatre.

The movie was not wanting of excitement. More than half of the movie was action packed. It was super cool to see Chicago being devastated by the Transformers. I am amazed how good and realistic the destruction was done. It really does make a big difference if the production is for an A-movie as oppose to a B-movie. This time Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) got a new girlfriend in the person of Carly Spencer ( Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). Other former Transformer cast like Lennox (Josh Duhamel), Simmons (John Turturro), Ron Witwicky (Kevin Dunn) and Judy Witwicky (Julie White) reprised their roles. New cast came in the person of Dylan (Patrick Dempsey) as the antagonist of the movie besides the Deceptacons themselves. Frances McDormand was also casted as the tough government official Charlotte Mearing. It was also nice to hear the voice of Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime. On top of the action, there was some heart felt moments that made me choke a little. Also the way the movie took old TV footage of the first successful moon landing of Apollo 11 and weave it as part of the story was genius.

I say it was a very worthwhile movie to see even if it were just to see Chicago being destroyed. 4 stars out of 5.

Wishing is NOT a crime

2011-07-14T01:32:00.000-05:00

I can not claim that I am always the bigger person. I am not all good, sinless and devoid of evil thoughts. But does having evil thoughts the same as actually doing the evil deed? As far as I am concern, it is not. Rejoicing that your enemy died is NOT the same as killing him. Wishing that someone who has wronged you to suffer the same fate is NOT the same as exacting the revenge. It is not as if my wish will be granted. Perhaps it is just Karma if those who wronged you get to have a taste of their own medicine. So that saying that "I would not wish it on my worst enemy" is just plain stupid to me. Of course I would wish that bad fate to befall my worst enemy. He is my enemy after all. If I would not wish it on my enemy, I might as well not have any enemy which is unrealistic. Everybody has an enemy one way or another. That is just my take.

Karl Oskar Parade at Lindstrom, MN

2011-07-13T13:16:00.009-05:00

I went to Lindstrom, MN with my friend Sam for the Karl Oskar Day celebration. There was a parade that run right off the street of Richard's house so we got good view. It was not anything like the Gay Pride parade here in Chicago that it gets so packed with spectators. Everybody get to have a good view of the parade. The parade was fun enough. Several cute spectators, many local Queens/princesses, a local marching band, several veterans, star war characters, a pig and some politicians. The firetruck that was Sentinel Prime himself in the Transformer 3 movie was even there!

Israel Trip - Bet She'an

2011-07-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

Another ruins of an ancient Roman town of Bet She'an in Israel. At this point, it did not seem as spectacular as it did the first time at Caesarea. Mama did not even bother coming with us as we walked through the ruins. She was content staying by the cafeteria to wait for our return. I don't blame her. One ancient Roman ruin looks just about the same as the other.

Tribute to the paramilitary men.

2011-07-10T01:10:00.000-05:00

I thought I saw a white doggie.

2011-07-08T00:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight is one of those rare nights since I got Janet that I have the house to myself without my lil bitch. Everything seems ok with me until I thought I saw her at the corner of my eyes as I was applying my eye cream in my bathroom. She does have a habit of looking at me from the door when I do things in front of the mirror. Was it just my imagination or deja vu or does it mean I missed my bitch's presence? Before anybody start thinking that I will now baby my dog and kiss her all over and have her sleep in my bed, that will not happen. I care for my dog so I give her shelter, food and appropriate attention. The day that I will treat my dog as a human child is far far away or none existent. I am very practical and dogs are just too dirty to kiss or have sleep in my bed. She has her own comfy bed that I paid for. But despite all my firm opinion about how dogs are to be treated, it was very odd that my subconscious showed her to me. Perhaps I am starting to love that bitch like a human child. Perhaps that day that I will kiss my dog or have her sleep in my bed is not that far at all.

Blogging and me: It's my blog damn it.

2011-07-07T13:20:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in the beginning and in the heading, my blog is a record of my thoughts. Sort of like a diary. The difference is this blog is public. So when I mention something unpleasant about anybody I know, I would anonymize the names or places so as to not slander the actual person in public. But I will still write about the subject or incident that I have strong feelings about. It is sort of my way to release whatever feelings it is if I do not have the recourse to confront the issue or the desire to confront it. It is not gossip at all cause I am writing about the situation from my point of view. And I think my blogging is just the same as somebody talking about me to another person. That somebody needs a release of his/her feeling and he/she is sharing it to another person.

So when a person I know (who normally does not care enough to read my blog) confronts me about an incident I wrote in my blog (that I have taken care not to use the real names), I get pretty annoyed naturally. First that person has no right to sanction my thoughts cause I did not mention his/her name to begin with. Second, it is an non-issue because that particular unpleasant incident happened just between the two of us. So if he/she did not blab to another person about the incident, nobody would even have a clue it was him/her involved. And third, that person does not even read my blog normally so he/she would not have known about the entry if it was not alerted to her by another person. So now that the entry could be about him/her, he/she reads my blog? I did not want to confront him/her about my feelings but that does not preclude my need to have an outlet. It just happens to be my blog.

Finally, it is my blog damn it and I will write whatever I want. Read it or not read it. No apologies.

Israel Trip - Caesarea

2011-07-06T00:29:00.014-05:00

Caesarea was the first ancient Roman ruin in Israel that we visited. I was still excited and awe inspired with all the sights I saw. It was a warm day but it did not bother me much because of the different dug up structure we saw. We saw an amphitheatre, a hippodrome for chariot races, a sea port that is now under water, an ancient mouat and even a Jewish sea gull. Quite interesting.

Happy birthday America

2011-07-04T04:08:00.003-05:00

For most of us, the 4th of July is just another holiday that we don't have to work. We may associate this holiday for store sales, fireworks and BBQ with friends and family. We often disregard the fact that the 4th of July is the birthday of this great nation of ours. It was today is 1776 that we became an independent nation as oppose to just being a colony. Happy Birthday USA.

you sexy thing!

2011-07-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

Been a while since a posted something of only pure eye candy in purpose. Here is one I saw in youtube of a sexy guy lip synching to a most appropriate song.

Happily partnered In MH?

2011-07-01T11:16:00.003-05:00

Sometimes while surfing the gay hook up site Manhunt.net, I would encounter profile from guys with BF/partner. Their profile would say that they are happily partnered and that they are only looking for action/sex. In as much that I appreciate their candidness and honesty, I often wonder how happily partnered they are. For me, if they are truly happy with their relationship, why would they still be trolling Manhunt for sex from other guys? Would the sex from their BF be enough if they are truly happy with their BF? Or are they just being a sex pig/maniac that any one man is not enough? If they are not a sex maniac, then there is something wanting from their sex life with their BF that they seek to satisfy outside of the relationship. Then for me, if something is missing in the bedroom, they are not truly happy with that relationship. True happiness in a relationship means happiness in and out of the bedroom. I would rather they say in their profile that they have a BF and not flaunt that they are happy with their relationship. At least they would sound more truthful that way.

Why I don't like (hate) MaSha

2011-06-28T21:20:00.005-05:00

Some of my friends know that I do not really care for Maria Sharapova. In fact I hate her a little. It is not just that I do not like her or is indifferent to her, I detest her to a degree. In fact I would not purposely buy the products she endorses. One might ask why? What has Maria Sharapova done to deserve this loathing? Well I have 3 main reasons.

1. I can not stand the shrieking on court during her tennis matches. It is simply just annoying. And to think that she does not shriek on practice. So what is the deal with the screaming?

2. She still claims to be proud of being a Russian when considering that she has lived longer here in the USA than she has in Russia. Considering that she even sounds like a valley girl when she talks in English and she can not speak fluent Russian. Other Russian players laughs at her broken Russian. Considering that she owes her endorsements (that has made her very very rich) to American society and capitalism. So why doesn't she embrace being an American? Plenty of European immigrate to the States and adopt American citizenship. Why does she clink to her being Russian when so little of her is truly Russian. If she truly loves being Russian, why doesn't she live in Russia instead of Florida? Sounds like she is a hypocrite.

3. And lastly, I must admit I am envious of her. How can somebody who is already blessed with good looks still be good at tennis and earn millions of dollars? That is not fair! She does not need my patronage when she already has so much. hahaha I know I am being petty with my last reason but it is what is it.

Gay Pride all over

2011-06-26T11:53:00.007-05:00

Happy Gay Pride! This month, the GBLT community celebrate its pride. And most of the Pride Parade is major cities are held today. Here are some random images I got in the web showing pride parade celebration all over.

Toronto, Canada shows its pride

Pride parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Pride parade is Manila, Philippines

Pride celebration in front of the British Museum in London

Pride Parade in Tel Aviv, Israel

Los Angeles Pride Parade

Chicago Pride parade with Miss Foozie (local gay celebrity)

New York City Pride parade

Therasys got its Karma payback.

2011-06-23T18:10:00.002-05:00

I just heard from a woman that I use to work with at Therasys that the company went bankrupt 2 years ago. This was news to me cause I have cut off all ties with that company when I left them. This was indeed a good news. I thought Therasys deserved their demise as a payback for their bad practices.

4 years ago I worked for Therasys. They hired me as the clinic manager of the Northshore Wilmette PT Clinic. Then 4 months after hiring me, they decided to make me a traveling PT to cover all the different clinics they have all over the North and NorthWest suburbs. The decision to change my job description was not because of my poor performance but rather because they want to bring the relative of one of the people who work for the Northshore Medical practice in Wilmette as the clinic manager. So basically it was nepotism at work. I was so pissed off with this that after two months of commuting for more than an hour each way just to go to work at some far flung clinic, I called it quits. Plus they do not support their therapist against unreasonable Physicians who they admit themselves was just trying to flex his muscles in the practice.

So I say, good for you Therasys. You deserved it!

Ask others to take your picture

2011-06-22T21:16:00.005-05:00

One summer day at the beach has left me with a sour taste in my mouth. It started when my friend Ernie asked me to take our group picture that included him. I did not really care to take the picture and another friend volunteered to take it instead but Ernie insisted that I take the pic. As he approach to hand me the camera, it was still hooked on his wrist so that resulted to us dropping the camera on the sand as I was taking it from his hand. Sand got in the lens and the camera needed to be repaired/cleaned. On subsequent conversation with Ernie, he said that it was my fault cause I grab the camera from him hastily. From my point of view, he did not take the time to prepare the camera as often in the past before handing it to me. He was distracted as in the past. Often in the past when he asked someone (including me) to take his picture, the camera would still be close/off or the setting would still be in the preview setting. He does not prepare the camera properly for the taker of the picture so it will be ready to just point and shoot. Of course the camera was not ready again as he handed it to me this time. Hence this resulted to the camera falling on the sand. Ernie asked me to pay half of the cost to repair/clean the camera. I told him I will cause I felt it is not worth loosing a long friendship over this incident. I thought it is fair that I pay half of the repair cost cause I was involved in the dropping of the camera whether I was a willing participant or not. But this does not prevent me from feeling really very annoyed about the situation. It is a sour taste in my mouth that I know will linger. My reaction now is to just refuse altogether to take his picture using his camera but that seemed highly unrealistic if we are to remain as friends. Ugh!