BSR

… not to mention a dick to crack coconuts.

I doubt Melania much cares how the documentary does at the box office because she already received $28 million of the $40 million paid for the rights to the project. Total budget: $40 million for rights, $5 million production costs, $35 million marketing. Even though that adds up to $80 million, $75 million is the figure everyone is citing for total project cost. Don’t ask me. While it’s doubtful that Amazon MGM Studios will make its money back at the box office, I’m sure Jeff Bezos has great motivation to maintain a warm & fuzzy relationship with Melania’s husband, who I shan’t name because of the forum’s no politics rule.

This doesn’t merit an entire new thread, so I’ll just put it here … the Australian wild card team of Jason Kubler & Marc Polmans are in the men’s doubles final at the Australian Open. For the 3rd time in 5 years, a wild card team has a chance of winning a Slam title. Kokkinakis & Kyrgios entered as wild cards and won the title in 2022, a freak occurrence because since 1977 when Wimbledon first allowed wild cards (a player ranked too low for direct entry gets a slot in the main draw without going through qualifying) no men’s doubles team had ever won a Slam title. The only singles wild card to win a Slam was Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Given that Goran was a dangerous player, particularly on the old Wimbledon grass where serve & volley reined supreme, whose ranking had dropped due to injury, his win, while unusual, wasn’t that crazy. The same could be said for Kokks & Kyrgios, that they were far better than their rankings at the time, injuries the culprit. So maybe the Special Ks winning the 2022 doubles title wasn’t that crazy either. But then another wild card pair of Aussies, Hijikata & Kubler, won the doubles title the next year! And their rankings were low not because of injury but because, frankly, they’re not that good. Both are talented but short (for tennis players), just 5’8” and 5’10” respectively, which means weak serves (for a strong serve, you gotta be at least 6’1”). A wild card team winning a Slam doubles title should never happen. In fact, it’s never happened at any of the other Slams. The odds of 2 wild card teams doing it 2 years in a row are lotteryesque. It must be something about Aussie teams at the Australian Open that makes a little magic. If Kubler & Polmans manage to pull off a win on Saturday, my eyeballs will pop clear out of their sockets.

Although I haven’t toured much of Manila because the infernal traffic makes it so hard to get around, we took advantage of the light traffic on New Year’s Day to head over to Intramuros, the oldest part of Manila, a walled city built by the Spanish. As interesting as it sounds, the reality is dingy and disappointing. The most historic buildings in Manila are unfortunately covered by layers of grime that look like no one has ever bothered to clean and that make it hard to appreciate the history and architecture. In the underrated category, I’ll say Manila weather and Spanish restaurants. When I got here, the high hit 94 with of course sweltering humidity. When the temps stayed high for 2 more days, I thought, “Welcome to the tropics!” As it so turns out, that was a heat wave, and the weather is better than I expected. Most days the high is in the mid 80s, bearable if you stay out of the sun, and evenings are downright pleasant. Mind you, this is in cool dry season, December to February. Temperatures climb during warm dry season, March to May. It cools down during rainy season because of heavy cloud cover, but who wants to deal with all that rain? So if you ever plan a trip to the Philippines, try to come during cool dry season. Since the Spanish evacuated more than a century ago, I was convinced the Spanish restaurants here had to be tourist traps. Maybe some are, but I found two — Manduca and Terraza Martínez, both in BGC (Bonifacio Global City, a planned community east of Makati) — that are stellar. Manduca was surprisingly good, and Terraza Martínez (the pricier of the two) was so good that I’ve been 3 times in 3 weeks. While both make some accommodations for the Filipino palate, most of the menu is cocina castiza, authentic Spanish cuisine.

No, it was my lame attempt at humor, a cutesy insinuation that the handsome, fit Ryan Walker had a hidden source of income, like escorting, OnlyFans, etc. Unfunny jokes aside, I do wonder where he gets the budget for all his posh travel experiences since he claims to pay everything out of his own pocket for the sake of objectivity. Not only does he stay in ultraluxury properties, he eats several meals in each property’s different venues. The budget to do all that is astronomical, and there’s no way he’s making enough from a channel with 52.5K followers to cover those expenses.

Less selective, but because of circumstance, not any change in mentality. I used to be attracted only to men 30+ with at least some body hair (the more the better, stopping short of Sasquatch). I could no more be sexually attracted to a smooth guy than to a woman, which is zero. But good luck finding that type in Manila. Out of 300+ RentMen listings, I think the oldest working guy is 32 with the vast majority 25 or under. Fur? In Asia?? LOL, good luck with that. The first guy I hired here was 30 but with almost no body hair, just a sparse bit in his armpits, groin, and calves — the rest of him smooth as silk (no shaving, just DNA). OMG, his skin felt amazing! Before starting to rim him, I hesitated, might have even grimaced slightly, because he doesn’t have a single follicle back there and smooth bare holes kinda gross me out (makes me think the guy is prepubescent). But as soon as I got going, holy sh!t, I dove in like Jacques Cousteau. The second and third guys I hired were smooth and young, 27 and (eek!) 21. Whaddya know, I got over my age hangup just as quick. I have a date scheduled with the daddy (yes, he advertises as a daddy at the ripe old age of 32) tomorrow. He has even less body hair than the 30yo. Goody gumdrop, I can’t wait!

Both Storrie and Williams look like they enjoyed the honor of carrying the Olympic torch …

Here’s a great video on how much beavers change the landscape. Instead of a $multimillion construction project, Washingtonians decided to release some beavers into an area. The busy little guys did a far better job than humans could have done, and at a fraction the cost. In an area suffering from drought and wildfires, beavers created wetlands that replenished soil moisture and aquifers, brought back animal, bird, and fish species, and prevented flooding and soil erosion.

Interesting that he’s a latino in Madrid, yet his ad is written only in English. Since “latino” includes Brazilian, perhaps he doesn’t speak English. No way of knowing because he doesn’t list languages in his ad. I had to wonder if his ad was written with foreigners in mind.

Wow, crazy impressive, they make such difficult tricks look so easy.

Definitely! I think that’s why you can go into any shitty little bar in Madrid and get a surprisingly good cup of coffee: because Madrid’s tap water is some of the best in the world. At the other end of the spectrum, even if you buy the finest gourmet beans, your coffee will still taste horrid if you brew it with Las Vegas tap water, which is basically liquid chalk.

“misogynistic” … yikes! Whenever women get together and want it to be just women, no men, modern “enlightened” society accepts that preference without question, complaint, or criticism. But when gay men get together and want it to be just gay men, it’s misogynistic?? I think that’s way too harsh. Sometimes guys want to be around just the guys. It’s fine when women feel that way, and it’s fine when men, gay or straight, feel the same way.

Storrie and Williams have been selected as torchbearers for the 2026 Winter Olympics! Wow, it wasn’t that long ago that these two were unknown actors waiting tables to pay the bills.

I saw Dolly Parton in concert only once, at the American Royal Rodeo. It was the same year she released the album Jolene which featured two of her biggest hits, the title track and I Will Always Love You. Whereas my parents and brother were quite ho-hum about Dolly (none of us had ever heard of her), I was blown away and instantly became a superfan. I remain a Dolly die-hard to this day. She is a living legend and an American treasure. Happy birthday, Dolly!

Sorry, no skin, but Lorenzo Musetti is so handsome in this photo that I had to post.

Thanks for that. Brief as it was, the video shows how likable the two actors are. I didn’t like everything about RW&RB, but I loved the two leads.

I like your theory. Another example is polls of whether or not people vote. Respondents almost all say they vote in every election, but the vote tallies reveal a lot of people lied to the pollsters. What people claim to do and what people actually do can be a helluva gap. But with the backlash against political correctness and woke-ism, it makes sense that more respondents think to themselves, “f*ck it,” and say what they really feel. More in the realm of cold hard numbers, I wonder how much anti-LGBT violence is anti-LGB and how much is anti-trans. With trans issues and controversies more in the spotlight, I would expect anti-trans violence to rise.

I’m exactly the same. For 2+ decades I drank a quadruple espresso (hot) every single day, but now I drink some form of iced coffee. Since I’m in Manila and Starbucks is a lot cheaper here, I’ve been having a double-strength venti dark caramel Frappuccino every day. If I’m at home, I make a quad espresso, stir in some milk and sugar, then pour it over ice. I can still drink hot coffee but got addicted to my liquid dessert to start the day. And like you, I get a horrible headache if denied my morning caffeine fix.

Ryan Walker popped up in my feed as well, his reviews of the Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental Ritz in Madrid. Both hotels are super-pricey, standard rooms going for $1,100-1,400. A lot of his reviews are at high-end properties, gotta wonder how he affords them since he pays for all his stays from his own pocket. Given his good looks and fit physique, one can’t help but jump to certain conclusions …

I can understand a father who can’t bring himself to watch his son in a sex scene, even a straight sex scene. Men of a certain age grew up never even discussing sex, much less watching it on streaming with his son as the star. But come on, Dad, you can just fast-forward past the sex and watch your son in his first big success, one that will likely launch his career from obscurity to stardom. I don’t have a son, but if I did and he rocketed to success like Storrie has, I’d watch Heated Rivals the nanosecond it hit HBO, then watch it again and again out of pride for what my kid achieved.

One of the greatest designers ever, Valentino was a legend. The fashion world has lost two Italian giants recently, Giorgio Armani last September and now Valentino. The two, each in his own way, built fashion empires before there was such a thing as a “fashion empire.” I have tremendous admiration for both. R.I.P.

How I wish Sumit Nagal would supplement his income (current rank #281, he ain’t making much) by launching an OnlyFans … Sumit Nagal (@nagalsumit) • Instagram photo WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 1,553 likes, 23 comments - nagalsumit on January 18, 2026: "2016 ❌ 2026 ✅".

Yes, Luigi is innocent until proven guilty. If (when? ‘cuz it looks open & shut) he is found guilty, my take is this: what kind of society would we have if everyone with a beef, no matter how righteous and just, decided to solve the problem by murdering someone?

After my second hire this stay left a while ago, I had a mini-panic attack. Lemme ‘splain … Filipinos are the gossipiest people on the face of the earth. Even straight men who should (in other countries) be talking about sports, chicks, cars — here they’re a bunch of washwomen obsessed with wringing every last detail from every tidbit of gossip. I’m living in my mom’s apartment while she’s in the hospital going through chemo. I’m with her during the day, but in the evening when the pain meds kick in, she’s out for the night, and I go home. Well, a man’s got needs … I realized the two Gladys Kravitz security guards downstairs are all too aware of the comings and goings of the fit young lads who have been visiting me. Crapfest! they’re about as discreet as a neon sign, and by tomorrow morning all of Metro Manila will know. And of course, word will make its way to Mom, who will ask who my “visitors” were. She knows I don’t know anybody in Manila. What do I tell her? They were Mormons??