s1conrad

I have an affection for Brit-films, so I loved 'Maurice' and 'My Beautiful Launderette' when they came out.
Another amazing homo-erotic film is Derek Jarman's 1976 'Sebastiane' - beautifully shot and amazing men; groundbreaking at the time, it was the first non-porn film to feature an actor with an erection.
Though it's not a gay film, Ken Russell's 'Women in Love' has the famous nude wrestling scene with Alan Bates & Oliver Reed = an erotic dream cum true:}
 
Not for the faint-of-heart: 'The Killing of Sister George' is a biting, caustic satire--with a terrific performance by Beryl Reid.
 
More recent flick: The Trip (2002) tells a funny + heartbreaking story, with two very *hot* leads: Steve Braun & Larry Sullivan (+ a hysterical cameo by Jill St. John).

I saw this film last week and it stayed with me for several days. I was riveted by the raw, intense performances of the two male leads, and how their relationship slowly developed. The hardscrabble Yorkshire setting has echoes of 'Brokeback', but it's a much grittier film. The scene, half-way through the film, when the emotionally aloof Johnny shares a passionate kiss with Gheorge (the sensitive, beautiful Romanian immigrant) is a satisfying moment--it makes you almost fall in love with the characters. But the film is not big on sentiment--though it has its moments: when Johnny's disabled father gives his approval their relationship, and a brief scene where the two men impulsively climb a hilltop and view stunning sunset. It's probably one of the best films I saw this past year.

I saw this film last week and it stayed with me for several days. I was riveted by the raw, intense performances of the two male leads, and how their relationship slowly developed. The hardscrabble Yorkshire setting has echoes of 'Brokeback', but it's a much grittier film. The scene, half-way through the film, when the emotionally aloof Johnny shares a passionate kiss with Gheorge (the sensitive, beautiful Romanian immigrant) is a satisfying moment--it makes you almost fall in love with the characters. But the film is not big on sentiment--though it has its moments: when Johnny's disabled father gives his approval their relationship, and a brief scene where the two men impulsively climb a hilltop and view stunning sunset. It's probably one of the best films I saw this past year.

A few years back, I stayed at The Worthington Resort, located about 3 blocks from Lauderdale Beach. It was reasonable, with a sort of 50's retro motif. I recall there were 2 pools, which were clothing optional. The overall vibe was pretty good--friendly people; I wouldn't consider it upscale. You're not too far from Las Olas Blvd, which has lots of shops and restaurants. I didn't do any clubbing while I was in FtL. However I did spend a sunny Sunday afternoon at Club Fort Lauderdale--a very nice + clean gay bathhouse with an awesome outdoor pool. The Club has well-equipped gym and a steamy shower area + a very hot (temperature-wise) steamroom. There are lots of cubicles and play areas inside the club, but I like the outside aspect to lay out in the sun & flirt with guys.
 
https://theworthington.com/
https://www.clubftl.com/
 
Since you're gonna be in South Florida, you really should check out Miami Beach. South Beach is good for eye candy; Lincoln Road is a great place to sit back and watch the calientos saunter by. But by far, my fave place is Haulover Beach--one of the largest nude beaches in the US. On weekends it can be packed. It's mixed, but you can definitely feel the gay vibe:}} It's worth the trip down from FtL.
 
Have fun & don't forget the sunblock!

A few years back, I stayed at The Worthington Resort, located about 3 blocks from Lauderdale Beach. It was reasonable, with a sort of 50's retro motif. I recall there were 2 pools, which were clothing optional. The overall vibe was pretty good--friendly people; I wouldn't consider it upscale. You're not too far from Las Olas Blvd, which has lots of shops and restaurants. I didn't do any clubbing while I was in FtL. However I did spend a sunny Sunday afternoon at Club Fort Lauderdale--a very nice + clean gay bathhouse with an awesome outdoor pool. The Club has well-equipped gym and a steamy shower area + a very hot (temperature-wise) steamroom. There are lots of cubicles and play areas inside the club, but I like the outside aspect to lay out in the sun & flirt with guys.
 
https://theworthington.com/
https://www.clubftl.com/
 
Since you're gonna be in South Florida, you really should check out Miami Beach. South Beach is good for eye candy; Lincoln Road is a great place to sit back and watch the calientos saunter by. But by far, my fave place is Haulover Beach--one of the largest nude beaches in the US. On weekends it can be packed. It's mixed, but you can definitely feel the gay vibe:}} It's worth the trip down from FtL.
 
Have fun & don't forget the sunblock!

In the late 70's Blueboy Magazine had a cover model John who was off-the-charts gorgeous. He looked a little like TV actor Grant Goodeve with a dash of John Travolta. I recall he was interviewed by The Advocate in the early-1980's and stated that he regretted doing nude modeling and that he had moved on & was planning to get married :{.
I don't know whatever happened to him---but back in the day, he was a STUNNER!
 
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8rNBIEnroNs/VOvNpdGAe_I/AAAAAAAA99E/N64IjZlKojQ/s1600/john%2B1977.jpg

In the late 70's Blueboy Magazine had a cover model John who was off-the-charts gorgeous. He looked a little like TV actor Grant Goodeve with a dash of John Travolta. I recall he was interviewed by The Advocate in the early-1980's and stated that he regretted doing nude modeling and that he had moved on & was planning to get married :{.
I don't know whatever happened to him---but back in the day, he was a STUNNER!
 
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8rNBIEnroNs/VOvNpdGAe_I/AAAAAAAA99E/N64IjZlKojQ/s1600/john%2B1977.jpg

I hope it works right out of the box. I looked up a recipe for an Italian Rosemary Loaf which I hope to try.
 
Wish me luck on the machine actually working, and if it does, on the recipe. Expect pictures and a description of the ? if things work out.
 
Gman

Agree 100%. LA requires it. I suspect the rest of California will follow suit soon too. Czech Republic was the first in Europe to do this and they are the first to slowly re-open things. Of course, they are blessed with the genetic gene pool of the porn gods. Even if they all had paper bags over their heads, their whole country on average would still look better than almost anyone else's naked.

The first cases were in China. The first cases on the west coast were connected to people who had been in Wuhan. I think most Americans do think spatially, and the east coast is still a long way from the west coast, so folks in New York and DC thought about the flow of disease as a trans-Pacific problem. The first tests of the strains of the virus now seem to show that the initial infections in New York/New Jersey were brought across the Atlantic from Europe, not directly from China. The first US bans were on flights from China (most of which land in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle). It took a lot longer for the US to start banning flights from Europe, even though the disease was already established there. That probably explains part of the reason why New York, rather than Los Angeles as people might have expected, exploded into the major hotspot in the US.
 
The reason why there are so many cases in group housing for the elderly, like nursing homes and assisted living, is that most of the staff in such facilities are very poorly paid; they come to work when they are sick because they don't get paid sick leave, and they often work extra shifts in more than one facility, because it is the only way they can make ends meet. The same is true for in-home caregivers, who are frequently untrained and don't have the same kind of supervision as someone in a managed care facility. My house cleaner, who is self-employed, has also done gigs as an in-home care-giver for sick and elderly people, even though she has no training for it, and will probably do so again now that she is losing many of her house-cleaning jobs. I have given her a paid holiday for the duration, because I know she needs the income, but I don't want her possibly bringing the virus into my home.

While this is not grocery shopping related, I hope this puts into perspective the limits to the number of people in a store at one time, out of stock pasta, and the horrors of using bottled lemon juice.
 
My colleague's 34 year old daughter is an IT worker in Seattle. She also tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing flu-like symptoms. She is quarantined at home with not only her fiance and her compromised immune system (not sure of the exact condition) but pneumonia, fever, and non-stop coughing. Due to a lack of available hospital beds and her condition not being classified as "critical" she can't be admitted to a hospital. My colleague lives in San Diego and is beside herself with worry, dread, sadness, and fear. All the while she is cheerfully doing her part to keep our bank open and running for our clients.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3TLrF-C0vZM/WSkJ6wejn0I/AAAAAAAAg3o/u9_2KqmX-PIn8njHFEz1U2o1O9cRxettgCLcB/s640/475482.jpg

though the coronavirus is not classic influenza, a look at the story of the mis-named "Spanish" Influenza pandemic of 1918 is fascinating.....for those with access to the full episodes from PBS, the American Experience 's 1999 production of Influenza 1918 is excellent......here's a ten-minute "preview" of it which I previously posted, now buried, in a thread in the depths of Politics.....
 
I had a little bird, its name was Enza, I opened the window and in flew Enza
 

@stevenkesslar Thanks for summarizing a lot of this data that is coming from different sources and for the links you provide. Much grateful...!

So here's a piece of good news to savor while you are sheltering at home.
 
We are all escorts now. Every one of you gets to think just like the best escorts in the United States do. Congratulations!
 
I'm posting this partly in response to two things: the thread on whether escorts websites should voluntarily shut down, and the announcement of the cancellation of the Palm Springs pool party.
 
I don't want to weigh in directly on whether escort websites should voluntarily shut down. Other than to say that the question pretty much answers itself. I think we all know what the word voluntary means. It's a decision to be made by the people who run those websites.
 
The analogy of the restaurant on that thread was a good one. There are two decisions being made: one by the restaurant owner, and one by the customer. If customers don't come, restaurants won't stay open. That is what is happening to restaurants, cinemas, and escorts right now.
 
The AIDS analogy was a good one, too. @Benjamin_Nicholas didn't say it quite this way. But we didn't decide to permanently ban sex. In fact, even the hint of a suggestion that the problem was Gay sex caused a huge and very understandable negative reaction. It's very understandable that there would be a similar reaction when we're being told that going to a bar or going to a beach somehow causes a problem.
 
What we did do to contain AIDS is temporarily close bath houses, which later were safely reopened. We did massive public education about the need to change individual behavior until treatments or cures were found. That alone was arguably the single most important and effective thing to do. It probably saved millions of lives globally.
 
The key messages on AIDS are ones we all know. Use a rubber. Don't share needles. The fact that we all know these messages, and most of us practice them, is why they have been so successful. And why you are reading this, rather than in a grave. We can thank the scientists who figured it all out for that.
 
Having a sort of vaccine for AIDS also has changed the game. But that took a long time to develop. Hopefully it will take much less time to develop a vaccine for this virus. Until then, a lot of this comes down to individual responsibility. It's important to understand what keeps us safe, and observe those rules.
 
For that reason, we are all escorts now. For 18 years or so I lived with the knowledge that the next client I met could infect me with something nasty I didn't want to have, or share with others. Having sex with the wrong person in the wrong way could have killed me. COVID-19 means we are all escorts now. Thinking smart about this and acting responsibly as individuals is what is going to keep us alive. Any escort worth his reputation can tell you that.
 
Morals and money aligned perfectly. Even if I had no scruples about being sick and getting people sick, it was just not a very good business plan. The same applies to restaurants. Before this crisis, restaurants that had outbreaks of salmonella paid for their mistakes dearly, both in their reputation and their bottom line.
 
We're all now in the same situation. Forget about a kiss. The best knowledge on this virus is all it takes to infect someone you care about is to have dinner together.
 
There's another part of the escort ethic that applies. It basically just sucks. But it is particularly important right now, since we are not up to speed on testing and tracing yet. I hated having to call clients to say I had gonorrhea or scabies, and I might have infected them. But I did. And I also got a few calls from public health departments telling me that somebody unnamed had had sex with me and I should come get a test. That will be part of our future, if we want to beat this thing. Until the tracing protocols are set up, I know my plan. I plan to stay negative to COVID-19. And if I do turn positive, I'll tell anyone I think I likely exposed.
 
To be honest, I had a morally relative view of that. There were people I definitely called, because I'd had sex with them very recently. I knew that as much as it's a shitty call to get, they would hopefully end up appreciating the warning. The client that I met only once, and a week before I knew I had the clap, didn't get a call. I figured it was very unlikely I infected him. Maybe I rationalized, but I figured the cost of having him worry and have to get a shot he probably didn't need wasn't worth it. Once tracing protocols are set up, there will be clear recommended guidelines for this with COVID-19. Health professionals will follow them. For the time being, anyone unfortunate enough to be infected can choose whether to follow them voluntarily and inform the people you were close to.
 
So all the lessons we learned from AIDS, and all the best practices of the best escorts, apply to this situation. Getting out of this situation as quickly as possible, and as healthy as possible, depends on one thing more than any other: individuals making responsible decisions based on really good information. That's one very good reason why a website like this one is particularly important right now, actually. The bureaucratic jargon is "harm prevention". Escorts know a lot about living - and living well - in a "harm prevention" community.
 
That said, I think we now all realize that we need massive and pro-active government leadership. Back in the scariest days of AIDS it was government organizations like the CDC, or local health departments, that were hammering the public about the need to use rubbers, and not share needles. Right now we are being instructed by the same organizations, and in some cases the same leaders. We are being told to shelter at home, or not have gatherings of 10 or more, depending on where we live.
 
Dr. Fauci, who is my personal AIDS hero, has been very clear pretty much since this started that we all need to hunker down. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can unhunker, and focus on humping again.
 
These are the same people who told us to use rubbers and not share needles. They kept me alive as an escort. I'm counting on them to do it again.
 
Not to sound scary, but reports coming in from Italy suggest that a lot of people in their 30's are ending up in ICU units. Worse, they are getting the respirators that 70 year olds need as a matter of life and death. This virus could come in waves and mutate, just like the Spanish flu did. So it's not 100 % clear that the virus in Italy is exactly the same as the one that has been contained in China. Or that this is mostly a serious personal health risk for 70 year olds, but not 30 year olds.
 
For that reason, I applaud @Oliver's decision. I was observing the discussion happening there without commenting, since I didn't feel like it was any of my business. It is actually probably a good model for decision making. This is a once in a century crisis, hopefully. And it changes by the day. In the midst of that, informed and responsible people can mostly be counted on to make informed and responsible decisions, I think.
 
And speaking of Italy. They are proving that they are all escorts now, too. Buona salute, amico mio!
 

I'm posting this mainly because of the last paragraph.
 
Italy’s death toll soars to 3,405, surpassing China’s.
 
Italy, which has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the world since the coronavirus first began to spread, passed a grim milestone on Thursday: it announced that deaths from the virus had soared to 3,405, outstripping the toll in China, where the virus first hit.
 
With the crisis mounting, Italy is increasingly turning to its military for help.
 
Cemeteries in the northern city of Bergamo are so overwhelmed that the army was called in to transport bodies elsewhere to be cremated, and the army sent 120 doctors and health professionals to help in Bergamo and nearby Lodi, two cities in the Lombardy region, while field hospitals and emergency respiratory units are being set up elsewhere in the north.
 
The spread of the virus in Italy has been swift, and terrifying, even after the country became the first in Europe to impose strict limits on people’s movements to try to curb the outbreak. As the death toll grew, traditional funeral services were outlawed as part of the national restrictions against gatherings.
 
The country tallied 902 deaths in the last two days alone: 475 Wednesday and 427 on Thursday. Most of those who died had serious pre-existing conditions, officials said. Italy now has 41,035 cases.
 
The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, said in an interview in Corriere della Sera Thursday that he expected the government’s restrictive measures to limit movement would be extended past the current April 3 deadline.
 
“The restrictive measures are working, and it’s obvious that when we reach a peak and the contagion begins to descend, at least in percentages, hopefully in a few days, we won’t immediately be able to return to our regular lives,” he said.
 
In the face of relentlessly bad news, Italians have risen to meet the crisis — the worst the country has faced since World War II — with fortitude, and creative attempts to keep their spirits up. Some housebound Italians, trying to follow social distancing rules in a famously social country, began serenading one another from their balconies in the evenings. And many began taking to their balconies to applaud the doctors and medical workers risking their own lives on the front lines, a show of communal gratitude later emulated by Spain and other countries.
 

 

 
 
It's a good time to be scared, but it's also a good time to be grateful. Mostly, it's a good time to be prepared.
 
Another way to think about this is we are soldiers now.
 
There is a group of Americans for whom these kinds of restrictions on liberty are typical: the military. And we are at war. Military medical ships have been dispatched to New York and California. As that article says, there is every reason to think that military-style field hospitals may need to be set up in hot spots.
 
It's now incredibly clear that the ethic that is the best for a situation like this is the ethic of the military: "one for all and all for one".
 
Some version of that was true all over China. In Wuhan, the medical system was completely overwhelmed. They had to bring in thousands of doctors and nurses from other parts of the country and building emergency hospitals overnight.
 
In the rest of China, very few people died. There are provinces in China that are larger than any state in the United States where the death rate was literally zero. They had maybe 500 to 1000 cases. But because the hospitals were not completely overwhelmed, like they are in Italy right now, everybody who did need life saving hospital care was able to get it. To the point that you could argue, "Why the overreaction? Why the fuss?"
 
What's clear is that the reason so few people died and they can now start getting back to normal is that there was a sort of enforced, but temporary, military discipline. Probably more important is that there was a deep cultural belief that we are all in this together. "One for all and all for one." Had they not done that, it's also clear that every province in China would have been as bad as Wuhan, or worse.
 
What the Italian Prime Minister said is now sinking in everywhere, I'd guess. We won't be able to immediately get back to our regular lives. The fact that we can look forward to doing that gradually is something to be grateful for.

A older friend died earlier this week, his wife just cancelled the funeral.

The difference between this new coronavirus and the annual flu is that the percentage of people infected who need immediate hospitalization and even ICU is much, much higher. Italy had just a couple of hundred cases two weeks ago, and now the entire Lombardy region's healthcare system has collapsed. Patients are being left in hallways or outright turned away because hospitals are beyond capacity. Doctors & nurses are working around the clock until they drop, sometimes literally.
 
No, coronavirus is not an automatic death sentence. That kind of hysteria is not helpful. But it's not the annual flu either. It's more serious than that, and I fear our hospital system will soon be overwhelmed.

Italy has reported 10,000 cases and about 600 deaths. That's a 6% mortality rate.

It's a false dilemma. Seasonal flu spreads everywhere, this virus hasn't done so [yet]. So the exposure of the whole country to it isn't the same as that of seasonal flu. Also, the flu is mitigated by vaccine and this virus is not, so there is no 'immunity' that will reduce its effect, and hence there is a greater fear factor. The lack of any base-level immunity also means that local coronavirus effects will not be constrained in the way that local effects of influenza would be.
 
We don't yet know what the mortality will be from this virus. It may be less than that of seasonal influenza, but it's too early to say so. It's dangerous, and in Italy the percentage of deaths has been high, In the US, testing is next to non-existent so we don't know the percentage of infections that result in serious disease, or if people have died without being diagnosed with the disease. It may end up being a nothing-burger but it's far too early to say that it is.

A few years back, I stayed at The Worthington Resort, located about 3 blocks from Lauderdale Beach. It was reasonable, with a sort of 50's retro motif. I recall there were 2 pools, which were clothing optional. The overall vibe was pretty good--friendly people; I wouldn't consider it upscale. You're not too far from Las Olas Blvd, which has lots of shops and restaurants. I didn't do any clubbing while I was in FtL. However I did spend a sunny Sunday afternoon at Club Fort Lauderdale--a very nice + clean gay bathhouse with an awesome outdoor pool. The Club has well-equipped gym and a steamy shower area + a very hot (temperature-wise) steamroom. There are lots of cubicles and play areas inside the club, but I like the outside aspect to lay out in the sun & flirt with guys.
 
https://theworthington.com/
https://www.clubftl.com/
 
Since you're gonna be in South Florida, you really should check out Miami Beach. South Beach is good for eye candy; Lincoln Road is a great place to sit back and watch the calientos saunter by. But by far, my fave place is Haulover Beach--one of the largest nude beaches in the US. On weekends it can be packed. It's mixed, but you can definitely feel the gay vibe:}} It's worth the trip down from FtL.
 
Have fun & don't forget the sunblock!