nycman

It’s folliculitis. Look closely, there’s a hair growing out of the center of each lesion. That’s not Monkeypox.

Ok, I’ll bite. What’s the pathophysiology on that one? Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that "reflex sympathetic dystrophy/chronic regional pain syndrome" is a real diagnosis.

The building was home to the infamous Continual Baths…. Now you know.

Says you. I’d hire "Stanley Kowalski" in a heart beat. Huge tip for brilliant name choice alone. Extra huge tip….if he shows up wearing a sweaty wife beater T-shirt.

Beautiful men. Pity about the dreadful clothes. Ugliest prints I’ve seen in a long time. Can’t they even afford sandals for their models? Barefoot on the beach?…..cool. Barefoot on a runway?….gross. The "artist director"….assuming they had one….should be fired.

He needs the $$$ so he can get a better haircut. I call the look on the far left "The Confused Rooster". He needs better gay friends.

Yep. Why have private pics, if you’re not going to open them?

Now you’re just showing off and trying to get @Kevin Slater horned up. grin

Holy crap that article hurt my brain. My 2 second "Hooboy Journal Club" analysis: The “n" values used in these studies were incredibly small. They didn’t control for the HIV status of the subjects. Which we all know has a huge impact on antibody response to vaccination. I’m actually assuming that I must have missed that somewhere in the article, because without that information, their data is basically worthless. They make the assumption that everyone born before 1974 was vaccinated for smallpox and that every born after 1974 wasn’t. Which we know not to be true. That previously smallpox vaccinated patients have a more robust response to the monkeypox vaccine is a surprise to no one. Dog bites man. It’s not news. We have no idea what titer of neutralizing antibodies is required to make someone "immune". Furthermore, we have no idea if complete "immunity" is crucial to containing the pandemic. (spoiler alert, I don’t think it is). From their own mouths: "At this moment it is unclear what the relatively low MPXV neutralizing titers mean for protection against disease and transmissibility." At the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding. Vaccination is having a huge impact on decreasing the incidence of Monkeypox in the current outbreak. And the vast majority of Monkeypox cases in the current outbreak were born after 1974. Yes, there are other factors (e.g. change in sexual behaviors, Monkeypox may be burning it self out in the ‘slut" population, etc.) but I’m betting it’s 95% due to vaccination. I don’t find this weak study to particularly useful in the real world. (How did I do prof?)

I’m not aware of any data to suggest Paxlovid suppresses your immune system. More likely, it suppresses the virus while you are taking it. If during that time (5 days) your body hasn’t mounted a robust enough immune response, the virus will "rebound" and you can show symptoms again as well as swabbing positive again. The dreaded "swabbing positive again" is meaningless. What really matters is clinical symptoms. Since few vaccinated people are dying, it’s hard to tell the real importance of all this, but it’s most likely zero.

I think you meant to say…. There appears to be little research on whether Paxlovod is associated with decreased rates of LONG COVID. Correct? There’s pretty good data on Paxlovid decreasing the severity of acute COVID. Unfortunately, that early research was on unvaccinated patients. Now that the vast majority of patients are vaccinated, and thus unlikely to get severely ill, regardless of what you do, it’s much harder to show a benefit. In fact, Pfizer stopped enrollment in one of it’s studies because the baseline popultion wasn’t getting sick enough, and they risked showing that Paxlovid added no benefit in vaccinated patients. On long COVID? No real data and not much research being done with Paxlovid. In fact, Pfizer is doing no research at all on Paxlovid and long COVID.

Never fuck with a man who keeps graphs. grin.

I do the same thing. I get ready just like I’m going on a date. The escorts that are repeat hires do the same. They show up, on time, rested, showered, and ready to have a good time. Yes, I’m fully aware it’s not a "date-date", but who the fuck cares. If it feels the same, then it’s a date, and I treat it like one.

I’m booked!

26 years old?!?!?!?!? Baby, we’re horny….not blind.

Ok, looking at flights….which all basically suck NYC-PSP. Is flying JFK-San Diego and then driving up from San Diego to Palm Springs a horrible idea?

I’ve never once seen a La Premiere award show up…..ever. Granted I don’t follow them as closely as I do other airlines, but they only have 4 La Premiere seats on any given plane.

I agree. Any place or business that screwed me over in the pandemic has lost my business for good. I get it that it was a difficult time, but it was a difficult time for all of us. A credit for a future stay seems like a smart business compromise to me. Take my money and run? Yeah, I’ll keep running….away from you….for good.

Is there an unofficial "host" resort that is the center of the party?

Right. Right. It is the job of these men to make you feel this way. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is your job to pay the bills and not fall for it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Everything else leads to heartbreak.

It took me WAY too long to get that joke.

God I hope he’s real. Talk about a Roman holiday!

Looks like NYC is trending in the right direction as well: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/data/health-tools/monkeypox.page#surveillance Interestingly 144 of those cases identified as "straight". I would love to see more information on those patients in particular. Meanwhile, (if I’m reading the graph correctly) it looks like the rest of New York State has on had one new case reported since Aug 10th: https://health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/zoonoses/monkeypox/docs/demographic_data.pdf We’re making progress! Please sight your source. You seem to have a bad habit of making wild claims without any data to back you up. Not to mention a profound lack of both morals and ethics.

Now that the dates for the 2023 Palm Springs gathering have been announced, I wanted to start a new thread on lodging options in Palm Springs. As a disclaimer, I don’t know anything about Palm Springs, but have always wanted to attend the event. Over the years various factors, including logistics of travel from the East coast, a total lack of knowledge of the local scene, and a world wide pandemic, have all conspired to thwart my desires. I know there have been discussions before, but times and lodgings change. Not to mention I had a hard time finding the old threads. So I figured it was time for a reboot in anticipation on 2023! Personally, on the sleazy to luxurious continuum, I tend to favor the nicer options. Nonetheless, I have no desire to stay in a gorgeous but sterile resort either. Any and all suggestions, options, and opinions are welcome. I also invite you to veer wildly off topic and discuss all things Palm Springs. That is after all 95% of the fun of the internet. So feel free to discuss your favorite restaurants, pools, bars, escorts, hiking trails, etc.

Swoon. I can’t help you at all, but I’ve had a soft spot for hockey players since my early 20’s. I have a funny feeling you’ll have no problems finding what you seek.