RealAvalon

2 hours ago, Rod Hagen said:

My favourite kind of guy, a fucking intellectual 

On 7/24/2022 at 5:54 AM, Whitman said:

that's a good haircut for him 

45 minutes ago, Whitman said:

He's old enough to shave now

7 hours ago, samhexum said:

Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 tearjerker novel “The Kite Runner” has no shortage of terrible traumas: deaths, beatings, a rape, the disastrous takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban. To say the very least, it’s a lot.

All that immense pain could prove overwhelming for the reader, yet the author’s gift for writing sumptuous imagery and tender, nuanced relationships softens the blow. It became a book-club staple for years.

Onstage, of course, we don’t have hundreds of pages to let the ambitious tale breathe. We’ve got 2½ hours. So the sheer number of tragedies makes “The Kite Runner” an especially tough story to adapt without turning it into a soap opera — an emotional shellacking.

That treacherous trap, however, is shrewdly avoided on Broadway, where a moving stage adaptation of the book opened Thursday night, because of the actors’ radiating warmth and the production’s generosity of spirit.

It’s a straightforward, to-the-point play, but one that’s easy to embrace and gripping as it unfurls.

We first meet Amir as a boy in Kabul, Afghanistan. He’s portrayed both as a child and, later, a grown-up by adult actor Amir Arison Agent Mojtabai from THE BLACKLIST , an empathetic performer who doesn’t mug or overplay youthful traits the way so many actors do.

Amir’s family are wealthy Pashtuns, while his best friend and in-house servant, Hassan (Eric Sirakian), is a Hazara — an Afghan race that faces extreme discrimination at home. Bullies, including a jackass named Assef (Amir Malaklou), mock and threaten them both for being against-the-grain pals.

Hassan’s father Ali (Evan Zes) has served the family and Amir’s dad (Faran Tahir), who he calls Baba, for 40 years. They consider Hassan and Ali family, but the class divide is always hovering over every interaction.

The social stigmas, not to mention the macho culture around them, take a devastating toll on the friendship. All the while, the Taliban’s brutal incursion shatters their country.

Act 2 is set mostly in the United States, and we learn what’s become of both boys — and their bond we root hard for.

Giles Croft stages the drama speedily and without fuss on Barney George’s spare, half-pipe-style set. He’s not a showy director, and scenes are presented simply with minimal furniture and no pretentious tricks. Unencumbered, the actors are free to do their thing.

Sirakian is a big talent, who at first gives us a Hassan who is so doting and sweet, and later on in another role, a tortured, trembling, distraught young man. Our concern for Hassan’s well-being — made greater by this actor’s commendable Broadway debut — is in large part what makes the show work.

He’s part of a uniformly strong cast. Tahir and Zes are both affecting as proud men who, for different reasons, find themselves torn down and emasculated.

Hosseini’s story, spanning three decades and two continents, is plot heavy, and so to shove it all in, playwright Matthew Spangler has Amir narrate the tale while a drummer sits downstage punctuating the speech. All that exposition, while necessary to arrive at our destination, can feel like we’re packing one suitcase for a five-month vacation.

Still, as far as literary stage adaptations go — a touch-and-go genre if there ever was one — “The Kite Runner” is enormously satisfying and soulful.

https://nypost.com/2022/07/21/the-kite-runner-broadway-review-a-gripping-stage-adaptation/

 

 

 

I read the Kite Runner years ago.  That tragic scene in the alley still effects me.  And the later confrontation with the one eyed bully.  Great writing

4 hours ago, cany10011 said:

Wonder if he's "available"

He seems very pleased with himself 

2 hours ago, Whitman said:

He really wanted waffles ;( 

On 7/13/2022 at 10:16 PM, TheBx said:

Don't over think it.  Jerk off 

Did you see the full length coat made out of salmon skin? 

6 hours ago, Redwine56 said:

A beautiful most inviting smile.  He's ready for some play time.  😜

I think he already is playing 

6 hours ago, Redwine56 said:

I've heard that he prefers you @ RealAvalon for breakfast!  😜

My waffles bring all the boys to the yard 

(by "boys" I mean men of course) 

4 hours ago, Rudynate said:

The other day I had an interaction with a provider on a hookup site that ended up with him going away mad.   This guy has a profile on a hookup site that I frequent and he sent me a DM saying he would like to meet me.  His profile is very ambiguous - he talks about his years of experience as a pro, but then goes on at length about the kind of experience he's looking for, the kind of guys he's looking to meet, etc.  so that he sort of conveys the impression that he's on that site as a civilian.    I wanted some clarity so I said to him "I had the impression that you are a sex worker."   His response was indirect - something to the effect that I shouldn't even have to ask that question.  I pressed a little harder with "You have an active profile on Rentmen."  His response then was that I appeared to have a prejudice against his kind.   And that's the way we left it. 

A little later, I decided I should try to make nice, so I went back on and posted an apology - saying that I had been an asshole and I was sorry.  He thanked me for  the apology and said the whole interaction had been "disappointing."

Was I being an asshole or was it reasonable to expect some clarity from him?

If he's that thin skinned I expect he's in the wrong business.  He was looking for business on Grindr or Scruff (or whatever) and wasn't being direct about it.  You being put in the position of having to ferret out clarity from him, that's hardly being an "asshole".   Sounds more like a bit of self-respect on your part. 

44 minutes ago, Whitman said:

Did you say waffles?  

I wonder what he thought of his role in Godfather, career defining early one.

(I've been waiting for someone to mention his big dick.)  

35 minutes ago, Epigonos said:

Interesting comment Charlie. You are probably speaking for me as well. I have a Traders Joe's directly across the street from me. I have never been a big fan of Traders Joe's as are many of my friends and neighbors. They simply do not carry most of the items I normally purchase. I'm not a big fan of prepackaged meats and I can find vegetables as good as theirs cheaper at other markets. I do like their cheese selection.  I do use Smart & Final because it is even closer to me that Trader Joe's and I like their vegetables, however, I don't care for the meat. I generally buy meat at Stater Bros. when it is on sale. I also do a considerable amount of shopping at my very local Costco. I keep my pantry stocked with Costco items. I entertain a great deal. I have people over for dinner at least once or twice a week thus food is a major expenditure for me and I know prices and where to get the best value for my money.

The friends of mine who work at COSTCO find the it's a good employer.  (Can I refer to COSTCO as "it" when corporations are people?)  

On 6/24/2022 at 2:17 PM, marylander1940 said:

No need to point, we noticed 

On 5/26/2021 at 12:17 PM, jjkrkwood said:

Cushions that go with everything 

On 5/12/2021 at 4:17 PM, purplekow said:

Most of the usual treatments have been suggested here. In my patient's I have given the steroid injection with a local anesthetic. If that fails, a second try is worthwhile. At that point, you want to make sure you do not have a torn plantar fascia or occasionally Achilles tendinitis may be mistaken for Plantar Fasciitis and treatment of that will relieve the pain you are having. I assume you are having the typical, intense pain when you first stand after resting and then as you walk, you note less pain. If this is the case, the pain is coming from the initial stretch of the planter fascia to stablize the arch and each step stretches it less and less as the arch is more and more stable, If this is what you are experiencing, try the stretching first thing in the morning and before each time you stand. You can get a band or use a belt to wrap around the foot and then pull up the foot by using the belt or band as you would us reins to stop a runaway horse. 30 to 60 seconds of this will make the acute pain more bearable.

If your foot hurts all the time, you may have a torn plantar fascia and that may require surgery. A CT or MRI of the foot will help make that diagnosis and a podiastrist or orthopedist can do the surgery. There are a variety of surgical options, the easiest is shock wave therapy, there is also a more complex surgery which removes the plantar fascia from the calcaneus (heel Bone, which we all know is connected to the leg bone.).

Unrelated, but I couldn't find the original post:  are you still walking?  how is it going?  

On 7/13/2021 at 9:23 AM, BenjaminNicholas said:

It's a brilliant character study.  It's a book I've read a few times.

Do make sure to visit Mercer House when you're in SAV.  It's fun to connect the dots of 'the book' when you're in that city.

When you say "It's fun to connect the dots" I think freckles.  Funny that 

9 hours ago, Whitman said:

https://cdn.gayboystube.com/galleries/4948762c4deb116c99/62c4deec9a7c5.webp

He's going to be trouble when he starts to drive 

56 minutes ago, EZEtoGRU said:

BTW the British pound has also lost a lot of value recently which makes the UK cheaper for Americans.

Its been falling since Brexit fiasco. I wonder if that's curtailed some British tourism and opened up vacancies ? 

1 hour ago, Stormy said:

No I’m not closeted.  Most people I meet for the first time assume I’m straight. 

We live in a homophobic society, everyone is assumed to be straight 

2 hours ago, Stormy said:

I’ve been accused of being straight acting and appearing. 

What does that mean?  Closeted? 

5 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

Sad isn't it ? I live in NYC in the heart of Greenwich Village. The outrageous costuming and ridiculous behavior I witnessed this weekend at the "Gay Pride Parade" was really nothing to be "Proud" of.  Why do so many gay men willingly turn themselves into a joke ? Would be nice if gay men and women would just feeling comfortable being people instead of cartoon characters, built from the worst of what straight people think about them.

That's what 'carnival' is all about, whether its gay or non-gay. Taking on other identities for a moment  

13 hours ago, Whitman said:

I think he mowed his lawn 

1 hour ago, StLouisOct said:

There’s nothin sunkin’ in that photo, that’s for sure.

I bet we could go on and on and on about the snap