stevenkesslar

I think you're actually making my point, @Charlie. What was interesting about that one report I cited is there was a massive amount of drug paraphernalia around, all of which probably had something to do with illegal drug use. That's not homicide, but presumably it is a crime. They could have gone after him for that. And especially after the second incidence, I would think that a jury might actually produce a guilty verdict. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know the fine points. But if you invite someone into your house to do something illegal, and they die, and then you do the same thing again, and they die again, it sounds like you could make a case that Buck might have had something to do with the fact that people ended up dying. The part that would be hardest to prove was intent. But it would be like drunk driving. You didn't intend to plow into a child when you drove drunk. You just did it. The child is still dead. And you are still guilty of a crime, I think. This is worse. With alcohol it's legal, up to a point. With the drugs used here, there is no pretense of legality. You are injecting illegal drugs into someone's body, and that results in their death. You are right that it would come down to proving the connection. Again, I'm not a lawyer. But it's not clear to me in a situation like this you would need to have witnesses who actually saw Buck injecting drugs he bought into someone's body, any more than you'd have to have witnesses that actually saw the drunk driver's car actually plow down the dead child. I can see why Blacks would be pissed off, if the standard of comparison is that Blacks are stopped and frisked and end up in jail for minor drug offenses, like possession.

Somebody needs to come up with a catchy slogan that millions of people can put on their cars as bumper stickers. My favorite so far is, "Believe ............. but verify." Or I'd settle for this: "Investigate, investigate, investigate." That's what the protesters outside Buck's house were calling for. We now have a whole bunch of examples of variations on a theme. Jussie Smollett and Justin Fairfax belong here, too. In all these cases, you have things that sound like horrible crimes on the face of it. But you have denials. And you also have victims or witnesses who are easy to stereotype as "less than credible". A Black Gay former porn star. A woman who had restraining orders placed against her. A Nigerian drug dealer. And it is a bit weird. You've got a guy who won't go to Buck's house, because he doesn't want to end up dead. And then he goes anyway, and ends up dead from a drug overdose? The cops did open a homicide case. Presumably, they did an autopsy and determined what drugs were in the guys body, right? The other thing that doesn't quite make sense is that all the drug use and drug paraphernalia would seem to at least suggest a drug bust would be possible. A coroner’s report confirmed that at the time of Moore’s death, Buck’s apartment was littered with drug paraphernalia including 24 syringes with brown residue, five glass pipes with white residue and burn marks, a plastic straw with possible white residue, clear plastic bags with white powdery residue and a clear plastic bag with a “piece of crystal-like substance.” At the close of business Thursday, July 26, the L.A. District Attorney’s Office had rejected criminal charges against Ed Buck in the meth overdose death of 26-year-old Gemmel Moore, citing insufficient evidence. https://www.jasmyneacannick.com/new-video-and-receipts-show-white-democratic-donor-continued-to-lure-young-black-gay-men-with-money-and-meth-while-under-investigation-for-homicide/ Yesterday there were articles about the lawyers for the two alleged sexual assault or rape victims of Lieutenant Governor Fairfax protesting that the Virginia Legislature will adjourn today without setting up a special counsel probe into the sexual assault allegations. The Virginia House Democratic Caucus said this week that law enforcement should handle it. Every case is obviously unique. And we just learned from Jussie Smollett that it takes a lot of resources to investigate allegations. But we also learned that investigations actually often leads to results. I hope what comes out of this is an all purpose standard that can expressed in a bumper sticker. In Virginia in particular, it sounds like Democrats are asking for trouble this Fall. They seem to be ignoring calls for an investigation. At least in Buck's case, there was an investigation. If you go to somebody's house and voluntarily shoot up drugs, I'm not sure what the legal basis is for a homicide charge.

Well, since you already got your daily whipping and caning, can I do the spanking? HAPPY BIRTHDAY WHIPPED GUY

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ifbealestreetcouldtalk.htm Beale Street $13 million as of Feb 3 2019 https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=moonlight2016.htm Moonlight $28 million https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=greenbook.htm Green Book $56 million as of Feb 3 2019 https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hiddenfigures.htm Hidden Figures $170 million https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel2017b.htm Black Panther $700 million The numbers tell the story. I am pretty sure all 5 films would be viewed as successful, both from an artistic perspective and in terms of making more than they cost to produce and market. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight and Beale Street) is definitely the edgiest Black Gay boy in the room. No surprise that he is making films for a more limited audience. Most people just want to be entertained., probably. Part of the question is whether Hollywood should be about making art films that reflect and attempt to change the culture, or should be about entertainment, with maybe some underlying cultural messages. Like I said, "Racism 4 Dummies." The good news now, from my perspective, is "all of the above." The very fact that this kind of debate is happening about these types of films is good news.

'Green Book' Is A Poorly Titled White Savior Film I keep circling back to Lip's racism because it baffles me that in 2018 Hollywood is still in the business of not only humanizing racists but letting racists like Lip tell stories about Black people. Because Green Book is not just about Dr. Shirley through Lip's eyes. It's also about the everyday, non-prodigy Black people that Lip and Dr. Shirley encounter on their journey. https://shadowandact.com/green-book-film-review-white-savior/ Brooke Obie Speaks With Colman Domingo On The Beautiful Blackness of ‘Beale Street’ There is no other movie like Barry Jenkins’ genius If Beale Street Could Talk. This faithful film adaptation of James Baldwin’s iconic novel of the same name portrays the beauty of Blackness in all of its glory. In Barry’s Beale Street, Blackness means more than just oppression; Blackness is love, a glow that envelopes a family and two lovers in particular, Tish (Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James). Despite racism, sexism, violence against women, mass incarceration and patriarchy, this family–led by Regina King as the mom, Sharon, Colman Domingo as the father Joseph and Teyonah Parris as the sister Ernestine–leans into each other and finds rest, relief and security. Above it all is the master of this choreopoem, Barry Jenkins, wielding his camera in defense of Blackness, in the name of Blackness, for the love of Blackness. Jenkins’ camera holds on Tish’s face as she looks at her love, it highlights her thick Black afro hair, her luminous Black skin, her Black mouth spreading in a full-teeth smile, lapping up screen time until Jenkins is sure we see the beauty of her Black joy in its purest form. http://www.brookeobie.com/blog/brooke-obie-speaks-with-colman-domingo-on-the-beautiful-blackness-of-beale-street/ http://www.brookeobie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/41034_142640259109914_386791_n-300x165.jpg http://www.brookeobie.com/about/who-is-brooke-obie/ I thought those two reviews were an interesting compare and contrast about two very different ways to make a film in 2019. Brooke Obie, who wrote both reviews, can probably be described as a Don Shirley of our times. An accomplished author and writer and artist. I think it's fair to say that it was as painful for her to sit through Green Book as it was for me to sit through Beale Street. But for very different reasons. The painful thing about Beale Street for me was that it felt different, but true. The painful thing about Green Book for Obie is that it felt different, but false. Having said that, I put the word "different" in for a reason. Honestly, I don't know enough about Black life in America in 2019, let alone when Beale Street's fictional story was set, to know whether it's true or not. But I think it's true. It's a film made by and for Blacks, to celebrate Blackness, if you take Obie's word for it. But part of the point is: I can't understand what I haven't experienced. The events and lives in that movie are not something I've experienced in any deep, meaningful, and consistent way. I appreciate the fact that by watching the movie, I got a window into something I haven't really experienced myself. I think it's fair to say some of that is going on for Obie as well. In an interview in that review of Green Book with Mahershala Ali, he points out the same things Octavia Spencer did in the quote of her I put earlier in the thread. Ali says Green Book is not a White savior movie. Don Shirley knew what he was doing. He hired Tony Lip, and understood exactly what he was getting: a thuggish White guy who was casually racist. Shirley chose to go down South. He could have fired Lip at any point. He was Gay. So the idea of a Black Gay man traveling around the Deep South in that era is kind of asking for trouble, and Shirley knew it. In fact, that was the point. It was an act of intentional quiet rebellion, or of consciousness raising, on Shirley's part. Whether there was more artistic license than there should have been, about how Shirley went into White bars and needed to be "saved" when he could have gone into Black bars that were safe, I don't know. But it all did reinforce the idea that Shirley, to use Spencer's word, had "agency," and he was trying to push boundaries and educate White people. And he was also living as if he was every bit as deserving and entitled as White people that he was actually much smarter than. I do feel like Shirley's family is being a little ahistorical, too. He did not have the choices Brooke Obie has today. And that is actually part of the point, also. The racism portrayed in Green Book is historical. Shirley did want to make a difference, and create change, through his art. The movie shows him doing that. So to say that all the movie proves is that Shirley perhaps made Lip "a little less racist" seems like it actually is selling Don Shirley's choices short - in the context of the choices he actually had in that era. As one of the articles I posted said, Lip told his son the movie should not be made without Shirley's permission. Shirley granted it, but said he didn't want it made until after he died. I think it was an inexcusable fuck up that Lip's son did not consult Shirley's survivor's - duh! If anything, I would argue it underscores why Obie's fundamental point is right. Yes, White people still are perfectly happy to write stories about Black people without making a concerted effort to find out more about the Black protagonist, from the perspective of his Black survivors. All these criticisms are spot on. I'll try to make a related pointed as non-politically as I can. This reminds me of the "superpredator" debate. If you put that word in the context of the 1990's, it means something different. It is not hard to find Black leaders in the 1990's calling for a crackdown on crime. Black leaders supported and called for that effort. They may not have used the word "superpredator." But the underlying policies drew a lot of Black support at the time. From the context of 2019, especially for people Brooke Obie's age, it looks a hell of a lot different. And young Blacks who find the word offensive are not wrong. But I think there is a time warp thing going on there. The fact that movies like "Green Book" are being trashed by some Blacks, just like politicians who used the word "superpredator" back in the 1990's were trashed in 2016, is a fundamentally good thing, I think. To me, it's an important cultural debate. And it is a positive milestone that these days, writers like Brooke Obie can say, "Uh uh. This is no longer good enough." Having said that, my only word of warning to Brooke Obie would be this: I hope you are prepared for the consequences of what you are saying. Because if you want to attack a liberal woman for using the word "superpredator," you might get a conservative man instead. And if you want every movie to be like "Beale Street," White people might not want to see them. I'm not trying to blame Obie in any way for how she feels. My point is that other Black artists - Octavia Spencer, Mahershala Ali - feel differently. Nobody is completely right or wrong. I think it's an important cultural debate.

First, I avoided saying some things earlier in this post because it may get this booted to the Politics section. The whole subject of the movie is race, so you can't talk about it without getting into things like race and White Supremacy. So if I get this booted to the politics section, sorry. I already cited above a nephew of Shirley who said his uncle was proud of being Black and marched in Selma, and he thought the film didn't do that justice. I just went and found another article that has an even more scathing critique from a member of the Shirley family: “My name is Carol Shirley Kimble. I’m the niece of Don Shirley, supposedly the subject of the movie The Green Book,” she said. “There was no due diligence done to afford my family and my deceased uncle the respect of properly representing him, his legacy, his worth and the excellence in which he operated and the excellence in which he lived. It’s once again a depiction of a white man’s version of a Black man’s life. My uncle was an incredibly proud man and an incredibly accomplished man, as are the majority of people in my family. And to depict him as less than, and to depict him and take away from him and make the story about a hero of a white man for this incredibly accomplished Black man is insulting, at best.” She continued, "I think to consistently see our stories and our Black icons filtered through the lens of a racist white person like Tony Lip does nothing to advance the understanding of Black history and only serves to perpetuate white supremacy.” https://shadowandact.com/green-book-is-full-of-lies-dr-don-shirleys-family-speaks-out Now, compare that to what Executive Producer Octavia Spencer says: “You know what, I'm a little troubled that answering that question could cause them [the Shirley family] any more distress. So what I'd like to say in lieu of anything directly to the Shirley family is what it meant to me. Because I've been a part of four films from this era, and it was the first time I saw a person of color with agency. And I thought, ‘This is a guy I want to know, and this is a guy whose story needs to be out there for the young people who are still in the resistance.' So, for me, it was about the idea that there were people like Don Shirley in the '60s, and we never saw that on the film. That's what I took from it, and that's what I still take from it. I actually think they are both right. The script of "Green Book" was co-written by the son of Tony Lip, the driver. It was clearly told from Tony Lip's perspective. So like lots of Hollywood films, it is a story about racism told by Whites, where Whites end up being heroes. (Think Mississippi Burning). My point above is that movies made by Blacks from a Black perspective about the same subject (Selma, Beale Street) tend to make people more uncomfortable, and not do so well. In this case, Green Book is a hybrid. As soon as I saw the credits and saw Octavia Spencer's name as an Executive Producer, I liked the movie even more, and it made me feel good. Whatever you think about the movie, the fact that a powerful Black woman was behind it makes a difference. I don't think White males like me get to tell Octavia Spencer she is racist, or wrong. There may be questions about the scenes about fried chicken, which were obviously put in in part for laughs. But that scene right there is a clue about what Spencer had in mind, and what she's done in many of her movies. You could call Green Book "Racism For Dummies." Do we really have to be told that it is a stereotype to just assume that all Blacks like fried chicken? Yes, we do. What's more certain is that his trip with Shirley affected Lip. As the movie depicts, Lip had been racist, using derogatory language and actions. But witnessing how Shirley was denied his rights and attacked made him change. "He didn’t like people being mistreated," Nick said about his father in an interview with Metro. "It changed his attitude. It changed the way he raised us, his attitude towards other people." https://www.biography.com/news/don-shirley-tony-lip-friendship I think that article is a good one to read, too. While the movie may have sold some aspects of Shirley's life short, there is no question that the movie portrays Shirley as the victim of racism, and it makes clear that the whole point of the trip through the South was an act of defiance on Shirley's part. It would have been better if they showed him marching in Selma. But, frankly, Tony Lip was not the kind of guy who would likely know or care about whether Don Shirley marched in Selma. So what we see in the movie is a different form of rebellion and a different approach to dealing with racism: Don Shirley's insistence that White people will take him seriously and let him play his music, masterfully, his way. I would argue the movie quietly makes fun of all these arrogant, stupid fucking White people. You will let me entertain you and play beautiful music for you, in a way none of you could ever do, but I can't eat in your fucking restaurants? You have to be kidding me. And we do see Shirley opening up Lip and making him less racist. By every account I've read, the relationship and the respect was real. For better or worse, that is exactly what Octavia Spencer is doing in movies like The Help and Hidden Figures. Again, I'd argue that from the perspective of 2019, after we've actually elected a Black President, it's kind of like Racism For Dummies. You can argue whether it's good or bad. Here's a fun fact that I think illustrates the point. For years I had a client in Louisiana who at one point admitted he had been a former KKK member. He was a lifelong Southern Democrat who still worked to get Southern Democrats (White conservative ones) elected. His children were all Republicans, and he was of course deeply closeted. He knew I was a rabid liberal and Obama supporter. In a way I was surprised he shared that information with me. But I think he was doing it sort of as an act of confession and repentance. He told me that his childhood was like The Help. And he certainly didn't feel proud of his White supremacist attitudes when he was a young man. So even though he was a conservative Southern Democrat who thought Obama was too liberal, I'm pretty sure that he was a lot less toxic than the younger version of him. One thing that movies like Green Book and The Help do is allow conservatives to feel good about the fact that as a society, we are a lot less racist than we were 50 years ago. You can argue whether there is value in that. Again, I'll say it one more time. It's like Racism For Dummies. These films do internalize the idea that overt racism - not letting people vote, segregating them, making them sleep in second class hotels - is wrong. I know a number of White conservatives who saw and liked movies like Green Book and The Help and Blind Side for exactly this reason. Simply by virtue of going to movies like these and liking them, they feel they are not racist. How could they be? They cheer and laugh and smile when the accomplished Black pianist or the brilliant female Black scientist wins. There is something to be said for that. I am not going to second guess what Octavia Spencer is trying to do in movies like this. But I can also tell you that the same people who like The Help or Green Book are not going to be very good when it comes to talking about Black Lives Matter, or Obamacare, or the real racial struggles of today - not 50 years ago. The movies like Beale Street or Black KKKlansmen, made by Black Directors like Spike Lee or Barry Jenkins or Ava Duvernay, are going to be a lot more controversial. We've seen that with the Oscars. Selma and Duvernay were essentially snubbed, which showed clearly that there's still a problem. Jenkins won Best Movie over La La Land, and Spike Lee got his first Best Director nomination. So there's progress, if you measure it that way, but it's stop and start. The reality is that Black movies made by Black people about the CURRENT problems of racism are going to be edgier and harder for a lot of White people to handle - precisely because they do put White people on the spot, and force them to look at the really evil shit White people have done to Black people, and are doing right now. I don't think it's either/or. I think the voices of Octavia Spencer and Barry Jenkins should both be heard, and that it's a sign of progress that now Black men and women can be the Executive Producers and Directors telling the stories. If they choose to tell their stories in different ways, I don't have a problem with that. To use Spencer and Jenkins as examples, I respect what both are trying to do., Just like I respect what Don Shirley was trying to do, in his time.

Nothing to feel sorry about. Like I said, Beale Street in particular is the kind of movie that is going to generate a lot of very different emotional reactions. I suspect the director had that in mind and made some artistic choices with perception gaps in mind. The most obvious thing about perception is you actually have to see it to perceive it. So far Green Book has grossed $43 million, and Beale Street $11 million. That's not an apples to apples comparison, since Green Book opened in mid-November and Beale Street a month later. Green Book will probably get more business out of the Oscars, especially if it wins some awards. When it's all said and done, Green Book will gross a high multiple of what Beale Street grosses. I didn't realize until the credits rolled on Green Book that Octavia Spencer was an Executive Producer. My immediate reaction was to wave a thumbs up to my moviegoing companion. Just that fact made me feel good, and it made total sense to me that given the way she's navigated Hollywood, someone like her would be behind it. She's a master at being able to tell stories that resonate in a way that gets White audiences to see the movie, in the first place, and leaves them feeling entertained. http://legacy.shadowandact.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/GettyImages-1078450362.jpg Here's what she said about the Shirley family controversy at the Golden Globes: In the Globes' press room after the film won Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, Shadow and Act asked the producers of the film that since the project means a lot to them and their families, what message did they have for the members of Dr. Shirley's family who disapproved of the film. (S&A also asked Mahershala Ali about the family's objections to the film, as well.) After no one spoke up, the film's executive producer and Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer stepped forward, saying, “I'll take that one...falling on the sword here!" as she laughed. She then stated, “You know what, I'm a little troubled that answering that question could cause them [the Shirley family] any more distress. So what I'd like to say in lieu of anything directly to the Shirley family is what it meant to me. Because I've been a part of four films from this era, and it was the first time I saw a person of color with agency. And I thought, ‘This is a guy I want to know, and this is a guy whose story needs to be out there for the young people who are still in the resistance.' So, for me, it was about the idea that there were people like Don Shirley in the '60s, and we never saw that on the film. That's what I took from it, and that's what I still take from it. I thank Pete and Nick and Mahershala and Viggo and all of the filmmakers for putting their hearts into it. So that's what I'd say to the Shirley family. He meant a lot to a lot of people, and I'm glad that we got to share that story. https://shadowandact.com/green-book-criticism-golden-globes-octavia-spencer-response-shirley-family Barry Jenkins has obviously chosen a different path, and it shows in the box office for his movies. You've got a sort of Black Romeo and Juliet that hits hard on racism and the flaws in the criminal justice system filtered through the eyes of a Black Gay Director. It doesn't get much edgier than that. There's no right or wrong. Like I said, I like the fact that both of them are now able to put their perspectives out there, and see how people react.

Oscars 2019 overlooks ‘Green Book,’ ‘Bohemian’ backlash https://nypost.com/2019/01/22/oscars-2019-overlooks-green-book-bohemian-backlash/ That would be a yes, I guess. It's not a bad thing that films that would have been cutting edge half a century ago (Guess Who's Coming To Dinner) or a generation ago (Driving Miss Daisy) are passé today. I saw Green Book a week ago and If Beale Street Could Talk last night. It's noteworthy that the first got a Best Picture nomination, the second didn't. The complaint about Green Book that I take the most seriously is this: Shirley's own family condemned the film, saying filmmakers never reached out to them for accuracy during the making of the biopic. Nephew Edwin Shirley III told Shadow and Act that the depiction of his uncle, who had marched at Selma and was close friends with Nina Simone, being uncomfortable with his blackness as "just 100% wrong.” Same could not be said of Beale Street. Of course, it's fiction, so no one could complain about accuracy. Both films were perfectly willing to show the flaws in their Black protagonists. And the whole point of Green Book was that Shirley was on tour to challenge the Southern White establishment and their rules. But having said that, Beale Street embraced Blackness in a way Green Book didn't. I won't repeat everything I said on another thread, but Green Book was a lot easier to sit through, and more entertaining, as a White person. Beale Street was a lot more challenging. I suspect that's why Green Book got more Oscar nods than Beale Street. Same thing as Selma a few years ago. Both movies made a point to include kind Whites who took a stand for justice, or - in the case of Selma -gave their lives in service of the civil rights movements. But both movies also had overwhelmingly Black casts, and the main White characters that moved the action along were racists. Hollywood has yet to prove it can embrace a movie like that, either at the box office or at the Oscars. None of which is a surprise. Seeing them close together, my emotional reactions were completely opposite. Green Book made me feel good, to the point of being saccharine: Let's hear it for White heroes! Beale Street made me want to crawl out of my White skin, because everything it portrayed about deep and systemic racism rang completely true. If Green Book and Beale Street are now the book ends of what Hollywood puts out, that's progress.

Sweetie, that was before legal same sex marriage. Men didn't kiss back then. P.S. And on top of everything else, Dane Scott has the best taste in tv programming. I'm taking your advice, Dane. Riverdale is now on the record list. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OFJVoYlkHs

Okay, smarty pants. Let's see what you know. Did you know that for the first few years of his career, Dane Scott was not yet known as the World's Best Kisser? Call it poor taste, but that title was held by an aging drama queen named Steven Kesslar. Of course, it didn't take long for Great Scott to show his stuff, and charm men all over the world with his hot lips. Everything works in phases, of course. Great Scott became so sexy that he even went through a period of acting kind of like - well, can I say it? He was kind of a whore. But now that's all in the past. He's just matured into the finest and kindest of gentlemen. The kind of guy we all want to be with. So there you have it. Being great is more than just peanuts, Charlie Brown.

Well, actually, no. It's not heavy. It's your birthday. And it's easy to love you. We all do. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANE

I'll have to go see Bohemian Rhapsody. It got mixed reviews - people seemed to either love it or hate it. So I passed. My bad. I did go see A Star Is Born and was underwhelmed. I thought it was overrated, although I did think Lady Gaga was the best part - both her singing and acting. It was apparently a big surprise she didn't win. I guess the Golden Globers were underwhelmed by the whole thing, too. I also saw Vice, and as always Christian Bale did an awesome job transforming himself. The other thing that seemed odd and was discussed online is that A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody were nominated as Best Drama and Vice as Best Musical or Comedy. Huh? I suppose you could view Vice as a dark comedy. But if A Star Is Born or Bohemian Rhapsody are not musicals, what is a musical? And ... was anybody else not able to watch it on NBC? I was watching it on the local affiliate in Palm Springs and at 7:30 PM Pacific Time (I believe two and a half hours in, local time) the local affiliate cut out to some plastic surgery show. I wasn't able to actually watch the big final awards live.

Now I'll really be nosy. Is that because you have two Vietnamese boyfriends?

Congratulations. Sorry to be nosy. You do have to fly to Vietnam as the origination airport to use a ticket, right? So do you plan to go to Vietnam 6 times this year? If so, you must really like flying. Or you have a Vietnamese boyfriend. Or you plan on finding a Vietnamese boyfriend.

Didn't you mean to say, "Fuck him!" ?

Or not. After all, who says a guy can't be both sexy and smart? Students Discover Their Gorgeous Ph.D. Mathematics & Engineering Professor Is Also A Top Supermodel https://www.feelguide.com/2015/03/29/ucl-supermodel-math/

Damn. Thanks for letting me in on that. I wasn't aware of that, really. I thought it was always just about how lovely the guy doing the talking or writing was.

Damn. Thanks for letting me in on that. I wasn't aware of that, really. I thought it was always just about how lovely the guy doing the talking or writing was.

Or, instead of a suggesting a negative connotation - like how some newspapers are just really long and boring - perhaps it would be best to come up with a universal icon or symbol that suggests "short and lovely - how nice!" For example, how about this:

Lovely idea! They aren't exactly emoji's, but would any of these work to make the point?

Speak for yourself, I guess, Guy. Since people can't read the reviews, can I summarize them here, for the sake of posterity? This is what you need to know about Steven Kesslar. I'm verbose. I go on and on. And I go deeper and deeper. Until you feel that you just can't take it anymore. And it just drives people crazy. Sometimes I get them so worked up, they literally explode. But that being said, they just can't seem to get enough of it. And they keep coming back for more. Had close to 100 reviews, and that's basically what they said. I always figured it's better to quit while you're ahead. And now that we've broached this sensitive subject, may I ask a very delicate question? Which one of these things is the emoji for lust? And shouldn't there also be an emoji for "the guy made me cream in my pants the minute I set eyes on him?" Actually, I did check the reviews yesterday for the first time in a long time. It used to be that you could go to the list by name, and there were toggles for "active" and "inactive." If you toggled to "inactive," you could scroll down a very long list in alphabetical order and find my reviews. Now, as far as I can tell, the entire very long list of "inactive" escorts is gone. So I know that's a "Daddy's website" thing, but it seems like the policy now is that once you've gone inactive for 18 months, the reviews disappear and there is no longer an "inactive" category at all. For example, I believe my deceased escort buddy Bill's reviews could be viewed under the "inactive" toggle a year ago, even though he passed in 2009. Now they also have vanished. Is that the policy? If it is, I'm all for it. In the age of FOSTA/SESTA, not to mention Michael Cohen, there is no good reason I can think of to have an unnecessary paper trail. It could lead to things that are not lovely at all. Of course, just like with Liza and "Cabaret," you can always go back and look at the pictures and videos. Just to remember what it was really like in the good old days, when everything was fresh and lovely and the world was full of promise. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_CLK2BOdBf0/VbIY_TcQldI/AAAAAAAALU0/HoUe71Zyuzc/s1600/tumblr_m9koxqd85l1qfg73vo2_500.gif

Wow. That isn't a very lovely emoji at all, is it? Shill, may I offer you my lovely emoji as an alternative? Use it instead, and you might find you sleep better at night.

Nope. Had a lovely escorting career, but now it's over. The link at the bottom to old reviews was disabled at some point in the last year or so by Daddy, when he made some changes to the review website. I mostly just leave it up for old time's sake.

You too can open your heart of our lovely Gay spirit and pray for others to receive the joy of what our President Donald Trump called the "LGBTQ" community, which is of love and peace.

Like I said, you can take or leave the climate change warning. You clearly prefer to leave it. Hence, I'd suggest the "party like it's 1999 emoji."