Lookin

LOL...The trick of course, is to always make them think that they are winning the argument....well at least until after the bill is paid. And always drive separately, so you don't have to listen to them on the ride home.

Sitting here laughing at the image of Bigvalboy's skinning his neighbors for a luxe dinner last night and then roasting them by the pool the next afternoon by way of saying thanks. http://bilder.hifi-forum.de/small/699334/lol_153196.gif
 
I find it pretty easy to poke fun at how dense bigots usually are, but it never occurred to me to cadge a free filet while I'm doing it.
 
Until now. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif
 

http://www.ianthompsoninteriors.com/wp-content/uploads/tumblr_mdow20CqyG1rvva76o1_500.jpg

Sitting here laughing at the image of Bigvalboy's skinning his neighbors for a luxe dinner last night and then roasting them by the pool the next afternoon by way of saying thanks. http://bilder.hifi-forum.de/small/699334/lol_153196.gif
 
I find it pretty easy to poke fun at how dense bigots usually are, but it never occurred to me to cadge a free filet while I'm doing it.
 
Until now. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif
 

http://www.ianthompsoninteriors.com/wp-content/uploads/tumblr_mdow20CqyG1rvva76o1_500.jpg

We are not, but that did not stop them from voicing their opinions, which is fine. As I mentioned in my post, the Floridians I have met don't look at it as a personal attack, and always seem somewhat surprised when it is taken personally...Could be just a Florida thing, but my concern was to enjoy a rather fine meal, and kill a couple of bottles of a rather fine wine...Those that do not face disparaging comments on a daily basis, often don't understand that there is a time and place for everything, you have to choose your battles, and changing the world was not on the menu.....that night.
People are going to say shitty things, and if I confronted every single person who did, I would wind up like another poster here, that carries all this anger and resentment inside, and blames the world for every bad thing that happens in his life. That's not me, life's way too short. The next day we were poolside, and we were all laughing when I reminded them how ridiculous they sounded. They still feel the same way, but I gave them something to think about....baby steps...
 
BVB climbs down off his soapbox and quietly exits stage left...http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/bye.gif

My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem. But they don't really know me.
 
Kevin Slater

And where off and running.... It really was only a matter of time.

The Royal Academy of Farting
Benjamin Franklin
 
to The Royal Academy of Brussels
1781
 
GENTLEMEN,
 
I have perused your late mathematical Prize Question, proposed in lieu of one in Natural Philosophy, for the ensuing year, viz. “Une figure quelconque donnee, on demande d’y inscrire le plus grand nombre de fois possible une autre figure plus-petite quelconque, qui est aussi donnee”. I was glad to find by these following Words, “l’Acadeemie a jugee que cette deecouverte, en eetendant les bornes de nos connoissances, ne seroit pas sans UTILITE”, that you esteem Utility an essential Point in your Enquiries, which has not always been the case with all Academies; and I conclude therefore that you have given this Question instead of a philosophical, or as the Learned express it, a physical one, because you could not at the time think of a physical one that promis’d greaterUtility.
 
Permit me then humbly to propose one of that sort for your consideration, and through you, if you approve it, for the serious Enquiry of learned Physicians, Chemists, &c. of this enlightened Age.
 
It is universally well known, That in digesting our common Food, there is created or produced in the Bowels of human Creatures, a great Quantity of Wind.
 
That the permitting this Air to escape and mix with the Atmosphere, is usually offensive to the Company, from the fetid Smell that accompanies it.
 
That all well-bred People therefore, to avoid giving such Offence, forcibly restrain the Efforts of Nature to discharge that Wind.
 
That so retain’d contrary to Nature, it not only gives frequently great present Pain, but occasions future Diseases, such as habitual Cholics, Ruptures, Tympanies, &c. often destructive of the Constitution, & sometimes of Life itself.
 
Were it not for the odiously offensive Smell accompanying such Escapes, polite People would probably be under no more Restraint in discharging such Wind in Company, than they are in spitting, or in blowing their Noses.
 
My Prize Question therefore should be, To discover some Drug wholesome & not disagreable, to be mix’d with our common Food, or Sauces, that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumes.
 
That this is not a chimerical Project, and altogether impossible, may appear from these Considerations. That we already have some Knowledge of Means capable of Varying that Smell. He that dines on stale Flesh, especially with much Addition of Onions, shall be able to afford a Stink that no Company can tolerate; while he that has lived for some Time on Vegetables only, shall have that Breath so pure as to be insensible to the most delicate Noses; and if he can manage so as to avoid the Report, he may any where give Vent to his Griefs, unnoticed. But as there are many to whom an entire Vegetable Diet would be inconvenient, and as a little Quick-Lime thrown into a Jakes will correct the amazing Quantity of fetid Air arising from the vast Mass of putrid Matter contain’d in such Places, and render it rather pleasing to the Smell, who knows but that a little Powder of Lime (or some other thing equivalent) taken in our Food, or perhaps a Glass of Limewater drank at Dinner, may have the same Effect on the Air produc’d in and issuing from our Bowels? This is worth the Experiment. Certain it is also that we have the Power of changing by slight Means the Smell of another Discharge, that of our Water. A few Stems of Asparagus eaten, shall give our Urine a disagreable Odour; and a Pill of Turpentine no bigger than a Pea, shall bestow on it the pleasing Smell of Violets. And why should it be thought more impossible in Nature, to find Means of making a Perfume of our Wind than of our Water?
 
For the Encouragement of this Enquiry, (from the immortal Honour to be reasonably expected by the Inventor) let it be considered of how small Importance to Mankind, or to how small a Part of Mankind have been useful those Discoveries in Science that have heretofore made Philosophers famous. Are there twenty Men in Europe at this Day, the happier, or even the easier, for any Knowledge they have pick’d out of Aristotle? What Comfort can the Vortices of Descartes give to a Man who has Whirlwinds in his Bowels! The Knowledge of Newton’s mutual Attraction of the Particles of Matter, can it afford Ease to him who is rack’d by their mutualRepulsion, and the cruel Distensions it occasions? The Pleasure arising to a few Philosophers, from seeing, a few Times in their Life, the Threads of Light untwisted, and separated by the Newtonian Prism into seven Colours, can it be compared with the Ease and Comfort every Man living might feel seven times a Day, by discharging freely the Wind from his Bowels? Especially if it be converted into a Perfume: For the Pleasures of one Sense being little inferior to those of another, instead of pleasing theSight he might delight theSmell of those about him, & make Numbers happy, which to a benevolent Mind must afford infinite Satisfaction. The generous Soul, who now endeavours to find out whether the Friends he entertains like best Claret or Burgundy, Champagne or Madeira, would then enquire also whether they chose Musk or Lilly, Rose or Bergamot, and provide accordingly. And surely such a Liberty ofExpressing one’s Scent-iments, and pleasing one another, is of infinitely more Importance to human Happiness than that Liberty of the Press, or of abusing one another, which the English are so ready to fight & die for. — In short, this Invention, if compleated, would be, asBacon expresses it,bringing Philosophy home to Mens Business and Bosoms. And I cannot but conclude, that in Comparison therewith, for universal andcontinual UTILITY, the Science of the Philosophers above-mentioned, even with the Addition, Gentlemen, of your “Figure quelconque”and the Figures inscrib’d in it, are, all together, scarcely worth a
 
FART-HING.

I think that I would look to Willy Nelson (as mentioned) on this issue. Not only has he always found criminalization to be a losing societal battle but he also wants to make sure that pot production is regulated so that chemicals and fertilizers typically used on food are not used for pot production. Moreover one of the two current Ohio ballot measures gives the ability to grow pot to a very limited number of huge corporations. That is why there is a curious alliance of anti-pot groups and anti-corporate growers attempting to get the ballot measure defeated.

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/2014/article/5-amazing-and-possibly-apocryphal-willie-nelson-stories-20140813/164214/large_rect/1401x788-53303190.jpg

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/2014/article/5-amazing-and-possibly-apocryphal-willie-nelson-stories-20140813/164214/large_rect/1401x788-53303190.jpg

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/2014/article/5-amazing-and-possibly-apocryphal-willie-nelson-stories-20140813/164214/large_rect/1401x788-53303190.jpg

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/2014/article/5-amazing-and-possibly-apocryphal-willie-nelson-stories-20140813/164214/large_rect/1401x788-53303190.jpg

Bittersweet that the Bijou is closing today.
 
I walked in there forty-plus years ago and sat in the fifth row. Before long, a guy came in and sat next to me. After rubbing his leg against mine, his hands got busy. Which was fine. Until he picked up my hand and put it in his lap. Where I felt the solid outline of a gun.
 
No Mae West jokes either. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif It was a gun in his pants!
 
Told him I needed a quick bathroom break, and was out the door in ten seconds flat.
 
Never went back and, to this day, I have no idea what would have possessed somebody to bring a gun into a gay movie house. This was way before the current wave of theater shootings, though it was in the days of John Wayne Gacy. http://www.webegtodiffer.com/images/smilies/unsure.gif
 
Sorry to highjack your thread, Strafe13, for that little stroll down memory lane. http://www.dayonepatch.com/public/style_emoticons/default/face_daydream.gif
 
Plenty of great food in the ethnic neighborhoods, if I recall, and the best deep dish pizza anywhere. It's a meat town! http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/want/t2805.gif

rvwsnd, you make me homesick.
 
And you didn't even touch on food! Chicago is a fantastic place to put on the feedbag!

You are welcome.
 
PS: If you have time, check out some of the non-gay centric venues Chicago has to offer. Millennium Park downtown is not to be missed. The Cloudgate sculpture is breathtaking as are the gardens, which might not be in bloom when you visit given that Chicago has distinct seasons and Autumn is upon us. A stroll down Michigan Avenue is always fun and the Chicago River architectural tours are great ways to relax and sightsee. Try to grab a cocktail at the bar at the top of the John Hancock building. For the price of a drink you can get a 360 view of Chicago and Lake Michigan from the 94th floor. The drinks are a bit overpriced, but they are less expensive than the observatory a few floors up. IMO, the view from the Hancock is superior to that of the Willis (Sears) Tower Skydeck. I also recommend visiting the Art Institute's Modern Wing and walking around the Loop to soak in the architecture and the city's character. Lastly, (well not lastly, as there are dozens of things to do) a great way to see the North Side is from a Brown Line 'L' train. You can catch it on the Loop 'L' and ride it up to Belmont (it goes further, but Belmont is one of Boystown's main streets). Some great vistas of great architecture.

Not to hijack this thread- but Stonewall wasn't the first action of this type. The police abuse of gay people in other parts of the country were causing a incidents in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Here is the account of the events at the Black Cat Tavern in the Silverlake neighborhood of L.A. 1967:
 
The bar was established in November 1966.
 
Police raid and LGBT demonstrations
Two months later, on the night of New Year's 1967, several plain-clothes LAPD police officers infiltrated the Black Cat Tavern.[3] After arresting several patrons for kissing as they celebrated the occasion,[4] the undercover police officers began beating several of the patrons[5] and ultimately arrested thirteen patrons and three bartenders.[5] This created a riot in the immediate area that expanded to include the bar across Sanborn Avenue called New Faces, where officers knocked down the owner, a woman, and beat two bartenders unconscious.[6]
 
Several days later, this police action incited a civil demonstration of over 200 attendees to protest the raids. The demonstration was organized by a group called PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education).[7] The protest was met by squadrons of armed policemen.[3] Two of the men arrested for kissing were later convicted under state law and registered as sex offenders. The men appealed, asserting their right of equal protection under the law, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not accept their case.[8]
 
It was from this event that the publication The Advocate began as a newspaper for PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education).[9] Together the raid on the Black Cat Tavern and later the raid on The Patch in August 1968 inspired the formation of the Metropolitan Community Church (led by Pastor Troy Perry).[10][11]
 
These events pre-dated the Stonewall riots by over two years.[8]

Actually, from an outsider point of view, with the detachment distance lends, it is very clear that if you have a healthy moral compass and are interested in reality, as opposed to propaganda, you actually have to agree with Bernie.

It's definitely not too late. It amazes me how many people see the government as something on which they can exert no power at all. You are the government. Experiencing outrage alone is not enough. People in your country have to start rallying against the pathological greed of the very few, which is making the lives of the rest untenable.
 
The first logical step right now would be to make sure positions of power are filled by men and women who speak against this kind of behaviour and are willing to stop it at its tracks. You are living in an unprecedented time when there is such a leader with a real chance to become your president.
 
Not too late. It's barely the time!

We lived at 207 W 10th St...one block behind The Stonewall..The character..Marsha P Johnson was a real person..She roamed Christopher St from 6th Ave to Hudson St up to the docks...along with a white drag Q ..Bambi.....They made life very colorful....and at times inconvenient....blocking the sidewalks....stoned..begging...using the doorways for sex and bathroom breaks...a horrific smell...I suspect they cleaned up both characters for the movie...The night of the riot we were away in Ptown....but heard about it from friends....By the time we returned home the streets were cleared...I give those people so much credit for standing up and speaking out....The founders of the Gay Lib movement were true heroes....
We will see the movie as soon as it opens and see how accurate it is...I suspect lots of liberties have been taken...
BTW I had never been in The Stonewall...but walked past everyday on the way to school...very dark windows and sort of scary for a guy my age...I was too young to go to bars..but did make Christopher St a playground....and talent search...some awfully talented guys!

The pharmaceutical company boss under fire for increasing the price of the drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent said Tuesday he will lower the cost of the life-saving medication.
 
Martin Shkreli did not say what the new price would be, but expected a determination to be made over the next few weeks.
 
He told NBC News that the decision to lower the price was a reaction to outrage over the increase in the price of the drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_39/1233246/150922-martin-shkreli-jsw-309p_5ecab724533864dd68e5cc0307ffaae7.nbcnews-ux-320-320.jpg
Martin Shkreli, chief investment officer of MSMB Capital Management, sits for a photograph in his office in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. MSMB made an unsolicited $378 million takeover bid for Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc. and said it will fire the drugmaker's top management if successful. Paul Taggart / Bloomberg via Getty Images file
 
"Yes it is absolutely a reaction — there were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action, I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people," Shkreli said, 32.
 
Turing Pharmaceuticals of New York bought the drug from Impax Laboratories in August for $55 million and raised the price. Shkreli said Tuesday the price would be lowered to allow the company to break even or make a smaller profit.
 
RELATED: Drug That Fights Potentially Deadly Infection Goes From $13.50 to $750
 
Daraprim fights toxoplasmosis. The infection is particularly dangerous for people who have weakened immune systems, like AIDS patients, as well as for pregnant women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/drug-ceo-will-lower-price-daraprim-after-outrage-n431926

Plenty of YouTube videos now have a "speed" option, under the "Settings" icon. I use this quite often when listening to French and Italian talk shows in the background while I work.

It also helps if you can find materials that are deliberately slowly-spoken. From time to time, I listen to the the slowly-spoken German news on Deutsche Welle. Then I listen to it again at normal speed.

At this moment...
Lena Horne and Etta James, with a splattering of Billy Holiday and the 'Platters'...
suffering from nostalgia as of late. "Above all will let me, walk in the sun once more"
 

 
Dedicated to Ms. "T"...thinking about you today.

+1
 
Recently, at an AT&T store, I was helped by a young salesman who had the barest hint of an accent. I asked if he were Canadian, and he said he was from Uzbekistan. He had come to the US in his 20s, speaking no English, and had spent a few months at a relation's apartment in San Francisco, watching American television all day long, to learn English. When I probed a bit deeper, it turned out that he already knew three other languages before he came to the US. Most language learning research shows that the earlier one learns another language, and the more languages one knows, the easier it is to master another one.
 
When Serena Williams won the French Open in 2002, she tried to give an acceptance speech in high school French, and it was such a garbled mess that the audience could hardly keep a straight face. When she won again eleven years later, she accepted in fluent, idiomatic French that left them cheering. In the meantime, she had bought an apartment in Paris and lived there for long periods, and had a French tennis coach (and rumored lover). There is no substitute for being immersed in the culture when trying to learn a language as an adult.

My favorite teacher was my sixth grade teacher. A few years ago I found out she was in an assisted-living facility in Massachusetts. I decided to visit, but it was a very tough decision because we had no contact in 50 years. I was lucky, she did remember me immediately, perhaps because I was in her last class before becoming a principal. As I was leaving, many of the staff asked what she was like as a teacher; they all knew her only as a principal whom they very much disliked. They were very surprised when I said what a great teacher she was.
 
I did understand because she could occasionally be very hard on students, especially those whom she believe could do better work. And she never afraid to say exactly what she thought. She was a very good teacher, especially in math and English because she came up with ways to make things like the multiplacation table into a contest. And she gave students tasks that were difficult, but some how she know they would succeed (even if they did not).
 
That visit was something I will never forget.