The Hermit points to all things hidden, such as knowledge and inspiration,hidden enemies. The illumination is from within, and retirement from participation in current events.
The Hermit is a card of introspection, analysis and, well, virginity. You do not desire to socialize; the card indicates, instead, a desire for peace and solitude. You prefer to take the time to think, organize, ruminate, take stock. There may be feelings of frustration and discontent but these feelings eventually lead to enlightenment, illumination, clarity.
The Hermit represents a wise, inspirational person, friend, teacher, therapist. This a person who can shine a light on things that were previously mysterious and confusing.
A&Y is a nice Asian couple who I've met through a gay Asian friend, through mahjong we've become good friends. They have invited me to their wedding and every so often they'll cook some homey Chinese food that would make me feel like home. So when they asked me to make a Thanksgiving meal the second year round, I was just too happy to comply. So we spent most of Friday groceries shopping I baked and spent all day Saturday cooking.
The guest list fluctuates which made it very hard to gauge how many people I should be cooking for, at the end 24 people showed up. We served lunch, snacks at 4pm and then dinner a little close to 8pm. This is how snack looks like
The cake you see up front was the Mont Blanc chestnut cake I made. That's before dusting in some powdered sugar to truly make it blanc. I was afraid it will be too sweet but I guess it was ok. I'm very happy that it came out good since it is one of my favorite dessert. Though I have to admit that it's still not as good as the one in Mitsuwa. I can always sample the Mitsuwa one a few times more and then practice on my own. Anyway, having store-bought chestnut cream made my life a whole lot easier and now I just need to buy the right pastry bag tip. The other snack on the table include pineapple sausage skewers, melted brie guacamole and sundried tomato on toasts, apple pine nuts blue cheese on toast and little pineapple cakes.
A&Y are good people, especially the husband who's an accountant but do interior renovations as a side job on the weekends. He pretty much works 7 days a week, which is a big contrast to my life right now. He has a truly beautiful house where they bought, gutted the whole place and rebuilt the interior, they even dug their basement deeper into another livable second living room. They acquire what they have with hard work and dedication in lifestyle which I admire, so it's ok when a regular tablecloth and china were not present
The fruit of a 5-hours plus labor. Oxtail Soup, two lemon rosemary saffron roasted chickens, one 9-pound horseradish crusted beef tenderloin, pasta bolognese, baked jambalaya rice, green bean casserole, corn bread, sauces and gravy. Since we ate earlier, there were a lot of leftovers but they tried everything and I got a lot of compliments which made me happy. A lot of friends said I should start a catering business if not a pastry shop. Some told me I should become a private chef or just sell cakes online. At the end of the evening everyone grabbed a box and took home some leftovers. Maybe I should be selling box lunches in a cart. haha.
After a day of cooking I didn't get particularly hungry when it was time to eat, but it was very satisfying at the end.
So thanksgiving went pretty well. Early afternoon, I went to a vegetarian meal prepared by my excolleague and had a great time talking trash about some other excolleagues. The food was exceptional with fake sausage stuffing, green bean casserole, mash potatoes and biscuits. They even roasted a turkey breast for the meat eaters.
In the early evening, I went to another gathering composed by mostly people right out of college. Had a pretty decent meal, the photo above was the pumpkin cheesecake that I made. With sour cream frosting and candied pecans. Personally I'm not a pumpkin/sweet potato person and I think there are ten ways that I could have made it better but I did get quite a bit complete with a few people saying that's the best cheesecake they've ever had. Though I know they were just being polite. We also played a new word game called Snatch and I pretty much spanked everyone... HARD. I doubt that they'd want to play with me ever again. lol.
Today I have another thanksgiving celebration that I'm in charge of cooking. The list of 12 guests had grown to 17 and still growing. It's a bit daunting and I'm wired to make sure I've got everything. Hope it will go well.
Today's Meme is brought to you from Joy of Desserts. Yes, even though I cook everything else, I get most joy by making desserts. I know Thanksgiving has passed but since I still have a party to go to and cook for, I guess it's alright.
There are only two easy rules: 1. Post these rules when you participate in this meme. 2. Link to the people you tag as well as the person who tagged you.
Here we go:
1. Which do you like better: hosting Thanksgiving at your home, or going elsewhere? I can't host at my home since it's so small. So it had to be elsewhere.
2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey? Organic? Free-range? I'm a big believer in fresh ingredients, the fresher it is, the better it tastes. Unless it's free, then frozen is fine too. Though a fresh turkey is about 4 times as expensive than a frozen one.
3. Do you make stuffing or dressing? What kind? I don't like stuffing a turkey because the risk of salmonella, so I usually would bake it separately, which makes it a dressing, right? I like to make a mushroom, rice, sausage and sage dressing but this year I'll go creole and make something Jambalaya like.
4. Sweet potato pie or Pumpkin pie? Neither. Apple pie would be my choice or banana cream even though it's not too festive.
5. Are leftovers a blessing or a curse? I've never been in a situation where I have leftovers for days, so it had always been a blessing for me to have food.
6. What side dishes are a must-have in your family? I like to change it around so there's no must haves. Though everyone loves mash potatoes.
7. What do you wish you had that might make Thanksgiving easier? A bigger kitchen with more gadgets. My current kitchen is a half-kitchen, I barely have enough counter space for stuff, but that'll have to wait until I move for it to improve.
8. If/when you go to someone else’s house for the holiday, do you usually bring a dish? If so, what is it? Oh yes, it's only polite. I usually would like to bring dessert whenever possible. It gets my creative juice flowing.
9. What do you wish one of your guests would bring to your house? Flowers or beverage.
10. What do you wish one of your guests would NOT bring to your house? Attitude, that's never attractive.
11. Do you stick with a particular menu from year to year, or do you mix it up? I like to change it up according to what I feel like eating at the time.
12. Is Thanksgiving a religious or secular holiday in your home? It has some religious elements to it, but I think it's above and beyond that.
13. Share one Thanksgiving tradition. I dislike the tradition of going around the table and say what you have to be thankful for, it's so forced. I think the cooking thing has starting to become a habit and tradition for me.
14. Share one Thanksgiving memory. Learning how to make a freeform caramel apple pie from a friend one year in my friend DC's huge kitchen, it was nice.
15. Name five things you’re thankful for. If I must: 1. The boyfriend 2. My health 3. My friends 4. All the freedom I'm having 5. My TV, computer and internet.
It's baffling to me how some people can support Sarah Palin, the woman that can't cite a single news source, the woman who can hit a bunch of talking point and buzzwords but don't have a concrete plan on anything. Scary, really. Apparently, she's selling a good image. Her book is the No. 1 bestseller, even though her book tour avoided all the big liberal cities and just concentrates within the heartland.
According to this f**cked up chart by none other than Fox News:
Sarah Palin is the front runner as the GOP presidential candidate come 2012. (Seriously, what's up with pie charts that doesn't add up to 100%?) Albeit, I doubt that she would win, I also didn't think George W. would win his first or second term of presidency. When you see her supporters, you'd know that they are pretty much brainwashed and they don't have to know her political views to support her. I'm sure Fox News can make her look like the American Mother Theresa.
Considering Carrie Prejean who diddled herself and sent the tape and pictures to her boyfriend and then wrote a book where she condemned pornography and encourage young girls to cherish their bodies because their bodies are for worshiping the lord and not to look sexy. All this while she is a beauty contestant wearing bikinis for the world to see. Various congressmen and senators, who condemns homosexuality voting against gay rights and HIV fundings but suck dicks and molest pages on the side. (Does "bachelor" Republican senator Lindsey Graham looks like the next scandal waiting to happen or is it just me?) Sarah Palin who's traditional values are hanging from her mouth but has a teenage daughter who gave birth to a bastard child. How can people still eat this up and not see the hypocrisy in it? Are you telling me that having a half-black president is really that scary?
Regrettably that's also my reading habit.
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Oh! My friends who had decided to BBQ had changed their mind and now I'm in charge of cooking a Thanksgiving meal for 12. Add to the cakes I'm making, I think it's a bit more than I can chew, so the next few days posting might be sparse.
This month had gone by pretty fast and Thanksgiving is coming up soon. Being in a "foreign" land with no family around, it can get pretty lonely during a celebration holiday where everyone left to be with family. Good thing I know how to cook. Last year, I've been invited by my Straizian friends to cook for friends and Mahjong buddies alike. This year, I got invited by a former colleague to attend her early afternoon dinner, an early evening gathering with a gay Asian friend and a few of the single "orphans" in the city. Then Saturday, it's all day Straizian Thanksgiving BBQ and Mahjong.
I've learned my lesson last year that cooking for 20 by myself is no easy task, it takes hours of preparation and then hours more of cooking. I'm thankful that this year I just need to make one dish for each party. For my excolleague's party, I've got assigned a vegetable dish. She and her family and friends are pretty much all vegetarians, even though she will accommodate me and another guest by having a turkey breast waiting. The whole menu is already set up and I got assigned with bringing a vegetable side dish with the rule of no reds, no mushroom, no asparagus and no brussels sprouts. I find it highly amusing that some vegetarians would be picky about what kind of vegetables they would eat as if they haven't denied themselves enough. At the same time, I feel like I'm not being trusted to make anything fancier since the Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, desserts and any big dishes had already been assigned. To counter that, I'm going to make a zucchini & squash fettucine. Pretty much just shredding the squash and zucchini down to the shape of fettucine, saute them with garlic onion and pesto. It quite flavorful and it's one of my staples when I'm on my low carb diet. If I'm Rachel Ray who loves to make up words, I might call it Squasta.
Note to self: Get a shredder!
For the evening party, I've resigned myself to make a cheesecake. Since last time I made a caramel, banana cheesecake with moderate success. I'm thinking about making another even though I've lost my recipe along with my old computer. I only need to decide what flavor I want to make. A simple raspberry might be good, or Oreo, or maybe a pumpkin cheesecake. The boyfriend will probably appreciate the leftovers.
I have been wanted to make a Mont Blanc cake for years but always thought the skill level required is beyond me. I like to bake but I'm certainly no cake decorator and every cooking or baking I ever did are all self-taught. So for the Straizian party on Saturday, I will try to attempt the challenge that is Mont Blanc. How difficult could it be, right? It's just genoise, chestnut mousse, whipped cream and marrons glacés. Maybe infuse the whipped cream with a bit of rum and fold in some chestnut meat and decorate the cake with some chocolate designs. Something manageable and nothing too fancy. It's one of my favorite pastries growing up, somehow French pastries got very popular in Asia and it took hold.
Something like this but less tart like and more birthday cake like
I've been to the farmer's markets yesterday and it was quite insane. A lot of stressed individuals filling up the aisle fighting for poultry and produce. Though since it's a turkey holiday, the steaks are half-priced. Even the supermarkets were mobbed and you can hardly find a bag of sugar left. Hope I can find a can of chestnut puree somewhere.
A wannabe politician had told me that politics is the art form of communication for achieving goals. I'm here to call it bullshit. The minimum wage raised a quarter after 10 years of not increasing, while companies used their bailout money to give their top executive millions in bonuses. I don't remember the senate or the congress has done anything to improve my quality of life.
I was following her train on logic saying that so far the democrats had done very little to improve the disaster that was George W. Bush until she went bat shit crazy. Apparently the Foxx is way scarier than the Woolf. The NY Senate had postponed their vote on their marriage equality bill indefinitely, the senate hearing on Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been postponed indefinitely. There seems to be no account on how a congresswomen can say to alter reality or how much work they have to get done. There's no deadline to meet or IQ/history test to pass. At least to be a lawyer you have to pass a bar exam, there's no such thing in the way of being a politician or even the president of the U.S. I find that extremely curious.
Now in recess, our fear-mongering congressmen preach their own doomsday theory to the people of NYC in an empty room over Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.(starts at 3:30 mark)
Regrettably, I don't believe that our political system works. Even though the above examples seem to be a bit extreme, they are actual members of congress and by and large it is made up with people who don't have bright ideas and don't have courage to follow through when they have one. While on the way they have smear campaign against one another that doesn't impire confident on themselves, the truth is you will never get 435 people to agree on any single item. Even if the item is as plain as the sky is blue. They will not be having constructive meaningful conversations but they will argue based on their own or sponsored biases. Important issues are postponed indefinitely and then argued until the end of days. Votes are cast to make things into law and then voted again to have the whole thing reversed. What is the point?
Back in the days when people are still decent, the system might have made a difference. The motive of being a politician these days are mucked, more so than it ever was, excuse me if I don't have faith.
Read more...
I didn't think I needed anything and I certainly don't have any extra money to spend but reading some Black Friday deals on Yahoo had me wishing to get some stuff. A 32" LCD HDTV at Best Buy for $300. Though I have never heard of the Dynex brand (Ooh, Walmart is selling a 32" Emerson for $248) and my 24" Sony has been with me for the past 10 years and still working very well, maybe I can become a 2-television household? Walmart is selling a PS3 with a Batman game and a Batman movie for $300. Video game is a dangerous realm for me, an extreme time waster. Target has a 32GB iPod touch for $278 which I wanted one for a while but didn't want to spend on myself. All sounds very nice, but I'm not looking forward to go line up around midnight with large appliances without a car. And still, I don't really want to spend $1,000 with tax. Now, if my Straizian friends are driving down to Delaware, then it's a slightly different story.
I've seen these free association things online and I thought it could be kinda fun. So I'm compiled this list from 3differentsources to try my hand at it. Play along if you have time.
(P.S. I know it might be hard to achieve free association if you've read my answers but you can copy the list erase my answers, rearrange the words and let it sit for a while.)
1. Grace :: Hospital 2. Shower :: Psycho 3. Alice :: Persona (Video game) 4. Purple :: Tori Amos 5. First time :: Boston 6. 3 :: Trinity 7. Car :: Gasoline 8. Pregnant :: Unwed 9. Climax :: Fountain 10. Discretion :: Secret 11. Vex :: Steam 12. Relapse :: Addiction 13. Twinkle :: Eyes 14. Personal :: Love 15. Optimistic moment :: Sky 16. Cage :: Porno 17. Superwoman :: Alicia Keys 18. Face :: Eyebrows 19. Vapor :: Temperature 20. Grocery store :: Produce 21. Track :: Horse 22. Snake :: Venom 23. Assignment :: Manufacture 24. Blockbuster :: Video Store 25. Bombastic :: Shaggy 26. Adventure :: Brendan Fraser 27. Color :: White 28. Aged :: Gouda 29. Grip :: Pliers 30. Food :: Pasta 31. State :: California 32. Fragrance :: Lavender 33. Red hot :: AIDS (Music Campaign) 34. Traction :: Race car 35. Official :: Soccer 36. Counselor :: HIV 37. Crawls :: Crab 38. Apartment :: Modern Living 39. Lively :: People of Color 40. Shortcut :: Mini Cooper
A few years ago, I went to see the Bodies exhibition when they came to Philadelphia at the Franklin Institute. I found using of actual dead bodies to demonstrate the different side of the human body highly creepy. I was distracted by that bit of information while I was going through the show. That's what I was reminded of, when a friend of mine sent me the following video in Powerpoint form.
Ron Mueck is an Australian sculptor who excels in hyperrealist sculpting. Earlier in his career, he has worked as a puppeteer and model maker for children's television show side by side the likes of Jim Henson. What you saw in the video are sculptures created by with the utilization of silicone, fiberglass, resin, paint and at times actual human hair.
I could have swore that some of his pieces were real people if it wasn't for the scale discrepancy. The nudity are shocking and the emotions expressed haunt. Wish I can go to his exhibit to see the details.
Of the new TV shows started this season, Glee was a clear runaway. Given it is a weird format where people communicate through songs and it's very soap opera-y, but it's funny and the kids have talents. If High School Musical is anything like Glee, I can see why it was so popular.
The first time I've seen choreographed synchronized dancing was probably during Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation period. It reminds me what somebody said "It doesn't matter how stupid the dance look, as long as everyone else is doing it with you then it'll be great."
What do people use to produce and edit videos? I understand it's much easier using a Mac but I rather like to try my hands on it if I know how.
It's funny to me that Microsoft opened up a store just to sell Microsoft products, regular electronic stores already carries their products, what's the point on copying Mac? And making the employee dance? It's highly unnecessary. I guess they are changing their image into something fun and carefree, which being a PC user, I'm so not used to it. PC is usually full of problems and you're pretty much crying for help most of the time. Though it's still a nice thing for them to be creating jobs in this kind of economy, even though the job involves some dancing.
A high school friend from Hong Kong (nicknamed Watermelon because of his large noggin) is working for IBM and he's traveling to New York for three weeks on assignment. So for the past weekend, I traveled up to meet him. For at least 4 years at the end of school we were in the same class. Through some mishap repeated one year of school together and since a few guys and us lived in the same area, we walked home together pretty much everyday. He played parts of my most treasured memories, we are friends. A bunch of us still keep in touch whenever we can, but we have graduated for more than 10 years, and though we live so far apart, we still keeps in minimal contact via IMs and Facebook.
So when I found out that Watermelon is coming to New York for the very first time, I was eager to show him around. But by the time I saw him, he has already been to most landmarks. All I can do is to bring him to Little Italy, Chinatown, Wall Street, the High Line Park and take him to the free Staten Island Ferry back and forth so he can take some pictures of the Statue of Liberty. He stayed true to the stereotypical Asian tourist persona and insist on taking a whole bunch of pictures with us together so he can show them to our other friends. He even perfected the self-snap technique. Some pictures turned out pretty good, so I'm hoping to receive them through email soon to update my various profile pictures.
Watermelon just got married the past March joining a rank of other friends who has gotten to the point of having children. Other than catching up on the status of mutual acquaintances, his marriage, my unemployed situation, the job market in Hong Kong, there's not much else to talk about. It bothers me to realize that we have migrated into other social circles and don't have much in common anymore. An originally planned all day engagement has shrunk to a little less than 8 hours and we had to fill it with 2 big meals in between. I guess 10 years is a long time and that's quite regrettable.
The one good thing about it is that I've recognized life moves on and I have to get on with mine as well. All my friends are developing their personal and career life rapidly. Some are married, having kids and getting more secured financially. It's time for me to follow suit. They say friends are like mirrors, right? Since he will come back a few times a year, maybe we'll be able to see each other more and rebuild our friendship.
There's no secret that Fox News is a joke and everyone watching that network is dumb as a post. Yes, I'm going to social boycott all their viewers. If you watch that network, we can't be friends and I don't want to talk to you. It is beyond being a Democrat, a Republican or an elitist, it is the difference between being able to think logically and being a plain racist dumbfuck. Sorry.
It is always nice to see them get caught with facts fabrication.
When a supposed news channel starts organizing political campaign, it has gone too far. And to swap footage to make it look like there's a whole lot more supporter than it does, well, there's nothing more to say about it. Of course, the butt of the network has gone from Bill O'Reilly to the root of dumbfuck Glenn Beck himself. Interesting to see how John Stewart and South Park had decided to mock him on the very same week. Even Sesame Street is making fun of Fox News.
2. Peter LaBarbera
It's baffling to me that someone would dedicate their life to go against homosexuality. Peter LaBarbera is such a person. He founded a group called Americans For Truth Against Homosexuality. Apparently that's his job, homosexuality bugs him so much that the primary meaning and value of his life is to go against it. It sounds like the same old story that had been told too often, doesn't it?
It's one thing to go to the length of exposing every gay and leather invent and call to boycott the hotels who host them. It's another thing to go to a leather street fair and taping the ongoings in order to condemn it later. But to go to the length of reading comments on gay blogs and then use it to call alarm is getting to be a Nazi petty level.
On Joe.My.God, a reader commented on the vote to reverse gay marriage in Maine. Stating that once the gays give up hope on non-violent means to achieve equal rights, some zealous might kill for the cause while another commenting said that maybe organized terrorism/civil disobedient might just be what the country needs. Ten days later, Peter LaBarbera or Porno Pete, claimed that he is calling the FBI for terrorism threats from Joe. I think someone have too much time and hate on their hands.
I have to say, I was never a big fan of non-violent means. Playing nice had never gotten us anywhere. We are still being stereotypes as weak or sissies. I'm always on the side of the Pink Panthers, I believe that they won't stop until we bash back. Send a few gay bashers in the hospital, then maybe it'll stop. Though, I didn't want to add troubles to Joe's website by adding my 2 cents.
3. Carrie Prejean
Rude girl who thinks that she's the Virgin Mary or something. Give me a break. She has convinced herself that she didn't get her crown because she her answer was homophobic. Um... if she has heard what she said, she'll know her answer was self-contradictory. She has the gall to write a book to teach young girls how to behave and then having a boob job, some example she is and that's before her 9 sex tapes and 30+ nudie shots. Please. It's always okay for someone to condemn others so they can feel superior themselves.
While on her book tour, she threatened to walk out Larry King's set because Larry was being "inappropriate".
She "threatened", all she did was detaching the mic and posed but never walked out. Obviously, she needed camera time and will do anything to create controversy to keep herself interesting. No one will buy her book otherwise, but no one will buy her book still. "Book me on, but I'm not gonna tell you anything about myself and you're an ass for asking." Get over yourself, you are famous because you answered a question like a stupid bigot and now you are famous because you are a homophobic, hypocritical slut. Your 3 minutes are more than over. Maybe you can take the deal of filming a porn and extend it, but I don't really want to see your cunt face again, much like that of Kate Gosselin.
I spent most of this week reading mystery thriller novels. I have a habit of getting a whole series of novels and then binging on them til the wee mornings until my eyes can't even stay open anymore. My reading speed is about a book a day. The problem to that is after reading a bunch of books from the same author, you'll begin to see a pattern. Maybe it's the skill of the writers who I'm reading but the storyline is not that well conceived, there's always some stupid reason and fight scenes. The hero can always escape any ordeal in the most ludicrous manner. Can anyone recommend some good murder mysteries to support my habit?
This week's meme is from Tense Teacher. Answer it with numbers. This weekend is leather weekend, the boyfriend and I are trying to go to the local leather bar to see things. Ciao.
How old are you? 34
How old was your mom when she had you? 25
How many siblings do you have? 0
How many people live in your household? 1
What year were you born? 1975
What is your zip code? 19107
What year was your first car made? ????
What year is your current vehicle? ????
How many piercings do you have? 0
How many tattoos do you have? 0
How many creamers do you take in your coffee? 3
What time did you wake up this morning? 9:30
What is the latest you’ve stayed up this week? 5:20
How old were you when the Challenger blew up? 10?
How old were you when the twin towers were hit? 26
What year did you graduate high school? 1996
What are the last 4 digits of your cell number? 8551
How old were you, or do you want to be when you get married? 32
How old were you, or do you want to be when you have kids? 35
How many pieces of jewelry are you wearing right now? 0
How many different houses have you lived in? 8 (mostly apartments)
What is your average electric bill? 0
What is your lucky number? 9
How many windows are in the room your in? 1
How many TV’s are in your house? 1
How many boyfriend/girlfriends have you had? 7
What time do you get out of work/school? ?:?? (not working)
How old were you when you created your Facebook? 33
Time flies, Lady Gaga's debut album was released more than 18 months ago and chasing The Fame at the end of this month is an 8-track sophomore called The Fame Monster. Her first video from that album was released two days ago and the song is called Bad Romance.
It is bad enough to deserve a music slap. I'm not talking about the video itself. Everybody would agree that she had maintained quite the impeccable attention-grabbing image with all her fabulous costumes, make-up and postures. One can't surround themselves with enough capable gay fairies. She IS fierce and not afraid to shock. She's no looker but she keeps it interesting and I have yet to see her wear something twice. She reminds me of the short-lived music career of Vampire Lestat.
But Bad Romance is so bad. There's no substance to it whatsoever. Echoing Kyle's sentiments, what the fuck is she singing about? What the hell is the song about? She used a runway segment as the bridge of the song that does not has anything to do with the rest of the song and "Ra-ra-ah-ah-ah, Roma-ro-ma-ma, Gaga-ooh-la-la..." is just plain lazy, made up, baby talk, nonsense. Worst of all, the song is not even catchy. Though if you hammer it in my head by playing it 50 times real loud in a club (hopefully mixed by some skillful DJ), I'm sure I'll be humming and even convert to liking it, but right now it's really doubtful. The other leaked song Dance in The Dark sounds a lot better:
Who would release an 8-song album anyway? Wait for 2~4 more. I'm sure the record company will pull a stunt 2 months after the release and rerelease another version of the same album with a few extra songs anyway. I hope getting famous doesn't make her think that it gives her the right to go back to her sing-a-song Lilith Fair past. That kinda don't work for me.
I love the Addams Family sooo much, I'm really hoping that the music written for it is good. It'd be very disappointing if it's not. Nathan Lane is playing Gomez while Morticia is played by the amazing Bebe Neuwirth. I wonder if and how Lurch sings. The show will start in Chicago and arrive in Broadway later in the season. I'd love to see it.
Saw this on Dit's website. Apparently a guy, Lars Holdhus, in Holland has a blog with tons of photographs of himseld wearing different Christmas sweaters. It's a bit early for X'mas, but it's a bit too peculiar to pass up.
Lars has almost 90 pictures of himself wearing various X'mas sweaters and if you have one, you are not wearing that you wouldn't mind sending it to him, contact him here.
I understand that it's hard to be cheered up by these gaudy sweaters but Lars needs to smile a little. If not, it just look a bit creepy.
When it comes to porn, I think a few of you know that I'm not a virgin at the bat. I guess most people don't like to admit it but I'm very bad at making pretense and I wish it wasn't so at my friend's porn watching party. Showing too much knowledge on porn colloquialism might have just sold me out as a perv. I like porn, I think it's important for a person to take care of his own needs, to be self-sufficient when there's no other people to help out and porn is a very effective aid. With the convenience of high speed internet and the overwhelming availability, why not? I thought everybody looked at porn every now and then, but through conversation with friends I was told that it isn't so. Usually I would dismiss it as some people trying to be demure but for in some case, I do believe it could be possible, that someone don't have the need for porn.
I walked around town in search for the perfect cream pie as a gag dessert for the porn party my friend was holding. I have to say, it's surprisingly difficult to find a cream pie in Philly. There was no banana nor chocolate cream pies, no coconut nor Boston, so I went with some cannolis instead. I figured it would be as disgusting suggestive as any other possible choices. Seven guys and one gal, everyone was pretty much the academia type. According to my friend who is studying porn, he's doing a paper for a sociology class arguing about how masculinity extend beyond the phallic symbol into the ejaculation and in porn the participants treats it as though it was power and hence the receiver is masculine in its own right. I'm sure there's a lot of additional theories attached to it, but it was hard for him to explain and I think I was quite dense to understand its significance.
The actual work has a lot to do with how the actor delivers the ejaculate and how the participants describe it as a way of passing on and receiving the "power" and since it has to be passed on, his study pretty much focuses on bareback porn with a side focus on the so-called cream pie porn where one receiver taking on loads from several different individuals at a time. For our viewing, he chose a video called Fuck Holes 2 from Treasure Island Media, a studio notorious on producing bareback cream pie porn. I have seen and was impressed by their other productions before.
It's a very strange thing to be viewing porn with others in a non-sexual way. In my teenage years, I've went to a porn theater with some friends before and some other friends had also held a porn viewing party when I wasn't even of age, straight porns. You are viewing something sexual while required not to express yourself sexually at all. There is no romance in cream pie porn, it is pretty much all action and it could be quite intense with all the cum-play while you see guys one after one lining up to deliver the final blows with the back knowledge that most of these participants are probably all HIV-Positive. Fortunately, this movie wasn't particularly good; The guys are not particularly attractive and some of them just lie there and kept their mouth shut like a piece of dead meat, so it's easier to get detached from it. We managed to make fun of it a little bit while discussing our own preference at the side. I'm confident to say that the food got more attention than the tape itself. I might have been an eye-opener for some but uneventful for others.
I was watching a rerun of Chelsea Lately last night and she was telling us about how there is a lawsuit in India in which a guy was suing the company who produces the Axe bodyspray for false advertising because after 7 years of using their products. No girl was flocking onto him. The so-called Axe effect was non-existence. Um, duh.
It is quite the trivial lawsuit and even a person really believed in such a thing, he would have stopped after finishing the first can of spray instead of keep on using the product for 7 years. But of course, it was a hoax.
It originated from an Indian website similar to The Onion called Faking News. The story goes where 26 years old Vaibhav Bedi couldn't achieve the Axe effect and attract a single girl after 7 years of applying the product. He tried to impress his maid by applying the product naked in an effort to seduce her but was beaten by a broomstick instead, so now he's suing the Axe company for causing him mental suffering.
One of my friend is hosting a porn viewing party tonight that I'm curious to go to, he's studying for his PhD in communications or sexuality and he's writing his thesis about pron, especially focusing his theory in ejaculation and power dynamics. In his studies, he's especially interested in something called cream pie porn - the gay kind. I don't know what tonight's party will entail, a bunch of guys and gals watching gay cream pie porn but it should be interesting and just for fun sakes, guess what I'm bringing for dessert?
Found this meme on Momma Blogs-a-Lot asking questions about the intentions and origins and blogging. Seems easy enough.
1. Where are you blogging right now?
At home. Seating in my chair facing the TV.
2. How many unpublished posts do you have in your ‘draft’ box?
None.
3. Whose blog inspired you to start your own?
My friend Macy started her blog a few years ago and I got into it. She rarely posts anymore.
4. When do you usually publish your posts?
I do it when I have time, usually late nights but I set it to publish in the morning. If I have inspiration to post more than once a day the second post would usually be published in the afternoon. It's all for consistency's sakes.
5. In your guesstimation, how many blogs do you read?
There are about 55 on my blogroll, about 10 in my bookmarks plus a few friends. So around 70+, though about 25 of them haven't updated their blogs for quite some time.
6. How long have you been blogging for?
Since July 18, 2006.
7. Why did you start blogging?
I just thought it'd be fun to get some stuff off my chest, help me remember some stuff and practice on my writing.
8. Why do you keep blogging?
Because I've met people online and I feel like being a part of a community which main communication is through entries and it also keep my mind active.
9. If you could only recommend one blog to a friend, which one would it be?
I think it would be Joe.My.God, there's humor, politics, personal stories, gay life... a bit of everything.
10. If the internet was “turned off” for one month, what do you do with all the time you used to spend blogging?
I'll probably be playing video games and reading a lot more.
Christopher Walken doing Lady Gaga's Poker Face on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.
William Shatner doing Levi Johnston's Tweets on Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
Happy Hat - A hat that conditions you to smile. Crazy if I've ever seen crazy, hopefully it's a joke or as the above videos, an art piece.
Via Advertising Is Good For You and DutchByDesign.com comes the Home Duvet cover set. This set of 144 thread count features a print of a cardboard box directly printed on cotton. There's also a fitted sheet that imitates brick on the street to complete the surreal experience. Thirty percent of the profit will go to a charity that helps out homeless people in the UK while the costumer can experience hobo life right in the comfort of their own home, um, funny but 144 count is a little low don't you think? Maybe couples can put on torn dirty clothes and smear dirt on each other to pretend having outdoor hobo sex.
Now that the Phillies had lost the World Series, Philadelphians can feel relax about not having a riot on the streets. No excuse to loot for extra income in this down time, no flipping of cars or better yet buses to express the general public's anger towards the unreasonable strike. I think the drivers might not be really looking for a raise or benefits as much as getting the benefit of having a few days off during World Series and maybe a few extra for a mini-vacation. Maybe things will go back to normal. I wonder how the streets of New York would fare.
Since the election is over, there's no need for nasty political TV ads. There's not much voting going on in Pennsylvania but New Jersey being so close to us, we constantly get ads from Chris Christie and Jon Corzine. According to Corzine, Christie caters to pharmaceuticals and insurance company, he's corrupt, disingenuous and fat, while according to Christie, Corzine is a liar, incompetent with a bad political record and bald. I wonder after all this bad publicity, how they expect people to feel good about electing either of them. It's sad that they don't want to get elected base on their views and direction but base on who sounds less horrible. No matter, it's not my state and I'm just glad not having to seat through another slew of smear campaigns for another 7 months or so.
It's interesting that one year after electing Obama, now republicans are gaining grounds. Sure the economy is pretty bad and people are stressed and unhappy but they don't see the roots of their problems are started from republicans. At least that's how I feel. On the other hand, we haven't seen big progress from the Democrats side. We still don't have equal rights, we still don't have universal health care, we are still at war in the middle east and we are back teaching kids to abstain from having sex. There are no wide strokes of brilliance, no bullheadedness to counter the one way downfall of the previous administration. Like the public option on universal health care, I believe you can't argue with the stupids. The best way to have it done is just go for it, instead of slicing and dicing a brilliant idea into something trivial and unrecognizable. At the same time, there are politicians at both sides that receive huge amount of lobbying and campaign money and wouldn't vote for it. Although they would pretend to support it just so they can make the insurance companies squirm and gain more profit from them. It's all a terrible act and that's the reason I hate politics.
Gay marriage is now repealed in Maine, which is a huge bummer. It seems like whenever we are making progress for equal rights, we are always kicked back two steps. I still don't understand why they are still using the Proposition 8 formula when saying Yes actually means No. There seems to be a formula used on the opposition side to get what they want. Get funding by anti-gay religious groups, collect signatures by the means of fraud, scary commercials and the yes means no voting scheme. At the very least we can still tell ourselves that the margin turns out to be quite small and maybe next time, we'll win it back. I just don't understand why the majority gets to decide the fate of a minority group.
I think it's rather unfathomable that in this bad economic times, the Philadelphia mass transportation system, SEPTA, is still having a strike. When the average salary of their employees is $50K+ and a regular regional rail conductor that collect tickets makes 6 figures. The union tried to blackmail the company by threatening to strike on the days that people from around the country came for the World Series. If the company can't afford it and go bankrupt, would that make them happier? Or maybe it is a good rouse for SEPTA to get help from the government.
On the topic, there are a lot of ways to cut your expenses down. I've already eliminated my land phone line. In this modern day and age, everyone already have a cell phone and the land lines seems to be reserved for telemarketers or politicians telling you to vote for them. I use a pay as you go cell phone plan that reduces my limited cell phone use to about $20 a month. Instead of getting premium cable channels, your favorite TV series can be obtained in other means, so are many movies or music. I cook my own food, which potentially saves me more money than eating out, though it does depends on what I cook. I don't smoke, or have many money spending habits. (e.g. coffee, lottery or gym) Ever since I met the Boyfriend, we have even started going to thrift stores for reading materials and toys.
Watching the Today Show yesterday I found these little tidbits about saving on travels.
It never occur to me that companies would use cookies to record the trips you're looking for an hike the price on the trips that you searched a couple times. Make sense, I just never thought about it.
For more money saving tips, check here. Every little bit helps.
Read more...
I can't decide how many gods I want to worship, it depends on the level of worship it is required. From the different forks, I could either be a Hindu even though there's no good Indian take-outs around, a generic Christian or an Atheist. I think I'll just settle being and Atheist, a lot less work.
Halloween has become, without questions, one of the most exciting holidays for me. I just officially start celebrating Halloween last year for my very first Halloween party wearing my very first Halloween costume. Since the boyfriend also likes the festivities a lot, I have an excuse to dress up yet again and venture out and celebrate.
The evening started quite stressfully with unexpected shortcomings during the production of my duct-tape costume. I had this crazy idea of making Colossus out of duct tape but then I didn't count on it being cast-like and it would be so hard for me to move once I was in it. So a lot of work depended on the boyfriend and we spent around 4 hours taping and taping. It's a bit extraneous and it's probably something we'll never attempt again. But when it was done, we went out to the streets merrily.
During the earlier evening, I also attempted making some Jack O'Lanterns pumpkin pies with puff pastries. We thought there will be extras to give out, but it was pretty good and it didn't turn out to be a lot, so we finished them ourselves.
There is a big Halloween parade in New York but in Philly, we have an annual Halloween Ball at Sheraton hosted by the gay uncle of Philadelphia Mr. Henri David. I was sure that we'd find the most outrageous costumes over at this Henri David Ball and we weren't disappointed.
Yours truly and The Boyfriend.
Betty Boop and her zombie prom boys. I was quite impressed how she turned a cartoon into a real life person.
The belles of the ball. The white gown is really full on the back, it was like a giant cloud the size of an entire elevator.
Couples: Lego complete with Lego flowers purse and backpack, Popeye and Olive Oyl.
Most Common: Six sets of people that we knew of were Mario Brothers (including my good gaysian friends and the boyfriend's buds who headed to Vegas), we also seen 4 Dorothys and 2 wicked witches but this black and white Dorothy with her own tornado and flying house was by far the best. (I kinda hope for a flying cow though. lol)
The Bizarre: Urinal stall guy with attached walls (Tons of people stand by him for a picture but hopefully no one actually peed.), Guy with a hundred eyes (The eyes looked like modified fleshlights.)
Most Horrifying: Zombie diner quartet with fried finger baskets.
Most Amazing: Kali - Goddess of destruction. Can you not love? I jumped up and down when I saw her.
I quite thoroughly enjoyed my night out, the extra hour after 2am just added to the fun. After the ball, we went out to meet some more friends to show off our costume and see who they turned out to be. It was great fun. Surprisingly with our sorta obvious looks, some people still thought I was either Ironman or Cyclops while the Boyfriend got mistaken for Edward Scissorhands. Still, it was nice to be asked more than a dozen times to be in pictures. We did appreciate the attention. Hopefully next year we'll get to do it all over again.
