Fantasy Real Estate

Time for another fantasy real estate Friday. Let's go back to Stockholm (yet again). This property is listed at 9,250,000 SEK, which equals $1,459,858 CAD - a bargain, really! Check it out:

Crazy straight boyz!

Hey all... Not much new or exciting. Am very glad that the weekend will soon be upon us. I've had a couple of very sexy bus drivers this week on my way to and from work, so that is always exciting for me! :-)

Tomorrow is Halloween. Can you imagine? Where DOES the time go? We didn't have one knock at our door last year, but we bought a bit of candy to hand out this year, just in case. The weather is supposed to be fine and it IS a Friday night, so you never know...

Just came across this vid on YouTube. Kinda cute. Smoke and mirrors from US marines with some time on their hands.

The Tudors

Are you watching The Tudors? If not, you should be!

(SPOILER ALERT: The video contains scenes from Season 2 not yet aired on TV in North America. It is so good, though, I couldn't resist posting it. Great music, too!)

Marcel

Mmmm... I wonder if the pair he's wearing is for sale!

Matt Damon on Sarah Palin

Well, the election down south looms. One week from tomorrow. Though it should be a cake walk for Obama, things are seldom that simple. There's also a lot of talk of rigged voting machines and people getting bumped from the list of voters. And it's not like similar things haven't happened in the past. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Here's Matt Damon's take on Sarah Palin:

Skinny Saturday/Sunday 31

Hey all. Sorry I missed yesterday. It was an incredibly busy day from start to finish. I got up fairly early, walked Kaiser and then went to the farmers' market for the first time in a while. I bought organic eggs, Swiss chard, and lettuce, and I picked up some kindling as well. I then went to the bakery and bought a couple loaves of bread. After I got home, I had breakfast and biked my 21 km. Then I showered, had lunch, and went out and ran some errands. After that, we raked and bagged leaves on the front lawn for a couple of hours. I showered again and then we got dressed for dinner with Paul and the ballet afterwards. I hardly ever wear a tie and jacket, but last night was one of those occasions. We had a terrific meal - I started with Sicilian seafood chowder and had bacon-wrapped scallops as a main, followed by a Drambui on the rocks and sticky pudding with ice cream for dessert. Very yummy.

The ballet (King Lear) was good. Not great, standing-ovation, blow your socks off, but good. Bradley thought me somewhat pretentious when I said that there were some timing issues and that the troupe needs more depth (as evidenced by the fact that one of the lead ballerinas actually fell during the performance!) and when I pointed out that the last ballet we saw was Gisèle. By the Bolshoi ballet. At the Bolshoi theater. In Moscow... LOL... What can I say? Perhaps I am a little hoity-toity!

After the ballet, we headed up to Georges and Barb's where some friends had gathered to celebrate Georges birthday. Lots of wine and food and it was a fun (and at times surreal!) way to cap the night. Let's just say the evening involved scotch tape, a seance, and some hot same-sex dancing - by the straight boyz no less! And even a Madonna-style smooch between the gurls just before we left! Where the heck is David Lynch and my camera when you need them?!

Phew! Without further ado, here's the boyz:

No on 8!

Just saw this I-Report over on CNN and thought I would post it here. It's about the warring factions in California over Prop. 8, which if passed, would take away same-sex marriage in that state. I gotta say, those on the "Yes" side in this debate are not the brightest blubs on the tree. Check it out:

Into the Wild

So my boyfriend George called me up tonight [No, not George Stroumboulopoulos...and I use "boyfriend" in the sense that George is a boy and he is my very good friend] cuz he had given me the shaft when I called him at work earlier today... Just kidding, Georges. He didn't actually give me the shaft, it was just that he was waiting on another, rather important, call - or at least that's what he told me.

In any case, over the course of our conversation tonight, Georges mentioned that he and his lovely wife Barb had recently watched the film Into the Wild. It sounded interesting so I will get Brad to add it to our Ziplist with Rogers Home Direct, which is the Canadian version of Netflix. I just hope Brad doesn't get any ideas about taking off on a hitchhiking journey to Alaska!

In other news, I called the MetOpera in NYC today. I had ordered tickets to La Sonambula in March way back in August (the day the tickets went on sale). It took me close to 2 hours online, but I finally succeeded and had the recepit to prove it. The rub was that my credit card had never been charged for the tickets. So I called today and they had no record of my purchase. Piss me off! I was able to get 2 more tickets for the same night and in slightly better seats for the same price. Thing is, back in August the Canadian dollar and the US dollar were basically at par. Our dollar has since slipped dramatically and we now have to pay an extra 25 cents on the US dollar meaning that the two seats that should have cost $318 are now $400. Oh well, crap happens. Whaddaya gonna do?

This Saturday we are off to the ballet here in town. A production of King Lear. We have excellent seats and I'm very much looking forward to it. We're having dinner with our Paulie before the ballet and afterwards we're off to George and Barb's for a celebration of Georges birthday (which is actually the following day, October 26).

Here's the trailer for Into the Wild:

Ooh Yeah

And now for something a little different... A new vid from Moby. My straight male readers will be sure to dig it.

Sunday odds and ends

Greetings fellow Earthlings. Another Sunday is upon us. It's yet another beautiful sunny fall day here. The leaves continue to fall like snow. Ooops, I shouldn't have used that word. Snow. I dred the thought. And the forecast is actually calling for flurries here on Wednesday! Flurries. In October. Can you imagine?

Went down for a quick visit with mom today. She looks well and didn't have too many complaints. I can sense trouble on the horizon, though. One of her friends in the home who was in a shared room, just moved into the large private room across the hall from mom. You'd think mom would be glad to have her closer, but it turns out that Phyllis like to keep her window open to let in the fresh air... And mom never stops complaining about the cold or about drafts. LOL... There's ALWAYS something.

Thought I'd share a few pics to tie up the week:
The dogs weren't all that impressed with Charlie and Marcus and they slept through all of their flirtations as Brad and I watched Survivor the other night


My new favourite beer. Organic Honey Dew from Fuller's in England. It's very much like a delicious honey beer we had in Saint Petersburg, Russia, but just a bit less sweet


This was one of the bottles we enjoyed with Brad's sister and brother-in-law last month. A super Tuscan we brought back from Italia


A close-up of the label. Poggio Amorelli. Pick up a bottle if you can find it. It's delicious.


This was the bottle of of wine that I bought at Palatium in Rome the night we had dinner there. They packed it up like this for me. I'll show you the bottle inside when we open it.


And the extra-virgin olive oil we purchased in Castellina in Tuscany. We'll be cracking this open very soon, too

Skinny Saturday 30

It's another picture perfect fall day here in eastern Canada. Our front lawn is covered with leaves, but there are still a lot remaining on the branches, so I'm going to wait before raking and bagging them. Ugh. That's a chore I hate and I'm usually sore for days afterwards. One of these years, I'm going to hire a couple of cute university boyz to do it for us.

I biked my 21 km this morning and have been to the grocery store to get mom's stuff. I'll pay her a visit tomorrow. Right now though, I'm going to head down to the kitchen and make a sandwich for lunch - Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and cucumber on sourdough. Tonight, we're going out to dinner with our good friend Christiane. We're going to a restaurant I haven't been to in ages as I always found it pretty mediocre. Brad ate there recently with his dad, however, and they enjoyed their meal, so I'm ready to give the place another chance.

Here's da boyz:

Another TGIF

Hey gang. I decided to take today off and catch up on some things around the house (cleaning bathrooms and the fireplace and the like). I just lit our first fire of the season a while ago and am looking forward to curling up on the sofa and listening to some good music and reading this evening. It's a bright sunny day here and it's supposed to go down to zero C tonight, so the fire will be cozy.

Thought I would post a few pics of my two favourite Survivor Gabon players, Charlie (who's gay) and Marcus (who's straight, but definitely not narrow). Charlie has a huge crush on Marcus, and Marcus laps up the attention and is quite the flirt. Straight guys who are comfortable enough in their own skin and not afraid to be comfortable around gay guys are some of the most well-adjusted and attractive guys on the planet.

I snagged these pics from great guys Steph and Alex over at OhLaLaMag.






Below, Marcus is actually eating a piece of fruit off Charlie's shoulder. That's how it all starts, though, I guess...

Gag me with a ...

After last night's debate, Karl and Dick gave John a pretzel...

Skinny Saturday 29

Ah, and sweet Saturday. It's a beautiful warm sunny day here and the leaves are falling fast in the brisk breeze. We're off to Brad's sister's for the big Thanksgiving meal today. Thanksgiving isn't nearly as big a deal here in Canada as it is in the States (where the holiday falls in November). Families generally do get together, but the meal could be held on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday (the actual holiday). Just whatever fits into everybody's plans best, I guess. And I think I prefer having it in October. That way, it isn't so close to Christmas and you have over 2 months in between the two holidays. Americans still get next Monday off, though. It's Columbus Day down there. So Happy Holiday to all!

And at least here in North America, the stock markets will be closed on Monday. So you guys in Europe and Asia, just relax, okay? What say we call this bottom and start climbing up again!

Here's da boyz:

TGIF

Hi all. It's finally Friday. Thank god! And it's a long weekend here in North America, to boot. A big thank god again!

The Candian dollar is in freefall and the TSX and other global bourses are in leading the way. Sauf qui peut!

October should prove to be a VERY interesting month.

Perhaps Marianne has some words of wisdom:

My Fellow PRISONERS!!!

This made me pee my pants! Look at Palin after he says it!! TFF!

Eighty-eight

Happy Birthday mother mine! She's 88 today!

I went down yesterday with a card and a dozen roses and stayed for lunch. I also took her some other special treats that she will enjoy, a big piece of quiche Lorraine, some jumbo cashews, and a large print Reader's Digest. I'll take her out to lunch sometime soon as well. Simple things, really, but she loved the roses, and showed them off to all of the other residents and workers in her special care home (so she told me today).

She was born in 1920 and grew up in the 1930s. Like so many who lived through it, that Depression mentality never really left her. She has been frugal and thrifty all her life. "Waste not, want not" was her motto. That and, "A penny saved is a penny earned." and she lived modestly, but well and continues, for the most part, to enjoy a happy and fulfilling life - something I have to remember when she has nothing but complaints about her arthritis and her preceived constipation! As Brad told me the other day when I was a little fed up with her complaining, "It's not easy being 88." And I'm sure it isn't.

When all is said and done, I love her dearly. She raised me, mostly on her own, in times that were very difficult for her. She would read to me by the hour, got up at 2:00 a.m. and fix me bread and molassas, and she sacrificed many things, things I'll never even know of, so that I would be happy and safe and unaware.

Ya vas lubliou, te amo, je t'aime. I love you, mamma. Happy Birthday.

Skinny Saturday 28

Happy Saturday all. "Can I call you Joe, by the way?" Ack!

I slept in this morning until 9:00 a.m. then got up and walked Kaiser and went to the bakery where I picked up a loaf of sourdough and a loaf of rye, as well as some somosas and a quiche Lorraine. I made out our grocery list when I got home and Brad went off to buy them and I headed to the basement to bike my 21 km.

Did you see the story this week of the 7-year-old who went on a killing spree at a zoo in Australia? Unbelievable. For half an hour he threw stones at and bashed lizards and other reptiles and then threw some into the crocodile pen. Apparently he tried to scale the wall to get into the where the crocks were, but he wasn't able to. Too bad. Sick and depressing.

Then, as I was showering after my bike, I remembered another story from a few years ago of a 6-year-old girl somewhere in the U.S. who made her mother stop along side a busy highway as she had seen a turtle trying to cross and she wanted to help it. When the mother stopped, the little girl jumped out the car and started running toward the turtle so fast that the mother was unable to stop her and she was hit and killed by an oncoming truck.

Good and evil, black and white, ying and yang... Constantly interacting across the globe. Sometimes one gains the upper hand sometimes the other. I guess it wouldn't be planet earth without them.

But enough philosophy. On to the guys of Skinny Saturday!