Should auld acquaintance be forgot...

Here we are at the brink of 2006. Let's look back at the year gone by, huh?

Best things about 2005

1. Being blessed to have a wonderful Christmas with Mom & Dad;
2. The whole G-Man adventure (and its bittersweet but memorable conclusion);
3. Seeing Erasure in concert;
4. Confessions on a Dancefloor (I've been meaning to write a review, but just haven't gotten around to it);
5. My trip to Slovakia & Poland in June;
6. My trip to Prague & Bratislava in December (thanks, AIHA, for that at least, this year);
7. My new laptop;
8. The Vatican "Instruction" barring gay men from the priesthood (only because now it's put up or shut up time for a lot of clergy, which will be a much-needed wakeup call to those who are responsible for the Catholic teaching on homosexuality going haywire into crap like this - see #3, 11 below);
9. Getting TiVo and taking back control over my life that was being held over me by TV;
10. Finally started to get serious about saving money and planning for future investment;
11. Starting this blog (and a few others that have yet to reach their full potential. just like this one!).

Worst things about 2005

1. My Dad's cancer came back; his surgery & recovery ordeal & its effect on my Mom.
2. My temporary mangina from back in April and my terror that the same thing's gonna happen again any day now;
3. The Vatican "Instruction" barring gay men from the priesthood (because it's inflicting a terrible amount of hurt on those who are already ordained and on those who feel they have a priestly or other vocation and now are left wondering what to do);
4. My apartment is still a cluttered mess (some would say "a dump");
5. My ill-fated reentry into the dating world via Match.com - if only for a few weeks, until I realized that I am doomed to only meet there seemingly nice guys that turn into psychological sadists, inconsiderate boors or complete jerks;
6. Still didn't achieve the body that I know I can have & be happy with (but got a lot closer to it, for a few months, anyway);
7. My close hangout-with friends in DC seemed to grow more distant (or just busier) and I didn't really make any new good friends here (file this under "loneliness");
8. Didn't get to NYC around Christmastime again this year;
9. Didn't get to the shore at all;
10. My satisfaction with my own work-work improved, all the while my opinion of the organization and my "job satisfaction" went straight into the toilet (picture Whitney H. saying, "I'm about to do the doo. I'm about to drop it on the one - a boat load");
11. Still haven't gotten over what's his name. (See #8 & 3 above, probably about which he will do absolutely nothing)

So what am I looking forward to in 2006? Here's a taste...

1. Cleaning up the dang apartment and maybe painting... or perhaps even buying a condo instead;
2. Being much more serious / disciplined about fitness & sculpting the bod (the love handles WILL be gone, you WILL see my abs, and I may finally get to the point of having actual pecs);
3. Finding some organization to volunteer for, hopefully which also will expand my social network;
4. Finding a guy who'll go out with me more than twice;
5. Buying some inline skates, learning how to use 'em, and becoming one of "those guys";
6. Buying a bike and becoming a much more outdoorsy guy than I've been;
7. Paying off my car loan (February!) and being able to invest what I was paying towards that.

Now then, if you've got suggestions (or comments) for what (else) I should do in 2006, you know where you can leave them.

"Brokeback" leaves me shaken, not broken

Saw the trendy cowboy/rancher/poor midwestern slobs movie, Brokeback Mountain tonight.

I tried earlier today to see it, only to find that every showing except 10 p.m. was sold out in advance. (But this ain't gonna be a box-office king; if it's limited to similar venues as it's screening here in DC (a single theatre, on a few screens), opening-weekend sellouts in tiny theatres in the heart of urban gay neighborhoods won't crack any long-term records.) I had to buy my ticket online... Eventually the 10:00 show was also sold out. I got a decent seat but a bit too far back. Anyway...
I'm not sure I get what the hype/buzz is all about.

Sure, it's a "mainstream" film with known actors, depicting romantic gay love without the (West) Hollywood stereotypes. But... it was all very subtle, too much so, in my opinion.

It's beautifully shot (especially the 1st third, up on the mountain), and the story is compelling, to some extent. Unfortunately, at least one, if not both, the main characters are somewhat less than sympathetic (except maybe we pity them). The Heath Ledger character especially is hard to like: on the rare occasion he says anything, he mumbles and grunts. With the exception of maybe two scenes, he doesn't express any emotion except torture. But this is the character that bears the emotional weight of the whole story. Subtle, but not enough. People that keep such stuff bottled up usually die before they're 50. So don't expect "Brokeback 2"; the character surely won't be around long after this movie ends.

The scenes move very slowly, yet the film abruptly leaps years ahead in a single cut, with only a few clues that a lot of time has passed.

I also don't get what the moral outrage is about (well, we know what it's about! jealousy!!!); there's very little here that the typical PG-13 or R film doesn't have, and the actual physical sexual stuff between the characters shown on-screen is very limited and overall quite tame. I kind of had to wonder what happened with the advance reports on this film. The protagonists only have two kissing scenes (maybe not really even two). Actually I was rather disappointed that the physical affection between them wasn't shown much, either. It was mostly "emoted", I guess.

Without giving away too much, it did seem that despite his initial protests to the contrary, one of the principals *would* have identified as gay in the modern sense (had he not been living in the mid/west US), while the other would/could not -- which is the root of their conflict.

The acting was fine; I didn't have trouble believing any of the actors, even though a few minor characters were rather thin and played for laughs. All in all, it was worth seeing, and while it was a quality production, my lingering reaction is, "that's it?"

(And while I thought it would leave me a blubbering mess, I got teary only once and it was only slightly. OK, maybe twice, but that's it. I guess I just didn't feel enough for the characters.) But upon repeated reflection, as I watched it I did get the theme of having to repress a very powerful love. That's something I know a little bit about. Which should have left me in a teary shambles, but it didn't.

as seen in "bitch session" (Bitch Boy edition)

The Bitch Boy (editor / queen bitch of the Bitch Session pages) makes this installment happen. Thanks, BB!

"I'm a gay man and the majority of my friends are heterosexual because I find many gay men to be embarassing, shallow and too into themselves."
Bitch Boy responds: A moment of silence, please, for the loss of this bitter pill from our social functions.

"Homosexuality is of Satan! The word 'gay' used to describe this lifestyle is misleading. Everyone wants to be gay and joyful. All of you demons will be chained together, burning in lakes of fire."
Bitch Boy responds: Sounds like more fun than wherever you'll be!

"Reading 'Bitch Session' reveals to me how shallow I was in my 20s. I feel sorry for kids these days. They don't have a clue what lies ahead for them."
Bitch Boy responds: Apparently they'll go from being shallow to patronizing.

"When will the world learn that tolerance is needed to ensure world peace?"
Bitch Boy responds: Cue the Charlie Brown Christmas music.

(WashBlade, 12/9&16/05)

Prague really is golden

Hello blog fans! (I'm dubbing you "Carroteers"; if anyone has a better name, let me know.)

This is my last full day in Prague, and the MedNet conference has concluded. All that's left for me to do is SHOP, EAT, and BOOGIE! In that order.

I won't belabor you and myself (time to get downtown to the Christmas markets, already!) but rather will offer a few select impressions and images. I might go into some other things later on. For now here's a few fun things to ponder.

Now, then. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

Neither did I. It was found on the wall of my hotel room right next to the door. After a call to the desk about having no working lights, I learned something new that evidently one would only know by staying in European hotels. At least, I assume that's where they get it from; I don't really stay in hotels much, so pardon my ignorance.

It's quite ingenious, really -- you stick your key card into it as soon as you walk in to the room, and it enables all the room lights. It holds your key safely until you leave, at which point the lights will be deactivated, so as not to waste power. (I wonder if this was actually borne out of a culture of conservation, such as the CEE countries would logically have had before 1989 and then until their post-revolution economic recovery. Makes sense, anyhoo.)

Here's my hotel, the Prague Crowne Plaza. Kind of elegant & grand, kind of tacky. Four stars (not five, mind you), but kind of in a run-down neighborhood with not much else around it. It's 2 tram stops & then a metro ride away from the old town, which is a pain but once I figured it out it became not a big deal.


A shot of the hotel lobby decked out for Christmas. Other than the creepy unused reception halls tucked in every corner, my favorite thing about this place is the fitness center, which is the most-modern and well-kept-up part of the Crowne Plaza.


I'll hafta check this museum out sometime in the future. (All matrioshka dolls should look like that -- they ARE evil, ya know.)