Recently in woof Category

New post, put up over here.

Again, please don't change your URL bookmarks and stuff like that. I'm still waiting for Webmistress to point stuff in the right direction....

It's been another insane busy week, but I just wanted to report that today I established telephone contact with TJ who is "on the ground," and it appears that he is in good health.

OMG I just read that the dude who owns everything on Fire Island is selling everything to some twink. Fire Island is DOOMED!

Hate me if you will, but I think newly elected Kennedy replacement Scott Brown is kinda hot, then and now. I think the Democrats need to grow a pair of cojones and deliver what they promise instead of offering watered down wimp-ass compromises. And the Repubs need to be less crazy. What we now have in Washington is a crazy eunuch making pissy legislation.

The incredible crystal caverns of Cueva de los Cristales - I can't believe these caverns are real! Visit The Iron Ammonite for more on this amazing natural wonder.

Florida home to "diverse array" of non-native wildlife, including this 6' monitor lizard living at Air Reserve base.

The Safeway I occasionally get my groceries at has been shut down due to a vermin problem (probably rats). Eeeew! Please keep your garbage lids on tight, and don't leave trash out on the curb.

Caprica debuts this Friday on SciFy. I'm not sure if I'll catch it but lemme know how it goes.

I think I am going to buy a Nikon CoolPix P90 soon.

As my 39th birthday approaches, I know that I'll get a full year to contemplate the official 'Gay Death' year of 40. I've already got the party planned out, and it'll be a good one. Or at least I have some ideas to start with.

At first I thought it would be cool to have an all-night shirtless dance party on the generally unused 2nd floor of the T.G.I.F. in the National Hall portion of the new(ish) National Airport. But then I realized it would be a fishbowl situation with lots of stressed-out returning air travelers gawking at all the shirtlessness and saliva exchange, which would be a bit of a buzzkill.

So then I thought I could settle for the nice space at Club Zei at 14th and I NW DC in 'Zei Alley' just outside the McPherson Square MetroRail station on the Orange Line. We used to have good times there with my club kid posse back in tha day just after the turn of the millennium. But then I read it's closed, with the last review reading like so:

"This was the best club ever to pick up Asian girls. Every time I went it was always packed with pretty women. One of the reasons It closed down was near the end too many shooting between black and Vietnamese gang members."

OK scrap that idea too. You'll all just have to figure out where to have my 40th birthday bash yourselves. It had better be special and MetroRail accessible too. Start saving up your pennies, because I also want to have a hot scruffy shirtless tripartite of DJs Dingo, Robbie Martin and Bravehound flown in for the occasion. They can tag-team throughout the night. I was thinking a starting set of upbeat dance versions of my favorite pop songs (Dingo knows what to do), then through the evening with a more West Coast easy feel with Robbie, and then some dark and broody shit with Bravehound into the morning.

All three must remain shirtless throughout the event and cannot shave a week in advance of the occasion.

I have survived the holiday season. Man it was brutal, and that work trip in early December didn't help either. By the time Christmas Eve rolled around and I had a moment to work out at the gym, I could only lift about half as much as I normally could as me old bones were sore from exhaustion. I've felt better after a full rugby match. Or maybe the rugby helps burn off the stress, and this time of year without it I get sore all over anyway. I swear there was something going on every evening for the past two weeks, usually having to do with the holidays. This year's resolution is to think about how to manage holiday tasks and stress for next year.

But I was able to get a disco nap in and got a ride with Clickboo and Dr. Jeff* to the annual Baltimore Bear Orphan Party and Feast, which was a lot of fun as always. I'm glad I was able to make it, and Dr. Jeff* took some nice photos*. Here's me and Tom playing out the nativity scene with fabulous cashmere pillows and shawl:

Clive the anteater-dog was a sweetie:

*Both of the above two photos copyright Jeff Smith Photography. OMG you'd better credit Jeff Smith if you use his photos or you'll definitely hear about it later.

• Auto-tuned vocals
• Sarah Palin
• Put your fucking iPhone away
• Mold
• Heterosexuals with litters over a half-dozen
• Carpetbaggers
• Magic underpants (2nd year in a row!)
• Lady GaGa parodies
• Farmville gift notifications
• Jaded gays at Kylie Minogue concerts

I'll have to admit, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus has been given a reprieve due to 'Party in the U.S.A.' and has been lifted from the 2009 banned list.

But I am happy about:

• Glee
• Yet more 'staches
• The prospect of gay marriage in DC
• A raise
• Not living in a basement
• Personal debt down to levels I will soon pay off
• Sam Worthington and his woofy neck scruff

On Friday I scoffed at the initial predictions of record snowfall as apocalyptic news sells ad space well in this region. Even as it was still coming down Saturday morning, I didn't think it would continue, but it did until late Saturday night. Fluffy and dry too, but the ground was still above freezing so it made the roads very slushy. Nellie's was open Saturday and Sunday nights, and I was delighted to learn Sunday evening that Federal government was closed Monday. I'll have to give props to the OPM for not trying to test road capacity in this area before closing down in the middle of the day like they did in the former administration. Otherwise people just spend 2 hours stressing out driving to work and back again, and otherwise spend the work day stressing about getting back into their cars. We just don't have enough snowplows to go around here, and people simply don't know how to function in the snow here, so just call off the whole day.

I made a point to sticking to my commitment to hike over to TJ and Rob's place Saturday night, and I saw so much foolishness along the way I was totally exhausted from judging people by the time I got home. People in high heels walking in the slush, driving front-wheel Dodge Neons around the city, walking down the middle of the street amongst sliding cars. I mean really, where is it that you absolutely have to drive to in such weather? You never shoulda left home. All toilet paper and eggs jests aside, there's a lot you can do in your snug home, so you should stay there when it's snowing, or else walk to where you have to go. Don't burden city services just so you can go to your foodie party.

British Lions rugby legend Gareth Thomas came out publicly in a moving article this weekend. While he is still an active professional athlete, he has high hopes with continuing his career while being out. His teammates have known about it for at least three years and apparently don't give a shit. U.S. gay athlete poster child and former NBA player John Amaechi predicts he will have a hard time, but comparing U.S. basketball to U.K. rugby attitudes is like comparing apples to apricots in my opinion.

We'll see how it goes. After being on a gay rugby team for 10 years I can assure that people get over it. In fact we only get a few instances of homophobic slurs anymore each year. "The Gay Team" or gay players are yesterday's news in our league, a tired topic, next subject. And it's hard to tell whether an opponent would have said that if they knew the team was gay or not. Did the slur just come out of their mouth because they say that crap all the time, or was the gay thing at the forefront of their thoughts before they said it? You never really know. The funny thing is we're now about half gay, and it's the straight guys who often get the slurs. It's great outreach for giving a non-homo audience some perspective!

Anyway, here's to hoping [again] active U.S. athletes have the balls to come out while they're in the midst of their career. I believe it's becoming less and less of an issue, and once somebody does it, more will follow. Somebody in baseball, football or basketball just has to step forward and do it [during their career]. If you have the strength to persevere with your training and athletic development, you also have the strength to be who you really are. Once that is done the two will complement each other and you'll be a better person.

I'm going to see 'Avatar' in 3-D tomorrow. I've heard great things about it and it will be nice to stare at Sam Worthington for an hour as well. He's also going to star as Perseus in the remake of 'Clash of the Titans'. It seems Gerard Butler set the bar for teeth gnashing in swordfighting flicks, since you now must gnash your teeth as much as possible while wielding a sword. P.S. I'd kill for a high-res .jpg of Sam Worthington's woofy neck scruff if any of you come across better pictures. [ fingerbang ]

On Saturday during the snowstorm I heard some scratching noises from the skylight, and looked up to see a few starlings drinking melted snow water from our roof skylight. Despite all the precipitation, birds have a hard time finding reliable sources of drinking water when it snows and freezes, but like the skylight starlings, they find a way.

Congratulations to scruffy Grant Cleveland for winning this year's MetroWeekly Coverboy of the year at age 39. That's awesome for two reasons: 1.) because he's not in his 20s, and 2.) he has natural unshorn body hair (well it's clipped here and there, but still...). Could it be that the Age of the Smoothie is over? Is natural body hair finally coming back? My prayers might be answered. But then again every time I get my hopes up I see a guy with ridiculously sculpted eyebrows and then I become sad. Anyway, 2 out of the 3 finalists for the contest had scruff and that's a good thing.

Today on Twitter @MyTrainerBob Harper from The Biggest Loser asked "What do u think about my full beard?" I had to respond positively of course.

Tomorrow morning I'm supposed to go on the annual Audubon Society's winter bird census, but snow is predicted so of course everyone is in extreme panic mode. Thankfully I have enough toilet paper so I'm not gonna die. But Tomorrow's Headlines from WhyIHateDC might read: "D.C. Paralyzed by Snowstorm. 'Divine retribution' for gay marriage says local pastors" or "White House Buried in Historic Snowstorm as Obama Attends Global Warming Summit."

If we don't all die of snow inhalation before then, I have been invited to dine at TJ's house on Saturday evening. TJ doesn't leave his house much anymore, so that's about the only time we get to see him, and we cherish those moments. He's sorta become a lot like Willy Wonka, who never left the factory until everyone won the golden tickets. I think he's getting plowed by Oompa Loompas on a regular basis too.

Our awesome mayor Fenty just signed the bill supporting gay marriage. Now all we have to do is clear it through Congress. There will be hell to pay if some obstructionist Republican prick blocks it. Not only is this next step a big gay issue, but it is also an issue for the citizens of the District of Columbia's ability to rule ourselves, which is just as important to me.

I went to see 'Invictus' last night starring a much-beefed up Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. It was a great story and I learned quite a few things I didn't know about the Springboks and South African politics. It was a great sports movie far less preachy than Clint Eastwood's 'Gran Torino'. Between that film and 'District 9', this year South Africa clearly wins the World Cup of movies.

And I got my H1N1 shot today but now my kids will die of autism because Jenny McCarthy & Kirk Cameron said so.