Hefe

Who is the Irishman who stayed outside all winter?

Freud for #1 Mr O'Higgins rings a bell for Latin America, can't remember where... so a wild guess: Bolivia I apparently have family in Argentina since my mom recalls a letter to her father, from his uncle, that told how sad he was living in Argentina away from the ould country without any family. His name wasn't O'Higgins though, I would guess the letter to be around WW1 era vintage give or take, maybe earlier. (Been to BA on business, highly recommend to any who haven't visited, very European & cheap, good steaks, beautiful women & a flourishing tg scene also.)

What nationality was St Pat? Where do potatoes originate from? Who have the smallest dicks in Europe?

I much prefer using the metric system for this....

They are saying the Euro & the US Dollar may be at parity by summer's end, might take advantage of that & visit some places I've been meaning to see for a while. Europe isn't often on sale.

Yeah, it was a GOFUNDME campaign I just learned about this week, not meaning to hijack a thread. Hope the "fat guy" gets some media coverage when that event happens, it sounds like a cool event.

How about this one for topping out the hypocrisy-meter: Uninsured Ex-Sheriff Who Fought O-care Struggles To Pay Medical Bills Former Arizona county sheriff Richard Mack, a fierce opponent of Obamacare and a leader in the "constitutional sheriff" movement, is struggling to pay his medical bills after he and his wife each faced serious illnesses. The former sheriff and his wife do not have health insurance and started a GoFundMe campaign to solicit donations from family and friends to cover the costs of their medical care. "Because they are self-employed, they have no medical insurance and are in desperate need of our assistance," reads a note on Mack's personal website. Mack, the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, suffered a heart attack in January and is in recovery. His wife fell ill late last year. Mack is on the board of Oath Keepers, a right-wing fringe group made up of police and military veterans, and is known forsupporting Cliven Bundy in his standoff against the federal government. He is also an ardent opponent of Obamacare. "The States do not have to take or support or pay for Obamacare or anything else from Washington DC. The States are not subject to federal direction," he wrote on his website, outlining how state governments can block President Obama......... "Since it appears that recovery will take a good deal of time with associated expenses, I struggle to not feel stress – both the stress of thinking about huge hospital and other medical bills as well as regular living expenses while I am unable to work -- and also the stress of not being able to accomplish what I am so passionate about doing for others," Mack wrote in a note on his GoFundMe page. "It is difficult and humbling to say that we need your help, but we do." So basically this guy is now begging for people to send him $$$ to take care of his & his wife's medical bill, that's their solution for healthcare... begging. Since this guy has gotten a bit of publicity & I guess he has gotten a lot in the wing nut community, he is just a few hundred dollars short of his goal on GOFUNDME. http://www.azcentral.com/story/ejmontini/2015/03/02/obamacare-richard-mack-sheriff-joe-arpaio/24261145/

Never been to Volterra so can't compare, but last trip I went to Taverna del Passatore & really liked it, pasta Bolognese here too, the nonna was cooking it in the kitchen, maybe when she doesn't cook the results suffer?

What about SLC Lefty?

DT, you will love First Class on Cathay, a real experience.... plus their business class lounges in HKG are very nice with showers & a noodle bar & espresso bar, etc... Not sure if there is a step up to a First class lounge as well. HKG is definitely worth a look if you have never been there, especially if like me, you have seen it in movies for years. I would suggest pick one or 2 things/places to explore rather than trying to see as much as possible. Very easy to spend $$$ very quickly there, which is one reason why i mentioned the nosh at Cathay's lounges, but the city does have amazing food & it may be worth it to research for a great cheap resto or food stand. Could also read The World of Suzy Wong on the flight over...a good read btw

Yes, welcome....

Salt Lake city

I'm guessing the Turkish flag is a red herring here? And what is the deal with the crescent for islamic societies anyway, what's that from.... anyone know?

Yes, since I stopped traveling much for business the CC strategy has been my FF point strategy as well, I think this may be limited to US citizens mostly though, maybe Canada too. Not only do I charge everything on my cc no matter how small a purchase, you need to make sure that you pay off in full each month to avoid usurious fees, just set it up for an auto pay but check in every few days for fraudulent charges, not uncommon anymore, in case you need to stop the account from ringing up bad charges. (It happens quickly, my last one had fraud charges starting in HKG & spreading to Africa within minutes, the cc company is usually understanding & replaces the card quickly.) My go to card in the US is a SPG Amex (not so good overseas tho). After $20,000 charged when I transfer the points to my FF account they will bump it up to 25K points. Even at the frugal level of spending I am at these days $20K comes quickly when everything is put on the card. My main advice is to focus the point accrual with 1 airline & get CCs that offer a minimum of 40K point sign up bonus or give extra points for expenses that you usually spend a lot on, eg., hotels, office supplies, etc... If you run a business you can get a lot of points very quickly doing this. An additional point bump can be had by starting to online shop, & I buy everything online except for groceries, by starting at an airline shopping portal. I know both AA & United have portals where once you register & shop through them you get 2X-6X additional points for the same item at the same vendor. Amazon is the big nonparticipant in this. Those who are really hardcore can buy some of the debit/gift cards that offer miles/ points when you buy them with CCs, this allows you to get miles for things like rent/mortgage payments & other things you can't use CCs for. My last trip to LOS was on JAL first class, my god was that an amazing flight, only 7 others up there with me, never could have afforded that ticket.

Wow!! .. me too willie... I think I was 11 or so too & it blew my mind... even now I remember the puerto rican "ladyboy" giving blow jobs to the guys. I found it in my father's room. I had never heard the term "cock" referring to a penis before, that's how long ago it was, mid 60s. That may be the first tg reference I ever ran across, & it was an actual real novel too, not just a wankfest... might be worth rereading again.

I know in the US they scrutinize the visa app especially the employment/financial resources of the applicant. If they aren't deemed financially secure enough they are considered a risk for overstaying as an illegal resident or being exploited as a prostitute & they'll deny the app, especially if there are no immediate family members in country. I'd be interested to learn the differences in Europe.

Not the old Simon Cabaret?

Sure post that if you don't mind. I remember when the internet was usenet, before the www. I just cut the cord this week & am setting up my system now. Thanks

Didn't know if I should post this here or in the Locker Room... (the No. America board may be the least visited board), anywho... Bruce Jenner has been a regular in the gossip rags for years & especially in the last year. It has been undeniable lately that he has been transitioning: showing up with painted nails, highlighted hair & a tracheal shave. He has had shaped eyebrows for decades, I suppose none of this has been lost on this crowd here, even though he has denied this throughout. So apparently his recent appearances with the nails, earrings & hairdos has been part of a slow reveal. It has been all but formally announced that he will do a docu series on his transition, he will be in charge, not the dimwits he married into. He is scheduled to do a network prime time interview this spring, I suppose he will announce it then, no one has said anything official yet. I noticed his eyebrows & hair back in the 80s & just assumed he was a crossdresser, or gay, but the last couple of years he has really committed, going by his looks. I feel a bit sad that it took him so many decades to come to terms with this, he'll become an older woman right off the bat missing any chance at being young & hot, but I think it's great that he has the strength to finally commit with everyone watching & commenting on his/her looks going forward, that can't be easy. But more important I think this event & the tv series will be a watershed event in bringing the issue of transgenderism right into everybody's living rooms. It has been growing bigger for the last decade, first with the underground success of tg porn sites, RuPaul as a pop star & the gradual acceptance of tg themes & actors in popular media. This however, is a mainstream sports champion who was on the Wheaties box changing his/her gender on prime time television each week, I think it will mark the mainstreaming of transgender issues the way AIDS, & Rock Hudson, ultimately mainstreamed gay issues. Back in the day (80s) I thought this was such an underground & radical thing I was getting into & now it's going to be sponsored by Coca-Cola & used car dealers!

Was this written about Janis? Apparently that was one of his more famous conquests at The Chelsea & I seem to recall an interview with him that he felt bad about the encounter or the publicity he didn't discourage about it. Maybe it was this song? On a sidebar I just watched a short program about the Greek island Hydra some time ago & it was mentioned that Leonard still owns a house there since the late'50s & if I understood correctly it is occupied by his former wife.... Suzanne. Where have I heard that name...

Were they saying "Ma-aaaaa-aa-aa-aahk" ?

Fantastic energy in that brogue! A long time ago I worked for several years with a contractor who came from a village on the north end of No. Ireland & had what sounded like a Scot's accent. My mother is from the Republic & I grew up surrounded by brogues but I never heard one that sounded like his... it's amazing all the regional variations in such a small island, I guess isolation fostered this.

Is this the beach on Rio during one of those big events like the World Cup or The Stones concert?

It's funny, I had a feeling that it was older than my guess so I did google it & it goes all the way back to the 50s, written by 2 guys I never heard of, covered by a lot of artists since then including Ella Fitzgerald. Ian Tyson was such a good writer I just ascribed it to him, but thinking about it it sounded older...

Bingo!