We'll Always Have Paris--the After-Party

Well, I'm back from Paris. WOW. What a beautiful city...it really can't be explained unless you've been there. Everywhere you look is a postcard...every restaurant is delicious and every street is quaint. Amazing. I have several restaurant recommendations...particularly Maison Rouge in the famed Le Marais quarter (gay neighborhood!), Cafe Di Roma on the Champs Elysees for pizza and Desperados (Mas) beer. (a wonderful beer brewed with Tequila and lime! Yum!)

Of course the day before I traveled, I heard of the horrible bombings in London and my heart skipped a beat, knowing that I was then going to travel to the same continent in less than 24 hrs.

Oh my, what has happened to the world? We have become such a violent place. And then I hear of the poor innocent Brazilian man that was shot to death by London police in their new "shoot first, ask questions later" mode. Honestly, I understand the fear after such a scary attack. I work in Washington, D.C.-just a block from the White House. I was here on September 11, 2001 and I too was scared for my life. But no amount of fear or "preparation" justifies shooting an innocent man in the head 7 times just because he is running away and "seems suspicious".

It's truly a sad state of affairs.

Well, at least Paris was beautiful and I kept my mind off the terrorism by visiting great works of art in the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay. Whenever the world seems to be just too horrible to bear and human beings seem so disgusting to me, I try to focus on the beautiful things that Humans have been able to create throughout the ages...whether it's a visual art, or performing art...the arts and nature, those are truly the only 2 things left in our World that provide me solace.

And Love. Love, Nature and Art. Is there really anything else worthwhile?

I have been the luckiest man in the world for the past month, because I've met a wonderful guy and we have had a wonderful time together. His name is Robert and he makes me smile. He is genuinely a "nice guy" (I didn't think their were any of those left) and treats me so well, I can only hope to be as good to him as he is to me.

We are having lots of fun together and we both look forward to learning more and growing more together, each and every day.

Now before I make everyone vomit, let me just leave it at that...it's a good thing, I'm enjoying it--'nough said.

I wanted to take a moment to comment on my TV watching for the last couple of weeks. I've noticed that the quality of the writing of some of the TV shows I watch has vastly improved this season. I am not sure if it's just because the 2 shows I am talking about are in their last seasons, or maybe I'm just delusional...but both Six Feet Under and Queer As Folk seem to be getting better and better with each episode I watch.

6FU has always been original and relatively well written..the first 2 seasons were amazing, and there was a slight slump for a while, but this final season is really wonderful to watch. I love where all the character's arcs are going and I like a lot of the humor that is being injected as well. (Claire standing on her temp cubicle to sing "You Ride Up My Thigh" (her sarcastic ode to her bothersome pantyhose, sung to that insipid 70s christian-lite pop hit, "You Light Up My Life" was particularly inspired).

QAF on the other hand has made a 1,00000% jump in quality since 2 seasons ago, when it seemed amateurish and clumsy. I used to just watch this show because it was about Gay people and I felt it needed the viewership--I used to cringe at how crappy the dialogue and situations were. But now, it has matured and is very very watchable, especially the plot line with Linds and Mel and their break-up and ultimate getting back to together and wanting to move to Canada. It's complex, originaly and thank christ, entertaining.

Now, if only season 2 of Project Runway could get started, all would be right with the world again!

Christmas in July!

Wow! It's been almost 2 months since I've blogged! What is my problem?

I'll tell you what my problem is--I am having a great time with my life right now! So many good things are happening to me that I don't have time to bitch about anything in this blog! : )

Ok, so The Monkey is still President, and our Country is still going down the crapper, but at least thing are looking up for me personally.

Work is going very well, and I am being sent to Paris (hello?) for 2 weeks starting on Thursday. This will be the first business trip I take in almost 7 years--and it's about time! It will be a wonderful experience I'm sure and I am looking forward to visiting the City of Lights for the 2nd time (last time was in 1990-my how time does fly!)

In terms of recommendations for music, film, etc...I saw War of The Worlds on Saturday night and I really didn't like it. Aside from being totally over Mr. Cruise and his Scientology driven crusade to kill the therapists, I just found the film to be rather plotless. Okay, so an alien race tries to take over the World. That's it. And despite Spielberg's valiant attempts to add depth to the 3 main characters and the excellent special effects and editing, he just couldn't get away from the fact that there just isn't much "there there" as Ms. Gertrude Stein once proclaimed. So what? That was the question I was left pondering as I exited the multiplex.

I did see a wonderful, much more rich and complicated film on Sunday night (love COMCAST ON DEMAND!) called Mala Educacion (Bad Education), the latest Almodovar film. Very edgey (as always for him) and very thought provoking. Still not my favorite of his films, but very well made I thought. At least there were some human, emotional, complex issues dealt with, and not just fluff and aliens pulverizing CGI animated humans.

The whole country is a buzz with the announcement of the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. As terrible as this is for us liberals (cause it means The Monkey will get to choose a new Justice), I can't help but think that you never know what these Justices will do once they are selected and are on the bench. O'Connor herself was believed to be a total right wing lackey when Reagan appointed her in the early 80s and yet she ended up being quite moderate in her voting, so you never know. I hope for all our sakes that whomever The Monkey chooses, ends up being more center down the road...we have to get comfort in small things at this point.

Meanwhile, wonderful news from the U.K. that Dusty's long awaited Royal Albert Hall concert from 1979 (command performance for Princess Margaret), may soon be available (pred. November or December) on DVD! HOORAY! Gosh, I hope so--it's about bloody well time as the Brits would say! We need a worthwhile document of Dusty's brilliance on stage. I'm hoping a companion live CD will also be issued at the same time..Merry Christmas for me!

Well, I'm off to Paris on Thursday, can't say when I'll blog again, but in the meantime--let's carry on and try to make the best of this summer!

I am currently in one of the best moods of my adult life, so I hope I can ride this wave all summer!