Yearly Archives: 2009

Vive La France – Happy Bastille Day

Today is the French version of our July 4th and since I’m a fan of nearly all holidays, I plan on going out after work to enjoy a nice sancerre to toast French Independence and the sudden rash of warm weather that I have so deperately missed this summer.

I’ve noticed that Bing, Microsoft’s response to Google has a beautiful photograph of the Louvre in Paris on it’s homepage. I’m quickly becoming a fan of Bing. If you’d like to read a recent review, check out yesterday’s article in the NY Times, Bing delivers credibility to Microsoft.

Off to Ogunquit for the weekend

I am travelling to Ogunquit, ME for the weekend to spend time beachside with friends. The weather looks like it will cooperate and thanks to my two good friends Ralph and Joao, I’ll be crashing in their summer house, which is more spacious and comfortable than the home I live.

I think of Ogunquit, ME as a much smaller and quieter version of Provincetown. It has several bars, certainly more than its share of gay men for such a small little beach town and plenty of fun.

More about Ogunquit:
www.gayogunquit.com
www.ogunquit.gaycities.com
www.edgeboston.com

Flashback Friday: All the Rage

This was the first gay-themed movie that I ever saw which was filmed in and written about gay life in Boston. All the Rage is about a pretentious South End gay man obsessed with the pursuit of physical, sexual, and romantic perfection. Sound like someone you might know? The stereotype works even if the movie sometimes let you down.

As is the case with many gay-themed films, the movie is a bit cliché and the writing and acting at times made me wince, but it was an entertaining enough and worth the rental. The entire movie was filmed in Boston during the mid- to late-90s.


Official movie trailer

This afternoon The Boston Globe is reporting that Massachusetts has become the first to challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, saying Congress intruded into a matter that should be left to individual states.

Read the full article here.

The Defense of Marriage Act or more commonly known as DOMA is a hateful piece of legislation that was passed in 1996 when Bill Clinton was president. At the time, Speaker Gingrich and other social conservatives were nervous that Hawaii would possibly legalize gay marriage and so the Defense of Marriage Act was pushed through Congress to “protect American families”.

My TripAdvisor Profile

As a self-proclaimed travel nut, I freely admit that I’ll be the first to skip major expenses to ensure that I have enough money saved to take a couple of nice vacations each year. I love to travel and think I’m probably at my happiest when I’m visiting some place I’ve never been before. However, prior to leaving for any destination (especially one I’m not familiar), I heavily leverage the TripAdvisor.com website. The site has excellent forums where you can read travellers reviews (and you can submit your own comments if you’ve travelled some place too).

I’ve made several connections on this travel website. If you too use TripAdvisor.com, let’s connect – my profile name is Albiani and you can link directly to read more about me and my travel preferences by linking here.

I’ve included my travel map, which shows all the destinations I’ve visited thus far as well as my favorite locations which are signified with a blue star.

  1. Paris, France
  2. Rome, Italy
  3. San Francisco, CA, USA
  4. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  5. Buenos Aires, Argentina
  6. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  7. New York City, NY, USA
  8. Prague, Czech Republic
  9. Provincetown, MA, USA
  10. San Diego, CA, USA

Motley has a new website


In the past I’ve written about Motley, which is a cool shop located in Boston’s South End. Over the weekend Seth, a long-time employee, informed me that the new store owners (Jason and Joseph) had recently updated the store’s website and had added store merchandise. A quick visit has confirmed this so I thought I would give Motley Boston a shout out. Beware that not everything appears to be on the site just yet, but this is a definite improvement. The website proudly proclaims Motley is “Boston’s best little store” and I have to agree. Now go and buy something from them to support local and independent merchants otherwise we’ll be likely to have another bank or real estate office open on Tremont Street, and I’ll have to scream with frustration.

Make HIV testing routine

The Boston Globe has an interesting editorial today in support of a bill sponsored by Somerville state senator, Pat Jehlen, which calls for the state to make HIV testing as routine as getting your cholesterol tested.

The writer makes some compelling points such as, “31 percent of those testing positive for the virus become afflicted with full-blown AIDS within two months. This means that for years they have been unknowingly infected, missing out on treatment and likely infecting others.”

The AIDS Action Committee of MA (AAC) has addressed this issue on their blog with an entry entitled, “Massachusetts Needs an Integrated Comprehensive HIV Testing Plan”.

I’m not familiar with the bill, and I’m curious what your thoughts might be? The full editorial can be read on Boston.com or by linking here.

"You need Pro Caulk!"

When the Pro Caulk informercial first came on the television this afternoon, I could not stop laughing. I think this is the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. At one point the voice over actually shouts, “With Pro Caulk you can do it like a professional!”

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/AFMF6CAjcQA&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999

Agony of defeat


Probably the most amazing Wimbledon match just concluded with Andy Roddick losing to Roger Federer in the men’s Wimbledon championship match. I truly feel for Andy and hope he rallies to come back. He may not have won today’s match but he played like a champion for sure.

How gay are you?

I was reading IDiosyntocracy’s blog and I noticed he had taken this survey which asks “How stereotypically gay are you?” I thought I’d take it to see what the conclusion was and I’m a bit disapointed in myself for not having a more respectable score. I think I lost major points for not owning anything with a rainbow on it and not knowing some of the people referenced in the survey…. Oh well it was a fun 5-minute distraction.

You Are 35% Stereotypically Gay

You definitely have some stereotypically gay traits. You might set off a person’s gaydar now and then. If you are not actually gay, you could be mistaken for gay from time to time. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

How Stereotypically Gay Are You?
Take More Quizzes

Tchau Terezinha & Jose Luiz

Nós vamos sentir saudades.

Happy Birthday USA

Today is the United States birthday and a day to relax and enjoy yourself with friends and family. Boston hosts one of the largest 4th of July celebrations in the nation, which is capped by an extremely intricate 30-minute long fireworks display that is choreographed to music.

This year host Craig Ferguson returns and Neil Diamond will perform with the Boston Pops. No doubt, considering the fact that the Boston Red Sox play “Sweet Caroline” at every home game, Diamond will have nearly everyone singing along with him when he plays that classic tune.

If you would like to find out more about today’s celebrations, link to the official event site. I’ve posted the schedule below for people to follow. Videos of year’s past celebrations are also available by checking out YouTube.

Saturday, July 4th Concert and Fireworks

<font size="1"9:00AM Oval opens

12:00PM Recorded music begins in Boston

4:30PM Recorded music begins in Cambridge

7:00PM WBZ News Radio 1030 simulcast begins

8:00PM WCRB 99.5 FM simulcast begins

8:00PM Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular broadcast begins (Ch.4)

8:30PM Boston Pops concert begins w National Anthem and flyover

9:30PM 1812 Overture is played

10:00PM CBS Network national broadcast begins

10:30PM Fireworks begin

11:00PM Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular ends

*Photo courtesy of Armando Teixeira-Pinto and pbase.com.

Flashback Friday: Elevated Orange Line

The South End is currently serviced by the Silver Line but for long-time residents and those who called the South End there home up through the 1980s they will recall this line which stopped running in 1987. The image above is courtesy of the blog, AloneOne. In the image above you can see the cathedral on Washington Street in the background. Much has changed in the nearly 20 years since the elevated Orange Line stopped running and the Silver Line was created to serve this neighborhood. The image to the left (click it to enlarge)offers a glimpse of what Washington Street in the South End looks like now and includes a picture of the Silver Line bus service which residents now rely on to get to and from downtown.

However, if you are nostalgic about the old Orange Line check out Alone One’s tribute on his blog by linking here. He even has a five or six minute video you can watch and listen to.

The most interesting Republican to emerge from November 2008’s election is McCain. Meghan McCain that is. I’ve referenced Meghan in the past, but I first wrote about her when she dissed Ann Coulter back in March and was the subject of some hateful rhetoric from Republican Party commentators.

Meghan reminds more more of a conservative Democrat with her forward thinking social policies and frankness when discussing sex – a taboo subject in the Republican party unless they are gloating over someone’s infidelity. She was openly criticized for lamenting the loss of Sen. Specter in April and is referred to as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) on many conservative blogs where she is regularly trashed.

No doubt Meghan’s vocal stand against California’s hateful ban on gay marriage will serve to further irritate the cantankerous bunch of bigots more commonly referred to as the Republican Party leadership. I love this photo of Meghan although I wonder exactly how much Photoshop was done. Regardless I’m glad to see her making such a public statement and thankful to see at least a few people in the Republican party still have some sense of fairness when it comes to discussing LGBT rights.

If you would like to learn more about the campaign Meghan is participating in you can link to one of these great organizations.

Equality California, based in San Francisco, CA

Equality for All, based in W. Hollywood, CA

Freedom to Marry, based in New York City

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, based in Boston, MA

Lambda Legal, based in New York City

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, based in Washington, D.C.

I promise I’ll stop bitching, but I figured since The Boston Globe offered advice on how to build an ark on Boston.com this afternoon, I would share this with everyone purely from a public safety perspective. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

For all you handymen out there I’ve included The Boston Globe’s instructions on how to build an ark.