Yearly Archives: 2012

OMG

FriendsTo quote the character, Janice Litman from Friends, “Oh…My…Gawd!” This home remodeling adventure, which has been long overdue is past the point of no return. We’re now in a crunch to decide on paint color.

For those who do not know my partner or me, this is making me verklempt. So I’ll give you a topic to discuss amongst yourselves while I do my very best to pull myself together.

The phrase “home remodeling” makes no sense to me. This process has turned my home into a house and there is nothing about this process that makes me think of a model. I don’t see a photograph for the cover of a magazine.  I see a dump. They should call it House Demolition. Now discuss.

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Restaurant review: Local 186

Local 186 is Provincetown’s best restaurant to grab a burger.  The new restaurant has now been open for a few months and the staff has firmly hit their stride, providing attentive service in a great setting regardless of where you choose to eat on their street side patio, large front deck or indoors.

Local 186 is open for lunch and dinner 7-days a week.  If there is a wait for a table, check out their bar on the first floor and grab a drink.  We were lucky on our most recent visit and snagged a table on the patio when we walked up to have dinner on the 4th of July.  We were hungry so we started with the restaurant’s Grilled Caesar Salad for $12 and two sides, Fried Artichoke Hearts  and Fried Avocado – each $7. Local 186 ProvincetownThe menu consists of ten house burgers including The Old-Fashioned which has bacon and cheddar; The Big-D, a Kobe beef burger with sauteed onions and blue cheese; and The Surf & Turf also with Kobe beef as well as a lump of butter poached lobster.  However, if none of the options appeal you are encouraged to make your own burger from a large selection of traditional and not so traditional ingredients.

For our dinner we opted for The Frenchie an 80z burger topped with onions, smoked gruyere and au jus for dipping $15 and  The El Guapo which comes with fried avocado and chipotle aioli $15. Local 186 Provincetown

If you are not a burger lover this is definitely not the place for you, but if the idea of having a grilled burger for lunch or dinner appeals, give Local 186 a try. I also recommend the house beer which is a light lager style brew made especially for the restaurant.
186 Local on Urbanspoon

Suddenly it makes sense

Suddenly it makes senseI consider myself more of a legs kind of guy but when you have arms and shoulders like Brandon Wynn you can make me an enthusiast of watching the gymnastic rings.

Who am I kidding, the fact that I tower over 99% of all male gymnasts and would look like a giant standing next to these guys hardly prevents me from marveling at their physique and watching even the strangest of gymnastic routines whenever they are on television.

Here are a couple more photos released from America’s Men’s Olympics Gymnastics team. America's Men's Olympics Gymnastics TeamAmerica's Olympic Gymnast American Olympic Gymnast

Bear culture bonus post

It is Bear Week in Provincetown so I’m including a bonus “Bear themed” post each day this week on my blog.  Today’s bonus post comes in the form of a photo of a former “Men of Twitter” and a reader of my blog.  Matt is not a bear, but I have a feeling he’d be as desirable as a big jar of honey.  Say hello to Matt who lives in Boston and leave him a nice comment.

mkurkowskiHere is another recent photo of Matt with moi at Boston Pride.

Romney’s plastic personality

The normally tight lipped Republican Party, which is more adept than their counterparts in the Democratic Party at unifying behind one candidate has been uncharacteristically vocal about their frustrations with their candidate for President, Mitt Romney.

On June 30th  the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner said the following about Mitt Romney at a fundraiser in W VA.

“The American people probably aren’t going to fall in love with Mitt Romney. I’ll tell you this: 95 percent of the people that show up to vote in November are going to show up in that voting booth, and they are going to vote for or against Barack Obama.”  Source: Roll Call

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the man the Republican Party is pinning their hopes on in the November election, but Boehner is correct.  This problem is somewhat unique for a party that in recent years has gone out of their way to champion national candidates who are more folksy and likable than intelligent or thoughtful (at least publicly).  Take for example President Bush who would intentionally mispronounce words to sound more down to earth or Sarah Palin who (I believe unintentionally) speaks with the grammatical correctness of a fourth grader.  Romney appears to be a far more cerebral candidate.

Mitt RomneyThe greatest threat to Obama isn’t Romney, it is the slow and unsteady economic recovery of the US economy.  This,  more than anything Romney can say or do may contribute to Obama losing to the Republican’s “unlovable candidate” to paraphrase Boehner.

However, Americans are more passionate than practical when it comes to politics and Romney’s plastic personality and reputation for taking care of the super rich is going to pose a significant challenge.  Ultimately, I think this election will be determined by which side can convince enough of their supporters to come out and vote, while Independents – frustrated by the grid-lock and fighting stay home.

Tweet of the Day: Cape Cod

BosGuyLoved this Tweet from Joan Rivers last week.  Having just returned from Provincetown (which is the last town at the tip of Cape Cod), I couldn’t agree more with her analysis – at least regarding Cape Cod.

Thanks to Izzoiz.com for bringing this to my attention.

http://izzoiz.com/2012/07/joan-rivers-cape-cod-gays-and-travolta/

Chubbies in the wild

This is so not right and at the same time I feel like I could watch this two minute video over and over and over… you’ll see what I mean.  Thanks to @BostonMo for tipping me off about this video from earlier this year.

Ben Cohen at Aqua Bar in Ptown tomorrow


The very handsome, former rugby player and founder of the Stand Up Foundation, Ben Cohen, will be in Provincetown, MA tomorrow for an event called, Boxers, Briefs and Ben which will start at 4PM at the Aqua Bar.

Ben is on hand to debut the Foundation’s underwear line at an event sponsored by the HRC.  According to event details, men will be modeling underwear and Ben will be available to meet fans and have photos taken. Clearly Ben knows his audience.

If anyone happens to go and snap some photos let me know. I’d love to post a few here on my blog.Stand Up Foundation

Fitness tips from Kris Kranzky

Fitness TipsKris Kranzky, my personal trainer at The Boston Sports Club in the South End,  each week shares some fitness tips to help motivate and encourage people like me struggling to get into better shape.

This week’s tip revolves around the importance of cardiovascular exercise.  According to Kris,  this is essential if you want to reach your maximum potential. Some of the ways that cardio training helps includes: weight managment, increasing bone mineral density and increasing your metabolism.

If you combine cardio and weight training in a single session, Kris suggests starting with cardio. This will make you less likely to shorten or cut out your cardio exercises and it helps warm the body to prepare you for your weight training.  To keep your cardio sessions interesting set goals for yourself; this can include time, speed or the types of running exercises.  One of Kris’ favorites is interval training.  Jog for one minute followed by a one minute sprint that is approximately 50-60% faster (e.g. on a treadmill one minute at 6.0 followed by one minute at 10.0).  Repeat this ten times for a total of 20 minutes.

Bear culture bonus post

BosGuyIt is Bear Week in Provincetown so I’ve been including a bonus “Bear themed” post each day this week.  For those not familiar with the gay terminology, an otter is generally characterized as a slimmer or less hairy bear regardless of age.  I’ve taken the liberty of including an example below for you.Boston guy

Meeting President Clinton

Boston GuyI don’t comment much about my work because as much as I enjoy my job, this blog is an opportunity for me to escape that part of my life.  However, this spring I was part of a small team to organize a program for senior executives that was hosted here in Boston.  Fortunately, the nine months of planning and countless meetings paid off since the program was a great success.

The event concluded with our keynote presenter, Bill Clinton.  Because of my role, I interacted quite a bit with the Secret Service and had the chance to meet Clinton.  Its mostly for that reason, I wanted to show off share this picture of me with Bill Clinton. I actually dislike the photo. I think I look uncomfortable, but in fact I was just exhausted.

Below are a few more photos from the program including a picture of the Boston Public Library where we hosted a dinner / cocktail reception.  If you are looking for a restful oasis in the middle of Back Bay the Italian courtyard which you see lit up in one of the photos is a perfect sanctuary to relax, have a coffee with a friend or just think.BosGuy

Bear culture bonus post

It is Bear Week in Provincetown so I’m including a bonus “Bear themed” post each day this week on my blog.  Today’s bonus post comes in the form of a photo of a former “Men of Twitter” and a reader of my blog.

This handsome guy actually visited Provincetown this past weekend for the very first time.  Say hello to Robert and leave him a nice comment.BosGuy

Playboy South Africa Video

I sometimes wonder if any heterosexual men read my blog.  For those who stop by on occasion, thank you.  This post is for you.

BosGuy summer fitness goals

Boston GuyLate last month my trainer asked me what sort of fitness goals I wanted to attain.  Aside from stating vague goals like building muscle mass and eating more healthy, I committed to do my best to try and get in 3 cardio routines a week and to get two solid lifting work outs with him each week.

Last week I was in Provincetown away from both my gym and trainer.  I was not able to get to the gym, but I did get in 3 30-minute runs which proved to be quite difficult due to the hot, hot weather. However, in light of the lack of time at the gym and my glutinous streak I’m now working to make up for lost time at the gym.   Here is tangible evidence of my 3-runs from last week.

Have you set any fitness goals lately?

Temptation Tuesday

BosGuyThe only thing questionable about this week’s Temptation Tuesday is his choice of denim.  Otherwise I find this guy completely adorable.  I’d kill to have his stomach but I’ve come to realize that my vanity is at war with my stomach which loves ice cream.  C’est la vie.