swt61

I must admit Dusty, I don't know why he'd want to see pics of bald spots either. But best to give the G-man what he wants so...

Love the band name! Rob, I think not only should you discover their music, but I think you should adopt that haircut too! I don't have enough hair. Fun video!

Happy Birthday!

Sorry, completely missed it.

Have a beautiful day Sir!

Truer words have never been spoken.

This jingle was stuck in my noggin for years.

Sorry for the late post. Was busy earlier. Have a fantastic day! Stay out of the lava flow.

That could be a double entendre.

I see that you've 'Mericanized your definition of chips. Is it difficult not to call them crisps? FWIW I find the British chips and crisps wording more accurate. That doesn't extend to cookies vs. biscuits, but hey, you can't agree on everything. And I imagine Brent consumes more cookies than biscuits, like myself, so would you really want him thinking they're biscuits? After all, science doesn't fully understand the disastrous powers he possesses, and it could be name related.

Oh, that's not so bad. I could live in that.

Not so sure. It looks much worse than just a few years ago.

Similar to my own introduction to music. My two older Brothers definitely sped up my enjoyment of good old rock and roll. Still, my first albums were The Chipmunks and Elvis (Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite), Around age 10. By the time Aerosmith hit the scene, I was in High School. But I remember pulling into the school parking lot in my '72 Duster with Aerosmith blasting on my Pioneer tuner/cassette, 3 (yes 3) pair of Jensen Triaxle 6 x 9 speakers powered by my Rockford Fosgate "The Punch" amplifier. That however would have been around the time of Toys in the Attic. I thought "Big 10" was so clever. Kids! My first favorite albums were bands such as Procal Harum, Three Dog Night, Blue Oyster Cult, Elton John, Bowie and such.

Oh man, haven't listened to that in many a year. But what the fuck is Irondreamer doing in there? Maybe Peter has a doppelganger?

Thank you Ryan. I remember that lunch well. You and your wife left a lasting impression. Your work with children I find very admirable! We haven't met in person since then, but I do now and will continue to think of you as a friend.

WTF? I'm thoroughly confused! I haven't exchanged a word with Jacob in years! I have no idea where this is coming from. Bazaar!!! However, I'll attempt a reply at what I can only assume ws some kind of drunken rant. Firstly, I don't distinguish between Queer and Gay people. Or Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual people. We're lumped into one group for a reason. Because we're all discriminated for our sexual identities. They're all my family in this fight. They all deserve the same respect as our heterosexual counterparts. Secondly, I have no memory of you ever coming out to me. That's not to say it never happened, but unlike many, I'm not at all shocked when I hear that someone is coming out as LGBTQ+. So it doesn't leave a real impression or memory. Especially if it's someone I have very little contact with on a day to day basis. When I came out on this forum in 2010 I believe, I had a few members private message me to tell me of their LGBTQ+ status. I did not share those revelations with this forum, because that's not my place to do so. Nor did I have any desire to do so. I felt honored that they'd want to share that with me, but if and when they choose to out themselves is their business and nobody else's. Jacob and I have never shared any kind of comradery on either forum. He was always standoffish to me, and I let that be. I remember the first time we met face to face. It was in 2010, Chicago Can Jam, just before I came out. I wanted to meet everyone I could face to face before coming out, because I wanted them to meet Steve, not 'the gay guy', if that makes sense to you? Anyway, the day I arrived in Chicago and met several people, a group of a dozen or so of us decided to get some lunch at a local restaurant. Jacob was one of those people. At some point during lunch Jacob announced "hey, you seem like a nice guy. I really expected you to be a complete asshole". Noone really said anything to that. Including myself. How do you answer a statement like that? Especially when it's stated in a public setting? For me that kind of set the tone for our relationship, or lack there of. While I've never put any member on ignore, I pretty much just skipped over his posts. Then came the giant explosion, where Jacob deleted most of the forum, by accident or on purpose. Again, I assumed alcohol related. I had a lot of back content lost forever. Posts and pictures of building things. My turntable, headphone stands etc... pictures that I had no other backup for. And yes, it pissed me off. But we move on. Then when Jacob reappeared I continued to pretty much ignore him. I have no idea of the events in his life. I couldn't tell you anything about him. I've had no contact of any kind in many years. And I've been more than OK with that. I've not encouraged or discouraged other members from interacting with him. In short, I really just haven't thought much about him in any way. Maybe that's the source of his anger? Maybe not? Honestly I don't really care. However, suddenly accusing me of some kind of prejudice against Queer vs. Gay is just silly. It doesn't really deserve a response, but I guess I chose to do so at any rate. Now I'll go back to ignoring Jacob. That's what works best for me.

He's a bear that wears a hat and talks. What's confusing about that? 😋 As far as I'm concerned, movies about talking bears are a dime a dozen.

Actually, I first want to express my deep gratitude for the complete acceptance that I have received from this very fine group of people! I joined this forum of beautiful people at a time in my life where I was again facing idiotic mindsets and manurisms from those around me, especially at my workplace. And this place, and you people were my respite from the ignorance of those that I dealt with at the time.

Elton has "walked the walk" for decades now. At one point in the AIDS crisis, he donated 100% of his American record proceeds to two AIDS organizations that he founded. Between himself and Liz Taylor, they managed to turn the tide of Reagan's "let them die" attitude towards the epidemic. Elton will always be a hero of mine for his unwavering financial and emotional support. This was at a time when I was losing friends every month, and deathly afraid that my own days were imminently numbered. Elton's actions inspired me to join our local Anchorage AIDS volunteer asscociation (AAAA), where I felt like I was actually doing something to make a difference. I have never been in the military, and in no way do I want to diminish what those brave men and women do, but I do feel like I was at war then. This was when many nurses and doctors were hesitant to enter the rooms of AIDS patients, and we were there to care for those poor souls as best we could. As rough and frightening as those days were, that crisis turned me into someone that I can live with today. I'm proud of my actions, when I wasn't sure of the risk I was exposing myself to. And I give Elton and Liz a lot of credit for turning the tide in public opinion. I'll climb down from my high horse now, for another year.

It's basically Elton John at the sight of Stonewall in NYC, talking about how far we've come, but how MAGA are making new anti LGBTQ laws and trying to strip back the rights we've gained. But in his speech he says "no fucking way" which gets an uproarious applause, and a chuckle out of Biden.

Had Vietnamese food and played Pegs and Jokers with Al's Sister and Niece. A fun time!