BSR

At the time of the Adria exhibition tour, the infection rate was very low in Serbia, which is probably why Novak didn't take Covid as seriously as he should have. By the way, I've read that one of the infected players, Grigor Dimitrov, has not fully recovered even though it's been ~1.5 years since he got Covid.

Yeah, except that tiger's purr sounds more like a bull elephant in heat.

I kept hearing different reports, but apparently now it's official: all players must be vaccinated. Novak is very guarded about the matter, insisting that one's vaxx status is a private matter. Early on in Novak's career, a reporter asked him what he was going to splurge on now that he had a few big tournaments. Instead of responding to the fun, light-hearted question in the spirit it was asked, Novak ripped the poor guy's head off, screamed that the question was inappropriate, and how he spends his money is a private matter ... yikes! Chillax, dude. I don't know if it's a difference in Serbian culture or a Novak peculiarity, but he obviously has a very strict code regarding privacy. Whether his rather extreme (imo) take on privacy will outweigh his desire to win a 21st Slam at his most successful venue, I couldn't tell you. I can tell you that as I die-hard Novak fan, I will be bullshit if he boycotts the 2022 AO.

Your case sounds similar to mine. After both of my Moderna shots, I suffered chills and horrible body aches that knocked me flat on my back for 2 days. While I was committed to getting the booster, I was dreading it like an IRS audit. My 3rd shot was Pfizer because that was the only one my local Walgreens had in stock. Fortunately, my reaction to the Pfizer shot was mild, just a little out of it that day. But after sleeping for 10 hours, I was dandy as candy. If boosters are going to be necessary every 6 months, fine by me. I'll just make it a point to find a place that offers Pfizer. You can't imagine how relieved I was that my system could handle the Pfizer shot. I honestly don't know how many more Moderna shots I could handle.

Oh, so that means no Tyler Wade Only Fans? I'm happy for him, really I am.

Oh no, he was sent to Triple-A. Players in the minors don't make much. I hope he doesn't have to launch an Only Fans to supplement his income. That would be just awful.

These guys really need to tuck some mistletoe into their waistband.

Wow, blast from the past! Did we really used to go to the library and lug a huge encyclopedia volume from the shelf when we needed to know something? It seems like ages ago. Do schoolkids nowadays even know what an encyclopedia is?

The official name is the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. I think they included "Western Heritage" because Native American exhibits are prominently featured. Yes, it is definitely worth going, so much to see and learn. My favorite exhibit was the Navajo silver & turquoise jewelry, wow, stunning pieces. Gotta confess, I kinda had this fantasy that some sexy aw shucks cowboys would be the museum guides & ushers, but no such luck.

I think his body is just right in this picture, about the halfway point between the two pictures above.

This comes off as sanctimonious virtue-signaling from Trudeau. I'll never forget the impossibly smug look on Trudeau's face when he corrected someone that the proper word was "peoplekind," which oh by the way isn't a real word ("humankind" is, but not "peoplekind") If the monolingual Air Canada CEO has gotten by just fine for 14 years without knowing French, then it obviously isn't necessary for his job. And if it's not necessary, he shouldn't be forced to learn it, just as prancing blackface boy can't force people to use "peoplekind."

Some of my mother's friends came up with a rather interesting vacation idea. They're die-hard mahjong players who booked a cruise last minute (cheap rate, they're all retired, no kids or pets) just to play mahjong. They cleared it with the cruise line ahead of time to bring a mahjong table & chairs on board and got exact measurements of the cabin to make sure the set-up would fit. They played mahjong all day, ate all sorts of great food (no grocery shopping, no cooking, no dishes), and enjoyed the ship's entertainment every night. It was a 10-day cruise leaving from LA, going up & down Mexico's Pacific Coast, yet they never stepped off the ship. Not my concept of an ideal vacation, but they had a blast. Even at full price, they said it would have been worth it. At the last-minute fare, it was a steal.

I've had Johnnie Blue a couple of times and can't understand what all the fuss is about. I'm the opposite of @Epigonos, I'm nutty for fine single malts but don't care for blends, even superfancy ones like Johnnie Blue. It's hard to find, but I had Glenlivit 25 once and fell in love, but my truly sublime Scotch-drinking experience was Macallan 25, which runs ~$2000, if you can even find it. Until I win the lottery, however, it'll be Macallan 12 for me, with the occasional splurge on Macallan 18. I wish I could be more adventurous with my Scotch sampling, but since the good stuff is pricey, I stick with my favorites.

I think it's great when you discover that someone has a "hidden" talent. Like most, I only knew Florence Henderson as Mrs. Brady, the mom on the world's cheesiest TV show (its popularity baffles me, even though I remember watching reruns as a kid). Never in a million years would I have guessed she could sing like that.

I agree. While I was initially turned off by the prospect of following an itinerary that someone else put together, I realize that might be the best thing about this 274-night cruise: going to places I would never visit on my own. I had never even heard of Ishigaki or Nha Trang until I saw them on the itinerary, but I'm sure Royal Caribbean scheduled a stop in those places for a good reason.

"A Florida Amazon driver has been sacked after a scantily clad woman was filmed clambering out of the backdoor of his delivery vehicle — sparking speculations as to what transpired within." I doubt there was all that much speculation, pretty sure people can put two and two together.

Yes, I'm sure they had difficult lives. But I'm also happy that they found love, because not everyone does. Whether married or single, life for gays was tough back in the day. At least the men in these photos had someone at their side to help deal with life's adversities.

Out of curiosity, I wiki'd Serenade of the Seas, the vessel for this 274-night world cruise. With capacity for 2,490 passengers, it's a lot smaller than Royal Caribbean's megaships, which carry 5,600 passengers at double occupancy, 6,700 if maxed out (sofabeds in many cabins). On the other hand, Serenade of the Seas has twice the passenger capacity than the largest ships in the Oceania line, 2.5 times the largest Crystal ship. I guess that makes Serenade of the Seas a mid-sized ship, although almost 2,500 passengers still seems really large. That's a heckuva lot of berths to fill. Passengers don't have to commIt to the entire 9-month voyage since the world cruise is broken up into 4 segments. But even just 1 segment is still a really long cruise. I wonder how sales are going. Has anyone here booked yet? 😄

A friend of mine went on a 3-week cruise and gained 20(!) pounds. He was a little overweight (10 lbs at most) before the cruise but came back noticeably larger. It got to the point where he just busted up laughing when people's eyes got as big as saucers upon seeing his remarkable weight gain. I asked him, "Dude, what did you eat?" He said, "Everything."

My uncle had a brief stint as a piano player on Holland America. The crew told him that because the world cruise was so long (120 nights at the time) and because world cruise passengers tend to be quite a bit older, 2-3 passengers die during most world cruises. They even had a separate fridge on board to store the bodies! So how many passengers on this 274-night cruise are going to expire before it's over? The ship better have a really big fridge.

A balcony cabin (I'd get so claustrophobic in an interior room) + port taxes (mandatory) + gratuities (optional, but don't be an asshole) divided by 274 nights comes to about $645 per night for 2 passengers. Since that covers all food, entertainment, transportation, and lodging, you're getting pretty good bang for your buck. But how many couples have $177,000 to plop down up front?

Royal Caribbean is offering its first ever world cruise, and they're going BIG. It leaves Miami on December 10, 2023, and returns to the same port on September 10, 2024 -- 9 months, 150+ destinations, all 7 continents. While it sounds like the adventure of a lifetime, I have to wonder who can actually go. First, you would either have to be retired or have a very nice, understanding boss. Then you'd need a heckuva lot of disposable income. Even an interior stateroom is $61K (times two for double occupancy), a balcony stateroom is $79K, plus $4700/passenger in port taxes. Of course, you'll spend for all sorts of extras: shore excursions, gratuities, Wi-Fi, drinks, laundry, etc. You would need someone to take care of your house & car for 9 months. And you'd need to be in good health because the shipboard physician will be able to handle only basic medical issues. Granted, very few people have the time & money for a 9-month cruise, but If you could, would you go? You could see so much of the world yet unpack only once. You'd see so many places you might not visit otherwise. Transportation from place to place is on the same ship, as opposed to a nonstop chase of planes, trains, and buses. You never have to worry about meals & entertainment. Plenty of downsides too, however. You'd be on the same ship in the same room for a very long time. You'd be in close quarters with the same people for 9 months, which is great if you like your fellow passengers, not great if you don't. Most passengers will be older, if not much older. You might not end up liking some destinations yet spend too little time in places you love. All told, it seems like the kind of thing that sounds great in theory, but I have my doubts that reality would match up to expectations. I think I'd feel too claustrophobic after a while. If I did have 9 months and a big budget to travel the world, I'd prefer to pick my own destinations and timeframes as opposed to being locked into a preset itinerary. But hey, if I met a smokin' hot sugarbaby with no particular plans for 9 months ...

I agree, boycotting travel to LGBT-hostile countries will have zero impact on the policies & culture of those countries, but that's not why I would avoid them. I would feel too uncomfortable in a country where gay sex is punishable with fines & prison time. We all travel for personal pleasure & education. Would I learn something by traveling in Saudi Arabia? Yes, I'm sure I would. But knowing how deeply homophobic the country is and always being on guard would preclude any possibility of "personal pleasure." There are so many LGBT-friendly countries I'd like to visit that I doubt I'll be able to tick all of them off my bucket list. Even if I were lucky enough to go to all my wish-list countries, I'd go back & revisit some LGBT-frindly places before going to any LGBT-hostile country.

I would give Martha Stewart the biggest high-five in human history if she featured these penis flytraps in her next edition of "Beautiful Living."

I got my 3rd shot a few days ago, 6 months after my 2nd. Previously I've shared just how rough the first 2 shots were: 2 days of chills, horrible body aches, flat on my back in bed. The first 2 shots were Moderna, this last one was Pfizer, and I'm happy to report no serious side effects this time. I felt a bit out of it the day after, but after sleeping 10 hours, I felt fine. I was dreading the booster like you can't imagine. But now, I'll just make sure to find a place that offers Pfizer. Even if I need a booster every 6 months, bring it on!