mike carey

Review of a new gay-themed film from the Economist. LGBT history “120 BPM” is a passionate tribute to gay activism Recreating the protests of AIDS campaigners in the 1990s, the film holds lessons for social reformers today (Edited to add this image. I couldn't post it from behind the firewall when I posted the article, but The Economist tweeted it just now.) IT is a successful time for films featuring gay subjects. From the Oscar-winning “Moonlight” (2016) to the celebrated “Call Me By Your Name” (2017), they are garnering critical acclaim and encouraging public discussion of how the struggle for acceptance endures today, even in societies which have legally enshrined equality. “120 BPM (Beats per Minute)” is the latest such film. An unabashedly passionate depiction of the work of AIDS activists in Paris in the early 1990s, it has resonated deeply with audiences. At its premiere at the Cannes film festival last summer, critics were in tears; it won several awards, including the Grand Prix. At a recent preview in London, viewers sat dumbstruck during the credits before standing to applaud. The film’s protagonists are part of the Paris branch of ACT UP—the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. The film shows the collective strategising and arguing over how to rouse a society that is, as they see it, callously indifferent to thousands of gay people dying from AIDS each year in France. Their protests form much of the film’s drama as they campaign for the release of AIDS treatments and challenge prevailing homophobic attitudes. The film opens with them storming a medical conference, handcuffing its speaker to a post and covering him in fake blood. It’s an unplanned escalation which prompts questions about whether violent stunts alienate people who might sympathise or compel them to listen to the message. They continue to shock and provoke, breaking into the offices of a pharmaceutical company, dousing its walls with fake blood and accusing its staff of being “assassins […] with blood on your hands”. They forcibly enter a school and distribute condoms to its pupils. Throughout these political statements, a tragic personal narrative anchors “120 BPM”. Nathan and Sean, the two main characters, fall in love; Sean subsequently dies of AIDS in his 20s. Their relationship is an assertion of the possibilities of love in the direst of times, and their intimacy is a fervent defence of gay romance and life in a society that often views gay people with contempt and devalues the lives of AIDS sufferers. In one scene at the school, Sean leans in to kiss Nathan in front of a student. The boy dismisses their protests saying: “I’m never going to get your AIDS bullshit, I’m not a fag.” The truculent and captivating tactics are faithful to the spirit of ACT UP’s campaigning work and Robin Campillo and Philippe Mangeot, the writers, were involved with the organisation in the 1990s. Founded in New York in 1987, its activists’ work included marching up to the White House, dousing its fences in fake blood and throwing the ashes of one of their members inside its grounds to protest the first Bush administration’s fumbling response to the AIDS epidemic. ACT UP’s Paris chapter was founded in 1989 and its members used similarly public tactics to their American counterparts, including covering the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde with a giant pink condom. “120 BPM” also shows some stunts which Mr Campillo imagines the collective had staged, such as turning the River Seine red with fake blood. Yet “120 BPM” is moving because it feels far more than a reflection on a bygone moment of AIDS activism and gay stigma. Despite its setting, the film’s close-up shots and its characters personal battles give it an urgent and perennial feel. In its portrayal of ACT UP’s indefatigable fight for medical treatments and equality, it captures the dogged persistence required to spur inert authorities and hasten social change. These messages about the contingency of progress and the trials of activism remain applicable and instructive for gay people and AIDS sufferers, but also for other contemporary activist movements. Today’s political moment—in which some fear that populist politics are fuelling hatred towards racial, national and sexual minorities—may explain why the film has echoed with so many audiences across the world. “I think the film has been longed for because we still need this militant activism,” Mr Campillo told a French film website. His characters’ irreverent crusading and euphoric protest, even as death looms, are a fitting tribute to such work.

One of the things that was recommended to me last year (when average daily temps were 10 degrees (F) higher than this year's forecast) was to take a ride on the aerial tramway. It goes up to over 2500m elevation so you would need warm clothes for that. (That's 8500' for you imperial measurement users.)

I remember when I first started reading gay hookup sites I saw guys who said they are total tops in hookups but totally versatile in a relationship. I think that sums it up. People have their preferences but they are influenced by circumstances. I understand the OP (or is that OR's) frustration that some men don't accept that an escort is a top if he ever bottomed. That is crazy. To the extent that that view influences escorts to say they are total tops I sympathise. But I don't think many escorts would say that. How many escorts are so focussed on the 'I only hire total tops' market that they advertise as such. Most clients (I suspect) who want a top want someone who can do the job and don't care if the guy has bottomed once. (I would add that I have read here that the best tops are those who have bottomed and know what it's like to do so). I suspect that the real issue is that most escorts prefer to top, so seeking one who bottoms is a negotiation, but there are guys out there who advertise as bottoms. Don't assume that the total tops are catering to 'only tops' clients, that may be what they really want. And for clients, spare a thought that an escort may be versatile in private but choose to be only a top professionally. If that's what he wants, get used to it.

So, a university sends out an all-students note warning that cougars, the big cat variety, had been seen on campus. What could possibly go wrong? Well, this...

Not everyone speaks Farsi as their first language, they make up about 60% of the population. About 20% are Azeri (a Turkic language) and 10% are Kurdish. There are smaller groups of Arabs and Turkmen amongst others. The history of Iran/Persia is complicated with all sorts of nuance both implicit and explicit. When I was in the UK in the late 70s, the Daily Telegraph still referred to the country as Persia.

Thanks, that's what I thought. As long as there are advertising sites, people will be able to check where you are from there (whether they do so or not is a separate question), if they were to vanish or become less accessible they (and you) would have to rely more on direct contact to ask. It's still hypothetical, but in the current situation it's timely to explore options.

Short answer yes. Phone numbers work for the commercial phone system (or PSTN). If you are in the same region as the number you are trying to call you can omit the regional label parts of the number (country code, and in most countries the area code) and the system connects you anyway. In the PSTN, the + tells the system to use the international dialling code for the country you're in (be that 011, 0011, 00 etc) so you don't have to remember it. The full number including the + still works if it's a local number so if you travel it makes sense to save the whole thing in your contacts. WhatsApp, on the other hand doesn't use the switching coded into the number, it is just a label for your WhatsApp account, and like any url, it can't recognise part of the label so you need to enter the whole thing.

I read rather less into the question than you apparently have. I took the question to be limited to whether it would be awkward for an escort if someone asked for their contact details as insurance against the possible disappearance of escort ad sites. I didn't think the question implied an expectation that having those details would be a short-cut to hiring in the future. Rather, I expected that the questioner expected to exercise the normal courtesy of giving reasonable notice when they attempt to book an appointment. I'm grateful to any escort who says that the preemptive exchange of contact details is not awkward, and also to those who have posted their details here as insurance of their own. I don't see that doing so gives me any right to contact people at random other than when I actually want to book time.

Pita was the flag bearer for Tonga at the winter Olympics too http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-10/winter-olympics:-tongan-flag-bearer-pita-taufatofua-entrance/9418056

https://m4m-forum.org/threads/hot-aussie-nick-bracks-enjoy.99374/#post-1255897 As I noted in the linked thread, his father was the Labor premier of Victoria.

Beautiful conceit in the title of the thread!

I wondered.

PM sent.

Eric, happy birthday, have a great day and spoil yourself (and possibly someone else at the same time). I've heard that 40 is the new some other age, but too late for me.

Well, I guess that's a fantasy potential clients could look to. Only to find out that the farmhand isn't as innocent or retiring has he might otherwise have seemed! Be still my beating heart. Anyway (regaining composure). I count myself lucky that I have been here for the last couple of years and have built a list of men I might want to see (not a to do list, just guys I have formed an opinion on), so as long as RM is still there, I won't need any detail in their profile, just some sort of contact detail. That is not to say that this is a desirable outcome, just that I can live without the detail for a while. If the RM site goes to grey, and there is only a picture of each advertiser in a suit with a link to his phone number, I hope that the gentlemen concerned will be patient it I need to ask a question or two to refresh my memory.

I'll miss not seeing you as well, Alex. But I'll be trying to travel to the US in the following months.

http://bryan-knight.com/ As already posted without a link. I've been salivating for a while.

... But I'll be in the US again soon enough. How long is the drive from LV to SLC?

Of course, all Americans should have to experience a 14 hour flight at some stage.

Did it involve canes or riding crops?

You don't think?

I, on the other hand am a confirmed timewaster who just wants Victor to talk to me for free. I mean, it's obvious. I'm not in lust. At all.

Yes, it is interesting. In this case it's competing activists at 50 paces (A-listers on one side and self-selected hospitality workers on the other). I think the discussion needs to be broader. If a waiter in Joe's diner ends up with $7 an hour including tips the system is broken, irrespective of whether someone in an Outback Steakhouse can earn $50. If you have a 40 hour a week job you should be able to live on your pay without food stamps or charity. If employers can't pay that sot of wage they can't afford to be in the business.