Monday Miscellany

I know it's later than I normally get around to getting a post up, but hey, I've had a busy day that is not yet finished.  I helped a friend with something after sleeping late this morning, then just when I was about to sit down and put this all together, my brother called.  So I dashed off to Mother's house to meet him and bring back my dresser I had as a teenager, a small foot stool which each of us kids had to sit on back in the 50's and  60's.  I also picked up a genuine piece of Americana, a Pyrex Glass 4 Cup Measuring Cup with the Metric equivalents on the back side.  There was also a Bill Bates (Cowboys #40, one of my all time favorites) autographed shirt along with my high school annual from my junior year and numerous photographs.  There was also my first report card and one from Junior High as well as a couple of class pictures from elementary school.  So much of the afternoon was spent on memory lane. 

Now that I am home and have the meat marinating for dinner later (teriyaki beef, steamed rice and a veggie medley), I finally have time to sit down at the computer.  Even that is limited as I have company coming over here in just a few.  I am happy to report that the Dallas Cowboys actually won their game against the Titans in Nashville 26-10, and looked pretty good doing it.  In one of the late games the San Diego Chargers sent Super Bowl Champions the Seattle Seahawks home with a black eye 30-21.  I used to live in San Diego and the Chargers were the first pro team I ever saw  in person.  I did not get to go to a live Cowboy game until I was out of the Navy.  On Sunday Night Football, the hated SF 49ers were all over the Chicago Bears 17-0 in the first half.  I almost did not watch the second half , but I am glad I did.  The Bears came out a different team in the second half, outscoring SF 28-3 for the half leaving the final 28-20 Bears.  Not that I am a Bears fan, I just like to see SF lose.  I know it is probably wrong of me, but such is life.  Now all I need is for the Colts to slay the Eagles on Monday Night Football and the NFC east will have a 3 way tie for first between Dallas, Philly and DC with the 0-2 Giants dwelling in the cellar.  Next up for the Cowboys are the St Louis Rams in St Louis.  Would it not be a hoot if Michael Sam got to play his first game as a pro against the team that drafted him?  We shall see.  

Your Monday with Mozart this week features an excellently nuanced performance of the Masters Piano Sonata in A Major, K331 by the talented young Pianist Ivo Pogorelich.  Young Ivo seems to caress the music from the keyboard in a beautiful interpretation of Mozart's composition.  You may also hear Mozart's Violin Sonata Number 33 in E Flat Major, K481 with a performance by David Oistrakh, Violin and Paul Badura-Skoda, Piano over on my tumblr.  

Then with out further adieu, I present you with this week's edition of Monday's Undies featuring lots of studly hunks sporting their skivvies and little else.  You will find them on display below the video.  There is also the Hottie of the Day!, Fransisco Aponte, whom you will find over on my tumblr.  Thanks for hanging in, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Notes on the News

I had a pretty good day off yesterday, taking care of some things that needed it and catching up on my rest.  I caught up on some of my reading also and I ran across some things I thought I would share with you today.  From The Daily Dot come the story '5 Things you can do to counter protest Michael Sam trolls'.  When the Dallas Cowboys signed Michael Sam to their practice squad, there was a lot of positive feedback.  There was also a lot of negative feedback from Internet trolls, homophobes and red neck assholes.  Author Samantha Allen discusses this and then gives some really good recommendations for actions anyone could take to combat the trolls who would otherwise cast severe shade over the Cowboys in general and Michael Sam in particular.  There are some people around here we are going to have to drag kicking and screaming into the 21st century.  (either that or just kill em all and let God sort them out, lol!)

Then there was the story on Mind Body Green, 'I'm An Otherwise Straight Man (Who Fell In Love With His Best Friend)'.  Author Mike Iamele tells the story of how he, an ordinary yet open minded straight man, suffered a debilitating illness only to be nursed back to health by his roommate and best friend.  In the process, somewhere along the way, he fell in love with his best friend.  He goes on to relate how they both worked to build a relationship that would weather the storms of life together.  Interesting and romantic, you will be glad you read this one.  

The final story I would like to share with you today is from the current issue of Rolling Stone: 'The Forsaken: A Rising Number of Gay Teens Are Being Cast Out by Religious Families'.  Through a series of interviews with homeless Gay Teens, Rolling Stone shines a much needed spotlight on this growing problem.  As the love and dogma fight it out in the hearts and minds of many religious families when confronted with the inconvenient truth of their child's Gayness, a great many Gay Teens are cast out of their homes and left to their own devices for survival.  There are some success stories of youth who have made it off the streets and into a better life, there are far, far too many stories of neglect, abuse, drugs, violence and even murder of those who really are to young to be where they are.  The sad truth of the matter is summed up in the concluding paragraphs by one of the interviewees who put it this way:

"(She) doubts she'll ever speak to her family again, though it's still hard to think of holidays spent without them, of childhood stories that will remain untold, of the jarring lack of continuity between her existence then and now. "I spent the past four years paying for that one sentence I uttered," she says quietly. "People ask me all the time if I hate my parents for everything they've put me through, but I really don't. If anything, I just feel sad for them because I'm sure it hurts so bad to have chosen their religious values over their child. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, they suffered through it just as much as I did, just in different ways." She sighs and looks out the window to where the shadows will soon lengthen into night. "I think, in the long run, no one won.""

A sober but important story to which we all need to pay more attention, if we don't take care of our own Gay Youth, who will?

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Your Tuesday Musical Moment features the Music of Giuseppe Tartini.  Tartini took a gavotte written by Arcangelo Corelli and wrote 50 variations on Corelli's theme.  Today's featured works are those 50 Variations for Violin on a Gavotte by A. Corelli written by Tartini with a marvelous performance recorded in 2005 by Nikos Karagiannis.  You may also hear Tartini's Concerto for Cello, 2 Horns, Strings and Basso Continuo with a performance by Ensemble 415, on period instruments featuring Roel Dieltiens as the Cello Soloist over on my tumblr. 

To accompany the musical variations as you scroll down the page are this set of virile variations on the male theme all of whom wish to lead you down the garden path in this week's edition of Tuesday's Temptations.  You may also appreciate the Red Knight who is your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again real soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!