Rávo's World

Sloganise me!

I still need to write a post about my amazing Continental adventure, but in the meantime, I felt I'd share some spam with everyone. Unfortunately the sloganiser has not entirely got the hang of accents, so you will just have to imagine it in its rightful place, but otherwise...behold!

Hmm...I suppose I should stop before I get carried away!

Hugs, kisses and giggles,
Rávo

World AIDS Day

Given my recent altruistic inspirations, it seems fitting to make a comment or two about the date. 1st December. World AIDS Day. What can I say that you haven't already heard? Probably nothing. But remember that it's people like you as well as people unlike you who are affected, directly or indirectly. Brothers, mothers, boyfriends, baby daughters. Bus drivers, artists, scientists, nurses, lawyers. Normal people. Unusual people.

Whatever, enough of the preachy sanctimonious. The point is many of them are enjoying great lives when 20 years ago they wouldn't have had the chance. That's something to be pleased about and proof that there's lots of hope ahead.

Do what you can.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Attempting to install comments

I realised that I am just an attention whore after all, so am attempting to install a comment system in my blog. Unfortunately, because I opted for a locally hosted database-free blogging system that's not too mainstream, none of the comment tools are automatically set up to be compatible with Thingamablog.

As a result, it's been a bit of a technological struggle. I gave up on blogkomm - it looks good, but I just couldn't get it to work right with Thingamablog, and it was trying to make me convert all the entries into php, which I have no problem with but meant things kept randomly stopping working.

I'm now experimenting with Blogtools. This hosts comments elsewhere so I'm not sure how it'll look. This post is mostly a test to see if it's already integrated or not!

Hugs and kisses
Rávo

ETA: Well, we seem to be nearly there. I have to re-upload the stylesheet each time I tweak the template, but it looks like the comment facility might now work. Send me your messages of love!

Spam reduction

The trouble with the fact that they caught and shut down some humongous spam engine that was responsible for some very large proportion of the spam everyone was getting is...

...that now I don't get any e-mail at all! No chance to pretend that someone has e-mailed me with their love/fangirling/criticism/threats of violence.

I suppose on some level I actually quite liked having people trying to sell me Viagra. At least it felt like attention.

I am a quean at heart. People remind me of this fact frequently. Sorry...it's in my nature.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Better

I'm aware that I'm running the risk of turning this blog into some kind of pseudo-political soapbox, for which I apologise greatly. Normal service of drooling, slurping and chattering on about Francisco Bosch's peachy backside will be resumed shortly. However, I just had to say something about Boyzone's new video!

Day-ummmm.

But also...what took you so long? Statistically, I'm sure a randomly chosen singer in a boyband is far more likely to prefer the sight of naked men than, say, a male investment banker, mechanic or chef is. Rather like randomly chosen people from other careers such as dancers and tailors, in fact...

And yet prior to now, boybands have been universally featured in heterosexual relationships in their music videos, smooching with the laydees. Which is fine, if they like that. But if they don't...who are we kidding here?

Boyzone, having a gay singer and much less to lose than your average starting-out boyband, were pretty much ideally placed to break the public into this idea that when you line five pretty boys up in pinstripe suits and have them croon about sweet love and roses and kisses, they're probably not all imagining Keira Knightley whilst they're doing it. I wholeheartedly applaud them! It was hot. The male model was lovely, Stephen looked adorable, and although I'm not convinced about the actual song, I'm sure I can watch it with the sound off whilst playing something more to my personal tastes. I'm sure if you like that kind of thing, the lady bits were hot too! I'm also glad that the female actresses were age-appropriate - it would have been just creepy had they all been early-twenties types, but they were beautiful, mature ladies and it was much classier.

Should you wish to see the video, the BBC have put it on their site. Enjoy.

Congratulations Boyzone! May your single go triple-platinum! And may your future videos be even gayer and even steamer!

Hugs and adoring smoochies,
Rávo

The Irish O'Bama Song

My new ambition is to choreograph a dance piece to accompany There's No One As Irish As Barack O'Bama. How amazing would that be? Really?

Why, yes, I am pro-Obama. My only reservation is that he's perhaps not raving liberal enough. But enough politics. Regardless of your political leanings, it's a marvellous song.

And in case anyone cares, I think he should get a mutt, of mostly poodle origin for the sake of his daughter. Don't underrate mutts!

I think my website needs updating. One of the links is dead, another I think is out of date. I need to actually write some of those essays I promised. And I think some of you would probably appreciate it if I wrote a short biography. Not that it's likely to contain more than this blog does, but perhaps not everyone is familiar with my family, my work or my early life.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Happy day

Today, Ladies and Gentlemen, has been one of the happiest days in my life, ever.

There is very little that beats the feeling of trusting someone completely and utterly, and knowing they do the same to you, and seeing solid, tangible proof of that dedication right there in your hand.

Love you, Brannon.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Twink Code...?

Owing to general tipsiness, I felt the need to construct my Twink Code.

As follows:
T5 C0 L6s h++! d- a(+) w-v c- y++ k+(++) s-v q(+)

Should anyone come across a comparable code for expressing kinks, I might be persuaded, after some good quality alcohol, to construct a similar one.

*giggle*

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Moving

Owing to the acquisition of a new computer, I had to do some fiddling in order to make this blog continue to work. See, Thingamablog is designed to work from one computer, and stores the database locally, which is all very well and good but means when you move to a new computer there is no record of anything that came before. So when you try to add a new entry, it overwrites the whole web record with nothing but that one entry. Fortunately I had backups!! So I didn't dare to post anything here until I was sure I could transfer the database across, something which I finally completed this evening.

So now I'm up and running once again, and normal service will be resumed.

First thing's first - I recently went to a dance show! Morphoses is a Transatlantic kind of cross between ballet and modern (though more ballet than modern). Three acts, about four pieces, which I think got steadily better throughout the show. I really enjoyed it!

However... Some of the postures they ended up in were so suggestive. Bearing in mind I am both queer and kinky, my mind tends to drop to the gutter rather fast, especially when a female dancer is bending over forward with a male dance standing up behind her, wriggling. What else could I think, really? So there I was tittering silently and being glared at from the seat next to me.

Note to self: gloves are REALLY sexy in dance. Black is not so great when the stage is black, as people in the upper circles looking down on the dancers tend to see hands as black-on-black, which means they miss some, but in a colour that stands out from the black...fantastic.

Also, I don't care if it's "traditional" - men in those crotch-outlining tights will always look ridiculous. It seems such a waste to let your gaze wander down over their broad shoulders and rippling back muscles, wiry biceps and slender hips...and then fix on that. Not that I'm objecting to crotches. I just think there's a time, a place and style.

Overall it was very well done, nice music, talented dancers, and some lovely costumes. I did enjoy myself. Would anyone like to come and see Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo with me sometime?

Anyway, I hope you are all well, my lovelies.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Rent and Chicken Tikka Masala

And so to the reviews...

Chicken Tikka Masala

Not Quite as bad as Bollywood and Vine, but not far off. For the first 20 minutes I was thinking, "Hmm, not as bad as I expected...kind of quirky and charming...at least the lead males are fairly pretty..."

But as it went on, it took a turn for the worst. The acting grew more and more wooden, the plot more and more surreal, and the dialogue more and more wobbly. By the end I was blinking in horror and trying to work out on what planet the events actually made sense.

Also, the girl...was about the most transparent plot device I've seen in a very long time. And really, unless she has a medical condition, her parents are being extremely negligent in allowing her to carry as much excess adipose as she does. I'm not saying that there's anything intrinsically wrong with overweight people, but parents are setting their children up for all kinds of problems later on if they feed them junk food, etc., and so it just doesn't reflect on their skills if the children are still sporting "puppy fat" by then. </bitch>

Anyway, terrible movie, but fairly feelgood - nice, mushy ending. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of kissing - it seems a bit of a cop-out in this day and age. But it's nice to watch a movie that's just pure, lighthearted trash from time to time - good for unwinding.

Rent

Totally different class of movie. Very good, and also extremely thought-provoking. Dare I say heartbreaking?

Obviously, I loved Angel right away, so yes, as the movie moved towards its conclusion I found it very poignant and moving, especially considering the unquestioning, beautiful dedication and loyalty of Collins - I loved both characters, actually.

I felt that the final 20-30 minutes could have been better developed really - so many months rushed by, and I think some of the material of the stage production was cut or hugely truncated, which meant that to some extent, the losses, pains and conflicts were diminished as they didn't get developed as well. I think in particular, the relationship between Roger and Mimi, and its subsequent breakdown - I didn't feel the love developing as intensely as I think I otherwise might. The lesbians were...interesting. I'm not sure I ever entirely understood them, as I found it hard to imagine them in the long term. I do have friends who manage perfectly steady relationships whilst arguing constantly, so perhaps it's possible.

In many ways I felt that - with the exception of Angel and Collins, who were just beautiful in every way - the platonic relationships said a lot more than the romantic ones. The enduring friendships and ability to put differences aside when necessary meant an awful lot in this movie, and were incredibly touching. The huge search effort when Mimi went missing...the way everyone gathered around Angel in hospital...those were the highlights for me. And the ability of the Life Support characters to truly seize the day. I don't know if that really happens in real life - I imagine despair and anger play more obvious roles than in the film, but I guess this is the movies.

I didn't realise before I started watching just how important the theme of HIV is in the production. For someone with my background, it is a lot of food for thought. To live under a death sentence, knowing that even though you "should" have the world at your feet, in actuality you can only expect to have another few years at the most... What must that be like? I'm not sure I can imagine it - it's so alien to my own experiences. And yet had my background, my world been different, it could so easily have been me - I'm gay, and haven't exactly been monogamous throughout my entire life (to my shame), and have experimented with certain things I shouldn't have, and certainly had I lived in New York in the 80s, could well have sought out the kind of Bohemian community depicted. So it could indeed have been me, waking every four hours at night to pop another 400mg of AZT, reflecting on how one day my T-cell count would drop too low and the virus would finally start to win the battle. How, I wonder, would such a thing affect me? Would I still be able to embrace life's joys, or would I retreat into the darkness? How would it impact on my relationships with loved ones? My parents would probably say it was my just dessert, but that's to be expected - but what about my close cousins, friends, lovers? It makes me realise that some of my friends and family really would walk with me through the darkest nights, and I should be more appreciative of them, as they are wonderful and I love them dearly.

It is kind of ironic that I chose to watch this particular movie now, when the press have just published articles declaring that HIV is now a chronic disease, not a death sentence - back then it might have represented the end of all things, but now, although still hard to cope with, it is a manageable condition, and people who are HIV+ now have so much more opportunity - legal protection and recognition, effective drugs, support, and a lifespan measured in decades not years - even after it develops into AIDS. I think the thing to really celebrate will be when the US ban on HIV+ people entering the country is overturned - not long now!

So those are my thoughts. Apologies for their rambling nature. I've been doing a lot of reflecting since yesterday, when I watched the film.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Pride London 2008

Pride was, as ever, a delight. Fantastic day, it truly was, and a lot less wet than last year, thankfully, so my hair survived in an almost presentable condition!

There are many photos up elsewhere of the proceedings, so I will only contribute a couple. You see, I feel we should acknowledge the contribution made to Pride by those most loyal of LGBT supports - the dogs! Three cheers for the Gay Dogs (including my own)!

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Best new term for "gay" ever!

I was sent a couple of quotes from a scientific paper in the journal PLoS ONE today. You learn something new every day. Today I learned that I should actually self-identify as:

a carrier of genetic factors influencing male homosexuality or bisexuality (GFMH)

So there you go. I'm not gay. I'm GFMH-carrying.

The paper goes on to say:

"...The GFMH-carrying males (conventionally referred to as ‘homosexuals’) are assumed to exhibit behaviors that lower their average fecundity m_GFMH as a population's subgroup, with respect to the average fecundity m_b of non-GFMH-carrying males..."

The "conventionally referred to as 'homosexuals'" bit made me cry with laughter.

Bless their little cotton socks!

Well, I guess we should be glad the world has come far enough that they're conceding there's an evolutionary advantage to being gay somehow or other, and investigating it as a selected trait, not a mental disorder. It is progress.

Still, one has to laugh...

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Eurovision

Now, I love Eurovision.

What's not to love? It's cute, cheesy, corny, with bad music and worse costumes, dodgy dancing and generally camper than the metaphorical row of tents.

The British entry was cute and catchy - not earth-shattering, but certainly likeable and enjoyable. Being a self-confessed lover of Eurocheese, I of course loved Latvia, Azerbaijan and Spain with a passion. They were properly silly, not taking the contest remotely seriously, which I think is the way to go!

So, overall, I loved the contest. But pu-lease, the voting is just getting silly! Yes, I understand that if you have a Russian-derived culture then you are more likely to appreciate the crooning of a Russian pop star on stage, especially if he takes off his shirt in the warm-ups. But the "shared language and culture" influence seriously cannot be that strong! I mean, 90% of those songs, you could relabel as just about any country you wanted and if you translated the lyrics they'd be perfectly interchangeable. As I was reading the subtitles the whole time, I honestly couldn't even tell you with any accuracy which of the songs were English and which were in any other language, so I don't believe language makes that much difference to anyone who can read and press the subtitles button on their TV. So no, anyone who argues it has nothing to do with politics, gas pipelines and general sucking up doesn't convince me for a moment.

I don't particularly think the UK should have won - it might have been nice, but there were several other entries that perfectly well deserved more recognition than the current voting strategies will afford. It's not even the UK coming bottom that disappoints me. It's the fact that unless you're in a little political vote-trading-relationship these days, you could enter the best, spunkiest, cutest and most adored song in the world and you still wouldn't win. Which...is not the point of Eurovision. It's meant to be about fun, corny acts and a good laugh. A bit of politics is to be expected, but I can totally understand why our darling Terry is grumbling. It's not funny any more.

This will be my one rant on the subject - after all, it's Eurovision, you can't take it that seriously. But I think if it's to continue with its previous success, things will have to change.

On a brighter note, Boogaloo Stu is adorable and I love him and I want him to come home with me and sit on my dressing table. Can I take him home now please?

Hugs and kisses (especially to you, Stu!),
Rávo

A tragic day

Today, my dears, is a sad, sad day.

For last night, my namesake, Rávo the Truly Beautiful Betta, passed from the circles of the world and moved to the Great Fishtank Beyond.

He was a charming, flamboyant and magnificent fish, with much personality and a love of attention. He will be sadly missed.

Rávo

Finally, spam that might actually interest me!

I got a spam mail today that did actually genuinely relate to my interests, rather than just going on about a lot of pills and how my girlfriend will love me...

Hey Friend

Thought I would let you know about the Fashion Footwear SPRING Sale! Men and Women Designer Shoes, Heels, Sandals and Boots, All Half-OFF, Buy Direct, Forget Department Store Prices, Get Exclusive 2008 Gucci Prada Chanel, Christian Dior, Dsquared, Versace D&G, Uggs and More! They Ship International for FREE on all Orders!

<A URL> Affordable Designer Footwear

Don't Waste any More Time

In other news, the waiter in Hummus Bros in Soho is gorgeous.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

In other news...

You may be intereted to hear that a Siamese Fighting Fish has been named after me. The reason, apparently, is that it is sassy, attention-seeking, splendid, spectacular and showy. "Just like me." I suppose that is as good a reason as any.

In any case, I am flattered by the gesture. And touched.

Sounds like it is a fish with a character too!

Just thought I would share.

Hugs and kisses
Rávo

NO PILLS

No, I do not want ALotOfPills. No no no. No pills, thank you. My manhood is firm and hard. My health is great.

NO BLOODY PILLS!!

No hugs or kisses,
Rávo

Proof that spambots need to learn to read.

I've been getting a bit of spam lately. This is clearly auto-generated, because it all seems to be on one topic in which I definitely have no interest whatsoever: sex with women. It made me laugh the first time and roll my eyes the second.

Here is the latest one:

good evening

Even if Attila isnt looking to get laid, he is one lucky guy. Hanging out
in a small coffee shop
he finds himself sitting next to a hot blonde. he strikes up a nice
conversation with her
using all of his charm, and she is very receptive. he decides to take her
to a quit place...

<A Russian URL>

Attila our fist fucker friend found a real sexbomb this time. Check out one
horny wife.
Attila uncensored and as always in high definition.

<Same Russian URL>

Thanx

Because of course I spend my entire life fantasising about meeting hot blonde ladies in coffee shops...Not.

*sigh*

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Another test post

I was having problems with this blog earlier and so had let it fall dormant because of difficulties updating. Was thinking of switching to Wordpress, but a change of service provider may solve the earlier issues.

This post is, hopefully, to discover how well things work.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo

Test post

Test post.

This blog has been developing a bad attitude recently. I am hoping that either it will fix itself, or else I will work out what is wrong. Bah.

Hugs and kisses,
Rávo