Bear Droppings

I just got back from another fun-filled long weekend with Al and Dex is SoCal.  I got to experience Southwest's new boarding scheme and my reaction is a resounding "Meh!."  Most people seem to feel the same way, but since they still have a non-stop to Burbank, it works.  Like usual, it was mainly drinking, talking, and listening to tunes.  We tried to do something different on Saturday; going to Long Beach for Fleet Week, but we would have had to wait over 3 hours for a tour.  We wanted Mexican food for lunch, but the boyz couldn't find the nearby place that they once knew.  So it was back to The Domain where we walked to a nearby Mexican place for some really tasty food and margaritas.  On Sunday we went to a drag brunch in W Hollywood.  I took this opportunity to come out a little more, and I went in drag myself.  LJ confession time.  I am not trans, but I am definitely non-binary/ gender fluid.  I have tried to make my appearance as feminine as possible in subtle ways.  I'm really enjoying it in a very safe, controlled way.  Mostly I just do it at home or in safe spaces like a con, or as in this case, a drag show.  The performers were fabulous.  I had a great time including brunch consisting of Barbie French Toast; strawberry angel food cake toast with strawberry syrup, whipprf cream, and rainbow sprinkles.   There was not much more to the weekend except for more beer, whiskey, and music videos from the 70s and 80s.  Fun!

Oh, LJ.  How I have neglected you.  Last Saturday marked the end of the 2025-26 theater season with a musical adaptation of the movie of the same name.  Wow.  It has been 33 years since the Robin Williams movie premiered, and it has probably been that long since I saw the entire movie.  The musical was nice.  Nothing to rave about, but a good, fun performance.  At least it got me to go back and re-watch the movie.

My posts are a few days behind.  Yes, Kitty and I kept up our tradition of watching the annual award show.  This time I was happy that I had seen 7 out of the 10 Best Picture nominees.  Yes, the best film won.  I saw "One Battle After Another" while visiting The Boyz back in January.  I had to re-watch it a few weeks later without the Albear running commentary.  I also could appreciate the fact that even though the situation could apply today, it was a complete work of fiction based on no historical event.  I'm losing my edge when it comes to animation.  I saw none of the nominees and really have no desire to watch K-pop.  I saw 3 of the 5 documentaries, but not the one that won.  Foreign films are no longer possible for me.  We also made no effort to see the short films, something we enjoyed doing in the past.

I just got back last Wednesday from a 2 week vacation to Hawaii.  Last fall during a weekly C.U.N.T. Scritchwuff and I were lamenting that it would be months before we could enjoy sitting on the patio drinking bourbon at night.  Unless...we go someplace warm.  We loved the chillness of the Big Island, so we asked our travel agent to find us a place.  Since all we really cared about was a chill vibe, she suggested Kauai.  Once Kitty saw there was a Costco there, we were onboard.  Our agent found us a cottage on the beach on the southwest side of the Island in the town of Waimea.  Scrtch and I showed up fist.  Al and Dex showed up a couple of days later.  They left after several days and Kitty showed up for the remainder of the time.  It was everything we hoped for.  Our porch was 100 yards to waters edge with bi rocking and Adirondack chairs.  There were huge trees everywhere.  We had our own gas grill on a patio.  It was literally paradise.  We didn't do a whole heck of a lot over 2 weeks outside of drink and relax.  Here are some bukket points:

The amount of alcohol that was consumed was staggering icluding 6l of bourbon, 6l of wine, and approximately 120 beers.

On Saturday night Kitty and I hit the theater once again for a performance by Les Ballet Trockodero de Monte Carlos which is an all-nale dance troupe that perform light-hearted versions of ballet, mostly as ballerinas.  Their talent is top-notch, and it's a pleasure to watch.  We had seen them several years ago , and we had to see them again.

For the 3rd year in a row I decided to skip FC, this time by choice.  The previous 2 years were no-go because we couldn't find a room.  This year Dex got a room at the Westin, but the $300+ a night price tag made me balk.  Plus, part of the magic of FC was the roadtrip.  It was always a gamble to see if I would hit snow somewhere.  Obviously, my driving days are over.  Instead I hopped a non-stop flight to Burbank to spend a week with The Boyz.  It was a fun week of pretty much doing nothing but chatting and drinking (what I would be doing at the con, but for $1200 less.  My high (low?) point was downing an entire fifth of bourbon over about 9 hours.  I impressed Dex by pretty much quoting every line from "Blazing Saddles."  There was lots of good food and conversations.  Fortunately the temps were around 80, so we spent a lot of time outside listening to KHUG, a commercial-free rock station.

It was another date night last night.  This time it was planned well in advance.  It was another theater night; one that we approached with some trepidation.  We get season tickets which force us to broaden our horizons.  Every season usually contains something that is new and hot on Broadway.  There's usually a bio-drama which is a biography about some star set to their music.  This is different than the jukebox musical which is a story set to the music of some artist (e.g. "Mama Mia").  There's also usually a revival musical or a repeat of a popular new musical that tours for years.  We appreciate the variety.  Yesterday it was "MJ," the biography of Michael Jackson. I wasn't a fan of his music but he forced his way into my life's soundtrack in the 80's because his music was unavoidable.  He was a tragic figure that I just didn't care about.  I think the way he was potrayed in episodes of "South Park" were spot on.  With that being said, the musical itself was pretty "Meh."  The big musical numbers featuring his songs were done under the pretense that he was rehearsing for his big "Dangerous" tour.  The singing and dancing were nice, and the subwoofer was set to 11.  As a coherent musical, however, it fell flat.

We went up another wrung on the social scale by attending a black tie dinner put on by the theater we attend.  We had been asked a few years ago, but it was too short of a notice.  This time we went all out and I rented a tux.  Look!  I'm a penguin!  Kitty also was dressed to the nines so we made a handsome couple.  The entrance was pretty special.  We were all led downstairs and to the orchestra pit.  When we were all there they raised the floor so that we were on the stage.  They then rose the curtain to reveal the tables and Christmas tree.  We found our seats and were treated to the top high school performers from the city.  Dinner was yummy and the wine really flowed.  The evening ended with an auction with the last item for bid was several nights in NYC with 3 Broadway shows plus hotel in Times Square.  It's nice to have "fuck you money."  I won.  It's something Kitty and I have been dreaming of.

It's time once again to plant another cultural milepost in LJ so I can look back in the future to see what was occupying my time at this given moment.  Being retired I have a lot of time on my paws, so I spend quite a lot of time watching the boob tube.  I never just watch for the sake of watching.  I have my list of shows and I watch one episode a day when streaming.

I've re-discovered talk shows.  I now stream "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "The Late Show," and "The Daily Show" the day after they air without commercials.  I usually fast-forward celebrity interviews because the new crop of stars are SO boring.

My new favorite genre are manly men shows.  It's so refreshing to see gritty tales involving older white males.  It helps that they also have good writers.  Most come from the same production company and are tied in with Paramount.

"Mayor of Kingstown"  I have written about this show previously and sort of gave up on it.  I think it was mostly due to me losing my vision so I couldn't see the action clearly.  Time to give it another try.

"Tulsa King"  Sylvester Stallone is a mobster sent from New York to Oklahoma almost in exile to due his best in the boonies.

"Landman"  Billy Bob Thornton works in the west Texas oilfields where he does whatever it takes to keep the oil flowing.

I got back from BLFC on Thurs.  It;s pretty much the only con I still go to, and I'm not sure I'll continue to do even that.  I had an opportunity to go to FC next year, but the cost made me balk.  For that price per day, I could book a cruise with a better outcome.  I went to a panel of NM furs and didn't know anyone.  The guard has been changed.  The fandom is a young persons' game.  All I want to do is drink, chat, and chill.  I don't need a con for that.  The best times are had with Al, Dex, and Scritch.  We saw almost no members of our old crew at the con.  What's the point?  We'll see what next year brings.  We already have a few fun things lined up.  More about those as they happen.