Which Ones Shall I Buy?

Choice is not necessarily a good thing. I've been wanting to buy one of these for some time now but didn't manage to find anything suitable in the shops except a pair made by Puma but they weren't in the right shade of blue. I did some looking on the internet and finally managed to narrow it down to these 4 choices. An internet review of the brands suggested that Fallen were the best, followed by Osiris and then Adio but all of these are reputable and I suspect that at the end of the day, it will simply be a matter of personal preference. At the moment, I'm inclined to go with the ones with the white shoelaces. I think the contrasting laces make the shoes nicer.

Another Strange Dream - Back To Basic(s)

I don't know whether it's true about what's said in relation to going to sleep after having big meals but I had a big meal last night and I had a strange dream, possibly a nightmare.

In my dream I was back at basic training but like my dream about being back in boarding school, I was my current age, rather than when I was 18. It seemed like a comparably less stressful experience than it was the first time around and we even had our own fridges in the barracks which was unheard of previously. During falling in time, we were even joking with the lady drill sergeant who had a good sense of humour.

At that point, the struggle between my subconscious and conscious minds began to surface as I began to realise that I had only about 10 days to go to my Run Out Date and being back in basic training was pointless, particularly since subsequently-discovered my skin sensitivities rifle oil precluded me from any combat activities, which would have included basic training.

The red mist was about to descend again I was about to get in touch with my solicitors to start judicial review proceedings against the Minstry of Defence (which would most certainly mean my appointment as a reserve Staff Judge Advocate would be revoked in a tit for tat move by the MOD in the typically petty way in which the Civil Service operates). I didn't care really but that never happened as my conscious mind won out and I woke up.

I don't know why I had this dream and whether it was anything to do with my having a large meal but even if that was the reason, why did I dream of me being back in basic training instead of the other more commonly recurring nightmares which I have involving my teeth falling out or being back in school and facing my A Level maths exam which I wasn't at all prepared for.

If anyone knows a good therapist who specialises in dreams, let me know. I think I need some help to understand my subconscious mind.

Football Round-Up

The word "football" is so ambiguous. To Americans, it refers to the gridiron variety. To the Australians, depending on which part of Australia you come from, it could refer to AFL or NRL or possibly both. To most British people, this refers to what the rest of the world often refers to as soccer but even in England, there are other types of football, such as rugby football but the word "football" is usually used in connection with Association Football.

To kick-off, as it were we need to go back in time to an entry which I posted last month headed "EPL Whispers". It turns out to have been rather clairvoyant as it seems that both Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have exactly the same thoughts:

Speaking of Steven Gerrard, here's a nice one of him and Frank Lampard who has already featured in my blog, both of whom are in the doggy position. I feel my cock getting hard already.....

Wesley Cornett - Pro Sui Vir Fatur

Jewel In The Palace

My mum's taken to watching a Korean television drama recently. It's English title is "Jewel In The Palace" but the Korean translation is "Dae Jang-geum" or in Chinese, "Da Chang Jin" which is rather more appropriate as my mum's watching the version which has been dubbed in Mandarin.

More about the plot can be found here but the reason why the drama interests me is because of the very handsome male lead, played by Korean actor Ji Jin Hee who plays the part of an officer in the imperial guard, Min Jeong Ho who is the lead actress' love interest.

He looks very dishy in traditional Korean dress:

In more contemporary clothing:

As you can tell, I don't much care for the drama itself but it has entertainment value, not least of which is a very handsome leading man.

Mason Wyler - Another Almost Perfect Specimen Of Manhood

I originally intended to put a simple caption here - "Vir Ipsa Loquitur" but realised is bad grammar. Instead I think the better translation might be "pro sui vir fatur". As I said in a previous post, my Latin is very rusty and I stand corrected as to the most appropriate translation of "the man speaks for himself".

Jamie Oliver's Alliterative Brownies

This recipe appeared most recently in a little booklet which Jamie very kindly put together for Red Nose Day this year called "Jamie's Little Book Of Big Treats". It's published under the name "Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies" which why it's easier to refer to them as "Alliterative Brownies" but in so doing, they're no longer an alliteration.

You will be relieved to know that the object of this post is not to explore the curious irony of how how putting a label on something destroys it's original meaning but to post arguably one of the best chocolate brownie recipes I've eaten in my short-ish life and I've eaten many, believe me.

I first made them sometime towards the end of March and they turned out to be better than I hoped but I made them a second time with a change in the recipe and cooking time but they didn't turn out. This time around, I resorted to what I did the first time around and it worked.

I'm now sufficiently satisfied that result of this recipe is reproduceable without any disappointment. I've deviated from Jamie's original recipe so perhaps the renaming is justified although somewhat ironic.

As Jamie was kind enough to publish his recipe in aid of Red Nose Day, please do your bit whenever you use this recipe. You don't have necessarily have to make a donation but at least try to do something nice for someone, even if it means giving them what you baked from this recipe. I won't know whether you do or don't - it's a matter for your conscience.

Enough of my drivel, the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients
250g butter
250g dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa, if not higher)
100g dark chocolate, very roughly chopped (min 70% cocoa, if not higher)
360g caster sugar (use proportionately less if the cocoa content of the chocolate is less than 7o%)
80g cocoa
80g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon amaretto (optional)
50g walnuts (optional; quantity flexible )
75g dried sour cherries (optional; quantity flexible)
1 teaspoon mixed spice for sweets (optional)

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180 Celsius. Double line a 25cm x 15cm cake tin with greaseproof paper.

In a bain-marie, melt 250g of the dark chocolate and butter together and once done, leave to cool. It need not be at room temperature for the next step. In a mixing bowl, thorougly mix caster sugar and eggs - best to use an electric mixer.

Sift cocoa, flour and baking powder together. Add some mixed spice if you like.

Once thoroughly mixed, drizzle the melted chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture while the mixer is still going.

When all the chocolate has been added, stir in flour mixture until there are no more lumps. Add in the remaining 100g of roughly chopped dark chocolate, nuts and cherries and stir to distribute evenly in the batter.

Pour out into the lined baking tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not use the skewer test as it will hopelessly fail. At the end of the baking time, a crust will have formed at the top of the cake but it will still be wobbly.

DO NOT PANIC. This is how it's meant to be. The reason being is that the chocolate pieces have all melted, making the cake wobbly.

Leave to cool in the tin. The cake will fall in the meantime. Again, do not panic, this is to be expected because of the liquid chocolate will shrink in volume once it solidifies. Once cooled, wrap the brownie, tin and all in a large plastic bag and place in the freezer overnight. The brownie can keep very many months in this state but I assure you that once you've tasted it, there won't be much left to keep around for many days, much less many months.

After having had the overnight cold treatment, remove the brownie from the freezer and lift the brownie out of the tin. If you've lined it properly, it will lift out quite easily. Strip away all the greaseproof paper and using a large, sharp knife, cut into as small or large pieces as you like. These can now be stored in the freezer or in the refrigerator. They taste delicious cold or warmed up briefly in the microwave. The reason for storing it overnight in the freezer is that it's much easier to cut after having had a night in the freezer. If you try it cut it after it's cooled down, it will be very gooey and messy.

Jamie suggests that the brownies be accompanied by creme fraiche and orange zest but if you can't be arsed, a quantity of ice-cream will do. If you really can't be arsed, just eat them out of the freezer. They are a good way to get your daily chocolate fix.

If you want to go OTT with this, you can make a ganache and spread it over the top of the brownie before cutting it up and then have it with chocolate ice-cream. Much as I like chocolate, I think that's going too far. It's nice enough without.

Yet Another (Mostly) Inexplicable Dream

I had an erotic dream last night.

Nothing peculiar about that, you must be thinking. This was strange, and perhaps disturbing but make up your own mind.

In my dream I was in a hotel room with 2 single beds. I happened to be sharing the room with my boss from London, M. This was a very unusual situation for the following reasons:

1. I never travel with him. If I do, it's usually with at least 1 other person but this time, it was just the two of us on the trip; and

2. Whenever we travel for work, we always go "single" whenever we travel and we'd only be sharing if there weren't enough rooms to go around; and

3. It couldn't have been that there weren't enough rooms at the hotel as the trips are planned sufficiently far ahead to avoid this sort of situation, at least the trips which involve M.

In my dream, I was just about waking up and in my half-asleep state, I noticed M, dressed only in his shirt standing in front of the television (which hadn't been switched on) wanking himself furiously while mumbling something. I couldn't really make out what he was mumbling but it sounded like "Alan Greenspan". Suddenly, he stopped wanking and then grabbed a copy of the FT and exclaimed loudly "Alan Greenspan" and then continued wanking.

This was disturbing as it seemed that M was getting aroused thinking of Alan Greenspan. But it was the morning and I'm always woken up by my erection so I put my disgust aside and got out of bed and went to stand in front of M.

At this point, I ought to mention that I usually sleep in the nude whenever I travel (unless its winter) and I stood in front of M, naked and having a hardon. He didn't seem to mind. I took hold of his cock and started wanking him. He seemed to like it and even adjusted my hand so that I gripped his cock in a way that he liked.

I looked at the cock in my hand - nice shape and length, nice set of balls too. After I wanked him for a while, I decided that I needed a taste of his cock and I got on my knees and started sucking him off. He seemed to like what I was doing and after a few minutes, he made me stand up and we kissed. We kissed for a while and this time round, it was his turn to suck me.

For a (happily) married man with 2 children, he was very good at sucking cock. All that was going through my mind when he was sucking me off was, apart from how good it felt, whether this encounter was going to be a one-off or whether we'd be doing this on a regular basis. The fact I might be having an affair with a married mind had not crossed my sex-crazed mind at the time.

He continued sucking me till I was close and continued sucking me while I came, swallowing as much of my cum as he could.

The dream ended there and I don't know what happened next. If anything. That was the point when I woke up and would no doubt have had a wet dream but for the fact that I wank regularly enough for this not to happen any more.

The dream's bothered me all day and I've been wondering why M featured in my dream, especially in an erotic one. It's not that he's unattractive. For a 40-something year old, he's got very cute, boyish looks and while he may be a bit tubby, to put it in the words of my friend, C, I wouldn't kick him out of bed.

I've had erotic thoughts about other boys at work but never about M. We don't work together on a daily basis and I've never thought about him in that sort of way. I don't know why my subconscious mind picked him over the so many other boys at work whom I've had sexual daydreams of. However, the dream was horny enough for me to need to wank myself in the toilet at work as I relived the dream in my head.

I'm guessing that the reason for the erotic dream is partly to do with the fact that I've not been out "hunting" lately. It's probably been more than a month, if not longer since the last time but that's not to say that I've not otherwise been satisfied. Perhaps it's my subconscious mind telling me that I should resume "hunting" activities this week. Not such a bad idea seeing as it's nude night this Friday at Club One Seven.......

Pseudo-Feminist Nonsense

Many women have the wrong idea about feminism. Feminism in its conceptually pure form is about equality with men in every respect. Most women want this when it suits them but chose to ignore it when it doesn't.

For example, I know of women who expect men to hold open doors for them but when I suggested that they should do the same for men, they looked at me as if I was insane and uttering blasphemous words in a church.

What's so insane about reciprocal courtesy? Simple - female hypocrisy - it's the same reason why women drivers expect male drivers to give way to them as if it were ex debito iustitiae. And this sort of thinking is unfortunately quite widespread. Needless to say, I've stopped holding doors open for women. We are, after all, living in the 21st century and this sort of behaviour is manifestly outdated. Such women should be ashamed of themselves - their suffragette sisters obviously burnt their bras in vain. As a gay boy, I can objectively see how this is a waste of a perfectly good support garment without the sexual imagery of bra-less females clouding my judgment.

You might be wondering what prompted this rant. It's something which I've been stewing about for a long time now and there are women where I work who behave in this sort of hypocritical fashion and now that I'm going, I'm more free to say what's on my mind as I don't have to be concerned about offending anyone who might have previously been able to determine my future career.

All this came to something of a boil today when I saw an Dove advertisement for its Self-Esteem Fund in conjunction with its Campaign For Real Beauty.

I have no objection to Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty and I fully support most of it. As part of the Campaign, Dove tested some beauty cream on real women, not supermodels and got the real women to be part of the ad campaign instead of the supermodels. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, that's the way it should be.

However, the whole concept of the Self-Esteem Fund is at best misconceived and at worst, an overt expression of the pseudo-feminist hypocrisy which I so detest. This Fund appears to have been set up to help girls with self-esteem issues.

The premise for such a fund seems very dubious and downright idiotic - as I can't believe that girls have more serious self-esteem issues than boys. In the Dove ad for the Self-Esteem Fund, it shows pictures of girls who are unhappy with their curly hair, girls who are plain-looking compared to their friends and girls who are not overweight but think they are fat.

It comes down to this - these girls are simply unhappy with what's looking back at them in the mirror and some genius at Dove decided that if we throw some money at these girls, they will feel happier about themselves.

Absolutely pathetic.

Males have self-esteem issues as well but do we set up a fund for that? Is it really necessary?

As far as Dove's Self-Esteem Fund goes, it seems to me that it's nothing short of pandering to female vanity. Yes, I know all about vanity - I'm gay remember? That doesn't mean that I let it bother me to the extent that I need someone to give me money to make me feel better about myself.

There is of course a distinction between simply being unhappy about one's appearance for which a self-esteem fund is superfluous (and morally offensive to me) and having a genuine psychiatric condition for which such a fund would be very helpful to those suffering from such medical conditions.

The issue determining where that distinction lies and that can generally be left to the medical profession for the most part although in some instances, the medical profession has been slow in recognising some conditions as requiring medical intervention.

Many years ago, I sought medical assistance for what I thought was clinical depression. I was facing some difficult changes in my life which led to behavioural problems (which in some quarters was simply seen as adolescent "acting-up"). Fortunately my problem wasn't serious and it soon was resolved by a change in circumstances.

My problem was and is, to some extent my difficulty in coping with changing environments. In youth, I moved around a lot as my father's work required him to move to different places every five years or so and while it seem logical that I'd eventually become blase about each move after having moved so often, the reality of the matter was that every move took quite some adjusting and I find that even now when I move to different places, especially to a place which I've not regularly travelled to in the past, it'll take me about a year to get properly settled in and during that year, I'm not my usual self and I don't function at my best, either at school/work or outside of it.

As I make the move to Shell, I'm apprehensive about what lies in store for me there in terms of having to deal with new people, rather than the work although that doesn't trouble me as much. In fact, neither trouble me enough to keep me awake at night or to bring about the recurrence of those behavioural problems from my past (to which I am very grateful to my legal education for helping me to stay "anchored" something amidst the rough seas of change) but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bothered.

The reason why having to deal with new people bothers me is nothing to do with the fact that I have difficulty dealing with people in a social context. I used to be quite shy when meeting new people but in the course of work, I've learnt to take the initiative to speak to complete strangers and not feel too self-conscious about it. A lot of it has to do with self-confidence and I didn't acquire that by having some Self-Esteem Fund give me money.

What bothers me about having to deal with new people in a new working environment is learning about the different personalities. On my part, I'd characterise myself as a fairly transparent person in terms of my personality. However, in my present job, I've learnt that this isn't the case with a lot of other people, especially women and in particular, middle-aged spinster women. That's one of the more important life-lessons which I learnt - beware the middle-aged spinster woman! They should be listed in the IMDG Code and should come with handling instructions.

Another Boy For J

Here's another one for J. I can't remember where I found him but I hope he likes it.

A Drunken Post

You may be wondering why I'm intoxicated at 11am in the morning on a Thursday.

Why isn't he hard at work, you might be wondering? It's true, I'm not at work but whether I'm hard, that's up to your imagination.

The reason why I'm off work today is because it's a bank holiday (Vesak Day) - a buddhist religious day of some sort. I'm neither pro nor anti-buddhism - just glad for a mid-week holiday.

I went to do my weekly shop at the supermarket this morning and when I came back, I decided to blend some wines. Obviously, it's not possible to blend without drinking and that's why I'm not my usual sober self this morning.

The wines in question were a 1999 Pierro Pinot Noir from Margaret River, Western Australia and a 2000 Monastrell from Bodegas Castano in Murcia, Spain.

This is what they look like:

I was getting concerned that the Pierro was ageing too quickly so I decided to do a bit of blending. I can already hear the disapproval from wine enthusiats but they can all go to hell. It's my wine and I'm drinking it so you can all fuck off.

The end result was actually quite pleasant-drinking - a well balanced mix of tannins, residual sugars (not much), acidity and cherry/summer berry flavours - all very suitable to drink on a hot day like today. . The Monstrell Dulce was a present (I've got another bottle) and other than as a dessert wine, is too sweet to drink on its own so I decided to blend it with one of the reds in my collection. I was trying to decide between a Gralyn (Freudian slip, initially typed "Gayln") Cabernet Sauvigon or a Cape Mentelle "Trinders Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvigon Merlot but decided on the Pierro instead.

What Exactly Is The Target Demographic?

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who's a claims director at The Standard P&I and after lunch, she got out her Paul Smith wallet/purse and it reminded me about this Paul Smith ad which I saw some time ago and it made me wonder whether it was just me or whether the models were all getting younger.

These two boys look as if they're still in school and it make me wonder which consumer groups Paul Smith is targetting. The ad appeared in Attitude or DNA (I can't remember which) so, it's obviously intended to target the gay male readership but given the youth of the models, it's somewhat worrying as to which segment of the gay male readership which is the target of the ad especially when you have two twink models (sorry, I mean that in a positive sense - don't forget, we were all twinks once) advertising for a brand which is mostly out of the youth segment's price-range.

Perhaps the ad, should have like some toys, carry the caveat "Boys Not Included".

I Learnt A New Word

"Bromance"

A portmanteau word and an ambiguous one at that. Urban Dictionary has several definitions:

1. The complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.

2. An emotional attraction between two males often the attraction is expressed physically through wrestling, nuggies, and head locks. In the more advanced stages hugging, snuggling, spooning, and even kissing may be included.

3. A non-sexual relationship between two men that are unusually close.

4. The first step on the path to realizing you and your friend are actually raging homosexuals.

5. The loving bond between 2 or more homosexuals.

6. A genre of cinema in which a romance is developed between two male characters.

The diversity of definitions seems to suggest that the precise nature of the relationship between men, their sexuality notwithstanding is becoming increasingly blurred. Bromancing is no doubt not a new phenomenon but perhaps with more men breaking away from traditional male stereotypes, it is a phenomenon which seems to be increasingly common in modern society.

Something Quintessentially Swiss v Minarets

I saw a news feature on BBC World this evening about how some Swiss politicians are seeking to ban minarets in Switzerland as a way of making a stand against the perceived increased influence of (militant) Islam globally.

I did a quick Google search using the words "Switzerland", "minaret" and "ban" and numerous news articles were found, including this one from Al Jazeera.

So, will it be

OR ?

That's something the Swiss will have to decide for themselves.

Almost Perfect

I don't believe that anything in this temporal world which we live in is perfect but this specimen of manhood is as close to perfection as anyone can get.

Please don't be mistaken, he is by no means the standard by which I measure myself or my potential partners. Far be it. He is at best, a 2-dimensional representation of a multi-dimensional human being and while he certainly looks good in 2-dimensions (and most likely in 3-D), the rest of him as a human being is a big unknown.

While he has many of the physical attributes which I find attractive in a man, each of these on their own by no means makes him attractive per se.

Non-physical attributes are just as important to me , if not more important as these tend to have a more permanent quality than physical attributes which will deteriorate with age more quickly than the non-physical attributes even though the latter sometimes also deteriorates with age or other circumstances.

I'm still no closer to answering the question which I posed in an earlier post as to what it is exactly I find attractive in a man.

Actually, this is more of a secondary question. The primary question should be what it is that makes men more attractive to me than women.

I think there are persuasive arguments on both sides in the nature v nurture debate and like most things, the truth, such as it is, is usually somewhere in between.

For the cynics amongst my readers, you might well be thinking that all this introspection is merely an excuse to post a picture of a naked man with an erection.

Seeing as this is my blog and I can post whatever I like (within the limits set by Blogger), I can gratuitously post pictures of cute, naked men, erect or otherwise without any of this self-indulgent navel-gazing drivel. If it's just the pictures you're after, feel free to skip the drivel. I won't be offended in the least.

Could I Do It?

I saw an ad for this in the newspaper a few days ago and it got me thinking.

I have to admit that the thing which got me interested was the picture of the cute guy in the speedos. Up until a few months ago, I'd not have been in any fit state to do a triathlon.

I still aren't. However, there is a mini-triathlon which involves a 200m swim, followed by a 10km bicycle ride and then a 2km run. That, I think I can do without killing myself.

I'll give it a try this weekend and see what sort of time I clock. I'll start in the gym on the exercise bike, followed by a run on the treadmill and then out to the pool for the swim. If I can do that in a vaguely respectable time, I might think about doing the mini-triathlon for real next year. I don't want to turn up and humiliate myself without first giving it a try. I'm not going to be ready for the full triathlon any time soon. It'll take me a couple of years to work up to that level of fitness, at least, if not longer.

Will post the result of my attempt after this weekend.

What's With This?

I don't really understand this picture. Perhaps there really isn't much to understand, other than it's a picture of a cute (mostly) naked man with a sexy treasure trail, perhaps that's all there is to it.

Then again, I suspect it's intended to appeal to foot and possibly sock fetishists seeing as his foot seems to be the focus of the picture and he's wearing a sock over his cock (hey, it rhymes!).

I'll admit that I don't understand foot or sock fetishes as such as I have a more general, man fetish and if you want to be more specific, a male genital fetish and a gay kiss fetish but I suspect that most other gay men like looking at cocks and pictures of men kissing each other too so my interests perhaps aren't so niche as to deserve being characterised as fetishes.

For me, it seems a shame to put a sock over a cock. Any sock and foot fetishists out there, I'd love to hear from you. I'm very curious to know what it is about socks and feet that make you horny enough to want to cum. Sock fetishes, I think I understand - try wearing a sock over your erect cock and then wanking yourself and it becomes easier to understand - but foot fetishes elude me conceptually.

Good Thing I'm Not A Betting Man

Well, it looks like I was wrong on two counts this week:

1. Liverpool lost their Champions League final match against AC Milan; and

2. Jordin Sparks became the new American Idol.

Fortunately for me, I didn't put any money down on the result of either one. It just goes to show that thinking with your cock isn't a very good idea, at least for me it isn't.

F1 Boys

This will be the first in a series of pictorial features of the the hottest (to me, anyway) boys in Formula 1. To start, here's my first "love" - he who got me interested in F1 - Kimi Raikkonen.

Here's some biographical information:
Full name: Kimi Matias Raikkonen
Date of birth: 17th October 1979
Place of birth: Espoo, Finland
Nationality: Finnish

Racing Career:
Up to 2000 - Competitive karting
2001 - Sauber
2002 to 2006 - McLaren
2007 - Ferrari

Grand Prix entered: 109
Highest race finish: 1 (x10)
Highest grid position 1 (x12)
Podiums: 39

First, some introductory pictures. Here's Kimi in his Sauber kit, McLaren kit and most recently, his Ferrari kit. I think he looks best in silver but that's just me.

Next, here's Kimi just being his charming self. What's not to like about this cute boy?

I have a theory that sucking cock comes naturally to all men, straight or gay. Whether you're good at it, depends on how much you practice. Here, Kimi demonstrates that when it comes to sucking on phallic objects, straight boys seem to know instinctively what to do......

Here's Kimi looking all hot and bothered - all very porn-staresque and even more so if he were to have been shirtless but alas, only in my imagination!

Speaking of Kimi being shirtless, these are the closest I've been able to find of any pictures where Kimi is shirtless.

Finally, and leaving the best for last, Kimi gets blown.

Next to be featured in this series will be Christian Klien.

Another Irrational Decision

Here's who I think will win, based on the contestant who gives me an erection:

My first pick to win it would, of course, have been Chris Richardson but Blake is cute too. The only thing I didn't like about him tonight was his choice of an argyll jumper for performing his second song and a glittery(!) argyll sleeveless vest when performing his third and final song. This is not the first time he's worn argyll on the show. For some reason, he seems to like it. I wonder whether he wears argyll socks as well?

Despite what my libido is telling me, my brain (the confused brain that it is - see the post just before this one) is telling me that Jordin will win, if the competition is based purely on singing ability. However, we all know that it isn't all about singing ability or else Melinda Doolittle would be in the final with Jordin.

What will American decide - cute boy or diva girl?

We'll find out tomorrow.