Whine & Cheese

Guest-Blogging

Howdy... happy Monday!  Ok, well maybe the "happy" part is going too far! 

Not sure I have too much in me today... you see I landed my first gig as a guest-blogger over at Scott-O-Rama... so I put all my energy time effort stuff into that entry.

Currently, I hear the sounds of crickets chirping over there... so go on over and take a visit... that way Scotty won't sue me for irreparable damages to his blog when he gets back into town!!

Scott & Buckaroo are off in Las Vegas this week... geez, what is it??! First Nick, then JD, now Scott... you know I *LOVE* Vegas... but after our "anti-Vegas" trip to French Polynesia my Vegas "itch" was honestly at an all-time low.... but now all this talk of Sin City is riling me up again.

We (okay 99.98% *I*, not "we") satisfied the urge  by heading over to a local Indian casino... usually the Indian casinos are not too kind to me, but definitely lucked out on Saturday night and was able to walk away with about $300 of winnings... hurray!  So I guess I am alright... for now...

Fine Wine #22: Gale Harold

We have had quite the Fine Wine dry spell... we have to go way back to April 21st to find our last candidate... Rafael Nadal, who I have decided to take off the list since I don't expect much from him over the next 2 weeks of Wimbledon... now watch him prove me wrong!

I have contemplated adding a guy or two over this time... tinkered around with the idea of adding singer Rob Thomas... thought about Dancing With The Stars Alec Mazo (but that would be giving that show more credibility than it deserves... though it was the #1 rated show on television last week... go figure!?!)... but neither had that extra Fine Wine oomph!

So I decided to go with someone who has captured my attention over the past several years.  As Showtime's Queer As Folk marches on in its final season, I thought it was only appropriate that I honor Gale Harold for his 5 years of service ... playing the sexy (and oversexed) Brian Kinney. 

Brian has pretty much bedded most of the lovelies who have walked through the door of the fictional gay fantasyland that is Club Babylon.  While the character of Brian embodies the most negative stereotype of a gay male (promiscuous, unapologetic, popper sniffing, pot smoking, "hang from the chandelier" sex maniac), Harold has turned him into one of the more multi-dimensional characters in the series.  And unlike some of his co-stars, he can deliver a line... often dripping with just the right amount of sarcasm.  Granted Brian has softened (bad pun!) over the years, thanks to a bout with testicular cancer and the increasing realization that he does <gasp!> love Justin (why I don't know... the "innocent" act worked for a couple of years, but Justin has become flat/whiny one-note wonder)... but Gale Harold (not the sexiest name! but here is the III, so it must be a family name) is still worth watching!

Anyhow, Gale came to the acting business late in life at age 28... he turns 36 on July 10th (born in 1969... '69, how appropriate!).  Prior to landing the QAF gig, he was a carpenter.  He was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia but according to an online bio calls Toronto (where QAF is filmed) home these days.  He has done a few independent films (none that I have seen) and was once featured in a commercial for the Ford Pontiac Aztec (that awful station wagon/SUV combo).  (Whoops got the car maker wrong, didn't realize this was a "make it or break it" thing!  And folks don't take any of this seriously!  See comments.)

Oh, he is straight... so it can probably be safely holds the record for a straight guy who has participated in the most (and often explicit) gay sex scenes in television history.

Trailer For Rent

No, this is NOT a classified ad... just a link to the trailer for the movie version of RENT.

I have to say I was a bit concerned about this "stage to silver screen" translation of what is probably my favorite Broadway musical... but the trailer gave me goosebumps... then again, the rousing "Seasons of Love" usually manages to do that anyhow.

I have to say the characters look a tad on the old side (much of the original/1996 Broadway cast are recreating the roles for the movie version)... but it still looks great... can't wait!  And, these days, looking forward to going out to see a movie in a theater is a very rare thing indeed!

One

I rarely get on the bully-pulpit here on W&C ... but just so you don't think that I am just obsessed with the ridiculous and irrelevant, I wanted to draw your attention to the One Campaign.

Now there are many things that would generally make me not get "into" this kind of thing...

• turning into a celebrity-driven campaign (cause du jour?)
• asking folks to "sign" a declaration (cynic in me does not believe "every" vote/voice counts)
• promoting the campaign with their own version of those annoying bracelets

But I am willing to let go of those things since I really think people need to start talking about what is going on in Africa.  Every time I see a story about the poverty and the AIDS crisis in Africa, it just amazes me that so little is being done.

I am willing to admit I learned about this from the Brad Pitt interview on the recent special edition of Primetime Live.  Thankfully, much of the hour was devoted to Africa... though, for ratings purposes, Diane Sawyer did ask questions (much to her own embarrassment) about Pitt's private life... which Brad successfully dodged (of course!).  But I hope that enough people were drawn to this program for the "Brangelina" angle and came away with something more.  Primetime also had another celebrity-driven story last year when they followed Prince Harry as he learned about the AIDS crisis in Africa.  So while I may have some disdain for the celebrity angle, I realize that their participation increases awareness... I hope!

As mentioned, their primary purpose is to get folks to sign an online petition to draw attention to the cause ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in July.  They ask for your name, email address, zip code and country (NO mailing address or phone number).  They are not asking for money (though they provide links to several noteworthy charities).  I submitted my info, received a "thank you" email response. Whether I will be bombarded with more emails I don't know... but considering the volume of junk email I already get, it seemed more than worth it to take the chance of adding my name to the list.  Optimism won out over cynicism for a brief moment!

So if inclined, check out the website (click on the banner below or on the sidebar)... see what it is all about... it is totally bi-partisan (heck, Susan Sarandon and Pat Robertson are both featured in the ad campaign!)... so hopefully this is the start of something.

While the war on "terra" is certainly an important one... it would be satisfying to see this administration, which purports to "err on the side of life," fight a war against poverty and AIDS in Africa (and that's not even touching on Darfur/Sudan!!) with the same kind of commitment, confidence, and enthusiasm.

 

Back in the Swim of Things

Okay... maybe I should have said ... back to floating... as what I did yesterday had minimal physical exertion!

Yesterday was the first day I "snuck" out of the office and got in our pool... a pool that is in my peripheral vision all day long.  I wasn't really playing hooky all that much... since most of my clients are East Coast-based, my work day is pretty time-shifted, especially during the summer when there is a 3-hour time difference.  So I usually start work before 7 am and, for the most part, can pretty much call it a day (without too much guilt) by 2 pm.  So why not head out to the pool!?!

The pool is finally warm enough to get in.  We missed the first major warm-up here in Phoenix while we were on vacation... so this was only the 3rd time I have been in the pool this year.  This week, the heat is on... high temps around 106-108 and lows in the upper 70s-low 80s (vs. the upper 60s of last week).

Despite the summertime temps that make non-Phoenicians think we are absolutely crazy for living here, our experience has been that we do not really have a terribly long pool season (mid-June thru early Sept?).  I would guess Floridians/Southerners have a more extended season.

While we do have the oft-quoted "dry heat" that keeps us in the triple-digits for 4-5 months each year... that dryness also does not let our pool retain a comfy water temperature.  At minimum, the water temp has to be at least 80 degrees for us to get in... so if the overnight temps fall below that... well, we pretty much lose the daytime heating.  It could be that we just have a big pool... we wanted a pool, but it wasn't by choice that we got one this big.  Our pool service company says it is one of the bigger pools on their route.  So that is a lot of water to heat!

But this week, the overnight temps have jumped... so yesterday afternoon the pool was a nice 82 degrees... though that is only about a few inches under the surface, thanks to our floating duckie thermometer... I can tell you the temps a bit... ahem... farther below the surface was cooler!  But it was definitely nice to get out there again.

On the subject of swimming pools... while on vacation, we found it odd that there always more people at the pool than on the beach.  Heck, if I am on a tropical island it is a no-brainer that I am going to be on the beach!  But maybe it is just because I am a land-locked pool owner.  Do folks just not want to deal with the sand and salty water?!  Discuss.  Pool or beach?!

Random Musings

Time to get back to all original, all the time posts... thanks for putting up with the travelogue!  Pretty funny that it took me 2 weeks to write up all the stuff that happened over 1 week... but oh well! 

Okay... what's top of mind?

I guess I should start with my non-reaction to the Michael Jackson case.  Usually I am able to muster up some internal tension when 'breaking news' disrupts my afternoon television... but honestly I did not feel an iota of that yesterday.  So not terribly surprised by the outcome... from what little attention I paid to the case it seemed like the prosecution was on pretty shaky ground with their not terribly credible witnesses.  Now I think there is something *seriously* wrong with MJ... and there was certainly enough smoke to put an Arizona wildfire to shame... I guess they just have to make it a crime to be "cukoo for Cocoa Puffs."

Despite appearances, there are many aspects of pop-culture that I could not care less about... "celebrity romances" tend to fall into that category.  So, I am well past the breaking point about Brangelina... and you can double that for Tom & Katie.  My interest level in Mr. Cruise has been waning for some time now, but I think he is crossing over to the dark side with some of his more recent strange behavior.  But maybe dating Penelope Cruz does that to you?  Run Matthew McConaughey Run!

Speaking of the dark side, what is going on with Jessica Simpson?  I caught some of her new "These Boots Are Made For Walkin" video to promote her movie debut in The Dukes of Hazzard.  She is definitely venturing into skank territory... not that I have a problem with that... it is just fine with Britney & Christina... but it just seems wrong with Jessica.  If you haven't seen the video (yet), Jessica gets out her soapy bucket and washes the General Lee (well dances around and humps it) with nothing on but an itsy-bitsy bikini.  Now, I don't feel the need to hold Simpson to some high standard, but it just seems a tad trashy for her... wasn't the original Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) just sexy period... without having to try?!

On more cerebral matters, I have taken the Oprah summer challenge and started the Summer of Faulkner.  For some reason, I never read Faulkner in high school (had plenty of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck)... so this was a good excuse to finally get around to it.  I started a week late (got it at Costco for 40+% off retail), but I am already a week ahead of Oprah's "schedule" on the first/June book As I Lay Dying. 

So plowing through it just fine... the chapters are very short... so that makes it easy to keep going.  While the plot is pretty straightforward, the novel is complex... 15 different narrators each giving their own take on thing, but without much assistance of who is who, etc... so it is a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without having the box cover as a guide... and the language (including dialect) is a bit challenging to read, quite different from the trashy (in a good way!) spy novel I read over vacation.

TftSP Part XIV: The Finale (Finally!)

Tales from the South Pacific
Thursday Night/Friday, May 26-27th - Bora Bora

Alas, we arrive at the last night of our vacation... really hard to believe.  Out of food options, we decided on ordering...room, err excuse me bungalow service.  We are really not room service people, but believe it or not, here it is an economically viable alternative.  We ventured out for happy hour, where we once again ran into this French couple that we shared the hotel boat with upon arriving in Bora Bora.  The husband is really quite cute, wearing tanks and muscle shirts... but we still had not been able to catch him on the beach to check him out... but I am sure we would not be disappointed. But anyhow, we returned to our bungalow and ordered up some food.

Earlier in the week, we picked up some Hinano beer at the local grocery store... Hinano is pretty much the Budweiser of Tahiti (we even picked up Hinano beer glasses and t-shirts as souvenirs)... so we had that to enjoy with dinner.  Then, after dinner we drank our last night "tradition" of downing a liter of Tahiti Drink - fortunately we were able to find that in the store as well!  The food was just fine (steak and fries) and the alchohol combo let us effortlessly ramble on about all the good memories we had made over the past week... we also enjoyed another great night of star gazing and watched the moon rise up over the ocean/lagoon.

But our vacation was not totally over... although we had to check out at 11am, our boat to the airport did not leave until 5 pm.  Fortunately, the hotel lets you hang on and offers small changing rooms that you can freshen up before your flight.

So we packed our things in the morning.  I did a last round of snorkeling just off our bungalow and then it came time to give up our room.  I tend to take the end of vacations pretty badly... and despite trying to prepare myself for this moment and try to remain stoic... it did not quite happen.  I got emotional on our bungalow deck... getting ready to leave the room... leaving the room... oy, I am such a wuss.  I stopped short of what Oprah calls the "ugly" cry but it was pretty darn close.

With a lot of time to kill, we walk back up to Snack Matira for lunch.  Despite being tempted to order something new... I go back to the very tasty "known" factor of the mahi-mahi sandwich.  We hit the beach for much of the afternoon.  The sun is out more than it has been since we arrived and the winds seemed to die down as well. We could be bitter that it wasn't like this for our entire stay here... but it is hard to not just want to relish these last hours. 

We clean ourselves up in the changing room and have time for one more happy hour... on cue, our French couple is at the bar as well.  We finally engage in some conversation... she starts off in French to which we respond with sad faces that we "no speak"... then, of course, she launches into English.  Arrrgh, silly "don't speak any other language" Americans!!  But as we head off, we wish them "bon voyage" and they seem genuinely appreciative at our little attempt at the French language.

We head on over to the dock and get ready to leave.  The staff gives us "goodbye" leis of seashells (bite lip, bite lip) and before we know it we are on the boat and waving goodbye to them.  With another couple on board our boat, I force myself NOT too look back as my emotions are still teetering on the breaking point.  But I do manage to hold myself together and manage to look back and snap this picture.

But it was just very sad to leave... we had been looking forward to going to for such a long time... the hype and expectations were very high... and somehow these islands somehow managed to exceed those expectations in almost every way.  Todd has tried to comfort me in my "moments"... but I tell him, despite what it seems on the surface, this is the best possible reaction that I could be having... sure these are not happy tears... but they are coming from deeply happy place. 

This vacation has simply been a dream... and there are not too many times in life that you feel like you are actually living them out.

Ay! CaRUMBA!

Continued thanks for hanging in with me on the travelogue... if your eyes are glazing over as soon as you see one of those entries... we only have ONE more entry to go... then I have to start coming up with some new material... eek!

But going into the weekend, I thought I would give you a little eye candy.  As recently mentioned, I am giving the schlock-erific ABC summer series, Dancing With the Stars, a whirl (ha!)... and I guess it is no surprise that I have become enamoured with one of the professional dancers.   While I am not going to dignify this show with an official Fine Wine nominee... allow me to present Alec Mazo!

Alec is pictured here with his "celebrity" partner, Kelly Monaco of General Hospital. While Kelly is pretty hot (for a girl <g>!)...  Alec definitely got me all warm and tingly as he danced the rumba on the latest episode to the cheese-tastic "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias.... "you can take my breath away... <gasp>"!

The duo have been totally slammed by the judges in the first two weeks... but survived the first cut thanks to the viewer voting (me thinks are too distracted to get around to watching the dancing).

The show's website describes the 27-year old American (though of Russian descent) as "a very dominant, powerful male on the dance floor. He is fully aware of his good looks and admits that he concentrates on the aesthetic side of the performance as he knows that's what he's good at."  He currently dances professionally with Edyta Sliwinska, the 'lil spitfire paired with Evander Holyfield on the show.

Have a great weekend!

TftSP Part XIII: So That's What Jimmy Buffet Was Singing About?!

Tales from the South Pacific
Thursday, May 26th - Bora Bora

Today was our designated "circle the island" day.  Though my bony butt had recovered from yesterday's bike ride... we still decided to opt for a motorized form of transportation (in retrospect, a VERY wise decision).  The "small" cars and buggies were already rented out for the day (and it was only 9 am)... so we had no choice to go for one of the largest vehicles available to rent -- a four-seater.  When we saw it, we had to laugh... as it was easily the smallest car that either of us had ever been in!

It was fun to get out and see the entire island of Bora Bora... though generally a flat road hugging the coast, it did get hilly at times... so biking it would have been a bit of a challenge... especially hitting those hills 5-6 miles into the ride.  We had all of our tourbooks out to check out the main attractions around the islands (WWII guns, bungalows owned by Marlon Brando)... but no such luck... even on a little hike up a hill on Day 2 of our stay here we were unable to find any of the remnants of the American cannons left on the island.

Since the island road is only 18 miles long, we ended up driving around it twice.  The first time too about 1.5 hours, including some stops.  Since we had the car for 4 hours, it seemed a bit silly to turn it in so soon... and needless to say, the rental fee for 4 hours was probably the same amount of $$ that you would pay in the states for a full day (or even 2 days)!

We stopped for lunch at another local place that caught our eye in the guide books... Snack Matira.  It was just across the road from Ben's Place and was quite the mix.  The menu was completely in French, but the items definitely had an island flavor... though there were certainly the food staples of burgers and pizza.  I had a quite delicious mahi mahi - frommage - frites sandwich (that's mahi mahi with cheese and fries) and Todd opted for the cheeseburger.

Given that we were overlooking the gorgeous Bora Bora lagoon from this roadside eatery I had to take a picture... so I present...

A real-life Cheeseburger In Paradise:

Next Up: Time To Say Goodbye (The finale, finally, for real!)

TftSP Part XII: I Got Starlight

Tales from the South Pacific
Wednesday, May 25th - Bora Bora

After dinner at Ben's, we were treated to the most amazing night sky on the 10-minute walk back to our hotel.  We figured the the stars would be brilliant out here in the middle of nowhere... but thus far, we had yet to look up and see anything mind-blowing.  But mind-blowing is exactly what we got tonight.

If "infinity" could be seen... this was it, just an uncountable number of stars and what I am guessing (I was no astronony freak in school) was the Milky Way... a glimmering blanket of tiny lights crossing the sky.

We wondered where the moon was... we knew it was pretty much a full moon as we had seen on Moorea... but we had yet to see the moon here on Bora Bora.  After getting back to our bungalow, we went out on our deck and continued to enjoy this magnificent show in the sky... and then we finally caught glimpse of the moon just edging up on the horizon.   

We had yet to catch a true sunrise, but dare I say this "moon rise" was just as spectacular.  It rose at a pretty rapid rate... almost as if Mother Nature had her finger on the fast-forward button.  Teasing us, the moon disappeared behind some distant clouds... but it cleared those in a few minutes... and then it came out in full and shot a moonbeam across the ocean and lagoon. 

It was something I will not soon forget.

POSTSCRIPT: Alas, no pictures of this... so it will just have to be tucked away in some safe-deposit box in my mind.  But it was truly a wondrous night... enough to knock the cynic/snark out of you... to be amazed, almost in child-like way, by simply by the stars and moon.  The inspiration of the post title comes from the song I've Got Rhythm (of course!)... and I think it says it all:  I got starlight/I got sweet dreams/I got my man/Who could ask for anything more/Who could ask for anything more?