Thursday, September 30, 2010

Why do women read and write about gay men?

Yes, why, anyway?
I think if you asked every female reader of gay fiction, the answers would fill volumes. I can only speak for myself.
First and foremost, I like men. Well, women too, but still... I go by one man is good, two men are better. Go  figure. That's why gay sex scenes are better. Twice the cock, twice the fun, isn't it? Well, maybe there's an element of voyeurism to that, and the thrill of reading (or watching - there IS gay porn on the 'net, didn't you know?) something which the average woman isn't likely to ever come across in real life.
Men aren't women. The dynamics between two men are different from what there is between a man and a woman, and very different from what is between two women. Since I'm no man, I'm fascinated with watching two men, particularly two men who fall in love for each other, which is what I haven't expected personally and thus need to learn from description.
The world of gay literature isn't only m/m romance, there's a lot of gay fiction and also non-fiction out there. Romance, well show me a woman who doesn't like romance, whatever kind she prefers.For that matter, show me a MAN who doesn't want, deep inside, hidden even beneath his deepest layers of cool and successful and don't give a shit, to find the one person who loves him and who he can love. And that's what Romance is about, isn't it?

Anyway. Jay has something to say to the topic of women getting their kicks out of watching gay men getting it on.

Jay speaks:


There was this gay bar in Heidelberg, not far from Karlstorbahnhof. Whisky-a Gogo
It was really famous back in the day,with people coming as far as from Frankfurt just to see Claudia, the owner, dancing in his paper dress. There were always some women in there, either lesbians who hadn't their own place yet back then, or straight women, who were looking for a place where they could have a quiet drink with no-one there to hit on them. Well, some of them were there for the eye-candy, too, I guess, just like me. I didn't begrudge them their pleasure
Klaudia, Klaus actually, didn't care for women overly much, though. Why, I don't know, maybe it was just that he didn't have any use for them. He was a pretty enough boy, a beauty actually, and maybe he was afraid of going into a contest or whatever. Anyway, one night, or  rather one early morning we were still having a good time, just us guys, no women present, and to my knowledge, no straight guys either. There was some action going on in the booths and bathrooms and we were all pretty shit-faced when the doorbell rang. The Whisky was a club, after all. Klaudia went to answer the door in his paper dress which was almost not there anymore from being so soaked. Just then the music paused, and we all heard two female giggles, and Klaudia's voice (he had a high, always slightly whiny voice and that particular kind of effete slur to it). "What do you want here? We aren't some fish tank!" Well, the music boomed again then, and I couldn't hear what the women said, but when Klaudi came back down the stairs, his dress was entirely gone, and he was only wearing his mean smile. I guess those women had had their eyeful, after all, for we sure as hell had, and just as sure, Klaudi went right to the back. Thinking of it, went is wrong, he was dragged, rather, by Max, his current boyfriend. Whatever they did there, they weren't seen anymore that day.

Review - In the Flesh by Ethan Stone

I've come across this book lately on Wave's site. Looked nice enough, so I bought it. Didn't think it would turn out so fascinating I need to re-read it right now although there's a shitload of books in my TBR and sitting idly on my Sony. Well, if needs must...

This is how I reviewed it on Goodreads.



In the beginning this books is factual, dry, a little distanced, just like Cristian Flesh, the first person narrator. It picks up pace fairly quickly, though.

The characters were very believable, particularly Cristian, a genuine flawed hero with a painful past which is never entirely revealed but still hinted at often enough to make his motives understandable. He keeps himself distanced from everybody and has surrounded himself with a fortress wall of rules for nearly every aspect of his life, especially his sex life. It takes a very confident, very strong man to get Cris to break his rules. This would be Colby Maddox, the lawyer who defends Cris when he's accused of the murder of one of his hookups. Although it's only sex in the beginning, Cris comes to realize that he wants more with Colby, or rather that he can't escape the way Colby wants more with him - and what's even more of a revelation for don't-have-sex-twice-in-a-row-with-the-same-guy Cris, that he doesn't even want to escape.

The actual mystery was realitically written, too, with futile research and meeting dead ends, with false solutions and bad evidence, just like in real life.

I liked the little quirks the author worked into the book, like the names: the bible-thumper Pryor, the tough-as-nails partner detective Alexandra "Lex" Luther, the bald, very carnal hero Flesh, or Kismet, the hooker whose clues finally help solving the murder. Also, I very much liked the way the writing changed from the almost cold beginning to passionate emotional passages when Cris finally allows himself to feel again.

There were a few very minor niggles too, little breaks in the logic. For example, why a man who is as promiscuous yet aware of the risks as Cris would allow himself being taken bare when it's still only sex for him, or why he would go back for more sex with the victim, Sanchez, thus breaking one of his rules, when he was still far from that point in his personal development. At one time, Colby was playing with Cris's hair, yet there was no indication before that Cris had grown any by that time. Also there were some repetitions of phrases the author seemed to be fond of. But these were really very minor niggles, more like "huh?" moments.

Overall, a great read, fast-paced action mystery with a flawed hero who grows and develops over the course of the book, and an emotional, passionate, realistic romance, written with great skill and without a single superfluous word. Definitely a keeper.    

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

It flies, no matter the size

Ever heard of Airport Falconry, anybody?  But it is there, and at one of the biggest commercial airports in the world, to booth.



Look here:      Short film on falconry




This vid gave birth to Greg, falconer and scientist. He was soon followed by his former pupil and friend Hunter Devereaux. Mark Bowman, PAPD Cop, took a little longer to come forward, but here they are now, very alive and kicking.

This is what it's about.

Bird strike costs military and civilian aviation over $400 million a year in the US alone. The Israeli Air Force has lost more planes to collisions with birds than to enemy fire. Although it might be hard to believe that a few-pound gull or goose striking a thousands of pound aircraft might cause any fundamental damage, such collisions could have fatal consequences. Deadly bird-related accidents occur every few years. The problem is increasing worldwide as conservation efforts help to expand bird populations while at the same time general air traffic is rapidly increasing.
The most recent and most popular plane crash caused by bird strike happened on January 15th, 2009 when US Airways Flight 1549 from New York's La Guardia Airport destined for Charlotte, North Carolina, hit a flock of Canada geese shortly after taking off. Both engines got disabled. Thanks to the amazing skill of Flight Captain Charles Sullenberger who managed to land the Airbus A320 on the Hudson River nobody had to die, but the dramatic pictures of the emergency ditching made their way around the whole world.

No other airport worldwide has a greater potential for bird to airplane collisions than JFK International Airport, New York. The airport borders on a bird sanctuary, the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, home to more than 300 different species. Kennedy lies also directly in the path of two major migration routes along the Atlantic coastal flyway. From 1979 until late 1980ies, there have been nearly 4000 recorded incidents of birds damaging aircraft at Kennedy.

The airport tried to scare the birds away from the runways with acoustic devices such as booming propane cannons, fireworks and recorded gull distress calls. But  these measures proved of limited effect since the birds became inured to acoustic signals. Teams of marksmen were flown in by the United States Department of Agriculture. Since 1988 an average of 10.000 birds per year were shot during the nesting season March through September. Not only was this approach management expensive, it also caused a considerable amount of friction between airport security officials and National Park scientists. In 1991, the National Birdstrike Committeewas formed to work out an in all respects acceptable solution. Among other things, the ancient idea of using falcons to keep the runways bird-free came up once again.
In 1994, the Port Authority hired a wildlife biologist and falconer in order to approach the problem from another point of view. By that time, several airports across the world had already experimented with the use of falcons and other birds of prey to reduce the threat of nuisance birds. The U.S. Air force had also been testing the technique, at European airbases as early as back in the 1970s.

During the early gull nesting season of 1995, March through May, a field test was started with four falconers and nine birds of prey patrolling the airfield in alternating shifts. The number of gulls shot dropped, and the bird to aircraft collision incidents rate sank. But the additional positive effects of the falconry project were considered insignificant compared to its cost, and by the end of May 1995 the field test was cut short due to financial issues. 
In June 1995, an Air France Concorde on approach to JFK Airport was struck by a flock of geese. Two of the birds were inhaled into one of her jet engines, shredding it into pieces. Luckily, the aircraft had been descending; during takeoff a similar occurrence would probably have caused a fatal crash. Still, a $5 million damage resulted.
The next year, the falconry program was established anew.

To this day John F. Kennedy International Airport is the only commercial airport in the U.S. which regularly uses falcons as a means to prevent birdstrike. Today, the falconry program is run by a contracted company, Falconry Environmental Services, that links to the Port Authority via a manager of operations.   

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Billiards

Jay speaks:

It all began in the back room of the "Bean", a bar/ cafe in Heidelberg. Must have been the late '60s,early 70', I think. I was with B. at that time, who didn't know at that time she was going to be my daughter's mother. I worked as a locksmith back then, actually still worked, with paychecks and insurance and stuff, although my boss chewed my ass out more often than not those days since I used to run late, if I came to work at all.
However. There was a billiard in the back room of the Bean. Everybody played pool, save me. I found it boring. The others, though, they couldn't leave me alone about it. So, to escape their nagging, I took up a cue one day and made my first game. I played against Micha, a regular there, who also pimped his girlfriend in occasion. Micha set up, cracked, pocketed two balls and then leaned on his cue with a smirk. "Your turn, kid."


I was actually quite skinny back then, and I had still to make my last spurt of growth, but I hated it if anybody took me up on that. So I cleared my balls from the table, and while I was at it, his balls, too.
Micha's jaw hit the floor, and the others weren't much better.
"That was beginner's luck," Micha said. He knew I hadn't ever played before.
"It wasn't;" I said. After all, the balls had to follow the laws of physics, hadn't they? So it was simply a matter of logic, and not luck, to clear that table. I didn't think of it as very special; as I said, dull to the point of boring.
"You bet it  was," Micha said. I grinned at him. "How much, then?"
I walked home that day with a pocket full of money I hadn't needed to work for, my mind spinning almost as fast as the balls had on the tarpet. 
That's how it all began.

From the beginning

The first post in a blog is supposed to summarize the reason why this particular blog was created, and what's it all about. So, well, here we go:

Hi everybody. My name is Feliz. I'm a wordoholic. I read, and I write, and I talk, although you're probably never going to be partial to the latter.

What I read? Oh, anything. I can't go a day without, you know, that's what addiction is like. At least I'll give anything a try. I've been reading since I was four, and never stopped since. Back in the day, I had a voracious appetite and time on end on my hands. I've become a bit pickier since, mostly because I now need to earn the bucks I get to spend on books beforehand, which eats up a lot of my time. I like to comment on what I read, conveniently on goodreads.com. Here's the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3088267?shelf=read



What I write, mostly, is m/m. Romance, fiction, stories. To those of you who didn't know: m/m means man-on -man. Gay guys, guys. Yes, I'm a woman. No, I'm not straight. So?
If you have a problem with any of this, you'll want to leave now. Right. Now. 
Otherwise, you're beyond welcome to stay for a while, or three. Comment, if you like. Enjoy. Criticise. Share.

We could have a good time, don't you think?

There will be others present here, time and again. People with voices too strong to ignore, personalities who want out. Of my head. On pages, on screen, no matter what. I'll do my best to give them room, space and voice, since that, guys, is the reason why I'm here, in this blog, and why you are here, reading what I wrote, although I don't know you. Or if ANYBODY will ever read this. Whatever.