Last Chance for Pictures

Folks I need to free up some memory by taking down some pictures this week. So the July wedding pics will come down soon so that I can post more recent pictures! :-)

XXL

Having spent half the week at home trying to save money while I am between contracts I spent this afternoon visiting Richard and Mark. We were going to go to a movie but I got stuck in traffic and so we just chilled today.

Came home and made my first ever Shepard's Pie. It was surprisingly delish. Considering that I just threw it together and didnt have a recipe! :-)

Showerd and dressed and headed off to my new local. The nightclub XXL. Dusan was working a late again and always seems to be at work when I am off, so this evening he joint me after work at the club.

Once I was inside I soon ran into lovely Nigel, Grant and Richard and joint them until Dusan arrived and then we just had a bit of a dance and enjoyed the night. It was a fun evening but a very late to bed one. Its almost 6AM and I am still up. Also a memo to me. XXL is supposed to be a club not ones own waist line! Head to the gym Neil.

Its the end of the World (as we know it)

What a great song from REM but what is meant by it? Here we are living in a transitional world with change on every corner. Some of it good, some of it not so. But at the end of the day we have to adapt and learn to change.

The world is changing at a faster pace than ever.

Tonight I went out and spotted a bunch of 5 approxiamately 18 year old lads. Out for some fun? What has happened to the world today? In my day, a young gay guy was closeted and projected a masculine image to the world. A skill of hiding one's sexuality from others as part of being a closested gay male. The youth of today have no idea what it is like to be the "only gay in the village". For these days thanks to the internet you are never further than a keyboard away from another person, similar to yourself.

I will start to sound old now but.... When I were a lad you hid your sexuality, almost for protection from the outside world. A skill to learn to spot other gay men only reliant on use of your own built in Gaydar. Yes, its not just a social networking website. The name comes from the ability to spot another gay man in a crowd. i.e. this evening I was walking down to the tube station and spotted on the horizon two very handsome tracky wearing men. I thought they were cute and did my usual top to bottom and back to top only using ones eyes as movement and then came the ultimate moment. The time where one would be able to tell, are they straight, are they gay? For sureley if they are gay they know the old fashioned rules of engagement and know that the second you pass each other and are heading away from each other you begin the count. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds and turn. If they turn at exactly the same moment on 1, 2, 3 then they are likewise a homosexual and ones gaydar is perfectly in turne. As it happens the two boys in my scenario were real and they not only turned exactly on 3, but continued to turn until we were both out of view of each other. It was the equivilent of the Impulse advert of "When a guy you've never met before buys you flowers".

Well these boys turned but then, being aged 3o something they are what I woudl refer to as "Old School".

The new boys that I spotted out this evening were mincing around in what could only be described as a dispicable amount of bad and camp taste. They were dressed like girls, walked like girls. It is as though the new day gay man does not know how to be straight acting. I no dount blame this on the one thing that I love more than almost any other invention in the world. The internet. ( Okay the mobile Phone, Electricity and Oce Cream are pretty fabulous too but you get my point?) They cant act straight. They were born into the Information Age. Where at the age of puberty and knowing what you are feeling you could find others like you. You didnt have to feel isolated and insular. I'm not saying that it was by any means easy to be a closeted gay man but surely the ability to blend in, become a cameleon and adapt to your surrounds is a gift we all should possess? Maybe its a gift that could one day save your life? It was just sad to see them acting so camp and I mean really camp. They would mark John Inman as 15% gay in comparison.

Maybe, in a small way this great thing, the internet is destroying more than we can yet see. A future generation bought up without the values and respect that were once commonplace?

DTPM closed (2007). Trade Closed (2003). Love Muscle Closed (2003). Action closed (2004). (* All dates approximate.) They all had there day. They were fabulous. We loved them and the memories are etched thick and will never pass. The times of our lives. Could possibly a reason for all these "Mega Clubs" loss be the invent of the internet? Once someone said that Gaydar (website) killed the bar scene. Did the internet kill the Club scene too? Did the invention of a medium that bought the world so much smaller and opportunites unbelievable just a few years ago cause the start of the collapse of social ineraction? I believe these new camp kids dont go out for their virtual friends are just that. People off line and not the sort of friendships my friends both straight and gay in the continents around the world share of experience in life. Of hugs and dinners of champagne and Oysters. Of parties and funerals and work and play and of all the things that make us this diverse group of so different people with a bond, whatever the bond be that ties. So take this as you go about your day. Dont be a dreamer. Dont be a spectator. Be a participant. Make your own goals a reality. Be fabulous. Be happy and take plenty of pictures. For its those friends and memories and pictures that will last a life time.

365 Days later

Hard to believe that it was a year to the date yesterday that I was sat in a classroom and Dusan was on his way to Gatwick before being grilled by immigration for over 3 hours. It doesnt seem like a year since he moved in. It seems to have gone so quickly. Even more so, next week will be our five year anniversary. I guess that time really does fly when you are having fun.

I met with David late afternoon for a coffee and a catch up and ended up down the road in Comptons for a proper drink. We completely forgot it was Monday night and therefore all drinks were fabulously £1.50. I texted Dusan and as he was finishing at 1800 asked him to join us. We bumped into Marcello in there and had a fun evening with friends before coming home at 2030 feeling a little bit tipsy and all this on a school night!

Toothache

Dusan was home early yesterday afternoon and complaining that his Wisdom tooth was causing him extreme pain. We got him some pain killers over in the hight street and unfortunately on the way back the skies turned black and within minutes a torrential flash thunderstorm occured. One minute it was dry and warm and the next we were virtually soaked to the bone. It was not nice. We rushed home to remove the wet clothes and had a short powernap before heading over to Surrey Quays to see Mark and Richard. Richard had to work fairly late so we enjoyed dinner with Mark but by 9:00pm his tootchache was becoming too much for him so we had to say our thankyou's and goodbyes and came home for a fairly early evening.

At four am I woke to find him missing from the bed so came downstairs to find that he had been up in extreme agony since 2:00am and having already taken the limit of pain killers was just crashing on the sofa. We knew that his wisdom teeth needed to be removed and the dentist had planned to do it on his next visit. The last time he went they had wanted to pull one there and then but he had to go on to work later in the day and it didn't seem appropriate at the time.

This morning we managed to get him an emergency dental appointment this afternoon. They reacon they will have to pull the one today and he will have to go back and do the other in a week or so. The poor thing. I know a couple of years ago a filling of mine fell out and it resulted in my having to have route canal treatment. Nasty. So I am spending the day nursing him and waiting in for the plumber to fix the heating thats broken once again.

Without his two upper wisdom teeth I'm not sure how much pain he will be in once they are pulled? Will he be able to chew right away or will I be blending the food and serving Farleys rusks to my little cupcake? Ironic therefore that as I post this update its just after 2:30. (Tooth hurty) :-)

Want to know when we update luckybitches?

Just send an email to neil@vauxhallcowboy.com with SUBCRIBE in the subject box and well let you know everytime the blog is updates. God Bless! X

Eat to save your life!

Eat to save your life. So the television show says. But whats in that? Do I, the average British consumer go straight for free range organic and opt to grill over fry? No in reality this is the world that we all live in. Balancing our lives, the fat from the thin, the fabulous from the unfabulous and the higjs from the lows. However having watched Jamie's Eat to save your life I had to look back upon the meal we had both eaten tonight. Was it a your gonna have a heart attack and die or were we living on the brighter side of things. Okay, so my buying habbits have changed. Since the Chicken Run Program I have switched to free range chickens and you know what? They do taste better. Juicier and so flavoursome you could swear I smeared it in butter. But I didnt! It was to be a week late but we were celebrating Dusan's Birthday by proving that we could have the same enjoyment in. The prawn cocktails were actually made last and stuffed into the fridge to chill before hubby came home. I pealed and diced all the veg to Jamies well preseved instruction as given via the Christmas broadacast. The Organic freerange Chicken went in next. It was almos £8 from Ocado.com but we thought we would taste the difference (isn't that Sainsburys?)

Dinner was servered ala Jamie Style at 20:00 precisely. Prawn Cocktail followed by Roast Organic Freerange Chicken with Roast Potatoes, Carrrots and Onions, plus Sweede and Brocolli. Fabulous. Dusan was not sure he would like sweede. We will see. Now Jamie never taught me sweede, Peal. cut to chunks, add a little Sea salt and boil until almost soft. Next came the veggies. Pealed potatoes boiled for 10 minutes then put in a bowl and smothered in Olive Oil, a dab of butter and whatever else you want to throw in. Ensururing they are coated well, add them to the baking tray along with Rosemary, and whatever you choose to roast. I added Carrrotts and Onions. Fabulous. 2 Whole Garlic's. Thats 2 Garlics not Garlic Cloves. Roast in the oven at 220 Deg for 35-45 Mins.

Well having never cooked a roast before in my life I didnt know how it would turn out but I brushed the Chicken with Olive Oil amd after a couple of stands of rosemary were laid upon the bird decided to use us the Bacon and wrap the four slices around her. 1 hour, 45 mins to go.

With the bird in the oven I caught Holllyoaks and read some emails and then was time to boil the spuds pre their bake. 10 Mins in a boiling pan then off, Shake. Add Salt Pepper, Rosemary, Onion, Carrott and zest of Lemon and Mandarin plus 5 garlic cloves to the now soaked in Butter and Extra Virgin Olive Oil and we were off.

It has to be said that it was the best Chicken we ever had. Succulent, moist and delicious. And the veggies were divine, gosh you were onto something Jamie!

And so it came to pass that we did eat Organic Freerange chicken and it did taste good. We also loved the veggies but lets cut back on the fat eh?

Finally as I was at my mothers yeasterday looking out the window at the flowers sprouting..... well Richard and I will just smile cos everone knows the first flowers of the year are snowdrops and Croatians (Crocuses). Sweet dreams. x

Brizzle

Brizzle as the local's tend to call it was once Englands second largest city. Its rumoured to be around the fifth largest now and is one of those cities that is of a size that you can litterally walk around the city centre in under fifteen minutes. For a Londoner it doesnt really have that city feel. Leaving one's hotel at 9:30 PM on Sunday evening it was difficult to find much that was open other than the big chain restaurants and even they seem to be cast out towards the tourist area and are scattered along near the theatre.

While looking up articles on Bristol I read that the city was cursed with a large Chav population and was pleased to read that the city council had dealt with this by building the River Avon to keep them at bay. It reminded me of the time that I was working in Windsor and we sat by the Castle to enjoy our lunch to hear a bus load of tourists from the United States sitting hear us commenting on the Queen's home with the comment "You would have thought they would have built the castle further away from Heathrow". We didnt like to point out that the castle was built for William the Conquerer who was reign from the years 1066 to 1087 and Heathrow dated to the 21st Century.

Tuesday evening I met up with Richard and we went over for dinner at the lovely Flavorz restaurant. Then got caught out in a downpour heading back to the hotel. I felt so bad at being away for Dusan's Birthday and even more so when he said he didnt go out for drinks with his work friends. Still at least we have something to look forward to and celebrate once I get home.

My final two days on the project. We are running on a skelaton crew of six. A far cry from the 14 plus that started back in April. Winding down and looking for the next challange and very possibly a nice week of lie in's. Plus a chance to catch up with all you that I didnt get to see over the Christmas new year. Hopefully see you soon.

Your so lucky

Your so lucky (Lucky Bitches) . My friends often say. Getting to go away and stay in lovely hotels all paid for by work. It must be terrific? To tell you the truth, once in a while it really is nice to get to go away. Especially when its somewhere that you have friends and have not been in a while. A 2 day trip would be ideal. A chance to get to see your friends, do your work and explore a new or distant city.
In reality I am away some weeks from Wednesday for 10 days at a time and when you are away on your own it can become a fairly lonely experience. At the other end of the scale when you get to go to some far off city you have never seen or to go abroad it is exciting. It all comes down to where you are staying and how much time you get to enjoy it. One day I will get a fabulous gig where I get to travel to say Los Angeles or Las Vegas, Sydney and will love every second. (Not forgetting the air miles one would collect on the way).

The last time I was in Bristol Ihad the lovely Hotel Du Vin as my accommodation. Admittedly it was above the maximum limit that the company are prepared to pay but when I looked at all the other options everywhere was in excess of our set limit. I agreed with my manager to pay the excess and I can only say that it was worth every penny. Luxury bed and Pillows with a duck and goose down duvet that keeps you so snug and warm you just don’t want to get out of the bed. The rain shower smothers you in a luxurious shower that leaves you fresh and invigorated. In comparison my hotel this week is practically a Lidl. The shower hardly gets me wet. What’s with the water pressure? The Double bed when I climbed into it is actually two singles that are joined together with a double fitted sheet. The pillows are foamy and not feather. The room is huge with 9 foot ceilings but the large sash windows make it very drafty and being someone that doesn’t like a cold bedroom I turned the radiator up full. Even on full blast it hardly let off enough heat to warm a room half the size.

I stopped at reception to ask for an additional heater on my way to dinner. Admittedly they bought me a radiator rather quickly, however it was so small and useless that even with both the additional heater and the main radiator my room was chilly. I ended up blasting the hair dryer sporadically to give the room some warmth. How ridiculous that a hair dryer could create more heat than two radiators combined! (That said I think a candle creates more heat than the second one they bought in). I have filled out a complaint card asking for a decent heater or think I will be changing hotels.

Today is Dusan’s Birthday and I felt so bad when I realised that my extended contract meant that I was effectively away for the week of his birthday. We will have to celebrate when I get home.

This evening I am meeting up with my Bristolian friend Richard. Always nice to have some company when you are away from home. So time to clear my inbox and get ready to head on out. Till then as they say locally, Alright my luvver! Ill leave you with a shot of the Bridge. The world's first Suspension Bridge the Clifton Suspension Bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Christmas Day to Date

I had to wait till 0700 on Christmas Day for Alex and Mikey to rise and Dusan was not too much later nearer 8 where upon Alex spoilt us rotten with home made Scrambled Eggs, Smoked Salmon and Champagne. All of this at 10:00am and I was worried that I would not eat my lunch. We started the morning with some television and sharing what we call the Tree gifts. For the past five years we have exchanged not only main presents but the smaller side ones. The funny gifts. We had to wait until after lunch to open the main presents.

Luncheon was delishious. After cooking the Turkey to perfection it was as Alex rightly said Moist to perfection with Roasted Potatoes and veg followed by home made Mince Pies and then later in the day Christmas Pudding. It was a chilled day of good company and great food.
Everyone was up so early that we were all in bed before midnight and the following morning we had to have our coffee, pack and make our way to my mothers for Boxing Day Lunch and a chance to see the family. Some years this is just my Mother, Father, Brother and Sister in Law and of course dear old Nan. This year my mother had invited the entire family, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Second Cousins, Sister in Law, her parents and her brother. Everyone’s partner. I lost count but I think there were around 38 for boxing day lunch.

It was nice to see all the family again but sadly we didn’t really get a chance to speak with or spend much time with them all. We both were quite tired from all the lead up to Christmas and too many late nights recently. So we left around 20:00 and made our way home with all of the presents to open them up once we had a bottle of wine cracked open. A huge thank you to everyone for all our gifts and presents.

Dusan had to work early on the 27th so we couldn’t be up too late.

Come the 28th we were packed and ready for Amsterdam. We had to leave around 10:00 to get to the airport in time for our flight. We managed to check in and time to get to the VIP lounge (Thank goodness for the card) and relaxed pre flight.

We were soon in our Hotel in Amsterdam and ready for a nice meal and then a few drinks in the gay District.

The next day we explored the city centre and made our way around the shops and attractions. We checked out the usual spots. The famous Red Light district, checked out the clubs and coffee shops, the famous leather shops of Rob & Mister B.

That night after a light dinner we made our way to the club, CockRing. Its not as bad as it sounds and in reality is just a very small club in this small city. The drinks were quite pricey but we didn’t mind as there were some cute boys we could enjoy looking at while we had a few drinks. Then a few Red Bulls to keep us going. All was great until I managed to go to the bathroom and as people were passing me on the very narrow stairwell and I slid on some water and fell flat on my backside and on my wrist which hurt like hell. Thankfully I missed my Cockix.

Spent the next couple of days enjoying the sights and sounds of Amsterdam and then on New Years Eve took a train from Amsterdam Central to Hoorn. A Town about 45 minutes North of Amsterdam towards the coast.

I had made plans to meet with my dear friend Shirley Van Brugge from Holland. We became good friends back in Orlando when we both worked at Disney. Neither of us have seen each other since about the year 2000 but the magical thing about Disney is that the friends we made are friends for life. It doesnt seem to matter if its a matter of months or 12 years. The friendships are as storng when we meet up as they have ever been. But then I guess we are lucky that we gained our maturity living in the most magical place on Earth. Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. Shirley met us at the train Station and took us on a shoprt tour of the city and then we went to the harbour to take a few pictures and then headed to a restaurant in town. Here we met Shirley's Partner the lovely Berrie. Like us, they had their wedding this year. You should have seen the pictures they both looked so adorable. Isnt it magical when you see a picture of two people so obviously in love? We had a lovely lunch in a bistro style cafe along with a side of traditional Frites with sauce. Yummy. I dare not think of my waste line though but as Shirley said you should enjoy life. So we did. From here we made our way back to their beautiful new home and met their cute little dog and enjoyed a coffee and a looked through their wedding album.

We said our goodbyes in time to get back to Amsterdam and buy some drinks to celebrate. To our horror all of the shops that sold alcohol had closed already. But thankfully the late night deli near our hotel sold wine!

We bought a bottle of wine or two and had a few drinks while we got showered and dressed and then headed into town. This time to a bar called the Moulin Rouge. Funny it seemed appropriate. It was only what I could describe as something a bit like the White Swan. A bar with live music and a similar crowd. We stayed for a few drinks and saw the new year in there and then made a sharp exit as apparently it was traditional to watch the fireworks on New Years. We exited to what was like a scene from a war movie. Every street was filled with smoke. Fireworks going off in every direction. Loud bangs everywhere and the smoke getting thicker and thicker we decided to head to another bar for cover and a few more drinks before heading back to enjoy the rest of the wine.

l in all a lovely little break. So nice to see Shirley again and lovely to spend so much quality time with Dusan.

When we returned I had a zillion texts and messages as my phone charger died and I could not charge my phone. One of the messages was from Christine in Norway, telling me how she had met some people in Norway at a party at New Years and they had also worked at Disney World. Somehow they lacked the Magic that we all had and she was honest when she said that they didnt have half the magic we did and how glad she was that she had been there when we were. When there were so many wonderful people and so many magical memories. I miss you too Christine and hope to see you soon and likewise, I am appreciative too as all of the dear friends we made in those years were only what could be described as magical.

May we both wish you all a very Happy New Year and all the prosperity and success in 2008. Stay well. Love N&D.