The other gentlemen invite you to join their party.
So will it be the first gentleman or the threesome?


Please share your comments. I really enjoy reading them.



El Cantante depicts the tragic life of Héctor Lavoe who is played by Marc Anthony. Jennifer Lopez plays his wife Puchi. I really loved this movie for a few reasons. First of all, I dig Salsa and had never heard any by Héctor Lavoe. The music was produced perfectly and I found myself wishing there was more. I went to the movie with my Mom and she had seen Héctor live in concert in 1971 and loved him then. We saw the movie with an enthusiastic Hispanic audience who applauded at the end. I am also a Marc Anthony fan and feel that he is a consummate musical entertainer. Finally, the movie presents the notion that Salsa was created as a blend of Latin music and a
The story is told somewhat melodramatically by Puchi. That probably could have been toned down a bit. Marc Anthony’s acting was understated compared to Jennifer’s flashy talent. He handled being drugged out just fine, but when he was suicidal or suffering, I tried not to picture what a fine actor, such as Sean Penn, could have done with the script. (But we all know that Sean can’t sing worth a damn compared to Marc.)
He came to
Aside from the somewhat weak acting on Marc Anthony’s part and melodrama on Ms. Lopez’s, if you love Salsa and/or are from the Latino Culture, you will love this film. If not, give it a skip. My rating is:
*** of five stars
The best news is that the soundtrack is available now. I already bought it on iTunes.

Last week I visited my Mother’s house and had a really wonderful time! Her new puppy, Vasco da Gama, was there and what a cutie at 13 weeks old. He was solid excitement running around to discover new things and play, play, play. He is pretty much house broken so long as we take him outside every several hours to tinkle. He got his third puppy shots while I was there and weighed 22 lbs, 11 ounces (10.29 kilograms). He is very soft and lovable. When he rubs past my legs he is like a big angora cat. He gladly accepts adoration from all comers and questions any other response. As you can see from the photo, he is mostly white, with lots of black on his eyes and ears. He also has some small black spots coming in on the skin of his back and belly, but his white puppy fur covers them. Mom says that he is the same color as her soul. I just think that is so funny. So, we’ll have to keep an eye on those black spots on his back and see if they come into his fur or get larger.
Vasco at 13 weeks
I got to see all of my Mom’s teacher friends, Mom is a retired high school English teacher, and their families that I have known all my life and like very much. It was really fun to get together with them again. I also went with her to her book club that was discussing the Shakespeare play Cymbeline, a tragic comedy. I was only able to read the first scene and the Spark Notes. But since it was a later play of Shakespeare’s and somewhat derivative of other notable plays, and I have read so many other Shakespeare works, I was able to follow the discussion quite well. I met some very interesting folks at the group. The discussion was riveting and even bawdy at times.
Princess Imogen from Cymbeline
We got out to see a movie, El Cantante, which I just loved and will write a review of soon. We went out for dim sum, which you can’t get where I live, and it was fabulous. We shopped at an Indian grocery, and Mom cooked cashew chicken which was wonderful. We had onion kulcha with it. All in all I had a wonderful and restful time and I really needed it.
When I got back home, the dogs gave me a reception that would have led one to think that I was gone for a month. I went to take my nap and Laila, my German Shepard Dog, wouldn’t let me out of her sight and stayed in my room with me. She usually doesn’t do that. Sean is really glad I’m back too. Ah, it is nice to be home again!
Dedicated to Doug at Unnatural DevotionsMeanwhile, the young explorer had begun to shake from hunger and post-traumatic stress, so Basim went out to buy some food and cotton robes or galabias. He was back in no time and Mr. Butterfly put on his new robe and ate some kabobs in a pita and felt better. Then he was sleepy. I sat watching over him and stroking his back. Eventually he fell asleep, muttering about Roble an how he had tried to save him. When he was truly asleep, I walked out to Basim who was pacing.
“I wonder how long my police colleagues will take before they get their collective asses over to the harem.”
“Patience Basim. How long has it been since you called?”
“Forty-five minutes.”
“Okay, but they have to round up a force right?”
Then, we could hear sirens in the distance and the police raid was on.
“I am going drive down there. You stay here with Mr. Butterfly.”
“Fat chance there is of that happening.”
Basim gave me an impatient look, grabbed the keys to the van and left. I was right on his heel. We drove the scant two blocks back to the harem and parked down the street a ways so as not to be in the way of the local gendarmes who were swarming all over the place. They had managed to get into the front door and past the aging servant and all hell seemed to breaking loose inside. Basim and I just waited.
We heard a couple of shots fired. But I guess I had to expect that some of Akbar’s brawny slaves would defend him no matter what and need to be put down my lethal measures. The police began leading suspects out in handcuffs. Some were guard slaves and then we saw a very angry and upset looking fully naked Akbar. At this point, Basim strode forward and said to one of the police officers “Hello. I am Basim. I am the man who called you today about the ransom being taken. I identify this man as Akbar, the man who took my money in exchange for an American gentleman who is at this very moment recovering from his capture at…” and then he gave the address of our hostelry. “This is Dr. Sue Fairview, who is an acquaintance of Dr. Roble Castagno, who is still inside the harem and has been brutally raped by Akbar. She would like to be admitted so that she can identify him now. Then he can be given the medical attention he needs right away. Is that alright?”
The officer in charge nodded during Basim’s speech. Then speaking to the officer holding Akbar he said “Take Akbar away and charge him with kidnapping, sodomy and rape.” Then to the officers at the door his said “Please escort these two people into the harem so that they may locate their injured friend. Tell the other officers to find any money located in this establishment. If we don’t find it, we will ask Akbar where it is.”
And with those words, we were allowed in. Basim assumed that Roble would not be on the ground floor, so we took the staircase to the second floor. There were some brawny slaves with gunshot wounds lying on the floor in pools of their own blood. They must have been dead, because they weren’t moving. Not my problem. I had to save Roble. There was a very grand room off to our right, and peeking in; I noticed that the floor was covered with naked men having an orgy. The police raid had not even been enough to stop them. I could detect the sweet, sweet smell of opium. So this was where the party was.
“Do you smell that?” I said to Basim.
“Yes. Opium.”
“Mr. Butterfly said that Roble was on opium. Let’s just see if any of these guys isn’t having sex.”
So we looked more carefully to see if all of the men were really moving and there, in the corner was one that wasn’t.
“Roble!”, I screamed. I ran across the room, pretty much tripping over naked bodies to get to him, but I got to him. God, he looked awful. His color was yellowish and his cheeks sunken. That had to be from the drugs. I looked down between his legs and didn’t see any fresh blood. That was good. Basim was beside me.
“We have to get him out of here and to a doctor.”, I said.
To my surprise, Basim, lifted Roble like a baby and carried him from the room. He said, “Keys. Get them from my front pocket and drive the van to the front.” I ran to do as he said. When I drove the van up, Basim was coming out the front with Roble in his arms. I hurried to open the back doors to the van. Basim carried Roble into the van and laid him on a bench inside. The officer assigned to us was right behind him.
“So this is your injured friend Dr. Fairview?”, the officer asked me.
“Yes sir it is. This is Dr. Roble Castagno. As you can see he is drugged. We will call a doctor immediately to diagnose his internal injuries. You have our address at the hostel?”
“Yes thank you. You may go and see to your friend.”
Basim and I didn’t need to hear anything else. I rode in back with Roble and we drove off to the hostel. We got there in no time and Basim came around the back of the van to lift Roble and carry him into our rooms. I went in front of him to open doors as needed. We laid Roble next to Mr. Butterfly who was still sound asleep. I went down to lock the van while Basim called for a doctor. When I returned, he had found a very good one that would be by soon. Then Basim called Ernst to report our progress.
Ernst was in a tizzy that I had snuck into the van, but was glad that I was unharmed and that we got Mr. Butterfly back. He was concerned about Roble though and asked that we call him back after the doctor’s visit. Basim promised we would.
There was a knock on the door and that woke Mr. Butterfly. Basim went to answer the door and I stayed with the young explorer and brought him up to date on Roble. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Aziz walked in to see his patient. He asked everyone to leave, but the young explorer insisted on staying which was alright, since he had witnessed the rape. The exam took forty minutes. Dr. Aziz left the bedroom, took off his latex gloves and went into the bathroom to wash his hands. Then we all met in the common room.
“He has a rectal tear that goes pretty far up, but has begun to heal on its own. So he does not need stitches. That is the good news. But it is painful. That is the bad news. I will give him some Tylenol with codeine and if that is not strong enough we can up him to Percocet. If he shows symptoms of opium addiction we can put him on a methadone detoxification program. Here are some free samples of drug now. He is a bit dehydrated and has taken too much opium and that is why his color is bad. He needs soft easily digestible foods for a few days and water when he wakes which should be pretty soon. Try to get the pain pills into him right away. I have requested that the police test Akbar for sexually transmitted diseases so we shall know if any remedies for these will be needed. I also recommend baths with Epsom salts. I will send my report to the police with your permission as evidence of a crime.
Basim agreed to sending the report to the police and handled the bill and Dr. Aziz left. A call was placed by Basim to Ernst to update him on the situation. It was looking like we were going to be spending the night in

I was hunkered down in the van and had no idea how long the drive to
We made many turns and there was lots of traffic noise before we came to a complete stop. I peeked out from under the tarp and decided to make my presence known to Basim. I walked out of the back of the van just as Basim had exited the front and almost ran right into him.
“Dr. Fairview! What are you doing here! I thought I heard Ernst tell you quite clearly that it was not safe for you to come.”
“Ernst does not own me Basim. I have come to save Mr. Butterfly. Let us go in and do that. By the way, I thought I told you to call me Sue.”
“Well Sue, I guess that now that you have come all this way, there is no talking you out of coming in and staying in the van instead.”
“Nope!”
He just looked down at the ground and shook his head. “My ass is grass if one hair on your head is harmed. You realize that don’t you?”
“It’s a risk you are going to have to take, big guy! I’ll keep my head low if any shooting breaks out.”
“Oh, there won’t be any shooting. It is all muscle with these guys. It is bad karma to bring guns into any such dealings. Just follow my lead.” With that, case and money in hand, Basim led the way up the stairs to the entrance of the very grand 3 storey, turreted stone house that looked to me more like a fortress. He knocked on the solid wood door and we waited. The door creaked open and an old servant answered.
“My name is Basim. I represent my Master Ernst Cullen whose two guests were taken here yesterday morning by force. He wishes to buy them back for a generous amount.”
The servant gestured towards me and said “Who is she?”
“Another of my Master’s guests, Dr. Sue Fairview, who is also a colleague of the two men you are holding.”
“Do come in.”
Then the servant retreated into the house and we followed him. I had visions of us never being seen again, but I went in anyhow.
“My Master has been quite occupied this morning, but I will check his schedule for this afternoon and see if he can arrange a meeting with you. Please, make yourselves at comfortable.”
We were shown into what can only be described as a ‘harem’ parlor. The room part of a turret and thus was round, had windows spaced pretty close together where it was not attached to the building. All the way around the room there were white gauzy silk curtains. There were no chairs, but caged birds fluttered and sang around the room. Embroidered pillows and bolsters covered the floor along with Egyptian carpets. Basim gracefully sank into a cross legged sitting position. So did I.
“So, how long do you think the Master will keep us waiting?”, I asked.
“As long as he can.”, replied Basim.
“I hate to wait.”
“Well, then why don’t we tell each other about ourselves? That will make the time fly by.”
“That’s a great idea Basim. You start.”
“I was born in
His eyes lit up as he spoke about his job. I enjoyed hearing him tell me about it so much I let him go on and on about it. Then it was my turn and I told him what I loved about working for the foundation. It really passed the time and we got closer while talking.
In no time, the servant of Akbar had returned and told us that his master would be in shortly. I checked my watch and two hours had passed.
About 20 minutes later, Akbar himself entered the room with his naked brawny slaves around him. Basim and I stood, but when we saw everyone frowning, we quickly got back down on the ground. The servant announced “It is customary to bow to Akbar when he enters a room.”
So that is precisely what we did, as much as it burned my grits to do so. We lay prostrate on the ground to this odious man. Then we sat up to begin the negotiation. Basim started.
“Pardon, but we understand that yesterday evening you accidentally took two of my master’s guests to be your slaves without knowing they were already claimed.”
“I see. These would be who? And what is your master’s claim on them?”
“A Mr. Butterfly who had traveled here from
“I see. I agree with your master’s claim on Mr. Butterfly, but not on Dr. Castagno. It seems to me that the EES has claim to him.”
“Dr. Castagno was staying with Mr. Cullen prior to their departure to the house where you found them.”
“No, no! I will not argue with you, a servant! Do not anger me or I will not negotiate on anyone.” He stamped his foot like a little boy to emphasize his point.
I cut in. “Will you hear from me? I am Dr. Sue Fairview and I will represent the EES since they are not here. May I bid for Dr. Castagno’s freedom?”
“Absolutely not! You are only a woman!” Then he spat. “You should be in purdah. You are an American whore. I would have you thrown out, but I show my guests more respect than that.”
I swallowed really hard not to react to being called a whore. It was merely a cultural difference and not personal, moreover, it would hardly be constructive to rise to the bait of defending my sex in this situation. So, I said nothing. It was not looking good for Roble. There must be some reason he didn’t want to let Roble go. I wondered if Basim had come to the same conclusion too.
“Fine Sir, fine. Let us just negotiate on Mr. Butterfly then.”, said Basim.
Over time, the negotiations were worked out and we ended up paying an absurd and usurious amount to get the young explorer back. Then Akbar took the money and left, giving assurances that Mr. Butterfly would be delivered forthwith.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the harem, the opium had worn off and Roble was in excruciating pain. He was moaning loudly and asking for more opium. Mr. Butterfly was trying to get him a pipe. Thankfully there was one and it was prepared and brought to Roble who sucked on it like he would die if he didn’t. Roble’s pain was quickly numbed and again his eyes glazed over and he lay back on the pillows comforted by the drugs. The young explorer just held him and thought that he needed medical attention and soon or he would become an opium addict. His worst fear was that Roble would get an infection and die.
One of the brawny slaves entered the room and pointed at the young explorer and said “You. Come with me.”
Mr. Butterfly had no idea what was going on, so he gave Roble a kiss and went with the slave. They walked down the hall and then down another flight of stairs to the ground level. They entered a room and he was thrown to the floor before he could see what was in the room. When he looked up he first saw Sue.
“Oh my god! Sue! You’ve come for me! Thank god!”
He rushed forward to hug me and almost knocked me over. Of course he was completely naked, but it was not the first time I had rescued him in this condition.
“Are you okay Mr. Butterfly? I was so worried.”
“Yes, I am fine. But Roble isn’t. We must get him out. Is he coming?”
I looked down at the floor and shook my head. “I’m so sorry, but Akbar wouldn’t hear of even negotiating for him.”
“We absolutely must get him out. He is injured and needs medical attention.”
“Shhh, That explains a lot. We will. But it will take some time. We will explain outside. Um, do you have any clothes?”
Basim piped up. “I have some in my van outside.”
“Thanks. Let’s get out of here.”
Then we left together as hastily as we could.

I really loved the birding part of the class. He was an expert birder. We all bought Roger Tory Petersen Field Guide to Eastern Birds in addition to our ornithology text book. We were provided with binoculars and brought the guide books and binoculars with us on our field trips. We were required to keep life lists of all the birds we saw beginning with those we saw on our class trips. I was so excited! This opened a whole new world for me.
We departed really early in the morning, before the sun was even up. Dr. Fågelson would drive like a madman with his window open listening for birds. Meanwhile, it was bitterly cold and the frozen air was coming into the van. But he would see a bird on a wire and screech the van to a halt, or hear a bird call and veer off dangerously off the road and set off out the door at a run, expecting us all to follow, or miss out on the sighting. If you missed out, you would miss out on seeing something that might be tested later. But most importantly to me, you missed out on a life experience, on seeing something you had never seen before, and might never see again. Didn’t everyone see how precious this man was? How inspiring he was? What a genius he was? How could they not? I just wanted to be inspired by him. But, not everyone saw him as I did. I got to run after him to see the woodcock, the wood thrush, the rufus sided towhee, the kingbird, the ruby crowned kinglet, the indigo bunting, the meadow lark, the killdeer, the snow geese, the blue bird, the cedar waxwing and so many more.
I sat right behind him in the van, questioning him about the birds we might see. One day we were talking about large predatory birds. I asked him what kinds of those birds we could expect in our area. His answer was “Well, we do see some kestrels and lots of red tail hawks. Rarely you will see an eagle. But, hey, wait! There is one right now!!! Pull over! Stop the van!”
We screeched to a halt and off he ran across the frozen corn field with me following at his heels. He jumped over the mounded rows that were frozen solid, and hard as rocks. I looked up and saw a huge bird sunning its wings high up in a tree in the first rays of morning light. Bur Dr. Fågelson still wasn’t close as he wanted to be. He ran down a little gully while looking up through his binoculars and fell headlong into a small partly frozen stream. Unfazed, he got up and kept running up the other side of the gully. He assembled the class on the other side in a corn field. We all had a really great view of the golden eagle there.
He told us how rare a sighting this eagle was in this area. Then he talked about what the eagle eats and how it lives and so forth. I just listened and stared at the eagle though my binoculars. I was amazed. It was a day I will never forget. God, I loved that class. I would have aced it, but a big part of the final was memorizing bird calls. To me, all ducks and sparrows sound alike. So, I only got a B. Oh well. So it goes.
At the end of that week of seeing the eagle, Zach came to Cayuga to visit me. I couldn’t wait to show him off to my suitemates. They were duly impressed. We hugged each other good and hard and I took the time to really feel all those muscles I had missed so much. We kissed in our suite lobby and as he forced his tongue into my mouth, my knees gave out and he lifted me into his arms and carried me into my room. He kicked the door shut after us. I could see my suite mates happy faces as we left; they were probably thinking it was so romantic and it was. He gently laid me on the bed and proceeded to undress me.
Oh god I wanted him to fuck me so bad. I helped him with my buttons and zippers, and his and in no time we were naked. He was making those grumbling growling noises as he kissed my body and sucked on my breasts that he mounded with his hands. I writhed on the bed with expectation. Quickly he donned a condom and we began to make love. He lifted my hips clear off the bed again and I just never could get enough of that feeling. He was so fucking strong to be able to lift me while fucking me. It was such a turn on. I felt like I was totally under his power; it was so easy for him to do. It was as if I weighed nothing. Then of course I had a great view of his meaty chest during sex, which was totally hot, plus seeing his handsome face as he pounded his cock into me until he shot his load. God, sex with him was wonderful.
Afterwards, I had time to really look at his body. He was beautiful everywhere. Since he was from
We continued to see each other through the spring. Zach became my bodybuilder boyfriend and I was thrilled.








The young explorer and Roble were dragged down the hallway by the brawny slaves and down a flight of stairs to an enormous room filled with naked men. They could both smell a sickly sweet odor. Some of the men were having sex, but many were still asleep. The room itself was decorated like a throne room in glorious silks of turquoise and white, embroidered with gold. Apparently this was an orgy room. The young explorer and Roble were pushed roughly to the marble floor by the brawny slaves that escorted them there. Some of the orgy participants began to make their way towards the two new men. Roble and the young explorer just looked at each other and smiled. This couldn’t be too bad, now could it?
But then, all got quiet and the sex stopped pretty much dead in its tracks as the brawny slaves guarded a very important person into the room. All eyes and bodies turned to bow to him. He walked to the throne importantly and stood there wrapped in a throw. He was large, black and ominous. His voice was booming as he said “I am Akbar. You are my new slaves. Bow before me!”
Akbar, Master of the Harem at Bubastis
With that, then Akbar descended from the dais that the throne was on, and walked around his two new slaves, assessing them. He nudged them with his toe, as if testing a new tire. “Roll over.”, he commanded them. So Roble and the young explorer did.
“Stop! Don’t hurt him!” Then the young explorer quickly got to his feet and began to rush towards Roble. But he didn’t get far before the brawny slaves grabbed his arms again to restrain him. So he kicked at them and bit at them. More slaves came over and grabbed his legs. A wooden dowel was shoved into his mouth and he was tied up in no time flat. Roble had struggled too, but was tied with each wrist in a leather strap bent forwards over a padded platform. His legs were spread and chained down to the ground.
Akbar came forward and said, “You may want to consider smoking some opium before.” Then he dropped his robe and exposed his huge beer can cock, hard and ready to go. “I don’t want to have to gag you. Trust me, you will scream. It will be far more pleasurable with the opium.” An opium pipe was quickly produced. “Do you want the opium pipe?”
The pipe was held to Roble’s lips and Roble inhaled deeply. After a few breaths of it, his eyes glazed over and he was in another world. His head sagged listlessly and his hands hung from their ties like a dead man’s. Akbar stepped forward and grabbed Roble’s hips and unceremoniously began to assault him violently with his dick in an attempt to penetrate him.
Mr. Butterfly felt faint. He couldn’t watch his friend being raped. But, he had to. Tears came involuntarily out of his eyes. It was all so horrible.
As Akbar continued to ram his cock into Roble mercilessly, there was a trickle of blood coming from Roble’s anus. But, Akbar continued as if nothing was wrong. Now, Akbar was grunting much like a pig with every thrust and jerking Roble’s body like a rag doll. Then, Akbar began slapping Roble’s butt, as if he wasn’t punishing him enough. Finally, Akbar roared when he came and pushed Roble away from himself like dead meat.
“I am done with this one. Take him away. I will have the other tomorrow.” Then, completely naked and with his crotch still covered with Roble’s blood, Akbar strode out of the room. Roble just hung there, like a carcass.
One of the brawny slaves untied the young explorer, who then rushed over to untie Roble. He undid Roble’s hands and Roble flopped down on the padded ledge. Then he undid Roble’s feet and helped Roble lie down on the floor.
“Oh my god, Roble, I am so sorry. I tried to stop them, but there were too many.”
Roble was just so out of it from the opium, he couldn’t even make eye contact. The young explorer got up to look for some towels and water to see to Roble’s wounds. There was a large bath nearby and he found what he needed. None of the other men in the room offered to help. They were pretty much drugged zombies who continued the orgy as soon as the show ended.
With a damp towel, he wiped the blood off of Roble’s rear end and hoped the internal injuries weren’t so bad that they wouldn’t heal on their own. Then he offered Roble some water to drink and got him to sip a little bit. What was going to happen when the drugs wore off? How much pain would he be in then? Mr. Butterfly cradled Roble in his arms to comfort him and kept repeating how sorry he was.
Mr. Butterfly thought, by now, someone had to have noticed that they were missing. But how could they be found and when would help arrive? He began to despair.
Photo credits:
Roble & Brawny slave: Brawny Stud
Akbar: So Slowly


Courage, strength, fortitude. Power not arrested in the act of judgement, but passing on to further action, sometimes obstinacy.
This is a card of courage and energy. It represents both the Lion's hot, roaring energy, and the Maiden's steadfast will. The innocent Maiden is unafraid, undaunted, and indomitable. In some cards she opens the lion's mouth, in others she shuts it. Either way, she proves that inner strength is more powerful than raw physical strength. That forces can be controlled and used to score a victory is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card 8 instead of Strength. With strength you can control not only the situation, but yourself. It is a card about anger and impulse management, about creative answers, leadership and maintaining one's personal honor. It can also stand for a steadfast friend.