> Hi Peter.
>
> Basically just to say hello.  Been back from England for a week without
> coinciding with you.  Tony says you're busy on your "new website",
> www-dot-nakedbingocaller-dot-com, but I entered that and blow me
> (figuratively speaking) if it didn't turn out to be Magnificat under
another
> name.  And you hadn't added anything since I visited previously.  Still,
> enjoyed the discussion of God.  You're getting there, honey.   We'll make
an
> archdeacon of you yet.  Sorry you feel the Port is no longer famous for
> conversation - one does one's best, sanity permitting.
>
> Since you do not in every respect share my tastes, you might not derive
the
> same degree of pleasure as I do from www.perryjoshua.com, the website of a
> young bodybuilder in Tucson, Arizona.  Just thought I'd
> mention it, even so; it might beguile an idle ten minutes.  I think the
> "Journal" and "Friends" sections are enchanting.
>> Cheers,
>> Rex

Hi Rex
And thanks for your email, honey. (Yeucchh - such a patronising little word,
honey!) Yes, we do seem to have uncrossed paths these past few weeks, more's
the shame. Don't be offended by the "conversation in the Port" theme - this
is just a generality, and, as we all know, all generalities are wrong. And
of course, dear chap, you are the exception which proves the rule!"

Bullshit apart, chatting is q easy in the afternoons - it's the evenings
where it's usually impossible, and the Godchat was an evening session.
However, as it was Mary presiding behind the bar, and keeping the music the
correct side of hearing damage, we did manage a few shouted interruptions.

That webpage doesn't at all exhaust my thoughts about God, and there was
more took place even amongst the three of us. Tony was suggesting that "it
was all just control". But in this he was confusing God and religion, and of
the course the two only loosely overlap. Sacerdotal religion is exactly
about control, and he was right in that. However, that was not the question
he asked, the one to which I was attempting to give some sort of brief
answer.

My real opinion, for what it's worth, is that priestly religion will decline
in Europe, but strengthen in fanatical nations such as Iran and the USA.
However, and this is my key point, priests (including archdeacons!) are
utterly irrelevant in one's quest for God. Worse than irrelevant - a
dangerous distraction. Priesthood is a job, not a state. I've met many of
the buggers, but have yet to detect one iota of enlightenment or divinity.

There is one path to the Divine which I personally know, and that is yoga,
which I'm sure we've discussed. The practices of yoga, especially
meditation, will at the very least give you a new set of questions, in an
entirely new paradigm! And yoga, like Buddhism, has teachers not priests.
It's a stoatir.

And its adherents never, ever proselytise, so I'd better shut the fuck up.

It's been a bonanza week for intelligent gay websites. Three must-sees are
www.burnyourjockstrap.co.uk

www.grocko.freeserve.co.uk Especially the Stu Faggot character. This guy is
a genius, and he can DRAW as well as write!

www.aromadome.com (especially the bit about straight men)

I'd be fascinated (genuinely) in your opinions of em. Unable to log onto
your perryjoshua at the moment, as more than half the web seems to be
fucked. But not the BBC site, gorblessem corblimey.

Been having interesting chats with Kevin, and extremely irritating ones with
Dolly, who seems unable to discuss anything at all beyond what people are
wearing. And insists on doing so, to the point of rudeness. Stuart and I
have done some reconciling, but this relationship is a moveable feast.
Difficult to maintain much of an ongoing dialogue with someone whose main
(only?) aim in life is intoxication. You just have to grab him early in a
session, get as much in and out as you can, (mentally of course), then watch
as he disintegrates before your very eyes.

Hehe...just remembered a hilarious "clothes conversation" involving Ali (not
Dolly this time) and Scott. We were sitting outside the pub in the sun - me,
Ali and about five straight men. Scott joined us, and Ali immediately made
some critical remark about his socks. No-one at all understood the jibe,
including Scott and myself, and there was a deathly silence. "Ali," I said
to him, teacherly. "Ali - these lovely people are heterosexual, and straight
men don't talk about socks." You could have knocked him over with a feather.
So you can see where Dolly gets his thought patterns from. Or - probably
more accurately - a case of similars attract. There's a German expression
for "life-thoughts-pattern-style-position" but I can't place it. Something
like lebensraum or gezeit or summat.

The web is a joy these days, and magnificat has rightly risen to the top on
all search engines. I was delighted by the Lycos comment "A wonderful site
containing the insights and experiences of a gay man." Moi!! A man!!! Mardi
Gras!!!!

Well, one more (pleasant) day at the Bingo, then off again on Monday,
Tuesday and Friday. Surely we will meet one of those afternoons? Surely
neither of us will discuss clothes??

BW
Peter