Contemplative in Byron

It's been a while. I've been busy, and I've not really been in the mood to blog. I guess I've been less interested in the world out there. And more focussed on my own world. Selfish? Maybe. Self preserving? That too. Maybe I just don't have that much to give any more. I don't know. At times I do, and at more times I'm too tired from everything else I'm doing to fit it all in. Which brings me to what the hell I AM doing. 

I have qualified for the world championship sprint triathlon which will happen in London in September.  It's taken some work to get there, and a lot more work ahead to get where I want there. The side effect of all the training is getting a whole lot fitter. I'm okay with that, and I should have peak fitness in the Australian Spring. Okay I'm fine with that too. I ordered my team uniform this week. I'm going to be wearing Green and Gold and my name with AUS under it. It's kinda cool, and kinda scary. But I don't know I'll be doing it again so I'm going to go hard at it. 

Right now I'm back in Byron Bay. It's a yearly escape and has an ocean swim race and a triathlon bookending my week here. I love it here. It's like a playground for me. Great beaches, great places to ride, though they need to learn how to repair roads here, great food and enough eye candy to keep one well and truly satiated in a relaxed environment to take it all in. And I'm off now to take more of it in.

V Day PDA Day

Valentine's Day!

It's only recently that I've been seeing a hell of a lot of men kissing, embracing and marrying each other. It's now routinely in the media, from the news to music videos, TV, theatre and cinema.  

As a kid there was nothing and even as a younger gay man it was only something I'd see in gay venues and occasionally on the street in the gayer inner city neighbourhoods or at gay & lesbian film festivals. It's only really quite recently that I've actually felt more comfortable with public displays of affection with same sex couples, though while a straight couple holding hands or kissing on the street won't register on my radar, a same sex couple still pings as something out of the ordinary, and makes me just a little off balance. I don't want it to but we have been taught from a young age to identify things that don't fit patterns and it still doesn't for me. 

I'm enjoying the normalcy with which the media is increasingly portraying same sex connections, and the fact that the straight community is actually starting to be a vocal supporter. I look forward to the day when nobody takes a second glance at a same sex couple displaying affection, unless it's because they're just too sexy.

Happy Valentines day everyone.

It's not about P!nk

I've been gently reminded by a kind friend that I haven't posted here in a while. He's quite right. So where have I been all this time? 

I've been pursuing my own Olympic ideals, bumping up my triathlon training in anticipation of competing and actually getting to the finishing line for the Noosa triathlon in just a few weeks. And on from that aiming at qualifying for the world championships next year in London. People who know me well would be surprised to note that this training has included some regular pre-work cycling training through the absolutely serene Royal National Park. The surprise being in the early morning starts rather than the course of the ride. Mind you I'm not elite and not anticipating competing in Rio, but I am loving the feeling of getting faster on my feet and on the bike and aiming for a competitive result. Last year in Noosa I had trained well, and was in form until a few days prior to the race when a mild cold set off a chain of events that ended in me taking an Ambulance past the finish line, and on to 4 litres of IV fluids in Emergency. A fun experience on its own but not one I'd like to repeat. And so any patient arriving in my surgery with a cold or flu at the moment is finding me a little more distant (physically) and rapid than I'd normally be. I'm taking no prisoners. 

Similarly over the past year I've been sporting varying amounts of facial hair, and today experienced an unexpectedly cold face as I shaved it all off, matching my newly slick short haircut. I have to keep cool, keep hydrated and keep fast. I even took the opportunity in Samoa on holidays recently to run in the heat and humidity to improve my climactic conditioning. I have monitors checking my running speed, heart rate, run and cycle cadence... Obsessed? Almost. 

Jumping out of my skin? Totally. Loving it. 

Marriage Equality for Dummies

ido.org.au 

I like this video. It's simple, to the point and positive. 

Sexy Political Activism

3min 22

I'm not following the US elections especially closely at this point, but I like the infectiousness of this viral campaign. So I'm going to help it along, just a little. 

Danell Leyva

USA Gymnast Danell Leyva strikes a few poses. 

More Philipp Boy

One just can't have too much of a good thing. So here he is.

German Olympic Gymnast Philipp Boy, from his own website. 

Randomly Selected Olympic Treats

Camille Lacourt - French swimmer

Claudio Capelli - Swiss gymnast

Marcel Nguyen, Fabian Humbuchen &  Philipp Boy - German Gymnasts

Philipp Boy - German Gymnast

More Jake Dalton

There are loads of hot Gymnasts at London Olympics, and Jake is up the top of that rather elite tree. I kinda like that he's seen also here with our Aussie diving star Matt Mitcham. 

Sam Mikulak & Jake Dalton - Gymnastics

2012 Olympics USA Gymnastics team hotties Jake Dalton & Sam Mikulak.

Got more photos? Send them to me at superchilledtrevor@gmail.com

Gold Medalist Swimmer - Ryan Lochte

Game On

Olympic season. I love it. I am a sporting guy, and while I love the actual sporting competition, the lack of bodysuits in the swimming, the finely tuned abs in the diving and the general aesthetic awesomeness that are the Olympians certainly draws me in deeper. And I want to get in deeper still.

I've had this photo of Swedish decathlete Bjorn Barreförs sent to me by a friend and I'm keen to get all the hot photos of athletes that you have found in the lead up to and during this olympic games, noting your country may have images that we don't see here.  So send away and I'll be posting up images as they arrive. Unfortunately Bjorn didn't make the games team. Let's find out who did... 

Email your images to superchilledtrevor@gmail.com

Tasty

Okay it's an obscure link, but having had a new kitchen installed recently, with an Oven to play with for the first time in 3 years, a Dishwasher and Drawers (yes the old kitchen had none of the above), I've been playing a lot more in the kitchen with an outpouring of lickable results. It just happens that the guys from Andrew Christian underwear sent these rather appealing promotional shots. (There's a video too, which is over the top, but a fun watch).

I've been cooking all manner of things and right now am thinking it's time to work on my Soufflé  skills. If anyone has any awesome souffle recipes, let me know. Now I just need to find myself some kitchen help (or hinderance) like the guys above... 

Refreshingly Normal

I was reading the Sydney Morning Herald this week and there was this article (originally from the Los Angeles Times) about the marriage of one of the co-founders of facebook. The article was quite a straight forward  documentation of an event. But what stood out for me was that it was a gay marriage, and that that itself was not the topic of the article. In fact there was no reference to it being a 'gay wedding' just a documentation of two people in love tying the knot. 

I felt entirely refreshed. A sign that we can move on from the spectacle and surprise of a gay relationship moving on to marriage and it becoming two people affirming their relationship publically, just like any other two people, irrespective of gender. 

That's a definite LIKE.

Abercrombie Hotness on Video

I'll be watching this one again and again and again. 

SunglassHot

The things you find online!
I recently came into the market for a pair of sunglasses when mine got ingloriously run over by a car. Having trouble finding what I wanted I turned to the net to see what was on offer and found Ray Ban has on their website a 'virtual mirror' where you an try on the sunnies in their range. I was a tad sceptical, but had a bit of time to kill so tried it out.
AWESOME.
I've since tried all the glasses in their range, partly for laugh value, but it's a seriously cool tool and worth a look. Now I have no ties with Ray Ban and I'm not sure how long this has been operational, but it's worth a look. (Of course you need a camera on your computer).
Check it out:  HERE.

Byron 2012

Wategos Beach

Byron Bay. A slice of heaven that just keeps opening new french doors. It's my May pilgrimage each year, gradually increasing in duration and after this last 9 day stay I had eyes on more. Of course the ocean swim and triathlon on consecutive weekends do nothing to lessen the aesthetic appeal of fellow visitors.  But it's not all sunshine and abs. There are races to be done, pain to be struggled through, though the swim race was cancelled at the 11th hour - with competitors literally lined up at the start. The triathlon was not, and after a series of rather successful races ending in Byron, I was quite glad to be able to hang up my racing shoes for a few months. Focus on the trees rather than the forest, or something like that. In fact I'm now in the middle of a year so far drenched with specialist visits and procedures. The fittest I've been and also the sickest. Life is just like the ocean, painfully beautiful and unpredictable. But Byron remains predictably sleepy, beautiful and bathed in backpackers from heaven, sprinkled with triathlete gods and spiced with a hip alternative vibe. I'm going back again and again and again.

I do, but I do not.

Paused on the side of the road today I read an email urging me to complete an online poll set up by our Federal parliament on same sex marriage. There were '6 hours left' ;  I figured I'd not get much time elsewhere in my day so I sat there in my car filling out on my iPhone why I think same sex marriage should be legalised. I said with nearly 17 yrs worth of relationship I'd like to have that recognised by the state. But you know, marriage is traditionally to show the world you are committed. I think after all this time marriage would be an unnecessary 'look at us' moment and were it an option now, I'd really have to force myself to do it. Not that I'm any less committed because of it. But if the people who mean anything to me don't already get it, then a wedding isn't going to make a difference. 

I'm a little conflicted, and I don't mind suiting up for an event. But I don't know I have the energy to put into a day that isn't going to change anything I do in my life. Yes it might change the way people think of me and my relationship, but I've kind of given up on concerning myself with what people think. Do I want to be a role model? I'm not going to do something just because I think it's going to look like the right thing to do. I encourage people to make their own paths, not follow the yellow brick road. So even though I think getting married needs to be an option for me, I don't think I'm going to take it whether or not it is legalised. I want to choose not to get married, not be told I can't. 

What body parts have you used on your phone?

Touch screen phones and tablet devices are the norm these days. And they're very tactile. Invariably you'll find yourself caught with no free fingers and a phone you want to do something with, but what do you do?

The question is: What body parts have you used on your phone (or ipad/tablet) other than your fingers?

Holy Jeans Batman

As much as I like guys in not very much, sometimes just an element of visual is even better. Like the above knee for example. It reminds me of when I first met The Frenchman. It was the same look, the same tear in his jeans. And his knee was the first place I touched him, sitting in the car next to each other, unsure of how to otherwise communicate what we were feeling at that moment. A moment I'll never forget, a feeling imprinted in my hand and heart.