Saturday 31 January 2009

ouch

Tuesday 27 January 2009

FootVolley - Rio Style


In the past I have played a lot of beach volleyball and loved it. Over the New Year in Rio though, I noticed the newer version of FootVolley taking over the beaches. It's basically the same as volleyball, only you can't use your hands or arms.  I guess with the popularity of football/soccer in Brazil it's not a surprise that this is taking off. The guys playing it have to be quite fit and in general they look incredibly toned and athletic, which makes watching a game not very difficult at all as you'll see in these photos. (sigh) I have enough trouble being able to use my arms, but these guys make it look easy, I imagine it would be as easy as playing tennis without a racket.


It was mostly men playing, but obviously not always.



They all seemed to be having a lot of fun, but I guess, they were on the Beach in Rio, it's hard not to. 

Click on images for larger versions.

Monday 26 January 2009

Run Superchilled, Run.

I have blisters on my feet. Walking is somewhat difficult especially if it's at all uphill as my calf muscles are rather tight. But I'm feeling great. Today I did my first race involving more than a little bit of running, 7.2km in total after a 900m swim. 

Not known to be a runner I have managed to surprise everyone (myself included) and managed a formidable race time. My dad cried as I ran over the finishing line, expecting me to be somewhere in the middle of the pack I expect, The Frenchman was at the coffee shop having a machiato as he thought I'd be quite a bit longer getting to the finish line. I'm not sure what my final position was yet - waiting for the online posting of that, but it seems there might be some heightened expectations for my next race...

Saturday 24 January 2009

The Race Continues...

Long time readers of superchilled will recall the Race Around the World... Where your challenge is to identify the location of the photo shown, or to create an interesting story to go with it. Today we have a new pitstop and it is a segueway into my next post. I need specifics, it isn't too hard.  Whoever gets the most accurate and most creative answers wins, and I might even send them a larger version of the photo (you know you want a close up of the men). For a medium size image - click on the photo. First and best win. 

The race is on.

Monday 19 January 2009

Can you get enough?

I've had a great break, and being away from web-publishing /posting for a while it has allowed me think about exposure & personal revelation on the web and indeed in everyday life.
 
During the break I read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald entitled Too Much Information (see the full article here), and it resonated strongly with me. It basically explores the concept of keeping things personal in an increasingly public world.

What do we think we can reasonably expect to know about other people, and they about us?

The gossip magazines know our appetite for celebrity news, their continued existence demonstrates that clearly. But these days it isn't just about celebrities. Reality TV shows take us into the hearts and minds of their literal guy-next-door stars, blogs tell-all about their authors as well as whatever information they divulge about others. It's not just what they're wearing or where they're holidaying, it's who they're having sex with and how they're doing it, what they're obsessing over, what's happening in their relationships & families, why they're having counselling; there really is no limit to the detail. Blogs and Facebook pages become forums on their owners' private lives, whether they like it or not, though usually triggered by self published information. The more we see it around us, the more we expect people to be forthcoming with all the details of their intimate lives. 

Personal information has become not a saleable commodity, but an expected part of routine social intercourse. Penile dimensions and sexual preferences often prioritised ahead of personality, occupation or, god forbid, political persuasion. Conversations that don't enter into the sordid are seen as bland, boring, conservative and oh-so-last-century. I was sitting chatting with The Frenchman and close female friend of ours in a public space last week when a woman sitting within earshot interrupted us to ask if we were a threesome. We were speechless. 

The future is looking to get even more invasive. Today's primary school kids email and text each other day and night discussing their latest crushes and all manner of topics, just a decade ago you'd rarely have seen a letter and even more rarely a phone call from these kids who are now texting 24/7.  How much information about their school mates will they know by the time they get to high school? 

I see relationships being shredded live on the net with all and sundry getting in on the action with intimate details let loose. People get hurt, and the world looks on and wants more. What's the juice? What's the Goss? Who's doing what to whom? It's okay, you can tell me, [I'll only divulge it if it feels right at the time.]

Have you ever been told that because you haven't shared your entire sexual history with someone, you're not really a friend?

When will we get enough? Will we ever be satiated with the information we draw in?
And do we really need it?

It seems what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas any more. The ability to compartmentalise various aspects of our lives is seen now as a bad thing, transparency is king. But laying our lives bare for analysis and criticism is not always productive and frequently boundaries are blurred and out of context we are misinterpreted. Do you want to have your manhunt or gaydar profile blended with your Facebook profile? Being able to share things deeply personal with a trusted few is something that enriches those relationships. Share them with the world and do people really appreciate it?

Are we happy to divulge our personal lives to everyone? Personally I'm increasingly not. There are elements that I'm happy to share where I feel my experiences may benefit others. There are bloggers who are extremely candid with their posts about their lives which can put them in the firing line from all and sundry. Certainly there are times when this can truly be beneficial, especially in the gay world where dealing with HIV, family and coming out can be significantly aided by following others' personal experiences. But where is the boundary between personal development and voyeuristic infotainment? 

I like a little mystery, uncertainty, the element of surprise. It's what makes the world an interesting place and people more intriguing. Having to make a little effort to explore all the hidden places in people's lives is a lot more interesting than having them served up on a platter. It is after all the journey that is half the fun, and I want 100% not just half of it.

Friday 2 January 2009

Happy New Year from Rio

The New Year really did start off with a bang, in lots of ways. Wandering along the Copacabana beach promenade through a sea of people, stalls selling all manner of foods along the way, boiling oil on makeshift tables, cheese, prawns and various meats sizzling on grills, or waiting raw to be thrown on and garnished along the way. Other stalls selling flashing 2009 glasses or toxic cocktails, a sniff of one enough to send you into a spin. The background music live and energetically keeping people moving to the beat, smiles on their faces. There were kids of all ages runnign about playing, families, and groups of friends all side by side or mixed up together. Guys dancing together, then running into the surf and waving their speedos in the air, their butts (and more) as well. A collection of Englishmen in white (the prequisite dress code for New Year in Rio) and looking like they´d just navigated a yacht in, wandered towards us and planted themselves before us, all enjoying the abundant cute men on the beach as much as we were, themselves not so hard on the eye either. The midnight countdown ensued and the beach suddenly bathed in the light of endless fireworks, not completely coordinated but not really caring, lighting too the 8 or 9 ocean liners anchored off the beach to take part in the spectacle. The men out of their speedos hit the water again and noone remembers when the fireworks ended, but it was all good fun, a little champagne thrown in along the way. Some energetic kisses thrown in too welcoming in the new year, with new faces in new places.

It´s certainly the best New Year´s Eve I´ve ever celebrated. If the year that follows continues in this vein, then I´m in for one hell of a fantastic year.

Happy New Year everyone.