Wild Wednesday

Take your mind back to the last time someone did something that you just couldn't possibly see yourself doing (but would like to do). Probably something quite outside the realms of your 'normality'. There are probably tonnes of things that you'd like to have done but have been too shy, too self conscious, or just too scared. Maybe it's speaking up for someone, or for yourself. Complaining to a boss, coworker, colleague or friend. Singing. Tap dancing. Eating Sushi. Asking out that cute guy from the gym (or at the bar). Coming out to your grandparents. Getting Drunk. Staying sober! Holding your boyfriend's hand in public. The possibilities are endless, but uniquely yours.

Today's the day to make just one of these things happen. Step over that line and enter the freedom of Wild Wednesday. See where it can take you. And then step some more...

Interview Panel: Session 4

What have been the happiest and saddest days of your life?

Aussielicious: The two happiest days are the days my niece and nephew were born. The saddest would be stuck in London without my family the day they called to say my grandmother had died in her sleep.

Gay Banker: I remember a night, in the early 1990's. I was falling asleep cuddling boyfriend number 1, and for no particular reason, I suddenly just felt incredibly happy. That was the point in time when I realised for the first time that I'd worked by way through all the gay issues of coming out etc, and had found a lovely guy to spend the rest of my life with :-). And the saddest, was recently when I realised that after all that we've been though, we might end up splitting up :-(.

London Preppy: I don't get sad because I don't let myself do it. I don't get happy cause I can't.

Single in the City: Happiest days are probably when I have been with my loved ones and days when I'm on holidays. Saddest days are when I lost a friend who committed suicide. I have been very lucky in that I have many happy days and very few sad ones!

Superchilled: Happiest would have been when I fell in love with The Frenchman, and realised that the feeling I knew I was waiting for really existed. Life hasn’t been the same since. Saddest… when my grandmother died. She was like a mum for me, had mauve hair, used to sing opera but I'd never heard her sing, was the most giving person - giving much more than she had to give and very good at sussing out people. When she died I put on Gorecki - turned it up loud and cried for hours. I still miss her.

The Green Light at the end of the Dock: It recurs – the happiest is when my sister comes home to visit from the UK, and the saddest the day she leaves. It never gets easier.

What have been your happiest and saddest days??

Mika - Happy Ending

Mika - Happy Ending
3min 47sec
We all like a happy ending... and this song is fantastic played loud : the orchestral sound boosts the emotion (worth buying the album too - very addictive) . I know it's only Monday - but despite the name - it's a great way to start the working week.

Pearl Beach

Pearl Beach Rockpool Views

The Hub

The Views to Palm Beach - Sydney's North
So close - yet so far away...

Our good friend Colin celebrated a birthday this weekend in grand style on the Central Coast in a place called Pearl Beach. A beautiful location and a very relaxed, stressless time. Thanks guys.

Motivation

Wednesday I'm surprised when my friend Ursula calls me at work to ask if I'm going running today, because she wants to run and swim at lunch time. This is despite it having been raining all morning, and she hates running as much as I used to. And so I get there to find she's already started running laps around the oval, in the thankfully light rain. I deliberate over getting my relatively new white running shoes dirty, but figure I'm not a real runner unless I do, and face it, she's already doing laps and I need to catch up. So I slosh my way around the oval one lap more than I had been doing and feel great when I dive into the chilly water (it's been raining and windy for days so the pool's solar heating has not been quite so effective.) I'm also spurred on by the fact that the most gorgeous surf life saver and general all-round sportsman has started training with me at squad training. He's distractingly handsome and an incredibly good swimmer, and I need to up the ante to keep up. So there's greater purpose to my swimming, just keeping up with a god in the pool is enough in my head to make me train harder. But I don't mind the motivation. So when Thursday comes and I'm back at training - he's there, and so are an increasingly gorgeous collection of swimmers - my times are getting faster, and I'm a whole lot more focused.. and distracted, all at once.

I now have dirty shoes, and they're all mine, and my clothes are all starting to get loose on me. I didn't think this would happen - but perhaps that summer 6 pack might arrive in time...

And for those who have been following the trials and tribulations of The Frenchman; Thursday morning he headed to hospital to have his kidney stone lasered and crunched and pulled out of him (remember there is no cut - so you know how they've had to go in...). It was supposed to be day-only surgery - but he's been admitted overnight with persisting pain and another tube internally... Thankfully that gets to come out tomorrow morning - and hopefully he'll be as good as gold - or technically diamond - as he seems to be good at making precious stones... And tonight I'm the doctor on duty here at the hospital, so I'm planning on no emergencies with him involved thank you very much.

Wild Hot Wednesday

It's a cool Wednesday here today, so to hot it up, I'm sending you all off to yoga, Hot Nude Yoga, or Bikram Yoga if you prefer to sweat with your clothes on. It's a fantastic opportunity for a whole new body-mind experience. They're in heated environments so you'll keep warm even if you do nothing at all. I did my first Bikram Yoga class in Melbourne which seems to be a Bikram yoga capital! It was good fun, just prepare to get wet. Locations are linked below.

Hot Nude Yoga: I guess it's exactly what it sounds like...
Sydney has a session Wednesday evenings
New York has a Wednesday Lunch class at 12.30
London has courses you need to register for and seems a little more sexual...

Bikram Yoga - is in a heated room too and you can do a class today at these locations:
Sydney(Darlinghurst) has classes throughout the day
Sydney (Lane Cove) has classes throughout the day
Adelaide has classes in the morning and evening
Melbourne:
(Richmond & Prahran) multiple classes throughout the day
(Elsternwick) this is where I did my first class - again classes throughout the day
London has classes in various locations throughout the day
New York
(Upper West Side, Midtown, Upper East Side, Flatiron) classes all day
(Chelsea, Soho) classes all day

There are more locations - just google your local area for a class near you!
Enjoy.

She loves you.. she loves you not...?

With gay men being less threatening, more in touch with their emotional side, and let's face it - just so damn attractive, it's hard for any woman to resist. No wonder every straight woman wants a gay best friend. But sometimes their expectations heighten, and the best-friendship is just so good (certainly much better than with most of their potential straight boyfriends) that the attachment becomes more than platonic. But how do you know when this is going to happen to you and your girlfriend/s? Sometimes you'll find there's more than one involved and then it gets downright scary as they compete for you - even though , technically, you're not even in their market. What's more scary is when you have a boyfriend already - and they're shoehorning into his position.

Usually by the time you're aware of it - the problem is way past any prevention strategy.

So what are the tell tale signs?

You get calls, texts and emails from them more than from your boyfriends.

They know more about where you're going and what you're doing than anybody else.

They automatically sit in the front seat if your car when you're also picking up your boyfriend.

Birthday and Christmas gifts are more extravagant than anyone elses.

They don't have any boyfriends any more because "they don't understand me like you do".

How do you avert the clear and present danger?

Hammering the point that you're gay and they're a woman will just make them cry.

Focussing on the fact that they're missing out on sex might work for a man, and some women, so it's worth a try, but don't expect them to stop the wedding plans with just that.

Finding a true potential boyfriend is probably the best thing you can do for them. It will take an army of men, and a selection process that makes getting work at Macquarie Bank look easy, but it will be worth it for both of you in the end. (And think of all the men you might find who just haven't found the right girl because they were looking for someone more like.... you) - though these are NOT the men you should talk about with your dependent girlfriend - or despair may be yours to share.

Have you been in such a relationship? Take the new online poll.

You gotta love 'em - just not too much...

Interview Panel: Session 3

If you had to pick a celebrity for a husband – who would it be?

Aussielicious: Jake Gyllenhall, I don't think an explanation is required. He's hot and seems down to earth.

Gay Banker: Difficult, because I don't do vacuous. But Oscar Wilde or Alan Turing would have been good in their prime, both good homos from my part of the world who definitely weren't vacuous :-).

London Preppy: Josh Lewsey from the England rugby team. I want blonde children

Single in the City: Tough one....I think I'd love to be with Brendan Fraser (the actor). I think he's a hottie, but also seems very smart and with a great sense of humour. The only thing I'd change would be his accent...I'd give him a British one!

Superchilled: I think I'd choose Matt Damon - he's creative, intelligent, not too ugly, and outside the celebrity norm.

The Green Light at the end of the Dock: Rupert Everrett

Who would you choose?

A Taste of Adelaide

We wake up pre-sunrise on Saturday morning - and within a few hours we're here on the map in a place called Hahndorf, south east of Adelaide (South Australia). But we have to get there yet, so let's go back a step.

The alarm goes off and I feel like I've slept minutes - there's some light in the eastern sky so I know it's been perhaps a few hours instead. We collect the prepacked cabin-only bags, pat Norten goodbye and head to the airport. We're given exit row seats without asking and breakfast at the Qantas club has me going back for seconds. The basic theme of the weekend has been clinched - travelling and eating.

It's misty and rainy in Hahndorf as we arrive in our RentaYaris. Half the stores still aren't open, and of the ones that are, half seem to have opened last century and still have the same stock, while the rest have prepared for the drizzly weather with copious amounts of chocolate, cheese, pastries, and home made (yet professionally bottled) jams and relishes... just ready to be sampled.

This is wine country - and with various food stocks already, we explore the landscape for things more fluid...

... and find boundless varieties.

Working up an appetite we stumble on Cafe Lime, which turns out to be an extraordinary find, and a very gourmet meal with drinks is had by us both with change from $35. We feel like we've ripped them off, but they're all smiles as we head back to Adelaide city to catch up with friends.

Encountering a school of baby cars on the way...

Of course, I'm competely exhausted after all this (or was it the sleep deprivation I'm experiencing?) and we check into our hotel and crash for an hour or two. Waking up we head to the roof top pool which is about 20m shorter than it looks in the photos, and after 20 or 30 laps I'm really spinning.

The evening finds us walking to our dinner hosts' home tucked away in the city's north. We'd not been there before, but google maps does the trick and their dogs and grand kids rush to greet us at the gate as we arrive. Instantly we're at home, and what a grand home it is - with exquisite art work that we demand a tour of and find incredible fondness of from all involved in the tour. Dinner has been forgotten at this point, because the conversation and connection is just too much fun, but when we do get back to the dining room - I find truly one of the best meals I've ever had. The main of Salmon with lemon butter sauce and accompaniments is just divine... But I won't go all foodie on you - just think mouthwatering and delicious, and made lovingly by our hosts with whom we chat (with other family present all equally warm and engaging) until it's way past everyone's bedtime. If you can imagine the dinner party in "6 Degrees of Separation" the movie, then you have an idea of the evening. I had a camera in my pocket - but decided this event was beyond pictures.

Sunday we wake late but go to the cafe owned by the son and daughter-in-law we met the previous evening, for a delicious brunch (I told you it was a food weekend) at their Queen St Cafe. It feels kind of Melbourne, and we're very at home there.

Eventually we leave and head to the coast to explore it to the south. It's windy and cool though - so the life savers impress us as they paddle into the surf. We keep warm, and head to McLaren Vale...

whose rolling hills are saturated in grape vines...

...and, loaded with the region's produce, we head back home for the working week.

whatever you're into...

I found this surfing youtube - I still don't get many of the implied meanings... although some are obvious from the outset and some became apparent after a few replays. Feel free to educate me guys & girls...

We're off for the weekend - Adelaide is the place to be this time of year - Rainy and 19 degrees Saturday it seems... hmmm

Oh and I had the first public exhibition of some of my photos today - blown up to quite a size - just a one night event, but at least people were kind to me. (It was part of a larger exhibition). Maybe I can give up my day job - but not quite yet...

Interview Panel: Session 2

Continuing with the movie theme, the superchilled interview panel was asked the following question:

What One film has most influenced your life? How?

Aussielicious:
It's a tough one. I might say Interview With A
Vampire. It's hard to say why though...

Gay Banker:

I'm not aware of any film having influened my life particularly, except The Rocky Horror Picture Show of course because of all the suspenders.

London Preppy:

I don't watch films because I can't concentrate on anything for more than 22 minutes.

Single in the City:

Loved Angels in America...it made me think about what it meant to be a gay man!

Superchilled:

Blade Runner. It gave me a greater appreciation of the value of human life, in all its permutations and combinations. And all in a sci-fi thriller with man-made people, 'replicants' and hovering billboards - who would have thought?

The Green Light at the end of the Dock:

Promised Land It was so reminiscent of my family background as an Afrikaans South African that it opened my eyes to the reality of prejudice.

Has one particular film influenced you?

Wild Wednesday

Yes as you can see here, your wild wednesday challenge today is to find a foreign language film with subtitles, and take yourself (and a friend or potential lover...) to see it with you. The more obscure the film the better. Find out something about another country and culture in the dark. Sit down and read a good movie...

Come back and tell me about it.

Interview Panel 1

In this new Q&A session I'll be asking a handful of bloggers a specific question and then posting their answers (and mine) together here. Comments with your own responses are encouraged. I'm expecting quite a variety in the results and I'm curious to see where it takes us... In this first one, quite literally...

If you were funded to live in any place you chose for 6-12 months – where would it be?

Aussielicious:
I'm going to say New York. The creative energy there
is amazing and it would be great to try and learn from
it while not struggling to survive.

Gay Banker:

Anywhere warm and sophisticated, as long as I've got my friends (and boyfriends) with me, access to a good wine cellar, and a super-fast internet connection :-). For 6 months a nice villa in Tuscany would work over spring and summer, for 12 months perhaps something like Thailand might be preferable.

London Preppy:

I'd still like to live in London, but not work and just do the things I enjoy.

Single in the City:

I would love to live in Paris for a year. I think it is a very romantic city, a true "european" captial full of art, fashion and interesting people. I'm a very romantic person and I would love to spend a year walking in the streets of Paris and getting lost in its many neighbourhoods.

Superchilled:

Antibes in the south of France. I could finally learn French properly. A selection of great swimming pools and the mediterranean will keep me sane. I can escape to the mountains, eat fine food, pop up to Cannes for the film festival, and have short breaks in any European location at a moment's notice.

The Green Light at the end of the Dock:

India – Professional curiosity surrounding their poverty and level of development as a 3rd World Country, as well as a love for the beauty of their rural areas.

Where would you live?

Gay Day in the Park

Saturday, I go to Gay Day in the Park. It's not called that, but it might as well be because every man and his man (and his man's dog) are there, and they're all looking summery & glamorous (peppered with less tanned ones who've been working too hard over winter). They called it Sydney Food and Wine Fair, and if you came early enough - there was some fab food there. (There may have even been some non gay people there at some stage, but if there were they were lost). We get there around 1.30 in the middle of the food frenzy. I don't like queueing, and I don't like not having food (I was starving) - so it didn't start well - I decide to go for 2 desserts as the mains seem to have disappeared - (and the dessert I did manage to obtain was heavenly) - but of course my second serve of pannacotta with roasted banana and coffee crisps was walking down the park in someone else's hands - sold out...

Ultimately I find a gourmet salmon burger that hits the spot, but now I'm all worked up and despite a park filled with men like the one I posted just below this post (okay not filled with - but at least I don't have to look far to find one) I feel the need to escape. I've chatted with friends but I'm edgy and we're too late for our planned catch up with Aussielicious' Brenton, so when a friend calls from Boy Charlton Pool, I'm there in a flash to join him and swim out my edginess that I still don't understand. But it works and I'm mellow again and we have coffee somewhere new afterwards. Then the Frenchman and I go see 4 years, 3 minutes, 2 weeks, or perhaps it's 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days.. at the movies. It's a Romanian film, and reminds us very much of the Romania we visited a few years back, only a tad bleaker. We'd much rather have a kid than abort it like we see in the movie, but despite that the film is quite powerful. We leave thankful we live in Australia, even though Ceauşescu is long gone, and even though we still have little Johnny as our Prime Minister. (Though on Sunday we hear insider information on the election polling trends that makes the Frenchman smile and polish up the Champagne bottle for November 24th.)

Oh and this week I have a new regular post starting... I spent way too long creating the title for it, so it had better be good!! But it's not quite production ready - so you'll have to watch this space...

Just Beautiful

Just Beautiful Men has been finding us travel buddies to take on our summer holiday, and what a fine job he has done!! With recruitment results like this, we're planning on hiring a bus!
Now I just need to let them all know, so we can make this dream of mine a reality...

But what is real right now, is daylight savings, which has just started! I know because when I looked at the time on my pc - it went from 1.59 to 3am. I'd forgotten about the change, but my god I'm so looking forward to the summer!!!

Levi's ad... gays it Up

45 seconds

A Danger or a Thrill?

I'm flying high!! Of course I'm also sleep deprived, but it's Friday night (now Saturday morning) so why let sleep get in the way of a good weekend? I have so many things I want to do, I've just got to fit them in somewhere.

This is the way I normally feel.

It's nice to have me back.

I'm not manic, though looking at what I've just written makes me a textbook case.... I just have things to do, places to go, people to see, and a life to be super-lived. (I'm only counting on having one.) And I want to do it all NOW.

I've been on a slow train the past weeks or months trying to get back here. Unexpected turbulence threw me off course for a little while, and I was over steering in response. A good friend told me I needed some 'me' time - he was right, and now I'm recharged, with that invincible feeling which can be dangerous, and thrilling all at once.

And it's the weekend. So I'm very much looking forward to getting started with these things that I've been putting off.

Look out!!

A thursday Find

I stumbled upon this blog post at Ihavetoadmitit which is worth a read - cruising 101 - I think most of us have had this kind of experience at some point... I laughed and laughed and laughed I did.

the look

I think I could cope with the job of looking through aussiebum's photo shoots to see what should be published next... Here's what they've chosen to show today... I figured it matches the new look of superchilled, so here you go.

Wildly Decadent Wednesday

It's the middle of the week, and it's time to celebrate life! It's not just another working Wednesday - it's a Wild & Decadent Wednesday.

There are no limits. Hedonism is the theme. I experienced the aftermath of a cyclist dying in a freak accident near home this week and it's a reminder life is too short to not celebrate every day. So whether it's buying that chocolate tart, or being that tart... splurging on a shopping spree, taking the afternoon off, going to see that play, exhibition or concert you've been contemplating, hitting the beach and just being or indulging in that massage that your muscles are aching for. Get to it - it's decadent wild wednesday - there's no time to spare.

Got suggestions for the rest of us? Let us know what we could do, or what you'd like to do in the comments below.