Express Yourself

Madonna: Express Yourself - Music Video

It's an oldie but still one of my favourites - probably better on a huge screen with the perfect sound system - but this will do for now. And apart from the beautiful imagery - including the men - the basic message is pretty good too.

The Weekend is here - have a great one!!

Home

A constant rumbling, with thunderous crashes, debris of rocks, and seaweed, and the occasional jetsam about, a southerly wind and a chill in the air, but I'm standing in the sun, wearing just a hooded jacket and a pair of cargo pants and the rays warm me. I'm mesmerised by the waves as they crash and tumble, and the birds run from them, chasing after disoriented sealife on the sand. There's thundering all around me, but it's calming me.

It's nice to be home.

Absolutely no problem here...

Chad White commercial (it is Chad White week, this year...)
20seconds

Jay Brannan New Music Video

Here's the new Jay Brannon video for 'Body's a Temple'
You can download his music through itunes. (3min 40s)
I'm a big fan. (link on the right to his web page)
Curiously I've just read that there's a new movie he's in just completed called 'Holding Trevor' - spooky.

Wild Wednesday

A predicted top of 12 degrees C (55.4F) today makes doing what this guy is doing quite out there today. (But who'd be doing it if they knew he'd be there too?... Yes you can all put your hands down now).

So for Wild Wednesday - we're doing a physical challenge. Do something that challenges you physically today. It might be a gym class you always thought would be too hard or make you look too uncoordinated, it might be a run in the park at 5 degrees (or just a run in the park), a swim in the ocean (or local fountain), it might be something sexual you always wondered about, or walking instead of driving to work, there are no limits - see what you can (or can't) do - but at least try, and let us know how you go. Aussielicious' Brenton is doing his 'aerial silks' class - can't wait to hear how that goes.

Go wild!

Want to know more about Wild Wednesdays? Click here for previous posts.

Same-Sex Federal Law Review

The details below are summarised from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney, 2007:

Federal laws breach human rights
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry conducted an audit of federal laws relating to financial and work-related entitlements in order to identify those which discriminate against same-sex couples and their children.

The Inquiry has identified 58 federal laws which discriminate against same-sex couples in the area of financial and work-related entitlements. Those laws breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Many of the federal laws discriminate against the children of same-sex couples and fail to protect the best interests of the child in the area of financial and work-related entitlements. Those laws breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Simple amendments will remove discrimination
It is simple to remove discrimination against same-sex couples in federal financial and work-related entitlements: change the definitions in the 58 laws listed in the report.

There is no need to rewrite federal tax legislation, superannuation legislation, workers’ compensation legislation, employment legislation, veterans’ entitlements legislation or any other major area of federal financial entitlements. There just needs to be some changes to a few definitions at the front of each relevant piece of legislation.

The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry recommends that:
1. The federal government should amend the discriminatory laws identified by the Inquiry to ensure that same-sex and opposite-sex couples enjoy the same financial work-related entitlements.
2. The federal government should amend the discriminatory laws identified by this to ensure that the best interests of children in same-sex and opposite-sex families equally protected in the area of financial and work-related entitlements.

It seems so far the major political parties and the media have not paid much attention to these findings. The details are to be presented sequentially in most capital cities. Maybe those Aussies reading might like to contact their federal MP and ask what is happening from a federal perspective with regard to amending these laws.

For the full report in pdf form: click here

For the HREOC report website: click here

For details of your Federal MP: click here

A Lag in the Jet Lag

I yawned once or twice this afternoon at work between 3.30 and 6 but it's past 2am and I've still not had that jet lag feeling. Which is great, perfect even. I keep waiting for it to hit - perhaps going for that run this evening in the FREEZING COLD woke me up a little... But I have things to do so I just want to get up and going with them, no time to sleep. I love the post holiday haze when everything is great... wonder how long that will last...

The above pic is from the Metro in Paris. Why can't Sydney's public transport be even nearly as good?

Back Home

Just arrived back home - and if hell were to freeze over - this would be it! Okay, not really, but just over a day ago I was sitting enjoying the warm evening breeze under an incredibly long sunset over an outdoor dinner in countryside France. The chill of the air blown in at the airport doors as Brenton showed us the way home was an abrupt end to an awesome holiday (thanks though Brenton). It seems I can understand more conversational French than I did a week ago - but now that will be next to useless here - I will practice reading however, between the pictures of the latest Tetu magazines we picked up at the airport in Paris... ah oui!!

Time to hit the sack and prevent a bad dose of jetlag - gotta get to work tomorrow - and have probably slept 4 hours in the past 24... all sitting upright...

Superchilled's guide to the perfect life

Everyone has their ups and downs, but for the perfect life all the time, here are some superchilled tips...

Friends: It's the old adage, you can't pick your family but you can pick your friends. Pick them well, and they'll be there through thick and thin - but you need to maintain them like any good relationship.. see below... Having lots of friends is great - but the quality of friendships is much more important than quantity...

Relationships: whether it's a lover, friends, or family they all take some work to maintain- but like a good garden - they are fantastic if you do some regular maintenance. Regularly keeping track with calls, coffees, texts and or emails (let's not get obsessed) is important to keep in tune and keep them in tune. Go out of your way more than you already do for your friends - and don't expect things back.

Money: It certainly can buy you a little happy, despite what they say. Of course if you have a trust fund or a wealthy partner you may have less issues here, but you never know when they might run out... for those of us who do have to work for it- it's best to do something you really enjoy, something that makes you feel great while you're doing it and ideally something that warms your heart too. If every day at work you're thinking 'remember the money' to get you through - then it's time to look at alternatives. Don't ever start over again in a completely different field - move sideways step by step until you find yourself in a whole new arena but with the same or more pay!!

Sex: It's fantastic, but overrated. The thrill of the chase is as much fun but ultimately intimacy is best and leads to even better sex. When you do have sex - focus on the other person more than yourself, when they feel good they're going to want to do more things to and with you... if it becomes a one way street - get them to read this, and until they do, go somewhere else. If somewhere else you find yourself with more than one person and sex is happening - consider it a rather fun source of exercise - perhaps you can train together for a marathon, or two.

Intimacy: The trick here is in determining who has access to your inner self. The right person is like the perfect cleaning lady - they leave that inner self cleaner, more organised and in better shape then when you left it. But finding the one to trust with your keys is the challenge.

Travel: If you have more than 4 weeks saved up in annual leave - then you're not living. Take a holiday at least every 6 months - even if it's just a week or so away from work (setting mobile phones to ignore all work calls + emails). Make sure you have planned to meet up with friends - old and or new - somewhere in your travels. When you're on holiday - wild wednesday becomes wild every day - extend your limits - new people, new experiences, and refer back to the sex section now...

Health: You don't realise how good it is to have good health, until you lose it. Listen to the mainstream health recommendations (beware those who will make money out of their specific recommendations) treat your body as your temple and spend time keeping it maintained. It's okay to be a bit vain yes, but don't obsess - leave that to the people around you. Eat a mix of things, avoid all forms of smoke and exercise every day. It will help with sex too!! Yum.

Religion: If it makes you really feel better, then go for it - if it causes you nothing but stress - then reconsider. Most religions are intolerant of homosexuality, so I tend to be intolerant of most religions. No one really knows if there really is an afterlife - so consider this the only one you have - make it a good one!

Oh and the final piece of advice - be very careful about who you listen to for advice - but when you trust them - treat it like gold.

Good luck!!

The Postcards you don't see

Travelling is a lot of fun - even on the days when the weather is crappy and you're staying in freeway hotels... at least this one had a surprisingly fast and no additional charge wifi broadband service!! yay. great views huh!? But we're here just to sleep - now it's time to head farther south and into the (wet) mountains!! yay.

Keep on Moving

I'm not good at standing still. I like doing a thousand things at once and each at full speed. So when I have to stand still a while - I stall. It becomes difficult to even do one thing well.

So it's nice to get moving again, and we're now en route to the Pyrenees in the south of France and north of Spain to meet up with very good friends who have flown in from Sweden. We haven't got a specific itinerary - we'll be generously ad-libbing but the fun is in just being with them exploring new places, as we have done countless times in the past in all kinds of places around the world. I'm very much looking forward to meeting them for breakfast in Andorra tomorrow and seeing where the day takes us... and the next few days after that...

Random Travelling Men ....3

A few good men. There have been quite a number in France (which I usually haven't found in the past) but these are the last batch from Croatia - Dubrovnik in fact.

Finally got to swim today. And the sun came out while we were in the outdoor pool. Excellent. I'm feeling a lot more settled. I have been official photographer for the new nephew, which has been fun, although I'm not sure I'm quite the baby photographer Anne Geddes is... Despite all the food I've eaten - I'm getting hungry!!!

Quietly Insane

Okay- yes I'm on holiday in Europe and it is summer, although you wouldn't know it by the cool weather... but today was perhaps not my best day...

I'm sitting here in the French countryside with an internet connection I can run faster than (when I can get to the pc in the first place), having spent a day in conversations where I was mostly sitting through quietly watching people speak and wondering what they were saying and why the hell I can't speak French yet. The days can go REALLY REALLY slowly... I know the people I am meeting with are delightful, and I do get knowing looks from those who do understand my predicament when they see me staring into the distance, having concentrated as long as I can on the French that at times seems so close yet today so far away... I have redesigned the rooms I have sat in, I have painted pictures of the people I am with, planned my life until it's end - all in my head, I even visualised a massage for my back - sore from the running I have been doing in lieu of swimming, as distant to me now as my pathetic French.

I have taken photos, I have fed babies (well, my neborn nephew) even burped him and walked him...

But I'm a communicator, not a wallflower. SPEAK TO ME!!! (in English please, I just feel stupid in French)

Anyone recognise this?

Paris in Summer

We've escaped to Paris for 2 days. It's great fun to explore - and a LOT of walking to be done - even if you do use the metro liberally... We sat down to dinner at 10pm (we were busy exploring all day!) and the people on BOTH sides of us lit up their cigarettes - so we got up and left in search of somewhere free of smoke in which to eat... (and that was a BIG challenge). I'm an avid non smoker and find it incredible this smoking habit... Oh and when we did eventually find somewhere - I paid around $12 (8.5 euro) for a large serve of soft drink - this town certainly does know how to charge!

But hey - there is a lot to see and do despite these factors - but Sylvain and I were sitting down this evening thinking, we do enjoy Paris - but don't quite understand why so many people rave on and on about the place... really, what is it about Paris that moves people so? Or is it the idea of Paris? The food though - if we lived here we'd be impossibly fat from all the fantastic things you can find!! Anyway - more to explore... just giving you a taste.

More Croatia Pics

Just a few pictures of Croatia - I think they're all pretty self explanatory really - but have any questions? Let me know.

Random Travelling Men... 2.

I'm not sure what he's saying - it might be to his very cute little boy - but this daddy was a very welcome distraction to a very busy street in Dubrovnik. Who needs history and culture when there are cute men to divert your attention?

Again the diver in Dubrovnik. Footwear is highly recommended on rather sharp rocks - hence the sandals. But look at those shoulders!! Oh and everything else... Why limit it.

For more travel details - see my travel blog linked here.

Wild Wednesday

I was in the middle of the Adriatic Sea last week, so you had a wild wednesday reprieve. But it's back and as challenging as ever. I must say I get scared every time I speak French... of course I'm in France right now so that is a lot of wildness for me at the moment. In fact it's quite exhausting. But Today is the day to do something that scares you. Something outside your every day activities. Be a little different. Given my travelling theme, today's suggestion is speaking to someone not born locally who is new or newish to you , or perhaps just someone you met on the street - and either converse with them or ideally invite them to a meal at your home - but elsewhere if that's a little too scary for now. Then let us know what you did and how it went. Good Luck. Aussielicious' Brenton has enrolled in an aerial silks course today... what will you do?

Lost in Transit

So far there have been 2 casualties of travel...
I had searched high and low for the book 'Emergency Sex and other desperate measures' which had been highly recommended to me by Lynnette (of along the way - blog fame) I ultimately found with assistance from a bookseller who had some stashed away at the airport somewhere... only for me to leave it on the ship, having just started it, and it started well. damn damn damn - you know how hard it is to find specific English books in the middle of France??!! And right now is when I have the most reading time...
Number 2 on the lost list is my toothbrush - left in the hotel in Dubrovnik... but I do enjoy the supermarkets of France - they sell EVERYTHING - and I now have a new toothbrush which was sorely needed anyway.

Random Travelling Men

Where have all the good men gone?
There have been some gorgeous men cruising the coast of Croatia - and more than a few who call Croatia home. So for all you lovers of men out there I've trained my lens on where some of the cute ones have been, and here are some photos to show you, collected over the past week or so... more will follow...

These guys were climbing and jumping off the rocks below our hotel room in Dubrovnik. This was taken from the balcony.

Taken in Split where it was damned hot - we were running late for drinks with our friends, but the water was so inviting and the men were plentiful, so in we jumped.. the guy in the water in this shot is divine - but we had to rush away - and yes we did make it in time for drinks...

toes in the adriatic

Another swim in the Adriatic this morning - three of us have been doing a swim of between 1 and 2 km each day (and I've usually swum a little more another time in the day) and it has been great fun - exploring the coastlines and islands. Last night as we sat at an outdoor cafe watching the moonrise in the balmy evening I took my shoes off and walked down to the water and just immersed my feet for a while - it's therapy for me, calming - I can't keep out of the water - even if it is just my feet.... the drinks into the evening were awesome. sigh...
I'll post a pic a little later.... - updated - should be very clear now...