Strange Sightings #3

It's a developing theme - people parking in all kinds of odd places and ways. I thought it must have been a Croatian thing with the car below parked rather unusually near the beach in Split, but it's again near the beach, this time in Wollongong... It is a new trend? Is it a sign the world is coming to an end? It is nature taking a stance against global parking? Today's picture, above, involves a spontaneous tree collapse, not a breath of wind, nor a (known) drop dead gorgeous surfer stripping out of a wetsuit (although in this carpark it is entirely possible). And I could well empathise with such a collapsed in same circumstances. The one below - hmmm- it might well also have involved a distracting young man - but a mystery it shall remain...

Bourke Street Bakery Afternoons...

Who needs plans when you have friends who can be spontaneous! We headed to our regular haunt, with Special Guest Corey - ate some new delicacies, discussed life the universe and men... scared a few children, parents... and dogs, and then did the same in multiple locations (including a cinema) throughout the city into the night. Even managed the mandatory swim in there somewhere. Perfect.

Naked Aerobics 101

I laughed I did - 30 seconds.

free falling weekend

Divers at this week's Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro

The weekend is in free fall - It's completely unplanned - nothing booked - no idea where I'll be headed what I'll be doing... I had so much energy today - despite an interrupted night's sleep(work related) I swam in the morning - breakfasted solo at my favourite, diggies, worked without any contact with any health professionals (all away or at meetings) and it was just heaven. Ran at gym for something different- cooked lasagna - the first time ever for me - and it worked - it ACTUALLY worked! I seem to have this cooking bug at the moment, finally I can make use of the kitchen utensils!

Perhaps Rio is the place to be for this weekend though? Deckside at the diving pool...

idealisticity

I guess I'm an idealist. You're supposed to get to a point in life where you see that being idealist doesn't work - and you move on to the next best thing. Perhaps I have yet to go there - or perhaps I've been there - and moved right through the circle again, but I still want to change the world, to make it a better place - help people to be happy in their worlds. Perhaps I'm a tad romantic - and maybe the rose coloured glasses I seem to be wearing need to be turned down a shade or two... But life is more than just about accepting the status quo. No?

It's easy to go about life just following the yellow brick road. But as a gay man - for me there was a point that I had to jump off that road. Life wasn't quite what it was made out to be. I was different from the rest of the crowd, even though I was walking the same road with them, to a point. But when I looked at my world from a different perspective, as a kind of outsider looking in - it was kind of like in the Matrix movies - you learn to see the code behind all of the things you once didn't ever question. And so I started to question things - why should I follow religious ideology when it really didn't seem to want to understand me? Do I really need to do the whole car, wife, house, dog, kid, holidays down the coast thing? Is society right with all the sexual taboos and is it's moral code really of benefit to the real people out there? Sometimes the answer was yes - or 'it works for me' but sometimes not. But just by looking at things with a more critical perspective it has made me think, how can I make this better? Can I help make the rest of the world look at the code and wonder if it can be improved upon too? Or am I seriously deluded?

I can see great potential in this world - and I think I can do great things to enable some of this - but sometimes it just seems too hard - where to begin? What to aim for specifically? But looking at the bigger picture, how long has it taken for us to take the environment seriously? Half the things that are starting to become common ideals now were in high school text books decades ago. I'm not exactly going to solve the problems of the world in the next 30 years, is there any point in trying? I'm not exactly read here by the millions that flock to Perez Hilton. And face it - there aren't a lot of people around who really are trying terribly hard to make a difference, so it's much easier to just fit in and watch the latest reality TV celebrity crap.

I'm a glass half full kinda guy though. I look for the positive. And by looking I guess I see it more readily than those who do not. It can drive people crazy, but I'm not about to change it. I can take a decent photograph, I can counsel the dying and occasionally heal the sick, I can organise incredibly intricate social events and can even string a few words together, but how am I going to seriously make a difference in the world? Should I use the force, or succumb to the hedonism of the dark side?

Wild Wednesday

Today's Wild Wednesday theme is all about the people who are close to you; lovers, friends, family... Surprise them with unexpected gifts, hugs, kisses, sex, flowers, admissions of love, frankness, honesty, warmth, affection, time, text messages, intimate dinners, chocolate, humour, massages... You get the idea. Then let us know what you've done, no matter how simple.

New to Wild Wednesday? Click on the 'wild wednesday' label below for previous posts.
It's time to do things that might just scare you - or perhaps today the people around you!

(photo: bruce weber)

Superchilled Race Around the World Continues...

It's been a whole month since the pint sized penguin won leg 15 by correctly identifying The Glasgow Science Centre. Congrats also to Peter von Amsterdam who came up with an exceptionally creative guess which was so SOO wrong. click on the 'race around the world' - label below for the posts. Of course I've been racing around the world myself scouting for more pictures for the next series of the race - and it's time to set off again on your virtual race around the world.

Alas, your e-tickets are issued, and you're all ready to go. But where am I taking you?

Does anybody know?
And what are they doing in the pool?

First in with the correct answer wins the coveted prize. Most creative answer wins the respect and incredulity of the blog reading world.

The Race Starts NOW.

Fag Tag at the Argyl...

I'm not sure I really like the name - Fag Tag - where a gathering of gay men hits a hitherto straight bar en masse... but I guess Gay Bash wouldn't quite work either... Nevertheless we headed to the Argyl Hotel - brand new in The Rocks, Sydney and my GOD it is spectacular, not just the true mass of gorgeous men who crowded it Sunday evening, but the hotel itself knocked my socks off! Extremely well done, with a combination of old world warmth and charm, and modern style it had me at 'come on in'. Of course it was the filled to the very lofty rafters with cute men, looking decidedly suave and sophisticated - maybe it was the lighting? - but the Frenchman and I were taken aback and risked a hefty parking fine by staying well beyond our planned departure time.

Nice.
We got back to the car and there was no fine!

There was however, a little yellow smiley sticker with 'you've been coolhunted' in it's place - a fun and welcome alternative - so did they like our car? did they see us leaving it looking handsome and stylish on our way to fagtag(I wish) or was it just a clever marketing campaign? (more likely) Yes there was a website attached - but I won't link it here as, well, it seemed to stall my pc - (but if you're feeling daring thecoolhunter.com.au is it).

There was a lot more to like this Weekend than I could possibly write here without boring you all into the next weekend - but alas - I'm ready for the week. There is much to be done!

In Heaven @ BSB

Back for a week - and time for Sunday afternoon at BSB. It seems the place is getting even more popular these days as there were no chocolate tarts or even crumbs of same left in the display today - and we weren't late! The best thing about this is it makes me try other things - today it was a flourless chocolate cake - to die for (as you can see from my expression here). Brenton and the Frenchman were there - we swam beforehand, creating a bit of an appetite (no one seems to notice aussielicious swimming or drinking coffee completely naked any more, maybe it's a winter thing) - and two revelers from our Croatian escape came as well. Again too much fun - and too much chocolate - takes me back to the French Patisseries... I never would have thought that as I grew up I'd be increasingly accustomed to sitting on milk crates outside undersized eateries! What next?

Spontaneous Dinner Party

We'd planned to catch up with some friends on Saturday night, organised much earlier in the week, dinner at our place was the go, figured we'd put something together on the night. Turns out they cancelled, but it was a perfect winter evening for a dinner party - and I just felt like cooking, (I rarely feel like actually cooking for dinner parties, though we often have them). So it didn't end there. We'd already had another guest locked in (Ursula) because she had called and was available and I just couldn't let her go to waste on a Saturday evening . Then I coerced The Patient Man and Brenton out of whatever they were to be doing, down to my completely experimental cooking extravaganza - (I think they came because they adore Ursula) - in any case we all get on like a house on fire - which it sometimes is when The Patient Man visits.

So I cooked more courses than a French Banquet, some of which were surprisingly edible, and none to any standard recipe - I did look up a few of those after I cooked, just out of interest - and no I was nowhere near the instructions, but creativity is embedded in my genes, and we all made it though - perhaps it was Ursula's Lemon Cake that settled all those tummies, yum. We had a cameo call from the Tasmanian Mountain Woman whose vacant spot at the table whimpered in her absence, but the night was a roaring success.

Thanks boys and girls.
Perhaps I have learned a little French after all.

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.