The Narcissist

Friday evening is theatre time. We're off to see The Narcissist playing at the Sydney Opera House. I'm running ahead of time for once and phone those who are coming to schedule meeting up for dinner. Five minutes later I'm stuck in traffic - bloody rugby semi-finals! So after ordering over the phone I finally arrive to my first course sitting waiting for me. Dinner is good I think - but we have so much to catch up on that the conversation is the main meal.

The stage is bright - there's loads of images of our main character - a lot camper in the artwork than he is in character. Actually - there are way too many images of this character and I feel like getting up there and decluttering. A barrage of one-liners make us laugh out loud, a lot, but the delivery seems a little forced and I know these are actors playing their characters, for the most part. I'm enjoying the play with its decidedly gay themes and unpredictability, but I have to work on it too. I'm a little tired from a restless night at the hospital, but mostly unrelated to work, so I don't want to have to work on my evening's entertainment. Mind you - it's not incredibly cerebral. Not even close really - but perhaps I'm too demanding in wanting seamlessness. I want to be completely absorbed, but I'm not quite. I could actually spend more time chatting with the people we've come with as I really like them and we never get enough time together. But afterwards we're all too tired from big work weeks to do coffee/dessert, and the chat on the walk along the harbour will have to do for now. 

A fun night out.

The play wasn't too bad either. 

Telephone Spam

Saturday morning early I get a phone call that wakes me. I'm not sure if I'm on call or not, so I answer, and the woman at the other end says something like "wei" , I say "hello?" she repeats the same "wei?" with a little more questioning. "Can I help you?" I offer, but after a short delay she repeats the "wei??" and the conversation kinda loses me. It's the wrong number and I'm not going to get anywhere trying to sort it out so I hang up. She calls again and the same conversation repeats with a few additional Chinese words thrown in. I think she must have got it by the time I hang up this time. Shortly after though, I'm called again and a near identical conversation starts, but I have less patience and end it earlier. After 15 min or so I get another call. It looks like the same number, but I answer. The conversation starts the same - but then English is offered. Something about a sales job. But not a lot of detail. The next call is definitely a different number and more detail - it seems my phone number has been mistakenly given in an ad for a sales job in an Australian Chinese newspaper. 

I feel a little sorry for the women calling, they are all women, but it's early Saturday morning and on this Saturday morning I'm going to work - and with my phone on silent vibrating endlessly away in my pocket I'm distracted, so I give it to my secretary who is quite entertained by the idea of this, and insists that she will answer the calls and explain to the callers that it's a mistake. She's cute, and I'm glad she has the patience for it all. After 20 calls I figure a way to divert the calls I don't want and the rest of the day is filled with women applying for a job they're not going to get, calling a phone that will never answer. 

Somewhere in Chinatown a store owner is wondering if they should be offering more money, or perhaps better working conditions as they sit silently by their phone, checking to see if it is working properly from time to time. Checking the reception, checking the time, looking back at the phone that will never ring...

Wild Wednesday

Last week Superchilled readers were asked if they'd be prepared to sell themselves for sex, and an overwhelming 73%  said yes they would. 

A fantastic Wild Wednesday today would be to suggest that 73% of you actually (well, at least hypothetically) put yourselves on the market. But in order to do that we need a marketing strategy. 

Now there are a few options.

Walk up and down the street (or just jig around a bit) wearing a sandwich board that says something like "for a great meal, eat me. Fresh and delicious. Lunchtime special price of...". Ideally you will be wearing nothing underneath to entice those with an appetite.

Get yourself to a Gala Ball or similar, dress up to the nines, a tux might be nice, perhaps driving in in an Aston Martin might look the part too. Select wealthy fellow attendees to schmooze and leave with your calling card. Leave them wanting more... I'm guessing this is more the go if you're striving for the millions alluded to last week.

Perhaps an ad in your local rag... but what would you write?  How would you put into words your best marketing strategy? Or would you do it with pictures?

So today as your wild wednesday challenge I'm asking you to tell us your own personal marketing strategy. Or perhaps a suggestion of one for someone else. 

Get a little hot under the collar. See what you can come up with.

Got a tag line?

Getting ready for the start of the week

I've had a busy weekend. It's been a good one. Too much to do to find time to post now though - so here is my thousand words for today.

My first photographic exhibition goes live today - there's no big fanfare, but it's very exciting. At least for me.

One day I'll get more sleep. But not today.

I do... but I don't

The Good things about weddings:

• You get to meet people you haven't seen in ages.
  
• Seeing a couple in love making a commitment to each other.
  

The Bad things about weddings:

• You get stuck with people you haven't seen in ages, for ages.
  
• Sermons about "A man and a woman".
  
• Hours and hours and hours indoors when it's a fab day outside and you want to go swimming.
  
• When people suggest that you get married too.
  
• Catch a garter? Oh puhleeease. 
  
• Terrible DJ's and songs that only grandma, in her wheelchair, wants to dance to.
  
• Speeches by people who started drinking way too many hours ago.
  
• Having to go resuscitate the father of the groom or similar (this one happened to me today).
  
• Wedding gift registries.
  
• Gay guys can't officially get married here in Australia. Or is that a good thing?
  

Today's wedding was great though - even though I did have to work a little. There was no ceremony (that was something they sorted out earlier) it was informal - an afternoon tea, there were kids out & about having fun and no-one minded, and I got chat with people I really wanted to chat to. I missed the speeches while I was doing my thing. And I did manage to go swimming afterwards - 

Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool is OPEN!! 

I'd say bring on summer but at 35 C (95F) today, it's already here!!

Wild Emotion Wednesday

Don't let anything stop you expressing your emotion this wild wednesday.

What price sex?

You're out and about and you bump into someone who likes the essence of you - so much so they offer to pay to have an up close and personal experience with you.

It can be now, it can be later. 

What would you do?

Now before you answer, imagine they offer you a thousand dollars, perhaps more, 10 thousand... a million dollars? Would you categorically say no? If not - at what price would you accept the invitation?

If you chose to have sex without any money involved - it's a complete different story to if there is money exchanging hands. 

But why?

Who really cares? 

Ask a thousand gay men if they'd accept money for sex and what would they say?

Well let's find out - take the poll top right, and see.

Would you make the deal?

Sleep Surplus and Albino Killers

So I finally listened to my own advice, and I slept. I slept a few hours on the couch, I looked at my blog at the Wild Wednesday post and rather than posting again, you got it, I slept. I slept at the hospital, hell I even slept over at some friends',  I did a whole 9 hours worth of sleeping there. In one go. And when you wake up in a luxurious bed in a gourmet apartment with birds singing in the trees and muted sun trickling through the leafy canopy, it really is like being on a tropical holiday. Sleep isn't something I typically do a whole lot of, just ask all my friends and family who routinely get emails sent at 3am. So if there was a sleep deficit, there is now a surplus. I think I can probably go a few months now on this recharge. 

And now it's Saturday night - or technically early Sunday morning. But as far as I'm concerned it's still Saturday until I go to sleep and wake up and then it's Sunday.

And on this Saturday after waking in this tropical holiday, I get up and have hair that looks like I just woke up, and because my hair is quite long now, it's a magnified version of me having just woken up which scares me a little as I catch myself in the huge mirror hanging there, but I also kind of like it. And I pick up 'The Great Gatsby' from the bookshelf because I studied it at school and I enjoyed it yet I can't remember who I most identified with. It kind of fits the environment I'm in right now. I hated the movie because it just wasn't as good as the one I had in my head. On reflection I think the part of the book I remember the best was the graphic description of a character's (Tom Buchanan's)  muscularity. Described more than once. Maybe that's what made that book resonate. Who knows, I was in high school back then and didn't know anything. 

And then someone comes into the room, the book is put down, and before I know it we're off to breakfast. 

Today is the day of our first 'Open House' - if you're not up to speed we're selling up - and a car crash, not us, means we're about 40 minutes late home to do the final touches on our already show home, which means we have enough time to grab the dog, remove a few things that will declutter, and find that the doors the builder fixed yesterday - weren't actually fixed. My finger is on the 'dial' button to said builder but now is perhaps not the time to call. The day is otherwise perfect, sunny, 30 degrees, gentle breeze and makes you want to live by the beach. We hope the people who arrive are intoxicated by this sense. They bloody well should be.

Dinner is prepared for friends including someone who has so many food intolerances you have to cross check the individual ingredients of the ingredients. And it hits the spot, although soon after we discover that something must have not been filtered out and marinated artichoke hearts are under suspicion. 

And then I finally get to the imac to write a post. Half way through I discover that the 'photo booth' application takes xrays. So I take one or two of me and this is what I look like right now. It seems I'm not really that transparent. Can anyone see through me? 

It makes me look like some murderous albino movie character. And today I'm quite happy with that, because tomorrow is a whole new day and maybe it's time to be a little more

Anti-Wild Wednesday

I'm not sure about the rest of the world but I'm thoroughly exhausted. I have been going non stop at everything of late. I have a to-do list that extends for miles and days, and am adding more tasks to it as fast as I cross things off it. I do love it all - but on Tuesday I was developing a tendency to road rage, and a tightening in my chest en route to some of my tasks... too many things - too little time... even though I'd cut a few things off my plans already. 

Today is hence a day for rest. Not Sunday - because it isn't a religious thing in any way. It's an anti- wild wednesday to sleep and laze about in bed, on the couch or wherever it feels best. Alone, with a book , or with a friend so long as it's stress free and rest filled.

I'm going to enjoy this one. 

Home in Coalcliff: Going, going...

Have you wanted to live near the beach? Sit and watch the ocean as the waves roll in? Go to sleep to the sounds of the waves rather than the sound of the traffic? 

Now you can chill out at the beach in Coalcliff. Superchilled Coalcliff.

You can check out the people (read cute surfers) on the beach as you take the dog for a walk.

Plunge into the ocean blue (or ocean pool) after a hard day's work.

We're headed out - and our home needs new owners.

It's sad to leave. We've had a great 9 years here. 

More photos and details at the real estate website.

Body Parts

Do you know where your prostate is? or if you're that way inclined, your cervix? Know what it looks like? what it does? 

Today I was chatting with friends about various anatomical and physiological bits & pieces and was quite surprised with the lack of knowledge about their own bodies.

Having studied medicine and practised in the field for some years I've become very familiar with both the anatomical and pathological versions of people's bodies. I guess to me it's second nature to know what's happening and where. And while my knowledge is expected, it still astounds me the lack of knowledge most people have about their anatomy. People usually know where their heart is, though not always, but ask about the prostate, epididymis, cervix, liver... and wide eyes are often the response. 

Surely, I think to myself, people will have an interest in parts of their bodies, especially parts intimately involved in things like sexual activity. But it seems I'm wrong about that one too. Though, I think knowledge in this area is certainly a sexual advantage. 

With the world at our fingertips it's so easy to find out what everything is and does - for example if you type "epididymis" in google and click ' I'm feeling lucky ' this is what you will find. Easy. A few minutes later you'll know about a part of you you probably didn't even know existed, though you've probably felt it a thousand times. 

Perhaps as kids we should be taught not just "point to your nose... now point to your lips..." but also "point to your liver, your kidneys... now point to your prostate, your spleen...." it might look a bit odd, but what an enlightened new generation we might have. Who knows, it might even make my job easier.

Save Me

Movie preview : 2min 3sec

"Save Me" is an independent movie opening in US cinemas in September. It is the first production from Mythgarden, the production house started by openly gay actors Chad Allen and Robert Gant.
see full review by Jeff Walsh here.

Wild Hot Wednesday

It's the No Undies Wild Wednesday.

The trend for a while now has been to wear pants down low and underwear up high. While I don't mind it - it's not nearly as hot as pants down low and underwear no-wear as you can see above. 

To start the trend, today is the day to leave your underwear at home and be free. 

Make yourself even hotter this wild Wednesday.

Hang around a bit if you like - as demonstrated above. 

Olympic Challenge Gold

Monty sent in this photo of Alain Bernard at the beginning of the Superchilled Olympic Challenge, and has now been voted by Superchilled Readers as your favourite. It won by a narrow 1 vote.

But as 1/100th of a second can make an Olympic gold medallist, Monty WINS the Superchilled Olympic Challenge. 

Congratulations.

Thanks everyone who sent in images and those who voted for the winners.

Change of plans

What do you do when you find yourself at the end of a cancelled dinner party invitation on a Saturday night? You take other guests who are also left hanging and go do a progressive dinner, at various eateries, why limit it to just one?

So at 6.30pm on Saturday we find ourselves at Longrain in Surry Hills, Sydney. The last time I was here was a few years ago, but the wait was so long that we disappeared off somewhere else. Hunger wins. Tonight though we are greeted by a well dressed woman who opens the door and sends us in the direction of the restaurant NOT the bar. We're seated at the very long table (it's a trademark of Longrain) where we're fitted in between other diners. The ambience is great though it's a little loud and hearing my fellow diners opposite me at the table is, at times, a lip reading experience. The food is delicious, upmarket Thai - we go straight to mains - and there's little left on our shared plates when a very loud Englishman sits down beside me. He's not loud to me but my fellow diners sitting opposite can't hear themselves think, so we decide it's time to head out - the desserts look great but not tonight dear, we're getting a headache.

Next stop is IVY - the new watering hole with various restaurants and bars on multiple open air levels. It's quite glam, though if it's called IVY can they please have real ivy on the columns? There is more security than cute men, but the main guy - we'll call him the concierge - is drop dead gorgeous. He makes our brief visit here worth it, but they're not serving dessert unless you order the whole set  menu - so we leave. 

We wander towards Circular Quay and head up to Cafe Sydney. I give ourselves a 40% chance of getting a table the others are more optimistic ranging from 62% to 94%, and while we're initially offered the low low bar area where my knees rest at eye level, we're rapidly whisked away to a table on the deck which overlooks the finest Sydney Harbour has to offer (you get an idea in the link). We sit back, relax and enjoy the ambience that is unbeatable. It really is one of my favourite spaces anywhere in the world and we spend hours chatting away with the only distraction our waitress who calls our bill some kind of account, pours water like it's a bad child who needs to be disciplined and otherwise makes us pause conversation for fear of laughing. I really could have stayed on, the combination of conversation and ambience intoxicating - but at midnight we agree to move on. 

We decide we're going to do it again - next time with entree, main and dessert each at different locations. Already contemplating potential venues, I can hardly wait.

13 Years Later

In gay years The Frenchman and I have been together something like 91 years, today. But for simplicity we'll stick with 13.

I know we're both aging, but I think he looks more handsome all the time. And as time goes on I realise how great it is to have him in my world and to be a part of his. 

Today, being our anniversary I'd like to thank my mum for introducing us, our family and friends who have supported us, and particularly those who have made an effort to keep in touch and keep on interacting despite distances and hardships. 

The year ahead is going to be a completely different one for us. I'm excited and just a tad nervous, but in the grand scheme of things I can only see things getting better and grander. 

Happy Anniversary babe.

Raw Emotion

There's this image embedded in my brain. It's incredibly emotive. There is a couple, on the left sits the wife, early 60's, a few missing teeth and overweight, slumped forward in a plain lounge chair, her husband embracing her from her left side.  They're both lit by a radiant heater at the far left of the image - which warmly highlights their emotions and the tears embarrassingly rolling down her cheeks. 

The wife is dying from an acute form of leukaemia. She's tough and jovial, but the intensity of the discussion has broken her. And the tears flow. It seems like a classic theatre production, but it's real. I have asked the questions, initiated the discussion that has lead to this breakdown. It's entirely appropriate that she's crying. And as I sit there watching, I feel an intruder into a world that is not mine. The questions needed to be asked, the situation discussed, and a plan for her ongoing care constructed. And so I sit there, this poignant image burning silently and deeply into my retinas, and I say nothing. There is nothing to be said. It's sad, but it's beautiful. Life is beautiful even when it seems the complete opposite. 

Interview Panel: Saturday August 30th

reminder: last days to vote for your favourite Olympic Bod Photo - see earlier posts below...

Superchilled asks a selection of people, who also blog, questions about life the universe and everything. 

Today's question:

What is your best ever holiday memory?

The Green Light at the end of the Dock

Martin: There are so many - what normally makes for a good memory is anything involving my sister who lives abroad and I hardly ever see. One must be flying low over the Okavango Delta and seeing the spectacular patterns in the swamps. The other is speeding down the Okavango river in a low boat as the sun sets. Another is running giggling like little children through the mist surrounding Victoria Falls, and more recently pretending to do gymnastics with my sister in a Gay bar in London and skipping all the way to the pantomime to her step-children’s disgust and embarrassment. Anything that involves laughing so hard my stomach hurts and getting strange stares from the locals…

Just Beautiful Men

Eric : Visiting Geneva as a child was probably the most lasting experience I still remember to this day. It was just so different and exciting compared to what I was used to at the time (I think I must have been around 7 or 8 at the time). Traveling when you're young sometimes leads to a type of simplistic euphoria that just can't be matched as easily as an adult :-)

Geoff & Terry

Geoff:  Independently: Kenya to Australia via Ethiopia, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Germany whilst trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Memories of travelling on the roof of a truck through frontier country of southern Ethiopia. Surreal scenery and environs with a sense of being somewhere on the edge of nowhere. Trekking in the mountains of Ethiopia. Brain melting heat and boredom on the coast of the Red Sea waiting for a ferry. Hanging out in cafes in Berlin and running through autumn leaves in Potsdam with my walkman blasting “You Are My World” by Jimmy Sommerville.

With Terry: All of them (ahhhh).

Terry: There are a lot of great memories, but two stick out at this time:

-When I was living in Japan I had a 10 day break in the spring and went to Sabah (via Brunei) on the island of Borneo. I spent one week, snorkelling, swimming, climbing Mount Kinabalu, and trekking through the forests in Sepilok (orang-utan sanctuary). On my way back to Japan I met my just-about-to-be married Canadian friend in Hong Kong and treated him to a three day stag party.

-Sitting in the open doorway of the train that goes from Colombo to the hill country in central Sri Lanka. It was amazing to go from the heat and humidity of the coast to the lush, cool tea plantations at 2000m...both on a three week holiday with Geoff in 1998 and while I was living there in 2007.

London Preppy

LP: I have no memories, there is no past, I don't have a future.

the naked drag queen

Bruce: One of my best holiday memories is sitting around a big campfire in the Okavango swamps with my amazing family telling stories and then listening to the lion in the area talk to one another and make the earth vibrate under our tents.

Along the Way...

Lynnette: Toss up between:

Day spent in a village near Manali in India, teaching kids how to take photographs with my extra camera, and just chilling with them and eating yummy food and drinking killer chai

Private salsa and son lessons at the home of the guy standing in front of us waiting for pizzas at an outdoor street stall in Havana, Cuba (despite top notch teachers I still am inept :( )

The adrenalin rush of being on top of an active volcano in Guatemala, seeing the lava turning beneath my feet, and having a storm charge in with lightening hitting all around us just as we reached the summet...

...there are too many amazing memories to choose....

What's your best holiday memory??

For Sale

It's a little unsettling, the prospect of selling your own home. But we're doing it. We've signed on the dotted line, it's on the market, and we're on our way to saying goodbye to our home of 9 years.  I love living here, so it's going to be a little sad to say goodbye, but it's time to move on. Time for change. 

We're going to have to keep it clean and tidy relentlessly for the next 5 weeks or so.

It's a bit exciting, a bit scary and even a little sad, having spent these years developing it into a  home that is very much us.

Hopefully it won't be too much of a roller-coaster ride. 

Wild Rock & Roll Wednesday

Today is Wild Wednesday and the challenge is this: when you get home, turn up the volume - dress down - and do what Tom Cruise does in this 1 minute clip from Risky Business. It can be a lot of fun - but it's best done when you're home alone. Make sure it's loud, and so are you.

And then when you're cooling down - remember to vote for the best of the olympic bods below.