I personally can’t wait for the weekend. This week has been manic with not one evening spent at home. Tonight’s rehearsal for Mardi Gras was great but tough. The routine is challenging but has come together well. Tomorrow night, the lifesavers are appearing at Big Bingay which will be a great night.
This weekend a guy is in town that I’ve been chatting to online for some time. He’s living in Melbourne but is driving a campervan around NSW and Victoria to explore (he’s British) and he’s a big time nudie like me. He hits Sydney on Saturday so we are going to hang out on the beach and I’m going to spend the night naked in the campervan with him. I can’t wait to just chill out and do nothing!
Londoners wandering their beautiful city yesterday were treated to over 2,000 happy faces floating through the city. They were the work of artist Stuart Semple who decided that the “installation” piece was what was needed in these times of doom and gloom. The happy clouds were biodegradable and environmentally safe and they sure as hell would have brought a smile to my face.
Chadd, our photographer has put a bunch of the photos from last week’s rehearsal together and added some music for us. You can guarantee that if you make a mistake at the rehearsal, Chadd will have got it for sure. Thankfully he seems to have been pretty kind, so far.
Tonight I was lucky enough to go along to the opening drinks for Ross Watson’s Classic De Novo exhibition, open from today til March 7. Being the chronically on-time person that I am, I was one of the first to arrive. It was a very laid back affair and I was lucky enough to once again chat to Ross and his partner Stephen.
They welcomed me as if I was an old friend which was very sweet, especially considering some of the A-List company they keep from time to time. I very much enjoyed the new works as much as I’ve enjoyed past work and hearing where the themes came from and how they’ve been woven together directly from the artist was nice. It was also fun being able to ask Stephen if he was allowed to have any favourites and which pieces they were. I commented that I only realised a couple of years ago that two of my favourite artists are both living, Australian and gay.
Head along to Depot II in Danks St, Waterloo to have a look at the exhibition. One day I plan on having the earning capacity to buy an original of Ross’, and maybe from my other favourite artist, Aussie Jeffrey Smart.
Every now and then people send me press releases or news items for inclusion on the blog. Inertia Music sent me a couple of CD’s last week and I have to say they weren’t CD’s that I would normally pick up. These days I rarely seem to buy new music, but these two discs are now in my rotation.
Firstly there’s Passenger. From Brighton in England, this 5 piece band have put together a beautiful CD with beautiful melodies and lyrics that make you stop and listen. I’m no music reviewer so this is where I divert from press releases and give you my take on them. If James Blunt stopped taking himself so seriously, stopped feeling so suicidal and had some friends around for a jam session and a few drinks, this is what you’d get.
Sia is an Aussie girl made good. Her son Breathe Me was chosen to be on the soundtrack at the end of Six Feet Under and Buttons became the second most watched music video on youtube. Watching that video, you realise that she’s definitely got a sense of humour. Given that this style of music isn’t normall on my radar, I’m not sure who I can compare her to but it’s a beautiful CD and her voice is very rich and something I could listen to for a long time. Click to watch her video for Soon We’ll be Found.
On Thursday we had our second rehearsal and it definitely felt like the bar had been raised, to pinch a cliche from So You Think You Can Dance. The Journey we are on is such a learning experience that I’m hoping we all grow and learn and develop and find out more about who we are as performers.
Seriously though, we put together some moves and then when we realised the real speed we had to do them, we all panicked a touch, then laughed a LOT. It’s all coming together really well and I think we are going to make a great impact!
Dustin Black has just won the best screenplay for “Milk”, proving that if you write about something you are passionate about, it is going to be great. While I haven’t seen it yet, from this report I understand that his speech was eloquent, and brought attention to the fight for marriage equality in the U.S.
I don’t know if it’s going to help but such a public statement, in a non-sensational way, surely can’t hurt. I know marriage isn’t for every gay man and woman, but I for one would like those that do want it, to have the option.
I’ve been lucky enough to score an invitation on Tuesday night to the opening of Ross Watson’s Classic De Novo exhibition in Dank St Sydney. The last two years, when Ross has exhibited in Sydney for Mardi Gras I wasn’t working full time so got to go at my own leisurely time and wander through a very quiet gallery while everyone else was at work. So it’s a nice surprise to be invited along to the opening night.
Ross and his partner are lovely to chat to and I’m hoping I get a chance to say hi to them on the night. Fingers crossed there will alsoo be a couple of Ross’ hot models there as well.
HIV is still here, it’s not going away in a hurry and I’m still saddened by some people’s ignorance and irresponsibility about it. I know of a few guys who are actively looking for bareback sex purely because they think it’s hot, then there are others, as I’ve mentioned on here who are trying to convert themselves.
Sure, having sex without a condom is hot, but I’m sure as hell not taking that risk for a bit of fun. I found this ad on L’homme Est Un Concept and thought it was quite clever. But is clever getting the message out there anymore. It’s going to be devastating if we have to see another generation of gay men wiped out to see the younger guys learn that it’s still deadly.
There was a body painting competition on last night that I would have liked to go and see but didn’t get there. Bodypainting is an interesting proposition for me. Perusing online galleries you see bodypainting competitions at nudist resorts which are pretty amateur but a lot of fun and very quick.
Other people, like Anthony Larrisey of Urban Flesh, have made it a serious career option and artform, creating incredibly intricate pieces that very from the expected. The piece above are pretty representative of what people usually think of when they hear bodypainting. It’s clever and it’s well done but it’s fairly typical. Having said that, I seriously don’t think I could do it, but I certainly wouldn’t mind spending hours paying attention to this guy’s butt.
Stephen has been kind enough to share a couple of his shots with us. He’s a guy from Queensland who apparently enjoys nudity as much as I do. The waterhole shot was taken at Mt Barney just south of Brisbane and it looks like a great place to swim and have a bit of a nude time.
The other shot really appeals to my cheeky sense of humour. It is inside an old church on the Beechmont Plateau behind the Gold Coast. Great work Stephen, and apologie for taking so long to post them!
This year’s Mardi Gras parade is being televised on Foxtel and in preparation they are filming profile pieces on a few of the floats to air in the quiet moments of the parade. Today they filmed the piece on the Lifesavers With Pride as we’ve been a popular float the two years we’ve been included.
They filmed us this morning running in and out of the water, along the edge of the water, doing a rescue and also, embarrassingly, rehearsing a very clumsy run through of our routine so far. I can’t wait to see what they put together and which bits of the interviews they did with us all that they use.
Lichtfaktor is a German art collective using light to create art. Using light in art is nothing new, it’s the basis of photography but these artists take it to the next level painting with light in ways that utilise the natural landscapes or their immediate environment to create a story. In this case they’ve created thousands of individual images to put together a video of a forest overrun with creatures created by light. It’s quite an astonishing and beautiful video!
This year, if you are looking for an alternative to Harbour Party, come and support the new kid on the block. Bondi Boys have been having regular drinks over summer but Sunday 1st March sees their debut dance party in the Bondi Pavillion. It’s a great location and a great venue. When you’ve danced yourself stupid for a while, head across the sand and jump in the water to cool off before doing it all again!
You can get tickets from Moshtix.com.au, eevolution.com.au or samesame.com.au so come on, try something new! You might like it. There will be some great DJ’s playing and performances by Courtney Act and the Lifesavers With Pride.
Aaron Neich is a young gay man who lives in the western suburbs of Sydney. The western side of Sydney isn’t renowned for it’s gay friendly attitude, nor it’s lattés, so Aaron is causing quite the fuss out there since his selection to the cheerleading squad of the Penrith Panthers Rugby League team.
It’s nice to see someone challenging the status quo and having the balls to do what they want, no matter what. Read the full article here.
