Aussielicious

Is there something about repeatedly throwing yourself off a structure 10 metres above the water that makes you hot? It’s come to my attention, and the attention of other people that there are some very hot divers going around.

Left to right in the photo above we have Chris Mears and Tom Daley, both diving for Britain. Tom is only 17 so I feel a little creepy admiring him so I’ll focus on the others. In the middle is Matthew Mitcham our home grown golden beautiful boy. Matthew is on track to have a good Olympics in London in a few months time. He recently got perfect 10′s for a dive in Olympic selection competition in Adelaide. On the right of Matthew is Alexandre Despatie from Quebec who has been looking hot all over pools for several years now. On the far right is the famous, retired Olympic champion Greg Louganis who was such an amazing diver in his time and who came out shortly after finishing competition.

If anyone has any more suggestions on hot divers, feel free to send them through. I’ve seen plenty on tv during competitions but I don’t know who they are.

I used to want to try diving as a kid but there were no pools with diving towers where I grew up. I’m beginning to think that if I’d thrown myself towards the water from a great height on many occasions I might be in better shape, but given my talent for injury I doubt it.

Over the years that I’ve been blogging I’ve been asked what my type is, I’ve talked about what my type(s) is/are and been criticised for being shallow. I’ve never once denied being attracted to beautiful people. Apparently being attracted to beautiful things is a fairly typical Libran trait but I argue that it’s a human trait. Why would you want to look at something ugly?

As for men, I have no expectations of physical perfection or beauty but there is one thing that is a must. A guy has to have a good smile. A good smile to me is one that involves the whole face and is just pure and genuine. I’ve met some beautiful guys whose smile looks practiced and fake, and I’ve met some guys that wouldn’t catch your eye until they smile and BAM you fall over yourself to see it again and again.

Today on instagram I had a new follower (I’m @aussiebrenton by the way) and out of curiosity I went to see his photos to see if I would follow his posts as well. My god, the man’s smile is disarmingly beautiful. I’m hooked. Let the facebook stalking begin.

I have another 5 submissions for the repetition challenge to share with you this morning.

Rich took this photo of the “Atomium” in Brussels.

Walking along a beach, Glenn saw repetition in all these hundreds of little shells.

Burning Man inspired Dan to shoot this submission. People will climb on anything at Burning Man!

Eric and his partner were in Sydney for Mardi Gras and took this photo of the Sydney Opera House with his thousands of tiles.

The Botanic Gardens in Brisbane have inspired Mitchell.

Are the submissions for the repetition photography challenge slowing down? There have been some great shots sent in so far and I’m hoping there are some more fantastically creative shots submitted in the last 12 days.

Deon sent me this photo of what he says in Afrikaans is known as the “half-mens”

Sue has sent in this very cool image of dozens of squiggly little tadpoles from her garden.

Randy found repetition in these lined up M&M novelty dispensers.

As we all know, the Avengers movie is about to premier and aussieBum seems to have a deal going through a bit of brand placement in the ad, which is hardly a rare or unusual thing these days. Let’s face it, their brand goes very nicely with hot men with amazing bodies saving the world. What else would you wear under your spandex? They are about to stream the red carpet premier live at something crazy like 2.30am tomorrow morning Sydney time which means it’s a practical time for the rest of the world. It’s the curse of being on the underside of the planet. Watch it here!

When I travelled to the U.S. last year for 3 weeks to tick off a few big items on my to-do list, that meant going to Vegas. Apparently everyone has a wild time in Vegas. I didn’t. I absolutely loved both of the Cirque Du Soleil shows that I went there specifically to see, and I loved the beautiful Qua Spa at the Bellagio. Relaxing in their beautiful baths and steam rooms etc was a blissful escape from the insanity out on the streets. I ask you, is it really necessary to be able to gamble in a 7-Eleven?

I will concede that if you went to Vegas with friends for a party weekend or something then it’s probably the perfect city but going there alone and not knowing anyone or knowing the cool spots to go made it hard for me. The guy from Sydney that brought you the amazing Burning Man video has also done a quick timelapse of Vegas from his hotel room.

I’m seriously considering buying one of these GoPro cameras. They’ve come down in price since I first saw them and for a waterproof camera that does HD video, timelapse settings and photos. I can imagine having some fun getting cool timelapse videos of a photo shoot, doing videos of silks routines, camping and other adventures.

If any of you lovely readers have a GoPro I’d love to hear your opinions on what they are like to use.

Peter has sent us this photo of some paving in Amsterdam.

Daniel shot this photo of the Metropolitan Opera which I’m guessing is in NYC?

This temple in Shanghai caught Jay’s eye and he’s sent us this beautiful photo.

Kenneth got up nice and close to a sunflower to capture the repetition.

Simon saw repetition in his rooftop!

Dexter Mejia has created his own repetition in a self portrait, lit with a shaft of light coming through his blinds.

Last night I went to the wedding of my favourite work colleague. She looked radiant, her husband got teary when she arrived, there was great dancing, good speeches and all those other things that make a really fun and lovely wedding. I was officially the only gay in the room although there was one guy the bride told me they were all suspect about but sadly it wasn’t any of the guys I wanted it to be.

Weddings for me are a double edged sword. As a total romantic I enjoy all the love in the room, the smiles, the laughs and the commitment to each other. As a gay man denied the right to get married it really drives it home that my government treats me like a second class citizen. I’m yet to hear a valid reason to deny marriage equality. Some say gay people are too promiscuous but it we are pledging commitment to each other isn’t that going against the promiscuous image? Straight people have been cheating on their husbands and wives for centuries. The argument that marriage is to have children doesn’t really stack up either with people in their 70′s getting married being celebrated but they surely aren’t procreating.

With a majority of Australians supporting gay marriage and a vast majority accepting that it’s inevitable, why are we still waiting? Our Federal opposition leader has a gay sister who he loves and accepts her partner, but purely for selfish religious reasons and political manouvering, he refuses to budge, even to give his sister the equality she is entitled to.

I watched this video yesterday and it made me smile so I thought I’d share it. The opportunity to do something like this would be awesome but sadly, financial realities seem to get in the way of whim.

We have six more submissions in for the repetition challenge to share this evening!

Jeric has seen some repetition around what I’m assuming his own home with this shot of a pergola.

Grant has submitted this cool colourful shot from Dakshinachitra in Southern India.

Bill has discovered this very modern carpark in Wales.

David has seen the beauty in the repetition of flowers in the Joshua Tree National Park.

Shane has taken this photo of one of my favourite pieces of architecture at the British Museum with the new modern roof on the forecourt.

Paul has sent in this photograph of a beautiful mosque in India.

Today marks 7 weeks since the surgery to reconnect the tendons to the bone, joining my biceps to my elbows so that I can do all the important things in life like masturbate, handstands, hug properly and circus classes.

My muscles are wasting away and it’s disturbing to be able to watch that happen and not be able to do anything about it. Yes, I’m vain. We know that. I’ve never wanted to work out more than I do now, but I can’t do any real exercise involving my arms for another 4+ months. August 23rd will be 6 months after the surgery and I’m going to make those teeny tiny weights in the gym my bitch!

I am already back in the gym doing something that I’ve always feared and loathed, cardio. Without circus or weight training I don’t want to fall apart entirely and it’s a good opportunity to address the padding that has gently crept up around my waist in the past 2 years of poor dietary discipline. That’s what I’m trying to convince myself anyway. Cardio and I have always had an uneasy relationship. We bicker a lot. Cardio wants to spend too much time with me but I like independence from cardio having never really needed to bond. Now sadly I think we are heading for a codependent relationship. Sure, it will be beneficial, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

So, after the progress visit to the surgeon last week, I am now officially allowed to straighten my arms and lift TWO WHOLE KILOS. That translates to 4.4lb and I’m working on the assumption that it’s in each hand, just to be practical, selfish and defiant if nothing else.

A couple of weeks ago I launched the Video Happy Project, asking for submissions of 15 second videos (or less) of something that makes you happy. So far I’ve only received 5 videos. You have about 3 weeks left to get your submissions in, but at this rate it’s either going to be a very very short video or I’ll have to abandon the project. It would be rather ironic to have to abandon a project about making yourselves happy due to a lack of interest.

Yesterday I saw the video that Garet of Scenic Boys fame put together showing the design for the new and improved version of the tower for Burning Man. This year the Glam Cock Kingdom will have an extra storey on the tower, more floorspace and I’m sure lots more fun thanks to the amazing efforts of Garet and his team.

Unfortunately I can’t get to Burning Man this year but after seeing Garet’s video yesterday, last night the whole night was spent dreaming of Burning Man. I dreamt that I made it there somehow but didn’t have any food or water with me, that I was running into people there that I haven’t seen in a couple of years and that would never be there. It was a torturous dream but wonderful at the same time. I’m sure I will get there again one day but it won’t be 2012. In honour of Burning Man and my dreams last night, I thought I’d re-share this fantastic video.

Once again I have five submissions from readers in the Repetition Challenge!. It’s nice to see photos coming in from and taken in all corners of the world! You have 3 more weeks to get your entries in to me. Please only submit one photo each!

Jack has sent this beautiful silhouette of some bare tree brances. I’m not sure where this is but it almost looks like it could be cherry blossoms to me about to burst into life.

Dennis took this shot of some stars that I’m guessing are part of some signage on the side of a building.

Another building shot here from Jimmy with the glass panels on the side of the Federal Building in San Francisco.

Bobby has sent in a building shot too, this one of a new garage in SOBE. Miami.

Last up for tonight is a shot taken by Rob who had the good fortune to be walking the streets of Bucharest and saw this row of brightly coloured bikes!